Whenever we visit my in-laws I always take my macro lens. My MIL has a large rustic garden filled with roses, hydrangeas, dahlia's and many other flowers. Unfortunately when we do visit it's during the day, and being summer at the moment it was very bright outside. I did find a lovely Dahlia bush which was shaded, and spent quite some time taking photos. There were other dahlia's in varying shades of pink, but for some reason the yellow caught my eye.
Christmas Photos
Down here in New Zealand we don't do the holiday Christmas photo, and send it out to everyone, but I still wanted to take some photos of the kids. It's hard coming up with a theme as it's summer here, and kids with hot chocolate, cute pj's, etc don't quite fit in. Maybe next year I should put tinsel on the BBQ, they can wear shorts, t-shirts, jandals, and hold onto some sausages.
So on Christmas Eve I was stringing up stars, and taking photos. There is so much more that I wanted to do - take some video, more stars, better poses etc etc, but ran out of time. But saying that I'm really happy with what I got. I also put the photos into a short video, which the kids loved.
One of the bribes I used to get them in front of the camera, was they could open some Christmas Crackers.
I also got some different coloured glitter to blow. Emme didn't quite get the hang of it, but Mason was really good.
My Baking Buddy
Even after having trees around the house cut down, my kitchen is still quite dark, small and cluttered. I do dream of a nice modern clean Pinterest kitchen with perfect light, but alas it is what it is. My Mum has a beautiful white modern kitchen with lots of light and windows, and I do take the kids around there when we make gingerbread men at Christmas to take photos.
So…I was getting ready to bake my nieces 16th birthday cake when my daughter asked if she could help. Cake decorating is also a hobby, and I can get a little OCD on how things are done.
But this time I said yes, and how can you say no when she comes out in her cute little apron and Hello Kitty whisks.
I’m happy to report there were no egg shells in the mixture, most of the flour went in the pot, and as per usual when it came to clean up time she was nowhere to be seen.
Still mixing everything together with her Hello Kitty whisk.
I told her that she could make cupcakes from the left over cake batter.
The butter has melted, and mixing everything this time with the big whisk.
All mixed together, and in the cupcake liners.
This is when she disappears and I'm left to do all of the cleanup...hmmmm
Dancing In The Winter Sun
My daughter loves playing with her older cousin, and while we were at my Mums place they were outside enjoying the sun. When I went outside to check on them, they were dancing on the lawn and videoing each other. I had my camera with me, and snapped away while they danced and played together.
Exploring My Mother In Law's Garden
We traveled to my husbands parents farm for my father in law's birthday a couple of weeks ago. After lunch while everyone else went tadpole hunting in the water troughs, I spent the time exploring my MIL’s garden. As it is now Autumn the roses are all gone, but there were plenty of other flowers to catch my eye. I find it very therapeutic shooting florals, it’s just me and my camera enjoying the peace and quiet.
These Japanese Roses are one of my favourites, and I will be planting some on the cooler side of the house to add a touch of colour.
Pink Daisy
I loved the deep red rich colour of these Delilah's.
These green leaves hanging on a vine caught my eye, I love the symmetry.
Trip to Te Rewa Rewa Bridge
On the last morning of our summer holiday at the Fitzroy Campground I got up early, and took the 15 minute walk along the foreshore walkway to Te Rewa Rewa bridge. I got there just as the sun was coming up, and had the bridge to myself apart from some early morning runners and cyclists. It was a beautiful morning, and I was fortunate there was no cloud covering Mt Taranaki.
Te Rewa Rewa bridge was opened in 2010, and spans across the Waiwhakaho River. The internationally awarded bridge can be viewed as either a breaking wave or a whale skeleton.
Looking through the side of the bridge at the Waiwhakaho river flowing into the Tasman sea.
Mt Taranaki framed by the sides of the bridge.
We then came back later in the morning so my husband and the kids could have a look at the bridge. On the drive there we stopped for a picture of Mt Taranaki. This viewpoint was a recommendation from my Brother In Law, after seeing it on one of his morning runs.
Summer Beach Holiday
The kids love the beach, so it was an easy decision to spend our summer holiday at the beach. This year we stayed in a cabin at Fitzroy Beach in New Plymouth. It’s a great campground, with our cabin less than 20 meters from the beach. We all loved the beach and campground, and will definitely be going back again.
When we arrived on the first day, it was cloudy and overcast. The kids quickly ran down to the beach to have a look. They had to be careful as there were quite a few blue bottle jellyfish that had come in with the tide. Luckily we had brought them some beach shoes, so they didn’t get stung.
There was no one swimming when we first arrived in the morning, maybe the blue bottles kept them away. The overcast day was perfect for reflection photos.
Day Two
The kids were up early, racing down to the beach to have another splash around. It was another overcast morning, so more reflection photos. Mason also took down his skimming board that he got for his birthday to try out. Luckily the blue bottles were all gone, and we only saw one or two for the rest of the holiday.
