A Year in Photos, On Hold

So I can't remember if I said that my 365 photos had to be done in 365 days, but here I am almost 6 weeks without posting so I'm just leaving a little note. The intent behind my little project is still there, but I am leaving it alone until the end of the month. Call it a hiatus if you will, the year is on hold for now - stilled, but not gone. I have some incredible pictures of ornaments, and snow and other things that interest me. I'll post a bit of a collection again in my next days off that come up, and I'll resume the project again in the new year. Priorities shift, right? I hope you are taking care of you and yours these days, I'm thinking of you.  S.

Snowed In, On, Over and Under (Yet is Still Snows On)

The snow is falling like craaaaaaazy outside, and has been since 5am. I know in lots of places it has already come and stayed, but here in central Alberta it only teased one minute and then melted the next - until now! When I got up this morning at 6 there was a bit of a dusting on the ground and the snowflakes were drifting slowly and dreamily to the ground. I didn't really even wrinkle my nose at it come to think of it, I was kinda happy that I wasn't going to have to scrape my windows of a thick layer of frost!

After the slow drive into work (being grateful that I live only 4km away!) I watched our 'garden gang' shovel off the walks outside my office window. 3 hours later the groundskeeper was around with his little tractor-sweeper to do it all again because you couldn't tell it'd ever been done! And now, about an hour and a half after that, no evidence of shovelling remains, and there is roughly 3 1/2 inches of snow over the paths twice cleared. The parking lots are a mess, and the interns are begging to be allowed to leave an hour early because they're afraid of what the drive on the highway will be like.... sheesh... kids!! Oh, look! Another shoveller has emerged, covered head to toe (including some really awful sunglasses) to uncover the drop-off spot again for the wheelchair vans... god bless'em. all of our shovel-masters!!

Depending on when I look up from my desk the sizes of flakes and the speed and direction they are falling changes. So far I have seen them tiny and round falling in a thick blanket straight down in a hurry, big, fat, and mis-shapen lazily drifting down, and somewhere in the middle falling at various speeds depending on which side of the building I look out!

On my lunchbreak I couldn't resist the call of the unspoiled paths, so ignoring the odd looks from some of the people I work with I pulled on my boots and trudged out to the garden to take some shots of the snow and the trees. There's something really pretty about the first real snowfall that I just can't make myself appreciate as the season wears on (and on, and on, and on, and on...).

So anyway, here are some pictures of the prettiness of it all - I won't admit to liking winter, but the snow is sure beautiful for the first while! If I can figure out video upload (I think I can do that here?) I'll add one of the big fat flakes outside my window, because I really think it's the best part!

A blissful dreamy day to you... S.

I love the way you can see the underside of the brances and berries so nicely in early winter, before the snow-melt-freeze cycle begins, layering everything in that thick pack of ice.

A Day in Banff

Sadie and I drove the few hours down and over to Banff today to use massage coupons that her brother gave us (2 Christmases ago!). The roads were good (contrary to the forecast!), and we hit snow about 40 minutes from Banff itself. Our massages were at Pleides Spa in Upper Banff. It was nice, though for the 3-hour drive and the $20 provincial park admission fee I can't say that it was fantastic (but it was nice). My maseusse had a good ole' time working out knots in the muscles that connect the top of my glutes and my hips (or some such thing!), and I was suuuuuurrre feeling bruised later! I wonder if that explains the pains I'd been having running, all those knots... The best part of the massage for me was actually the steam room afterward, a nice long soak in the hot steam, I looooooved that!

Anyway, shaking myself out of my virtual steam room now... we also walked around Banff for a couple of hours before our massage since we'd arrived early. Sadie was disappointed that it was not yet set up for Christmas - their parade kickoff to the holidays was still 2 weeks away, like most sane people! I took a few pictures here and there, but it was pretty cold and mostly it just looked like plain old Banff: people, snow, cars... that about covers it! Oddly, though I meant to I never got around to taking any actual photos of the spa (not that it was all blinged out or anything, but it was nice looking!), but here are a few pictures from our walk and a couple of things from the shops.

This is the view from where we parked. We drove around for about 10 minutes since Banff is quite small and has a lot of visitors. We ended up parking right beside the (mostly) frozen water... very pretty!

Sadie and Whiskers, she just couldn't resist (although I must say, despite his charm and general scruffiness, he did not end up adopted!)

Silver bells... silver bells... and balls, and beads, and dangley things... one beautiful wall of many decorations inside a store that is all about Christmas, all year round.I have always thought that the little nutcracker dolls were a little on the creepy side... maybe I need to go and see the ballet so it stops freaking me out? Regardless, the shelf of them all lined up was a neat photo op!

And finally... the Canadian Christmas Goose, how could you not love it?? 

(Oh ,and just a note: I love it in the store, NOT in my house!)

October in Pictures

October - A Month in Pictures

My first full month, woohoo!!!!  I was so excited to have a full month done. I mean, I know it's my second month, and my second mosaic finished, but it's the first month I got to do start to finish!

There's been lots of nature this month, fewer arranged photos, less choreographing my shots. In some ways that's been nice, and in others it's made me feel like I haven't put as much effort into things as I'd planned.

My favorite picture of the month is a hard choice - my top 3 are the dandelion, the apples, and the tree in the foggy pasture. No matter how many times I look over them I cannot choose, so I have decided that I don't need to - this month there are the three!

Week 9:52 of a Year in Pictures (Oct 31 - Nov 6)

One month fades into another as October gives way to November. I lost my battery charger for a week, so when my camera died I had to wait to get it up and running again until I decided just where I'd hid the damn thing!! I've been taking walks at work over my lunchtime, a nice break from being stuck inside all day. My photos this week are all from my lunchtime walks, bright spots in my days.

Saturday 31st - Nature’s Streamers

I went for a walk at lunchtime today. It was really quiet on the grounds, I didn’t pass a single other person out in the cool air. The colours at this time of the year have changed from bright shades to the more earthy tones. Everything coloured by a palette of muted yellows, browns and greens. At first glance things only look pale, dying, but on closer inspection there are brighter colours underneath. This afternoon I was seeking out the place where the deer slept, and on the way I found these beautiful stalks of prairie grass. I grew up on the prairies, and I have never seen them before! They reminded me of the little flag streamers you can tie on the antenna of the car, or tie to the branches of a tree so that you can see what is otherwise invisible... the wind.

Sunday 1st - Stumpy Shrooms

It’s really beautiful the way nature makes something come of nothing. This stump was cut long ago, and now mushrooms grow anew on top of it, the browns, oranges and yellows beautiful against the gray of the stump.

Monday 2nd - Little Ladies

I set out today to look at the different patterns in the bark on all the trees around the grounds. We are really lucky at work as they put so much care in the design of the grounds, from the trees and flowers to the paths and trails. The bark on the different trees has some beautiful designs, some from the chipping away of time and age, some from the nervous picking of anxious patients. I took a lot of pictures of the trees, and so many of them were beautiful, I got lost in the different patterns (and made myself lat from lunch!). My favourite discovery, which had me giddy like a child... ladybugs!

Tuesday 3rd - Bound Tumbler

I am enjoying my walks at lunchtime. Usually I have no idea what I’m going to try to capture, and this was one of those days. I hadn’t really found anything and my time was running out (lunch was almost over!) and I was literally jogging back to my office when this little weed caught my eye. I love the way the slender stalk explodes into the wild top, brightly lit against the darkened autumn sky, just waiting to be freed from the ground so it can tumble across the yard.

Wednesday 4th - Orange Bough

On my walk today I decided to try and pay attention to beauty and change in transformation. The branch on this pine is dying. It has cracked from the big branch, the green gone from all but the very tips of the needles... turning from red, to orange, and then finally a yellow green before they fall to the ground.

