Our Dogs

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" (Roger Caras).

If you want to get Mollie's attention, all you have to do is say "Treat!".

Holly is about the same. She loves what we call "golf balls", actually they are named "t/d oral health" balls.

They both love "sticks" (Denti-Sticks) as an after dinner treat. Chewing on the sticks helps to keep their teeth clean.

All you have to do, really, is give them affection and they return it in kind.

Now I Know Why Rudolph has a Red Nose

I'm sure it's because of the weather. Just imagine flying the prairie skies when it's as cold as it is now in Winnipeg.

Check out that windchill: -37. Even if we could dress for that temperature, our dogs can't. They have coats to wear but their feet can't handle walking on ground that frozen. No, their bathroom break is a quick excursion out in the backyard, followed by a run indoors again. Of course, they get a treat when they come inside.

The long range forecast is for a return to more "normal" temperatures. Let's hope so!

Life in Focus

"Life is like a camera, focus on what's important and you'll capture it perfectly” (Anonymous). I found this quote somewhere and it got me thinking. So, how do you focus on what's important to you. First, you must decide on what makes something important. I turned to the Internet for some advice and answers.

I came across a blog post by someone who seems to have figured everything out:
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/important-vs-urgent-5-ways-to-focus-on-what-really-matters/

I strongly recommend reading the post. It's written by Erin Falconer. She is the editor-in-chief and co-owner of PickTheBrain, one of the fastest growing and most trusted self improvement websites and communities on the web. She or one of her writers posted this great advice.

And, when you give it your best shot and you fail to focus on what's important, toss that shot and take another. Eventually, you'll get it right.

Keep Calm and Carry Your Camera

I've seen the title of this post many times. I think it's the motto of one of the world's largest online photographic supply companies, (www.bhphotovideo.com).

But, it's easier said than done when your camera and your fingers are freezing. The weakest part of the camera in extremely cold weather is the battery. You have to have a warm spare battery ready when the one in the camera starts to fade. It's easy to carry the spare in an insulated jacket pocket.

And, these days there are all sorts of gloves you can wear that have flip up ends to let you work the camera's controls with your fingertips. Take the shot and flip the end back down over your fingers.

You can even use hockey stick tape on parts of the camera body and your gloves to keep the camera from slipping from gloved hands.

So, keep calm and carry on, even in winter ...

Snovember

Yes, winter is here. We've had snow flurries for the past few days, and, overnight and today, actual snow. There's only about a half inch on the ground but it's unlikely to melt until next spring. To add to this, as I was making supper, the power just went off. It wasn't just a flicker of outage. It's been going on for 10 minutes or so already. Good thing my laptop was fully charged and I have lots of little flash-lights and batteries.

I spoke too soon. The power just came back on. Yay! Better get back to making supper now.

Current conditions:

Getting hungry ...

"There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth." - Rumi

One of those ways is to kneel and pull weeds. Another is to kneel with my camera and photograph flowers. It should be easy to guess which I find more enjoyable.

Earlier this summer, while looking at flowers in my back flowerbed, I tripped over an exposed root from a chokecherry I had had removed last year. I actually did a face-plant. I was immediately on my knees, face into the bark mulch. No cane to help myself get up, I had to crawl to a nearby large lower container to help myself get up. Just one of a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth. Memorable but also painful!

I learned a a valuable lesson. Always carry my garden kneeler and a cane with me when I go photographing flowers close to the ground.

I won't be photographing too many more flowers in the coming weeks. Winter is approaching. As I type this post in my garage den, I hear the NW wind shrieking through the tiny gaps in my garage door seal. Last night, my Yahoo weather app was incorrectly predicting overnight snow. Environment Canada was correctly predicting overnight rain showers. Obviously, it was a close call.

Now, I have to empty out the gardening and photography gear and other stuff in the middle of the garage so my wife can pull her car into the garage when she gets home from work. That's more than a day's exercise but it's a promise I must keep.

Too much to do and too little time ...

