Photo Friday - OH Deer!

Just a quick post so you know I haven't dropped off the face on the Earth. lol. I've been busying myself here, and have had a nice week. I hope you all have had a lovely week, as well!

 Today we were lucky enough to see some of Santa's Reindeer in our city centre;

Now I'm not sure if these are actual Reindeer, or just common deer? Or some other breed of deer, perhaps my English or American friends who have these beautiful animals native in their country can tell me. But I do know they are Santas, right? :-p lol!!! 

They were brilliant to see, only 4 of them, only 1 with antlers. 

They had such beautiful faces and soulful eyes.

 Such a joy to see here in my little city, on the coast of Australia.

I hope you enjoyed seeing them, Thanks for stopping by!

Photo Friday - Baby Kangaroo

Hi Friends, it's another Friday so time for more Photos!

There was not a lot happening this week! But I did get to attend a Bird Workshop at my local PetStock where we had talks from a couple of Bird and Parrot experts, and also had a toy making workshop. So that was a lot of Fun and I learned so much! 

One of the ladies is a member of a Wildlife Rescue Centre, and had a Baby Kangaroo that she was caring for! It was so little and sweet, we were able to have a pat... Here are some photos I got with my mobile cell phone, so they aren't very good, but I still wanted to share:

 

 She was so sweet and very soft to touch! I believe she is an Eastern Grey Kangaroo, they call a baby Kangaroo a Joey. The lady had said the Joeys Mother was hit by a car, and when they checked the pouch they found baby alive and well inside. So she will be raised by this lady until she is old enough to be rehabilitated back into the wild.

 - - - - -

There's not much else I photographed this week,  except for the pets - So I hope you don't mind seeing those...  But before I do, I have a bit of a funny story, that is kind of Photo Related...

I went outside to get the mail from our mail-box out the front of the house, and saw a snail on the footpath, slowly moving along. Its not unusual that if we're not quick to the letter-box that letters and junk mail can start to get eaten into by the resident snails... Holey mail is common!

 So as I brought the mail in I thought it would be good to try and get a pic of this tiny snail on the path, test my skills and such and hopefully get a good photo... So came inside, checked the mail, nothing important, went found my camera, changed the battery pack, was inside say 5 minutes, then proceeded back outside.... It was gone! Completely disappeared, and nowhere to be seen anywhere around....  I looked all up the path, and around the grass and letter box, thinking it surely can't have gone far being a snail... but nothing!!! I think I accidentally stumbled across the worlds fastest snail! TURBO IS REAL!

 HAHA!!! 

Well, our new additions - The Budgies - have settled in really well! They have lots of attitude, and are so funny to watch! 

 

Darby is mesmerized with them;

 

and Paddy doesn't much care, as long as She gets her head scratches;

 

Pushka the cat, however, likes to keep one eye on them...

 

 But all in all, he is pretty good at keeping his distance from the bird room ;-)

I hope to see you back here on Monday for a Craft Post, haven't decided yet if it will be Mixed Media, or Merry Christmas themed!

Thanks for stopping by.

Photo Friday - New Additions!

 Hi Friends it's Friday here, so its time for:

 I have some news to share along with some of my photos today, we have two new additions to our pet-family... Two Budgerigars or Budgies as we call them, often called Parakeets in other countries:

Meet;

 

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel is the skinnier, brighter green one on the left, and the chubbier darker green one on the right is Hardy... Of course named after famous comedy duo. 

 

Long story short, we went into our Pet Supplies place, to get some more bird toys and feed... and I looked at the few birds they sell, cockatiels and parakeets... Usually I just look and continue on!

But I became taken watching a lovely bright green one playing so intensely with the toys in the cage, then noticed another chubby one making noise, like he was talking... Then noticed it bopping its head at me.... I watched them for ages, and finally snapped out of my hypnosis with them, getting what I came in for... But I couldn't get them out of my mind!

The next day I decided to take Mum to see them, and became smitten with them as well!

We watched how they interacted with eachother, and the other birds in the cage, and they were really sweet with eachother, and so playful!

We went back home and thought and thought... and we just couldn't get them out of our minds!

So we had to get them today! 

They came home, and they have been so active, cheerful and loving:

 

 Look at them grooming one another! Its the sweetest thing to witness! 

I am quickly becoming a crazy bird lady, absolutely loving my feathered friends! This brings our bird-count to 4, and a total of 5 overall pets...

1 Galah, 1 Cockatiel, 2 Budiges, and 1 Cat.... You would think it would be a recipe for disaster! But the cat is very good at keeping away from the "bird room" and we tell him "no" when he does come in the room (supervised), so he knows they are not "prey".

So they are settling in beautifully here, and I just love them!

Hope you liked seeing them, too!

Here are some other photos from my week:

This was a bird on our roof, I believe its a type of Heron bird.

 

 and here are two Spotted Dove Pigeons that we get coming into our yard, 

making use of the birdbath we put in:

 

Here are some pics of a wild Mulberry tree we came across during one of our walks -

 

Cool berries:

 

and some other tree, which I just loved the branches of:

 

and a cool Philodendron plants leaves:

So that's it for this weeks Photo Friday, I hope you liked seeing my pics, and meeting my two new feathered friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Photo Friday - Bird Watching!

Hello and welcome to my second; 

This is where I will share photos I have taken from my week.

Its heating up here, becoming very summery! Beautiful warm days, and lots of sunshine, with lots of plants and trees growing and flowering. With that a lot of butterflies and birds fluttering about, especially in our yard.

