Trails At Dusk

I know, the rest of you are all YEAH SPRING FLOWERS and here I am posting gloomy reminders of winter! I'm so slow about getting my photos off my camera card, I take forever to sort and cull and just call me a turtle at editing! Picky, picky, picky..

Little glimmers of hope popped up along the path as we found signs of spring.

Check out the hashtag #fouriadorefriday on instagram with @kimklassen. My entry for this week.

Winter stillness.

You can just make out the snow falling in the horizon.

I swear, spring blossoms really are on my camera card but first I have to edit my deers, ducks and geese!
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Participating in Kim Klassen's Friday Finds

Spring Rises!

Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen

Textures kk_waterfront and kk_makelight_02

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

~ Henry Van Dyke, Fisherman's Luck

That was my thought this weekend when we finally had our first true spring weather hike!



We visited the new dog park in town and the dogs seemed just as excited to finally get out to play.



This poor little one though was not very keen on being 'it' as the larger dogs gave chase.



Amazing view all around and since the dog park is part of Herber Downs, great trails and bike paths to explore. I literally just sighed once I got back out on the trails. How I have missed my hikes! Keep your  dogs leashed on the trails though because a coyote was spotted wandering about a few times this winter.

100 Dog Strangers Series

#33 Australian Shepherd 15 Week Puppy

Is this 15 week old Australian Shepherd not the cutest! A little young for a dog park perhaps but he/she was having fun!



Till next time!

Stillness in Winter

The Good: This winter was much brighter than I expected. The Bad: The temperatures dipped far below what either the dogs or myself could brave on most days. Both Kodee and myself seemed to have a harder time with arthritis this year - not that we are showing our age or anything...

 

Winter is long though, so at some point life just seemed to stop. With a thud. There comes a point when winter becomes too quiet.

 

Be Still 52 - Week 6 Props

So no props here for my chosen week 6 photo - but there was a prop buying adventure and this photo screams stillness! Very behind on my lessons, but if I have learned anything in this workshop its  "don't rush, just enjoy the journey".

Feeling much too housebound in this -30 windchill we opted to get out and explore the landscape (may have tugged along a hot thermos of tea. A whole new world opened up; no salted streets, no sounds of snow shovels scraping the sidewalk, no fumes from cars idle and warming up.

 

We ended up north at the Oshawa Skeet Club where you could hear the guns cracking in the still air.

 

Just miles of sun, glistening snow, stillness  on top of the hill. Suddenly winter was not dark and drab.

 

Before I get too carried away in this get back to appreciate nature post, this photo serves as a stark reminder of just how much snow we got!

My Friday Finds

Stillness, beauty, inspiration, warm tea, & MY TOES on a cold, winters day.

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Joining in Friday Finds

Algonquin Park Adventures

Algonquin Park ~ Tea Lake

Fall! My absolute favourite season followed closely by spring! Call me crazy but I rate summer right up there with winter. We kept watching Friends of Algonquin Fall Peak Colour Report for the perfect day to visit the park for the showiest leaves. We arrived at the Park at it's peak colour for 2014.

Oxtongue River ~ Ragged Falls

I had better love this photo because I  crawled through some little string webs that had tiny worms hanging off the tree to capture this slow shutter shot. I like how the orange leaf colour is reflected very subtly in the waves.

Oxtongue Lake ~ Algonquin Outfitters

The word breathtaking was meant for this view. The most amazing colour, light and reflections I have ever been lucky enough to view.



Lake of Two Rivers

Just as we were calling it a day and heading back to Huntsville we spotted off the highway a thick fog along the shoreline.



Lake of Two Rivers is the oldest and best known campground at Algonquin. A little bit of mystic moon :) to end our day.



Hidden Valley Resort

Tired, cold and hungry we headed back to Huntsville to arrive at the Holiday Inn where we had a pre-paid room. Not too happy to find out they overbooked and we were room-less. They arranged for us to stay at the  Hidden Valley Resort. We drove back out of town and then down a twisted and dark road with not a clue what sort of place we would end up. Turned out to be the best mess up! When we threw open the curtains this is the spectacular view off our balcony! Great dining room, outdoor pool to side of lake, indoor pool and pet friendly.

