Pansy!

I never really paid attention to pansies before I figured out my macro setting. Now I see them all over the place. They are really cute.


These next two make me think of cats with whiskers. I should just add in some eyes. hahaha



Actually, they look like ASIAN cats. :D

Not sure what this next little flower was, and I'm not really a fan of orange in anything BUT an orange, but .... it's cute. :D

Just some shots from this morning. Still loving the macro. Still need a tripod. zzzzzzzzz

Remember - these pansies are perhaps 3 or 4" across. :)

Eagles....

Two new additions in front of the Easter Seal House on Oak Street. Love them!
They are pretty huge photos when you click on them so give them a few seconds to load.

A little blue flower that was pretty. It was very tiny - this is with the macro. A bit fuzzy. Need that tripod. :D

Learning how to use my digital camera....

FINALLY! I figured out how to use the Digital Macro setting! I WONDERED why the pictures were blurry - you need to get up CLOSE to use it.  DUH! I thought it zoomed in or something. Now I am having so much FUN with it!

A not too bad Rhododendron. Unfortunately, it was about 7:30 p.m. when I figured this all out so it was a bit dark for close-ups. 

A nice geranium. A bit blurry - I need to get a fricken tripod!

But I LOVE this Pansy. The colours are awesome. I love this digital macro setting! I'm going to try and regularly learn a new setting with my camera. Just a Canon SD1000. But it's great!

Not much new this week....

Some nice red rhododendrons along Oak Street. Love the colour.

The trees outside the office. I want to compare them in a few weeks when they have leaves.

Otherwise, not much new. I think I'll start parking further away from work so I get hopefully close to 30 minutes of walking time in the morning. If I'm really energetic then I'll walk back after work, but I really hate the incline. It just makes it annoying. zzzzzzzzzz From about 16th to King Ed. We'll see. I can always hop the bus. :D

Cherry blossoms on 16th Avenue...

They are past their glory, but still nice to look at.

This next one is from in front of our complex - really nice....

I've always liked these bushes....

I'm not sure what the heck they are, but I love how the new leaves are red then later turn green. Anyone know the name?

Spring is sprung....

This one's for you, Des....

That train trestle swing bridge again....

I am fascinated by this swing bridge. We saw the train again from Wal-Mart today, but I wanted a medium Double-Double and RR wanted an Uncle Burger from A&W, so we had to get our priorities straight, eh? So... by the time we got to the swing bridge the train had just gone over and it was starting to open. I had to stop quickly, but as you can see I'm still quite a ways away. Oh well, at least it's not out of focus and right in your face like last time! The BEST thing, though, is the train whistle. For the better part of 30+ seconds he just keeps blowing the whistle - it was amazing. I thought it would never end. The train is long gone, but you can still hear it! The whistle of the train is amazing.

This is for the birds......

So, we're driving down Westminster Highway today and all of a sudden this GIANT flock of ducks came in from the left right over the car!!!! I was driving so couldn't get the camera out in time to capture how neat it was. But as we were stopped at the light I managed to get this shot of them. They're a bit far away but look how many you can see even at this point. And all the honking when they flew over - quite marvellous! The one that got away......... :D

Click on the photo - you can see them better.

One week to go....

This is Dr. Ernest J. Schmidt, my dentist! Pacific Spirit Dental Clinic. He rocks! He has restored 3 of my teeth with ceramic onlays now and they look fabulous! Even if they ARE at the back and you can't see them - ROFL! But at least when I open my mouth you don't see all these FILLINGS - it's all just nice and white. I have a couple more to go on the lower jaw then they'll really look great! So - if you live in Vancouver and you LOVE your teeth, you really should go and check him out! (Especially if you were a child of the 60s, before anyone ever heard of flossing! Man, we ate candy and were SO bad. *G* Now I'm paying the price, but at least I still HAVE my teeth. Not like in my parents era when they just pulled them all and you had false teeth. Yikes!) He takes out all the old fillings and uses a computer to build the missing part of the tooth and then bonds it to your own tooth. They are great! Here is a link to what I'm talking about:

http://www.pacificspiritdental.ca/Content/resource_centre/cadcam.htm

One more week to go on vacation. Loving hanging out. I NEED to get the damn taxes done!

My Wonderful Vacation!

On my time off I am having a vacation at home. Just hanging out, taking the car in for servicing, visiting relatives, going to the dentist and other appointments at my leisure, staying up till 4 a.m. when I want, working on Grandma's cookbook and so on. I am having a blast! Now, if only I win the lottery, I'll be set - ROFL!

