acreage lane Jul 31

acreage lane, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

I don't live in Northern Ontario
but a part of my heart does
gravel roads and ditches filled with wild flowers
takes me back there

my business card Jul 30

my business card Jul 30, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

my littlest niece looking at one my business cards
a picture of herself from three months ago!

puff of light Jul 29

puff of light Jul 29, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

this just goes to prove that dandelions are a beautiful thing

same spirited Jul 28

same spirited Jul 28, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

not our dog
but my youngest daughter would certainly like him to be...
because of that
I can see a springer spanial might figure in our future at sometime

Imagination is everything...Jul 25

Imagination is everything...Jul 25, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

found in the drawer of the coffee table at our Saturday morning Cafe
lots of notes and stories and drawings and poems written on napkins and tucked away

sweet peas Jul 25

sweet peas Jul 25, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

father and son
but I think that is pretty obvious

lazy in the haze Jul 24

lazy in the haze Jul 24, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

happy when family comes to visit!

mmm popsicles Jul 23

mmm popsicles, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

on a hot day
every melting drop counts
and must be caught in any way
with fingers and shirts

found and then lost Jul 22

found and then lost, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

nearly every week
my husband and I meet up with friends to go for a long bicycle ride
exploring the different areas of the city
on this particular evening
I stopped when a little, golden bunny darted across the road in front of my bicycle and into the front yard of a house.
It was a baby and obviously an escaped pet - so I spent a few minutes
trying to catch it so that I could try and find it's home and if not, get it home and it would live with us. My children would not have minded.
It was very tame and I was very close to getting it, when the door of the house opened and a very young women leaned out and asked me to leave the wild rabbit alone. I asked her if she was sure it was wild and she was very firm that it was. I was dubious but felt uncomfortable pushing the issue and reluctantly climbed aboard my bicycle and pedaled off. Not before I took some pictures though. Looking at it again. I don't think it is a wild rabbit at all.

sweet spot on the midway Jul 22

sweet spot on the midway Jul 22, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

this makes me think of a shot that might have once been used for a postcard

happy boy Jul 21

happy boy Jul 21, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

a moment in the shade
leaning against Mom

tiny dog, huge eyes Jul 21

tiny dog, huge eyes Jul 21, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

scrap of a dog
adored client of my oldest children's pet and home sitting business

sometimes in the summer Jul 20

sometimes in the summer Jul 20, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

I sit on the deck by the public pool
hopefully it is mostly empty
and the snack bar is not too tempting
and the children whine at me
instead of splashing in the pool

his garden Jul 19

his garden Jul 19, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

I am drawn to the statue of the peaceful buddha
smiling into the green leaves and yellow blossoms

rain falls, wind blows Jul 18

rain falls, wind blows Jul 18, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

rain did come down and so did hail
but it was what the wind brought down
that was the most startling
large trees uprooted
building fronts pulled off
and then all quiet

rain falls, wind blows Jul 18

rain falls, wind blows Jul 18, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

rain did come down and so did hail
but it was what the wind brought down
that was the most startling
large trees uprooted
building fronts pulled off
and then all quiet

the happy cow Jul 17

the happy cow Jul 17, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

I was so very lucky to do a shoot at a small, working family farm.
What a lovely place and a truly magical family who live there.
This is Rosebud, settling in happily at her new home.

in the grass Jul 16

in the grass Jul 16, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

Sometimes I have to just sit and really appreciate how lucky I am.
This is little fish, the utterly engaging son of a fellow blogger. My youngest daughter and I spent a wonderful morning playing and photographing him and his equally delightful sister and Mom. Talk about a photogenic family!
I will talk more about them in a post I have planned about everything I have learned so far.

view from canoe Jul 15 (iphone)

view from canoe Jul 15 (iphone), originally uploaded by gawdessness.

a friend of great fortitude
wrangled two vans, four adults, six kids and three canoes
for a trip out to Elk Island National Park
on a jaw droppingly beautiful day

there was just the one close encounter with the huge and highly dangerous wildlife
which I dealt with in a courageous and mature fashion - no matter what anyone else says -
(leeches are gross, and that one was at least a foot long, and it was TOO chasing the canoe and if not for my new world record in speed paddling would very likely have jumped bodily into the boat and wrapped us all in it's blood sucking coils - if I had not been there, I shudder to think what would have happened, at least listening to the delusional babble of the ones around me - "oh it is only a few inches long!" "you do know that these ones actually only feed off of cold blooded creatures right?" "MOM! (eye roll) They cannot jump into the canoe! For pity sakes, how nuts are you?"
Sad, little people but I saved them anyway.)

