Leading Lines Winding Road.

I took this picture last evening and processed as a 3 exposure HDR.
The sky was quite dramatic as it was late evening but as a consequence the dark bush area was severely underexposed.
Tripod in hand I took 3 and hopefully came out with an HDR picture more dramatic than the 3 individually.
My first posted HDR I was inspired by Ron's HDR pictures at http://danudin2011.wordpress.com/

Animal.....and a big one too!

I'm not very knowledgeable about horses but this one belongs to the brother of my next door neighbour.
He uses him to pull a sleigh for firewood in the wintertime often...I'll see if i can get a nice picture of him this winter.
As I said, I don't know much about horses but I believe he's a Percheron.
In any case he's BIG !
Caught him posing in the late evening sun this evening as I was on my way for a sunset shot....never did make it....but I rather like the look of him and he sure suits the theme.

COOL AND FROSTED!

Today's theme is frosted so i thought what better representation of frosted than a cool one?
We had a nice hot day today...about 80 f and even though I took this picture a few days ago I had a fresh one today and it tasted just as good as this one did.
In the glass was not what the glass indicated but a Canadian favorite....James Ready 5.5 a 'buck' beer made by the Moosehead brewing company.
They did a FINE job but I wasn't sure if the quality was up to snuff so I 'tested' another...just to make sure.
IT PASSED.

Tractors....just some of them.

This is my friend and neighbour Marc's farm from his front field.
He has a fair amount of tractors....more than the # of kids he has to drive them anyway.
He has another large one somewhere off the picture as well as an antique one for show.
He had this many lined up today so it'll do.
I only have about 80 acres, mostly trees and water while he has 10 times as much which is nearly ALL under cultivation.
One of these days I'll go visit and get some REAL farm pictures from his large and prosperous dairy operation.

Every day sight......like sunrise.

No matter what the weather has been this summer one bird is ALWAYS around......the doves.
We have about 3 regular pairs.
Other birds come and go...or prefer certain feeders or certain seeds or certain times of day .
Some won't feed from the spilled seeds on the ground or are so skittish it must be agony for them but the doves are always there....seeming to prefer to feed from the spilled seeds and only perching to rest....tired from eating one presumes.
Not much scares them and when the other birds are frightened away or finished for the day I can count on the doves to STILL be there....munching away.
First ones in and last ones out.
Ya gotta love them!
This one is perched on the handle of my lawn mower after a rain the other day.

Seven.....and counting.

This picture was taken almost by accident this afternoon while trying to get a nicely posed picture of my dog Jack.
When I went to edit the picture later I realized there were a LOT of fuel containers in the picture...perhaps more than the 'normal' person.
Having said that I feel in order NOT to give the impression I am quickly losing brain cells or am so forgetful that I buy another, not remembering I already have 1 I will explain them.....somewhat.
The 2 larger ones...5 gallons...are for diesel. I am not a farmer and don't have fuel delivered to a tank on the property, I need to buy it 10 gal at a go.
The next 2 large ones...a 5 gal and a 3 gal are for my vehicles...a truck and a Toyota....for emergencies only.
Next is a 2 gallon one for high test gas for my quad and my Honda lawn mower...they BOTH perform better with top quality gas.
Next is a 1 gallon with regular gas/oil mix for my old Lawnboy 2 stroke mower and backup for any mix oil shortages and lastly is a 1 gallon for my hightest gas and oil mix for my Husqvarna chain saw and my Stihl trimmer.....again BOTH work better with high test gas.
I realize even with an explanation it might sound a bit overkill but it works for me.

Flight....The Canada style.

I saw these 4 lonely Canada geese overhead the other day and grabbed a quick shot.
It couldn't help but remind me that fall will soon be here and after that....well....that 'cooler' time of year.
Pretty soon we will see HUGE flocks of these and I'll try and remember to get a shot as they go overhead.
The sound of their calls and the sheer numbers of them is astounding and definitely worth another picture.

Eight is enough!!

I took this picture somewhere in the bush a few days ago and as today it rained EVERY SINGLE MINUTE I needed a photo to post and remembered I had edited this one.
I think it fits the theme fairly well.
The tree is a Poplar and was about 10 inched diameter so that's the size of this 'spider'.
There must be millions of these out in the bush but for the life of me I can't remember seeing one this interesting.
I hope you like it.

Black as the night......but scarier!

