Macro Monday

Sometimes its good to take things at a Snail's pace. Maybe at a slower pace we are not as likely to miss something we would miss at the fast pace our live's stesses make us go.

Sometimes you just have to plant your feet down and hold on to whatever foundation you need at the moment to carry on.

You can really examine all your possibilities if you travel at a snail's pace. You are not so likely to miss a crucial point.

Sometimes it is easier to do with a friend.

To see other photos of Macro Monday, please go and visit http://lisaschaos.com/

The Weekend in Black and White

Just in time for Halloween, spiderwebs are always an intriguing thing to photograph. And in black and white, spiderwebs look even more dramatic!

Chain link fence makes a good backdrop too!!

To see other photos of The Weekend in Black and White, please go and visit http://blackandwhiteweekend.blogspot.com/

Skywatch Friday

 The Clouds Were Rolling! The Sky was Stormy!

Driving home from work today, the drama in the sky was slowly unfolding before my eyes, but there wasn't  any place to pull over for about ten minutes to take pictures. It's rare too, that I have a camera with me in the car so all I lacked was the parking spot.

The reddened fields below the sky are Blueberry plants. I love the red of the leaves.

The irrigation system of the fields is noticeable here.

If I could of found a spot to pull over ten minutes before these photos were taken, you would of seen an even more incredible set of cloudy sky photos.

The light was sweeter, the rays of sun were shining down. It was amazing.

To see other photos of Skywatch Friday, please go and visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/

(All photos SOOC)

Watery Wednesday

For Watery Wednesday, I took a walk in the park behind our house after a rain shower to catch some drops.

A hardy little chunk of grass growing in a crack in the cement with one drop suspended on a stalk of grass.

Rose leaves are dying now and turning a beautiful autumn red colour. Waterdrops suspended nicely around the leaf edges.

To see other photos of Watery Wednesday, please go and visit http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Ruby Tuesday

My first time entry into Ruby Tuesday is a Farmhouse window on the side of an old House converted into a Museum. It is located in Echodale Park in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

A small pot of Red Geraniums inside on the window ledge.

To see other entries of Ruby Tuesday, please go and visit http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

Macro Monday

Today, I went to a Book Signing for the famous author of the Outlander series. Diana Gabaldon was in town here in Mission at Black Bond books today. I love love love her Outlander series. I have all of the seven books of the series and today she was in town to sign her newest book, her first Graphic novel called The Exile. Every time she comes out with her newest book in the series I read all the previous books once again to refresh my memory on the story. I always learn something new that I missed the previous reads!!

I stood in the line up for over an hour waiting my turn to meet Diana and get my book signed.

And it was worth the wait!!

Here she is about to sign my book. So glad I brought my small camera along to get a photo!!

To see other photos of Macro Monday, please go and visit http://lisaschaos.com/

The Weekend in Black and White

I like to see trees in different areas, trees that are subject to different growing conditions and environments and see how they adapt to the areas. The trees in Alberta where I just returned from vacation are subject to very cold winters, very warm summers and dry conditions. There aren't many of them so some have to survive the elements out in the open. You see how they bend to the wind, grow to their evironments.

At their bases are scrubby bushes, so they rely on the falling leaves each year to supply the nutrients they need to continue to survive. They grow kind of scrubby and thin, reaching for the sky.

We can take a lesson or two watching trees grow and survive!

To see other entries of The Weekend in Black and White, please go and visit http://blackandwhiteweekend.blogspot.com/

Skywatch Friday

I am back home now from holidays in Alberta, but it has been a busy couple of days since getting home.

Here is a picture from Eastern Alberta at the entrance gate to a farm. We stopped to visit the horses behind the fence and I took this picture of the farm gate and sky just before getting back into the car and continuing on our way.

To see photos of Skywatch Friday from around the globe, please go and visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/

To see past photos of my trip, just see some of the previous posts!!

A Day in the Life in Medicine Hat

A few highlights from the last couple of days here in the Hat.

