Feeling Llamarous!

Just blowing you a little kiss as I head off to Halifax for a few days.

Actually, that is exactly how llamas "kiss" you...

if you put your hands down by your sides and lean in 

you may be delighted to feel a quick but distinct little puff of air on your face

from their "lips" as they blow you a kiss.

(mwah!)

Window on Montreal

I had a fabulous week away, checking out the wildlife in Montreal.

I was open to every opportunity that presented itself

in either of Canada's official languages, English or French.

Rest assured that I wasn't just clowning around...

or up to any monkey business.

Well, at least not too much.

Will by to visit your blogs and see what you've been up to in my absence as soon as the blisters on my feet heal from all the walking I did.

See you soon!

Moody Moment

End of day, and the moment is wrapped in a golden glow

The sky becomes a dramatic background 

for sun-glazed branches

and even an abandoned house, bereft of love, feels the warmth of the sun's brief kiss.

I had to grab my camera this evening and lean out my studio window to capture the brilliance of the moment.

Snow is in the forecast for the morning so it's best to savour the sun while one can.

Remember Where We Parked!

Not too hard to remember where our boat is anchored today,

at the foot of bustling downtown Skagway.

But be careful not to get caught in a time warp here as we prepare to take a tour of the town.

Should we go by train?

Or take in "all points of interest" 

on the Alaska street car tour?

Perhaps a horse-drawn carriage is more to your liking?

Ah, here we go; just the ticket!  

Tour will be getting underway soon.

Dog Day Afternoon

At the Halifax Jazz Festival, in the free tent, it wasn't just the music that was attention-grabbing.  The onlookers were a show in themselves.  I was particularly enchanted with this young woman and her dog.

The dog's attention was elsewhere, probably wishing he could get out of the loud noise and home for a nice quiet nap.

The jazz band had a variety of tempos and moods,

 some taking us back to the groovy sixties,

while other tunes were a little more mellow and nostalgic for quieter, gentler, sepia-toned (?) times.

Our furry friend quietly and discretely expressed his opinion on some of the numbers

(see that little pink tongue sticking out and the expression that clearly shows he is not impressed? 

"Bleh," he says.)

Now he's obviously looking for a way out, while even his girl is pondering whether to stay or go.

Or maybe something else entirely is going on in the girl's mind.  Perhaps a melody has reminded her of her family, living far away while she carves out her own path on the other side of the country, or the ocean, or the world.  Dreaming of home that is no longer "home" and wondering what she's doing all alone in the middle of a beautiful summer day.  "Thank god for my dog," she thinks.  

Though it's equally possible that she's pondering what  to buy at Pete's Frootique on her way home  to her fabulous apartment where she's hosting a supper party for her very good friends tonight.

( I prefer blog posts with happy endings, don't you?)

***

Just remembered to link up with Bonnie's
Photo Art Friday 
virtual art gallery where you can see other people's creative photo editing.

Cattitude

This venerable Siamese was enjoying the warm weather on a Montreal porch as I passed by.

He seemed to be waiting for someone to come along and admire his feline grace and mature pulchritude.

But as I fiddled with my camera, trying to get just the right angle, contrast, framing and so on (even though it's a point and shoot--god forbid I should ever get my hands on a digital SLR), he gave up on me and settled down for a cat nap.  

(scratched up texture from
Shadowhouse Creations)

Fade out on the photo op...

Ya snooze, ya lose.

Covert

One of my favourite neighbourhood jaunts when visiting home is to walk down to Deep Cove, which takes me about 25 minutes, going at a good clip.

It's pretty much required that you stop at the bottom of the street once you arrive to take a picture of the Deep Cove marina.

I was quite touched that they'd hung out a "Welcome Home" flag for me.

In spite of the sunshine, it was a frosty day, as evidenced by the hoary dock.

See what I mean?

The chill air and frosty ground didn't seem to bother these fellows, though.

But then, they were wearing their fur coats.

Whereas, this couple was not

and consequently appeared frozen as solid as stone.

Oh yes, that damn damp cold is nothing to sneeze at!

Horse Power

Horse Face

It was a gloriously autumnal day today, complete with moody clouds hanging about the sky, so I grabbed my camera and went out for a long walk. I was taking a picture of the way the road climbed to the horizon and then disappeared ...

but when I checked the image in the camera, I discovered there was a horse in the field.  Seeing the possibility of blog fodder, I went closer to investigate.

The horse in question was a rather odd sort.

She was very involved in trying to eat the fence.  One could even say obsessed.

She did take time out for a brief game of peek-a-boo with me as I tried different heights to get her portrait.

When I reviewed my pictures of this strange creature tonight, I discovered she was really not very photogenic.  In fact, rather disturbingly homely, with great patches of hair rubbed off the nose, probably from all that fence nibbling.

I did my best with Photoshop to try to make a silk purse from a pig's ear  horse's nose but the resident critic's reaction was, "It's not a very pretty horse is it."  Oh well, you whinny some, you lose some.

I think she's interesting enough to put in Bonnie's Photo Art Friday gallery, though.  Don't you?

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.

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!