Self Portrait - Day 16

Me with Harry Potter last night!

Blog365 - Day 43

A couple more of my latest album pages.

Self Portrait - Day 15

Okay I know I haven't really posted 15 self-portraits but it is Day 15 for everyone else, I came in late and am still trying to catch up! Me and my mochaccino at the mall, I feel like I could swim in it sometimes.

Scatterday S - 16 Feb 2008

I could only think of one fruit starting with S & I was sure everyone else was going to use it so I came up with something different 'Simply Squeezed Fruit Smoothie with Spirulina'. The other two are - gold Souvenir and Sheepskin sure makes me itch! Can you tell I was souvenir shopping this week?

Credits: Cinnamon Sticks QP by Melissa Bennett, http://tinyurl.com/2dptmw

Curly Chipboard Alpha by Lauren Bavin, http://tinyurl.com/yvm7g9

DSP Drip font by Suzanne Walker, http://tinyurl.com/3d3nwh

So Happy Addon by Rene Bross, http://tinyurl.com/3x8udd

Blog365 - Day 42

I took these few photos in New Lynn village where the flowers are a riot of colour at the moment, the council really do a super job with the gardens around the shopping centre.

Self Portrait

Couldn't sleep this morning so here I am already, done my self portrait for the day too.
Not looking good, raining & overcast but still darn hot! When I saw this photo I realised I should be doing lots more walking, my shorts are too tight! Well, I KNEW they were tight just didn't realise what they looked like from the back view!

Harry again

Catching up on posting a few layouts I've done lately, these two of DGS Harry, photos taken when we were babysitting him at various times. He is so photogenic - when he wants to stop, which isn't very often, I have to take them when I can!

Credits: After the Rain by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/2p6rlq
As I Ride By by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/24ycox
Australian Opals 2 by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/39y2r4
Australian Opals Addon by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/34dr3s
Autumn's Nature by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/35ootk
Geometric QC by Lauren Bavin, http://tinyurl.com/yr4ok5
Settled In by Elisabeth Weaver & Beth Nixon, http://tinyurl.com/ywp2d2
Sunny Disposition by Elisabeth Weaver, http://tinyurl.com/3abnsw

Credits: A Kid's Life QP by DeDe Smith of Designs by DeDe, http://tinyurl.com/2efj63
Fun Lovin' by Rene Bross, http://tinyurl.com/2jzg3y

Blog365 - Day 40

After the madhouse of the last few days I didn't do much at all today, just relaxed in front of my computer.

Today's self portrait including my microfiche reader and all my photo boxes minus the five that the camera was sitting on!

Still a few more photos from Monday's day in town. After we came down to earth (from the revolving restaurant) this is what greeted us as we came back into the SkyCity foyer - Chinese New Year of course.

And then onto a bit of souvenir shopping with my friends, this is a window of hand carved Maori masks, Mere (flat club) and TokoToko (walking sticks).
These caught my eye, handmade ceramic tiles with lovely colourful NZ icons.

Piles of sheepskin rugs, slippers, cushion covers & toys.

I think these are the most beautiful glass bowls, made to look like Paua shells, also known as Abalone. I want one! Made by Flame Daisy of Nelson, just gorgeous.
Allan & Elizabeth in front of the ship, it was the most glorious day and the water was so still. Their room had a balcony they could sit out on, now I can't remember if they said it was below or above the fourth lifeboat from the right! The trip of a lifetime for them, they were telling me there are people on board who do it every year, lucky for some.

Blog365 - Day 39

For my 'self portrait a day' challenge photos I took some in a couple of weird places today - at the hairdressers and the blood bank! Weather still unbearably hot but I managed to get caught in the rain without an umbrella so that cooled me off!

Okay so it's not so flattering but I was just pointing the camera in what I hoped was the right direction and hoping for the best, at least it's not up my nose! The hairdresser now thinks I'm a little potty as do all the nurses at the blood bank!
I asked the one who was seeing to me to take a few photos but she didn't really have a clue about what to do, she was looking through the viewfinder holding it about a foot away from her eye! They all turned out blurred, oh well never mind I did manage to take this one with my left hand. Now for some more photos from yesterday.

This is part of the Port of Auckland with the start of the yacht marina and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

A bit further around this is the Westhaven Yacht Marina and the approach to the harbour bridge. The large buildings behind on the North Shore are the Chelsea Sugar Works.
Now you can see why Auckland is called 'The City of Sails' - it's a wonderful sight when yachts come from all over on our Anniversary Day (Jan 29) to join in the Southern Hemisphere's largest one day yacht regatta.

My house is somewhere in this photo! Looking out toward the Waitakere Ranges in the distance, I live at the foot of them on the edge of Titirangi/New Lynn.

