Week 52: So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

more favourite things

I figured that this week's title should stick with the Sound of Music theme and how fitting it is since I am saying goodbye to the year 2016.  Just in case you are thinking I am totally awesomely smart, I admit that I had to look up the spelling of auf wiedersehen.

I wanted to continue with the theme of favourite things this week and I was planning to include some family photos since I am heading to visit family tomorrow.  I hesitate to admit this but frugality won out over family this time.  I got an email from the company I use to make my photography project photobooks and there is a 40% off sale until midnight tonight.  That means I have to finish the book today and get it uploaded before we go to Windsor.  So...no family photos.  I tried to snag Levi for a shot or two but he was having none of it.  I didn't force the issue since I made him take driver's ed this week so he's been grumpy about his vacation being used for school.

About the photography this week, I have had Hermione out every day.  Woohoo...way to end the year on a positive note!  The only thing I wish could have been different is to have had some sun.  Is anybody else bogged down in grey skies and dark days?  

Sunday begins a new year and a new project.  I hope you will continue to enjoy my photographs as I continue to enjoy making them.  Happy New Year to all.

On Monday (yes, after Christmas) we continued our annual tradition of making the sugar cookies.  We weren't in a hurry since we didn't need them until New Year's so we kept putting it off.  Okay, I kept putting it off.  Do you know how much work it is to make these cookies?

Anyway, here are more of my favourite things:

spending time with Levi

Levi's creativity

cookies

Since I was up each day to get Levi to driver's ed, it seemed like a good idea to stay out and enjoy the weather before heading back home to complete a long list of holiday chores.  On Tuesday both Maxine and Pam were available and we headed to Whitefish Island in "flurries."  I'm not sure who our weatherman is but he got it wrong...it was a downright blizzard out there and apart from one dedicated fisherman, we saw nobody else.

Some favourite things:

friends

friends' dogs (not so much because I like dogs but because they make a great excuse to get out for a walk and they are generally amusing)

snowy mornings

The next day we decided to go snowshoeing.  I will tell you that "friends' dogs" no longer made my list.  I was upended by Fergus as I was perched precariously on a steep hill trying to get my balance to keep moving forward.  He went through my legs because, well, that seems the most obvious route I guess, and I ended up in the snow.  I am sad to say that bad words came out of my mouth and they were directed at Fergus.  I prepared an apology for when we met the following morning but he didn't show.  I think I hurt his feelings.

My final list of favourites for this week and year:

this amazingly beautiful country I live in

remembering that snowshoeing is so much fun

Levi's snowshoes (mine are the old wooden ones so I have been using his)

being able to discover new places so near and yet unknown to me

Mother Nature's abstract art

and freshly fallen clean snow so you can eat it when you are dying of thirst because you decided to try a new snowshoeing trail without first checking how long it was and not carrying water with you (hypothetically)

And that's that for 2016.  See you next year.

Week 51: These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

love

I took a little artistic license in interpreting this week's topic based on the photos I made this week.  In addition to having the opportunity to photograph some of my favourite subjects and enjoying each moment of those outings, I felt that I needed to ensure that these final two weeks of this year's project were positive, thus the "favourite things" topic.  In reading through some of my old posts while proof-reading my photobook, I realized that I tended toward the negative:  I was grumpy quite a bit, I was hard on myself, I complained a lot and I think I was just unhappy with the project overall and that was reflected in my writing.

No more of that!  I have plans to change the project for next year and now that I have noticed the negativity in my writing, I will make a determined effort to cease and desist.  There, that can be a New Year's resolution. 

I was happy with my photography this week and well, it's Christmas so let's just enjoy.  I plan to photograph more favourite things for week 52 so don't panic that you don't see my family here!  They truly are my MOST favourite things; these are just SOME of my favourite things.

Last Sunday Amanda and I went to feed the chickadees despite the frigid temperatures.  My car was all alone in the parking lot and we didn't see another soul during the hour we were there.

So we begin with, in no particular order:

Whitefish Island

being a Big Sister

solitude

birds

and sometimes squirrels

On Wednesday evening this week we had heavy snow falling but I checked the weather and the forecast was clear for the morning so I made my plans to head to Elliot Lake.  I was hopeful that the sunrise would be pretty on the fresh snow so I left home a half hour early to allow myself time to stop and take pictures if the urge arose.  Well, the urge arose many many times once the sun finally came up.  There were so many beautiful scenes and my jaw was hanging open in awe for quite some time. There were only a few places where I could safely pull over so most of the beauty remains in my memory rather than in my computer.

More favourite things:

my weekly drives through this beautiful country to Elliot Lake

my work (not the whole job but the work I do with the kids)

winter

beautiful fluffy snow

sunrise

Today was my Friday off and I spent the morning finishing up everything that needed finishing up for Christmas.  I was at Walmart shortly after 7:00 and the grocery store when it opened and 8:00.  Nothing else on my list was open until 9:30 so I headed to Whitefish Island with Hermione.

