Lily

As usual, I am back taking pictures of flowers. They call to me - what can I say?

Sparkling Mums

I saw these flowers in the local florist shop and thought they were kind of pretty. I don't think I have ever seen sparkles on mums before.

Window dressing

I thought the colours were nice in this window so I snapped a photo. I probably could have cropped it a little more, but sometimes I never know where to stop and start!

Glass Slipper

I took this picture after our last snow storm. I was just feeling a little Cinderellaish!

Light Angles

The light in this photo produced a very sharp angle on the corner of this building. It was beautiful anyway, but the way the light hit made it even more so. Another building from the DES.

Morning Light

I have absolutely no idea what this building is, but it is incredibly beautiful. This is the view from outside the classroom at VCC in the Downtown Eastside. The morning light with the steam rising from the rooftops gave me an excellent subject for a photo.

Whistler in black and white

I loved the way the snow was blowing around a bit and I caught it in the photo. You can seen the back of Donna in her wheelchair going towards the lift.

Whistler at Night

I took this recently on our trip to Whistler. I loved the pretty blue lights in the trees.

Lest We Forget

My thoughts and prayers are with all the brave men and women who have served their countries.

Fall

Mystery Flower

Here I go with the flowers again. I have no idea what this flower is, but I thought it was rather pretty. I'm glad we still have flowers about, even though we are smack in the middle of fall.

Pink Flowers

I have no idea what kind of flowers these are, but I love the delicacy of the blossoms and the big white stamens.

Daisy Among the Cedars

I loved the head of this pretty little flower poking out from the cedar hedge. I have no idea where it came from as it was the only one there, but it of course caught my eye.

I have been very remiss with my photos here. I haven't even taken any pictures for about three weeks. I have to get back out in the neighborhood armed with my camera!

New Van

While certainly not one of the best photos I have taken it is one of the most exciting. Donna and I are now the proud owners of a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan! Isn't it pretty? There is a removable seat in the front passenger side so now Donna can sit up front with me, enjoy the view, and we can actually carry on a conversation. We are both excited and plan on going for a drive this afternoon!

Center

I'm not feeling very centered right now, and kind of going in 100 different directions at once, so thought I would post a picture of the center of something.

Horseshoe Bay

The view from the ferry back in towards the bay has always been a favorite of mine. This photo definitely does not do it justice.

Contemplation

I snapped this picture at the ferry terminal in Nanaimo. This woman and her friend had just biked in to the terminal and she took a much needed break on the picnic table overlooking Departure Bay.

Totem

This totem was at the ferry terminal at Departure Bay in Nanaimo. They are very much a part of the First Nations people and can be spotted in various places along the coast.

White Rose

Ok - I promise this is the last flower for a bit. I took this the other day in the garden of a nearby apartment. If you click on the photo to make it look bigger, you can see the detail a little better.

Bee Patient

After what seemed like forever, standing still with the camera pointed on this flower, the bee finally landed and I was able to get a shot! I should have had my tripod with me, but unfortunately I didn't. However, I seemed to hold still enough and managed to capture what I wanted. Are you sick of flowers yet?

Pink Dahlia

I am afraid my posts will look rather like a flower garden for the next while unless I get outside and take some new photos. This is from the same neighbor's garden. I would have liked to catch it a little later in the day so the light was softer, but I think it still turned out okay.

Dahlia

Fall is here! I went for a walk last week and happened upon a beautiful garden in our neighborhood. This little, quaint home, has the most glorious collection of dahlia's. You may be seeing a few more over the next few days.

Jennifer

This is Jennifer or Jenny as I so affectionately call her. Jenny is 19 and one smart cookie. This year she is attending the University of Edmonton and taking all her prerequisites for Molecular Genetics. I am not even sure I know what that is, but it is the direction she wants to focus on. Jenny is high spirited, energetic, talkative with a quick wit and great sense of humor. Jenny also is a great dancer and her and Jodi tried to show Patty and I some dance moves over the summer. We - are hopeless.

Jodi

This is my niece Jodi and she is the "kid in the middle". Jodi is free spirited and easy going with a quick, sharp wit. Dancing is her passion and one day she would like to be in a cheesy musical, which she loves by the way. Jodi also has a beautiful voice and is auditioning for a part in the upcoming "High School Musical". I have no doubt she will get a part. Jodi takes what life tosses at her in stride which is pretty atypical for a 17-year-old girl. She is definitely no drama queen. And yes - those curls are real! Isn't she gorgeous?

Dylan

This is my nephew Dylan. He is 15 years old and has the greatest sense of humor, and is pretty damn cute too. He is also an extraordinary skateboarder, in my humble opinion. He and his dad built a 1/4 pipe in the back yard, and he skates on that thing for hours a day. He is also pretty amazing on his trampoline. Dylan has Type 1 diabetes, so it is extremely important that he stay active. His mouth stays pretty active all day long, as Dylan does like to talk a lot, but I find that typical 15-year-old boy behavior. Neil was the same...come to think of it, he didn't grow out of it. Guess my sister has something to look forward to?

Ahhh...aren't they cute?

This is one of Don's sons Steven. He came down with his parents to visit with Donna. They had met each other on Facebook, but hadn't seen each other since Donna was about 8. We were camping with my parents at the time and Don and his family came to visit with us for the day. The kids were all playing down by the lake and when it was time to come back to the campsite, Donna came lumbering up carrying Steven. Apparently he had been crying because the rocks hurt his feet, so Donna being the empathetic person she is, picked him up and carried him the whole way back. No mean feat, since she struggled to walk herself. At any rate, they do chuckle at the memory. There is NO way she could carry Steven now (well other than the fact that she can't walk), but Steven is now 6 foot 5 and definitely not little by any stretch of the imagination. The two did have a great visit and it was fun for them to reconnect after so many years.