My craft/computer room has a large window that faces out to our backyard where there are lots of trees and plants and I often spot common birds like pigeons, doves, sparrows, magpies, etc... But when I looked out the other day I spotted a dark black bird with shimmery blueish wings sitting on the fence! I called Mum and Dad and we both watched it and wondered what kind of bird it was, with such pretty shimmery plumage and bright red eyes! It soon flew away. But later on I spotted another bird hopping around on the fence and up the neighbours roof... So I grabbed my camera and went outside to take a photo and soon realized there were two of them:

I had never seen a bird such as these before! Grey with a black mask and black underwings... I couldn't zoom the birds up very well, without it distorting and blurring the photo - Here's a pic of the original photo and the two birds which I came to discover are called "Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike"...

As I was taking this photo, I saw and heard the flutter and shadow of a bird land on the fence beside me... I realize it was the pretty blackbird from earlier! Less than 2 meters away, staring at me! I took these photos of him, and his beautiful shimmery wings: 

He seemed very inquisitive and not afraid at all, But he soon flew away, again. My googling tells me he is called Koel, often called an Australian Koel.

***

I take my photos with a CANON G12 Powershot Camera. I am very happy with my camera, and the photos it takes. But its zooming capabilities could be better... But in googling I discovered there are many lens attachments available for it. So I intend to get some lenses for it, such as, a wide angle lens and telephoto lens and multiple filters, too.  Which should help me capture more details and clarity when zooming in. 

***

Now I'd like to leave you with a little story and some other photos I got this week. This time about our cat, Pushka. The ginger and white tabby cat who is 8 years old, but still acts like a kitten! Loves to play, jump, run and get into mischief about the house! 

We went out for an hour just to grab some groceries, and because he is an indoor cat, he is free to roam the house... Normally we keep the bedroom doors shut, so he can't get behind things and cause problems (like pulling plugs! or bending blind louvers from stalking something out of the windows!) or get near the birds in the house, who reside in my craft/computer room...

Anyway, I came home and Pushka was on the sofa chair, which is his favourite spot to sit and sleep, but I noticed he wasn't sleeping, just sitting up there... Usuaully he is fast asleep when we get home... 

 Heading up the hallway I notice my bedroom door open, in my rush to leave I had apparently not shut the door properly... So I head in there, and I notice my computer tilted and crooked on my bedside table drawer, then I notice little indentations in my blanket, leading away /or toward/ it...

Check it out:

It appears Mr Pushka is not as stealth as he thinks, and left footprints on my blanket before or after he had jumped on top of my computer, causing it to move askew. I just thought it was so funny, these little foot indentations from him!

I had to get a photo... I went out to him and asked him what he had been doing (I talk to my pets y'know, and they totally understand! lol) He totally refused to look at me, you swear he knew he shouldn't have been in there (not that I mind of course)...

When he finally did look at me, he gave such an incredulous look:

It just made us all laugh for ages. There is never a dull moment with our little rascal pets!

For Starters...

Hi Friends, my first post on my new blog! Pretty exciting!

I have been blogging for quite a few years now, under the name EmuUpAGumTree (Emu Creations) and while I liked the Aussie name, it didn't feel like ME, or the name of a craft blog... I didn't exactly have a great affinity for Emu's or had any Emu related nicknames or stories that I felt defined me in any way - but it seemed like a fun name at the time, and very Australian, so it just stuck...

I took a break from blogging to reassess why I did it, and what I wanted out of it. Also which direction I should go next in my crafting. I decided that I needed a fresh start... I have changed both creatively and personally over the years, so it seemed like the perfect timing to start again, and move on. Out with the old, and in with the new, so to speak - and looking forward...

I have always loved the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. Since I was a very small child I would obsessively watch it, driving my mother crazy. (To this day she cringes everytime it is mentioned! lol!) When I learned to read it also became one of my favourite book series.  As I grew older I have never stopped loving these magical stories! So when contemplating new blog titles, I knew I wanted to include some form of Oz-themed title to it...

 'Annmaree of Oz' was the first idea I had, but didn't reflect on the papercraft genre which my blog would be about. I knew I wanted something that at very least made mention to craft in some way, since that is what the content of my blog would be about. Brain storming continued and I went through PaperCraft City... Emerald Papercraft... Papercraft city of Oz... All not really hitting the right note...Finally I thought of The Yellow Brick Road.... and to change it to The Paper Brick Road... It was perfect! And so, I took my time, started building up a blog again, and here I am... 

I blog for myself, first and foremost. To have somewhere to write, post my creations, and  interact with my friends (and make new ones) means a lot to me. I've have struggles with Social Anxiety and Depression, so I find this blogging thing good therapy, and "safe" social interaction for me.

I'm a normal, down to earth, and kind person who is honest and believes in respect and loyalty. I believe in fairness and treating everyone well, and that there is Karma for those who don't.


I wear my heart on my sleeve, and try to find the positive in everything.

I love my town, my friends, my parents and my pets!

My fur-family are as follows...

15 year old Galah bird/parrot (Rosebreasted Cockatoo) named Patty. She is very inquisitive, smart and affectionate.

  I also have a Cat who is 9 years old, a ginger and white tabby fat cat, we named Pushka. He is cheeky and as playful as a kitten.

 

Finally we have a 10 month old Cockatiel bird, Darby. He is very happy and energetic, always playing and whistling.

I lead a simple, creative life and I'd like to think I'm a good person, friend and daughter; because that is what is important to me...

Thanks for stopping by my new blog, I will be posting creations soon!

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.

So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason.

If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said that it'd be easy; they just promised it'd be worth it."