In my back yard

My tea rose is blooming!
A weed; but a pretty one :)

Whatever this thing is (a grub of some description) is killing my lilies :(
Yummy raspberries!

We were airing out our tent when I saw this little guy...

Blue-Cat

It's been forever since I've posted a picture of either of the cats. I caught Blue lounging today...just staring out the window. What a tough life!

Perfection

The title says it all....I don't know how else to describe the colour of this flower. These photos are straight-out-of-the-camera and that's exactly what it looks like. While I've always loved the colour blue (and would tell you it's my fave colour) my mother can attest to the fact that I'm always drawn to this colour (as can be explained without a viewing of several dresses I've worn in the past - har har!) - there's just something about it...

This is the flower from the bud in the previous post.

Is this what attracts the ants?

I noticed the peony buds in the back yard all have little droplets on them (and it's not rain!); I wondered if maybe whatever they're producing/secreting is meant to attract insects, namely the ants that always seem to accompany them. Some kind of pollination strategy, perhaps???
Regardless, this peony plant is doing very well and will have a number of blooms in a few short weeks! It would have been really handy to have a macro lens at my disposal for this shot. :(

Mel and Tony's Big Day! Only 5 months late....

Mel and Tony were married in December but I'm only just now getting around to posting some (ok, a lot!) of their photos. This is quite easily my longest post ever, and there are so many more I would have loved to share. Congratulations you guys!

The only thing more beautiful than Mel's dress was Mel herself :)

The make-up artist was fantastic, even giving us all make-up lessons as she went about making the girls look fabulous!
Putting in the all-important veil!

Corset backs always require a little help :)

A pretty important mother-daughter moment!
The bride is starting to get excited!




Mel and her best friend and maid-of-honour.

My favourite shot of Mel from the entire day!

When everyone was ready, the girls went outside for a few photos on the deck.

Mel even got her wish - flurries!

I wasn't there for the getting-ready session for the guys, but I did catch Tony's brother helping with his boutonniere. It's not as easy as it looks! :)

Mel's parents both escorted her down the aisle.During their ceremony...


Sharing a moment when it was all-said-and-done.

We did it!

Tony's beautiful sister
It wouldn't be a wedding without some kissing :)
Bridal party fun at Watson's Mill in Manotick.

The "brothers"


There's nothing like a kissing silhouette!
Clearly, the speeches were entertaining!

First dance

Just a lucky shot, I really like it....

Tony's mom was so much fun!

Need I say more?!?! :)

The kids had a ball!

I almost felt bad taking this shot, as though I was interrupting a 'moment'.
A few details....

Decorating the chandeliers with Christmas balls was such a great idea! Everything was so festive!

An engagement photo (also taken by moi!)....

Rise and Shine :)

Instead of heading straight to work today, I took a detour over to Dow's Lake to snap some shots of Ottawa's famous tulips during sunrise.

Beautiful warm light and unexpected flare :)

Real flare (unlike all the fake photoshop stuff I see so regularly....)

Not the nicest of shots, nor the prettiest of the tulips, but I LOVE the orange and purple flowers together!
I spent some time trying to capture the spider webs strung between flowers. These next 2 shots are about as good as it gets (sadly). Something to work on in the future!
I love how the sun is shining just on the tips of the petals. It was pretty in colour but I preferred it in B&W.