And still he sat

The day was overcast. I took the dogs and the new camera for a walk along the seawall. As we neared a private wharf, I spotted a heron perched atop one of the posts. The high tide covered the slight berm that leads to the wharf, making it impossible to get very close, but I took a few shots anyway.

The dogs and I continued our journey along the seawall, they sniffing the occasional smell and me snapping the occasional gull.






As we reversed direction and headed back to the wharf, the sun tried to break through the cloud to cast its feeble afternoon rays upon the water.




And on the post, at the end of the wharf, the heron still sat.




The tide had turned during our walk, and the berm could now be walked, and so cautiously I made my way toward the heron, camera clicking away furiously in my hand and dogs by my side.

And still the heron sat.

The wharf is high above the berm, and reached by climbing on craggy rocks. Sadie managed it with ease, while I hoisted myself up without too much difficulty, camera at the ready and one eye on the heron.

And still he sat.



Then Charley missed her footing and tumbled down, front paws on the edge of the sloping wharf, back paws dangling above the rocks and water, toes tapping stone as she scrambled for a foothold. She yelped in dismay.


And still the heron sat.




I clambered down, lifted Charley up and checked she was okay, hoisted myself back up. And heard my camera automatically shut off as it switched to power saver mode.

I restarted the camera, moved cautiously along the wharf, dropped the dogs’ leashes and signaled to them to lie down. Miraculously, they did.

The sun once again broke through the clouds and shone directly on the heron, now just five feet or so away from me, brilliant blues and blacks and whites illuminated by golden rays.

I focused, steadied the camera on the edge of the railing, breathed in deeply and said thanks for this amazing opportunity to photograph this beautiful bird, so close up and in such perfect lighting. I depressed the shutter release, and....

A big red battery-shaped light appeared on the LCD accompanied by the warning:

BATTERY IS EXHAUSTED

And the camera shut down.

And the heron flew away.

The fully charged, eighty-nine dollar battery had taken less than 20 photos that day, albeit most with the zoom. My five dollar AA batteries in my old camera lasted for 150 photos before needing recharging.

That was the last straw. The camera is going back today.

For Sharon and Deb - DOGS

Okay, in the comments on the post below I was told to post more pics of the critters. So tonight I took 77 pics with the new camera (which is still on probation), of which I immediately sent about 60 to the trash because they were all fuzzy or too dark or terribly over- or under- exposed or weird colours. I'm still not happy with most of the rest - the colours of the dogs' coats, for example, are not half as shiny or sharp as in my old pictures. But, since Deb and Sharon want pics of the critters, here's some favourites from today:

Firstly, Oliver:






And one of Oliver in black and white:



(Oliver and I went on an adventure today, up to Qualicum Beach to wish his Mama Kelly a Merry Christmas, and so she could give him a nice grooming for Christmas. Bless you, Kelly - he looks lovely! Oliver also received a lovely big round dog bed from her, which (oops) Charley immediately tested out.)

I took a couple of dozen pics of Sadie and could NOT get one in focus, no matter the setting. This was the best I could do:



Despite the fact that Charley and Sadie look pretty similar and have much the same shape and fur texture, Charley photographed just fine:



One of my very favourite photographers in the whole world, who just happens to specialize in photographing dogs, is Erin Vey, who often photographs just one part of a dog (be sure to check out her awesome blog here). So, I had to copy her idea and include this photo of Charley's paws:




And then there is Princess Belle, always fun to photograph:





And lastly, one of Princess Belle and Sir Oliver:



Allie the cat declined to be photographed today.

Please Stand By.....

....while this technophobe tries to get the hang of using a new camera. Yes, that boink onto the pavement that my lens took at the Crofton Christmas Parade did irreversible damage. I tried to put off buying a new camera while I gathered advice, read reviews, researched features, and checked my bank account, but my resolve to become more camera-knowledgeable before buying went down the tubes on a trip to Saltspring Island to do a homevisit for a rescue and a bit of Christmas shopping.

Camera-less, Else and I drove onto the pier-type ferry dock a block from my home. It was a gorgeous morning - crisp, cold, with clear blue sky and rising golden sun. And as we sat in the car waiting for the ferry, a seagull became my downfall. He hopped onto the wooden rail just a couple of feet from my car window. And he MOCKED me. He MOCKED me. He bobbed and stretched and cocked his head; he posed on one foot then did deep knee bends to show me how exquisitely balanced he is. He turned slightly sideways so the rising sun could reflect perfectly off his snow white feathers while simultaneously reflecting the bright red dot on his beak. I rolled down the window and he continued to pose. A man walked by, between car and rail, and The Mocking Seagull still continued to pose. Nothing was going to deter him from his role as the Mocker Of Camera-less Women. I could have had The Best Shots Ever. I could have taken Award Winning Shots. I could have written The Perfect Blog. But I had no camera. Waaaaaaaaaah!

