Saturday 29 November 2008

Solace

Click the photo to view it Large on Black, at Flickr
This photo is available as: CD, P, LP, MP, MTP, CP, FP.

I have been a little up and down lately. My Ex Girlfriend has finally signed two Real Estate Agreements after having denied me two previously. I don't want to go on too much about how she has been behaving because there is still legal action pending in regards to fighting her for what is rightfully mine. Needless to say, after she left 4 years ago, she never put a single cent into this property (and I was the sole financial contributor while we were together) and yet she insists I give her a huge share of the profits from the sale of the houses. Not only that but will not pay any rates or insurances on the houses and still wants to see Real Estate agreements etc. She basically has me imprisoned here. I am just grateful at least now she has actually signed these latest two and I can now sell and hopefully move home and continue to fight her for what is rightfully mine.

Thursday saw me get yet another huge bill assosiated with this property. Once again I have forwarded the details to my solicitor and to the bussiness involved and asked that she pay half this bill considering she wants a share of the profits. It's only fair. Yet I know she won't and I simply fall further and further in debt having to pay for 100% of the expenses on this property. So with my head about to explode I took a long drive with Fudge and got some gorgeous sunset photos.

This one reminds me that no matter how chaotic and stressful things seem to be you only need to stop and look and you will always find peace and beauty around you if you want to allow that into your life. It lifted me so much. :)

If you would like to buy this photo as a card or even as a fully framed print, just click on the little letters under the photo to check out my prices. :)

Friday 21 November 2008

Thank you Ibah~ - Jordy's Card :)

Click the Card to go leave a comment in Flickr :)

I would like to thank a new friend of mine Ibah~ from Flickr, for this beautiful gift to Jordy. :) VBS

She read Jordy’s Story here on my blog and wanted to share the love as much as she could and made this gorgeous card for him, signed by friends and fur kids alike :) :) Jordy loves it so much!!!

Thank you so much to Ibah and everyone else involved in making this loving card for Jordy :) :)

Thursday 13 November 2008

The Strongest Man in the World



Well my little man seems to be recovering from his latest surgery pretty well. :) His fur is slowly growing back over his face and arm and the parts of Cancer they burned off have scabbed up pretty well and should heal soon. When I first got him home I kept him inside for a few days. We went out together at night so he could go to the toilet privately (giggle) and have a little sniff around etc :) He really hates being locked up inside and I hate taking that freedom from him, even though I worry about him so much and would rather have him inside with me all the time. He just seems to get a little depressed being locked up and I would rather the last few months of his life to be spent happy and carefree :)




He finished a course of anti-biotic tablets on Wednesday, so all he has to take from now on is some pain killer and anti inflammatory drops in his food and eye drops twice a day. He hates the eye drops the most, but I think he also understands he needs to have them. I always cuddle him so close after I give those and tell him how much I love him. I can't believe the strength he has. He is such a brave and humble kitty! I am so proud of him for all he has suffered and gone thru. I just wish now we could have cured him, but I know he has had a wonderful life and he has given me so much happiness and so many beautiful memories. It's going to be very hard to say goodbye to him :(



I would like to thank Ibah so much for her support with helping to get the Jordy Story out there and also recently for the wonderful Card she has made for people to sign and send their love and wishes to Jordy. It is really appreciated so much!! {{{{{{hug}}}}}

If you would like to see how the Jordy Fund is going click HERE and have a look at all the wonderful support Jordy and I have received. If you would like to also support Jordy you can purchase anything I have for offer on my Red Bubble site from T-shirts and Calendars to Framed Prints and Cards.


Thank you all so very much!!!!

Saturday 8 November 2008

Jordy The T-Shirt :)


Another Tee for those who have followed the Jordy Story and would like to have something they can wear proudly in support of him and myself :) :) If you would like to see how the Jordy Fund is doing click HERE

This Tee was lovingly designed and offered to me to go towards the Jordy Fund by my Angel TBO. Here is what she has to say about it :) :)

Jordy is the biggest cat and loudest purrer I have ever seen/heard! He is also loved dearly by so many. He is loved so much he’s like everyone’s favourite teddy bear from our childhood. He’s a tough kitty in every sense of the word!