Snow on the Way

No, there's no snow forecast yet for Winterpeg but it can't be far off. They're getting some in Calgary and that city is not too far away. And, some people who live close to Winnipeg have started a nasty rumour that it may snow here tonight.

All that's in the forecast is "Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this evening. Amount 5 to 10 mm. Wind becoming northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60 late this evening. Low plus 4". Maybe, those people just feel it in their bones.

I was going to rake some leaves from my grass for my flower beds and compost pile but I have to let them dry a bit first. Wet leaves have little insulation value.

On the bright side, I don't think I'll have to cut the grass again this year. If so, I'm happy with that!

Taking time to do nothing ...

... often puts everything into perspective (Doe Zantamata).

• Sitting beside my dog, giving her lots of soft strokes.
• Sitting on the deck, watching the geese fly overhead.
• Falling asleep at night, thinking of each of my grand-kids.
• Looking at my past photos, bringing back some good memories.
• Thinking of my wife, marvelling at how fortunate I am.

Life and Other Stuff

As anyone who knows me, photography is my main hobby. Almost a passion. So, when I saw the following anonymous quote on another photographer's Flickr page, I thought it'd be a good lead in to a blog post. The quote: "Life is like photography. You need the negatives to develop" (Unknown). It made me think that I must be well developed in some respects.

Maybe it doesn't exactly hold true in our present digital age. There are no longer real film negatives. But there are lots of rejects; images not worth using. Many of these images still reside in folders on our hard drives or (if we're smart) on backup CDs or flash drives.

You always think, maybe in the future, I'll try to do something with these rejects. But, realistically, the smart thing would be to delete them. Keep your best memories. Learn from and toss out the bad ones.

Candy Store for Cooks

It's actual slogan is "the candy store for grown-ups (and coffee people)". I've been visiting this store for about 30 years. The ownership has changed at least once but the goodies are still there.

First thing in the door, I grab a cart (always, even if I'm only going in for one thing). This day, I was going in to buy 3 or 4 ingredients for my own trail mix. That idea ended when I found one of their trail mixes (they had about a half dozen different trail mixes) that had everything I needed.

As I push my cart up and down the aisles of bulk bins, there's always something that catches my eye. Some items with eye appeal must be resisted. Too much sugar for me! However, they do sell some sugar-free items.

Other items include ingredients I'd like to try in my cooking. New spices top that list (although some people might argue that I already have too many spices at home).

Happiness is ...

Cabin at Eleanor Lake

I thought some of you would like to see what the cabin looked like that we stayed in at Eleanor Lake in the Whiteshell.

This is actually Cabin 8 of Riverview Lodge, next door to ours. Ours was cluttered out front with our chairs, dogs, and chipmunks.

If you want a virtual tour of our pet-friendly Cabin 9, go to http://www.riverviewlodge.ca/index.php?page=cabins&column_id=0&menuitem_id=3&sub_id=51&title=Virtual%20Tours&cabin=9&image_grp=80. Just copy and paste this URL to a new tab in your browser.

The cabin has two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, and a Jacuzzi. It also has satellite TV and air conditioning, neither of which we used. We did use the wireless connection at times.

What we liked most was the peace and quiet of our early September visit.

A Convoy of Semi Trucks and Traillers

Last weekend, a semi truck convoy circled Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway. The Truck Convoy is a celebration of the trucking industry and their support of the Special Olympics. It is a one day event in which Law Enforcement make special dispensation and escorts a convoy of trucks. Truck convoys like ours are held in other provinces and various states to the south.

When I was travelling home on the Perimeter, I saw the truck convoy heading in the other direction and managed to get a shot o a few of the trucks (always have a camera with you!).

The money raised by the truckers helps with travel and hotel costs athletes face in order to compete in the Special Olympics.

Hecklers

The classic hecklers are Statler and Waldorf. According to Wikipedia, Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters. They are two disagreeable old men who first appeared in the television series, The Muppet Show, and heckled the rest of the cast from their balcony seats. I recently came across them as one of many wall paintings for the current show at Celebrations Dinner Theatre, "It's Elementary Sherlock".