And so the next day found me at the London Drugs Camera Counter, driving a poor salesclerk crazy with my list of eight cameras I wanted to see, touch, play with, test, and ask endless questions about. I had my list of "must-have" features: a good optical zoom, a small shutter lag time (time between pressing the button and snapping the shot) and small cycle time (time between shots) for action pictures, lightweight, user-friendly, seperate viewfinder. Two and a half hours later, I walked out with a Nikon P90. I'm sure Rolf, the clerk, was glad to see me go.

And I'm sure he was not happy to see me walk back in the next day, asking to return it in favour of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3.

In the store, the Nikon felt like a great camera. It fit my hand well - nice shape and size for the "grip", lightweight, controls easily accessible. It has a viewfinder as well as the LCD display - a feature hard to find on new cameras but a distinct advantage in sunny weather. And the LCD display can be tipped in various directions to enable short sneaky photographers to photograph over barriers by holding the camera up high or down low, or to capture images surreptiously from the lap without camera-sensitive dogs being stopped dead in their tracks by the Box In Front of Mom's Face.

In practice, the Nikon P90 was a disappointment. The 24X Optical Zoom produced fuzzy images at anything over about 12X, and neither the print manual nor the LCD menu were user-friendly. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get sharp images, how to change the settings, how to use it more effectively. But the information either just wasn't there or wasn't accessible to a technophobic illiterate like me. Combined with the fact that this camera is NOT a pocket camera (the one strike against it when I bought it), it was a FAIL.

The Panasonic DMC ZS3 is pocket sized. It has a 12X optical zoom, a user-friendly LCD menu, a quick menu that allows you to access your favourite settings at the push of a button. But I'm not totally hooked on it - it does not have a seperate viewfinder, so I am waiting for a bright sunny day to see if the very clear, crisp images on the large LCD screen are still as clear and crisp. And, with use, I discovered two features that are very problematic: the position of the thingy you push to take a picture (senior's moment...what IS that thing called?), and the position of many of the other controls. The thingy you push to take a picture is the second button over on the top. My finger hardly stretches that far. A more natural position would be the first button, which is where a dial for changing programs is located. The second problematic feature is the placement of the buttons which flip you into movie mode and the buttons which control the menu. When held with one hand, which I am prone to do when leashes with dogs attached are in the other hand, the thumb rests on those buttons - and the slightest twitch activates them. I have countless movie shots that I thought were stills, and settings are continuously changed when I inadvertantly press the menu button.

The zoom on the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 is also disappointing - it doesn't seem to bring birds in any closer than my old 3x optical zoom did - perhaps because it has a much bigger wide angle ability. I don't know enough about that stuff to figure it out. I just figure 12X should be 4X better than 3X - and it's not.

I'm going to give it another few days (I have up to 14 days to return it) to see if these are insurrmountable problems or not. If not, poor Rolf at London Drugs may want to go into hiding.

Meanwhile, here's a few of my initial attempts.

First I walked around town, taking the dogs down to the seawalk:

Birds on a Roof

Busy Boat Scene

I wanted the zoom to bring this heron in closer - he wasn't that far out, but I still couldn't get a great shot:

Heron

On the other hand, I was happy with this close up picture of the winter cabbage in the planters near the ferry dock:

Winter Cabbage

I had to make a quick overnight trip to the mainland for a Family Christmas Dinner at my mom's seniors' facility. That gave me a chance to try out some indoor, large crowd pictures - with rather disappointing results. (That's my mom in the pink pants at Table 15).



And the return trip last night gave me a chance to try the "night scenery" setting:

Ferry lineup with - I think - Point Roberts in the background.

On the way home from Duke Point, I had to take a short detour through Ladysmith. This Christmas, Ladysmith should win the title of The Most Decorated Small Town in Canada. Ladysmith rises from the Trans Canada Highway like a miniature San Franscisco - hilly, hilly, hilly. When the main street (and much of the rest of the town) is decorated with more Christmas lights than I have ever seen in one place at one time, the effect is phenomenal. Take-your-breath-away phenomenal. The pictures don't do it justice.

And what's a blog entry on my life with the critters without a critter? This closeup of Oliver seems a bit fuzzy to me:



So....off to practice some more. And to write/revise some stories.....I've been invited to join a writers' group here, and my first meeting with the whole group is next week. What to share, what to share?

