Logo Art For Men

 

 

 

 

 

Next time I will post some of the art work behind the logos.

 

 

Odds And Ends

 

Early morning light playing with the lily pads at Fish Trap.

 

Reflections at Fish Trap.

 

This is not as complicated as it looks. Just two Canada Geese and their reflections.

 

There is a face embedded in our spruce tree. An Owl perhaps?

 

Early morning reflections at Fish Trap.

 

With accompanying fresh green Bulrushes. (Cat Tails)

 

Manipulating the light in Photoshop and having too much fun.

 

Picnic table for four.

 

The last of our peas. They were exceptionally good this year.

Close To Home

 

I was admiring this flower the other day, and noticed the tiny white spider on the petal. Not having seen one of these before, I got the camera, and just as I was composing the photo, the bee landed in the center of the blossom. Bonus!

 

Being a hot afternoon, I propped myself up in a lounge chair armed with my telephoto lens and waited for the neighbourhood Humming Bird to make his afternoon rounds. He absolutely loves these flowers and makes a twice daily visit. His obvious absence in the photo is proof that he did not bother to show up that day.  

 

And just over a few feet, to the south, there is this lovely garden bouquet that we see out our kitchen window. Our garden is mostly cool and shady and busylizzy's green thumb makes it even more enjoyable in the summer months.

 

 

 

These lilies are prolific this year. You will find these in the front garden, visible from the street and being a colourful ground cover under the massive Spruce tree. One has to make a concerted effort to take a bad photo of a flower.

Your Choice

 

Same rose, three interpretations.

 

 

Swimming Lesson

 

I watched Liam take the final session in this round of swimming lessons at the local pool. He was trying really hard because he was promised ice-cream if he passed. His two older brothers are good swimmers and took the same lessons.

 

There is a lack of focus because of the many students in the same class and all the activity of the wave pool on a Friday morning in the summer time. He seemed to be doing no better or no worse than the others, but .......

 

he got a failing grade. He will have to either repeat, or take private lessons. I think he was a bit weak on the part where they have to glide forward with their faces in the water. It is not a natural thing  for a land loving, air-breathing creature to do. As for the ice-cream, he came by later in the afternoon on a bike ride and I gave him some ice-cream anyway. Grandparents are allowed to break the promises of their children made to their children.

Hydrangea

 

These are doing well this year. They come in a variety of colours, shades, and tones. As the lighting changes throughout the day, so does the texture of these blossom packed clusters.

Whodunit?

The Adventures of a Boscombe Valley Mystery

 

It seemed to be a cut and dried case. There was a witness to an argument and there was blood on the hands. Sherlock again uses his powerful intellect and some great sleuthing to discover the protestations of innocence by the son in the death of his father are indeed true. Footprints, cigar ashes, a rock with grass growing under it all are important clues to discovering who the killer was.

 

As in other Sherlock stories, when the perpetrator is discovered, he confesses and then justifies his actions. Also, as in other stories, the lifespan of the killer is shortened by illness or disease so compassion is the order of the day and Holmes keeps his mouth shut as the police stumble and bumble their way to trying to solve the case.

 

After two novels and four short stories, there are patterns emerging and thus the stories are getting a bit predictable. Only the characters and circumstances are changing, but still interesting enough to make a good story.

 

3 stars  

 

 

 

Some former Americans living in London are receiving envelopes in the mail containing 5 dried orange seeds and shortly thereafter are being found dead. Sherlock does some research and discovers that the KKK is behind the killings. Apparently these men have documents that list members of that notorious organisation and these document must be destroyed along with their owners. Sherlock sets a web for the killers, but before justice can be served, the perpetrators are lost at sea in a gale. Rather a lack-luster ending to story full of intrigue.

3 stars

 

 

 

In this Sherlock Holmes short story, it seems that a respected business man is actually a beggar who has a very clever disguise. He found early in life that begging was much more lucrative than working. He is found out one day by his wife who happens to be in the neighbourhood and see him in the window of the house where he does his makeovers. It had Sherlock stumped for a while, but in the end the beggar was caught and confessed.

 

I may read a few more of these and then move on to something else. I am 20% done the collection at this point and not really becoming a Sherlock Holmes fan.

 

3 stars

Hollyhocks

 

Hollyhocks always remind me of my mother. When we lived in the prairies, she had these growing against the house and it was one of the few flowers, besides Gladiolas, that did really well in that location. They rarely grew more than five feet high. We have one on the south side of our house that, without exaggeration, is 12 feet high. Wish my mom could see it. She would be impressed.

The Garden of Weedin'

 

busylizzy's brother has a 5 acre farm in the country and has been generous with it. He has lent a large portion of it to us, and some of our friends, on which to plant veggie gardens. The first thing you plant is a Scarecrow, which we did, as you can see in the above photo. Resembling a Raggedy Ann doll and looking way too friendly, one of the gardeners took it upon himself to up the stakes.

 

I grew up in Saskatchewan and spent a lot of time pursuing crows, and I know from experience that nothing will deter a crow like a fallen brother. It is no wonder that through the ages, a black crow, in particular a dead one, has been used as a bad omen. The crows get this. Where there is death for one, there may be death for all, so they stay away.

 

We were greeted yesterday morning by this sight, and although it did not send the shivers up my back, it must have for the local crow population because they had vacated the neighbourhood, completely.

 

Undeterred by dead black things, busylizzy began her mission of taking the first harvest from our lush garden. Here is the first Zucchini. There will be a bumper crop.

 

The carrots are in their second planting and are coming along fine.

 

But the big bonus was in the potato patch. We have whites and reds and after pulling only a few plants, we reaped two pails of fresh new potatoes. In our own little garden on our city lot, we are eating fresh peas, so we are now officially living off the land. The same cannot be said for the dead crow.

Boys Will Be Boys

 

Proof that Nathan is an Angel! Or a Saint!

 

Chad is growing so fast that even the trees bend under his weight.

Looking Up

Downes Bowl is a world unto itself. In the midst of urban development there runs a ravine, hundred of feet deep and covering many acres. The sides are very steep and it may be for that reason that the loggers of old did not venture down there to take the old growth timber.

There are monster Cedars, Spruce, Fir, Cottonwood, and Maple trees that you just don't see on the top side. Standing at the base of one of these trees is humbling. There is incredible strength that holds them up despite tremendous weight and wild swaying in a wind storm.

This bowl is home to a great variety of plants and birds. There is even a resident Barred Owl. At the bottom of the bowl is a primordial swamp with a clear stream running through it, among the Skunk Cabbage and Cattails.

One would never know, while being down there, that they were just a short walk, up a steep hill, to the busy streets and subdivisions of Abbotsford. It is a very pleasant escape and a wonderful reminder of the variety that we have at our doorstep.  

More Berries

 

I think these are Mountain Ash berries. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong. They stand out in a sea of green in Downes Bowl Park. It is fun looking at them from different directions, trying to get just the right background for a photo. Using a telephoto lens with a wider aperture renders the background blurry and makes the berries 3D.

You don't want to eat these. Stick with Cherries.

Wild Berries

 

This is a wild Salmon Berry. This is not a good specimen as they are usually larger and plumper. Many people who walk in the woods do not know that these berries are not only edible, but they are tasty. There are also Thimble berries and Huckleberries that ripen about the same time. They are all quite delicious when in their prime. Their time is now coming to an end, and then you know that it is Raspberry season. I drove past several fields of them today on my commute and the picking machines were going strong. I'm not really interested in Raspberries. I have Cherries.  

Cherries

 

We took a quick trip to Keromeos on Tuesday. It was a gorgeous day and there was only light traffic. Our destination was a Cherry orchard, any Cherry orchard, that had ripe Cherries for sale. We drove a bit further to Cawston and found a great deal. The Cherries were $4 per lb. everywhere, but we found a place with freshly picked, cold Cherries for $1.98. We took everything they had at the moment, about 80 lbs. It was around 38C so we laid them in the bed of the truck in shallow boxes and I soaked a big bed sheet in water and threw the sheet over the Cherries. Even after the long trip home in the heat, the fruit was cold and had a layer of condensation on it. Perfect. We started canning them immediately.

 

The kitchen heated up quickly as we boiled and bubbled, toiled and troubled. busylizzy says that Cherries are the easiest of the fruits to can. This was a new variety that we had never heard of before, Christalinas or something like that. They are very large, firm, and juicy, with nice colour and great flavour.

 

We now have 35 jars plus a huge box full in the refrigerator. Fortunately, Cherries are my favourite fruit.

Silence

 

During my blogging absence, I was not misquoted.

My Sis

 

I cannot say how much I have appreciated having my little sister Chris stay with us during the last days of my dad's life, and through the funeral planning process. She was right there, giving support, ideas, and carrying out tasks without hesitation. Last Sunday we really needed a stress releaser so we went for a walk/hike together with my daughter's family to Downes Bowl.

Happy Canada Day

 

I am proud of my country and proud to be a Canadian. Four generations ago, my forefathers had the foresight to come to this land. They sensed trouble brewing in their country of origin and left friends and family at home to start out in a new land. It was not easy for them, but with time and hard work and unlimited opportunity, they thrived and today their progeny are mostly all here, still.

May we continue to be a great country, may we see the dangers and opportunities that lie ahead and have the wisdom to elect leaders who will keep us going in the right direction.

There really is no other place on earth I would rather live.