Thursday 5th - Up, up, up

I couldn’t decide whether to use the dark photo, or the one lit by the flash. Each photo I like for different reasons, so both of them are here.

I liked these little branches, stretching up from the ground, like skinny fingers reaching for the sky, up, up, up to the bare branches hung overhead.

Friday 6th - Kickin’ Fun

Kicking through the leaves is one of the small pleasures of Fall, which I still do as though I were 5 years old. It’s one that is almost over for the year as the leaves are swept away by the wind, to be buried by the snow. I never would have thought before about how difficult it is to take a picture of myself, my foot no less, disturbing the peacefulness of the woods, kicking up leaves. Perhaps next time if I have my tripod I can try again, to capture the moment, but this is it for now. And besides, for me, it still captures the feelins in my heart as it happens, bringing me back.

Week 8:52 of a Year in Pictures (Oct 24-30)

It is really hard for me to believe, looking back now on the month, how long this month has lasted. Perhaps it's because I've made some decisions in my personal life that I know are right but I just haven't had the courage to act on. When you know you have to do something and you keep putting it off time can really drag along, and for all of the wrong reasons. On the bright side though, there were some really beautiful things in life this week, which I'm going to share with you now!

Saturday 24th - Maybe a Zinnia

I have no idea what this flower is, but my best guess is that it's a zinnia. I just actually liked the way that ran together, the 'maybeazinnia' business, running much like my thoughts!!! :)

Sunday 25th - Beautiful Brights

What I love about this pictures, aside from the unrealy brightness of the colours, is the teeny tiny white flowers and the 'so-pretty-they-look-fake' little purple flowers, along with the faded petals of the biggest bloom... okay, so I love everything about it!

Monday 26th - Bright Eyes

When she first became part of the family this pup could not sit still for anything or anyone. Now she is quite lovely, and most of the time I really enjoy her. It is time though maybe to start looking to find her a best friend, someone to be her one and only, she would be much more gleeful (if a person could even stand that sorta thing!)... lovely dog.

Tuesday 27th - Mags and Pinky

This is Maggie, my little bundle of sunshine. She hasn't been the focus of a picture yet in my 365 (I don't think), and I really wanted to put together a collage of her playing with her favorite (that day!) toy. When you watch Mags play you can't help but smile and giggle. She fetches, she tears around thinkin' she's a big scary dog, and she is absolutely adorable.

Wednesday 28th - Lily

I really love to look at different kinds of flowers, for really different reasons. This one, the petal of the flower almost looks like a fine pink leaf, where you can see pollen dusting the edges and sunlight brightening the veins. On top of that, there’s the funky rigid centre that I really should have taken some close-ups of, because it has this beautiful perfect pattern on it. We should all be so lucky as to have a sunroom for winter’s blaher days!

Thursday 29th - Sadie n’ Bella

I love this photo, because whenever Sadie is with this puppy her eyes are happy. I mean the ‘real’ happy, the kind that shines from within, not just the happy we all manufacture because others expect to see it. On this afternoon she had decided that she wanted a big dog cuddle, and the big dog was just going to have to figure out how to contain herself! Bella’s a very patient pup when she’s with her mamma (or she’s likely to get her nose nipped, heehee) so she laid there (mostly) quietly till her mamma had had enough. 2 sets of bright eyes in this picture.

Friday 30 - Lonesome for Summer

Now this picture, for all intents and purposes, is a cheat, as I took it in August out in our flower garden. It was this beautiful perfect fiery little bloom that I just couldn’t get over. Today I was feeling a little lonely, sad for the weather and seasons changing... even though for the first time I’m actually able to appreciate the beauty of the Autumn, I’m no happier about summer going and winter coming. To make myself feel better I was looking through my photos from the summer, enjoying the pretty flowers in our garden, and this one just really cheered me up, so I thought I’d share it here... a little piece of summer on this Friday afternoon.

