April 18/11

It snowed again today!!  This has been the longest winter ever. These flowers at work were bent over by the weight of the snow.  Yet, just minutes later all of it had disappeared and the flowers had perked back up...most likely looking for any sign of sun.  Please spring...you can come anytime now.

The Weight of Snow

April 17/11

I have to admit that Mark & myself have become DIY fanatics.  We have always liked doing things ourselves (Mark can do anything).  We decided last week to update our ensuite washroom.  Remember the antique dresser I talked about?  We used that for our vanity and I love the way it turned out.  We put a vessel sink and new taps in...a very inexpensive update.  What to do next??  :))

Updated

April 16/11

Yaaayyyy...I got my camera case back (after being stolen in San Francisco) with all my accessories and my 18-55 mm lens.  Thank you Cindy & Russell for making the trip to the SF Police Department to pick it up.  So I had to take a close up!  This is a bud on my standard spice viburnum tree.  Absolutely the most beautiful smelling blossom ever!  I can't wait until the flowers come out!

Spice Viburnum

April 15/11

I really like adding texture to a room.  It can be in a pillow, fabric, a brick wall, baskets and many other things that add interest.   Texture is the interior design technique that brings a sense of depth and interest, and decorating with texture is the decorating element you see and touch. Texture doesn't come from just what you feel (tactile) but also from what you see (visual).
This picture is a vase that I have...obviously not for flowers that require water...I have dried hydrangeas in it.  I love the weave.

April 14/11

We have been feeding the birds at work and it's so nice to see so many birds.  Today we saw Redwing Blackbirds, Cardinals, and lots of little birds.  There was even a mallard duck which was unusual...not sure what he was doing there. It was a male and he was just sitting in the grass by himself as far as we could tell.  There is also a coyote around our work that we think may have pups.  I would love to get a picture of them!!  Anyway, we have our own little sanctuary...nice to see all this wildlife during the day.

Friends at Work

April 13/11

I love the texture on this garden piece.  His paint is peeling, but I think it makes him more interesting.  I'm pretty sure he was supposed to be for a fountain, but I put bird feed in his hands and the birds love him!
He is very generous...

Garden Winds

April 12/11

I went to my Mom's today and saw these crocus out in bloom...love the purple!!  Another sign of spring...finally.

Spring has Sprung...

April 11/11

Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved pictures of seagulls over water.  I'm not sure what it is about that kind of picture but it always seems so peaceful.  Here is my own picture of the same subject.  Nice when you can capture them in flight and the picture is not blurred!

In Flight

April 10/11

Well, spring/summer has arrived!!  And how do I know this?  We have a tradition every year of going To Port Dover and getting a "footlong" hot dog at The Arbour... actually we do this quite a few times in the summer :)) It was so busy with people on bikes, in shorts and just generally in a good mood.  That really marked the beginning of good weather for me.  It was such a nice day!  While we were there we went down to the lake and I got this wonderful picture of a mallard duck.  I did not do any editing on this picture except to crop it. The colouring on them is just beautiful!!

Beautiful Colours

April 9/11

Spring weather has finally arrived.  I'm not sure for how long, but today is gorgeous.  Had to go outside and take a picture!  I have a flower pot full of "hen's & chick's"...pretty sure that's not the proper name for them but regardless, the snow is gone and I can finally see them.  I love the burgandy colour of this one...

Hen's & Chick's

April 8/11

I love the look of black & white photos and the contrast it brings to pictures.  These are some outdoor candlesticks that I have that were outside over the winter.  I like the way the ceramic has crackled and just the whole way this picture came together with the sun on the right side of the objects.  Nothing staged, just the way I found them...

Crackled

April 7/11

I was at my daughter Ashley's today and it was finally a nice sunny day.  I put her cat Jet outside and he loved it!  I thought the way he peeked over the side of the tree was cute.  His eyes are amazing...so gold!
I think I like this picture so much because of the texture of the tree and the moss...very nice against Jet's smooth black coat.

Gold Eyes

April 6/11

It rained again this afternoon, but it was a light and made everything just drip with raindrops.  It seemed very fresh, like it was just what the trees wanted before they bloom in spring.  Very pretty, and if you look closely at some of the raindrops, (you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it) you will see some reflections on the drops of water.  I still don't have my smaller lens or I could have gotten really close, but I think the pictures still turned out nice.

Raindrops keep falling...