The large brown building in the middle is the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell where Sir Edmund Hillary's body lay in state when he passed away last month. Just behind it (to the right of the photo) you can barely see the roof (behind a tree) of the smaller older 1886 church St Mary's Cathedral where his state funeral took place before he was laid to rest at a private cremation. Don't forget you can click on a photo to see a larger version.

A small version of an American motorway! On the right hand side a bit more than half way up you can see a large old red brick building, that is Auckland Girl's Grammar School that I went to back in - oh heck the mind boggles - 1952-1954!

Looking out towards the Hauraki Gulf on the way to Waiheke Island.

I took advantage of the empty tables to get a shot of the revolving part of the restaurant, they didn't stay like this for very long though, it's a popular place. The outer perimeter where the tables & chairs sit is the only part that revolves with the kitchen, toilets, lifts etc being stationary in the middle, you have to remember to check the closest number to your table so you don't get lost if you go to the toilet.

This is Albert Park in the centre of the city where they're holding the Festival of Lanterns in 10 days, I'm hoping to be able to make it one night while it's on.

I was fascinated with the reflections of all the red lanterns in this building.

And finally for tonight the ship up close, as close as I was allowed anyway.......and so to bed.

Blog365 - Day 38

Today I took the train into town to meet some friends from England who were here for the day on their 'Around the World in 80 Days' cruise on the P&O ship 'Aurora'.

So starting from when I hopped off the train at Britomart Station I took this of the old facade that used to be the main GPO in town before the railway station was built a few years ago. You can see the start of the modern station just inside the doorways. BTW the clock was stopped, it was only about 11am.

This is one of the city link buses that does the round trip of the main city including Ponsonby and Newmarket.

With it being the Chinese New Year the whole length of Queen St was decorated with these beautiful Chinese Lanterns. I like the contrast between them and the old ferry building, that clocked had also stopped - maybe there is some truth in what they say about NZ 'the last one to leave please turn out the lights'!!

This is the Queen's Arcade at the bottom of Queen St, another very old building that has been upgraded in recent years but still has that olde worlde feel about it.

Oops how did that get in here? It must be Valentine's Day!

I was meeting Allan & Elizabeth for lunch at the Orbit Restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower but I was early so I sat outside & had a cup of coffee and saw everyone looking skyward, when I looked up there was this man jumping from the top of the tower, just had time to point the camera up and he went zooming past - just as well he had ropes attached LOL.

This is the Orbit revolving resaurant from down below, the restaurant is behind the middle row of blue windows, the row below is the observation deck that we stopped at on the way up and where I took this photo for my 'Self Portrait a Day'.

Taken 186 metres up above the Auckland city centre. Photo fixed in PhotoShop because while hanging on for dear life I took one photo and was out of there before that very flimsy looking 38mm (15") thick glass broke under my weight! Not the most flattering photo of our city but I don't care!

Elizabeth & me sitting in the restaurant, one full circle takes about an hour and the views are out of this world but very hard to take photos when the glass is blue! We are laughing at Allan trying to take the photo, it was about his 4th attempt and it wasn't until afterwards I noticed I had forgotten to take the lens hood off!

A shot of all the new apartment buildings down in the Viaduct Basin area, you can see one of the really old shop buildings still there down the bottom on the right.

The Aurora, wonderful how the other half live isn't it!

The city in the forefront with the container wharf and looking out past North Head on the North Shore to Rangitoto in the distance, one of the many volcanoes that Auckland is built on, none of them extinct either! That's enough for today, my legs are aching from all that walking in this heat, more tomorrow.

Self Portrait - Day 2

Seeing I am 18 hours ahead of EST I'm able to post my second day today because EST has now gone ahead one day since I posted my first self portrait. This one shows how hot it is here, in the time it took me to take a few photos it melted all over my hand!

And look at this, just delivered to my computer! DH was sick of waiting for his dinner! Doesn't it look delicious, miles too much but I'm not complaining :).

Oh my goodness I'm going to burst! I suppose I'd better go and do the dishes now.

Blog365 - Day 37

Today must be the hottest most humid day of the summer so far, I have a sleeveless top on and for me to do that means it must be hot and I don't care what I look like! Earlier on the sky was black which promised some rain.

And sure enough down it came, in torrents!

But not for long, it cleared up soon after. While I was hanging out the window getting a shot of the rain I took this one of my neighbour's roof, I quite liked the shot.

Today on DSP I joined in a photograph 'Self Portrait a Day' challenge, goodness knows why anyone would want to look at me everyday but it sounds like fun so here's my first one, taken with my new love. Note I've hidden the bare arms!