The reason why i wanted to do this b/c i think its important to give. I do this without my TBO logo, this is not about me, but about Craig and Jordy, both whom I love so much. If two people can work together and get a message out there, then its twice as powerful. So if you’re a fan of TBO or a fan of Craig and Jordy’s – or even both (oh you!) then buy this tee and show your support!

Thank you so much Princess … we love you so much!!! XXX


P.S. Click the Tee above to view Colours and sizes :)

Or Click here to view this at Red Bubble and read the comments :)

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Jordy Update (Wed 5th Nov 2008)



Well I was meant to take Jordy to the Vet (who was visiting town today) but I ended up rushing him into the Vet 45mins away yesterday after a sleepless night with him on Monday. I have him home with me again, he stayed in there over night because he had eaten Monday morning and they didn’t want to put him under on the day because of that. Sunday night while I was petting him in the quiet in bed, I could hear strange noises coming from his head. At first I thought it was the sound of static, but it wasn’t making the noise when I stroked his back, so I listened closer and a huge fear struck me. It sounded as if the skin on his head was dead and was crinkling as I petted him. I panicked!!! I thought that the Operation months ago had failed and that the blood supply to his skin there had stopped and I also linked the blood from his eye to that.

The vet assured me that his skin was fine. She suggested it might have been trapped air under the skin. Although she explained something to me that I didn’t understand before now properly….. Jordy isn’t cured of cancer. :( As a matter of fact it is just going to get worse for him and what I am doing is just prolonging his life (and therefore maybe also … his pain) :( The cancer he has on his eyelid is not curable … just treatable. I can keep taking him to have bits and pieces of it frozen off … but it will get worse and worse and his pain will continue to get worse also. I am not sure now if I should be continuing to keep the treatment up or not :( This visit alone cost me just under $400. It’s money I don’t have as I am still paying off his Operation, with the help and support and love of those who have contributed to the Jordy fund thus far.

Sadly now I (and all of you who have followed his story) will need to figure out when the time has come to let Jordy be free. It’s not something I want to think about right now, but it is something that will happen in the next few months and this is so hard for me right now. I would like to thank you all for your compassion and love, following Jordy's story and letting him into your hearts. I know my love for Jordy is shared by so many of you and it helps so much. I am so sorry this update isn’t as happy as I would have liked it to have been. He is still here and he is happy and comfortable. And I love him VERY much … we all do!!!

Sunday 2 November 2008

Sweet Dreams

Jordy hasn't seemed to be himself much lately. He has taken to going up to my room and sleeping under the bed by himself which is very unlike him. His eye has been bleeding on and off since I got him back. About every week or so it lets go of a lot of blood so I am hoping it isn't another tumor in behind his eye.


Hopefully it is just an infected third eye-lid which I will be able to have removed. I haven't had the money to drive him the hour to the Vet plus pay for the bill sadly. But I found out they come here to town once a month and so have booked him in to see them on Wed 5th Nov.

They said they can't do a lot but will have a look at him and at least we will know if this is serious or not. Fingers crossed it's nothing to worry about. I hate to think my little boy is in pain and isn't telling me. He is so strong and I love him so much!!!

Sunday 21 September 2008

2009 Calendars for sale

I have finally got around to adding 2009 Calendars in my Red Bubble site. There is a limited choice there at the moment, but keep an eye on the Calendar Section as I will be adding more in the near future.

Into The Trees ------------------- Into The Trees II ----------------------Bug's Life

Just click the picture above to go and have a look at what each Calendar includes :)

If you have an idea for a Calendar using my photography, drop me a line and I will Custom make one for you. Just include the names of my photos from either Red Bubble or Flickr and let me know the order you would like them :)

Don't forget that all Profits from all my sales go towards the Jordy Fund.


Saturday 13 September 2008

Love Is Blind - Painted :)


I received the most beautiful gift from my sweet Soulmate for my 41st Birthday this year. She surprised me by doing this gorgeous painting of Jordy and sent it to me in the mail. :) Needless to say when I opened that package from her and saw this I cried my eyes out!!


