Goodbye 2015 and bring on 2016!!

Holy Moly another year is about to bite the dust!!  I for one have had a great year and I am intending of having another one next year.  I say bring it on!!  Keep life in perspective, be positive, be kind, and most of all be happy.  I want to say thanks to all you lovelies around the world and in my own country that have helped me keep things real.  You are the best bunch of buggers ever, and long may we all continue to blog and share little snippets of our lives with each other.

Snippets like...

...finally getting around to catching up with my beautiful nephew and his wee pooch!!  I need to do this more often.  He like me has a love of photography and life in general.  He encouraged me to get chickens and I encouraged him to get a small dog!!  He is a gorgeous young man!!

 

He gave me a quick lesson on getting of my auto settings on my camera and exploring life at night without my flash!!  Between him and my book I think I am going to enjoy this.  Of course there is still some lessons with Mrs W next year that we are looking into.

 Garden lights at night.

 Just having a play.

As I waited for an old friend to arrive the other day, I set up camp outside in the sunshine.  My Bali brolly had to come down as the wind picked up and it ain't good in the wind!  When she arrived we had a jolly good catch up on the garden swing.  May many more people enjoy swinging on the garden swing next year with me.

Joan got so comfy on my lap that she ended up nodding off, she is so funny.  I just know her and the other girls will continue to bring me daily joy in 2016.

I have been watching the transformation of a water tower not far from here.  Now I will have to wait until next year to see the final result.

 

So how did I spend the last day of 2015? You may well ask and I shall certainly tell you.  But tell you in pictures, the best way to tell a story.  TOF and I visited our local Zoo today.  Our Hamilton Zoo had humble beginnings years ago as the Hilldale Game Park.  My how it has grown, and it is still a fabulous place. Acres of lovely rolling ground with board walks and lovely open spaces for animals to live in.  Here are some of my favourites from todays visit.

Exotic animals, endangered beasts and native animals to our Country live side by side.  Well worth the entrance cost to visit.

You wander through native plantings on winding pathways, and you can even walk through a huge free flight bird enclosure.  Today it was great to see so many other people were doing the same as us.

 

One of my favourites today was this Sumatran tiger, only a young lad.  He was having the best time in a pool of water.  The day was hot and he was just like a child jumping in and out of the pool to cool off.

He drew quite the crowd of thrilled on lookers.  Just seeing the excitement on small kids faces was so nice, even the adults seemed to be having a good time.

How often do we as adults go and do something that we forget isn't just for the children?

Time to go visit local attractions and enjoy what is locally on offer.

TOF hasn't been here for years and was pretty impressed.  Loved the Giraffes.  They roam around with Zebras, Antelope, Ostriches and other beautiful animals.

Hello Beautiful!!

My other firm favourite of the day, the Chimps!

Such an entertaining bunch of laid back primates. 

All just chilling out while waiting to be fed. 

They have a great enclosure with a bridge that us humans can walk across and watch them climb, swing or just lean against a tree.

Where's our food man!!??  So I'll have a drink while we all wait! 

 

Just like an old man chillin' out in the sunshine.

 Colourful birds that make me want an Avery in the garden.

Yes indeedy, it was a lovely way to spend the day.

Our last thing to see was the Rhinos.  Big beautiful totally endangered all around the world beasts.  I would prefer to know animals could survive in the wild, in their natural environment, but with how unkind mankind has been over the years maybe Zoos like ours are the answer to their survival.

Speaking of SURVIVAL, I do wish you all a fantastic New Years Eve where ever you are. Stay safe and happy!!  We are less than an hour away from greeting in the New Year, and we are doing it very low key here at home as we are going on a day trip tomorrow.  

So grab your Tiara

and go and enjoy yourself and I will see you all...

...next year!!