Sunday Stills: Canine Companions

I'm back after a little break. Between weekend activities, and a virus that meant a complete rewrite of my harddrive, I've been a little lacking in my photo taking lately. This week's Sunday Stills, Canine Companions, is one I'll have to complete with some archive photos of our friends' dog, Finnegan (a sheltie). Finnegan is over a year old now, but here are some photos from his first months in his new home.

From last January, after Finnegan arrived -- nothing cuter than a puppy:



Cuddling with new friends:



Cheering for Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics:



Playing with the kids on a warm April day:

Sunday Stills: Old churches and graveyards

The Sunday Stills challenge this week, Old Churches & Graveyards, was a little daunting given how bloody cold it's been around here. But, we did have a nice thaw this week which meant holding a camera outside wouldn't freeze your fingers off, so thanks to good timing and my ever-present cameraphone, I was able to get a couple of shots that fit the theme...not great but they are new. :) I am however going to dig in the archives and show one from my Ireland/England trip as those countries know something about old churches and graveyards. (To see more churches and graveyards, I have a set on flickr.)

At sunset I was driving my daughter out to her horseback riding lessons, and we hit the the perfect time to stop by a church I drive by every day. The graveyard was pretty interesting in the snow...



But, the church windows are the best part at sunset. The windows glow with this unreal red fire as the sun shines through the church. This isn't the best picture, but it does give the idea. As you walk from one side the church to the other, the fire in the windows seems to follow you. The kids thought it was very cool.



And, from the archives, my favourite graveyard picture from a little place called Hale, outside of Liverpool.

Time flies

It's hard to believe, but I registered Blake for junior kindergarten today. How did that happen? Two minutes ago I was cradling him in my arms and smelling that sweet new baby smell on the top of his head. Now, he's registered to start kindergarten and providing daily entertainments with his story-telling abilities - a psychedelic cross between Ulysses and Dora the Explorer.

He tells everyone, very proudly, "I'm four!!", punctuated by four fingers. He talks up the cashiers everywhere we go. He says "Holy crap!" way too much. (And tells us that we should, "Oh darn!")

The kid is hilarious. Kindergarten should be interesting indeed.

Sunday Stills: Emotions

This week's challenge for Sunday Stills was Emotions -- as in evoking one in the person who views the picture.

First, I went for a sappy one...Logan and Blake are a year apart and they love playing together. Or, should I say getting in trouble together? We now have a set of rules when they take off upstairs at either of their houses, based on past "incidents". And if we can't hear them, we know there's trouble.



And, then I pulled one from the archive as I think this photo will definitely elicit a powerful emotion. My dad had surgery one year ago in January to fix problems with his elbow. And, then he decided last week to bang it all to hell loading cattle at his brother's farm. Based on what he went through before, you'd think he's be a little more careful. :) (My dad's reaction when he saw this photo last year? "I didn't think it was THAT bad!")

Blake's thoughts

A guest post from the hubby...he emailed this to me today with the subject line "Blake's thoughts".

This morning's conversation in the car while waiting a couple of minutes for Karen went something like this.

When are we going to Nana and Papa's?  Do Nana and Papa have dogs?  Cats?  Peanuts?  Crocodiles?

I explained no, particularly to the crocodiles as they're dangerous.

But Papa has a gun and would just shoot the crocodile.  Once it comes up close, Papa would just get it.

Can we go fishing?  By the sea.  Do sharks eat fish....If we caught a shark, we'd have to go get Papa so he could shoot the shark.  I can show him how.  I'd have to go get him and I can tell him what to do.  You just get real close and shoot him.  Then the shark would say, what just happened.

.... and so forth.

Sunday Stills: Circles

I'm a little late with this one, but it is still Sunday. This week's challenge was Circles. I'm still playing my macro lens, so when Blake pulled out his lego today, and I took a good look at it, it definitely fit the theme.

All the funny stuff in a day

After I picked the kids up today, we had to hit the bank where I could make a deposit using a real person.

When we walked up to the teller, another teller offered the kids a container filled with suckers they could pick from. Blake was very excited and grabbed a sucker right away.

I, of course, reflexively asked him, "What do you say?"

Blake's response? "Can I have two?"