Ok ok - I have been MIA....

WHERE have you been I hear you ask... Well, aside from ZERO motivation, I have also been busy, I have moved house, new job, new interests etc....

But, from today, I will endeavour to start blogging more on a (hopefully) daily basis.... So here is a bit of a 'backstory' post on my courtyard...

Now that the courtyard is finished, some things I have learnt...

Bronty prefers to wee on the garden bed that 'had' the prostrate form of the Casurina's near the washing line, so they have, or will, go to the great plant god in the ground...And when she does wee on the new lawn, I simply hose it in so as it doesn't 'burn'!!

I simply LOVE the lighting, the string of fairy lights light up the area nicely for a 'moody' feel, and if I want a bit more, then the chandelier comes on - either are nice alone though!!

The Canna bed may stay as a 'mono stand' of the red, time will tell as I may make it a kaleidoscope of different colours, time will tell!! haha And the climbing Roses (Pierre de Ronsard) are climbing really well, and I cant wait for next summer....

Time to relax and enjoy it now...

Hoo roo for now...

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2018 'Louise Petchell Award for individual Sustainability' winner is....

So, another year has passed and the recent LGNSW Excellence in the Environment Awards have concluded... This year, Adam Spencer again was the MC for the event held at the Waterview in Bicentennial Park, Olympic Park.

The award that I am humbled to judge, is a memorial award for Louise; The 'Louise Petchell Award for individual Sustainability' and this years winner is Peter Maganov - Randwick City Council.


Peter has been the Manager, Sustainability and Strategic Waste since the commencement of Randwick City Council's innovative ‘Sustaining our City’ environmental levy program almost 15 years ago.

Peter has led Council's small team integrating sustainability programs and aspirations across Randwick's strategies and plans, with other departments and areas of Council as well as with an extensive range of external community organisations.

Peter's commitment and leadership of Randwick's sustainability initiatives has resulted in a transformation and longevity extending throughout Council's operations, across into the wider community and to the local government sector.

Over the past 2 years, Peter has successfully lead a team who have an impressive array of achievements including:

• Completing the sustainability education 'hub' with a purpose built outdoor classroom and 'wild food', native habitat, honey and native bee trails 
• Coastal walkway upgrades protecting sensitive vegetation while providing access to a million visitors annually at South Maroubra and Malabar 
• 50 kilowatts of solar PV added at two community centres 
• Stormwater recycling now saving > 400 million litres of potable water per year 
• Electric bicycles added to fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles for staff use 
• Biodiversity design and habitat support with 8 local schools and a further 22 food and native garden grants to local schools 
• Randwick's annual Eco Living Fair providing specialist stalls, presenters and demonstrations. 
• Randwick's first Biodiversity Strategy 
• Renewable Energy Master Plan 
• An updated Energy and Greenhouse Management Plan 
• A final Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap 
• A draft Strategic Sustainability Framework. 

Peter is able to influence and negotiate on substantial programs, projects and strategies which have strengthened Randwick's sustainability results and reputation across the local government sector.

In an address to the audience, Peter commented on how much Louise was a 'dogged' person, who simply didn't understand the concept of 'no', but rather asked, 'why not'.... I know this only too well...

I would like to further extend both my thanks and gratitude to LGNSW and to Local Government Super, for the continued support of memorialising Louise...

Additional photos...

Hoo roo for now...

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Local Government NSW Environment Awards

Today, I attended the 2018 Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards. I also judged an award, in memory of Louise, and is the last award to be presented.

The Award is sponsored by Local Government Super to recognises individual achievement by a council officer or elected councillor in contributing to environmental improvement and sustainability.

The award is named in honour of Louise Petchell, Sustainability Manager at Penrith City Council, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2009. Louise was respected across the local government sector and was pivotal in the success of Penrith City Council in many Excellence in the Environment Awards.

Master of Ceremonies was Adam Spencer, who has been a breakfast radio announcer on Triple J and ABC Sydney, tv personality on everything from comedies Good News Week and The Glasshouse to weekly sports wrap the Back Page and is a member of the Sleek Geeks Science Team with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Below is a pic of him with me!!

Lunch at todays LGNSW Excellence in the Environment Awards consisted of...

Main - Baked free-ranged chicken breast served with a sautè of forest mushrooms, marsala wine sauce with a creamy polenta, truss baby tomatoes and broccolini

Dessert - Fig and honey pistachio with honey mascarpone

Yet again, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) have done an outstanding job on the awards, especially with the Louise Petchell Memorial Award for Individual Sustainability!!

For all the winners and a small brief about the awards, head to the LGNSW Awards page...

Hoo roo for now...

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Droning about...

