Well, I bet you can guess by the title what I was doing on Thursday!

Yep, trying on wedding gowns. Lots of them! I swear I lost about 2 Kgs in sweat, lol.

Wow some of them were just gorgeous. Found two that had a huge WOW factor! A two-piece Ivory one, and a beautiful White one. I'm going with the Ivory one - wasn't my first choice in color, and in fact it was the only Ivory gown I tried on, but it's just beautiful.

Yes, I did get Casey to take a couple photos, but no - you don't get to see them!!

So there you go, I'm going for the romantic Ivory gown. Now all I need is a veil, shoes, dilly bag, garter, underwear, jewellery....

What could be more fun on Australia Day than jumping in the car and going on a short road trip to Latrobe to participate in Henley on Mersey?!


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They've got everything, from regatta events, fun activities for the kids, helicopter rides, RC car stunts and market stalls to wood-chopping events, the Betta Milk boat race and the famous Ferret Frolic and Ferret Racing!

This year was possibly the biggest turnout I've ever seen there - cars and people galore! The parl at Bell's Parade was packed - on both sides of the river. It's just a perfect spot for this sort of event - nice cool flowing water and loads and loads of big shady trees.

We were there for the ferret racing of course, sadly we arrived early in the afternoon so missed the boat racing. :(

The Ferret Chocolate wheel is always a big favorite - in place of the traditional wheel, a plastic half-drum with ferret sized holes cut in it is used. The ferret is places inside and the barrel spun - If you are holding the ticket corresponding to the numbered hole the ferret comes out of you win!

But! I did get some awesome ferret pictures, as well as a bit of a shock! Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett was officiating at the event, which included awarding prizes & certificates, and overseeing some of the ferret racng too. I guess he was up for a change from dealing with weasles for something a little cuter ;)

On the way home, we stopped at Ashgrove Cheese to sample their latest creations, and bring some home of course! Broc stuck to the usual suspects - Lancashire and some goold old Farmhouse, but I went a little further afield (as per usual!).

I picked out a block of their new Cumin Seed cheese - a rich creamy club cheese mixed with cumin seeds. Tastes awesome on its' own, and I'm looking forward to having it melted over some tasty curries and other delights - mmm.

I found the most awesome gift - and nibbly snack for myself - taster sticks! At $1.60 each they are great for trying new cheeses that you're still not quite sure of . I bought a stick of Double Gloucester and Bush Pepper. I was tempted to get a stick of Wild Wasabi too but luckily my local Fruit & Veggie place stocks it ;)

I also bought a stick of Lavender cheese for my Nan. It sounds unusual, and the taste is unusual too, but not at all unpleasant. A nice snacky cheese.

I also picked out a nice wedge of Heidi Farm Gruyere - very ouchy on the wallet, but sooo worth it!

We also saw some of the Cow Art on show at Ashgrove - this was my favorite. The program was developed to help schoolchildren gain a greater understanding of the dairy industry. Pretty cool eh?

You can see the full album of the days photos Here.

Holy crap is it hard to take pictures of grown up cockatiels! All they want to do is climb on you and investigate EVERYTHING!



I did manage to take some video of them, but it came out really dark. They can now be viewed live in-store at Petland though - and I'm going to try to take some more pictures of them on Tuesday.

Saying goodbye to them was pretty sad - it's amazing how you can become attatched to something in such a short amount of time. Probably somthing to do with the amount of time you have to spend with them to feed them and socialise them properly. Oh well, st least I know I've done a good job - they're really friendly, happy & healthy.

Of course the first thing I did when I went to the shop on Saturday?? You guessed it - opened their cage and got jumped on by four bouncing babies!

Anyway, enough of that! I'll post some better pics of them once I have some.

Ok, so I'm extremely slack and haven't posted since Christmas Eve - it's a busy time of year!

So, I'd better take this chance to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year, and I hope you all had a good Xmas and NYE.

Over this busy period, I've missed taking pitures of a few stages of the baby birds' development, but being slightly different ages, these photos should help make up for the last couple of weeks.

The two older ones are strengthening their wing muscles by flapping their wings a lot, and have even tested out the whole flying thing by jumping short distances while madly beating their wings - furthest flight so far: 30cm, lol. They've also started eating a little bit of food - mostly just nibbling, but they're starting to get the idea. At the moment they're getting soaked seed, and cooked Peas, Corn & Capsicum. Broccoli, Spinach and organic baby food have also been tested.

The two smaller ones have most of their feathers out and are starting to nibble at everything - each other, shed feather sheathes (i'm sure they have a proper name, lol), the material, and their feet!

All four are becoming very vocal, and I've started leaving the lid off their brooder so they can hear and see the sights and sounds of the great outdoors.

Anyway, enough of my drivel, here's the latest set of pictures. They're becoming very photogenic, don't you think??