The next 45 days.

I can't believe I am almost half way done the year in my Project 365. With this last batch of photos, it's been especially neat to see how much the everything changes in such a short amount of time. In winter, you just get used to seeing white and brown all the time. It seems like the only thing that changes is the amount of snow. But for the other 6-8 months of the year, there's certainly a lot more activity.

So here you have it, the next 45 days:

Top Row:Park Pagoda, Green Dots, Regent, First Tulip, Light Dance, Egg Cups, Easy Button, More Tulips, Grass

Second Row: Pear Dessert, Narcissus, Lilacs, Tree, Moth on Tulip, Rainy Blossoms, Fungus, Ocean Salt, Lampshade

Third Row: Same Tree, Dandelion, Aftermath, Five of Hearts, Lilacs, Pearly Dots, Wicker, Bee, Lily of the Valley

Fourth Row: More Leaves, Meadow, Creepy Purple, Gosling, Tiny White Flowers, Cribbage, Forest Path, Dragonfly Wing, Light Dances

Fifth Row: Iris, Green Onions, LEDs, Haiku, Watermelon, Poppy, World in a Drop, Daisy, Cupcakes

That's all for now!

A Beautiful Day

Well, guess what, it finally happened! Both days of the weekend were gorgeous!

Saturday morning, I had the misfortune of being the "chosen one" by the cats. I was awakened at 5:50, with the loud demand for food. I wasn't able to fall back asleep. At this point, it was still raining, but it was starting to subside. By 7:30, the sun was shining, and all that was left of the night's rain was a lovely layer of small water drops on everything. So out I went, camera in hand, still in my pyjamas into the backyard for a few shots.

So here's where the day started, with droplet covered poppies...

And irises...

I finally got the opportunity to shoot natural droplets on plants. I had only fabricated this type of shot before Saturday (using a spray bottle and a bouquet of flowers).

I even managed to find a hanging down droplet. These are the ones that capture little scenes best. You can somewhat make out a few irises. I would've loved to try my hand at more of this type of shot, but there weren't any other downward facing droplets to be found.

So as I mentioned earlier, the sun was out and the day was quickly warming. So I also made it out to Assiniboine Park. Tamara and Mom came along, we enjoyed a picnic in the Leo Mol Sculpture garden, saw evidence of at least 2 weddings, and of course, there were several flowers to photograph. I expected a bit more, but I guess everything is still a bit behind. A lot of items had just been planted- it was primarily irises, poppies, and peonies in bloom.

Prior to entering the English Gardens, I checked out the water lilies. I always enjoy the classic white ones:

These flowers almost looked like a fruit tree blossom, but it is far too late for fruit trees to be blooming:

I have no idea what these ones are either, but they reminded me of Dr. Seuss:

Here's one of the ridiculously vibrant peonies:

How about a bee enjoying the English Gardens as well?

This is a smaller version of an iris, I really liked the colours:

Good night!

Sometimes...

You see a particular subject that you just know would make an interesting focal point for a photograph. Even better, sometimes the photo turns out exactly as you want it to!

That is all, just felt like sharing this photo. And in case you're wondering, these are tiny LED lights. The range of colours is supposed to be ideal for hydroponics.

An evening walk at the park

Sometimes it's so nice to simply enjoy a walk at the park with one of your oldest friends. And even if it's been 5 months since you last spoke, it doesn't even matter, you can always just pick up the conversation where you left it.

And, if you happen to see some nice sights and some adorable baby animals along the way, you might as well take a few pictures, right?

Here is a goose couple enjoying the St. Vital duck pond.

Here are some not so small goslings. I have to say, the geese are certainly a lot friendlier once they've had their babies, I didn't see any of the usual hissing at people.

I liked how this scene looked with the sun just peeking through the trees and a little bit of the river reflection coming through.

And here's a duckling enjoying the green algae.

Finally, here's the "boat launch". If you're at all familiar with this area, you realize how high the river still is here. Generally this area goes downhill until you reach the river. Well, right now, you basically turn the corner, and there it is. I guess at some point the river went over the main road within the park. At times it seems like the river has come down so much, but it's really still not at a normal level.

Adventures in... Carman?

Today, we decided to drive out to Carman to bring my Grandma to Aunt Verna's home for a visit. We planned to visit as well, but figured we'd let them be for a little bit- that way they could talk in Low German without feeling like anyone was excluded from the conversation.

So off we went, driving around Carman. We headed to a park, King's Park, it sounded promising... Except it was more of a campground/fairground. Oh well, onwards!

We ending up parking on 2nd St. SE and started our wandering from there.

We could hear some rushing water and went to find the source. Of course, it was the Boyne River. There was quite a nice path all along the river. There were some small rapids -the source of the rushing water.

