Sunday Stills: History

For the challenge this week, History, it took me a little bit to figure out what I was going to snap, so it's quite a mixed bag.

The first one is actually my "laptop desk". This is an old buffet that we inherited from George's grandmother. I love the look of the wood, and the details on it. It's part of a set that we have sprinkled around the house.

I was just guessing how old this barn is, but it seems to fit the bill of being more than 60 years old. It's the back of the stable where my daughter rides. They've grafted a new building on the front, but the back is where the interesting bits are.

This next place is definitely more than 60 years old. It's one of the original buildings in our downtown, which dates back to the 1800s. They're in the middle of a renovation on the place, including all new windows. It's nice to see a little bit of history being revitalized.

Finally, this is a close-up on the doll that my daughter inherited from a cousin in England. It is from the late 1800s, is in amazing shape, and has quite a history.

Happy Father's Day!

This one goes out to Papa, Grampa, and Great-Grampa. The kids colored the card and then we did an early morning photoshoot (this explains Blake's hair).

Sunday Stills: Go Low, Looking High

The one advantage of doing Sunday Stills is that it forces me to post at least one blog entry a week. Plus, it's giving me some new ideas for my 365days project. I've been doing it for 265 days now, so the inspiration is getting a little harder. This week's theme was "go low, looking high".

The first one is of my new, outdoor curtains. Karen and I made them a couple of weeks ago, and my father-in-law helped me hang them last weekend when George was in Chicago. They look fantastic, if I do say so myself.

I took the next two with my cheapy cameraphone, but was pretty happy with the results. The first one is the barn at the stable where Faith does her riding lesson. I love old barns!

This one is from the base of the old, unused silo. Blew out the sky, but the silo itself has some interesting textures.

Sunday Stills: Eyes

This week, they eyes have it. Sunday Stills was "Eyes", so here's an attempt at the theme.

Although not strictly an eye, I love Blake's eyelashes because they're so darn long:



I'm never sure how to describe Blake's eye color. It started out blue and has gradually been overlaid with brown, which results in an distinct hazel combination:



Faith's eyes are definitely blue, but in this case I liked how the catchlights looked in black and white:

a


At the stable I tried to get some horse eyes - low light, at 1800 ISO, and very low f-stop. It didn't work out perfectly, but I got a couple of decent shots:



Another one at the stable:

Exciting beginnings

Faith is gradually bringing home various papers and tests this week as her teacher cleans out the classroom for the end of the year. She just got through grade 3 testing, which, she was a little worried about until after the first day. I asked her how it went and she described the three hours of testing as "easy". Plus, they got to watch a movie each day after the testing. All in all, not a bad deal.

Today she brought home a worksheet entitled "Exciting Beginnings". Her task was to write a great beginning sentence for a series of topic sentences. My two favourites:

1. My biggest hero

"I was really sad one day then I heard a beautiful sound so I walked downstairs and I saw JUSTIN BIEBER singing Never let go and I was happy again."

2. The worst present I ever got

"The worst present I ever got was a math book. My parents actually thought I was going to study on my birthday."

No, we didn't give her a math book for her birthday. Yes, she does have Justin Bieber songs on her IPod. Not sure what this says about us.

What is wrong with this sign?

I couldn't resist snapping this shot with my cameraphone. Can you tell why it gave me a laugh?

Sunday Stills: Black and White

The Sunday Stills challenge this week was Black and White, so I took it quite literally and took pictures of black and white things. Faith was all too happy to help as my model. The dress and tights are hers (tights courtesy of her Aunt Kim).



Here's another one, this time she's in my rubber boots:



I didn't realize these boots were quite so shiny. I wear them out to the farm for Faith's horseback riding, or walking across the field of rainy days to pick up the kids. They are well used:



And, the whole look together...who knew her legs were this long?



And, to change it up a bit, my Mom and I got these crocs for Blake on the May long weekend. I figured they were black and he could wear them to church if need be. Obviously they have been well loved so I don't think they'll make it to church.



And, finally, not strictly a picture of black and white, but I like how the light brings out the tiny dimples in the wrought iron: