Out-of-focus

I was outside in the dark last night playing with my new lens (it's a zoom lens with a macro function; the only caveat is that it's only capable of manual focus) and decided that Christmas lights look better when out-of-focus. I thought they were suitable for today's entry since they look rather festive. Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year!

We're off to a house party tonight so hopefully I'll get some good photos for tomorrow's entry!

Beckwith randoms

I went to Henry's today to check out the camera equipment sales (I bought a new lens!); I took a couple of backroads in and around Carleton Place and stopped a few times on the side of the road to take some photos.

A break in the clouds

I have no explanation for this but I think it's rather interesting (I SO wish I had photoshop to get rid of those power lines). A local man here asked me which newspaper I was reporting for :)

Old meets new...

It *is* Sens country....

I found this beauty in Franktown. There is another one really close to where I grew up that I have been wanting to photograph but I can't get near it for all the snow!

Cranium

We had turkey dinner with Brannon's family last night, followed by a competitve game of Cranium. Brannon and I won the first game and narrowly lost the second (it helps when you hum the correct song!) :)

Even the dogs had a nice dinner!

A day on the Tay

So, I stalked the turkies that I mentioned in my previous post but I was only able to take photos through windows from the house (the second you go outside they run/fly away) and I'm not-at-all pleased with what I have to show you so I'll merely show you one; just to show you how close to the house they venture. I SO love them :)

As I said, we are visiting Brannon's parents today in Port Elmsley where they live on the Tay River. During my turkey stalking I took some photos of the river as well. It's snowing like crazy again here today (although so much of the snow we had has since melted) so I find the photos look pretty washed out and dreary.
The hammock is still hanging from the tree by the river so I thought I'd take a few shots of that. Imagine how nice it is to lay on in the summer by the river in the back yard...

Full Moon

I actually don't think it was a true full moon but it certainly looked like it from my perspective last night. Brannon and I are house- and cat-sitting for his brother for the holidays and we've been laying very low; mostly just playing with the 4 cats (our 2 and their 2) and watching a lot of hockey. This means I haven't had a lot to photograph....I was watching for Mars last night but all I saw was the moon so that's what you get for this entry.

Today we're visiting Brannon's parents and I'm holding out to see the wild turkey flock that has moved into the wooded area next to their home. If/when I get some pics I'll explain my love for these birds :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My mom asked me to take some photos of her tree today but instead of posting more of the tree I thought I'd post this one. As I was taking snapshots I caught my reflection in this ornament; I thought it was cute :)

I hope you're all enjoying your holidays and are full of turkey!

Blue Christmas

I finally got to my parents' house. They live on a lake and much of their house is done in blue colours....as is their tree....

Ornaments

Look carefully; this is a fish

I really like this shot; I love how you can see the tree's reflection in the window against the lake and also on the floor.

Boy Meets Girl...

....and girl isn't impressed.

We had Christmas with Brannon's family last night. Hudson (dog) and Taser (cat) had never met before and found themsleves face-to-face during the opening of gifts. I'm not so sure they'll be warm and fuzzy but it wasn't so bad :)

Shattered

I saw this broken window in the parking lot at my hair stylist's (Riccioli in Ottawa); I was too busy to find anything else to photograph and it looked rather interesting. I cut my hair shorter than it's ever been since I've known Brannon; he's going to freak when he sees it!! :)

Christmas Spirit

Again, no time for creative photos....so I thought this would help me get into the Christmas spirit!

Plant Pic

It's snowing again here in Ottawa and I decided to find something indoors to photograph (if it doesn't let up soon you'll all be intimately involved with every object in my house). I love my African violet; despite my negligence it remains happily in bloom almost all year long. I've always wondered why its underside was prettier than its outer surface.....

Bailie gets a new toy

This is post is for yesterday since I was too busy to put anything up. Like most, we're running around getting ready for Christmas and photography hasn't been my priority. Anyway, I picked up a few things yesterday including a new toy for my girls; I decided not to wait until Christmas to give it to them. Please let me introduce you to Bailie (undoubtedly you'll see photos of Blue later on as well).

Christmas Colour

I've been so busy lately that I was only able to dig out my Christmas decorations last night. This is a flashing snowman that my mother gave Brannon and I 2 years ago as a pre-Christmas engagement gift (Brannon proposed at the end of November) and it carries a small heart-shaped charm with our initials and engagement date inscribed on it. Anyway, it lights up in numerous colours so I snapped a few quick shots to demonstrate it's colour!

24 hours in Calgary

After leaving Banff I spent an extra day in Calgary with my dear friend Nicole who recently relocated to the area with my 'former' lab (this is a long story). We didn't have much time and we spent Thursday evening visiting and getting caught up. We slept in on Friday and only had several hours to tour around Calgary before I had to catch my flight back to cold, cold Ottawa (it was much warmer in the west).

We wouldn't see this in Ontario! :)

Some interesting artwork on Stephen Avenue walk.

I love this reflection but couldn't tell you where it is anymore!

Not the most artistic photograph but I have always been a Flames fan (after the Sens of course!!) and I was thrilled to see the infamous Saddledome :)

Banff

What can I say about Banff? It was peaceful, majestic and bright. From the moment I arrived I enjoyed myself. I had very little precious spare time as you know I was there for a conference. I feel I should mention that I thoroughly enjoyed the work-related aspect of being there as well. I learned so much, met some wonderful and highly intelligent researchers/students/financial donors/patients, and left feeling inspired about what I do (and those who know what I've been experiencing in the lab for the last several months will understand how important some inspiration actually is). I spent every free moment running around inside and out with my camera and came home with 400+ photos. Needless to say, I can't post more than a few but if you would like to see a slightly bigger sample of what I took please see my facebook link:

From a distance...

This is what I saw as soon as I walked out of the hotel driveway. Not too shabby!

A view from one of the hotel terraces.

The Bow River in the village of Banff isn't completely frozen yet.

Another spectacular view from the hotel.

I can't help myself when I see gorgeous cloud formations. Banff had so many!

The mountains as seen from under one of the hotel arches.

I took a walk down one of the trails and found some icicles forming along the Bow River.

Everything was frosty!

A replica of the Fairmont Banff Springs made entirely of cereal and candy!

This tree was easily 30 feet high!

Finger Lakes wine tour

I've managed to find a few minutes to put up some photos from this weekend. I took a lot of photos so choosing so few was difficult. Anyway, we had a great weekend that included a day of winery/vinyard tours and many many tastings. Y.U.M. My favourite wine was a white vignoles from the Anthony Road winery. I would highly recommend it. I wasn't such a fan of the reds from the region in general but their rieslings are wonderful! :)
Anyway, here are a few pics from the weekend. I'll be MIA for the next while so I'll see you all when I get back from Banff.

Aging

The meadery has honey in their wines and it's made on site.

We saw a lot of great skyscapes; I didn't get pics of them all though.

The science nerd in me liked this scene...the erlenmeyer flasks placed next to the wine; I swear it was like this when I found it.

Vines in the winter

Grapes on a barrel

I love the reflection of the barrels in this piece of equipment

All the halls were decked....

This home (beside the Fox Run winery) was destroyed by fire.

I just thought the name for this wine was cute; it's a good thing we had a designated driver.