90:365 Talking back.

Anna: We didn't head out at all today, as we normally do on Fridays. My shift last night ended shortly after 1am, and I was just too achy and tired to head out.

Our younger daughter loves jigsawpuzzles. The only flat surface we have that's large enough for them is the box the BBQ came in - and it can be tucked away under the back of the desk at the end of the day. So every day, she slides out the box, grabs a folding chair and brings out the plaid seat cushion she won as a door prize during this year's Robbie Burns Day supper.

Tiger, we've discovered, loves the seat cushion. As soon as my daughter leaves the chair, the cat will jump up and position herself in the hollow left by the "doughnut hole" in the middle. I had tried a few shots when I guess she got tired of me, so she turned around and positioned herself like this, with her head under the back support of the chair, and started listening to my daughter, who was standing behind me and talking to her.






Then she started to talk back. *L*

89:365 - Higher Learning - updated: Morning Walk

Higher learning takes a sharp left turn.... :D

Philippe: Not sure if this was supposed to be higher learning or 'advanced worship', but it's still funny :D





Anna: Had another sleepless night, so I went for an early morning walk in the river valley. It helped. :-D The following pictures are from my walk.



I almost wore this guy before I saw him. Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on something that's swinging? I'm sure you do! *L* This is one of a very few pictures that was at least partly in focus. :-D


















During the walk, I passed several groups of bushes that were filled with birds. Mostly, I just heard them and saw the leaves moving after they fluttered away, but I did manage to actually see a few. I lightened this photo a bit, so the bird is actually more visible in this picture than it was IRL.











Here, I'm looking back towards home from one of several cliff points along the path. This point is a fair bit beyond where I took this picture a while ago. I'm about half way up the valley on this path, give or take a few feet.












I could hear the bird. I *knew* it was there. I could even tell which tree it was in. I still had to stand and stare for at least a minute before I spotted it. Ah, the joys of zoom. This photo also got lightened up a bit and the bird is more visible in the photo than what I was actually able to see when I took it.

I don't know what this bird is, but it has a voice about 3 times larger than its body. ;-) We have one that lives near our apartment. It starts singing every morning at about 3 am.

Every. Friggin'. Morning.

Guess how I know that? *grumblegrumble* Some mornings, it's so loud, I have to close the window so I can get back to sleep!

88:365 End of the day.

Anna: Didn't get a chance to take photos while we were out and about, so I got some off our balcony. *L*


Can you come out and play?

When we first moved into our apartment, we were really impressed with the size of the balcony. My daughter's cat had been an outdoor cat for the last 3 years, and I knew she's miss it. We figured at least she'd be able to go onto the balcony and get some fresh air.

So shortly after the move, we'd let her onto the balcony with us. We promptly discovered that there's an open space along the rail at the wall separating our balcony from our neighbour's, and she could fit through. *L* We got her back and plugged the space and thought things would be fine.

Then this cat arrived. I think it lives in one of the ground floor apartments. Suddenly, Tiger was no longer on our balcony. She'd jumped from our 3rd floor balcony, to get at this cat.

Directly below us are patios with paving stones instead of grass.

I was able to catch her when she ran into the storage area of one of the patio areas, which happened to not have any tenants at the time. She had a bloody nose, a sore hip, and was very nervous. Nothing was broken, thank God, and she soon healed. It was over a year before we let her onto the balcony again, and she's constantly watched when we do.

Meanwhile, this cat still comes by.




Sunset.

Every evening at sunset, we get bright reflections off this downtown building. I like how the leaves seem to glow from the reflected light behind them.

87:365 A day at the museum

Anna: Lots of pictures today. The girls and I headed to a museum - I ended up taking some 180 photos alone, plus a couple of videos. (More photos available here.) I still need to go through them and toss the ones that didn't turn out. This museum has really excellent grounds, and we spent quite a bit of time getting pictures. It was a great way to avoid the three bus loads of school kids that were there at the same time. :-/ I have to admit, when I saw those three buses, I just about turned around and went home! *L* It worked out all right, though.



