FUN WITH PHOTOS

Thanks to Bobbie for linking a fun little site, I can show off some of my very own photography in an art gallery setting for perusal by the masses. The beauty that I see in an autumn shot taken at a city park for example, can be beautifully framed and shared in all it's splendour, passers-by unable to help themselves from stopping to admire and discuss the high price of such work of art. Because oh yes this artist's work is high end indeed.


















Then they would be mesmerized by my ground shot hung frameless in front of a sexy little black leather Italian bench; this one requires sitting for a length of time to admire.

Perhaps they are imagining laying in this cool autumn grass and smelling the crisp fresh air. Wishing they were there. Ah well, this might be the closest they can get to the experience, and hopefully the gallery sells fancy bottled water and finger foods, as they might be sitting here for some time.














The thought of having a competition winning shot of a glass vase taken in front of a sunny summer window being on display brings squeals of delight from the photographer (yours truly) while wondering just how much would some unsuspecting art lover actually PAY for such a beauty?

Perhaps it would be enough to support me in a non-working environment? Where I can travel the world looking for "just the right shot" and taking me to places where I can leave only footprints and take only perfect photographs?











Day or night, there are so many sights the eye of a photographer (or a hopeful would-be) can rest their eyes on and say "oh my, I must shoot this" and then do the dance of aim and click.

Sometimes it's the shape of an object or a cloud; other times it might be the colours that grab your attention and beckon. Whatever the pull, the need to share with others what you are seeing at that moment can be strong. And sometimes, the desire to play with the colours a bit to deepen or to lighten can be likened to a painter with a brush in his hand and a whole array of colours on his pallette. So much satisfaction awaits!










I am Ukranian by descent, but although I haven't tried the art of egg painting with fabulous red and black designs, I HAVE taken a favourite lakeside photograph and applied it to the smooth surface of an egg.

The eye of the art gallery goer is no doubt comparing this to a Faberge, no? Oh yes, more funding for photographic trips abroad!















Well okay maybe it's all just a little far fetched, but it is fun to think of it! Especially the travelling-for-photography part.

The most fun for me playing with these was by far creating little masterpieces of the 2 loves-of-my-life; sister Pammie's doggies who happen to live in my house, who I am blessed to see daily, and who I love with all my heart.


These are my two favourite pieces of art right here:



Lady (aka "Ladybugs" aka "Bugs")





Misty (or as Pammie calls her, "Monkey")


I call them Bugs and Misty or refer to them as "Auntie's little Angels". Awwww!


I'm on a day off and wishing you all a great week. Take good care of each other and until next post......

PEACE!
Love Jude

56 AND COUNTING

11 years ago today, I had 5 nephews and no nieces. It had been that way for years. Now, I love my nephews don't get me wrong. But boys confuse me when it comes to buying gifts etc. Girls, I know all about them! I am one afterall, and I grew up with 3 sisters.

Then 11 years ago tomorrow (Saturday) I got a phone call from my brother-in-law who was at the hospital with my sister Brenda. He said "Happy Birthday! Guess what? You now have a niece!"

My first reaction after hanging up was, "it's about damn time!" Especially as this was the last sister to have any more babies and this was HER last one.


Yes, I share a birthday with my only niece, isn't that special? So tomorrow we both turn a year older. She will be 11 and I will be 4 years closer to 60. YIPES!

As she is having some of her friends over for a sleepover on the big day, the family birthday get-together will be next Saturday instead. I get to choose what will be served for dinner AND what kind of cake. (I haven't decided yet but I'm leaning toward sister Pammie's deelish meatball dish, sister Brenda's deelish biscuits, and maybe a chocolate cake.)



Ah yes, getting older has it's perks. I'm not so vain as I used to be, these days I don't go for fashion I mostly go for comfort. Out of necessity of course. I say mostly because I refuse to wear shorts and bathing suits in public anymore. LOL And I don't have to put up with the monthlies nor do I have to spend money on that anymore!

When you're older you get senior discounts (although I haven't quite reached that yet) and you can RETIRE! (dammit I haven't reached that yet either)


There are a few downsides to it though, like aches, pain, weight gain (for most of us without the good genes anyway) and saggy skin and wrinkles.




All in all, I love where I am spiritually, physically emotionally and mentally. I wish I'd been as informed about life when I was young and svelte, what a combination that would have been!














Well I hope all you whippersnappers have yourselves a grand weekend! Take good care of each other and until next time (when I'll be OLDER!).....

PEACE!

Love Jude

SKY WATCHING

My eyes are always looking up, and not always due to my faith (oh please God make him stop snoring; oh please God get me through to another day off) LOL.

No, often my eyes can be found automatically checking out the beauty that can be found in cloud formations and the serenity in sunrises and sunsets.

There's a certain unique energy to that time of day just before darkness envelopes us but when there is still light to see. Dusk, or twilight, has it's own stamp in time and there is a visible and audible "slowing down" of energies getting ready for the quiet of night.

I love it when it's dark enough to see all the lights on inside homes and buildings but it's light enough to see the outside too; and when the moon is bright against a still very blue sky. That's a wonderful time to be finding yourself out on a stroll around the neighbourhood.