As we ventured further into the forest, a small furry creature came bounding towards us. It was a very happy, friendly grey cat. It ended up accompanying us along the entire trail.

(This was its "You shall not pass" pose)

Everything looked so beautifully lush and green.

The forest floor was covered with moss, Creeping Charlie, and small white flowers.

There were also interesting fungi on some of the fallen trees.

It was such a nice little gem of trail to find. I could have kept going. I was kind of curious where the trail would end, but it was time to head back. When we got back, we were treated to some Faspa- sausage, buns, tea, muffins, and rhubarb cake.

Here's one last photo, we were parked near this building. What can I say, I have a bit of a weakness for photographing brick. I love the contrast, especially when viewing this photo with all the green ones above.

Photo Update Time

I've been meaning to post the next "x" days and I keep putting it off. I figure, I'm still wide awake at this ridiculous hour, why not do a bit of a blog post. I have too many pictures in my Project 365 photostream, that they now show up in rows of 9, with smaller pictures. Oh well.

Alright, so like I said, I kind of procrastinated on posting this, so there'a whopping 60 days worth of photos...

Row 1: Magic 8 Ball, Houseplant, Crescent Moon, Curves of Light, Wooden Drawing Mannequin, March Sky

Row 2: Small White Blossom, Inside the Drops, Brown Eyed Girl, Bouquet, Clear Your Mind, Golden Rod Abstract, Cupcakes, Light Beams, The Fridge

Row 3: Work, Blue Eye Shadow, Resin Flower, Glass, Sandals, Sepia Masks, Thawing River, Fizzy Drink, Glasses on a Nighttable

Row 4: Easter Wreath, Spokes, Snow Globe, Wine, Lawn, Self Portrait, Circle, Sandals, Dispersal

Row 5: More Dispersal, Hope Grows, Textures, Rubies, Ipod, Easter Decor, Snowy Bike, New Growth, Strawberry Jam

Row 6: Green Goo, River-3 weeks later, Mini Cupcakes, Birch, Geometric Reflection, Rainbow Pens, Felt, Buggy Sculpture, Silverware

Row 7: Dial, Wood Knot, Droplets, Gummy Fish, Domo and Zombie Meet, Still Waters, Christmas Cactus, Flowers, and more Flowers

What do I predict in the future... a lot more green and other vibrant spring and summer colours. I am just waiting for those first tulips to burst open. If we get a little bit of sun in the next week, it should happen!

Ramblings

So I haven't exactly been super awesome about updating the blog. I'm sure that's okay though, since there's not exactly a huge following.

This weekend was somewhat of a roller coaster, weather wise. Friday I got home from work just after 2:00, after a lovely 20 minute walk home from the bus stop. You know that wonderful feeling of sunshine on your face, a warm breeze, and that almost humid fresh smell. That's what it was like on Friday. I had caught a glimpse of the upcoming forecast, so I figured I'd best make the most of it. Off I went into the backyard and had a bit of a rest on the swing. Nothing quite refreshes you, like beautiful weather!

Saturday came around and it was rainy. I went out with Tamara to do a few errands. Every time we were between destinations, the rain got harder. And of course, some time early Sunday morning, that rain turned into snow. Sigh... we just couldn't have a May without a little bit of snow. At least it happened on a Sunday, so it won't screw up traffic flow too much.

May was going to be a month where I followed a challenge set up by a co-worker. She was challenging people to be Vegan for one month. It was set up as a "see how it makes you feel, health-wise/trying a lifestyle before rejecting it" type challenge. At first I was all for it, then I thought, maybe I can just try Vegetarianism for the month, and then I figured out that unfortunately it wouldn't quite work. The easiest way to make life-altering changes (even short term ones) is when you don't have to work/force other people into it. We've got a good dynamic of everyone sharing with meal preparation. It's hard to suddenly bring about something as drastic as Veganism or Vegetarianism. I don't want to encourage food waste, and I really don't like the idea of having 2 separate meals planned all the time. And yes, I'm aware that you can make some meat-free dishes, and then cook some meat on the side. BUT- they wouldn't really be properly balanced for one group. . You can't just make 1 meat dish, 1 protein dish, 1 starch, and 1 vegetable dish. It's not that simple!

I figure I might try the challenge eventually, when I don't need to worry about inconveniencing others. In the meantime, I'm trying doing little things. My morning muesli I take with soy milk, instead of milk (it actually tastes better too!). I am trying to cut down on cheese. Given the choice between yogurt and cheese, I'm actually leaning towards keeping the yogurt. I am still going to try to incorporate 2 vegetarian days a week. We'll see how that goes....