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Post by skimble on May 1, 2009 2:34:29 GMT -7
Or, the thread where we show off our photos and brag about all the fun we're having. Whichever works! Today Fingerpaints took me to Hunter Valley Gardens - like a botanical garden - which is just glorious. It's a formal garden with several sections - an Indian herb garden, a Chinese water garden, an orchard, etc. etc., but also with a really awesome Storybook Garden featuring characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The weather was bright, sunny and perfect, so we had a ball! We, of course, brought our ponies along for the ride (we actually found Kimono and Tinka on the way in an op shop, our only pony find despite hitting about fifteen op shops yesterday and today) and had a BLAST taking photos of them in such a gorgeous setting! (Of course, the looks we got while having such a fun time with our ponies made it all so much the funnier!) This is the formal garden featuring statues of playing children: THIS beauty is the awesome Italy Bubbles Fingerpaints had waiting for me when I got off the plane Wednesday night. Isn't she gorgeous? She was in the company of a mini-Fingerpaints (the pony!) and a couple of petites and an RD, all gorgeous, and such a wonderful surprise! She's sitting on a table in a pavillion overlooking the cast statues - the table itself is astoundingly gorgeous, too! Fingerpaints and her hand-bag pony, Pinkie Pie: My hand-bag pony, Baby Shaggy, stopping to smell the roses: Pinkie Pie on a basin of flowers. Basins like these, filled with flower-heads, were EVERYWHERE, and so gorgeous! Our op-shop rescues, Kimono and Tinka, on a fountain! (They hadn't been cleaned yet, hence the slightly crazy hair. But we just had to put a pony on a fountain...) Kimono on a bed of Korean Velvet Grass, which looks really spongy and soft enough to sleep on (but isn't quite so soft as it looks once you touch it.) Doesn't she look comfy? The Gardens were filled with waterways, lakes and waterfalls: Kimono and Italy Bubbles making fast friends on a rest break! Family shot of the photo gang: This is Bubbles in one of the displays in the Storybook Garden, making friends with Ladybird (not the Greek darling, though!): These photos are from a display of Alice in Wonderland - the Tea Party, of course! So Fingerpaints and I just had to put our ponies on all the cakes, despite the weird glances we got from passers-by (but hey, the gardens are so much more fun with ponies to take photos of!) Here's Fingerpaints in front of a scene (the Cow jumped over the Moon!) and doesn't she look pretty when you catch her smiling? Fingerpaints and some awesome topiary horses: In the Asian garden, they had lots of ponds filled with lillies and a few flowers: Here's Kimono come home! Fingerpaints trying to take over Kimono's bridge... Shaggy beside another basin of flowers. This is before she turned around and started admiring her own reflection... And more flowers, 'cause they're so pretty! Part of the Gardens features a formal square-layout garden, with statues and fountains, and there's a lookout where you can see it from above. Of course, said photo is no good without a pony to focus on, so here's Bubbles and a really awesome background! This is the waterfall that runs into the lakes in the Asian garden: This is the pavillion in the Asian garden from above, where we took the Kimono photo! Yesterday Fingerpaints took me to a nature reserve as well as op-shopping, so there's a few pics of Koalas (and Shaggy!) I have yet to upload, so I'll get onto that in my next post! This thread owes a huge, huge, huge shout out to Fingerpaints, who is being the best pony friend and most awesome host to me, I can't thank her enough for her awesome generosity (and putting up with me after I flaked out after doing a stupid and jamming my finger in her car door!) and the very least I can do is mention it here! Thank you SO much for having me!
