253:365 Collectables

Anna: It's been a long time since I've taken any photos at all. Too many distractions. Like getting my tooth pulled, which ended up hurting a lot more than the broken tooth did in the first place. *L* Then there was a visit to the doctor for an arm that's been hurting since late October. Tennis Elbow, it turns out, and since it hasn't got better on its own for all this time, I'm to see a physiotherapist for it now. Unfortunately, it's in my dominant arm. My hands shake bad enough under normal circumstances. Now my left arm can barely hold anything without support.

Still, I wanted to make up a bit for lost days of posts, so here are a bunch. Larger views available here.

The girls and I headed to West Edmonton Mall. My elder daughter collects mint tins, and she scored two new and interesting ones today. She found them at a place that does those old time photos, where you dress up in period costume with various themes. I can't remember the name of the store anymore, but it's also where we found the replica flintlock pistol we got her for Christmas last year. :-D

The mall's sea lion show is a pirates theme right now, so there's Pirates of the Caribbean knock-offs all over the place. *L*

Still - grog flavored mints??? Too cool! It's just rum flavoured, which I suppose grog was slang for (though I thought it was more generic for any strong drink) and they're actually quite good.














She found these rose flavored mints in the same place as the pirate tin. The brightly coloured candies were a surprise.

They're good, too, but we all agreed that the grog flavored ones are better.


















We also stopped at one of our favorite shops, though we haven't been there in ages. Ghossein Rocks and Fossils. A fascinating place. The owner is great to talk to. A treasure trove of lapidary information. He's found most of the fossils and minerals there himself, and has even carved most of the sculptures as well. A rock hound's dream shop!


Here's a fossil ammonite my daughter picked up for herself. Along with mint tins, she has a really nice gemstone and minerals collection, but hasn't added to it in a long time.

















Here, I was playing around with focal points with the macro lens. My hands were shaking horribly, though, and the way I had things set up, I didn't have room for the tripod. I'm going to have to try again later. My daughter had picked up a piece of copper ore as well, but I wasn't happy with how any of the photos I took of it turned out. I'll have to take new ones to post another time. :-)