Edited to add: Hmmmmmm...seems to me the colour and sharpness of these photos definitely is not up to par once posted on the blog - the colours seem less brilliant than past photos taken with a less expensive, more basic camera. I would appreciate comments from readers - are you seeing what I'm seeing in these images? Recommendations for other cameras to consider gratefully accepted!

Happy Gotcha Day, Princess Belle

Wow - it is two years since Princess Belle came to live with me. In many ways, it seems like she has been here forever. And in other ways, it seems like only yesterday.

I remember oh so well the day I picked her up at Deb's place, where she was being fostered. I had attended a Christmas dinner at my mom's seniors' residence and the plan was to pick up Belle on the way home. Just as I arrived at mom's, I got a phone call from my vet to tell me Caleb's test results had come in - confirming cancer.

With heavy heart, I struggled through the dinner with family who love me but, I think, find my passion for dogs hard to comprehend. As soon as courtesy permitted, I said my goodbyes and in the privacy of my car, cried all the way to Deb's.

It is hard to be sad for long, or to let one's worries consume the mind, when faced with an impertinant, feisty, alligator-jawed Princess who doesn't just think but truly knows the world revolves around her.

The smallest dog in the house bossed my big beautiful "vicious" (haha) pitti cross around like Caleb was the most menial servant in the castle. And Charley and Sadie, Oliver and Allie, and most of all yours truly continue to be bossed around by the Tyrannical Princess.

I swear she becomes more and more of a dictator every day. Her latest trick is to wait until I disappear into the bathroom and then bark hysterically as if to alert me to some great calamity going on beyond the bathroom door. I dash out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and soaking wet from my shower, to find her sitting regally on one of the big dogs' cushions, pointy nose in the air, and looking for all the world like she had nothing to do with the commotion.

Happy Gotcha Day, Princess Belle. You are a regal old lady and your bark and snapping jaws don't scare me in the least!

Cisco

My dear friend, Ellen, lost her beloved Cisco today. He died in her arms, from the cancer that destroyed his body but not his soul. He was diagnosed but a few short weeks ago. Cisco was twelve, and was adopted by Ellen just over a year ago. His story can be found here and here.

Ellen, you gave him the best year of his life, a year he would not have had if it were not for you. My heart goes out to you. I cannot find the words to express my sorrow, and so I will just share this verse by Irving Townsend, in The Once Again Prince

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than
our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to
accept its awful gaps, we would still live no other way. We cherish
memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary
plan.

May your memories help sustain and comfort you while your heart begins to heal.

Deck the Halls with....

NAUGHTY KITTIES!!!


And just where is she?


On TOP of the front door!


Oops!

I was hanging the wreath on the front door and stepped back to have a look, when

S P R O I N G! From the floor to the top of the door in one mighty bound. From there, Allie batted around at the bow, reached down to swat the pinecones, and came perilously close to losing her balance several times as her motions caused the door to swing back and forth. By the time I grabbed my camera she had realized her predicament:

Holy cow, the ground is a loooong way down!

And for the next twenty minutes she howled and cried and meowed and fussed. I learned a long time ago that anything a cat can get UP to, it can also get DOWN from, so I wasn't about to help. Eventually she decided to take a modified leap down by landing on my antique secretary's desk behind the door. (There better not be kitty claw scratch marks on it, Allie, or Santa won't bring you any Temptations this year!)

In other news, the little village of Crofton had its Christmas parade tonight - right down our street. The fire and police and ambulance sirens heralded the start, and so Sadie, Oliver and Charley dressed up in their Christmas collars and flashing red bling (Belle says Princess don't do parades, that's for commoners), and along with our friend Else and her dog Tess the Pest, we stood in my driveway and watched the parade go past.

Mooned by a snowman!

It was cold and VERY windy, as Charley's ears attest:

Afterwards, Sadie, Tess, Else and I walked over to a nearby parking lot for a community carol singing session, complete with live band, hot chocolate, and lots of people and dogs. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that part of the evening because, while I was untangling THIS.....



.....Sadie accidently knocked the camera out of my hand onto the driveway, and dinged the lens so it no longer opened.

Once I got home I played around with it and got it working again. Aw shucks, there goes my excuse for buying myself a new camera...a step up to something a bit more advanced, more challenging. Hmmmm, Sadie, let's try that again....

