It’s officially fall now, no going back to the summer no matter how much we whine and snivel. Actually fall is a favourite season for me, so other than hoping it will last a good while, I don’t have much in the way of complaints. I like the cooler days where you can be comfortable in jeans and a light shirt, the welcome visuals with all the outrageous and improbable colours that briefly replace the relentless green of summer, and the bittersweet appreciation that comes with knowing winter will soon be shutting us indoors for the most part of the next five or so months. Luckily I like winter too, or I could be getting a tad discouraged at the prospect.
I’ve been scurrying about with the camera trying to make the most of it all, with some success. I went to the zoo last week as there are generally good “colourful trees reflected in water shots” to be had most falls, with the added touch of various forms of waterfowl (including the swans I am so enamored with) on said water. I did get some nice shots, but will have to try again later this week or early the following one, as there was surprisingly little in the way of colour change on the big trees last week.
Saturday we went back to the site of the wood-firing at the potters place down the road from Ebon to witness the unloading of the kiln. There was a *lot* of stuff in there! We hadn’t seen the inside before so didn’t realize what the capacity was. Suffice it to say that at one point after the pots were all off-loaded, there were three potters totally inside the kiln doing I’m not sure what. The point here being, this kiln is pretty big inside! Sounds like they are planning another firing towards the end of October, so we will try to get back for that one as well. It’s an odd form of entertainment, but we seem to be hooked on it.
Sunday morning we had grandson Mark and his dad here for breakfast, his mother being off to the lake cabin for a “ladies only” event. I’ve been meaning to get some shots of Mark running with our Oscar, so we went to the park down the road for a mini photo shoot. Oscar and Mark have pretty well grown up together (Mark was two or three when we got Oscar as a tiny puppy) and they have a special relationship. One of Oscar’s greatest joys in life is to get to go “galumphing” across the grass of the park with Mark when we are on our neighbourhood walks. Oscar leaps and bounds along, joyous and proud to be with his boy, and never misusing his considerable strength to pull Mark over, which he could easily do.
Today I wanted to head out to my friend Pearl’s place (see post of Jan 25) where she and her partner Denis have a wonderful assortment of creatures of many species. The original plan was for late afternoon, but I rethought that this morning as I have extra horse duties at Ebon while my friend Elsie is away for the week. Her gelding needs special tending, so I decided to do the shoot this morning in order to be at the barn at the time JJ is used to getting his goodies and attention. This worked out perfectly as by the time noon came along and I was finishing my shoot, the clouds had thickened, the temperature was dropping, and we had rain. Another good example of things working out for the best in the long run even when they run counter to what we originally hoped to do.
The animal theme in my life of this past week seems to have been kittens. I can go years without ever seeing a kitten, then suddenly they seem to be wherever I go. There were the beautiful tri-colour girls at the B and B when we went to Spruce Meadows early in the month. There were various kittens in evidence on the farm where the potters are located, including one very bold (and heedless) little one who marched right into the kiln when it was opened. Then there was a very cute and bratty little guy at Pearl’s place today as well. He was very like a young male version of our one remaining cat, Scout. Scoutie is eighteen now and quite enjoying her life as the only household cat since we lost Bud in the spring, and tempted though I am by all these cute little guys, I don’t think I’d be doing her a kindness by bringing another feline into the household at this stage. Especially a kitten. I’m not sure I have another kitten in me, for that matter. When the time comes, a nice “used” adult cat that needs a good home will be just fine. Preferably a Siamese.
I’ve got a couple more shoots in the planning stages for later in the week, so I hope we get through this rainy bit fairly quickly. I can work around lowish light, cold, and wind, but rain and/or moisture is the dealbreaker when it comes to my camera. We just don’t go there.
One of the shoots is a cattle/horse/cowboy one, set for Wednesday morning. I haven’t been to a working cowboy shoot since July so I’m greatly looking forward to this one.
At the end of the week, I hope to get out to a horse facility that I just learned about, with a considerable number of horses in what looks to be a very picturesque riverside setting. If the weather, the light, the fall colours and the horses all work with me, it could be a spectacular shoot. No telling until the time comes, though!
Top shot today (a tad out of synch with my narrative) is of the kiln with the pots waiting to be offloaded.
Shot number two is of some of the ducks on the pond at the zoo. I almost opted for a swan shot here but this one was more colourful and in the “fall theme” mode.
Shot three shows Mark struggling manfully to keep up with a bounding Oscar.
Shot four is a totally silly one of the young tom at Pearl’s this morning. This is one of those shots that is crying out for a caption. My take it that it’s either the “invisible motorcycle” or that he’s just been caught in the process of beaming down from the mother ship. Either way, it’s pretty funny.
The final shot is also one from this morning at Pearl and Denis’. This is the Hackney stallion having a bit of a discussion with his young son. Sonny was feeling pretty cocky and marched right up into his Dad’s face while I was observing them. Dad was pretty tolerant until junior pushed one too many buttons, then he had to pull rank and remind the kid just what the pecking order is in their small family unit. No actual touching happened, just some good plain body language on the part of the stallion. I love to see a stallion that is allowed to be with mares and foals and not isolated and treated like a dangerous animal. Of course they have to have manners and a good sense of how to treat their herd, but this fellow has that in spades. Next time I go Pearl has offered to get them moving for me as I didn’t get anything in the way of action shots today. This stallion being a Hackney, I know he’s got some fancy action and I’d love to be able to get shots of it.
©Copyright 2008 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Judy Wood’s website.