This is a Jeongja, a Korean pavilion built in the old way, using joining techniques and no nails. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I got lots of photos of it.














This is a detail of one of the faces on a Ksan totem pole.














There are a lot of statues on the grounds, and this is one of my favorites. There's just something about the upward turned face that I really like.


















As we were waking into the building, in between the inner and outer doors, I spotted a sign on the wall I'd never noticed before. It turns out the stone on these walls are Tyndall Limestone from Southern Manitoba. The walls were filled with fossils of all kinds. The kids say this one looks like some types of bacteria.

Now I know what those fossils I'd been finding on Gimli Beach were. :-D







Before going to the front desk, the girls and I went to the cafe for lunch. We'd placed our order and were sitting at our table waiting for it, commenting on the changes since the last time we'd been there, when my younger daughter suddenly exclaims, "there's a whale on that lamp!"

Someone had taped a toy Sperm Whale onto the electrical cord of one lamp.

Why?

To make visitors wonder, perhaps? ;-D










The museum is setting up for a new theme of dragons next month. In the entry was a 1:4 model of a Korean turtle ship. The plexiglass covering the spikes is definitely needed - those things are real metal, and real sharp!













One of my favorite displays is the eggs. It's amazing how different they can be! I wasn't able to get shots of my very favorite, but I like this "painted" looking grackle egg, too.

Because of the lighting, I had to take these shots from the rear of the display, so they were upside down.









I couldn't resist adding this one of the girls. I thought it was just neat. :-D













There are several displays of these "floating" artifacts. One was all arrow heads, another spear heads, but I can't remember what type these ones were. Possibly fishing harpoons.














And finally, a guest photo from my younger daughter, a macro shot of one of the skulls they have on display for people to touch.

86:365 Waterfowl

Anna: Today wasn't a very prolific photo day for me at that park - I've already taken an awful lot of pictures of the same things already. I did get a few I liked.


I believe this is a male wood duck. Although I got better pictures of him, I like this one the best because of the motion.

correction: I now know this isn't a wood duck. I think it's a wigeon.









This is the first time I've seen a Common Goldeneye out of the water. This female decided to head in my direction, and had the most delightful, comical waddle.













This is the mate of the above mentioned female. I'd seen them stretch their necks out in an odd manner before, and couldn't quite figure out what they were doing. These ones were close enough to the shore that I was able to actually hear them. They make a quiet noise that I have difficulty describing - a sort of cross between a quack and a purr. *L* A rather pleasant sound, really.

85:365 Downtown

Anna: The kids and I headed downtown to take in an event that turned out to not be running on Sunday. We still got a chance to get pictures, though. Our older daughter is really enjoying the new camera - her typical photo day would be just over 40 photos with the old camera, but for the last couple of days, she's been taking double that. :-D


Watch Your Step!

We all thought this piece of graffiti was very cool. I do wonder how they get onto the roofs of these places, though.











Eyes: Some graffiti can only be described as works of art. I love the detail on this guy! The eyes are really impressive.














Art: I walked right past this thing without noticing it. It was the girls that pointed it out to me. It's a piece called Hollow Point.

Uhm... ok.


















Hockey Season: For the truly dedicated, hockey season never ends.

There's a square in the downtown core that is frequently booked for summertime events. Today, the square, 3 blocks of street around it, plus another block alongside the City Hall, which you can see in the background, were fenced off into hockey rinks. Two of the street sections had 3 rinks on them each.

84:365 - Architecture

Morning walk; the light was a nice diffused grey, so eldest and I went photo hunting :)


Philippe: This little bit of architecture is just plain interesting to see. It's an innovative approach to ensuring a bit of light :D.




















Philippe: This building is now closed down, but I've always appreciated the way they actually tiled the signs right into the wall :)













Philippe: Just a nice flower.














Philippe: The focus is a little interesting on this one as the wind was catching it so I ended up with a sharp focus on the side of the flower, and the rest diffusing out a bit.