If you've ever watched a Muppets show, you've seen these two guys.

Of course, we've all experienced hecklers in our lives. It's not funny when you have to deal with personal critics. Every time we've taken a stand or position on some issue, there've been hecklers somewhere in the background.

Can you think of some critics in your job?

Then and Now

"Always be demanding of the person you are ... and forgiving of the person you were" (Robert Brault). Looking back on my life (old folks like me tend to do that a lot), there were many acts and events that I now regret or wished I'd done differently.

I won't itemize any of them here because there are just too many and most of them are personal. Suffice it to say that I'm doing my best to take Brault's advice to heart.

Living in the moment and taking each day as it comes ... I guess that's what happiness is ...

It's Hard, Sometimes ...

One of Robert Brault's famous quotes is "It's hard, sometimes, when nothing's stopping you, to know what's stopping you". Many of his quotes can be found at http://rbrault.blogspot.ca/. His quotes are a great if you're looking for ideas to write about in your blog.

But, back to this quote. It got me thinking about procrastination. That's something I specialize in. Being as old as I am, I have decades of experience on the topic. Even posting to my blog, I run head-on into procrastination. It's gotten so bad this year that some of my followers have given up checking to see if I've posted something.

So, I resolved this morning to post something, post anything, today to surprize those followers. You're reading that post now, by the way. Unless you've been procrastinating about checking my blog.

That reminds me of Canada's big business leaders, bureaucrats and politicians. They're experts at procrastination; they never seem to make good on their promises.

Beating procrastination, at least once in a while, makes me happy. I should try it more often.

Peaceful Life at the Cabin

A few days at a rented cabin in the Whiteshell helped escape the hustle and bustle of city life. It's amazing how sitting on a lake shore and watching water and wildlife brings peace to the soul.

This was the same pet-friendly cabin we rented last year. One of the differences this year was the chipmunk activity around the cabin. Last year, we saw one or two chipmunks. This year, there were dozens of them. Watching them climb bur oak trees to clip off acorns was fascinating. After they clipped a dozen or acorns, they climbed down and gathered the acorns. First, they stripped off the shells. Then, they stuffed the green acorns in their cheeks. When their cheeks were full, they scurried away to store their acorns in underground burrows.

This is an image of one eastern chipmunk I photographed closeup, on the ground near my feet.

We saw all sorts of other wildlife over our 3 days at the lake, including otters, a beaver, Canada geese, gulls, ravens, Canada jays, brown creepers, and a hawk. Bear poop was seen on one of the nearby trails but, fortunately, no bears were encountered.

Happiness is ...

It is better to travel hopeful ...

... than to arrive. This simplified phrase is based on a Robert Louis Stevenson quotation, from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour." Stevenson was expressing the same idea as the earlier Taoist saying - "The journey is the reward."

Simply put, hope and anticipation are often better than reality. You could avoid the past and the future by, as my wise cousin Barb once said, by living in the moment. The past may be filled with good and bad memories (odd, how we remember the bad ones most clearly). The future may include good and bad things also but we won't know until it becomes the past. Indeed, right at this moment, we don't know if there will be a future.

Happiness is living in this moment ... and keeping on journeying.

Better Late than Never

Writing a blog post lately has seemed a chore. With a cold wet spring and now an unusually hot summer, there always seems to be something else that needs to be done (including a daily nap!). Photography leads the way. I've taken hundreds of images over the past month or so, some of which I've posted on my Flickr page.

Because I edit all my images in Photoshop Elements before I upload them to Flickr, that process often takes longer than the photography. The good thing is that I can sometimes enhance a mediocre image, minimizing the discards to the recycle bin. Others, I just toss, knowing they can't be salvaged.

Then, there's the time spent trying to identify a particular flower, weed or bird. I've dozens of great images, waiting in that category. I don't like to post an image unless I'm fairly sure I've correctly identified the subject. I spent a lot of time browsing online and in my reference books.