The Morning Walk

I was waiting for the dogs to finish eating when I chanced to look out the living room windows.....and this is what I saw:



Sunrise waits for no-one, and I knew there was no chance of my getting four dogs to finish their chow and do their business, getting two little dogs back inside and two big dogs leashed up before the fire in the sky was but a memory. So as soon as they finished eating and I no longer had to stand guard to make sure piggy Ms. Sadie didn't steal Master Oliver's food, as she is prone to do, I dashed outside and captured this shot from the end of the driveway:



The air was crisp, the heavy frost looked like snow, the sky was beautiful....and so, though I knew the best of the sunrise would be gone, I pulled some sweats and a coat over my pjs and without finishing my morning coffee, headed for the beach with Sadie and Charley.

In the few minutes it took us to walk down there, perhaps a total of fifteen minutes since I snapped the first picture, the reds had been diluted to pinks, and the bay was awash in myriad of water-colour hues:







The walkway was slippery with the heavy frost on wood, and no footprints appeared in the frost to show others had walked here before us. Despite the morning chill, we took our time and paused often to reflect on the beauty of the bay. One does not rush in nature's cathedrals.



From the marina we could hear a man whistling as he prepared his boat for the day, loading the traps for the crabs he would catch. Another boat at the next dock coaxed villagers to come buy his tuna.



As we walked, the turning tide left black sand where white frost had been before.


The bay was alive with birds of all kinds - herons and gulls, ducks and oystercatchers, geese and crows and sandpipers.



Most were too far away or in too much darkness to photograph, but their little bird feet left wonderful designs in the frosty sand:





All too soon, the dogs and I had to head home as I had an early appointment in town. And so, with regret, we headed up the stairs that provide a shortcut back to the house.



A beautiful morning walk. Worth the cold coffee. Worth the rushed preparations for the day. Worth the frozen fingers and toes. And, I trust, worth the sharing.

Endless sunshine

It’s sunny out again. And chilly. The grass in the morning has the crispness of over-gelled spiked hair on a young boy's head. I’m not complaining – I love cold frosty mornings. I especially love the morning light, which I was too busy to capture on film today – the muted blues and pinks of water and sky and mountain as the sun begins to rise. Beautiful.

No doubt the rain will return shortly, but the last few days have been a much-needed respite.

Best of all, I have found a way to guarantee sunshine all winter long.

My living room, dining room and hallways have been painted with sunshine. At last, after a series of tradespeople dissappointments - from car repair ripoffs to deck disasters - I have found an honest and skilled worker. His name is Randy, and he owns Great Dane Painting right here in Crofton. (How could I NOT hire a man who names his company after his dog? Well, that and his Danish heritage. But mostly his dog, Sapphire, a two year old great dane).

Randy’s a young guy with a young family and an excellent work ethic. Randy is professional, punctual, reliable, thorough, cheerful, tidy, and if anyone in my neck of the woods needs a painter, I highly recommend him.

So how did he paint with sunshine? I told him I wanted the room to feel like it was bathed in sunlight. Two walls are coated with textured Flexrock paint in “honey almond”, which is a lovely deep straw colour with a rough stone-like finish, and all the other walls are “filtered sunlight” – a colour which is exactly as named. I feel like I am back in the pasture on the farm on a warm sunny day.

Ahhhhhhh.........

Barges and other sunny day scenes

Barges and birds in Osborne Bay



Out of my window looking in the night
I can see the barges flickering light.
Silently flows the river to the sea
And the barges too go silently.

Barges, I would like to go with you,
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, are their treasures in your hold?
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

Each time I see the barges in the bay, this beautiful song from my Girl Guide days pops into my head and stays there for hours. The song, I was taught, was written by a young girl dying of cancer and confined to a bed which overlooked the river. Whether that is an urban legend or fact, I don't know. An internet search failed to reveal the author, though I did find many versions of its several verses, and most provided a similar history. The song was always one of my favourites. You can hear a beautiful rendition of it on Youtube by clicking here.

After days of rain, the amazing sunshine of Thursday and Friday, and the efforts of the sun to shine through clouds again today, is uplifting. Everything seems even more beautiful - the marina, the bay, the dogs in sunlight.

Reflections of a marina

Ducks near a dock

Dogs on a wharf

The dogs and I have been for many short walks around town and along the seawall the past few days - sometimes rushing out between showers, sometimes in brilliant sunshine. It is hard to believe that in less than a month it will be winter solstice and the daylight hours will once again begin to lengthen!

Sunshine after rain

Mist, sun, and cloud

Christmas decorations are going up everywhere and the local paper is full of announcements of Christmas shows and concerts and carol boat rides and craft fairs and light tours. The people in the house 'round the corner have put up their tree already, wreaths are appearing on doors in the neighbourhood, and strings of lights are slowly showing up on outdoor trees and along the rooflines of houses. There is always something magical about the lights and music and joy of Christmas, and I look forward to watching the Christmas season come alive in this community I now call home.

Life is good.