Let me start by apologizing for making a 'meal' out of what might really be a snack but the enjoyment is often in the telling.
2 days ago I was out walking on the road I live on.....not much traffic or population except the odd tourist on their way fishing when I saw something crossing the road about 2 or 3oo yards ahead of me.
Camera ready as always by the time I had realized it was a LITTLE too big for anything domestic it had 3/4 crossed the road and I zoomed hoping the animal would stay long enough.
Unfortunately my smaller Canon is not a very fast focus and by the time it focused the animal was gone...shoot anyway but DAMM!!!
That evening when my wife came home from work I told her the story and she asked me WHY I hadn't just taken a normal shot FIRST....then tried a zoom.....right!...no answer.
Last night I decided to review the pictures from the previous 2 days on that card and lo and behold....I HAD captured him!
He's not a fully grown adult but I he's too big for this year so maybe 1 or 2 years old...only about 200 lbs ( they can get up to 400 or so )but big enough to hurt you anyway!
Included is a picture I took almost exactly 3 years ago according the the embedded info at our dump...from the safety of my pickup....no zoom needed there!
I have seen in the past as many as 7 in the dump but now our dump burns everything and we no longer see many bears....too bad.

The theme is vivid and I believe this qualifies.

These are called Devil's paintbrush although I'm not sure what the correct name is.
Around here, despite their lovely look they are considered a pest weed.
They grow everywhere and although they are easy to cut back they reproduce at a regular rate.
No matter....I LIKE them and their bright vivid colour is easy to spot miles away.
I don't often see bees around them so perhaps they don't supply a high quality or volume of nectar or perhaps they do the job later in the year when THEY seem to be the only flowers still blooming.

Faceless

I took a small trip by quad the other day to a small, hard-to-get-to lake with no name which I named after my son.....who can argue with me?
There are some gigantic Pike in here although in the last few years they have been replaced by some pretty nice Largemouth Bass.
I prefer the Pike because it tastes better although it's a little more finicky to fillet on account of the 'Y' bones.
Bass give you a better fight and like to jump so I toss them back and catch them another day.
There are only a few hardy locals that know about the lake and can get to it so it's pretty well stocked.
If I catch anything worth showing I'll post it here but don't hold your breath...I'm not the world's best fisherman.
This is one end of the lake which is about 2 k long.
Cropped and a little Photoshopping to fill the helmet face.

Sky-High Highrise....country style!

I took this yesterday out walking on an abandoned logging road with my wife.
We took lots of pictures and generally enjoyed some of the maybe, last really hot days of summer.
The end of August up here means the geese will fly in a few weeks...maybe sooner and any day the pool will need to be winterized.
Tractor equipped with the snowblower and wood covered and primed for use.
I enjoy the winter but I still enjoy the lazy last days of the hot summers as well and seeing them go makes it seem all the more fleeting.
Luckily Fall is my FAVORITE season so I still have that to look forward to.
This tree had a large number of holes...woodpeckers or others and reminded me of city days gone by with their high rise buildings.
This is OUR version of a high rise.

On a farm.....well .... a tiny one.

This farm is about 3 km down the road from me where they breed miniature horses.
I don't know what they would be good for but I suppose they're cute.
Smaller than a pony they are proportioned differently as well having very short legs compared to the rest of the body.
They have quite a few of them...the bottom picture shows part of the 'herd' and I managed to persuade one to come close enough to take a decent picture.
Had I looked closer I might have waited a bit but as it was.....well........boys will be boys I guess.

Critter...sort of.

This little girl was hiding under one of my boats....came out to say hello and permit a photo-op.
Usually only see these down by swamp.....more correctly today called..."WETLANDS'...whatever. As Juliet said "What's in a name. That which we call a swamp by any other name would smell as sweet."
I think she fancied me...can you see the twinkle in her eye...a bit of a come hither look methinks but I could be wrong.

Lily Pads....LOTS AND LOTS of them.

I saw these lily pads on the edge of a small creek across the road from me and they looked so much like little jewels I thought it was worth a picture.
Sharpened and cropped the water drops on them sadly don't show up as dramatic as they were against the afternoon sun but still I think it looks peaceful.

Domestic(ated)

Let's get things straight......Cats LIKE me......don't know why...I'm mildly allergic to them and I find that as dogs....they fail miserably, but there you go.....I can deal with it.
This one is a VERY domesticated female called Matilda....de-clawed and disinterested in most things human....except me.
She is, however, a lovely looking cat.....soaking wet probably weighing in at less than a good sized mouse and she apparently eats like a starving wolf.
Taken the other day at my son and his new wife's new house celebrating her birthday I couldn't resist a picture...she actually POSED for me!

The GREEN was as high as a Moose's eye.

This was taken the other day heading out to survey my bush road condition.
I haven't used it since the spring when I did my wood so it has overgrown a tiny bit!
It's definitely fun to blast along the road as I know it so well there's not much risk ....BUT..the occasional fallen tree over the trail is GOING to be there...it's just a question of where...and how well I happen to be hanging on at the time.
This time there were three in the first 1/2 mile but they were all laying on the ground...nice and flat....so no drama.
Anyone wanting to accompany me back is more than welcome...it'll help flatten down the trail so in winter the snowshoeing will be more enjoyable.
I can hardly wait!!!

Airborne something....maybe an Eagle.

I was on my way to the dump 2 days ago when I spotted this fellow WAY up in the sky.
For those aviary enthusiasts out there please tell me what this is.
We do have Eagles around here but they're usually over lakes. We also have large Turkey Vultures but the are coloured differently I believe.
In any case he was WAY up....at the end of my 200 mm and then cropped severely so the picture would look correctly proportioned.
Aside from that no colour correction or anything else done.

In HER house

The theme is in YOUR house but when I let Jack in APPARENTLY it was then my wife's house....so be warned....theme police might be on the way.
He had just been out for a walk with me and it was a hot day in the woods and wouldn't you know it....THERE...right on the side of the swamp was THE PERFECT cooling off spot.
Well...dogs will be dogs and I guess I must be blind ( according to my wife...again! ) because I apparently didn't see what he looked like when I let him in HER house.
I got the camera first....what photographer wouldn't have?....and the rest is photographic history.
The clinic says that most of the bruises are temporary and the blow to the head will not likely have any lasting effects....lasting effects....lasting effects...last.....

HOPE......and LOTS of hard work!

Enough already with the critters!!!
HOPE is my theme for today.
It's raining out pretty hard so I thought I'd do a little work on my 'project' bike.
It's a Honda 450 K3
The year is 1972 although I have 2 others as 'spares'-maybe-gonna-finish-one-day ones as well.
A K4 and a K5.
These were the BEST that Honda had ever done in those years and many feel they never did anything better or more pure.
The K0...or more well known as the Black Bomber is almost impossible to find these days....as are good ones of these.
I hope to have it completed ( if it is possible at all ) by the end of next winter and have purchased a propane heater to help me heat my freezing barn over winter.
The blue you see are tarps I installed to section off an area to heat this winter as I won't be able to devote much time towards it until then....when cooking will stop.
HOPE......it's all I have right now!! LOL

You'd never guess they were wild.

This year, as almost every year since we moved here 25 years ago we had a large crop of lawnbunnies .
They treat our front lawn as if it's their personal playground and surprisingly over the years none of our dogs bothered with them.
They are getting bigger these days but when they were tiny they were DEVASTATINGLY cute....should have gotten some pictures then I guess but there's always next year.
This one, unlike most of the others, came over to the feeder and checked out the seeds that had fallen.
Usually they just munch contentedly on the grass ( it's my excuse for not mowing as often as I should ) and just hang around, although you might think he's either pretty big or my grass is REALLY long in this picture. It IS a little long but he IS pretty small as well.
This might balance the unpleasant set of pictures a few days ago....I hope.
We have critters a'pleanty so I'm sure I'll manage to include, before the year is out, some of the wild stuff in the area.

Busy as a beaver....not just an idle expression.

On one corner of my property I have a section that is part of a massive stream/swamp area and it provides me with much aquatic and aviary enjoyments.
The biggest problem however is one of Canada's symbols...besides the Maple Leaf....the long-suffering beaver.
They cut down an IMPRESSIVE number of trees each day mainly for eating and for building lodges...where they will over-winter.
The Beaver is the largest rodent in North America and I believe the second or third largest in the world.
I can't swear it's true but evidence suggests and my experience says that poplar is their favorite food and building material.
This picture depicts 2 smaller trees ( already removed by the beaver(s) ) about 4 and 6 inches respectively but I have seen MUCH larger trees taken down by them.
The size of the chips will show you just how much they remove at one chomp.

The theme is re-creation....you'll understand why.

I was hiking through my bush last week and saw this...or should I say I SMELLED this.
The pictures are in a sequence but it hardly matters.
I hesitated to post it as some people might not be accustomed to the raw side of nature.
The total length of the bones in picture # 1 is about 4 feet...hoof to hip so I would guess this was not a fully mature moose.
My 'recreation' of events is that at some time she got a piece of rope snagged around her leg/hoof and couldn't get it off.
Like most animals she would have panicked and tried to run away and most likely at some point got it further snagged in something...tree,branch...etc making things worse.
If that was what caused her demise it was is a question we'll never know but I have little doubt it 'contributed'.
I have provided a closeup shot I took of the rope and it seems obvious that it is NOT tied around her leg in any way so she wasn't a 'captive', just the bad luck to encounter a VERY stout piece of nylon climbing-type rope.
I say 'she' because I found most of the bones save any antlers and therefore concluded it was not a male.
The females do not grow antlers except I believe in the reindeer and elk group.

Macro-hopper.

Caught this guy on the deck the other day just relaxing and getting some sun.
I took it in macro mode and no matter how close I got he never moved.
Dead or asleep...I don't know but I was within an inch or so when I took this one.
I love his shiny green coat.

My willow finally gets the point.

I was on my way out for a quad ride in the bush and I heard this guy tapping away on my willow.
I have a decidedly love/hate relationship with that darn willow so I was hoping maybe he's eat it up.
Willows provide great shade and this one is close to the front door so I love it for that but it sheds thousands of tiny leaves in the fall and they cover everything.
This is a Downy woodpecker I believe, not more than about 6-8 inches tall.
There is also a pileated one, somewhat larger who used to enjoy tapping on our metal TV antenna first thing every morning.
Thankfully he moved.

Homemade/Handmade

I carved these loons....mother and chick about 15 years ago so maybe that's stretching the homemade theme a bit. :-)
Made from a 3 year old piece of my barn loft dried Basswood..a soft no-grain light coloured wood indigenous to this area...much like sugar pine.
Painted by me with a LOT of help from one of my best buddies...a painter and with German glass eyes.
I ran a small in-house carving shop for a while but abandoned it for a job that paid.
It's taken a few blows and nicks over the years but I REALLY love Loons and will try and get a picture of a real one in the fall...when they will be on most of the lakes around here.
Just a quick fact about Loons is that despite the fact they live on the water and are about the same size as a duck they are in fact birds...NOT ducks.
Their call is so lonely and plaintive it could almost make you cry.
Not much altered in this pic except cropping.

Buzy Bee

I took this yesterday when the weather was nicer than today.
We're getting at least 'close' to the end of the hot summer and the bees are gathering all the nectar they can in preparation for a long winter.
I saw these and HUNDREDS more attacking these plants.
I'm not absolutely certain but I think they are milk weed plants and I gather that either all the choice nectar is already gone, taken or dried up OR this stuff REALLY is good.
If you look closely you'll see 5 bees in the picture.....AND a 'special' guest......looks like maybe some kind of 'referee'.
The theme is insects.

Home.....to something.

I'm not sure who inhabits this 'home'.
I pass it every day but it's a little too far across the swamp to see well.
Yesterday I ventured closer...as close as I could, and discovered the hole.
It certainly might be a woodpecker but many of these are abandoned by their creator and later occupied by other species.
I've seen nobody in it this year but maybe It's just been the wrong time.
It was VERY shadowed by something so I had to lighten and crop a lot.
Still and all it turned out alright I think.
The tree is a standing dead Poplar looking like the top piece has broken off some time ago.
Hopefully I'll find it's tenant home one of these days.

R.R. # 2

This is a typical rural road up here....this or dirt.
Hard surface....liquid tar poured over fresh gravel just this year and it won't last 4 years....but what the heck.....it keeps people from visiting...'casually'.
If I had pointed the camera in the other direction it would have been more of the same.
My nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away and the next is another.
I can neither see my neighbor nor the road from my house and I have to say I do prefer it that way.
I've done my time in cities and I love it here....it's where I belong.
It'll be awkward finding 'subjects' for some of the photo themes....but...unless there's a 'highrise' one....I'll muddle through.
80 degrees and humid today....hence the mist in the distance.

It's ALL in the details....and there are LOTS!!

I took this photo this afternoon while out tramping in the bush.
I really have no idea at all what kind of plant/weed it is but the amount of detail in the centre of it is absolutely AMAZING!!
From the spun web-like material around it to the octapus tentacles reaching out and the multi-branched arms with magical dried blossoms.
I hope you find it as interesting as I do...it's worth looking at the full sized image I believe.

One of my more useful body parts.

I took this yesterday afternoon.
Had a chance while going down my driveway to gather a few of the late-season raspberries.
Every day we have had a pretty good harvest and it seems with wild raspberries that the more you pick them, the more the regenerate.
These are pretty small as the season is almost done for this summer but they're still RED and delicious.
We did quite well for blueberries this year as well as the early rain and HOT temperatures was what the needed.
I forgot to get some pictures and they're done now so it'll have to wait 'till another year.
In the background is a barn, snowblower and my Deutz tractor.

AMAZING Jackpine story.

This is a picture of a Jackpine....a pretty 'scrubby' tree of the evergreen family.
The cones are green when they are young and dry so compact and hard that they can't be broken with the blow of a hammer....( the gray ones in the background).
But mother nature is no fool.....what she has done is provided the Jackpine with a disaster-proof system of regeneration.
The only 'event' that will crack open a Jackpine cone and start it germinating .....is a forest fire!!
Thus it is one of the earliest trees to recover after a fire....up here anyway.
That's your 'info-photo' for today. LOL

My 'Baby' and new wife.

This will be a 'portrait' theme and even though I took it nearly 2 months ago I FINALLY edited it the way I'm happy with....not professional but quite nice.
My son Geordie and his new bride Michelle were married in...where else...Niagara Falls so we got LOTS of pics.
This one was fairly severely cropped andenhanced with Panos reflections but I LIKE IT!
Let me know what you think of...good or bad.....it's ALL good ...for the photographer.
Best day I've experienced in a LONG time.
SIGH......last one out of the 'nest'.

Texture to warm your heart......and skin your knee!

I went out late this afternoon with my usual walking buddy....Jack.
Shot into the late sun this road gravel covered with liquid tar shines and shows the multicoloured stones it is made from.
I thought the texture looked particularly interesting and Jack thought I was nuts!
What he thought was appealing was the mud-filled ditch....designed, apparently to cool dogs.

Prickly?.......just try walking through a patch!!!

Burdock......gotta love it if you live in the country.
It's found a very creative method of propagating and geographically spreading itself...it STICKS to everything and anything.
My dog and ALL his friends come home with them embedded deep within their coats.....makes for some relaxing evenings by the fire....removing them!
Just like mother nature to have a laugh on us by making it so attractive......you think she has a sense of humour?
Apparently this was the inspiration for the invention of Velcro by Swiss engineer George de Mestral.
What a great idea.

Weathered......and pretty old as well.

I was out on my quad a few days ago and pretty deep in the woods on a VERY unused road I spied an old cabin.
As it happened I met the farmer on the way out who owns the adjacent land and I asked him what he knew about it.
He remembered when he was young that it was then occupied but he couldn't remember who or when.
As to it's age he guessed somewhere about 100 years old or so.
I'm pretty sure that cedar shakes as a siding for a building was a LONG time ago as today they are INSANELY expensive.
I loved the texture and the weathering so I grabbed a snap.
Hope you enjoy the little story as much as I did.

It's SMALL, it's white and it's there if you look closely.

I went out golfing the other day with my younger son.... gave me a golf lesson... ;-( .... and finally hit a straight one.
Look closely and you'll see it.
I was as proud as a dog with two tails!!
We play at a local course with no water or sand traps but LOTS of terrain....as you can see in this picture.
Gulles and some pretty large ravines to cross....some requiring a bridge but it all adds to the fun and chasing down balls is all part of the game...for us.

Retro....sort of....since it's a kit car I believe.

I went into town today to do some much-needed shopping and saw this parked in the church driveway.
Pretty cute and in my favorite colour.
I'm not for sure certain but I 'think' it's patterned after an early 1950's MG TD.
In any case there aren't too many around here so it was worth a picture.

Dis-order or dat order, I made NO order !

This picture was taken at an unknown drinking establishment I unfortunately went to the other day.
I hadn't been there before as it was on a road trip to a friend's house and needed a pit stop.
What a disaster!
This was the washroom sink area and they must have thought I was crazy or experiencing 'personal' problems as I made an 'EXTRA' trip with my camera ( tucked away ) to grab a pic.
Believe it or not I did NOTHING to this picture except crop.
What you see is what there was.

Not 'exactly a 'fencepost' but still..................................

I saw this on the side of the road the other day and realized it had once been used as a fencepost.
It's not a very common thing around here as my guess would be that this is an old Alder and they grow quickly so using it as a post would result in torn wire or loose strands in a few years...not the usual farmer's style of job.
This was quick 'n dirty.....like a 'weekend' farmer.
Not pretty the way the barbed has cut into the flesh of the living tree.
Quite severely cropped as I didn't know this landowner so I took it from a distance.

Shiny

This is a tight shot of my Katana and the reflection of a nearby tree in it's highly polished blade.
This one is a modern, although completely handmade sword.
Dating back many hundreds of years they are still considered the finest swords in the world.
Making one in Japan 400 years ago could take a master swordsmith 2 months to complete and a further 2 months being sharpened and polished by a different specialist.
They were the Samurai's constant companion and they slept with them, or a shorter version called a Wakizashi, under their 'pillow'.
I don't do a lot of pillaging and plundering so mine is just for display.
P.S. The blue 'cast' is actually the surface under it combined with a VERY blue sky that day.