I also do get ideas for blog posts. I keep them in one of my Evernote folders. I have other folders for ideas for photography that I periodically review.

Some of my photos of family (my kids and their kids) are posted to my Google+ account that is only shared with family. I won't post these to Flickr for privacy reasons.

I won't get into the time involved with yardwork, cooking, grocery shopping, medical and dental appointments, or visiting family.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the summer. Happiness is ...

Heat Warning

Winnipeg seems to be a city of extremes.  A long, cold, snowy winter.  A very wet spring.  Mosquitoes so bad that they're starting to fog tonight.  Now, a heat warning.  The humidex is already 38 deg C and it will get worse this afternoon.  Add possible flooding due to high river levels.

This has been a crazy year ... hopefully, the sump pump and the air conditioner will keep running okay.

About that Grass

I posted a note on seeding grass a couple of days ago. Then, it rained. A lot. My rain gauge holds two inches of water. It filled and overflowed. My best guess is that three inches of rain fell over 43 Carbutt. The old sump pump was going constantly. It still is, as that water percolates downward. Now, it's mostly sunny and things are looking up for the grass seed.

But, the rain also encouraged the weeds to flourish. Thistles are everywhere. Many of them are well over 12 inches high.

Happiness does not include weeding ...

Responsibility and Joy

The older I get, the more I feel good about my two children and my six grandchildren. When I was much younger, I was often too busy to show them my love. As they grew up, I grew up too. As I saw them become mature, decent, and caring people and then parents, I realized that I had a part in that and I became more proud of them and their achievements.

Time to Seed Some Grass

The Winnipeg weather forecast suggests we'll have some rain off and on this week so I thought I'd top-seed some of the bare spots in my backyard. The bare spots reflect the activity of two of our dogs who shall remain nameless.

The procedure is simple: rake the bare spots, spread some expensive grass seed, and re-rake the seed into the spots. Then, sprinkle the areas on those days that it doesn't rain. Two weeks from now, those spots should look fresh and green.

We'll see ...

Go figure ...

Speaking of my Flickr statistics, there was a recent and unexplained large number of views of a series of photos that I took of the River Run Floating Cottage in Ladner, BC. When I say a large number of views, I mean over 7000 views during a 1 week period earlier this month.

At first, I thought the images were shown on Flickriver or Explore, which thousands of people view on a daily basis. However, I could find no evidence of this.

Go figure ...

Cuddly Kittens

The popularity of my Flickr photo, called Kittens, posted in September, 2003, continues to amaze me. I was reviewing the statistics for my Flickr photos this afternoon and discovered that this particular photo has now had 4835 views.

I suppose there are many cat lovers out there that search for images like this one. Note, however, that the image of my best dog friend, Holly, is not nearly as popular. When it comes to cats, she'd prefer to chase them up a tree and bark her head off at them,

About Time

Yes, it is about time I posted something to my blog. Now that summer has finally arrived here in Winnipeg, It's good to get outdoors again. I've been busy with my camera, photographing flowers around the house. One of the other things I've wanted to photograph has been my 'new' 2011 Ford Escape. I can now replace the old red 2006 Ford Escape at the top of the page with my silver one.

Coming May 9th Memorial

The Prime Minister of Canada has declared May 9, 2014, the National Day of Honour to recognise the important work done by our Forces' members in Afghanistan. People across Canada are planning a day to remember and honour those who died and to give thanks for the sacrifices of those who came back from serving their country over the past 12 years.

In all, 635 were wounded in action and 138 were killed in action. Many more were traumatized by what they experienced in that country. Countless family members were also affected.

Was it worth all the cost to Canadians and the personal sacrifice of our troops and their families? Our senior politicians and military chiefs say that it was, helping the local people to decide the future of their country. I wonder how many of the people directly affected (here in Canada and over there in Afghanistan) would agree with them.