Jen, I love you so much darling and you have no idea how much I love to hold you!! I feel your love so much everyday and in so many ways :) Thank you so much Darling for bringing me to believe again!! xoxo

You can see more of Jen's wonderful creative work (and maybe even buy some acrylic on Cardboard just like this) by going to her site here. :) VBS

Monday 2 June 2008

A Night Like This .....

Last night I took a bit of a drive to a nearby town called Doodlakine which is 15km East of Kella. The town itself is a little off the Great Eastern Highway and has a nice little traffic island at the turnoff to the town, so I figured I would set my tripod and camera up and see what sorta long exposure traffic photos I could get. Everything I do is a learning experience and so, even though these photos look sorta cool, I know I could do better. Let me explain ;) One thing I have realized with these is, it's much better if there is moon light as it lights up any clouds and landscape features a lot better ;) I'll paste a few of the photos and have a bit of a blah blah about what I think. Hopefully if you are thinking of trying these long exposures my experience might help you get better shots :)

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/5.6; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

This was one of the first photos I took, looking west into the set sun. I like how the sky looks with the 40s exposure, but don't like how the lights on the truck aren't illuminating the objects it passes close too. This is where I think these shots would be suited to being taken later (well after the sunsets glow has gone) but with the light from the moon coming into play.

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/4.5; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

This one was taken shortly after. This was of a car coming from the town and turning in front of me onto the highway. I like in this shot that the headlights of the car have lit up the tree trunks etc in the background. I think it's a better idea to have in mind a place where trees are close to the road ... or objects encroach over the road and will be lit up nice by the headlights etc. It really adds something else to the photos. Another thing I have noticed is that it is hard to get good focus because when you are framing the shot, it is pretty dark and doesn't make focusing easy. This is easier when there is a car or truck coming from behind because they illuminate the scene you are going to take and so give you a chance to focus properly.

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/3.6; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

Okay, now it's getting a lot darker. ;) I like the feel of this one so much more than the first, because you can really start to see the lights on the truck so much better. It would have been a lot better if he had had his lights on high beam though, there isn't a lot that is exposed in the background as he got further away from me. There was a car coming from the other direction and so he dimmed his lights. The reason you can't see the car in this photo is because as soon as I started to see the headlights of the car, I placed my hand in front of the lens so that that wouldn't be exposed.


Exposure time: 60 s; F-Number: f/5; ISO: 125; Metering Mode: Pattern

Now ... with this shot I seem to be getting somewhere closer to what I would like. I changed the Exposure Time up to 60s, ISO went to 125 and F-Number to f/5 allowing for more light to be exposed in the shot. This was a shot of a car first ... that had the high beam on and has illuminated the trees really well. The truck came into shot just as the 60 seconds where up and so the shutter closed while it was in the shot like this which I actually like :) I think you would be able to get this same effect putting your hand (or a dark card) in front of the lens at that time to stop any more light from being exposed :) I also like the tiny star trail in the sky :)


Exposure time: 60 s; F-Number: f/13; ISO: 125; Metering Mode: Pattern

And finally as I was coming home and driving into Kella I pulled over out the road a little and set up a shot looking into town down the main street. Usually with a 60s exposure in town like this the street lights get really bright, but I think because I was actually out the road a little, it helped heaps to keep them from over exposing. I also LOVE how the colours from the lights in the Gull Service Station have a different effect on the feel of the photo (that tree looks yum LOL). But the thing that amazes me most is the stars!! I can't believe how well the stars have shown up in this.

