One more before I burrow in.

One more Autumn photograph before I burrow in for the cold winter months.
I feel sadness at the passing of what was arguably the longest autumn on record.
Sigh.
Stay warm, Peeps, winter is at our doorstep. Especially here in Western Canada. 

What once was a home. .

“Home is one's birthplace, ratified by memory.”

Abandoned houses hold a fascination of their own. The stories they would tell if they could. . . 

"Man is a dog's idea of what God should be."

Once upon a time there was a dog and a man

Who frolicked and played

Lending a helping hand

Watching each other's backs

Never straying too far from one another

. . . and then they were gone.

The Wedding Crasher

As in Me.
Yup, I did and I scratched it off my bucket list! 

Bwahahaha 

The Happy Couple ( I felt bad for her, it was cold that day! )

Aww can you read the love in those hands :)

What was with the dress? Was she trying to outdo the bride???

The bride, the maid of honour and Ms 'Cookie Sheet Camera' lady. Geeeeze, it was in my way ;-) 

But alls well that ends well.

A few random pics.

I'm not saying I like winter, not by any stretch. But sometimes it can be. . okay. 

This is Winter's 'Dad' and her 'Brother'. Winter is a beautiful Husky with piercing blue eyes I come across at the dog park all the time. Today, she was shown up neatly by the ridiculously cute hats Dad and Bro were sporting. How awesome can this pair be. .  Kudos Dad.  :-)  

I felt SO bad for this fellow. He was caught between four 20 something females (2 in front, 2 in back)  who were gossiping. Very loudly. ( Geezus, they were a vicious bunch., nasty and mean, whoa!)  He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Ahh what we do for our coffee fix. Sorry, Buddy,  I promise you they grow up. Eventually.  :-/

Yeah, this isn't Charlie that bit my finger. It's graceful me who had a wipeout worthy of a 7 second Vine video but OH well, no one was around to tape it. (so like the proverbial tree in the forest with no one there, did it really happen hmmm?)  I figured I could pull a Chuck Norris by stopping my fall with one finger, cause if he can do it damnit so can I , right? Yeah, not so much. Seems I need more training, Chucky baby.  (Btw appreciate this post, typing's a bitch)


Someone wake me up when winter's over. I'm making like a bear and hibernating for the rest of it. If you dare enter my lair, bring coffee.
Or wine.
Or take me away to somewhere tropical. I've got a temporary hate on for all who post pics of warm places and sunny beaches. I dislike each and everyone of you till I hear you complain about the cold. Then I'm smug and hope you feel the cold glide along that gorgeous tan and grab you by your ass.
:-)

Christmas Village and Camera Jinxs

Christmas Village and Camera Jinxs via
Flickr  ( click on 'flickr'  for the pics )

Enjoy and Merry Christmas with a Happy New Year
:-)

Wisps of Plumes

So winter's here to stay, I'm sad to say. I'm increasingly becoming a hermit as soon as the snow hits. And when you are from my neck of the woods ( Western Northern'ish Canada ) winter comes early and stays forever! I kid you not, six months duration at times. Yuck.
Anyways, I get cabin fever bad and need to do things to occupy myself. Such is the challenge. I cook ( I eat WAY to much of what I cook ha ha ) I read, I cross stitch, I watch a select few tv shows, I surf the net probably way too much and I have my camera.

Winter came in one BIG dump two days ago. 20 cms, ummm hang on let me figure out the imperial for my American friends. . .( cause I'm nice that way) if 5 cm is 2.5 inches, 20 cm = almost a bloody foot of that stuff. That I had to shovel some of. ( I'm into sharing, I left the biggest part for my manly man hubby to deal with. *wink* (if I am to gauge the temps, that bloody stuff's here to stay till Spring. Which is far far away.)

Anyhoo, all this long lead up brings me to what I did yesterday which was visit a weed shop.
Yup, a '420' store.
Wicked nice girl worked there and we chatted for a bit. Then got down to business.
I was on the hunt for incense sticks, the smoky kind.
You see, charcoal based ones don't smoke as much or so I was told. By a Wiccan witch I had just met at Walmart 10 minutes prior, which is all they carried. Nice lady, informative but misjudged by awfully small minded red necks.
She sent me along my way to the umm smoke shop. ( I use that term loosely)  Luckily ( or strangely enough ) there was one in my town. Good thing because the roads were iced up with the arrival of that cantankerous old Man Winter. I wasn't about to drive down the crazy ( as in idiot drivers )  stretch of highway between my town and the 'big city' 20 minutes away, the RCMP were advising against such travels. No prob, Bob! I'm good where I am.

The girl at the smoke shop, I discovered, had a mutual intense dislike of incense sticks. She refuses to burn them on her shift, we laughed given the business she worked in. I can't stand the smell of them either and I had to buy a box of them as they were not sold by the stick.
Off I toddled on home after loading up on caffeine at my beloved Tim Horton's.  (Yeah. . it's a Canadian thing, this love affair with Tim Horton's coffee. )

I set about preparing my tools of the trade and for the next couple of hours I indulged in a fantasy world of smoke and shape.
And I got off on it. Big time!

lol yeah, before you judge me here's the link to what I did.
Enjoy.(and you best bloody well appreciate because I had to open both doors to to my house after along with the upstairs windows and boil some vinegar water to chase out the smell. Blech! )
:-)  

Wisps of Plumes

Flickr-On the Edge of Canada, Eh. ( Vancouver Island Oct 2013 )

My week on Vancouver Island- Oct 2013 on Flickr

Vancouver Island October 2013

John Ceprano's Inukshuks. Rock balancing at it's best.

I was lucky enough to be able to drive where John Ceprano ( an international balanced rock sculptor/painter and photographer) displays his amazing rock creations.
Although it was early in the season, I managed to take some photographs of his work. His collection will grow as the summer days go by.
He is originally from Rhode Island but his home has been near Ottawa, Ontario for a number of years now.

Showing a youngster the tools of the trade

March Photo A Day-2013

This is a compilation of four different 'PhotoADay' lists.

                               The prompts are written on the photographs themselves.
   And it was a tough tough month to get this done, March was livin' la vida loca in Jamie's world!