Glowing Lights

taken with iphone, edited using free Adobe Photoshop app

A few photos

Having a camera (albeit crappy quality) on my cell phone has been making me more aware of my surroundings when I am walking about town, more present.

This old tower is in front of a modern office building where I have regular appointments and I enjoy it so much every time I see it! I love things that encourage me to look UP and notice the sky.

I really like the lines, angles and shadows.


This combination of 'fire dept' and ice made me smile:

Enjoying Silliness... Eerie cat's eyes

I hope to soon have photos of sewing projects to share with you.

Until then... how about some silliness!?

I get such a big kick out of what my partner's iPhone flash does to our cat's eyes in photos and I thought... well... maybe some of you may get a laugh out of it too!
So here are some crappy quality silly cat photos for you:

That pillow was placed vertically to prevent cats from sitting on it and covering it in fur...
... but Spooky was unfoiled in her pillow-sitting plans!

Ninja loves it when we decide to reorganise the pantry.

I just love how Ninja's two differently coloured eyes match the orange and blue fabrics on the chair!

Are there any silly things you like that make you laugh?

SNOWtographs and List It Tuesday

For today's List It Tuesday list, I decided to write a few things that I love about snow... since I'm a few days into one of the biggest snowstorms I've seen in my life!

The snow began innocently enough about a week ago and I danced around all excited at the first snow of the year, taking photos like this boring one that I'm now glad I kept for comparison:

First bit of snow

It snowed gently here and there for the first few days and then, within 2-3 days, almost as much snow dumped down on us as fell throughout the entire winter last year!  Snowly moly!  Apparently the reason just one small region can be hit is due to something called The Lake Effect.

Same shed about a week later!

Gracefully shaped snow overhang

I love the way the snow hangs over... seeming to defy gravity

Watch where you walk!

It looked magical last night... I'm looking forward to tonight after another 24 hours of snow!

* * *

I apologise for the big spaces between photos.  They don't exist when I create the post and Blogger won't let me edit them out!

New Camera Excitement!

I am so excited!
I have a new camera... finally!
The Fujifilm Finepix S1800 which has a clever enough Auto Mode that I can take nice pictures easily and flexible enough manual settings that if I ever learn more and want to adjust them on my own, I won't feel trapped by too simple of a camera.

My favourite part is that the Macro function is easy to use (simply press one button) and it works.  Pictures are actually in focus - something that has been an issue with the macro function on all of my previous cameras.
Equally exciting is that fact that it has a Super Macro function (simply press the button twice)... I didn't even know about this before purchasing so it was a lovely surprise.  The Super Macro function can take pictures as close as 2cm or around 0.8 inches!  So awesome :-)
Come spring and summer, you will likely see many flower, plant and hopefully bug close ups here on the blog.

What I find very interesting is how much more aware I am of nuances in my surroundings now that my creative mind is looking for 'photo-worthy' images.

Batteries are charging as I type this and I will be posting photos soon!

(the camera takes 4 AA batteries which is another thing I love about it - I use rechargeable NiMH batteries and they have saved me so much money over the years as well as being more environmentally friendly.)

Lovely Autumn Shadows

On sunny mornings lately I have been loving the shadows on my dining room wall. ♥
They are created by the sun shining through dried up flowers outside my patio door window... and also a few butterfly 'window clings' I have on the glass.

I still don't have a camera so these are taken with a video camera that has just one quality setting: 'sure-to-make-you-wish-you-had-a-real-camera!'.  That's not the official name of course... but it should be LOL!

Here's the view looking out the window showing what's creating those shadows (in the background you can see the pink sweet peas that have only succumbed to cold weather in the last couple of days!):

 

I also enjoy these shadows created by brass bells amidst leftover morning glory vines.  I played around a bit in my photo editor to give it an antique look.  Sometimes it doesn't look like shadows on a wall at all to me but rather objects seen through heavy fog:

One of my cats likes to 'help' with the photos  >^..^<

Under the Shagbark Hickory Tree

A provincial park near me has a wonderful tree that I love to sit under.

It's a huge, mature Shagbark Hickory that takes a while each spring to fill out... but when it does... it's glorious!

Lush, thick leaves tower toward the sky, providing welcome shade on hot summer days.  It has a nice amount of space under it where there are no branches - more than 8 feet of clearance.

I take a chair, blanket, snacks, book and camera and can happily spend a day there.
Some lovely sights within a few feet of my chair:

This is the sunny St. John's/Joan's Wort, the plant that helps keep my mood balanced without side effects since I've become sensitive to pharmaceuticals. It works best for mild to moderate depression but I have found that it does help lessen my severe depression and SAD, especially now that I've discovered some other supplements that help including (but not limited to :) folic acid, selenium, B12, vitamin D and 5HTP.

One of these days I'd love to grow and harvest it myself instead of buying it.

(please consult health care provider before using anything I mention :)

Does anyone know what kind of butterfly that is? 

P.S.

Just for fun... here's a photo of my cat sitting on a box... why not!?  ☺☺☺  He loves boxes and was a bit put out that 'his box' had been turned on it's side so he could no longer do his fancy leap into it.  But he made it work for him this way too ;-)

Finding Beauty In Everyday Things

I try to notice the beautiful in everyday things - pleasing colours, shapes, textures and light.
Here are some pictures of things that have made me smile recently (apologies for the poor photo quality - neither my camera or editing program are great):

Vibrant pollen on Jacob's Ladder stamens - these smell divine!

Variegated yellow corn on the cob dripping with butter looked so wonderful against the blues of this awesome plate my mom made (she's a potter)

Both of the cats fit together on the tiny stool!  Which is more impressive if you know how... erm... wide the cat on the left actually is :-)   The cats love open windows.

I loved the contrast of the purple and green on this spring violet.

Luscious buttercup soaking up the sun.

I couldn't resist another photo of this amazing plate.  It is the most perfect toast plate ever!  I eat some pretty curious food - that's gluten-free toast and sunflower seed 'butter' with stevia sprinkled on top (to make it sweet) and sliced organic banana on the sides.