Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Anything Large

thanks to Cee for hosting CFFC https://ceenphotography.com/2023/04/18/cffc-anything-large/

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Cruise ship outside of Venice
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David looking over Florence, Italy
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Part of the Colosseum in Rome
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Giraffe at the Toronto Zoo
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Cathedral in Tours, France
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Giant pumpkin
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A Drive By Birthday Party

….for five year old Winnie

I wanted to post this 10 days ago but with my father’s demise the day after these photos were taken I was ……well you can imagine how my blog was not my priority.

Now that things are settling down but nowhere near normal I’m trying to find joy again in the little things, like taking photographs of autumn leaves and flowers and taking walks with friends (with masks on). I’m on the phone a lot catching up with friends because COVID makes visiting in person difficult.

This year for my granddaughter’s fifth birthday we were suppose to get together for a birthday celebration in our backyard on Thanksgiving Monday but our daughter in Hamilton (Winnie’s Mom) received a COVID alert that she had been close to someone who has the virus. Out of caution they decided not to come to Toronto.

On Wednesday they decided that a drive by birthday for Winnie would be okay if we stayed apart and wore masks. Before they arrived I put out chairs on the front lawn and placed her birthday presents next to the chairs and her cake on the wall next to the driveway.

It was different. No hugs and kisses. We stayed on the porch while Winnie opened her gifts and then she dug into a piece of cake. She loved having cake at 10:00 in the morning. The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes. Then we blew her kisses through our masks and they were off to the Toronto Zoo.

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This last photo was sent to me by Winnie’s Mom. At the zoo they had these decorated hay bales and Winnie wanted to pose in front of every single one. This one was my favourite.

Lens Artists Challenge – #86 – Treasure Hunt

….thanks to Travels and Trifles  for this week’s theme

This week’s theme is very long and detailed so I’m cutting and pasting the instructions here:

This week we’re going on a Treasure Hunt! The challenge is to search for specific items – either from your archives or newly captured – from the list below. Extra credit items are a bit more challenging. Focus on quality over quantity and hit us with your best shot(s)!  

  • Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall
  • Extra Credit Items:  An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image. My opening image, for example, includes a sunrise, a seascape and birds in a single shot. See how easy it is?! 😀

My favourite portrait of my granddaughter.

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Sunset at the cottage
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Strange fish
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Rhino at the Toronto Zoo
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Street Performer in Hamilton
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Sunrise in the Neighbourhood
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Water fowl in the Park
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Two more recent sunsets in the park
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Fan of…#46….Palms

…thanks to Jez for hosting Fan of….

I haven’t been anywhere tropical in over 35 years so I wasn’t sure how many palm pictures I’d find in my archive of photos. Turns out that the zoo, botanical gardens and countries like England and Italy are all keepers of this wonderful tree.IMG-1133-2
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I particularly like what you find under the palms at the zoo.