down the garden path...

 At long last.

Our upstairs bedrooms (guest rooms) both have something on the wall.

It seems I prefer bare walls to making the wrong decision...

and so it has taken this long to hang a few pictures.

I first ordered a canvas of a photo I took at Butchart Gardens...
with intentions of hanging it in the bigger room.
It looked too small for the large wall...

...and so it landed up in the smaller bedroom.

I kept my eye out for artwork that would be suitable for the bigger bedroom...
to no avail.

I finally went back to my Butchart Gardens album...

 ...and ordered prints
...three with the same theme.

Down the Garden Path.

Done...at long last.

Though our gracious guests have never mentioned the naked walls...

they will now have Butchart Garden art to enjoy when they awake.

Butchart Gardens is one of the world's premier show gardens...

and is situated in Victoria, B.C.

 If you are ever on the Canadian west coast...

be sure to to talk a walk down their garden path!

tip-toeing through tulips...

 Tip-toeing through the tulips.

We wish! 

That was the plan...

to visit the 'tulips of the valley' today...

their opening day for 2012.  

However, I think we'll wait until next week...

since it sounds like the fields are not quite in their glory just yet. 

So I'll show you a few photos from 'yesteryear'...

ones that I think would make great note card pictures.

Vee is hosting a note card party today...
over at A Haven for Vee.
I'm joining in the fun this month.

Maggie and Lucy (along with their mommy) are coming over today...

and staying for a sleepover while daddy is out of town.  

Though we won't be tip-toeing through tulip fields as we had planned...

we will find some other fun things to do.  

Maybe in the kitchen. :)

playing with colour...

We are back to grey weather over here.

But the Canon knows how to add a little colour to a drab landscape!

Since my camera was set to accent the colour purple...

I took a few pic's around the house of purple posies.

The wisteria are just beginning to bloom.

And when I tired of purple...

I figured out how to change the accent colour to green.

(If I played with my camera a little more often...

I might actually know how to use all these features!)

May you all find something to brighten your day...

whatever the weather.

the best way to remember...

It finally arrived!  

Months after we returned from our trip to Africa...

I finally completed my Shutterfly photobook...

and picked it up yesterday. 

Of all the souvenirs from places we visit...

the photobook is always my favorite.  

It brings back the memories of the what we saw...
what we ate...

and the interesting people we met.  

And after a few months...

the names of many of the places escape me...

and so the photobook gives me all the right answers!

(And if it's not in the photobook...I go to my blog.)

We had a few safari animal pictures framed...

and they now hang on a wall in the laundry room. 

A tablerunner, wooden salad tongs, zebra napking rings...

and a carved bread basket...

were all handmade by Kenyans who use the proceeds to feed their families.  

They are all reminders of our time in Africa.

But my favorite keepsake

...is the photobook.

If you have never tried making a one...

just go give it a try.

Upload your photos...choose a style and size of book...

write as little or as much as you choose.

When you are done...

order your completed project.

Never again will you have photos lying around waiting to be put in an album!

mystery woman cover-up...

I rather like things from the past...and so have quite a few old things in our home.  I found a very old picture frame at an antique store during our travels a few years back...which now frames a photo of two little girls from five decades ago and hangs in our great room.  I mentioned to a friend that it would be nice to have a matching frame on the other side of the large window.  It was a simple statement...not a hint!  The next time she came for a visit...she brought me a matching frame from her collection of antiques.  She wasn't using it...and thought I should.  How nice is that? 

The frame came complete with a portrait...of a serious and contemplative young woman.  Though I am sure someone would like to have this portrait...especially if she happens to be a great grandmother or great-aunt...to me she had no significance...and so I set about to find another old-fashioned picture to put in the frame. 

It was only as I was placing the new photo in the frame...that I saw the signed label of the photographer/artist on the back.  So I did my research...of course.  Who was Gus A Maves?  I discovered that he was a famous Victoria photographer whose works are now featured in the B.C. archives at the Royal BC Museum.  He was born in Toronto in 1882...and was most active in Victoria during the 1920's and 30's. 

He specialized in scenic landscapes for postcards, and photography of homes, gardens and agricultural activities. His wife Margaret did the coloring of his photographs and also “transformations” to turn a photograph into a piece of art.

So here is what I know...this portrait was taken around the turn of the last century in Toronto.  That's it!  I contacted someone who was looking for any artwork of Mr. Maves...and he was quite willing to take the 'mystery woman' off my hands...if I would package her up and send her his way.  But I decided that I would just keep her...safe. 

She is now covered up...and hangs on my great room wall...beneath an 'old west' photograph that we had taken on our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.  Even that is almost an antique by now! 

But if you think the mystery woman belongs in your family tree...let me know.  She can always be uncovered!

Enjoy the day...

cameras, concerts and chocolate cake...

My camera can do many things...it seems...limited only to the expertise of the photographer. And that is quite minimal....in my case.