My heartfelt thanks go to the families and loved ones of the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives so that others can experience some form of free speech and equality. The sacrifice our soldiers have made hopefully will affect and help the average Afghani now and in the future.

Easter Get-together 1

This afternoon/evening, we had Marg's side of the family over for supper.  I made 3 dishes: honey-mustard baked ham, a creamy hash brown casserole, and a creamy broccoli casserole.  M&M provided some squares for dessert.  There was more than enough for the meal (enough is a feast) plus lots to send home with our guests.

I'm now looking to Easter get-together 2, tomorrow evening with my kids and their families, at Celebrations Dinner Theatre.

Happiness is ...

Transition Time

Let there be light!  The switch to DST was difficult.  It was like, 'where am I' at first.  Now, I'm used to it and enjoying the morning and evening light.  The daylength feels stretched out.  Not that I seem to be making the best use of it yet.  I still spend too much time surfing YouTube for cooking shows and inspiration for future suppers and having some enjoyable daytime naps.  On my Flickr page, I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of views of my daffodil image, leaving the kittens in the dust for a while.

If you which to see my daffodil image, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/papa-ellis/6996087640/in/photolist-bEdM7G-bEeTJy

It was taken on May 4th, 2012.  I wonder if I'll see this year's daffodils on the same date.  A lot of snow will have to melt soon!

This morning, I checked the weather forecast and not that we are about to have our first week of above freezing temperature of the year.

Happiness is!

Meow ...

Well, amazingly enough, my most popular Flickr image, Kittens, hit the '4000 views' mark.

To view the image on Flickr, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/papa-ellis/6303296444/

You can view lower resolution image below:

Enjoy!

Zoom, zoom ...

Finally, my battered 'old' red 2006 Escape Ltd. has been replaced by a 'new' silver 2011 Escape Ltd. Funny, they don't call it a 'used' vehicle these days; no, it is a 'previously owned' vehicle. Regardless, I'm quite pleased with it and all of it's new features. Things like a back-up camera and parking assist. Woohoo!

Coming soon ... a photo of the new 'beast'.

Tired of Winter

It's so cold here in Winterpeg ...

... when will winter end?

Here comes the Sun ...

"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road.

… "Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right…
Here comes the sun" ...

I usually begin my day with a good cup of coffee. By the time I finish my first cup, I'm ready to talk coherently and see my good wife off to work.

They say the days are getting longer and, maybe warmer. Today is certainly warmer and the short-term forecast is for even milder temperatures.

Happiness is ...

Keeping Track

"I'm not writing it down to remember it later, I'm writing it down to remember it now". That's the slogan of Field Notes notebooks by http://fieldnotesbrand.com/shop/.
Although I always seem to be writing notes to myself, I sometimes let things I 'need to do' go undone.  But the notes certainly help me.

My favourite place to make notes in this digital age is Evernote. It's a wonderful tool to record all sorts of information, photos, and ideas. You can use the Evernote app on your iPhone and it automatically synchronizes to your Evernote on your laptop or PC. It's one of my best software packages I've ever used. Although I'm retired, I imagine it must be of immense benefit to anyone with a hectic lifestyle. There's a free edition but I bought the premium edition with it's extra features.

It's my way of 'keeping track' ...

Families are Forever

Those three simple words have been promoted by the Mormons for decades. Families (and everything that is associated with them) are an underlying principle of their church.

Our families go back at least as far as we can research them. Different churches have kept track of births and deaths in their jurisdictions, enabling family historians (or genealogists) to trace our roots. Immigration officials have also archived the arrivals of our ancestors into North America. Similarly, our military has archives of documents about our soldiers. Even some of our newspapers have searchable archives.

Sometimes, our family members have kept daily journals.  All of these sources can be rich mines of information.

The internet is a rich source of tools for family historians. Some are free; others have fees attached.

If you have a family historian, you should make sure you pass on information to him or her about the births and deaths of those closest to you.  Information about their occupations, marriage(s) and anecdotes about their lives, in addition to photos, would also be appreciated.