Congratulations to the Class of '08

They really know how to put on a graduation prom night in Windsor. A 2 hour parade of the graduates, complete with cars both new and classic, and a cheering section waiting for the gang that rivals any sports team homecoming. Way to go folks. It was a great time seeing you all having a great time.

Ahh, the clean fresh smell of the country

The fresh flowers, the numerous varieties of trees, the grass after a good cutting (okay, you can get that one in the big bad city), the skunk that was wondering through the yard when Logan was out for his pre-bed bathroom break.

Well, actually, the latter is not a smell that you want to pick-up late at night after a busy day. It means scrambling for the dog, who is busily trying to rub the ghastly burnt tires odour from his coat. It means a pre-bed bath in a vain attempt to reduce the strength of the olfactory bombardment. It means waking in the middle of the night/early morning to a constant whiff of said burnt nastiness. Oh, and it also means checking online at 3:00 am for de-skunk remedies so that you are ready to go the next day.

Pee-uuuu!

Misty morning hop...

out of bed. I normally don't get a chance to take early morning shots, so this morning when Jeannette was getting up for work and I looked outside and saw the fog I did what I usually do - rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. The fog kept calling me though, and so I pulled my self together, grabbed my camera and tripod and headed outside. I knew there would be some opportunities on our doorstep, but my minds-eye was focused on a lake with the fog sitting over it and then enshrouding the distant trees. After taking a good look around I chose this composition - after all, I only had a few minutes because I had to get my day started.

Tune in for fog enshrouded lake, coming soon.?

Gotcha!

After days, even weeks, of hearing the siren calls of exotic birds in the trees but never actually seeing them I finally caught some on...er...memory card. At first they kept jumping from branch to branch, hiding behind leaves and then moving on to other trees where I couldn't see them. Then, suddenly, they chose to stay still long enough for me to train my trusty lens on them and snap a few shots. This one is the nicest looking one of the group, and was calm enough to have his/her picture taken a few times.

It just wouldn't be summer without butterflies

Bees? We've got them. Birds? We've got them too, though the good ones tend to hide and taunt me with their calls. Moths? We've got them as well, though we had to travel 2 and a half hours to find a really special specimen. Where, though, are the symbols of a lazy summer day spent lounging in a hammock reading a good book?

Well look no more. The butterfly has made its appearance, albeit a somewhat roughed up version. Logan especially liked poking his nose at the poor fellow/gal, but alas a disney moment was not to be had this time.

In case you were wondering, now that I've seen the butterfly up close and personal I can understand where some of the scary monsters in movies come from. Thank goodness they're not 10 feet tall.

What graphic designers and Photoshop geeks do in their spare time

This car is for sale in Mount Uniacke Nova Scotia. I'm sure you can get a good deal on it, but you will have a bit of work to do to repair the body, which has changed shape a bit over the last 50 years or so.

Your next lobster might be wandering around here

Gunning Cove Nova Scotia. A small community of nice houses overlooking the ocean, picturesque views of islands and wetlands, and lobster boats dotting the surface with trap markers. Apparently this is one of the most popular spots for catching the lobsters that ultimately end up in the local grocery store. So, your next lobster may get to ride in this lobster boat.

Some evening goodness

These shots were taken as night was settling on Boulder Cove.

Visits from the local nature society

We went back to Boulder Cove this weekend, and had a visitor waiting for us on Saturday. It's called a Luna Moth, it has a wing span as wide as 6", and it hung out on the outside of our cottage all day and into the night. It probably hung out because the wind was gusting quite a bit, and with those kite like wings it would likely be difficult to maintain course. It was an incredible sight.

More flowers and bees

We're enjoying a very warm weekend, as are most of the eastern provinces and states - mid 90s F in Boston this weekend. It's been somewhat cloudy this morning, but it is now leaning towards sunshine for the rest of the day. With the warm weather lately we've had a few new bugs show up, and with them comes the grand-daddy of stupid bugs, the June bug. These things are the size of a toonie ($2 CDN coin the size of a typical OK symbol made with finger and thumb)and can be found at night bumping into walls, the floor, the ceiling on the porch. They have been observed, wings flailing away, heads to the ground as though attempting to transport themselves through the wood planks. Did I mention that they were the dumbest bugs around? Logan doesn't even find them tasty enough to eat. He's actually taken to trying to avoid them because they randomly float about and make a fair racket doing it, which he seems to think is kind of crazy.

Enjoy the first heat wave of the year. I'm sure we'll have more, and what with the price of energy these days it's going to be costly to be cool. Luckily for us here in the country it tends to cool down at night - something the city doesn't offer.

Note - the pics attached are from this mornings wanderings in the garden. A busy bee, not so busy bee, and the flowering part of a chive plant.

On the ocean, and loving it!

We spent an afternoon and overnight on the ocean Saturday, staying at the Boulder Cove Cottages. The weather was overcast the entire time, with some rain Saturday night after the sun had set behind the clouds. It was a very nice spot, with lots of character and places to hike. We would definitely go back, but probably for a bit longer next time - it's roughly a 3 hour drive towards Yarmouth to get there.

BTW - this was Logans first vacation trip, and he handled like a champ. The drive down was fine, and the drive back, with a few stops along the way was equally good.