West Coast and Surfers

False Creek from the Granville Island Hotel, Vancouver

The Uke-lady's Man

Just did my second straight day of ukulele practice.  It seems like every song in the Daily Ukulele song book is not in my key, vocally.  I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking, "Ever thought that you might be off key?"  There's that.  The ukulele chords aren't sufficient to provide the melody for me, even if I know the song.  I learned Paper Moon, and Let me Call you Sweetheart.  It works best if I just strum and say out the words and my husband sings the tune for me.  He has sustained notes for up to five minutes waiting for me to find the next chord.  He gets extra husband points for not laughing while I destroy the Star Spangled Banner.  I'm in good company with that one, though, aren't I?

For today's photos, I go to the album filled with photos I've scanned from old albums.  In some cases I actually just took photos of the photos, which is why they can look a little distorted. There's no real theme...just photos I like of things and places and creatures I like.

One of the Cinque Terre in Liguria....Vernazza, perhaps? Taken in 1988.

Beach off Dallas Road, Victoria

Streaker taking a New Year's Day dip off Jericho Beach, Vancouver 2002

Bull Moose in a farmer's field near Willingdon, Alberta. 2006

My favourite dog ever, Patches. Taken a few years ago.

A close second, Tina.

Digital photo review

I have a huge backlog of digital photography.  I used to be able to manage my photos.  I would shoot a couple of rolls, develop them, decide which would go in the albums and which I needed copies of to send to friends or family and the rest would get filed away.  Now, thanks to digital, I'm 6 years behind in albums.  There are just too many photos to sort through.  It's ridiculous.  Just another example of western excess.  So, my new year's resolution....well, one of them....is to blog more often and go through my multitude of photo folders and edit them.  And I'll feature my favourites on my blog.  Incidentally, my other new year's resolutions include:  making focaccia from scratch and not getting involved in negativity or gossip about others.  I recognize that often that's just to make me feel better about myself and that's not good karma.

So, photo folder numero uno....from this computer, anyway.  Christmas 2012. We drove - in one of the worst snowstorms ever - to the Eastern Townships to spend a couple of days at a Relais et Chateaux property in Magog, Quebec:  Manoir Hovey.  The trip there was harrowing....there were trucks overturned in the  highway-dividing boulevard, the exits trapped cars in snow drifts, visibility was very low and there was the real risk of getting very uncomfortable...or of freezing to death if one got stuck (which is why I try to take our -7 degree-capable sleeping bags with us during winter road trips).  We made it, though, as did our friends, and we enjoyed a lovely weekend of eating too much and enjoying the luxurious rooms and grounds.  It was all very quiet and beautiful once the storm ended.