So, in case you didn't know, I have a drone; a DJI Phantom4 to be exact... Its actually also pretty cool to extend the photography envelope as well!!

In Sydney, where the M4 meets the M7, there is the 'Lighthorse Interchange', a tangled, yet intricate web of roads making a smooth transition from one motorway to the other. It also makes for a nice photo, especially at sunset!! This image, is a four image stacked photo, which was made by 4 images of different exposures, to be able to get details from each image which you simply just would not have gotten within a single image, kind of cool hey!!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Summer Magpies

Summer has hit, the magpies are out, and I love how the chick in these photos, the first one, is looking straight down the camera at me...

After a long hiatus, and a couple of technical issues with my provider, I am back online after my hosting had been left on an old server and forgotten about. How I found out about it was, an influx with SPAM, and a decline of actual emails! But, over the past 48 hours, not a single email had come through... But, it appears to have been fixed, finally...

Hoo roo for now...

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Driving....

Ok, so today was a long day... 516.4km driven!!!

Up and out early, off to Katoomba, then sever stops along the way but ended up at Bathurst! After lunch, headed up to Mount Panorama race track for a quick lap, or four, around the 6klm track... 

Much to see and many photos taken!

Hoo roo for now...

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Cruising & City

So I skipped a day, but continuing with 'C'...

I have some friends from brisbane staying with me at the moment. They left just before Christmas on the Celebrity Solstice on a 12 night cruise over the Christmas/New Year period. I did photograph their departure, but the other morning, the 3am alarm went off as I was heading in to shoot the cruise liner coming into Sydney Harbour.

There was some stunning light about and I took a pic of the Sydney Skyline with the Opera House in it (the Harbour Bridge was to far to the right from this location really... haha)

Anyway, the MS Noordam (Holland America Line) entered through the heads first, and was lucky enough to sail past in this light...


This light didn't last that long though, when the Celebrity Solstice (Celebrity Cruises) sailed through...

It was a nice morning to have been out on the harbour...

Hoo roo for now...

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Busy and @bangkok lunch

Today is 'B' - Busy and @bangkok...

Well - today was a bit of another grey old day, and this morning, I had visitors... You see, Louise had made a quilt a couple of years before her passing in 2009. This quilt, whilst largely finished, just needed the quilting stitching done. A mates mum, who is also a quilter, is going to finish it for me.

But after they had left, I finally went and had another attempt to catch up with a mate from Canberra and his girlfriend from Geelong! I tried yesterday, but as I had just missed a train, and it was a public holiday timetable, it would have been a 2 hour train ride to them (or a 44 minute drive and then c. $40 in parking! 

So today it was it, lunch in Captiol Square @bangkok Thai Restaurant! We started with the Satay Chicken skewers (with a thick cut bread) and Em and I had the Chicken Pad See Ew. Very nice, as usual...

Later in the afternoon, after we had left, there was a fire in the lower level food court - right where we had lunch!!!

Fire crews fight Sydney building blaze

Hoo roo for now...

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Abandoned

Today I went for a bit of a drive, I really wanted it to be a 'nice day', but I got a grey and humid day that also ended up with showers... Oh well!

So I went across from Penrith to Richmond, through Agnes Banks. I thought I would have another go at going through all of the suburbs in Sydney, alphabetically. But as I had started to head north, there wasn't many with A as a start NOR was there that many, so I had a rethink!

Instead, to start with, I thought I would simply go through the alphabet, and create my own theme based on what I saw. Today, its 'A' - Abandoned...

I don't really know how I got to Freemans Reach Park, but the elevated view gave me this old, somewhat abandoned shed...


On the return towards home, through Wilberforce, I remembered that on 'Freemans Reach Rd', there was an old house, often photographed as well, so I headed up there to have a look see... It has clearly gotten a lot worse than I remembered it!!!




So thats it, 'Abandoned' is done, what a way to spend New Years Day!!! Hope you had a great New Years Eve, and a great day to start 2017!

Hoo roo for now...

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Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year

And welcome to 2017!!!

It would be remiss of me to reflect upon 2016... I sold the home Louise and I purchased in Merrylands, bought a house closer to mum, a new car, and I also ended up in intensive care of all places!!!

The move, whilst traumatic, it also closed another chapter and allowed me to become more at peace with life as well...

I am also grateful for the many MANY friends, both near and far, I have... And whilst I don't have the time to send you ALL a personal message, I am just grateful for you all just 'being there' when needed...

So, to you and your family, from me and mine, I wish you ALL a safe NYE, don't drink too much, and a safe, happy and love filled 2017, what ever it brings!!!!

Whilst the Sydney Harbour Bridge was be covered in fireworks, theres no better show, that of 'Mother Nature'...

Happy New Year!

Hoo roo for now...

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