We headed into the city centre for lunch, and then to the foreshore walkway. Along the walkway they had the Te Kupenga International Stone Sculpture Symposium. Sculptors from across the world, and New Zealand were making sculptures from the local volcanic rock. It was a scorching hot day, and they must have been sweltering under the midday sun in their protective gear.
Scootering back to the car past the Len Lye wind wand.
Day Three
Each afternoon the sun would appear from under the clouds and it would turn into a hot day. The kids enjoyed boogie boarding in the sea, and would spend hours surfing the waves.
The next two days were spent at the beach boogie boarding, and enjoying the waves. On the last morning I got up early, and walked along the foreshore walkway to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge. I got there just as the sun was rising, and luckily there was no cloud covering the mountain. On my next blog post I will share the pictures of the bridge.
Green Tomatoes and Basil
It was a grey overcast morning a few days ago so I decided to grab my camera and macro lens and go wondering to see if anything caught my eye.
My MIL gave us a couple of tomato plants as she had quite a few of them, and they have been sitting on our deck waiting to be planted in our veggie garden.
I walked past the plants on the deck and noticed we had some tomatoes growing on them, so decided to make them my subject. It was an extra bonus that the deck chairs were right beside them so I sat down for a good 1/2 hour and snapped away. The kids thought I was crazy sitting beside a tomato plant and taking photos.
Half way through I remembered a great tip about using a water bottle to spray water on flowers, so I went inside grabbed my daughters spray bottle that she uses on her dolls hair. My daughter didn’t seem very impressed that I was using her water bottle on the plants. Wait until she sees me using it on cobwebs, mmm maybe I will have to be sneaky for that one so she doesn’t see me.
These were all taken with my Vivitar 55mm f2.8, which is a vintage/legacy SLR lens. It's fully manual, so focusing can be a bit hard at times but I love it.
All I want for christmas is my two front teeth!!
In the space of 3 days Little Miss M lost her top and her bottom front tooth. Her top one had been wiggly for weeks and she wouldn't let anyone pull it out. She's definitely a lot happier now that she can eat without sore wiggly teeth.
So two visits from the Tooth Fairy this week. I also heard that the Tooth Fairy spent 1/2 an hour searching the house for $2 to put under her pillow!!
These were taken when her top tooth came out, and you can see in the photos that her bottom tooth was on an angle and on its way out as well. Her other top tooth is on its way out as well.
All that she would give me was a couple of minutes to take photos, so I took what I could get!!!
I also had to write a note to the Toothfairy when she lost the second one, as she was at school and they went swimming and she lost it in the pool.
She was very worried she wouldn't get her $2 so I had to write a note and explain it to the Toothfairy.
I couldn't decide between B&W or Colour for these, so went with both.
King Edward Park
After our visit to Nowell’s Lake a couple of weeks ago Emme wanted to go to our local park (King Edward Park) to feed the ducks. She had been there a few days earlier and one of the ducks had ducklings, so she was excited about seeing them again.
Unfortunately mum and her ducklings weren’t there but all the other ducks got their bread, and Emme was off to the playground.
I managed to get a few photos of her as she went quickly from ride to ride.
It was great to see the flowers in bloom, and next time I will bring my macro lens and spend some time up close with the flowers.
Trip to Nowell's Lake
We hadn’t been to Nowell’s Lake before, and my husband suggested we go and have a look one afternoon.
Nowell’s Lake is situated just south of Hawera in South Taranaki, and is a Fonterra Farms and Community Group Project. There are two parts - the Nowell’s Lakes which are two ground fed freshwater lakes covering seven hectares, and the Walkway.
We loved exploring the Walkway amongst the native bush, flax and Toetoe, and each section had signs where the children from local schools and Scouts have done plantings.
Down the track to the Walkway.
Having a rest on one of the many Children Only seats.
Asked for a serious face, and all we got was giggles.
Checking out the Bug Wall.
Looking for Crawlies (Freshwater Crayfish) in the stream. We didn't see any this time, hopefully we can see some on our next visit.
Emme pointing out which way to go next.
Looking at her school's sign and where they did their plantings.
Some of the many birdhouses that are all through the gully.
Emme found this small bird egg lying on the ground, and picked it up for a closer look.
Smelling herbs at the herb garden.
Looking back down the gully.
Local school children have grown and planted thousands of swan plants, so we will definitely be back between February and April to see the caterpillars and Monarch Butterflies.
We also took the 20 minute walk to Nowell’s Lake. I didn’t get any pictures unfortunately as it started to rain just as we got there. But we will definitely be going back, and I can’t wait to take more pictures then.
If you are local I highly recommend Nowell’s Lake as a place to visit. For more information check out http://nowellslakeswalkway.blogspot.co.nz/