We are all eating very well here. Probably too well but that can be worked off after the end of the holiday.

A few pictures of our last night's dinner and a quick recipe!

A platter of Barbequed Chicken Wings.

Wings tossed in Frank's Hot Sauce and butter!

Roasted Tomato Salad.

Cut tomatoes in half and place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle each tomato with a combination of dried breadcrumbs, grated parmasan cheese, basil, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper. Drizzle with Olive Oil, and place in a 400 degree oven to roast for about a half hour. Make a simple green salad with baby greens, thinly sliced red onion and red peppers and dress with Balsamic Vinegar dressing. Spread salad on serving platter and arrange hot roasted tomatoes over the top of salad and sprinkle liberally with Crumbled Goat Cheese.

This is my nephew Aaron who today went out to the park with me and was my willing photo subject for the day.

I downloaded a simple version of Picasa onto their computer to do a bit of editing.

The park where we took the photos has a few pieces of heavy duty equipment parked by the side of the creek doing cleanup work after a flood, so Aaron crouched into the bucket of the front end loader.

Tomorrow I am going to practise taking some pictures of Aaron and his girlfriend.

I'll take the whole lot of pictures home and edit them in photoshop after.

My trip here seems to be going really fast. A week already has passed and I think with the passing of time that I have only a couple of days left here before its time to go home. I am really going to find it hard to leave my daughter here and get on the plane without her. We have spent a lot of time together here, I feel like I have to get in lots of time now because soon I won't see her for a long time. How do parents do this??

More photos tomorrow......



Skywatch Friday - Alberta Sky

In Medicine Hat we went to Echodale Park to walk, along the South Saskatchewan River. The fall colours were beautiful to see.

My sister Elaine and brother in law Ron were out enjoying the day with me.

The skies were lightly clouded and the temperature was warm. A bit of a wind blew.

Some knarly looking trees against a blue sky backdrop.

Across the river is the small town of Redcliff where my daughter just moved to and where my son Eric also lives.

The Red Cliffs across the river were originally mined for their red stone and clay. It was used in the making of bricks and pottery.  Hence how the town of Redcliff got its name.

The picnic area of Echodale Park was awash in crisp fallen leaves. I had to shuffle through the lot of them!

Sunset over the houses behind my daughter Lora's new place.

Looking to the left in the back of Lora's place. The sunset was gorgeous. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

To see other photos of Skywatch Friday, please go and visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Lorna and Lora's Excellent Road Trip

After two days of driving with a stop in Golden for the night, Lora and I have made it all the way to her new home in Medicine Hat. Our first road trip and I hope not our last, was a good trip, no problems in any way throughout the entire trip. Her cat Whiskey who took the trip with us slept most of the way in her cat carrier and never had a problem with the travelling at all.

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. The colours were gorgeous, the weather was clear for the most part with only about ten minutes of rain for the entire trip.

Everywhere the fall colours were spectacular.

This is Shuswap Lake in Eastern B.C. It is a huge tourist destination in the summer.

Can't pass up lakes and reflections. This is further along the Shuswap.

The clouds over the mountains were just hanging down. Lots of early morning fog when we started out for the day.

This hotel is between Revelstoke and Golden on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Bridge before Golden, where we spent the night.

I liked the fall colours here and the Grizzly Bear on the pedestal.

Roger's Pass Summit.

Pitstop at the Tourist Center in Banff Alberta. My beauty girl Lora.

Coming into Calgary here, home of the world famous Calgary Stampede! Only three hours more of driving from this point.

Alberta, the land of big skies, cows (ladies in leather) and hay bales.

And after about 13 hours of driving and one over night stay we arrived safe and sound in Medicine Hat. Lora's U-Haul is unloaded and now comes the job of unpacking everything and getting settled.

My brother in law Ron here making coffee the next morning.

More trip photos to follow!!

There are some cool watery shots in the beginning of this very long post and I am including those in entry into Watery Wednesday.

To see more photos of Watery Wednesday, please go and visit http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/