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on May 1, 2009 3:32:56 GMT -7
Skimble & I have had an absolute BLAST today, as well as yesterday, but today was more full of ponies, giggles, and alot of wierd looks by passers by. As skimble stated, we went to the hunter valley gardens, and it was just gorgeous, a few ponies tagged along for the ride (and skimble did manage to catch me smiling! lol! Doesnt happen for photos, although im generally happy) on to the piccies! skimble & shaggy sitting on one of the lovely seats under an awning (did we mention, there are seats EVERYWHERE? I mean, you dont have to walk far without one, its really nice to see for elderly or people that cant get around as well) just thought this was a cute photo <3 Pinky, Kimono & Tinka trying to take over the fountain (ignore the bad hair on the 2 girls on the fountain, all photos of them after here are a little better, as skimble was kind enough to brush their hair with a barbie brush she found in her bag) Pinky & Tinka trying to take down one of the chinese foo dogs guarding one of the gardens - neither side won skimble trying to take a photo, when I just had to take a random snap of her - aint she a cutie? Pinky riding a hedge swan ;D And of course skimbles italian bubbles riding the hedge swan (BTW, thanks to Kanthaka for being lovely enough to sell this gorgeous girl to me! She is so awesome to deal with <3) Humpty Dumpty holding onto pinky pie - the wierd looks we got whilst trying to snap this shot were priceless ;D And one of the guys standing in front of humty with tinka - he doesnt look too impressed to be holding onto her though Mary had a little lamb - and a pinky pie ;D And of course, had to post more photos of alice's tea party - the ponies were trying to steal all the cake for their tea party until they figured out it werent real cake D: Pinky pie found this dog in the gardens, and decided she would give him belly rubs, he looks like he enjoyed it ;D This was too cool! Massive mushrooms! skimble took a seat underneath on one of the smaller mushrooms, how awesome are the mushies though? Skimble patting one of the hedge ponies! These were so adorable - we had to get some shots of them skimble giving kimono a hand on kimono's bridge Pinky trying to take over one of kimono's houses I managed to snap a non - blury piccie of the pair of us, the first attempt was a huge fail! Pinky looking down into one of the gorgeous manicured gardens - we couldnt pop them on the rail cause it wasnt flat, so the ground had to do for this shot Here's Pinky overlooking the waterfall up the top of the gardens And just got to say, skimble is the awesome, especially in the flesh, even if she doesnt react well to jamming fingers in car doors, a cuddle, pinky pie & some gorgeous views got her through it like a trooper (and trust me, it wasnt the normal jam finger in the door, quiet nasty!) but its just been awesome to be able to spend time together in the flesh! I want to keep here here It has been an awesome couple of days, with some of the best company I could have <3
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Post by skimble on May 1, 2009 3:45:31 GMT -7
So Veda was in on this one as well? You plotters, you! Thank you SO much, Veda, Italy Bubbles is gorgeous and I'm so glad to own her, she's a darling! (Expect more shots of her as she travels around Newcastle!)
Yes, the first shot of us was quickly deleted, it was absolutely shocking how badly it turned out! (But did we crack up over it...)
If I should vanish, you know I'll end up chained in Fingerpaints' pony room! ;D
Here's to a few more awesome days with awesome pony friends!
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on May 1, 2009 3:54:48 GMT -7
*cough* you cant let out the secrets of what goes on if fingerpaints twisted little mind <.<
But yeah, bubbles has gone to a very happy home, she is such a gorgeous girl.
We will both keep you updated with new piccies (that reminds me, I have to charge camera battery!)
*big squishy hugs to all you gorgeous fakie lovers*
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Post by Knotty Kitty on May 1, 2009 3:58:19 GMT -7
0_0
...giant shrooms....
Awesome.
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on May 1, 2009 4:07:36 GMT -7
0_0 ...giant shrooms.... Awesome. lol! They are awesome KK! I wanted to take some home with us - and the little mini seat ones would have been awesome in my yard
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Post by skimble on May 1, 2009 4:40:28 GMT -7
0_0 ...giant shrooms.... Awesome. There were smaller ones, too, disguised as seats... Yes, much coolness!
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Post by vettefromm on May 1, 2009 8:12:35 GMT -7
.... .... ....!! Wow! What a gorgeous garden! *major drool* Thank you for sharing all those pictures, it's almost like being there (I wish so badly I could've been there with you!). Aren't you two a bunch of cuties, btw? I LOVE how natural you both look! Skimble, how on earth did you get your hair to grow so long? It's gorgeous! and your bag is to die for! Can I get a shot of it to drool over, pretty please? And Amy, so many cute freckles <3 you're carrying a MLP bag? *faint* somebody pick me up from the floor!
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shellebelle
G3 Fakie
The Queen of Awesome
*Sunshine Pony*
Posts: 340
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Post by shellebelle on May 1, 2009 12:53:24 GMT -7
Wow! Such beautiful ladies with such beautiful ponies in such a beautiful garden! *gets teary eyed*
Aww, that looks like way too much fun. I'm sure I'm not the only one that wishes they were there with you too.
Keep up the pics! We're all anxiously waiting !
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fingerpaints
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Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on May 1, 2009 18:00:47 GMT -7
vette - thanks for the lovely comments *major squishy wishing you were here too hugs* we had to share piccies with you all, it was a lovely sunny pony - filled day. For the record, skimble's hair is just gorgeous! So healthy & long & just wow! Makeup sucks, so natural it is for us, as for the freckles, yes, I have heaps! lol! Part of the mixed race background I suppose. I love my pony bag, it comes everywhere with me, to work, to the shops, its just a good size to chuck anything I need in there for the day. Shelle - thanks sweetie *big squishy bear hugs* we will definately keep you updated with more piccies, im going to try to drag skimble down to Sydney (weather permitting) at the start of the week for the touristy thing, so should be plenty of pony pics coming we went out to the garage sales thismorning, and will be hitting some markets tomorrow (no pony luck today though, so cross your fingers for us for lots of gorgeous fakies) it would be awesome though if we all lived closer together, we would both love to spend time with all of you!
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Post by skimble on May 1, 2009 18:22:53 GMT -7
Aw, Vetten, Shelle, I want you here! It'd be so amazingly awesome if we all managed to get to be in the one place all together! Thank you for the lovely compliments, both of you. *hugs* LOL, 'natural' is a good euphemism for 'too bone lazy to be bothered with make-up' - this is why I don't see myself as a complete goth, because no make-up and I do wear coloured T-shirts/cardigans sometimes. (Especially when they have ponies.) But thank you for the compliments! The hair is a result, again, of being bone lazy - I use hydrating shampoo and conditioner, but otherwise ignore it. *shrugs* It seems happiest operating under criminal neglect, and grows like crazy... My bag comes from a small one-off Asian store in Melbourne Central called Duchess. (The upper floors are expensive boutiques, the lower floors are funky cheap, unique clothes/accessory shops.) So do several of the keychains on it! I'll definitely take some good pics for you sometime soon, Vetten; they sell them in all sorts of colours, next time I hit the city I want to get a purple one. Here's one I took yesterday of Bubbles inside the bag: *pauses to scrape Vetten-goo up from the floor* Shelle, we've both been saying all the time just how much we want both you guys here! But to make it a teensy bit better, here's some Aussie animals. On Thursday Fingerpaints took me to see Blackbutt reserve, which is a small free nature reserve, and really pretty, another great place for picnics and the like. Fingerpaints by the lake: It's family tradition with my Dad to take photos of relatives taking photos, so, of course, I had to bring that tradition with me... The wombat enclosure had a section where you could go inside and look through a pane of glass into their burrows and see them sleeping. They're massive up close, and so cute! Koalas! This is where I discovered that my zoom lens actually kind of works okay, I wasn't standing very close to the koalas at all. It's still my hope to get a better camera one day, though! There weren't any wallaroos in the enclosure, so what's a girl to do but take a photo of a pony instead? While waiting for Fingerpaints, I just HAD to park a couple of ponies on the sign... Fingerpaints has several G3s (and a baby sea pony before I spotted her, which she very kindly gave to me!) on the dash of her car, so a photo of Shaggy peering in was a must... As Fingerpaints said, we kind of bumed out at the garage sales, although we found some ribbons and fake flowers for pony hair decorating. Cross your fingers for us that we have better luck, Kimono and Tinka (looking lovely now they're cleaned up and fancied up with a flower or two) need some rescue pony pals to play with! Yep, we'll be taking more pics of ponies around central NSW, we promise!