twixt grass and white sky Jul 14

twixt grass and white sky Jul 14, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

soccer is played here in the summer
not many rules, not much organization
no matter how hot, how sunny, how cloudy
the only thing that stops them is the rain
and there hasn't been much of that around

in the clear blue Jul 13

in the clear blue Jul 13, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

from a wonderful shoot I did with a beautiful young family -
a great experience for me with a lot more information to remember and file under "important stuff I learned!".

blue over podersky's Jul 12

blue over podersky's Jul 12, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

in one of the old parts of town
there is an ART WALK
where you walk
and look at
(and silently critique)
and possibly buy
paintings
or jewellery
or photos
or sculptures
or you look up
like me and take
pictures of the
red brick
laddering up to the sky

velvety rabbit Jul 11

velvety rabbit Jul 11, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

the oldest kids have had a pet and home sitting business for the past few years, this summer they have been the busiest they have ever been and some of the jobs they are not able to do have fallen to the youngest - including this unbelievabley cut and soft bunny

wholesome summer reading (Jul 10)

wholesome summer reading, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

pride and prejudice and zombies
not great
but fun
what more is needed
when sitting in the sun?

******
I've not stopped taking pictures - in fact I take even more now that I have gone "professional" but I did stop posting and that was on purpose.
I was waiting on having a blog added to my real life website and thought it would take less time then it is. Now I have hired a web designer and hopefully in the next week or two, until then - I am here.

up close b ball

up close b ball, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

Mom - are you sure lying down there is a good idea when we are playing basketball here?
Yeah sure, just pretend I'm not......aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

blue memory

blue memory, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

in their life before me
my youngest children
lost many precious things
not least of which
were a blue dog
and a smokey cat
and we have been
looking far and wide
for small but solid
statues that would turn
our garden into a place
where memories are nurtured
and tended to
just like the flowers
today we found them
a concrete cat
and an iron dog
marked down!
and yet precious beyond description

safety yellow fresh

safety yellow fresh, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

the overcast skies bring welcome rain and unexpected sunshine from the yellow paint in the parking lot

cinnamon and chocolate

cinnamon and chocolate, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

this handsome fellow stayed with us for two days
while his family was away
he and our resident 10 year old child
became touchingly attached to each other in that short time
the similarities between them are striking
both with gorgeous, wavy dark hair
eyes that shine with arresting light
and both full of absolutely, glorious bounciness
she cried when he left
and has said yes to looking after him again

silly at the photo shoot

silly at the photo shoot, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

we have a BIG summer theatre festival in our part of the north
this is an out take from a shoot I just did
promo pix for one of the plays in it
working with the actors was very cool
and sometimes, like this one,
not unlike working with my kids!

finally peony

finally peony, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

my husband fell in love with peonies
the first summer
in our first house
when he kept mowing over the weird
purple sprouts in the grass
and they kept pushing back up
and he finally let them be and
startlingly they grew and bloomed
into peonies
this year has been a very late spring
for us here
May came and left
without them
and finally as July came
the buds showed and began to swell
and we all waited and watched
as they came
with the rain

the dog next door

the dog next door, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

sweet face stares over the six foot fence at me
gone entirely the barking mad fence thumper
who plays a cacophonous duet with our smallest weiner dog
as they fling insults and themselves at the cedar boards that separate our yards

************

All that is left is the writing.
That is what my husband said.
And then we load the pictures and my web page goes live.
I am supposed to do the writing.
About me and my pictures, how I make them, why I make them
that I can make them for other people...
and I don't know what to say....

and this is where tenderness comes in

and this is where tenderness comes in, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

when things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality. There is definitely something tender and throbbing about groundlessness ~ Pema Chodron from When Things Fall Apart

Happy Canada Day July 1!

Happy Canada Day July 1!, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

142 years old.
We became a country on July 1 1867.
The fireworks were spectacular and my family was lucky enough to be invited to watch from the enclosed patio of one of the large buildings that have a very good view!
This was taken with my hand held 5d - i like it better than any of the ones I took using my tripod! It was a great evening and I was so thrilled to have the opportunity!
Now I want to go to the International Freedom Festival that is the joint celebration of Canada Day and U.S. Independance Day held by Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. A massive fireworks display is held over the Detroit Rier, the strait separating the two cities. Hundreds of thousands of spectators attend. Or, maybe I could got to the Friendship Festival, a joint celebration between Fort Erie, Ontario, and neighbouring Buffalo, New York, of Canada Day and Independence Day.
Or both, I love fireworks!