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Ta Daaaaaaaa :) :)

VBS :) Well .... it has been quite a while since I posted an update; mainly because I wanted to give Jordy a chance to heal so the new photos wouldn't be more of the same. His healing is coming along really well :) :) His fur still hasn't grown all the way back, but already it is covering the scar really well :)

And Jordy seems to be doing much better than he was before the operation ... he's much more smoochie (is that possible) and is eating more and is now staying much closer to the house during the day. He even now has a routine where he sleeps with me every night :) :)

We would both like to thank you all so much for following his progress and also for taking the time to look, comment and donate you time, love and money :) :) Remember that I will be donating ALL the profits from the sales of my work at Red Bubble towards the cost of the operation until that is paid in full ... and will continue to put the works sold and total made in the Jordy Fund :) :)

Saturday 5 April 2008

My Alien is Home :) :)


Well ... he is finally home :) My little baby man!! It was the biggest day yesterday and I will never forget when the Nurse and Dr walked me into the consultation room and I saw him in his little cage. So raw ... so stitched ... but he saw me with his single eye ... and meowed!! I nearly cried!! Jordy I have been so worried about you. God I missed you matie!!! Straight away I let my fingers weave between the mesh at the front of the cage ... and straight away he rubbed my fingers .... like only he knows how to do. :) :)

The Dr started to explain to me exactly what they had done ... and how I should now care for him. Thankfully they had a written sheet made up for me, because his words seemed garbled and no matter how much I tried to listen and look at the Dr ... my eyes kept being drawn back to Jordy in his tiny cage, wanting out so he could give Dad a damn good cuddle.




So we both looked at each other while the Dr said his stuff ... I thanked him and the Nurse and made my way back to the car with him. For the last 4 days Jordy has been spoiled rotten by being in a much larger cage ... with his collar on and being so confined now in his smaller pet cage he was very anxious to just be out. I reached over again and put my fingers thru the mesh and started tickling his neck ... he started weeing .... *Good boy Jordy ... I don't care matie, let it all out. The towel will soak it up and we'll be home in 2 hrs anyway.*


He and I slept together alone last night. Fudge was not happy. Needless to say, apart from the wounds from surgery and the cumbersome collar ... Jordy was being his usual self (which meant waking Dad every hour for rubs). I didn't get a lot of sleep ... but I was so happy :)



Okay ... so for the next 2 weeks Jordy has to be kept confined in a room by himself. It was going to be my bedroom, but after last night, I think the spare room would be a better option. ;) The stitches will be taken out after two weeks and then we can remove his collar. :) I bet he can't wait for that. :) I fed him last night ... to do so I needed to remove his collar which was fine while he was eating, but boy do I need to keep an eye on him. Without warning he will start scratching at his stitches, so I needed to find an easier way for him to eat and drink (and so he can have food and water while I am at work) without taking his collar off. Thanks to Jen (TBO) we figured out a way :) Two One Litre Milk Cartons cut down the middle so he can get his face in there without the collar getting in the way.

So now it's just a matter of letting the tissue heal and waiting for the two weeks to have the stitches taken out. We aren't out of the woods yet. There are still a few things that could go wrong (like the flap of skin not getting enough blood supply and dying etc) but as far as things look right now he is 100% :)




Thank you so much to everyone for your well wishes and you donations towards the Jordy Fund. :) Until these bills have been paid fully ... I will be donating 100% of all the profits I make in Red Bubble towards that Jordy fund. So if you buy something of mine ... I will be putting your purchase and Profit on the Jordy Fund Page.

His ears were removed 10 years ago from skin cancer ... this time he had his right eye removed. His lip and nose look pulled in the photos (they are from stretching the skin to cover his eye socket) but over time that will relax and will cover with fur and will hardly be noticeable :) He doesn't look the best ... but I am just happy that he has had the cancer removed ... and to be honest with you ... I think he is going to look just as handsome ... if not MORE so with only one eye and no ears :) :)









Tuesday 18 March 2008

The Jordy Fund at Red Bubble

Well most of you would know I received some bad news about Jordy last week. If you haven’t read about it, you can here

My Vet also suggested she could give me a referral the the Murdoch University Cancer Care unit for Animals in Perth, if I wanted to see what sort or treatment etc was available for Jordy if I wanted to go down that road as well. I couldn’t not use the referral and have Jordy get worse and put to sleep soon … and always wonder if maybe I could have done more to help. I am sooooooo glad I took him to Perth today!!! I left him there for an hour while the surgeons looked over him and they gave me three options.