Week 7:52 of a Year in Pictures (Oct 17-23)

This week I honestly haven't put as much time, energy and thought into my pictures, which has been a bit of a disappointment to me. It's not as much fun, of course, when my fun little project becomes a burden, so AtTiTuDe ChAnGe TiMe!!  I am going to try to take more time for myself in this coming week, as well as make a serious attempt to do something nice for myself so I can drag myself into this hole I've been digging. Maybe there's a massage in my near future... :)

Saturday 17 - Autumn Bloom

Isn't it incredible that despite nearly all of the rest of the plant in this part of the garden dying, this beautiful bloom still sits there pretty and red? I think (gasp!) that I'm coming to appreciate some things about Autumn through this little picture project... who would have guessed?! :)

Sunday 18 - Happy Jack

The wonderful 'garden gang' at work already has pumpkins carved up for Halloween. Normally, I'm not a fan of having things up for the the holidays way far ahead of time, but it's really nice to see patients get excited and smile about something as simple and small as a little jack-o-lantern in the garden. Thanks, gang!

Monday 19 - Pine Drops

I was very grateful the day I took this photo that it was raining, instead of snowing. I love to try and take pictures of water drops, raindrops, dewdrops, alottadrops. My favorite is when I manage to catch a fantastic reflection, but I didn't get it here... I still like the drops tho!

Tuesday 20 - Angel en Guarde

This little angel hangs in the kitchen window. You know how sometimes you really need an angel hanging around, just a little extra assurance that things are going to be okay? Today, this is that angel.

Wednesday 21 - Enter in Love

This heart hangs on the front door. It looks identical to the one that used to hang on my classroom door at my last teaching job in Korea, Lovely Class, beautiful. And for Daffa, it's always a little better with a few hearts kickin' around!!  :)

Thursday 22 - Circle of Roses

Why do you supposed people keep dead flowers like this? Is it because they were so pretty when they were alive you just don't want to let go of the beauty? Is it because they're so pretty, in a different way when they're dead, and it feels a shame to throw them away? Is it an attempt to hold on to the beauty of the moment they were given or received? I really don't know...

Friday 23 - Nimma Sandwich

This lovely pup is Nimma. You've met her before if you've spent any time on my page, she is a sweet (most-of-the-time) white Maltese who came over from Korea. She loves to snuggle and cuddle in soft covers, and she loves this bed. It was pretty cute when she dug herself underneath. I cut this picture out of a video where I was talking to her... she would raise her eyes up to me and just softly wag her tail a few times without moving the rest of her body... it was adorable, haha!

Week 6:52 - This Year in Pictures (Oct 10-16)

Fall is now here in force, winter abandoned for the time being, bringing frosted early morning windshields, icy corners, leaves falling away for another year. This week my mind has been entrenched in the idea of change, the beauty of change, the futility of resisting change - it comes, no matter what you do, and life seems to be better when you figure out how to flow with change.

I have been much more focused on nature rather than arranged scenes from my days. School and working full-time were kinda at the forefront, so I feel like I put less effort into the whole gestalt of the week's photos, but I'm still happy it all got here (kinda despite myself!). Here are the latest pictures...

Saturday 10 - Somethin' to Strut About

Peacocks are lovely. If I could have one for a pet I would, and hopefully I would just 'get over' the terrible noise that they make, because the males sure are something beautiful to look at. And while they squawk and yell as they walkabout, they sure do have something beautiful to strut about.

Sunday 11 - Periwinkle Petals

We're having Thanksgiving Dinner today. A melancholy day for me as I wrestle inside with change. Today I'm thankful for purple petals that hang on beyond the first frost, the first freeze, and the first signs of winter.

Monday 12 - Fallen Apples

I'm visiting family now in another province, and here they don't have snow. There are beautiful juicy sweet red apples dropping from full branches in their yard. It's about the end of the season really, but so wonderful! Bears have been by this week, well, one bear has been by I heard, to come and stuff himself with the lovely fruit. I love the play of light and shadow on the grass as the sunlight falls over the apples... a beautiful autumn morning!