Friends!

I love this picture! This is my friend Don or Donnie as I so affectionately call him. He is my OLDEST friend and one of the members of OUR "Group of Seven" (not to be confused with the artists). We used to cause much mischief and mayhem when we were young and if you kept up with my blog on efx2, then you will know about our playing "Purse", drinking in Waterton, and being chased by a gang of hoodlums. (I showed Donna the yard we hid in on our walk around town). Don used to love to come out to the farm and stay with Patty and I without his sister Donna and we always used to have so much fun. I hadn't seen him for quite some time, but he drove down from Calgary to see us when we were in Taber. Don was my ex-husband's roommate through his first and second year of university, and then lived with me for awhile when he went to summer school. We have shared far too many memories to recount and it just felt so good to see him this summer.

News on EFX2

Keith has just posted an entry. You can go here to check it out.

http://www.efx2blogs.com/

My Grandparent's House

Another home that we checked out on our walking tour was that of my grandparents (my dad's parents). The house is still in really good shape and I was dying to go have a look inside, but I know I would have been disappointed. There wouldn't have been piles of crocheting or needlepoint projects in the living room, or music on the organ, no smell of oil paint in the studio, or yummy goodies in the kitchen. So, I was just as happy to keep my memories intact. Every summer for two or three days, all 14 of the grandchildren would come here and stay and just have a ball! Good memories.

Reminiscing in Taber

The quality of this photo isn't that great. However, we thought it was an important one to take. Donna's dad used to live in this house in our old hometown. We took the photo for him to show how much it had changed since they sold it in 1972. It really hadn't changed that much, however the tree in front had grown like crazy! As Donna and I walked around town that day I reminisced and told her who lived where and what kind of mischief I used to get into. It was a fun day.

French Fries

This is one of the photos I took at Taber Cornfest. Every year at the end of August the town celebrates with a real old fashioned "carnival". There is a small midway, lots of displays with quilts, old cars etc., arts and crafts booths, and then of course food booths featuring the world famous Taber Corn! Believe me it is the best I have ever tasted and anyone from there is a corn connoisseur. This is just one of the food booths. There are more photos to come.

Confederation Park

This is confederation park, which was built in the year of Canada's Centennial in 1967. My grandparents and parents planted trees in this park, so that one day their grandchildren and great grandchildren could enjoy it. The trees have grown and it is now a very beautiful and well used park.I remember that year well and all the hard work everyone in town put into making this space beautiful for generations to come.

Fireworks

The Cornfest in Taber had pretty good fireworks for a small town. I had to snap some shots, but when I reread my photography book when I got home, I realized I could have gotten much better shots had I changed a couple of my settings. Live and learn! Next time - I will be better prepared.

The Ranch

This is Rob and Jess's ranch. The setting is so incredibly beautiful. I wish I could have had more time there. I can see why they bought the land!

Barn

I love the character of this old barn, which was at Rob and Jess's ranch. I was actually more excited about the ranch than seeing The Cup. Is that weird or what?

Dylan

I finally got a shot of my nephew when he didn't have a stupid look on his face!

Land of the Long Sun

Sunny Southern Alberta, is also known as "Land of the Long Sun". I found our shadows interesting and very long indeed! The day after this photo was taken, Jennifer spotted a rattlesnake near this very trail when she was out for her morning walk. Needless to say, we didn't go back!

Filling the Cart

This guy has his own way of shopping. Now with the garbage strike on in Vancouver and all the dumpsters locked, what will these binners do?

Ferry

BC Ferries welcomes you aboard! How many times have I heard that! This is the ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay in Nanaimo.

Jack

Jack was posing for me up in the tree on the beach. Isn't he cute? He reminds me so much of Neil when he was little.

Gramma with Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren and spouses

Seated: Logan, Neil with Jack, Brianna with Josh (at least I think it's Brianna, I still can't tell them apart.
Standing: Jaclyn, Kara,Donna, Gramma, Lisa, Toni
Standing in back: Trish, Curtis, Scott

Good looking bunch of kids!

Peepin' Through The Porthole

I took this of Neil as he was looking out over the ocean on the car deck of the ferry. It was a beautiful day and the sea breeze felt so wonderful!

Waiting to Relax

This was taken just before the wedding while looking out over the estuary in Comox towards Goose Spit. I miss this view!

Donna and Crafties

Here is a picture of Donna with my "Crafties". The actual name of our group is the "Crafty Bitches", but quite frankly, none of us are bitchy! LOL....They are a good looking bunch aren't they? We all lived within a few steps of each other when we lived on the island, so they ladies watched Donna grow up from the time she was 9 to the young lady she is now.

Mr. Bojangles

This is another of the street musicians on Granville Island. He was singing Mr. Bojangles, which is a great song, but always makes me feel kind of sad.

Star Shell

I love all things pretaining to the ocean. These colours and the way this ceramic star lay on the blue sand, caught my eye.

Crow

This is kind of an odd picture, but I liked the idea of this crow sitting on this sculpture at Van Dusen. I fiddled with this a bit to make the crow stand out and the rest blurry. Not the best photo - but not the worst either

Anchors Aweigh

A hidden gem in a courtyard on Granville Island. I love how the water looks like it is dancing!

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus is the Father of Taxonomy. Whatever the heck that is! Actually I know, but don't feel like explaining it here. Anyway - he was Swedish and kind of cute, so I had to take his picture. Donna snapped one of me kissing him on the cheek, but I haven't seen it yet.

Korean Pavillion

This is the roof of the Korean Pavillion at Van Dusen Gardens. I had not seen it on my previous visit, but the colours certainly are beautiful!