The Butterfly Ball

In 1979 nothing filled my heart with joy more than hearing Roger Glover's voice belting out The Butterfly Ball on ABC television before Playschool started. Nothing that is, except for watching the video clip that went with it!

For a step back in time, visit www.theletterbug.blogspot.com to watch the original Butterfly Ball. It will be the best 3 minutes and 14 seconds of your day - I promise!!

Jen x

Mother's Day, babies and stuff

It must be a Mother's Day hangover or something, but I couldn't resist sifting through some baby photos of the Hatchlings this morning. This was the day that Hatchling No.1 arrived here on Planet Earth. Isn't he absolutely the most beautiful creature you've ever laid eyes on?

That's what I thought on the 20th October 2005. Look at that perfect little mouth. And the look of utter peace and serenity on his face. And those tiny fingers... Awwww.....

Biased? Me? No way! Hatchling No.1 really was the most beautiful newborn ever in the whole world, EVER.

No, really...

Really!

What a snoozy little character he was too. On day number one I couldn't wake this little Hatchling for love nor money. Good grief things had changed a bit by day number 31, but snoozing is still pretty high on Hatcnling No.1's priority list!

Okay, so he must have woken up at some point to schmooze Union Jack with his loving gazes.

Who knew that those tiny fingers would one day reach four and a half years old and at this very moment be throwing a ball for Phoenix at Granny Annie's place? Or getting his first taste of Aussie Rules football?

I want a newborn baby to hold - just not one that is MINE!

I am ready for that newborn baby smell, long cuddles and a hopelessly floppy head that needs holding up...

Just as long as I can hand the little bundle of joy back to their Mummy when:

A) they need a nappy change.

B) They are crying a LOT

C) They need putting to sleep

D) I get bored and want to do something else, like swing my arms, pick my toes or do the Macarena.

Anyone want to take bets on whethere there'll be a Hatchling No.3 coming any time soon? Hahaha!

Jen x

Photoshop - The Time Machine.

Recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on Photoshop CS3. As you probably know, Photoshop is fantastic photo editing software - there is pretty much nothing it can't do. CS3 is not the latest and greatest that Photoshop has to offer (CS4 is now available), but it is more than enough for a newbie like me.

HOWEVER!!!!

There really should be a warning in bold on the side of the packaging, because Photoshop is also a time machine. Really!

I can sit down to do a quick 20 minute editing session, and when I look up 3 hours have gone past. Similar to being abducted by aliens (so I believe - I have never personally been abducted by aliens), Photoshop is leaving me with many 'missing hours' in my week.

There is no time for this! I rush everywhere! I brush my teeth while I make the bed! I wash the dishes while I cook dinner and read 'Where is the Green Sheep?" to the Hatchlings!! Time (or the lack of it) is my enemy...

...I kind of love playing with Photoshop though. With persistance and a little help from The Pioneer Woman, I'm really learning a thing or two.

Take a look:

This is a picture of the Red Star cordyline that sits in a pot on my driveway.

Here it is again with a 70's effect applied to the image. Now it looks like my Red Star cordyline's Grandmother from, well, the 70's I guess.

And here she is again all funkied up for 2010. Vibrant, sharp, groovy cordyline. I like it!

Quality photographers are able to capture the perfect moment when a bee searches for pollen amongst the petals of a flower. What do I manage to photograph?

An ant.

What is an ant doing when he climbs up into the highest branches of a shrub and pretends he's a bee? I think he is an ant with big ideas and a lot of ambition. You can't knock him for that...

With a black and white treatment he now looks like a 'pin-up' ant. You know, a poster boy, a super model perhaps...

And then with some sunshine added he is transformed into a retro hippy-ant on his way to Woodstock. If he wasn't naked he'd be in brown corduroy flares and a paisley body shirt, for sure.

I rest my case. Between exploring the joy of Photoshop and writing questionable posts such as this, the mystery of my colossal laundry pile is explained.

Whatever!!

Jen x