But...if you would like a photograph highlighting the colour purple...I can do that. If there is another accent colour you would prefer...I would have to bring my binder (that would be the camera manual I printed off from the on-line version)...and do a little step-by-step adjusting. I may be slow...but eventually I will figure out a few of the camera's features.

Last night we had the privilege of attending a spring concert...at our neighbourhood elementary school. That would be the very same school where I took part in the spring concert as a student...some five decades ago. I played a recorder way back then...and knew only one song well...as I recall.

Well...some things have changed over the years. There were no recorders around last night...but several hundred enthusiastic students sang, danced and acted out the message that we can each do our part to make the world a better place. They did a fabulous job! And when the show was over...we had a quick stop at our place for a well deserved treat for Emme & Spencer. They had their just dessert.

Have a great weekend...

drive by photography?

Some of my favorite photos have been taken from the car...often through the window...as we roll down the highway.

Here are a few 'drive-bys' that I pulled from the files...

...taken on Vancouver Island

...the California Coast

...the Canadian Rockies

...Saskatchewan

...Manitoba

...and Nevada.

We have a new law in British Columbia...one which now makes it illegal to talk and text while driving in the province. It makes sense to me! But I had to smile last week...when someone wondered whether I was adhering to the new 'hand-held devices' ban...and refraining from using my camera while behind the wheel.

Just to set the record straight...though I love taking pictures while on the road...and always have my camera nearby...I am usually in the passenger seat when snapping furiously...or stopped at an intersection...or I simply pull off the road. I have occasionally managed a point-and-shoot while behind the wheel...but I'm thinking that my camera would now fall under the classification of hand-held devices and as such, I should refrain from driving and clicking. I guess that makes sense as well!

Is there such a thing as a hands-free camera? It's just a thought.

Have a wonderful day...

the fall garden...

By this time of the year my garden is looking rather neglected...and the flowers are mostly past their prime.  But yesterday we took our last walk of the season through our local show garden...

...where it all looked as lovely as ever!

 

The gardens are nestled at the base of Mt. Cheam...which had a fresh dusting of snow this past week...making for a most beautiful backdrop.

We took a leisurely stroll along the garden paths...stopping to read the plaques on the memorial benches.  This bench was placed in memory of a family friend...who was known to frequent these gardens on a regular basis...and whose family once farmed the land where the gardens are now located.

I was expecting to find a lot of oranges, golds and browns at this time of the year...

...and was surprised by purples, blues and yellows.

The butterflies and bees seemed unaware that summer is over...and were out in full force.

Sunshine...quietness...a potpourri of scent and a splash of colour...

...it was a peaceful Sunday afternoon stroll.

And did I mention the sound of babbling brooks and singing birds?

As for the camera...the new one is still in the box.  Yes...I purchased a new camera...but unpacked it and noticed the instruction manual was missing.  I'm not real good at 'winging it'...and wouldn't think of using a new camera without my textbook nearby.  I returned it to the store and explained my problem to the sales associate...only to discover that the instructions now come on a disk.  He assured me that I could print them off.  Hmmm.  I'm still wondering how this is all going to work!  I can't see myself carrying around a full-sized binder with my letter-sized sheets of instructions from the Canon people.  Then again...I could just carry a laptop with me when I go hiking...just to be sure I will know how to use my camera.  I don't think so!  Is it asking too much to have a printed manual with the camera?

For now...the camera remains in the box...while I consider my options.

Have a great day...

get the picture?

What could I possibly be looking at? It actually took a few seconds to register....

...and then came the moment of truth...and despair.

Let me lay it out for you...

...and you will see quite clearly what it was that I saw at that moment. How was it that my beloved camera lay in a thousand pieces in the bottom of a bag? It took me a moment to figure it all out.

I had it from good sources that there was something 'picture worthy' happening over at the farm...come with the camera. And so I did...only to discover I was too late...and the photo op was over. So I took my camera...and the John Deere lawn mower...and drove back to our place with intentions of mowing the lawn. On arriving at our yard...I laid the camera on the tractor seat...unhooked the trailer and fastened the blower bags. The tractor was idling....and actually rolled ahead several feet during this time. I didn't realize the camera had jiggled off...and the tractor rolled right over it. In fact...I totally forgot about the camera...jumped on the seat and turned on the mower. There was an awful racket...like that of a Canon being shot into the blower bag...in a thousand pieces. I shut everything down...having no idea what just happened.

And then...the awful moment of truth!

Here is a question that I am now pondering. 'How much is too much to spend on a hobby?' This blogging is getting a little costly! The quality of photos you see on 'My Front Porch' may just deteriorate over the next while...as I will be using my spare Canon...while I save up my shekels to replace the one I have been forced to part with. Bloggers are quite attached to their cameras...so parting does not come easy! Sigh. I'm wondering if Canon might just want to sponsor my hobby...as I am a very loyal customer of theirs...and advertise quite freely on their behalf. Now that's a thought!

Have yourselves a wonderful Labour Day...I'm off to the races. Really!