I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels the embrace of inner serenity while witnessing the quiet colour changes in the soon-to-be-night sky. It feels as if all the world can now disrobe of the day's busy-ness and wrap yourself in the peace of the evening. If you look around you at this time of the day, everything that was sharper, clearer and edgier during the daylight hours now has softer edges.





But if you look right toward the setting sun itself, the glow is like a promise of another day, another tomorrow just over the horizon behind you. These moments always put a smile on my face. These are the moments that I literally thank the Creator for. Who else could paint a picture so perfect?





For my dear friend who is climbing a symbolic mountain at the moment(you know who you are) I am outfitted with pom-poms and an indecently short pleated skirt, standing at the side of your life path and cheering you both on! GO TEAM! (keyword is "team") I hope you know how much I love you.


I hope you all have a restful and fun weekend. Watch the sky and feel the energies. And take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

YAY THE WEEKEND'S HERE!

Well it would be a lot better if I didn't have to work Saturday. *sigh* I'm already tired, and that extra day (especially where it falls in my days off) just exhausts me.

******

So I know a couple of you have been enjoying the Africam link. I'm friggin' addicted!! LOL The one thing I've been just dying to see are my favourites, the elephants. So far no luck.

Until I got out of bed this morning!! The first thing I did was turn on the computer, hadn't even made coffee yet. Turned on the Elephants Plain cam and holy hell there were about 10 elephants there! I was SOOOO happy! And then within the first minute the camera kept going off on me. I never could get it back up, nor the Nkorho Pan cam. Both down, and just when the elephants show up! Arrgghhhh!

******

The snow we got last weekend is now pretty much gone again. Our temps are supposed to reach almost 70F on Sunday. But thankfully heading back down about 10 degrees or so the next day. Anything over 70 gets too warm for this chicky, so I'm always reluctant to enjoy anything close to 70 once it hits that time of year.

This is pretty much all we have left for snow and it's in our backyard where the sun doesn't hit it very much. The front yard has been dry for days. I know this looks like quite a pile of snow still, but remember this pile was as tall as me almost at one point! Up against the fence you can see the 3 big plants we put in just last year; a lilac bush on either side of a black lace elderberry.




This morning I noticed some new little buds coming out on one of our lilac bushes . They are new, we just got them last year and planted them, and I've been eagerly waiting to see how they bloom this year (if they do?).

If I remember correctly, this is the purple lilac:




And this would be the pink one or the white one. (the third one is out front) But I don't know if this is spring growth or last year's dried up stuff, what do I know? LOL




The first 2 items in our backyard to flower are the flowering plum and this MayDay tree. So far on the tree just knobs where the buds are hidden for a few more weeks.






******

I finally got around to all my bloglinks today to catch up. Sorry I've been late in getting to you! Now I must get off of here. I'm hearing my name being called by my iron.....



Until next time, have a great weekend and take good care of each other.

PEACE!

Love Jude

FOR DANNI IN OZ, AND FOR THE BIRDS

I'm not sure what these are, but they resemble Alberta's "Purple Finch" male (coloured) and female. I spotted them (and a few other ones) playing/drinking in the eavestrough on the garage. Here's a close up of 2 of them.



I've been online searching through birds and so far everything I see makes me think these are a type of Finch.








In this shot it almost looks like 2 or 3 kinds of birds, however males and females look so different.



And all along, this Magpie was roaming the lawn underneath the above birds



******THE DAY AFTER......*****


Suddenly spring and no snow turned into MORE SNOW! We got hit with some kinda snow storm, all in a matter of one day. The really wet stuff, great to make snowmen with.

Danni, this is for you hon!

This is what I woke up to on Saturday morning. It was snowing really hard here:




A handful of hours later it finally stopped, so I went outside with my trusty camera.













Get busy, you lazy bums:



Today (Sunday) the sun was shining and it was lovely out. A lot of the snow has melted again, however they are calling for some more of this wet spring SHITE snow in the next couple of days. It won't last long, and we'll be dry again.

Hope you all had a great weekend, take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

AFRICAM

Thanks to one of the regulars over at a UE Photography website I belong to (Opacity), I've now become addicted to watching a couple of live cameras in a park in Africa. So far I've watched all kinds of birds big and small, zebras, warthogs, a leopard, giraffes, a rhino, antelopes, wildebeasts, baboons and a big ol' uglee worm that is as big around as a snake. (bleh!!) I have yet to see any of my favourites, the "ellyphants" but hopefully I will soon.

Even when there are no animals in sight at either watering hole, the sounds alone are addicting so many of us. As soon as the sky begins to lighten at dawn, birds of all variety sing and chirp like crazy. And at dark (they are 8 hours ahead of me over there) the cricket/frog sounds are so soothing.

If you'd like to check this fabulous place out, go to AFRICAM and sit back to enjoy.





It's sometimes frustrating (if you really get into this) to try keeping tabs on both spots, so I keep them both up simultaneously by just minimizing both windows and dragging them side by side. You will notice that there isn't as much animal action at night, although off and on a lone animal will walk up for a drink in the dark too. At night, the cameras are trained on the waterholes and don't pan or zoom at all, not until daybreak.


The most fun for me is watching the baby baboons jump all over each other and play. It had me laughing so hard I almost peed myself. LOL

Check it out, and if you do I hope you enjoy it as much as I (and many others) do!

Hope your week is going well, and your upcoming weekend is restful. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude