Saturday, December 15

After watching the kids play their last game of basketball for the season this morning, we met Bill and Debbie and the kids downtown this afternoon to see the Christmas display at the Galt House Hotel. They always do a wonderful job of decorating. And if you ever wanted to know what an almost life-size gingerbread house looks like, this is the place to go. One of the big attractions for the last few years has been the KaLightoscope display which consists of all of these luminaries inside a huge tent just outside of the hotel building. Every year they come up with new pieces, and the overall effect is really captivating. (I ran into a fellow camera club member while we were there and she mentioned how wonderful it would be to organize a club trip here next year, ideally where we could bring in tripods and just have to the place to ourselves. Great idea I thought! We need to mention that at an upcoming meeting.) In the meantime though, I had my trusty iPhone with me of course and in a nod to an Aussie Christmas, took this photo of a very large animated Surfin’ Santa who was suspended from the ceiling

Sunday, December 9

Basketball Weekend, Part 2…

To round out this sporting weekend, we joined nephew Dylan and niece for their basketball game this afternoon. They both showed some brief spurts of good play, and certainly the level of game play has improved immensely since they beginning of the year. (Due in no small part to brother-in-law Bill’s coaching I’m sure!) But I think it is fair to say that the kid’s hearts are perhaps not totally in it. Bill tried to get Ava to take part in more of the game, but she wasn’t having it. At the end of the game though when the snacks were being handed out, she showed remarkable spark and drive to get across the court. It’s just a question of priorities, clearly.

Friday, October 26

Departure day!

After all the weeks of planning, it’s finally time to hop across the pond to Australia. This morning I took Stubby to Dogwood Kennels, his home for the next 3 weeks. He didn’t even give me a good-bye lick! Then it was on to some last minute packing. (On reflection, it occurred to me that I probably shouldn’t have left quite so much to the very end.) Late morning our friends arrived to take us to the airport, and we were away. First to Charlotte, NC and then on to LAX before taking the Qantas A380 jet to Melbourne. I took this shot over the middle the country somewhere — I think the title “Hello, I Must Be Going” seems appropriate…

Sunday, September 23

I did my volunteering bit at PeaceCasters this afternoon, and when i got home June was well and truly in gardening mode, so I made us both a cup of tea and while she toiled amongst the plants I took the opportunity to sit outside and catch on the day’s news in the paper.

Sunday, September 9

I’m nursing an aching back today, so I’m keeping close to home. Which means today’s photo had to be something close at hand. We have this little metal dog sculpture in the backyard that sits on a tall tripod structure, and I noticed that it was casting a nice shadow on the fence. I turned to the Hipstamatic app and my iPhone and selected the new Salvador Dali lens that I had recently purchased and gave it a whirl. And I have to say, I was really taken by the results. To me, it has a kind of Japanese rice paper art feel to it.