Getting up close & personal with nature

Ok ... I am SO loving the new lens for my camera! I've always had an interest in macro photography and this new lens is doing all the right things for me! As much as I don't 'do' spiders the lens is perfect for capturing them up close! This is one of many species currently occupying our house yard.

Kings Park Wildflowers

Well, for those of you that live in WA or at least near Perth there is the most magnificent display of wildflowers currently at Kings Park! I spent a bit of time there yesterday (took time out to smell the roses so to speak!) and wanted to share some of my photos with you all. Not sure what the insect was in the first shot - but it was huge!

Full Moon

Took this shot of the moon rising last night - only just getting the chance to post it here. You can just make out the power pole under the moon which show just how large the moon was!

Playing with photos

I spent a fair bit of time playing around with my camera and then the subsequent photos yesterday. I started off with this

which I managed to turn into this

Funky huh!

Perfectly formed honeycomb...

Had some bees move into a cupboard in one of our sheds the other day. After removing the bees, Brian saved me the honeycomb - minus the honey! I love it's perfectly formed little cells just waiting for that liquid gold.

Up close

Have been playing with my camera heaps of late which I am really enjoying - even entering some competitions. This is one of my favourites of late!

Weekend Away ...

Just wanted to share with you a few photos from a weekend away I had last weekend. We stayed at the Bridgetown Riverside Chalets - can recommend them to anyone! They are situated on a 1000 acre working farm on the side of the valley about 50m from the river's edge. AWESOME! I found time to take 350 odd photos, made 24 Christmas cards, took long walks, watched a few DVD's and generally had a great weekend!

Blog Candy Alert!

For your chance to win this incredible prize ... click HERE! Way to go Priscilla!

Retired stamp sets for sale

Hiya all ... just a quick note. I've had a bit of a clean up in my stamp room and have a number of now RETIRED Stampin' Up! stamp sets and punches just listed on ebay. You can check out my listing here: Ebay Listings - Aura_belle Prices start at just $5!

Retired listings include:

• Buggies & Booties
• Wee Watercolours
• French Flair B/G
• Riveting
• For a Friend
• Holiday Spirit
• Polka Dot Party
• Springtime Stems
• Polka Dot & Paisley
• In Full Bloom
• So Very
• So Many Sayings
• A Little Bit of Happiness
• From The Garden
• Good Things Grow
• Sage Advice
• Oh, so Lovely
• In Any Event
• Simple Sketches
• Spring Bouquet Flower Punch
• Paper Piecing Punch

You've gotta love unplanned weekends!

The Chittering Valley

This was our road about 10.30pm Saturday night with a 3/4 moon - you can just make out some stars too .... along with the misty fog along the water ways - cool huh!

Ok - this one you have to use your imagination a little - I saw a dog leaping towards a ball!

I'm not sure of the exact size but I would say the statue stands 15-20 foot tall - impressive!

Perth - taken from South Perth

Serpentine Dam

Canning Dam Wall - built 1933-1940 (we couldn't view much of the dam as they were repairing the wall and had it closed off to the public)

Got to spend lots of time with Brian this weekend and some time with Damian so it was a great weekend. Went for a drive out the Chittering Valley Saturday as there is a new Budhist Temple being built and I noticed the fabulous (and very large) statue last time I was out that way but didn't have a camera. We then headed into Bindoon for a wonderful bakery lunch (real pies ... Brian had Kangaroo and I had lamb & rosemary ... yummo!) before heading home. We got home fed the fur & feather children then headed off to Perth to have a quick dinner with Damian and then off to the Perth Hockey Stadium to watch the Challenge Cup - WASPS (Wesley & South Perth - Damian plays for the WASPS) v's Freo ... WASPS defeated Freo 2-Nil ... good game but it was ssssooooo cold by the time we left!

Sunday we took off for Serpentine Dam - somewhere we used to visit 2-3 times a year (or more) back when I was a kid and the smell of the flowering wattles/accacias (sp?) and burning wood brought back so many memories! From here we wandered onto Canning Dam then via the back roads we ended up in Kalamunda before heading home. I so love the hills at this time of year ... everything is green! Anyway - just wanted to share a few photos of my weekend!