Then there's the little matter of THIS:

That would be my self-employed income in the proverbial shoebox, only I throw everything in a drawer. I plan on getting my taxes done on my time off. I'm going to NEED it!  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. So - I'm still here, just somewhat occupied with all these fun things. :D

Trip to a foreign country on Wednesday afternoon..... :D

Just doing a little shopping in the community .... the Bellingham community, that is. :D Look at the clouds up there! I didn't even notice them at the time. Wicked. The wind was freezing but I had to take my coat off in the car because it was like a sauna! Good times.......



This guy's name is Archie. At least he had something to offer with his gig. Give the guy props!



And, of course, Trader Joe's. They have THE BEST frozen Naan bread. I am in love!!!!!!!

Ray and Barb's...

Rick checking out Ray's new car! It's kind of a grey-green PT Cruiser,
metallic finish. High seats so you get a great view of things.
Lots of room inside even though it's fairly compact. Really nice!

A pair of "wild and crazy" swingers!

Barb's car. Love the red. Peppy and smooth. Both cars are great!!!!

We had a delicious dinner. Salad with that wonderful peanut salad dressing Barb makes, cannelloni, parsnips, asperagus cooked in garlic (yum), Merlot for those who indulge, and then some tuxedo cake and a pastry from Cob's bakery. I forget its name. At least I didn't pig out! :D

Change of Name

I have always wanted a title with "blog" in it and tried and tried ... I've done a search on Google and no one else seems to have this one (all others I'd thought of were already taken and I didn't want to copy anyone), so hopefully I'm not "stepping on anyone's toes"  - hahahahahah.

Yeah, it's sad when YOU think you're funny....

Is it just me?

Has EVERYONE else in the world already seen tulips with these fuzzy/jagged edges? I've never seen them before in my LIFE until yesterday. I really need to get out more, I guess. Very pretty!

Just what we fricken need!

Click here:

There goes the cost of living!

(Sorry, I guess I didn't make that clear. :D )

Basically, my point was - now we're a supermodel city and everyone and their little dog is going to move to Vancouver and .... if we think it's expensive to live here NOW ......

It was a great day!

On River Road on the way to Wal-Mart, so many times I have wanted to catch the train trestle closing and then the train going across and then it opening again. No luck. Then today we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot after shopping and I was talking to my bro on the phone (about 5:26 p.m.) and we were chatting away when Rick pointed to this train across the water. I wasn't thinking anything except, yep, there's a train. Then after I got off the phone he mentioned that it's PROBABLY the train that goes over the trestle!!!!! HELLO, IN THERE, JUDELF!

So, I beat a hasty retreat over to Tim Horton's to grab a coffee, cause the train seemed to be going fairly slowly. I was hoping I wouldn't miss it - but, COME ON, I needed a Double-Double, eh?

Anyway, then I raced to the train trestle and .... I could see that it was closed! ARGH! Did we miss it?! But as we got closer, I could see the train sitting there on the other side - YAY!

Hey, look at the MAN on the train! Woo hoo!

By this time it's about 5:40 or so and nothing is happening. Rick is getting antsy and wants to go, I'm going "No way, hose, eh?" I think this guy is probably on a schedule and is waiting to go - like at the bus layover stops. Rick doesn't think they have a schedule, but I said we'll wait until 6:00 and if it doesn't go we'll just leave. :(

Sure enough, 6:00 rolls around and there's some action!!!!!!!

Sorry for the wobbliness of the video - I really need a tripod! Hope no one has vertigo - hahaha.

I decided to leave it with all the sounds intact - hopefully you can hear the train creaking along the tracks as it goes by.

Love the trains. You don't get to see many of them these days.

And then there's the trestle opening again. I seemed to have the zoom stuck and couldn't zoom out but had to leave it or I would have missed everything. Well, perhaps that would have been better - hahahahahaha. Oh well. Warning - could be very boring...... :D

Hopefully, it's tiny enough that it's not as blurry. I intend to catch it again one day and this time I'll set the darn camera properly! And that's RR saying 'There's somebody up in the booth!!!!!' (I can't take him anywhere! *G*)

Prime Richmond Real Estate .....

Neat Bachelor Pad - hahahahahaha. Penthouse with excellent view. :D

By the way, that's the same nest from a few weeks ago - he's just moving in I guess. :D

Jaime and George!

My niece Jaime - and her husband George!  You two are gorgeous!  :D

Their wedding was last year.

Love, AJ

Fruit

I think this is lovely! :D

Saw it at Sawasdee in October 2007.

Desi

1974 - 1999

Not much going on out there tonight....

God Bless The Freaks - hahahaha.