A Scattering

Wintery Sunday drive

2012-02-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

We finally had some real winter weather and the evidence is all around. We drove to Ingersoll and back and I captured these drive-by images while Geoff was driving.

These bright green garage doors were a flash of colour on a bright, white day.

Today, near the feeders

2012-02-11T18:52:00.000-05:00

This female Downy Woodpecker was resting on the lilac tree between visits to the Woodpecker seed block.
It was a very snowy day and I think she was enjoying the sun shining on her for a few minutes.

I enhanced the shot in Picasa with "boost" and "HDRish"

Well read.......

2012-02-07T19:53:00.001-05:00

.......he has excellent taste in books

Sunday sightings

2012-02-05T18:43:00.001-05:00

On a quick trip to London and back today I had 4 hawk sightings on the way to London and 3 on the way back - plus these two hasty photos.

This first one was at the edge of Clarke Road in London...

....and this one was being fluffed by the breeze by the side of CP Rail tracks on #2 Highway.

Remembering

2012-01-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

On Friday, January 20th, my mother-in-law Freda Dale passed away, just a little less than 2 months after her 90th birthday.

This is what Freda looked like when she was probably a little past her 3rd birthday.

We miss her.

Sunday morning on the trail

2012-01-15T14:59:00.000-05:00

It was a clear, crisp -21C when I took this photo this at 9:14 a.m. this morning.

Skywatch Friday

2012-01-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

Drive-by winter sky.............

For more skyviews from around the world, please click here.

Friday My Town Shoot Out - arms and legs

2012-01-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

The theme for this week's Friday My Town Shoot Out is "arms and legs" and this shot of step dancers from the Canterbury Folk Festival in Ingersoll last July came to mind. These kids were amazing and never stopped smiling.

Ingersoll isn't my town but it's only about 20km away and we pop by there quite often so, it's almost my town.

I've posted this photo before but I couldn't resist using it for this week's Shoot Out theme.

For more Shoot Out fun, please click here.

Fly over

2012-01-07T19:37:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful morning for a walk on the trail. I saw White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers and Mallards. I heard, but didn't see a Belted Kingfisher.

The bird of the day, however, was the Canada Goose. I watched four different flocks fly over and managed to capture this one.

First bird of the new year

2012-01-01T13:58:00.001-05:00

It's been a fairly quiet day at the feeders outside our kitchen and dining room windows but we did see this lovely visitor - a female Downy Woodpecker.

She stayed for about 10 minutes and occasionally stopped feeding and seemed to watch me washing the dishes in the kitchen.

Favorites from 2011

2011-12-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite shots from 2011

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy New Year

to friends, followers, fellow bloggers -

may 2012 bring you joy and peace.

Elaine Dale

The Boss

2011-12-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

Naughty or nice??

2011-12-24T20:28:00.001-05:00

Too late to figure that out now, he's on his way!

Friday My Town Shoot Out - light

2011-12-23T08:38:00.005-05:00

The theme for this week's Shoot Out is "light". More specifically "lights. Night lights, daylight, sunlight, accent lights, light fixtures; anything pertaining to light."

I took this photo from inside the 7-11 Store when I stopped for a cappuccino on the way to work Monday morning. There is daylight in the sunrise, reflected fluorescent light in the store windows, a double street lamp, light in the partially hidden Rexall sign, light inside the Rexall store and finally, the small orange glow near the bottom left of the photo is part of the "Don't Walk" signal on the crosswalk. I took it because I liked the look of the sunrise but it's also a good fit for this week's theme.

For more fun with light from the Friday My Town Shoot Out gang, please visit the Mr. Linky site.

Peace on earth

2011-12-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

On this, the last Sunday of Advent in 2011, I'd like to wish you a blessed Christmas. I'd also like to extend greetings for a Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, or wonderful Winter Solstice - depending on who you are and what you celebrate or observe at this time of the year. May you know peace.

The League of British Artists: Matthew Macfadyen's voiceover for Marks and Spence...

2011-12-15T19:59:00.000-05:00

The League of British Artists: Matthew Macfadyen's voiceover for Marks and Spence...

Another drive-by

2011-12-15T19:41:00.000-05:00

ipod drive-by shot of Woodstock Museum Square

Messiah straight from the East Coast........

2011-12-15T19:39:00.000-05:00

It made me verkempt, enjoy............
http://youtu.be/6KXKydSC160

Thankful

2011-12-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

I was back at work today - the first time since November 29th, due to a horrible bout of bronchitis. I'm thankful for the fact that I have a job that I missed and co-workers I was thrilled to see this morning when I returned. Being confined to quarters also meant it's been one of my worst "no photo" stretches.

Well, I took one or two photos with my ipod. Can you tell that Gray was not amused and was more than ready for me to go back to work? When I look at this I imagine him thinking "enough of this Lap Cat crap, she needs to get better and leave me alone....."

Hugo - a "must see" movie

2011-11-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

If you only see one movie between now and the end of the year, please make it Hugo, Martin Scorsese's contribution to the holiday movie line-up.

This visually mismerizing and beautifully acted and staged production is based on the successful book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.

To quote from the official movie website:
"Hugo is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and loving place he can call home"

I gave this movie

5 stars!

For the birds - Saturday morning on the trail

2011-11-27T08:57:00.000-05:00

During my walk yesterday morning I had the company of White-breasted Nuthatches, Mallards and Black-capped Chickadees.

I was also entertained by a flock of migrating American Goldfinches - this is an adult male Goldfinch in his winter colours......

........and by the feeding habits of a number of Downy Woodpeckers - This is an adult female.

Answering the challenge

2011-11-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

In her comment on my last Skywatch Friday post, @bcmee wrote: "What does the sign say? What's at the end of the road?"

So, on our way back from seeing the movie "Hugo" (a MUST SEE movie) today, Geoff stopped the car in the rapidly fading light so I could take this photo of the mystery sign in the distance on my Skywatch shot.

And on the left side of the Skywatch photo there's a house - this is what it looked like today. Sorry for the poor composition but these were very quick "stop on the side of the highway" shots.

Shortly afterwards we had another short stop - for a passing freight train.

As for the second part of bccmee's question, this road used to be known as Highway 2, now it has a bunch of different names but the east end of it more or less ends at a wetlands area called Coots Paradise which is near the Royal Botanical Gardens in the Hamilton / Burlington area here in Ontario.

Skywatch Friday

2011-11-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

A drive-by shot from my iPod.

For more sky views from around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Saturday serenity iPod shots

2011-11-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

Skywatch Friday - Woodstock, Ontario, Canada

2011-11-18T18:16:00.000-05:00

iPod 32G + Camera+ app + HDR SFX = drama!

For more great sky views from around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.