Tuesday 13 - Dandy Dandelions

I haven't seen a dandelion like this one at home, and since there was no snow in BC it actually made a pretty picture! Looking at the picture now, I wish I had made a wish and blown all the seeds away, but now I missed my chance!!

Wednesday 14 - Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

Really what I should now be saying when I look out my window is *hello winter, goodbye fall*, but I can't bear to think about it yet! This photo was taken while I was still in BC yesterday... a short 8 hour drive away where there is no snow and the grass is still green. I loved the curl of this leaf, along with the spring green that is still along the centre vein. Goodbye summer!

Thursday 15 - Mountain Ash Berries

These ash trees were just COVERED in berry bunches, everywhere I looked. A man told me that it was only every 5 or 6 years that we got to see berries like the weighing down the branches in such a manner. He also said it means we're in for a heavy winter. I loved looking at the wrinkled little berries that have just begun to feel the change of seasons on their skins, and the contrast of the berries and leaves against the bark and the sky.

Friday 16 - Fallen Bloom

I know that this flower is about all but dead, and I know that most would say it was much prettier when it was alive. I couldn't help but take a picture of it, faded petals changing from yellow to deep brown, fuzzy stem still standing tall preserving green leaves. There is beauty in change, in transformation. Even in the end.

Week 5:52 A Year in Pictures (Oct 3 - 9)

Sorry for the multiple posting, I kept forgetting something!!

Starting to become a habit now, this posting and snapping, and it's wonderful. This past week was really wonderful, and a little bit sad, and I'm glad to have something to look back at. I hope that you are enjoying checking out my pictures as much as I am enjoying taking them. A bit of a process really, deciding what to shoot, how to shoot it, and which light is better, which shadow is too dark, which green is too washed out compared to the other colours around. This week I am going to research a new photo technique online, and I'll aim to have something to spotlight of it by the next time I post for the week!  Enjoy...

Saturday 03OCT09 – Baby Nate

This handsome (if a bit drooly!) guy is my littlest Godson, baby Nate. Now he's not so much a baby anymore... he hit his first birthday a couple of months ago and now he walks, he babbles, he coos and charms, and he screams like he means it, but he's aaaaaaaaaaall wonderful.

Sunday 05OCT09 – Feeling Fall

If you have read any of my posts in the last while you will already know that I really am a summertime girl. I like Spring (because winter's over!), I don't really like Autumn, and I hate, hate winter. One particularly cranky morning I decided to get out of the house and go for a drive-then-walk in the foggy morning air. I ended up walking a familiar path down by the river, and was greeted by this beautiful, little bit haunting, morning view. Despite its' heralding of winter, Autumn really is lovely.

Monday 06OCT09 – HeartStix

I rescued these happy heart stix from the side of the road yesterday when I was out for my crisp-aired walk in the rain. Really, I actually rescued them because I thought they would look beautiful in a photo, and it was WAY too windy for anything productive (as opposed to because they were in any kind of danger!). When they're all dry I'll take them outside so they can spread their little seed pods for spring. But for now, they adorn my window sill!

Tuesday 29SEP09 – Lit from Within

Candles.
Light.
I am looking for the light in life, to learn more about it, to understand it, to know it.
I am light.
I am lit from within.

Wednesday 30SEP09 – Peekaboo

This little guy was tucked into the grass, hiding out while I stalked him and his sister with the camera. Unlike those folks who like to hunt and kill, I just like to hunt and snap... pretty little baby.

Thursday 01OCT09 – Les Parfums

I love, love, love, love LOVE perfume. I love to wear it, and I think it's wonderful to catch a yummy scent in the air when someone walks by, I adore it. Not to mention that the bottles are often so, well, pretty... (and who doesn't like pretty)

Friday 02OCT09 – Embers

I love the fire. I love to sit next to it, curled up like a cat, warmmed from the outside in and back out again. Sometimes watching the embers are the best part of a fire, as the light sneaks around the logs in fits and starts. Just looking at it makes me feel warm inside.