…thanks to Wits End for hosting Inspirations for December
With a few exceptions most deciduous trees are naked or bare bones this time of year. Here are a several examples:
Inspirations for December – Naked Trees
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Tag Archives: photography
Happy Birthday Frances
….December 13, 2018
I can’t believe that our dog, Frances is already 12 years old. We got her as a puppy from our daughter when she got a new job that made it impossible for her to properly train a new puppy. Frances immediately became my husband’s dog. It was love at first sight.
Over the years Frances has brought us a lot of joy. She’s a strange mix and whenever people ask about her breed they’re surprised by the answer. To the best of our knowledge she’s a cross between an Australian Sheppard and a Dachshund.
Here are a few photos of her over the last 12 years.
Bringing Home the Tree
…..a tradition that happens sporadically
Is it a tradition if you don’t do it every year?
This year we decided as a family to cut down our Christmas trees. We’ve done it in the past and always get a lot of joy out of it. Two years ago there was a ton of snow on the ground and this year there was next to nothing. Nonetheless we had a lot of fun and I discovered a new landmark that I didn’t know existed.
The tree farm we used this year was a smaller place, owned by an older couple. There were no sleigh rides or wagons, hot cocoa or tree balers. It didn’t matter though because we were able to walk through the grounds at our own pace and not worry about hoards of people all eyeing the same tree. The dogs were also allowed to run freely. We just had to make sure that they didn’t wander off because there are coyotes in the area.
I don’t think the place even had a name. We just looked for the signs directing us to ‘Cut Your Own Christmas Tree’. From Toronto we drove westbound along the QEW and Hyw. 403 until we reached Hwy. 6 going north. From there we drove till we hit concession road #6 and went east. Luckily we had our daughter, Gaelan on the phone and she directed us onto the property.
In the next post I’ll describe the surprising landmark that we discovered while out ‘hunting’ for the perfect Christmas tree.
New Flower (December 9, 2018) – Pink Cyclamen
….such a beauty a Christmas time
Sunday Trees – 369
Silent Sunday – December 9, 2018
Image
New Flower (December 8, 2018) – Red Amaryllis
Fandango’s One Word Challenge – Pencil
…..thanks to Fandango for the One Word Challenge
The lowly pencil is often overlooked as a writing and/or art tool. On my recent trip to London I noticed numerous artists sketching the marble statues in the V&A gallery so I decided to try my hand at it. I frequently sketch directly with ink, pen or marker but I decided to use pencil instead.
When I first posted my sketch on the family What’s App page my son who is a curator at the museum immediately told me that I had the statue’s foot pointing in the wrong direction. I’m glad that I took a photo of the actual statue because when I went back to check, sure enough I had drawn the foot facing inward instead of outward. Not sure if it was the angle at which I was sitting but I was grateful that I used pencil. Out came the eraser and I fixed it as best I could.
Christmas at the Inn
….popcorn chains, Scrooge, Christmas cake and the Winter Witch
When the staff at Montgomery’s Inn put on a Christmas market they go all out. Weeks in advance the volunteers have been making Christmas cakes and gingerbread cookies. The walls were adorned with original paintings of Christmas Past, Present and Future and strings of popcorn and evergreen boughs were lovingly placed in the window wells and over the hearth of the fireplace.
On the day of the market the vendors set up their tables with more Christmas decorations and the Inn’s Winter Witch handed out cookies to the children. It’s a wonderful market and the community came out by the hundreds to support their local heritage museum.
Baking Bread Outside in the Winter
….actually all year round
The biggest difference between baking bread now and in the summer is the weather. In the summer we can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine while the bread bakes in the outdoor wood fired oven but in the winter the sun may shine but the wind and the cold drive us indoors to wait out the baking time.
Today it was a beautiful sunny day but when the wind picks up and we can’t all stand in front of the oven door to keep warm we headed inside. It was a busy market day because it was also the Christmas market. We had to work quickly so that the vendors could set up but we also made more product because we knew that there would be twice as many people coming today. We experimented with a new recipe and made some mini panettone. The first five loaves sold in a matter of minutes and I’m sure that the remaining three didn’t hang around for long.
Mama Cormier 