And still more favourite things:

my Fridays off

holidays

frosty mornings

and the way Mother Nature hangs her laundry

While writing this, Levi noticed that all three cats were sharing the same space!  Yes!  All three!  That never happens.  Surprisingly, they stayed put while I got Hermione and put the flash on and waited for the slow batteries to start working.

My final favourite thing for this week:

our cats (I had to qualify that because there just might be more cats next week)

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas.

Week 50: Black and White Christmas

black and white

This topic was officially "black and white portrait" but the snow is so awesomely pretty here I decided that my "portrait" would be of the snow.

On Wednesday this week, we had the beginnings of a pretty bad snow storm.  It  grew and got nasty, continued through Thursday and by the end of the squalls we had received 54 cm of snow.  Overnight last night and into today, we got another 15 cm.  You can imagine how that makes things look.  Everything is so clean and beautiful and I chose Hermione in favour of groceries this morning.

You might also be able to imagine how all that snow has made the driving...horrible.  The snow came too quickly for the plows to stay on top of it so it accumulated under the cars that were still (against police pleas) out and about.  Now the roads consist of loose snow, narrow lanes and six inch deep ruts that unexpectedly pull the car madly off in all directions.  I headed out this morning despite the grave danger (!) to capture the beauty.  I spent an hour this morning at Whitefish Island and an hour this afternoon with Maxine and the boys on the trails at Connor Road.

Man, we live in the most beautiful place on earth.

Last night I finally downloaded the Nik software that became free last March.  I have no idea what all the different programs do but there is software to develop photos into black and white.  I also have no idea how to properly use the program but I went ahead anyway...I just chose a photo I wanted to make black and white then scrolled through the presets and chose one I liked.  You should see some differences between all the photos even though they would all be considered black and white, because the processing was different for each one.

This one might actually still be in colour.

And here are some birds from this morning.  This woodpecker was vying with the chickadees for the fresh bird seed in the feeders.

My blue jay was enticed off of the tree with some seed strategically placed on the bridge railing.

I know that it's not quite winter yet but don't these photos make you think it is?

Week 49: Finally Feeling Festive

festive

We are at the end of a weekend that for me, was quite productive.  I found some new recipes (and made two of them), decorated the house, spent Friday evening with good friends, cut down a tree and decorated it, did some baking and found Levi's Christmas and birthday gifts on-line.  On top of that, I had a two and a half hour nap last evening and finally sat down to take care of my photos from the past two weeks.  As I write this, that doesn't seem like all that much compared with some people (Pam!) but it is certainly more than I have done on a weekend for a while now.

One thing I have not done is shovel.  The snow keeps coming down a little bit at a time so I keep thinking it will go away.  Unfortunately, I believe it might be here to stay.  I usually love the snow and winter but since I am not skiing this year and my thumb surgery is finally coming close, I think the snow is just going to be a pain in the rear.  

Unless it is pretty on a day when I can photograph it!

So here is my quietly festive photo for the week.

I had to go to the Bulk Barn to pick up some spices (oh yeah, I did that too) and I saw these little candies.  I had fun with the candy canes last week so I decided to pick up some of the candy and have more fun.

Yesterday we headed out to Hotchkiss Tree Farm to pick our tree for the year.  It was snowing lightly in the morning so I woke Levi up (well actually, I just tore him from his ipad and made him get up and dressed) so we could tree hunt in the perfect weather.  As you can see from the sky, it was no longer snowing by the time we got out there.  It was such a lovely morning anyway and it was sad that we found our tree so quickly.  I would have been happy to wander around for much longer.

A note to those of you who put up real trees:  don't put up your tree on a Saturday and squeeze lemons on a Sunday.  Ouch!!

Hopefully the festive feeling lasts through the crazy busy work week I have coming up.

Week 48: Candy Canes and Silver Lanes Aglow

a candy cane

So, I'm late again.  The week before last, I again left things late...hoping for some pretty winter days to go out and photograph.  We had some for sure but they were always work days!  I'd be driving to work at 6:45 and thinking that I'd much rather be out with Hermione.  When we finally did get a skiff of snow on a weekend, I slept in and by the time I got to Whitefish Island, the snow was melting and it wasn't very wintry looking.  I headed up to Hiawatha because it usually snows more up there and the snow stays on the trees but alas, that morning, there was no snow!

I had bought candy canes when shopping that morning planning to photograph this assignment a little closer to Christmas but in desperation, out came the light table and the unwrapping of tasty treats ensued.

Just in case you want to unwrap a whole bunch of mini candy canes, be warned that the success rate for this, without the cane breaking, is about five percent.

The lanes aren't particularly glowing here but I was limited by what Mother Nature had on offer.

That's it for this week.