Hardwood Look Out

I heard Algonquin is the best spot to be for fall colour viewing - but THIS, exceeds any expectations I had. By day two I conceded I was getting old and broke down and bought a walking stick. Love it and not sure what took me so long to loose my pride and get it. It folds up small and fits right in my photography bag. It's hot pink of course ;)

There will be a part II  to this post because I have loads more to share, so watch for it.

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Participating in Friday Finds, and Weekend Reflections.

Whimsical Sunsets

Three things cannot be long hidden:
the sun, the moon, and the truth.
~ Buddha 

After a very lazy Labour Day weekend, we decided on a whim to jump in the car and head to my favourite beach in Port Cobourg to photograph the sunset.

For me, nothing beats a stroll on the boardwalk, taking in the view of the Breakwater Lighthouse and surrounding scenery. For the last few years, the lighthouse has been in need of a spiff up. Town council gave the go ahead for a makeover. This little paint job cost the tune of $56,500! Seems a lot don't you think?

 If I am lucky and the lottery fairies find me, I think a beach front home would suit me just fine!

Venus even made an appearance! During the month of September you can view Venus about 1.5 hours after sunset in the west sky. If you wait a bit longer, you will also find Saturn above and to the left of the moon. I think it was too cloudy and maybe a bit too early in the evening because we couldn't find it.

Guide To 5 Visible Planets In September

The sun rises just behind the lighthouse so I am hoping to muster up the energy to photograph it before it gets too cold. I'm not a morning person, so it actually might be easier to just stay up and head out that way before daylight!

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Participating at: Kim Klassen's Friday Finds, Skywatch Friday and  Weekend Reflections

Waterford Antique Market

Drink

[Photo A Day June Prompt For "30 Things About Me" Series]

Tea <3 My daughter would say, tea in a teacup tastes better but I think traditional tea cups are just too small!

My youngest daughter first saw "Royal Albert Bone China" while working at a Museum and has vowed to one day own a teacup from the "Old Country Rose" pattern.

Perhaps she is an old soul, in a young body because she was enthralled to add this teacup to her collection.The "Old Country Rose" pattern has a variety of styles of teacups and the one she spotted  at Waterford Antique Market was the  "Montrose Breakfast" .



Fact 7 About Me
Teacups are OK, but my head turned at the simpler, old Pyrex collection. Well I did spot a $550 Staffordshire Spaniel  that turned my head till I thought about what lens that kind of money would buy. In the end, I settled for $4 Spaniel salt and pepper shakers.

Snapped on the iPhone

Sharing With:
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June's Photo A Day
Search twitter and/or FlickR for #photoadayjune to find more participants.

June Photo A Day ~ Sign

Sign

[Photo A Day June Prompt For "30 Things About Me" Series]

Ok so it is not a creative photograph. It is not even well executed. But we were photographing at a Provincial Park today and not a good sign insight. Then this. You must admit, at least it's a funny sign!

How perfect this would have been for yesterdays Photo A Day prompt "Close Up".



Fact 5 About Me
No one is complaining here summer has arrived! We love hiking and we love photography. Problem is, we have trouble holding 2 leashes and the camera steady! I was continually frustrating myself and the dogs by telling them to stay while I tried to balance the camera. The end result was camera shake and blurred images. Not working! So the compromise we decided to take the dogs on a daytrip and explore one weekend and the next leave the dogs at home and concentrate on photography. Ah! This is working out much better! Hoping these blue skies and sun last through to the weekend.
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Sharing With:
 June's Photo A Day
Search twitter and/or FlickR for #photoadayjune to find more participants.

Fall Walk in the Park

Fall colours; best photographers palette! This was my favourite shot of the day.

We belong to a few Photography Meet Up Groups. 

Last weekend 64 in our group hit the trails in search of vibrant fall leaves.

Early morning sunshine creating a little bit of heaven.

I now have an urge to decorate a room in this palette.

Someone commented this photograph looked like the water was on fire.

It's that time of year when rivers are plenty with salmon working hard to swim upstream to spawn.

Scattered along the path were milk weed pods bursting open and throwing their seeds to the wind.

As I was setting up this shot, balanced on a steep cliff's edge - who moves in front but my husband.
Makes an interesting shot. Why yes.
The thought did occur to me to push him in the creek for squeaking into my frame.

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