April 5/11

I was out and about today trying to get some interesting pictures.  But honestly, I think everyone is staying inside because of the unusually cold temperatures for this time of year.  Everyone that is except those fisherman that will fish in any kind of weather.  We have ponds that surround our town and there is always at least one person you can find fishing.  Unless it's warm, sunny and I'm in shorts and a T-shirt, I won't be catching anything...and then only if my husband puts the bait on the hook :))

Cold Fisherman

April 4/11

Today is a rainy, windy day outside.  So I had to find something inside to take a picture of.  This is a pillow that I have in my living room.  The colour is actually cream but as I've mentioned before, the fun part about taking pictures is playing with them after.  The pillow reminds me of flowers and I wanted them the brightest colour I could find since it is such a dreary day outside.  So, I ended up with "sunny yellow".  Hope it brightens your day!!

April 3/11

I really like the way things can be reflected in photography.  It can be on water, glass or anything that will reproduce what you are looking at.  This picture was taken at dusk, when the water was nice and calm and could give off a nice reflection.
I was thinking of "reflections" and those that we have...how we give thought and consideration to certain things.  I found this website ( http://www.motivateus.com ) that gives a daily dose of wonderful inspiration and reflection.
  One of my favourites is "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." Author Unknown

April 2/11

Mark & I went for a drive last night looking for houses or lots for sale...Yes, we are STILL looking.  The sunset was absolutely beautiful and the way the tree is silhouetted against the sky is amazing.  If you look closely you can see the birds at the top of the tree.  There was still blue in the sky which made it look very cool.  Sunsets are nature's art...

Natures Art

April 1/11

I was telling a friend the other day that once you start taking pictures, everything you look at is like you are picturing it in a frame.  You have a whole new perspective of things.  Today I am posting a picture of the knobs on my oven.  I know... it doesn't sound very exciting, but I love the way they look!  I might even frame it and put it in my kitchen.  Everyday things become art...

Kitchen Art

March 31/11

I have taken so many pictures of this wreath (I love the colour of it) that is on our outdoor fireplace.  I've never posted one before, but thought I should since I'll soon be taking it down for the summer.  I love the glass beads against the stone and the trees in the background.  I took the picture so that the middle was focused but the foreground and background are blurred.  Love the effect.

Glass bead wreath

March 30/11

These thistle plants caught my attention...I used to use them in flower arrangements.  Although picky on the outside they added a great texture and beauty to some flower arrangements.  It made me think that humans can be that way sometime.  Although they may look different or hard on the outside there usually is beauty on the inside and those persons would add something wonderful to everday life...just like adding the thistles to a wonderful flower arrangement.  I've always told my children "Beauty is on the inside".... I truly believe that.

Beauty is Inside

March 29/11

I am so excited!  As I've told you before, I'm a certified floral arranger but I really suck at houseplants.  Well this morning I got up and I have a huge hibiscus flower on a plant that I have actually been taking care of and is still alive...maybe I do have a green thumb after all??  I'm thinking though it's more luck than anything.  I went away for over a week to California and forgot to have someone water it.  No matter how the plant made it through my care, it still produced a beautiful flower.

Green Thumb

March 28/11

I actually found signs of spring in my yard today.  The snow has melted enough that I could see my sedum plants coming through the ground. As you can see there is still snow...  but I feel better that I can at least see some sign of spring.  Sunshine tomorrow.... hopefully enough to melt what snow is left.

Spring is on the way

March 27/11

I finally got my picture of a Cardinal this year...I've been waiting all winter.  He was chirping in the tree and I knew right away it was a cardinal.  They have a very distinctive sound.  He was quite far away so it's not as clear as I would have liked but I thought I should post it while I had the picture!!

Cardinal

March 26/11

I'm looking forward to spring and everything it brings.  These are old blooms on some of my hydrangea plants in the yard.  Even though they are dry and brown, I like the way they look against the background.

I can't wait to get my smaller lens back (18-55mm).  It's getting harder to get pictures with only my 55-300 mm lens.  The SanFrancisco Police Dept called and let me know that someone found my camera case and turned it in...and everything was still in it!!  I think the thief was disappointed my camera was not in it and just threw it aside.  Til then, my larger lens is working but it will be nice to use my other one again.

Old Blooms

March 25/11

Today at work it was "70's Day".  One of the big things in 1975 were "pet rocks".  Gary Dahl, a California advertising man came up with the idea and made millions...on rocks...unbelievable...I need to come up with an idea like that!  But wouldn't we all like to do that?  Something so simple...my question is "who actually bought these?"
A very talented and fun girl at work created her rock into a KISS character.  I love it!!  It was my favourite and with all the work she put into it, here's hoping she wins the contest for best pet rock.

