January 31 - My choice

An unusual choice, but noticed this paper bird configuration, formed by a piece of discarded paper.

January 30, 2018 - Bright

The day started off with a photo that looks a bit like an optical illusion.  I see a grey profile ... that could be of The Wild Wind, blowing a little puff out of its mouth, silhouetted against its bright white shadow. ... or on the right, a different profile. 

Later on, after a long drive, I saw a bright new patch of snow on a mountain... highlighting the bare areas where logging had taken place.

 

January 29, 2018 - Hard work

Building is progressing since the last photo taken for the January 12, 2018 shot.  The construction crew is still doing the hard work required to finish this project.

January 28, 2018 - 5 o'clock

This clock is made from a burl of wood, and was given to me by a friend.

January 27, 2018 - Striped

Well, it didn't take long to find a photo for 'striped' this morning!  I woke up to see that we had a snowfall overnight, and tire tracks left striped marks on our street.

Also, here's a screen grab from the mountain tube cam that shows stripes and tubers going down the hill...

January 26, 2918 - Accessory

My Wildwood Fairy Garden will have each accessory returned when spring arrives.  Today a couple of gnomes caught my eye.  Although these ones looked kind of cute, I am not keen on gnomes ~ so they stayed on the shelf. 

January 25, 2018 - Comfortable

After the last wind storm, my neighbour found a nest in her backyard that must have blown out of a tree.   The nest was wonderfully interwoven, and included a piece of tinsel!  The inside looked like it would provide a most comfortable bed for the inhabitants.  A wonder of nature.

January 24, 2018 - Shiny

What a fabulous day for 'shiny'!  The whole day was mostly sunshiny ~ such a pleasant day after wind and rain.

Two shiny photos coming up, plus a youtube video of a visit to 'where the river meets the sea'.  There was a family of five Trumpeter Swans, along with many other sea birds.  It was quite serene, and thought you might like a relaxing visit to the seaside.

January 23, 2018 - Colourful

Not too much colour these days, but a bright colourful spot has appeared at the front door.  The Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiforum) is blooming!

January 22, 2018 - Pet

A little visit to the Dog Park netted me a few photos of doggies running about and enjoying the freedom of being off leash.

This Basset Hound looked like he'd had enough and was, perhaps, looking forward to having a snooze by a cozy fire.

January 21, 2018 - Friendship

This must be the worst photo ever, but the two that came to mind for this category, were Neigh and Baa... the horse and sheep that live in the neigh-baa-hood.  The weather has been so gusty and blustery, that I haven't ventured too far.  However, I did take this photo of friendship using my phone from quite a distance.  I am just glad to see the two of them still enjoy each other's company.

Here's a photo of the two of them last February ~

and way back in November 2014.

January 20, 2018 - Share

One of my sons and his partner keep bees.  She collects the honey, and has recently shared a very large container with me.  The last large jar lasted a long time.  If I feel a cold coming on, hot lemon honey drinks are the order of the day!!

The bees share honey with us, and we share with each other :)  

Since this category is 'share', here are a couple of webcam sites that I will share with you. ~ one farther north on Vancouver Island at Mt.  Washington, where there is a tube park.  For some reason, I find it rather fascinating to watch people flying down the hill on/in a big tube ~  open until 6 p.m. The second is a surfcam that is situated at Tofino on Vancouver Island's fabulous west coast.

I have been to both of these places, but now find watching them from the comforts of home, very enjoyable (and much warmer) as well :)   

January 19, 2018 - Layers

Layers of rock, silt, sand and ocean.

Wind is blowing all in motion.

Thunderous waves; menacing cloud;

Mother Nature shouts out loud!

Winter's here and churns the seas,

Blasts the earth and gusts through trees!

Season's young, still more to come .

Toddies called for, laced with rum ;)

January 18, 2018 - Tall

The monkey on the left is the taller monkey by a long stretch ;)

January 17. 2018 - In print

In December, I received a Christmas Card from Anne in California that included a round 2016 stamp that I like.  My eye caught a golden GLO on the top portion of the stamp.  Upon inspection, I realized that the cancellation stamp had blotted out the BAL, leaving my name shining through!  There I was, in print.  Quite magical, I thought :)

January 16. 2018 - Fast

The whirr of wings come to mind when I think of the fastest thing around here.  Hummingbirds!

The fast movement of wings is very noticeable in a video I took a couple of years ago of a hummingbird plucking cotton for nest building,

January 15, 2018 - Curly

No curly tailed squirrel jumped into camera view today, so I settled for some curly hoses at the local marina.

January 14, 2018 - In between

From the upstairs back window, I looked out into a foggy atmosphere in between two evergreens.

January 13, 2018 - Front Door

Another inside day for me, but feeling as though I'm on the mend.  Fortunately, the category today was Front Door, so I took a photo of the decorated growing Christmas tree across the road through the window of the front door.  I liked the bokeh effect in this particular shot.  It is a young family that lives in the house, so I imagine that the youngsters don't want signs of Christmas to disappear any time soon.

January 12, 2018 - Build

Unfortunately, I have a bad cold, and wasn't able to go out to take any photos today, so I asked my son to take a photo of a local building site while he was out and about.  Ahh-choooo!

January 11, 2018 - Happy

I feel happy when I see the cluster of pansies in a basket by my front door.

January 10, 2018 - Straight

Today's photo is a shot of a very tall straight evergreen that roots itself in the Wildwood Fairy Garden.  In front of it, are the haphazard branches of the cherry tree ~ with buds on them :)

January 9, 2018 - Beautiful

The beach is always beautiful, whether it be bathed in sunlight, roiled by wind, or silvered by the setting winter sun.  It is especially beautiful and mystifying when one imagines the sands being stalked by wooden beasts....as below

or silhouettes of smoking dragons in the clouds above ~

January 8, 2018 - Organize

I have always enjoyed Hardware Stores, in fact one of my first jobs when I was a teenager, was being a cashier at such a store.  Today I needed something from our local hardware store and while I was there, decided it was a great opportunity to take a photo of how they organize their section of screws, etc.  One thing I like about this particular store, is that individual items can be bought, rather than having to buy more than needed, often encased in a hard to open plastic container.

January 7, 2018 - Scared

January 6, 2018 - Shadows

Christmas was put away today,

and I ended up having to make up my own shadows on the wall by lighting some candles.

 

January 5, 2018 - Bend

On one side of my house, there is an entrance to the back garden that necessitates ducking under a Snowball  bush.  In late spring, it sports white balls of compact petals and makes ducking even more necessary.

Online information:

Colonial settlers introduced snowball viburnum to the U.S. from Europe. ...Snowball bush is a term that some use for hydrangeas (Hydrangea spp.) and viburnums (Viburnum spp.). Although they share the name snowball bush because of their large, white flower heads, hydrangeas and viburnums are distinctively different.

At the moment, the branches are bare,  showing how they bend over the entrance of the area known as the Wildwood Fairy Garden.  The evergreen branches strewn in the snow have fallen during the heavy snow accumulation on the trees.  Fortunately no fairies were injured, mainly because they have skedaddled inside until spring returns.

January 4 2018 - Black and White

Fog continues, so easy to find  images that do not exhibit much colour.  I took the photo of the old log church this morning, thinking that the remaining snow would add to the contrast

January 3, 2018 - Outdoors

I was excited to see the weather forecast of sun for today, since the photo category was 'outdoors', however when you live close to the ocean, there is such a thing as sea fog which obliterates everything, including the sun.  If the sun was shining, it wasn't shining here.  Today was grey.

Outdoors will then have to rely on a photo of a moose decorating the front lawn of a house on the next street!

January 2, 2018 - New

Today I went outside looking for any signs of new growth ~ and I found a bud on my Camellia tree.  Spring may not be around the corner yet,, but it is budding!

January 1, 2018 - Celebrate

Today I celebrated New Year's Day at a luncheon with friends.  Here is a view of the lake from the host's window.