  1. Leave him be to let the cancer spread to his lungs shortly and just give him a good quality of life until such time that the pain was too much and have him put to sleep (this option was the only hope the Vet had given me!!!)
  2. Scrape his tumor and do a course of Chemo to shrink and slow the growth and spread … and monitor him with subsequent checkups and then give him a few extra months before having to make the decision.
  3. Remove his eye and the surrounding tissue, check the nasal cavity and use skin from his head to patch the eye and he would almost certainly be free of the cancer (if it hasn’t spread yet) and could live another 2 years or more until he died of old age.

So I am opting for number three of the above … but this is where I want to ask you all a big favour.

The operation is going to cost me $3000, money I don’t have right now. The operation also needs to be done as soon as possible!!! The longer it is left, the more likely the cancer has spread and the chances of this operation working become less.

What I want to ask you all (beg even) is that you support me in giving Jordy the chance to live and die in a few years of natural causes, rather than in about three months if I do nothing … buy buying my work here at Red Bubble. For every cent of Profit I make from today I will be putting in a Fund especially for Jordy’s Operation and I will start a new Journal Entry at Red Bubble called The Jordy Fund where on request, I will paste the product bought, who bought it and how much profit (with a running total) has gone towards Jordy’s Operation. Normally I would save and plan when I needed money for something, but this is very important for me to do ASAP and so your help would be greatly appreciated. And it doesn’t matter if you just buy a card … or a Full sized Framed Print. It ALL means something to me. I appreciate your help so much and so does Jordy.

Saturday 15 March 2008

If Only Tonight We Could Sleep ....... forever.







(Click the lyrics to listen to the song)






Today I received some sad news. My little Jordy man has Cancer again. :( I am at a point right now where I am very lost. Anyone that knows me well enough, will understand the bond I have with my Three Boys ... but especially so with Jordy ... my little Alien.




When Jordy was about 4 years old, he got skin cancer in his ears. Something a lot of animals with white fur get. Luckily Kim and I got him to the Vet before it had a chance to spread and they cut it out. Since then, Jordy has been my no ears little Alien. The Ironic thing is that when Kim brought him home as a Present ... I said he was the ugliest cat I had ever seen .... he is now the most beautiful thing I have had in my life.




The vet has told me without Chemo, he probably has about 3 months to live ... but that is with pain. :( I can't afford the Chemo for him sadly. :( And even with the Chemo, the cancer is too far spread ... it won't cure him this time ... just prolong his life.




With a heavy heart I now need to make a decision on timing :( At some time soon I need to figure out that Jordy is suffering and allow him to be free of that, so he can forever watch over me. This will be one of the hardest things I will have done. I am going to share the next few months here .... some of this may not be nice, but it will help me too. I am going to miss .... this gorgeous Monkey on My Back so much!!!


Saturday 8 March 2008

Getting Ready

View looking over the top of the Dump Pocket to the control Panel for the Rock Breaker. The Dump Trucks dump to the right of this photo.


So the very first thing that we had to do was to clear all the rubble out of the bottom of the Dump Pocket and get ready to lift the Spider and Mantle free of the Crusher. Usually (in the photo above) the Pocket would be full of Earth and rocks from the Dump Trucks and that Rock Breaker is used to break up the larger boulders. Just out of shot at the bottom is where the crusher sits level with the bottom of the Pocket. The controls for the Rock Breaker are where the right most guy is standing. Not a great job to have, with all the dust and noise!!!


The Photo above shows the hole that goes down inside the crusher (in the middle of the Dump Pocket). Usually the barriers and yellow safety cages wouldn't be there and there would be a Spider sitting on top of the huge lifting lug at the top of the Mantle. This photo was taken looking from the Rock Breaker Controls. The spider (see below) has already been removed and we are now in the process of hooking up the Gantry Crane to lift the 80 or so Tonne of Mantle out. The Crusher extends down into the next level underground and will need to be core drilled around it's base to be removed. It's in three parts and has concave wear plates covering the inside of it. The whole lot needs to come out.