KISS my rock

March 24/11

I'm posting a picture of this little kitty I've had for years.  He has made a couple of moves with me...I just can't part with him.  Maybe it's his cute little face, I don't know.  I do really like handpainted items and I picked him up at a craft sale one time.  For some reason everytime I look at him I smile.  I have him sitting in my kitchen window most days, but today I sat him in a little pool of sunshine and took his picture!!  And I promise I don't collect junk at all...but isn't it funny how we get attached to the wierdest little things.

Wierd

March 23/11

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING !!  That's all I can say today...more snow :((

WHERE ARE YOU SPRING?

March 22/11

I love antiques.  Especially whitewashed old furniture.  I know, most people would say to never paint an old piece of furniture, but everything can't be brown!!  I have a dresser I bought years ago that I painted the whitewash colour. I thought I would take pictures of the handles because I love the way the paint just lightly put on the handles brings out the texture and design.  I learned something in the process.  Photography really makes you look at something. Like really look, not just in passing.  I have had this dresser for years and yet until I took the picture today I had no idea there were two mismatched round handles on it.  Which is ok with me...the more original the better.  I like to be different :))

March 21/11

It's the first day of spring!  However it is a really dreary day here, no sunshine at all.  So, I thought I would post something really colourful.  I was cleaning the other day and I came across these pastels that my daughter used to use in art class.  They had actually fallen out of the package and I thought how cool are the colours all together.  So I took them back out of the package today and took their picture!!  Who needs sunshine, when these are so bright and cheerful??

PASTELS

March 20/11

Well, we can tell spring is coming to Ontario because of all the birds in the yard.  We have had at least one to two pairs of mourning doves for at least the past 10 years.  Out of the many birds we have, some of them who can be very noisy, I love the cooing noise the mourning dove makes.  I just took this picture a few moments ago...
Wilkipedia gave me the following information on this lovely bird.  "The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family (Columbidae). The bird is also called the Western Turtle Dove or the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also the leading gamebird, with up to 70 million birds shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure stems from its prolific breeding: in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods a year. Its plaintive woo-oo-oo-oo call gives the bird its name. The wings can make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, and the bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph)."  I had no idea they were eaten... :((

Mourning Dove

March 19/11

I wanted to post a picture of something I've wanted to try for a while.  I always wondered how pictures were taken where the water looked like velvet.  Since it has been winter here since I started my blog I never had the chance. I saw this water in California and tried it. I knew a longer shutter speed would do this so I set mine to 2 seconds.  If I had of had a tripod the rocks& moss would be clearer but at least I know how to do it now.  Very cool.

Cool Waters

March 18/11

This is our neighbours dog Ruby.  Cute..but I have to say I'm more of a cat person.  A cat doesn't bark, a cat is not really as needy as a dog, and a cat just has the attitude of "whatever".
The difference between cats and dogs was summarized well by a caller to a local radio station when he said, "My dog looks at all the things I provide for her & says, "You must be God.  My cat looks at all the things I provide for him and says, ˜I must be God."  
I just love a cat's attitude.

RUBY

March 17/11

These are hydrangeas that I picked out of my garden last year and dried.  They are my favourite flower.
I thought today I would put up some of my favourite quotes on gardening.

"I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden".  ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666


"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful".  ~Abram L. Urban


"As a gardener, I'm among those who believe that much of the evidence of God's existence has been planted".  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


"You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt".  ~Author Unknown

March 16/11

I took some pictures today but none of them compare to the colours I found in California.  It is still pretty drab here in Ontario so I decided to post a few more of my pictures from the Muir Woods.  Which by the way is a another place you should visit if you go to California.  It is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been.  In one part of the forest it is so quiet you think you are in another world.  These pictures are of some fungi that grow on the fallen trees...a beautiful orange colour that looks like ribbon on the green moss.   I absolutely love this kind of environment, where the moss is just dripping from the trees...

Ribbons of Orange

March 15/11

The Muir Woods in California was a wonderful place to take photos.  I took this picture and I think the result came out pretty good.  The colours and sunlight hitting the water behind the plants gives it a nice effect.  It was just a shallow river, so I like that you can barely see the rocks in the water as well.  Sometimes you get a better shot than what you think you got.  That's an awesome feeling.

Greens on Water

March 14/11

When I saw this horse on a merry go round, it made me think of the "simpler" things in life.  This ride has been around as we know it since the 1700's or earlier.  The golden age of carousels, was from the 1860s to the 1930s and today there are fewer than 150 carousels from the "golden age" that exist in the United States.  I always loved this ride as a kid because it was an easy ride, didn't make me sick and I loved the music.  I took my kids on it when they were small and I'm sure one day they will do the same.  It is a staple of amusement parks for it's simplicity and beauty.

Simple Things

March 13/11

As I mentioned yesterday, my camera case was stolen in San Francisco.  My batteries are dead on my camera and I can't get a new charger until tomorrow.  So... I am posting a picture I took a couple of weeks ago that I had on my computer.  Actually though it kind of pictures the way I feel today after coming home from sunny California to a cloudy Ontario....Oh well...spring will soon be here!!

The Lone Tree

March 12/11

All I can say is "I am still on California time" so it's only 9:43pm March 12. We have had an eventful 24 hours.  Drove into San Francisco with the tsunami warnings, had our rental van broken into and my camera case stolen, and on the way home from the Toronto airport had a flat tire. Things can only get better from here on...hopefully.  And we are back in the cold weather :((  But nonetheless, we had an amazing trip to California.  We all just had to laugh at the break in, because really what else can you do?  And we got to visit the San Francisco police department!  I love adventures!!  The only thing now is I have to go and replace a lot of my camera accesories.  Thank goodness I had my camera in my purse....

March 11/11

The blossoms are out in California!  It's so nice to see spring here as tomorrow we will be heading back to Canada...where spring has not sprung yet.  But this trip made our winter just a bit shorter for us.  Nice.

Blossoms

March 10/11

Being with family this week has renewed my faith in "family".  I looked up the word "love" in the dictionary and one of the definitions is " a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend."  I have to say I have come to the realization that the words friend & family are very intertwined.  I will definitely miss the family I have to leave behind in California...

 Family

March 9/11

Went to Carmel Beach yesterday and watched the sunset...beautiful.  The background of this picture is one of the holes of Pebble Peach golf club.  Very exciting for the boys.  And what a nice little town.  We will definitely plan to stay there for a couple of days next time we visit. The closest people in the picture are Crystal, Ashley & Braden taking a walk on the beach.

Carmel Beach, California

March 8/11

Today we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and all I can say is UNBELIEVABLE!!  To see so many species of underwater fish that are in our oceans was amazing. One of the coolest things was a seahorse that actually looked like kelp...and the jellyfish were out of this world.  If you ever get the chance to visit this aquarium it should be a "must" on your list.  I posted 2 pictures again today because I couldn't decide which one was better...also I posted this after 9pm California time, which was after midnight our time which is why it says March 9...

March 7/11

 We spent all day in the Napa Valley wine tasting.  What a wonderful day!  Some of the wineries we went to were Beringers, Robert Mondavi, Valley Gate Vineyards, Frank Family, Visattui...we tasted a lot of wine!! And then sushi for dinner.  I love California!!!!

Sauvignon Blanc

March 6/11

Having a great visit with my sister Cindy and Russell.  We went shopping all day...literally...but found some great bargains!!  This is before we left.  We didn't look quite the same after 9 hours of shopping. 
L-R...Lynda, Cindy, Ashley.

March 5/11

Well, we made it to California!!  Had a wonderful breakfast with my sister Cindy and her husband Russell, and Ashley & Braden that included top shelf Margueritas!  Met Cindy's grandson Austin who happens to be one of the cutest little boys I have ever met.  What a great start to our vacation!!

Austin

March 4/11

Good morning....I'm posting today quite early as I'll be on a plane to California later today to go see my sister and her family!  I got my husband's help last night in trying a new technique.  One of my first posts was "painting with light".  This picture is the same theory but you can manipulate the light so that you can get 2 images of the same person in a shot.  Being the first time I've tried this, it's not a perfect shot, but very cool effect.  I'm going to play with it more in the future.  See you tomorrow from California!!

Double Exposure

March 3/11

I don’t collect things…in fact I believe in the rule that if you don’t use something for a year get rid of it.  Except for these boots.  I have had these for about 12 years and I just can’t get rid of them.  I bought them on a trip to California, wore them until they look like they do now, haven’t worn them in probably 5 years and yet…I can’t part with them.  I don’t know why…maybe it’s the worn look of them, maybe I think they’ll come back in style.  Regardless, I will wear them again…one day…maybe…

Old Boots

March 2/11

Driving home today I couldn't help but take a picture of the beautiful blue sky.  Sometimes I think I would love to live in a city where there would be endless photo opportunities.  However, when I look at this I wonder if those that live in the city would love to be able to capture this.  I think so...

Blue Skies

March 1/11

I was walking around the house tonight and noticed how the sun was giving everday normal items a little extra light and how that light put a little more interest on things.  Light is the photographer's chief resource.
The word "photography" derives from the Greek and means, literally, “light writing.”  A photographer strives to control, manipulate and exploit light.  Photography depends on light,  therefore, an understanding of light, how it behaves and how you can learn to use it - is essential to creating superlative photos.
I can't wait to start experimenting more with light...and yes, that is my unmade bed :((

Light