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shellebelle
G3 Fakie
The Queen of Awesome
*Sunshine Pony*
Posts: 340
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Post by shellebelle on May 1, 2009 19:06:47 GMT -7
Aww! I love the pictures so much! I just want to step in there and hang out with you guys. I want to reach through the picture here and give fingerpaints a big hug. And that koala... I want to pet it. lol. Ooh, can I join you guys at Blackbutt reserve? I haven't seen a black butt before *peeks around back* mine is quite white.
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Post by vettefromm on May 1, 2009 22:09:48 GMT -7
Aww, a koala! And wombat ^_^ So cute, and great pictures! I love the one of Amy, that's a fun tradition you have Bubbles and the bag are both droolworthy! I love tartan ^_^ I will have to see the purple you get I wish I could be there with you, too - big squishy hugs back your way!
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Post by skimble on May 2, 2009 3:38:54 GMT -7
LOL, Shelle, you don't really want to cuddle a koala - wild ones are kind of feral with teeth and claws. They look cuddly and sweet, but ... not really so much! *giggles* A blackbutt is a kind of eucalyptus tree! *squishy-hugs everyone* Today we went garage sale-ing, and didn't find a lot, just some ribbons and flowers to decorate Kimono and Tinka (now dubbed Belle, BTW) with. Kimono, newly decorated: This afternoon we went to a petting animal farm/zoo (can't remember what it was called, but Fingerpaints will know!) and had a lot of fun with the animals there, even if the entry fee was kinda steep. Fingerpaints and a donkey friend: Fingerpaints and goat friends - at one point she had four goats all leaning up against the pen clamouring for her attention! The usual suspect feeding a kangaroo: REAL little ponies: And one gorgeous big horse who kept showing off for us - he knew he was gorgeous! Some cockatoos - they were actually digging that hole under the log, I've never seen anything like it! A black cockatoo, he had gorgeous yellow stripes across his tail! More kangaroos - they are SO soft to touch, and a group of them came up looking for food but stayed for cuddles even though we'd run out of anything to feed them with. You seriously wouldn't believe how soft and cuddly kangaroos are, these ones were darlings! This alpaca looks sweet, but really is the spawn of Satan, it has the most terrifying sticking-out teeth and he kept trying to shove his head in your face and into the feed bag. I know he looks innocent, but he freaked me the hell out! Fingerpaints was braver than I was and fed him... On the way back home, we stopped at a gorgeous shell beach and watched the waves in the company of an apple muffin or two, and some ponies... Kimono, checking out the shells and driftwood: Shaggy playing queen of the shells: Kimono and Shaggy posing on the sand: Fingerpaints and Tinka-who-now-is-Belle: Shaggy exploring a footprint: THIS is what our ponies get up to when our backs are turned... Sneaky shot of Amy on the beach! And just for you, Vetten, a couple of pictures of my bag - sorry about the bad light, the clouds were rolling in! It's pouring and thundering now, so everyone, cross your fingers that tomorrow is a lovely day and the markets are still on - we want to find some ponies!
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Post by vettefromm on May 2, 2009 4:19:49 GMT -7
Yaay, new pics!! *jumps up and down* I'm drooling, really, gorgeous pictures! I want to pet a kangaroo so badly, and I know Jesper will be freaked out when he see's the pictures, too.
The cockatoos are beautiful, I've always wanted a white one. *drool* Didn't even know a black one existed, lol! I love the shell pictures, too, Shaggy are the perfect size ^_^
Amy, you look absolutely STUNNING in the beach shot with Belle! You look so comfortable with the camera and everything, has Kim been sneak-photographing you to the extent you like it? Lol!
Oooh, the bag is pretty! I lovehandbags and tartan pattern, so what's better than the two things combined? I'm tempted to ask which colors it's available in, you know!
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