This is the Spider which sits on top of the Mantle to protect the lifting lug and help disperse the Earth and boulders evenly into the crusher.


Monday 3 March 2008

My Time at Tom Price

Map showing location of Tom Price in WA.


During August of 2006, I spent 35 days in the Iron Ore Mine at Tom Price in the North of WA. I worked as a Trade Assistant up the top of the Mine in the Pit. What our job entailed, was changing out the old rock crusher for a reconditioned one from Japan. The original Primary Crusher had been in place since 1967 or so and it took the full 35 days to remove the old one and replace it with the new one. The Crusher is a mechanism which has a rotating Mantle within a shell, when the Dump Trucks dump their rock into the pit, it falls through the crusher, thus getting crushed. The heaviest part of the Crusher was 80 tonne from memory, that was the Mantle.


This is a rough diagram of the different levels and what things are called so as I post photos it can be used as reference :) :) The rock was dumped in the Dump pocket, crushed thru the crusher and then the conveyors at the bottom took it out for further processing.

The Dump Pocket. This is the very top of the Crusher where the Dump Trucks back into and dump the raw rocks.


Thursday 28 February 2008

Awwwww :) :) Here is a Collab between the Wonderfully Tallented (and very beautiful VBS) TBO (Jen) and myself. :) :) She so loved the photo of mine called Summit, she wanted to do the collab. Who was I to disagree? :) :) Thanks Jen, you did such a beautiful job :) :) VBS I LOVE IT!!!!.

Here is what Jen says in Red Bubble about the Vector she added :) :)

My fav photo by for such a long time, was Honey Tracks, but more recently was overtaken by an absolutely gorgeous shot called Summit

Such a little complex world, almost alien, really captured something in me, more than usual with a photo from Craig. So I thought I would place a bit of myself in there, in a little world where the (TBO) Geishas live. If you’ve seen the movie, The Cell, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The Geisha plays a Biwa ~ 琵琶. A Biwa is a Japanese short necked fretted lute, which is played with a

The Biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten (Benziaten), Goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Buddhism. (thanks wiki) I have illustrated Benten before, and plan to post my Goddesses again soon.

She is holding a plectrum used for the Biwa, which is known to up to 25+ cm wide. According to popular belief, this was due to its popularity among samurai – the plectrum having to double as a weapon, although its size and construction influences the sound of the instrument as the curved body is often struck percussively with the plectrum during play. (yay wiki again!)


Tuesday 26 February 2008

Blogged Again :)


It's always interesting seeing where abouts my photography gets blogged and why. I was doing a bit of a search tonight and stumbled upon one of my photos blogged on the above site. :) :) What amazed me the most with this was the name of the blog *the dummy corporation blogging contemporary art in ohio and around the world*. And also the fact that they choose to use my Photo In Your House out of ALL the photos in Red Bubble!! WOW!! :) :) :)

Sunday 24 February 2008

What It's Like (Original)

This is the Original (off the camera) shot of "What It's Like" that I modded and posted on Red Bubble. You can see the Spider Webs much more clearer in this and can also see a cocoon like web in the background that I removed for the modded version. I was also going to remove the other insect that seems to be hanging onto the leaf, but left it there as it seemed to add a little depth to the overall photo. You can see the modded version of this here. :)

Friday 22 February 2008

Isn't Love Beautiful :) :)

I have been meaning to start writing again, I have so many wonderful emotions flowing through my soul right now ... and every time I think I find some time to sit and express how I am feeling in words something comes up. I have also been a little under the weather of late ... but ....!!!!

It has been such a wonderful time, these last couple of months :) I am falling so hard and I love her so much!! She means the world to me and she makes me feel so happy and so loved!!

It doesn't really matter if I feel a little sick, or unmotivated. If I come home from work a little down ... as soon as I see you baby ... I am so high again!!! I can't believe how good it feels to have you in my life. You are the single most important thing to me sweetheart and I am falling deeper and deeper in Love with you every single day! :) You are the most beautiful Woman And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Darling :) :) I LOVE YOU!!!! I can't wait for all my dreams to become yours as well Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah