Jacklyn's Journal

Winter solitude

2012-02-05T09:01:00.000-05:00

Another image from yesterday.

I loved the solitary look of this tree and thought it might have a bit more drama when converted to black and white.

It would have been nice to be able to capture sunlight this weekend, but it's been overcast almost everyday. Kind of hoped that would change this morning, however, one look out the window revealed more gray skies. Eventually it'll change. Can't wait for the green to come back so I can start shooting in infrared again.

Ice fishing in the North

2012-02-04T16:55:00.003-05:00

I'm not into ice fishing and doubt I ever will be. It's not the fishing part, it's being out on a frozen lake. I think one truck already went through the ice earlier this year. That right there makes me not want to go anywhere near the place.

It does appear to be a great winter activity for those who are more adventurous than I am. I watched the truck below successfully manouever his way around the lake without any difficulties. That was good to see.

The sad side of Winter

2012-02-04T16:49:00.001-05:00

We had some cold days and our fair share of snow, but it's been relatively mild the past couple of weeks. My cold is finally subsiding which helped me to venture outdoors today. I'm not sure of the beach I went to - I think it was Sunset Cove. Anyway, I went to the frozen beach area and was struck by how sad and lonely it looks this time of year.

The picnic table and park benches are quiet sentinels to better days. Hopefully they won't have to wait too much longer.

And in the photo below you can see someone walking in the distance on the frozen lake. No matter the time of year, Lake Nipissing gets used for recreational activities.

Snow pics

2012-01-29T17:18:00.001-05:00

These were taken a few years ago, not really sure just how long ago. More gems from my scanning quest.

We had so much snow that year that the puppy from the house next door to my mother's was able to walk across it and into my mother's yard. I took the second picture of him from the bedroom window. He was so darned cute.

Stay at home Sunday

2012-01-29T17:12:00.002-05:00

My cold finally feels like it's going away. Mind you, that's what I thought at the end of last week too. I managed to hibernate all weekend and do not much more than rest up and scan more old family photos. My only outside venture was done this afternoon to clean off the car and plug it in for the night. Supposed to be going down to -16, and then they're calling for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The big accomplishment of the day was in putting the ingredients into the slowcooker to make a beef stew. Only managed to get a "before" picture of it. Kind of loses appeal on the "after" shot.

The Moose(s)

2012-01-25T17:24:00.002-05:00

I had an appointment in Sudbury today and my mother went with me. We left the doctor's office and took the back way out of the city which took us onto the bypass. We hadn't driven very long before we saw a bunch of vehicles pulled over along the side of the highway. My mother thought it was bears at first, but it turned out to be moose. The pics were all taken from inside the car, through the front windshield. Kind of wish I'd gotten out of it. Not very fond of standing along a highway though.

And Dave... I know you've told me you've seen moose along the Sault stretch of highway... Now I believe you! LOL!

It was an amazing sight.

We have snow!!!

2012-01-21T16:22:00.001-05:00

We have snow - lots of it. It makes it difficult for anyone pulling out of a driveway since it's higher than a car in most spots.

I thought I would share a few of our winter pics.

This will all most likely be a mess on Monday - it's suppose to rain that day. Not looking forward to the ice that will follow.

But on the sunnier side, my mother's amaryllis plants are in full bloom and looking quite spectacular.

Hooked on Digital Scrapbooking

2012-01-18T18:56:00.001-05:00

I admit it... I'm hooked on digital scrapbooking. My software of choice is My Memories Suite. And yes... this is a shameless plug for the product. Can't help it - I like it too much. (You can click on the link on the right side of the page to learn more about it.) As I learn more about using it, I'll be posting more.

The Ram and the Lamb

2012-01-15T18:49:00.000-05:00

I came across this photo while sorting through a box of pics that I wanted to scan as part of a project I'm working on.

The picture was taken at the farm my friend Debbie lived on back in the days when I lived in Quebec. (I'm the one with dark hair.) Debbie's parents raised rams and sheep, and probably other farm animals, but I don't remember them. What stands out as a memory for me is feeding the ram and the lamb with baby bottles. We'd stand at the front of her house and call out for them, and they'd come running to get fed. I recall jumping onto the porch because the ram lived up to its name. When it came barrelling around the corner of the house, it didn't stop until it ran into you.

The Jewellery Projects

2012-01-08T14:29:00.002-05:00

I think I might have mentioned awhile back that I'd been working on some jewellery pieces. Here they are in no particular order.

I started working with enamelled copper rings a few months ago. They're really light weight compared to the nickel and sterling silver rings I normally use. It was fun to mix and match colours.

The fringed bracelet and pendant were in Rebeca Mojica's book Chained. As I've mentioned before (and to pat myself on the back once again), Rebeca was the editor of my article/tutorial in Step by Step Wire Magazine almost two years ago. She's published an amazing book and I thoroughly enjoyed recreating some of her projects.

The pendant below was a "goofing around" project. I kept putting together links until I was happy with the finished piece.

And the necklace below was made today with semi-precious beads, chain, and copper findings. I'm not sure whether or not I like it. Kind of looks similar to something else I've done before. I might change the chain in the middle or do something to it to amp it up a level.

The Birdies

2012-01-08T14:14:00.002-05:00

I'd previously posted a picture of my brat, Dexter. It's only fair now that I show pics of his parents, Chelsea and Squirt.

Chelsea is a pretty quiet girl. She loves cheese everyday and will sit patiently on the seed dish until I give her some. The wait isn't generally too long though since I know it's a ritual as much as she does.

What can I say about Squirt! I've had him since he was an egg and once he hatched I didn't expect him to survive. He's smaller than Chels and Dex and only comes up to their shoulders. He's close to twenty years old now, and he's gone bald. Freaked me out at first, but after reading up on the subject, it's apparently normal for birds to go bald when they age. Same as humans. Being small has created a couple of hurdles for him. It took him about six months to learn to fly. He'd get down to the floor and then couldn't get airborne after that. He's also never been able to crack open a sunflower seed. He likes having toast everyday and he tends to be a bit on the cranky side most of the time. He's also tried to get onto one of the two swings in their big cage and hasn't quite caught on as to how to do it. I doubt that will ever change.

And that's my critters. Dexter's pic is posted further back.

Downtown

2012-01-07T14:37:00.002-05:00

I went downtown this morning to look at the building on Main Street that was ravaged by fire this past week. Lefebvre's Sports had been around for years, and now it's gone. Another business was at the rear and it was destroyed too.

I feel bad for the business owners, and the employees who are now out of work. Been there. And to explain that further, the picture below was taken from a parking lot which is the site of the building I worked in before it burned to the ground one day about 13 years ago. The property owner never rebuilt. Thus... the parking lot.

Our downtown has seen more than it's fair share of fires. Hope this is the end of it.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T11:06:00.000-05:00

Another year has come and gone. Christmas and New Year's seemed to go by in a blink of an eye. Both were relatively quiet and spent with family. After our flash freeze and cold snap this past week, it's now around the 0 mark. That's going to change by tomorrow night when another deep freeze heads our way for a couple of days.

I went for a short walk last night and took some pics of Christmas lights in the neighbourhood. The one of the deer seemed quite pretty, and there are two versions below.

We've been pretty lucky as far as snowfall goes. That said, it's much deeper in places than I first thought. I went into my mother's backyard to look at some rabbit tracks and found myself stepping into a few inches of the white stuff. Didn't realize how much had accumulated.

I guess this is the time for New Year's resolutions. The only one I want to make is to finish my novel(s). It's definitely doable and long overdue. Organization of it is my biggest stumbling block. Well... that and the actual sitting down and writing part. Onwards and upwards!

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year.

Scanning old negatives

2011-12-26T19:03:00.000-05:00

I received a negative/slide scanner for Christmas this year. I've been weeding through boxes of negatives and have come across pics I'd forgotten I'd taken. I think the bridge below is somewhere around Ottawa. Or else it was taken during a trip to Vancouver.

The photos below are at the Parliament Building in Ottawa.

And below is the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

I've got a lot more scanning to do.

Another Christmas has passed

2011-12-26T18:46:00.002-05:00

Christmas Eve was a green one, but overnight there was a sprinkling of snow. About a centimetres worth which was enough for us to wake up to a white Christmas. The weather was wonderfully mild, too.

The majority of the ornaments on the tree are homemade from years gone by. Definitely gives it the personal touch. The pic below is one of the ornaments I made in my ambitious beading days.

We had a great Christmas, and a quiet one. Christmas Eve was spent eating a nacho dip I'd never tried before, but it turned out pretty good. (Thanks for the recipe Lil.) We also watched old movies. It's a Wonderful Life has become our traditional choice for the season.

My mother and sister made up the annual goodie trays as gifts for the neighbours.

And I took the camera for a walk to take some pics of the Christmas lights.

Our dinner on Christmas Day was the traditional turkey. Due to my ongoing allergy to poultry, I had a steak. And it was good! Of course, we topped off the meal with coffee and pumpkin pie.

Santa was good to me once again. Since I hadn't supplied much of a Christmas list, it was all a pleasant surprise.

Texting...

2011-12-04T22:22:00.001-05:00

I get wrong number texts sent to me on a pretty regular basis. From what I can figure out, it would appear that the person who had my cellphone number before me was a student. I keep getting texts for him about classes, note taking, and parties. I think I answered back on the very first text to say they had the wrong number and then I decided "screw it". I'm not getting dinged on phone charges for someone elses screw up.

This leads me to an incident on Friday night when a text popped up on my phone that said "We've been watching you for the last 10 minutes." The first thought that came into my head was that I shouldn't have watched so many episodes of Criminal Minds. I wasn't at home at the time but was at someone's house, so the possibility was there that someone could be watching me, but then common sense prevailed, especially after looking out the window to make sure no one was there. I don't give out my cell number. There's only half a dozen people who have it, so again... here's a case of someone texting the wrong number. Makes me very curious about who they were watching.

Christmas Party

2011-12-04T22:15:00.000-05:00

Our work Christmas Party was done differently this year. The local Best Western was the venue and our party was grouped with several others. We had about 35 people attending from work (better halves included) and the room must have had over 200 people in it. Kind of a good way to do it. You go, you eat, you drink, you dance (not me though), and then you go on your merry way afterward without having to worry about the cleanup. There was lots of choices with the buffet. The only drawback was that it got too loud, especially once the music and dancing started. You had to yell at the person beside you in order to be heard.

Comparisons

2011-11-26T08:11:00.000-05:00

Before I start, I will say that this is my personal opinion/experiences with McDonald's and Tim Horton's. I don't mind either, but I do have an issue with the hash brown made at McDonald's. I've tried them three different times from three different locations and only the second one didn't leave me with a bitter aftertaste. I thought maybe the first time was a fluke, especially since the second one was fine. Now this morning I'm back to the same taste I got the first time. Not sure what that's about. Their breakfast burrito is really good though. No issues there.

McD's coffee isn't bad either. I noticed that their "medium" is bigger than Timmie's "large". Guess the competition is on.

This flag pic was one that called out to me. I noticed it over several days caught up in a fence. Not sure how it came to be there in the first place. Kind of looks like someone placed it there intentionally. As far as I know, it still hasn't been removed.

The Portraits of Honour display was set up beside our building at work for a couple of days.

It was quite amazing to see. Dedicated to those Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, they are all painted portraits of the fallen. I didn't know any of them, but some of the people I work with did and they found it quite emotional.

We saw a lot of people, especially school kids, come through to view it during the day.

But I digress... The weather is still awesome. We saw a couple of snow flurries that didn't amount to anything, and there have been a couple of mornings where I had to scrape off the car windows, but other than that, no snow or cold weather yet. We'll enjoy it while it lasts. On the flipside, it doesn't exactly inspire the Christmas spirit when you don't see the white stuff on the ground.

Oh deer...

2011-11-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

I didn't have to look hard this morning to find deer. There were three of them in the grass at the corner of Birch and Booth Roads.

I almost drove past them, they were so well blended into the scenery. It's only when one moved that I realized they were there. The pics were taken from the car. As much as I wanted to get out and get closer, I figured they'd get spooked and run off. So cute to see.

Tweaking some pics

2011-10-31T21:02:00.000-04:00

These were taken a few weeks ago. I did some tweaking with Levels in PhotoShop to get them closer to what I saw that day.

It's Halloween and it's also relatively quiet out there. Must be partially due to being a school night. The weather is warm for this time of year and a bit unusual compared to Halloween's past. Hard to believe that the east coast got hit with snow. Even harder to imagine the two feet of snow that some areas of the States got hit with. I'm sure ours will arrive sometime in the near future. I'll be quite happy if it doesn't.

Another weekend is gone...

2011-10-30T20:42:00.000-04:00

Been busy these days and pulled in several directions. All self-inflicted. To start with the photos, last Sunday was spent touring the backroads in the town of Powassan which is about a half hour drive away. The old barn looked interesting, so I pulled off to the side of the road to take a pic of it.

It wasn't long after that when I spotted a herd of cows close to the road. Most of them ignored me, but this bull was a bit too inquisitive and started to approach. I think there might have been an electric fence close to the ground, but I didn't stick around to find out since it only looked like it was a couple of feet high. Easy for an animal of the bulls size to step over if he wanted to.

The drive concluded with a stop at one of the garden stores. They had these wonderful scarecrows lining the fence. Very autumnish.

Although I didn't take any pics this weekend, I did manage to convert some to jewellery by doing resin casting. I'll post what they look like once they dry. So far I'm pleased with the results and it was much easier to do than I thought it would be. I did some a couple of weeks ago using Magic-Glos and they took forever to dry properly. Today's were accomplished with EnviroTex Lite. They're bubble free and nice and shiny. There was a bubble issue with the other stuff. Nothing major, but the second product does seem to have better results.

Spent this past Thursday in Petawawa and was happy to get the two of us un-lost on the base. Guess I'm getting used to the layout of it. It's a two-hour drive and there are a lot of old barns along the way. Not to mention all the lakes on the sides of the highway. They were beautiful in the morning light, especially with the mist coming off them as the sun came up. A photo op that I didn't have time for. We were on a schedule. Plus it was a workday. Can't exactly stop and play on those.

What a difference a week makes

2011-10-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

We were spoiled with wonderful warm weather last week and greeted with cold and rain this week. It was more than a cute rabbit could stand. He/she ended up seeking refuge under our air unit at the side of the building at work.

The little guy spent the entire day sheltered from the elements. I was half expecting him to still be there this morning and had even brought food to feed him with just in case he was hanging around. However, he was gone. Hopefully to a safer place.

The leaves are off the trees and scattered over the ground. It's kind of depressing, especially since snow is the next thing destined to come our way. Can't believe it's almost time to get the winter tires put back on the car.

I've been working on projects. Made a lot of bracelets using coloured aluminum rings. (Still have to take pictures of them.) I'm also ready to start the resin casting which will turn some of my pics into jewellery. Not sure how that's going to go, but I'll give it my best shot. I don't think it's going to be too difficult.

Busy busy week at work. I took last week off and am now playing catch up. Makes the days fly by.

Catching the sunrise

2011-10-11T10:19:00.001-04:00

I was there, and the sun was there, unfortunately it rose behind a cloud. It was a beautiful pink as it was coming up. I could see the edge of it, then it came up above the cloud and was a bright orangy-yellow. Guess there's always tomorrow. Can't say I was disappointed though. Took pics anyway.

There was an older gentleman who showed up at the lake this morning, too. He'd been walking by yesterday and saw the gorgeous pink sky and figured he'd return today with his camera. I think he'll probably be trying again tomorrow since neither of us saw what we were hoping for. Nice fellow.

The rest of this morning's pics were things that caught my interest. Nothing special or out of the ordinary.

I'm always amazed at how the birds can bathe in such cold water. They don't seem to mind it.

So...

2011-10-10T11:56:00.000-04:00

I'd already forgotten that I'd been out to Duchesnay Falls to take pics early yesterday morning. It was kind of disappointing because the water level is too low and the falls were trickling instead of running full blast.

I didn't go too far up the path, only enough to see that the water wasn't flowing enough to stop and take pics of it.

The entrance still has some of the autumn look happening, and there were a few picnic tables scattered through the woods.

Other than a couple walking their two dogs, it was relatively quiet that time of the morning.

A bit of a blogging lapse

2011-10-10T11:23:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile since I blogged anything, so I guess it's time I posted something.

Life is moving along, and we're having an awesome Thanksgiving weekend weatherwise. The temperature is supposed to hit 24°C. Not exactly normal for this time of year.

I took a spin over to Trout Lake this morning in the hopes of catching the sunrise. Luck would have it that a photographer was there who pointed out the spot to watch.

The sun really did look pink as it rose. What surprised me the most is how quickly it came up. It took less than a minute for it to be completely visible.

As pretty as it was, once it was up there, I didn't stick around. Instead, I hightailed it across the city to Champlain Park along Lake Nipissing. I wish the fall colours were better. Like last year, they didn't seem to put in the spectacular appearance I was hoping for. The leaves have begun to fall and the colours seem washed out.

If there were great colour moments, I missed them. Which brings me back to infrared. I did have to get at least one shot in with that camera.

What I like about the pic above is that the trunks of the two trees look like they're walking across the park.

And so it goes...

2011-09-11T23:38:00.000-04:00

This is a good lesson in why the camera should be in the front seat of the car with me and not locked up in the trunk. I was driving down Booth Road this morning to get through the back way to West Ferris when two deer stepped out onto the road. Both took the time to stop and look at me before trotting off into the woods on the other side. Photo opportunity missed.

Driving around

2011-09-11T06:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning was spent driving around Callander and area. With the cloudless starkness of the sky, and the sun shining so bright, it wasn't the best day for taking pictures. Got a few though while we explored the backroads and the town itself.

The first thing we spotted were the sailboats in Callander Bay.

They were quite a distance away which presented the perfect opportunity to see how well the zoom does on my PowerShot. I was impressed.

From the Bay, we next ventured down a lot of backroads with the end result being 88 kms of touring on the odometer. Of all the places we saw, there was an abandoned looking greenhouse that captured our attention. I decided to shoot that one in infrared.

I think this would look wonderful once the fall colours are at their peak. Might take a trip back there then to recapture it in full colour.

Train Tracks

2011-09-03T19:40:00.001-04:00

We had a nice day for the most part. Kind of humid, but at least the sky was a nice blue, sprinkled with clouds. I had the cameras in the car with me and ended up stopping near some train tracks along one of the cities backroads to take infrared pics.

I'm still playing with colours and exposures with the camera and PhotoShop. It's a lot of experimentation with some interesting results.

While photographing the train tracks I spotted a creek running from a culvert just up the road. There was some aloof charm to it.

The weekend is half over. Two more days off and then back to work for four days. Busy month looming between courses and appointments. C'est la vie!

Down the road

2011-08-30T23:19:00.000-04:00

Today was another beautiful sunny day, and I was at work through the vast majority of it. I'm hoping the weekend has more of the same weather since I'm leading up to a four-day weekend.

Not much is happening this week other than being busy at work. Lots of projects on the go at home and they're getting completed.

Sunday drive

2011-08-29T20:59:00.002-04:00

I wasn't sure whether or not I liked these pics and then finally decided that I did. There's this spot up behind the Base and the airport on Chadbourne Drive that I find eerily fascinating. You're driving through a beautifully forest lined road and suddenly there's this brief patch of swampy land. With that in mind, and my Timmies French Vanilla at my side, I took a quick drive up there on Sunday morning. Once again, the camera used was the infrared.

I am a tad fascinated by this spot because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the landscape. Standing by the car, I could hear some kind of animal or bird calling out in the distance. Never did figure out what it was, but I'm glad it didn't make its presence physically known.

Beautiful day out there

2011-08-27T20:07:00.000-04:00

This weekend has been full of blue skies and white fluffy clouds so far. A definite sign that fall is around the corner. We drove to Sudbury this morning to check out the shopping and then stopped in Wahnapitae at the bead store on the return trip. I snapped off a couple of pics with the infrared camera of the area nearby.

We also visited Sturgeon Falls and squeezed in a stop there to do more shopping. It was a lot of driving, but the traffic was good in both directions. I only got lost twice in Sudbury and the GPS came to the rescue the second time. Sent us on a long route through a residential section but got us back on track. I probably should have plugged it in at the beginning of the trip as all who've driven with me know, I am directionally challenged.

I noticed the leaves are beginning to change colour. Seems a bit too soon. I'll be lugging the regular cameras around with me soon. Hopefully we don't get hit with a windstorm while they're at their best. Kind of ruined it for photographers last year.

White Balance and Colour

2011-08-21T21:02:00.000-04:00

I'm still playing around with the pics from this morning. One thing I've learned is that the white balance setting has to be customized frequently even when shooting in the same area. The lighting conditions change between open light and shaded spots which shows up when it comes time to edit in PhotoShop.

It's all experimentation at this point. I'm enjoying it.

The Experiment

2011-08-21T08:09:00.001-04:00

I took a quick excursion back to the waterfront this morning to take some infrared pictures. Unfortunately, the sun is still hiding which left everything overcast. Regardless, I snapped off some pics and came home and ran them through Photomatix before doing the adjustments in PhotoShop. The results aren't too bad.

It was interesting to see if the images could be combined before being processed.

Not a lot happening. Trying to plot about four different novels at the same time - three different genres. Taking a non-linear approach is working out much better.

Had lunch with Sabrina at Sushi Island yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Their shrimp tempura and crispy rolls are addictive. Plus I didn't make a complete fool of myself using chopsticks. I'm getting it down. Practice makes perfect.

It's Sunday

2011-08-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

This was girls weekend at my mother's house with my sister visiting for the weekend. We did quite a bit yesterday and I was able to take some pics using the IR during the brief pauses in rainy drizzle. I adjusted the white balance before taking them, and that seemed to help. It's coming along.

The pic makes the waterfront walkway look like a winter wonderland.

Back to work tomorrow, but it's my short week. Kind of anxious to get the opthamologist's verdict on Friday.

The infrared

2011-08-12T19:23:00.001-04:00

It's actually very anti-climatic. After waiting for the dedicated infrared camera, I ended up being too tired today to use it other than to try a couple of test shots out my back door. The same pic has been adjusted two ways in PhotoShop. Definitely experimental at this point until I catch up on my long needed sleep.

No matter what, it's exciting to have it here and not have to use my Hoya 72 filter. It'll save a lot of time in the future.

Oh the ideas...

2011-08-10T23:14:00.000-04:00

I've been toying with the idea of starting a cooking blog that is also budget conscious while being creative. The first name that came to mind was "Cheap and Easy". Ya... I know that can attract the wrong crowd, but it sums up what I'm going for from a culinary perspective. Doesn't matter in the long run because someone has already taken the name and has yet to post anything to it. So it's back to the drawing board of naming a new blog that will be dedicated to minimal food spending while creating recipes that are tasty and good for you (me).

Morning stroll

2011-08-07T12:48:00.000-04:00

Kind of hoped for a nice sunrise this morning, ended up being overcast. Drove down to the waterfront and wandered the walkway for a bit.

Fairly quiet day out there all in all.

The Pendant Project

2011-08-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

It started yesterday with this bracelet. I had links sitting around and decided to blend silver and gold. This is the Japanese weave for those unfamiliar with chainmaille.

From there it went on to a pendant shape which I set aside and think will be converted into a bracelet. It's one of those moments where you put it down, keep walking past it, and then inspiration hits.

Project number three is the next pic.

Followed by project number four which uses silver and gunmetal links.

I wanted to do something that leans towards the Victorianish look. I hung a jet coloured Precosia crystal off the last one. I'm quite pleased with the results.

Still a warm day. I pretty much ran a cleaning/laundry marathon between 6 and 9:30 a.m. this morning. Managed to squeeze a trip to Sears and the grocery store in there, too.

Zooming along...

2011-08-05T10:42:00.000-04:00

My early morning was spent at two spots on the lake using the zoom lens. I was hoping for wildlife besides the feathered kind but ended up coming across a mother and her ducklings along the waters of the Lavasse River.

The water was pretty calm overall since it's going to be such a hot day out there. Did I mention that I hate hot weather? Can't wait for the fall air to arrive.

Back at home for the rest of the day in the hopes of catching up on sleep. Hot weather and insomnia are a bad combo.

Hmmm...

2011-08-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

Okay... so I like watching ghost/haunting shows. The latest entry into the field seems to be The Haunted Collector. I just finished watching this evenings two segments, and it's going through my mind how the Collector removes the supposedly haunted items and takes them to his museum so they'll never bother the victims again. The last half of the show had him taking away two antique swords, and I can't help thinking "Dude, you're scoring free stuff here!" I'm not sure how that works.

It's Warm Out There

2011-08-04T17:50:00.000-04:00

I did all my errands early this morning and am now quite happy that I did. Summer isn't one of my favourite seasons. I'm not a fan of hot weather.

I was testing out the super zoom on the Canon PowerShot and managed to snap a half-decent picture of Dexter when he finally pulled his head away from his seed dish.

He's my brat, and I've never seen a bird eat so much.

Not a lot happening today. I've been making jewellery most of the afternoon. Nice looking pieces. Just glad to be able to see what I'm doing once again.

The Patty Pan Squash

2011-08-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

I'd first tried patty pan at a restaurant in Casino Rama in Orillia. Since then, the hunt has been on for it. It's seasonal, and I've never found it in our area. The problem was solved this year when my mother planted some in her garden. It starts out as a flower that looks (to me) similiar to a tiger lily.

The flower soon produces the beginning of a patty pan. I was surprised to see how they grew.

They're quite tasty. Kind of like a zucchini. Can't wait for this crop to come in.

I'm Back...

2011-08-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

I said goodbye to this blog over a year ago once I realized how much I was boring everyone with it including myself. I doubt that'll change this time around, but I'm determined to make a go of it. No promises on the reader's boredom level though.

My foray away from writing and photography has left me feeling pretty empty. With recent changes that have come out of the unexpected, I've decided that I need to get back to doing both. No excuses this time! Hopefully I'll have a picture to post tomorrow.

In the "what's new" area of life, I am anxiously waiting for a Nikon D70 that's been converted to a dedicated infrared. No more dealing with long exposures and lens filters. Should be here next week. I had this brilliant (sort of) idea of using them with HDR (high dynamic range). From what I've googled, there's not a lot out there at the moment, so this would be a great time for experimenting. With it being geared strictly to infrared, I'm free to do bracketed exposures and layer them together. Program of choice for HDR is Photomatix. And to those who have it, keep checking for updates you can download to upgrade your program.