Birds In A Row

First time feeding chickadees, and he gets a line up!

Jason at Lynde Shores Conservation Area, Whitby

Photo by me, with Jason's phone - Saturday Nov 21, 2020

Kaylee Is Such A Good Girl

Visiting Steph and Dave (both before and after doing Christmas with my family) so I finally got to see their new puppy!!

Meeting Kaylee - December 30, 2019

Quick snapshot with my phone

The funniest thing is that she doesn't like Jason at all!! Normally dogs are obsessed with Jason and love him so much, so her dislike of him was pretty refreshing for me. She wasn't super in love with me either but she didn't bark at me like she did at him. 

Also, she was a puppy in the summer and she is much larger now. I am sad to have missed seeing her when she was tiny tiny. Steph said she woke up one day and all of a sudden she was a dog. However, she is still super playful and very soft.

That Shih Tzu Smile

What is he smiling at? Well, if you notice the pale fur in the foreground that is Clancy, his parent's Golden Doodle, but it is actually for the black floof which is Biscuit, their new little Shih Tzu puppy.

I don't know if I have ever mentioned on Always Standing that Jason has a "Shih Tzu Smile." You can see it in the photos from when we visited Jessie as a puppy. Almost any time Jason sees a Shih Tzu, even sometimes when he is talking about them, he gets the biggest/sweetest smile. This smile is only seen in this specific context, nothing makes him smile this way but Shih Tzus. They are his favourite, obviously, look at that smile.

I like bigger dogs, and consider Shih Tzus part of what Eddie Izzard calls, "small yappy type dogs." However, Jason insists that they look like little Ewoks, which for certain colours and markings kinda true. Look at her little nose:

Jason and Biscuit

October 2019

Photo by Me, on a phone

No Enough Of My Mother

After spending the last few months in Spain, and now visiting Mike, Aimee, Avery, and Maya in Edmonton for a few weeks, it seems like I haven't see Mom much since our Africa trip in January. I wanted to make a Mother's Day post and went looking for a photo on my computer - I only have the shots from Africa, and I didn't take many of people. I understand the thrill of the animals and wanting all the amazing pictures of them, but it is sad that I don't have many of us - the time spent together with friends and family is really important and I am just not documenting it as much as I should. (See photo on right that I got - Mom taking photos at Blyde River Canyon.)

So, Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you and I miss you, and I am so glad we got to spend our first big visit to Africa together. In honour of that, here are some baby/parent pictures from that trip.

Unless noted, photos are taken by me (and not edited) please click to see larger. All from our trip in January 2018:

Parents and Baby African Penguins

The young ones are fuzzy, not as cute as expected, 

fully grown is adorable though.

 Two Little Dassies with Their Mommy

Cute rodent thing found on Table Mountain, closest relative is an elephant.

 Baby Baboon Runs to the Grown Ups (By Jason)

It was estimated that this little guy was only a couple of days old, so tiny.

 Young Impala Nursing (By Jason)

They very violently nursed! 

It did not look pleasant, the mothers were not pleased.

 Mother Peacock Watches Over Her Baby (By Jason)

Never seen a baby peacock before, 

there were a bunch, very interesting and quite cute.

 A Wee Elephant Stays Close For Protection

The baby elephants were the best, most large herds had at least one.

 A Zebra Foal (By Jason)

My Mom has better shots on her blog, he stayed close to his mom.

 Two Tiny Black Velvet Monkeys and Their Mother

These were 'my monkeys' because I often saw them from the bus 

and no one believed me.

The Warmest Water

I cannot believe how warm the water is here!! We went out on a sailboat trip yesterday, that included kayaking into a mangrove tree island thing - totally looked like what I pictured the floating island in the Life of Pi book to be. We also went snorkeling but I didn't really like it so took off the mask and just floated/swam around in the water.

I have never been in natural water this warm in my life! (However, after saying that Jason reminded me that I have been to quite a few hot springs, but let's not count those.) The people crewing the boat kept saying it was 27, degrees Celsius, and then everyone else on the boat complained about how cold that was. At the time all I could go by was the fact that it felt like bath water, and I knew that one year we did a Toronto Try-Tri in 19 and the Azores was 16. Looking it up online now, it seems that the super quick swim that Kristen, Noah, Jason and I did in the Indian Ocean near Durban in South Africa probably had water temperatures close 27, but it was very wavy and windy, so didn't feel that warm. I found a website that details sea temperatures around the world - so cool! The great lakes don't ever get much over 20.

Unrelated - Here is a bird photo inspired by Mom's Blog, which now even features bird pictures on her 'at home' posts. Jason and I did a short stroll along a boardwalk in The Everglades named after this bird. There were quite a few of them, some making quite the racket as they did mating displays. I preferred the quiet ones that just hung out on logs near the water. Saw one trying to eat a fish, that I think was way too big for it, greedy bugger.

An Anhinga in The Everglades

Photo by Jason, with his phone, April 2018

Fine, I Will Do Edits

I am still a bit bummed that I don't love the photos I took in Africa. Especially as Mom has some amazing pictures already posted up on her blog. Jason has great shots too, but since I only had the camera for one day I didn't do so well. (I didn't want to the camera on all those other days. It is just after the fact  that I realized I like the small feeling of prestige that comes from taking good photos.) On one last ditch effort to get something decent out of the pictures I took I decided to put in the, very minimal, work to do some edits. Just basic cropping really, to better frame the image. Here is another attempt:

In The Gaze Of An Elephant

Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Photo and Edits by Me

Maybe This One?

The last photo I posted wasn't actually very good - from a technical, and artistic standpoint. (Subject matter wise, running elephants that includes a baby is absolutely awesome.) The colour is a bit dull, the elephants are dark and the detail in their skin doesn't show well. Maybe this is a better photo that I took (of a different set of elephants that we found later on during the drive):

Elephants Take A Drink

Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Photo by Me (No edits)

The Good Camera

I only really took photos with the 'good camera' on one day, the last day when I went on the safari with my mom and Jason stayed back at the hotel. I don't really love any of the photos that I got, none are perfect. Here is one that I guess would be one of the better shots I got from that safari:

Elephants On The Run

Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Photo by Me (No edits)

Phone Photo - Waterfall Fav

I absolutly love Niagara Falls. It is mind blowing each and every time I visit. But Niagara Falls is a Natural Wonder of the World (or at least I thought it was.) It is hard to say it is my favourite waterfall since it is so much more than that. With that, I think I have found a pretty amazing waterfall that might be my top, Bourke's Luck Potholes.

The Waterfalls at The Potholes

Why am I unable to get my horizons straight?

(Photo taken with my phone)

Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

The other stops on today's very long bus ride were also very impressive. Sadly though, God's Window was too foggy to see anything at but the vistas at The Three Rondavels were beautiful.

Phone Photo - Elephants

Elephants Crossing The Road In Front Of Us

Look at the teeny one!! Also part of the truck got in the shot.

(Photo with my phone)

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Overwhelmed With Emotion

Technically our first safari was last nights river cruise,where we saw tons of hippos. But this morning was our first game drive. I have no words to describe the experience but I will try.

I felt very amazed during the boat cruise watching all the pods of hippos in the water. It was a surreal feeling, definitely a 'wow, we are in Africa moment.' Also a very big eye opener - that for large animals, zoos are not even close to recreating their environments in a meaningful way. We also saw crocodiles and monkeys. It was nice that the guide made a point of pointing out the different birds to us too, without Mom having to ask. I am sure her blog will feature the eagle and kite we saw soon, though her camera wasn't working so Jason was in charge of taking the photos. I was very content using our little travel binoculars.

We continued this for the game drive today - Jason with the camera and me with binocs. I am surprised that I am not more into the photography but I like to grab a few shots on my phone and then just watch the animals - they are truly mesmerizing. Right from the first sighting it was like a shot to the heart. I was moved to tears on numerous occasions from the awe of these amazing animals.

From my phone!!!

The zebra look so different than expected when viewing them up close in the wild, the elephant was beyond impressive, seeing monkeys play or the various 'deer-like' species, at each new spot I could have stayed and watched all day. It was a beautiful and overwhelming three hours, and I can't wait for our next one in two days time. Already trying to figure out how to fit more drives in before we have to head home.

Phone Photo - Dassies

Read more about these cute little critters on Mom's Blog. Tessa and her went on the way to their wine tour.

Dassies with babies

Photo with my phone

Top of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

Phone Photo - Saw Penguins!

African Penguins at Boulders Beach
Photo with my phone
The Cape Peninsula, Africa, 2018

It was a fast paced day, I could have watched these guys for hours but we got only about 20 minutes. This photo doesn't do the cuteness justice.

56 Hours In Iceland - A 4:30pm Sunset

Jason and I are going to need more practice with the new camera, but Iceland was a good start to try to get comfortable with it. Here are two more photos, both taken in Pingvellir on Friday with our new camera. They are similar but I couldn't pick which one I liked better, I also don't really know which of us took them:

Beautiful Iceland

The Land of Fire and Ice

(Steam from hot spring on the right)

I had continued issues with keeping the horizon straight, which I know how to fix in photoshop, so if I get around to editing maybe I will post some more later on. (No edits were made to the photos posted above.)

56 Hours In Iceland - Sunday

We didn't have much time today, since Jason likes to be at the airport so early, we only got to spend the morning touring around (flight leaves at 3:30pm.) We headed north to Borgarnes to swim at the public pool (outside, heated with geothermal technology, large pools or soak in one of three different hot tubs of different temperatures, all with amazing views of mountains and the ocean.) This little trip also let us see more of the west-coast, and experience a pretty impressive traffic tunnel under a fjord.

Here are a few more shots from my phone:

Our Last Selfie In Iceland

Hafnarfjall Mountain behind Jason

I seem to be struggling to keep the horizon straight.

Jason And Good View Of Hafnarfjall Mountain

Seawall/Shore at Borgarfjörður Seawall/Shore in Borgarnes

A bit better with the horizon in this one.

56 Hours In Iceland - Pingvellir, Iceland

The Path To Another World

Pingvellir National Park, Iceland

Photo taken with my phone

(Excited to see what the photos on our new camera look like.)

Peyto Lake

Road trip in Alberta with my GeoConnection girls, day trip to the mountains...

Payto Lake 

(totally looks like a cartoon ghost)

Taken by ME with Anne's phone

Sulphur Stew - Sunday In The Azores

We were scheduled to go sailing today but when we arrived at the marina the captain suggested postponing the trip and waiting for better weather. It was pretty chilly and very grey, also apparently quite windy out on the water. We appreciated him giving us a chance to come back on a nicer day and we agreed on a Tuesday trip. That will be the day before we leave so it is cutting it a bit close, but the forecast is good for that day.

Both the captain and first mate highly suggested that we go to Furnas, pretty much everyone we talked to had mentioned this place. It is also the main destination for tourists when cruise ships come to port for the day. Basically it is the one big unique attraction. But the whole island is amazing, I didn't understand why everyone kept going on about this small part of it.

We decided to go because it was crappy weather and that is recommended. The first stop was in the main place for geothermal, volcanic activity. A conservation area with geysers and boiling mud and all that awesome stuff. We had seen some of it before at Caldeira Velha but this was at a much larger and more intense scale. As you can see from the short film from my phone HERE, I am not a good videographer. I also really like boiling mud!

In that video you can see piles of dirt with posted restaurant names, this is for a dish called cozido and it is another main reason to visit the Furnas area. It was recommended by a lot of people because it is very unique to the area - seeing that it is a stew cooked in the ground using geothermal heat it does lend itself to being pretty unique.

When we went into town Jason got the stew, though admittedly not at a very appropriate location. The stew is made from hearty and root vegetables, various cuts of meat, and types of sausage. It really would be best enjoyed in a very casual setting. However, we had lunch at a fine dining restaurant in a luxury hotel, see my photo of Jason on the right eating the stew with white table cloth.

The reason were at such a fancy place was that the hotel owns these beautiful gardens and hot springs and if you eat lunch there than the admission is included. The admission on its own is surprisingly high, especially as we just ended up walking around - I didn't think the hot springs would be a good idea for me. The gardens were spectacular though, they were started in the 1700s so some of the trees are huge and everything is very exotic and magical.

We drove home along the north-west coast which is a fairly remote area with gorgeous scenery, jagged cliffs and rough seas. So beautiful. (I only feel asleep for a short period of time in the passenger seat.)

Doesn't Love Me

Mom is here helping me after my surgery, and Two is all over her. Basically Caturday continues to be images of my cat not wanting to be near me. She will literally sit with anyone else in the room but me. Follow her on Instagram, link on the left. (If you click on the Instagram images you can read her strange comments.)

Superheroes

Cuddles with Hawkman And Batman

P and Jason, October 2016

Photo by Me

McDonald's has Justice League masks right now as part of their Happy Meals. These are pretty great! I have to say though, I am just not really into the DC comic universe like I am with Marvel, and Hawkman is continued proof of that - what is this character? Great mask though - fits on adults too. But really I don't have to choose one over the other, I can enjoy both.

Also, this photo is taken near the end of our weekend looking after four wee children, ages 1, 3, 5, and 7. Everyone is still smiling!!