Tree, with Carolyn taking her own night shots in the background.
This is the limit of the family land, ending at Larry's Lake.
Another photo of the moon reflecting in Larry's Lake. Don't ask me who Larry is.
Tales of Tobermory - Part 1.1
Whoops, forgot to post these photos last time. These are more night shots from the same night.
Tree, with Carolyn taking her own night shots in the background.
This is the limit of the family land, ending at Larry's Lake.
Another photo of the moon reflecting in Larry's Lake. Don't ask me who Larry is.
Tree, with Carolyn taking her own night shots in the background.
This is the limit of the family land, ending at Larry's Lake.
Another photo of the moon reflecting in Larry's Lake. Don't ask me who Larry is.
Tales of Tobermory - Part 1
Well, we're heading out tomorrow for a photo-hike around Webster's Falls, so I figured I ought to catch up on some posting. Here are some pictures from Day 1 of our trip to Tobermory.
I managed to get pretty close to this guy and caught him mid-squawk. Either he was calling for reinforcements, or he wanted me to feed him.
One of the grottos in the area. We were hiking around Cyprus Lake in the Bruce Peninsula National Park of Canada.
The turquoise water here is so beautiful. I remember coming here as a kid with my cousins, so it was great to finally revisit.
Bursting with fiery colour. Can anyone tell me what flower this is?
Fairly sharp image of this butterfly. I think I need to stop-down the aperature for these close-up shots, since only a bit of the subject is in focus.
This shot was taken around 1:30am. We stopped outside a farmer's field to take some night shots. Unfortunately, I forgot my remote, so we were unable to do longer exposures than 30 seconds (unless we were to hold down the shutter-release button for several consecutive minutes). This necessitated a much higher ISO, but the pictures came out OK anyway. This picture is not very good, but I always think it's neat that it looks nearly like daylight, but with star-trails. The large white post in the background is a wind turbine.
Another night shot, taken from Carolyn's family's land. The bright object is the moon.
I managed to get pretty close to this guy and caught him mid-squawk. Either he was calling for reinforcements, or he wanted me to feed him.
One of the grottos in the area. We were hiking around Cyprus Lake in the Bruce Peninsula National Park of Canada.
The turquoise water here is so beautiful. I remember coming here as a kid with my cousins, so it was great to finally revisit.
Bursting with fiery colour. Can anyone tell me what flower this is?
Fairly sharp image of this butterfly. I think I need to stop-down the aperature for these close-up shots, since only a bit of the subject is in focus.
This shot was taken around 1:30am. We stopped outside a farmer's field to take some night shots. Unfortunately, I forgot my remote, so we were unable to do longer exposures than 30 seconds (unless we were to hold down the shutter-release button for several consecutive minutes). This necessitated a much higher ISO, but the pictures came out OK anyway. This picture is not very good, but I always think it's neat that it looks nearly like daylight, but with star-trails. The large white post in the background is a wind turbine.
Another night shot, taken from Carolyn's family's land. The bright object is the moon.
And we're off...
... to Tobermory for a super-long weekend! Happy Canada Day everyone! Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post next week.
The Disappearing Cat
Last week we took Jack in to the vet to get weighed. The result? Jack now weighs a paltry 21.7 pounds (9.84 kg). When we started him on his diet 1.5 years ago, he was 25.6 pounds (11.6 kg). That means he's lost over 15% of his original body weight! Yay Jack!
Recipe for Grilled Plank
Ingredients:
- 1 cedar plank
- 3 salmon fillets (optional)
Directions:
1) Soak plank in hot water for at least 4 hours (as directed on package).
2) Put one side of BBQ on high, and other side on medium (as directed on package).
3) Put salmon on plank (to taste).
4) Place plank over medium heat (as directed on package).
5) Close lid (as directed on package).
6) Cook for 25-40 minutes, until tip of knife inserted into salmon is hot (as directed on package).
7) After 8-10 minutes, notice plumes of smoke emanating from BBQ.
8) Open lid to discover plank on fire.
9) Ensure that guests witness the cooking process. You culinary skills will inspire them with confidence.
10) Turn off gas.
11) Spray plank with water until flames dissipate.
12) Let plank cool in pyrex dish.
13) Remove salmon from plank and place on top rack.
14) Cook salmon until done.
- 1 cedar plank
- 3 salmon fillets (optional)
Directions:
1) Soak plank in hot water for at least 4 hours (as directed on package).
2) Put one side of BBQ on high, and other side on medium (as directed on package).
3) Put salmon on plank (to taste).
4) Place plank over medium heat (as directed on package).
5) Close lid (as directed on package).
6) Cook for 25-40 minutes, until tip of knife inserted into salmon is hot (as directed on package).
7) After 8-10 minutes, notice plumes of smoke emanating from BBQ.
8) Open lid to discover plank on fire.
9) Ensure that guests witness the cooking process. You culinary skills will inspire them with confidence.
10) Turn off gas.
11) Spray plank with water until flames dissipate.
12) Let plank cool in pyrex dish.
13) Remove salmon from plank and place on top rack.
14) Cook salmon until done.
Playing catch-up
Well, it's been ages since my last update, so here's a hodge-podge - a smorgasboard, if you will - of visual and textual descriptions depicting my life over the last few weeks.
Ok, this is an oldie, but a goodie. I joined a new team at work a few months ago, which afforded me the opportunity to choose a new work area (read "cube"). Somehow I had some level of seniority, so I got to pick fourth. This is the view I have every day :)
We have asparagus! Right in our back yard! This is from our first cutting in mid-May. We found out that aparagus grows very quickly, and until yesterday we had about 10 asparagus trees.
After moving into our new house, we wanted to treat Jack to a new bed (one that he could fit into). When we got home, we just threw it on the couch haphazardly, but as you can see, Jack found it and made himself at home.
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While he was on a business trip, Carolyn's dad graciously lent us his barbeque. That whet our appetite for burnt offerings, and soon we found ourselves the proud owners of a Broilmate barbeque (made in Waterloo!). It's a great barbeque and we use it at least a few times a week. Thanks to Ryan for taking this sharp photo.
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One of the joys of home-ownership is having gardens with loads of different flora (and unfortunately, pesky fauna too). We have a group of poppies that have bloomed; here are two that haven't yet. If they weren't plants, I'd say these were having an intimate moment.
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Another flower. Does anyone know what kind it is? I'm horrible with horticulture, but I am slowly improving.
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Another poppy close-up. I love my macro lens! It's actually not as sharp as I'd like; or rather, I don't have as much in focus as I'd like. But I still think it's amazing to look at the water droplets suspended between the hairs.
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This is Jack, jealous of my ability to get outside. Actually, he is quite able to get outside; thanks to my dad, he can open the screen door by himself. He hasn't quite learned how to close it yet. He seems to be in his element when he is outside though; in the past two days, Jack has caught a chipmunk and a mouse. He doesn't quite know what to do when he catches something, so he typically just sits on it. We know something's up when we hear muffled squeaking noises. If only he could learn to catch rabbits.
So why have I been too busy to post? It seems I have to mow the lawn every day... but seriously, we have been slowly chipping away at our renovations. Two weekends ago, we installed three new ceiling fixtures in the three bedrooms (with Ryan's help for the first one... thanks Ryan!). No pictures yet, so I guess you'll just have to come visit. And last weekend I added a new wall-switch and connected it to a receptacle in the living room. And I'm not dead yet! Carolyn, meanwhile, has been busily scraping away the wallpaper, and has finished the second of the three bedrooms. So after one month, we've done a fair bit, but we still have a ways to go.
Ok, this is an oldie, but a goodie. I joined a new team at work a few months ago, which afforded me the opportunity to choose a new work area (read "cube"). Somehow I had some level of seniority, so I got to pick fourth. This is the view I have every day :)
We have asparagus! Right in our back yard! This is from our first cutting in mid-May. We found out that aparagus grows very quickly, and until yesterday we had about 10 asparagus trees.
After moving into our new house, we wanted to treat Jack to a new bed (one that he could fit into). When we got home, we just threw it on the couch haphazardly, but as you can see, Jack found it and made himself at home.
.jpg)
While he was on a business trip, Carolyn's dad graciously lent us his barbeque. That whet our appetite for burnt offerings, and soon we found ourselves the proud owners of a Broilmate barbeque (made in Waterloo!). It's a great barbeque and we use it at least a few times a week. Thanks to Ryan for taking this sharp photo.
.jpg)
One of the joys of home-ownership is having gardens with loads of different flora (and unfortunately, pesky fauna too). We have a group of poppies that have bloomed; here are two that haven't yet. If they weren't plants, I'd say these were having an intimate moment.
.jpg)
Another flower. Does anyone know what kind it is? I'm horrible with horticulture, but I am slowly improving.
.jpg)
Another poppy close-up. I love my macro lens! It's actually not as sharp as I'd like; or rather, I don't have as much in focus as I'd like. But I still think it's amazing to look at the water droplets suspended between the hairs.
.jpg)
This is Jack, jealous of my ability to get outside. Actually, he is quite able to get outside; thanks to my dad, he can open the screen door by himself. He hasn't quite learned how to close it yet. He seems to be in his element when he is outside though; in the past two days, Jack has caught a chipmunk and a mouse. He doesn't quite know what to do when he catches something, so he typically just sits on it. We know something's up when we hear muffled squeaking noises. If only he could learn to catch rabbits.
So why have I been too busy to post? It seems I have to mow the lawn every day... but seriously, we have been slowly chipping away at our renovations. Two weekends ago, we installed three new ceiling fixtures in the three bedrooms (with Ryan's help for the first one... thanks Ryan!). No pictures yet, so I guess you'll just have to come visit. And last weekend I added a new wall-switch and connected it to a receptacle in the living room. And I'm not dead yet! Carolyn, meanwhile, has been busily scraping away the wallpaper, and has finished the second of the three bedrooms. So after one month, we've done a fair bit, but we still have a ways to go.
