Monday, August 29, 2011

Walk This Way


As promised in my last post from the gates of Finn Slough (or the Gates of Eden as certain visitors prefer to call them), the tour is about to commence.  Here comes our greeter now...



Obviously a Dylan fan from way back, "Come in", she purred, "I'll give ya shelter from the storm."
Or maybe she was muttering, "Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is..."



Well, something was happening all right, as my eyes quivered and shimmered from overbright focus.  Was this the hour that my ship comes in...

or a hazy memory from a distant, long abandonned past on Desolation Row?


All signs seemed to indicate that I was heading the wrong way. At least there was no blood on the tracks.
Only aged and worn, blonde on blonde wooden planks.




















House of blues ahead, or is it the House of the Rising Sun. If we pause to make enquiries, might we find ourselves knock-knock-knocking on Heaven's door?


We'll just have to stop (in the name of love) here for the moment, and wait for the next leg of the tour-- though I don't know when I'll be comin' back again, it depends on how I'm a-feelin'.  But don't worry, we'll meet again some day, on the avenue.


Saturday, August 27, 2011

Gated Community

I am going to take you to visit a unique sort of
gated community. 


I have begun revisiting the images I took at Finn Slough in the Vancouver Lower Mainland last spring...



and playing with some of them in Photoshop.

This could take awhile.
But good things come to those who wait
(at the gate)



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Old Dogs

You know what they say about old dogs...



It's true you'd probably have some difficulty in teaching this one new tricks...





but this old dog probably still has a few tricks
left up his sleeve.

(both subjects recently seen on the street in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Is.)

Old Dog Musician said I could take his picture as long as I didn't hang it on my bedroom wall.  He didn't say anything about putting it on my blog.


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Hold Your Horses


Whoa Nellie!  I've been too long absent from the blog saddle.  Guess some of you thought I'd been put out to pasture.  But I'm feeling my blog oats (that would be "bloats") tonight so I thought I'd mosey on in here and horse around a bit.


Let's dog this woman's footsteps back to a lovely day last spring in Vancouver...



where things were starting to get a little bit in tents!



Cavalia was in town!  Cavalia is the equine equivalent of Cirque du Soleil.  The horses do everything but hang from trapezes! 

 No photos were allowed to be taken inside the showplace so I contented myself with catching shots of the large canvas posters that decorated the fences.

(As there is a lot of information online about this troupe, I am not going to go into details.  Click on the links above or take a shortcut to the Wiki version here. )



Polka dot horses are my all-time favourites!



I admit, I did sneak one picture of the "stage" before the second act began.
But really, it was a welcome relief to be able to just sit back in awe and delight, watching the show and not being distracted by fiddling with a camera.



When we exited the tent after the amazing spectacle, I noticed this strange, seemingly abandoned old warehouse situated just outside the grounds where the tents were set up.



The posters in front of it gave it the appearance of a fantasy barn made for phantom horses.



It seemed slightly surreal, rather like a movie set.
But then, the whole spectacle/experience was slightly surreal, in the most positive sense of the word.




This night out with my mother and my sister is one we'll each cherish for the rest of our lives--especially as we so rarely have the opportunity to trot out together and kick up our heels.

If Cavalia comes galloping into your town, don't miss the chance to see it.
It will truly whinny you over!






Friday, August 5, 2011

Shut The Front Door!

In popular parlance these days, the expression "Shut up!" has come to signify disbelief, awe, wonder, and other such amazements, replacing the more familiar exclamations, "Oh my god" "Holy cow!" "No way!" when confronted with someone who has just uttered an unbelievably bad, good, lucky, or inane statement or, similarly, performed some impressive or dubious feat.

For the more verbally exuberant, though perhaps vocabulary-challenged, a certain eff-word, combined with "the," is often inserted between "shut" and "up" thus lending even more emphasis.  However, for more polite exclaimers, or those who don't wish to be "bleeped" while expressing themselves on television, "Shut the eff-word up!" has transmogrified into "Shut the front door!" 



As I recently experienced considerable awe and wonder when confronted by numerous firmly closed, brilliantly hued front doors in Halifax, I could think of no more fitting hymn of praise to them than
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR


Take a tour with me and you'll see what I mean.


















It is, apparently, very good feng shui to have a red front door.
Lots of juicy yang engergy, especially useful if you live near a hospital.




The main doors should look strong, be large--though in suitable proportion to the house size,
and make a bold statement. 
Although the example above is making a distinct statement,
it is still rather plain-spoken



whereas this entrance compensates for its modest door expression
with an impressively colourful foreign accent.





Colour schemes for the entrances are often contrasts of hot with cool in unusual combinations. 





Some decorators choose to temper the contrast with a neutral hue between the hot and cool colours.
This is a very grand entrance with its wide double doors, intricate Celtic-themed details, stairs leading up to it,
windows to let the light in, a hand railing (though a second one would be better), and a visually interesting, as well as structurally strong, combination of brick and wood. 




What other entrances lack in size,
they make up for with charm.




This door seems rather overpowered by the big house looming over it, but it's doing its best to be strong with its bright colour.  Personally, I think a lime green or unexpected lilac might make more of a statement.




We'll finish up our tour of doors with this heritage house entryway, just waiting to get its colour groove on!

What colour would you paint it?
Really???  Shut the front door!!!