Random Photo Friday: Merry Christmas from Ella

How did that happen? Again! Days, weeks and months - simply evaporating before my eyes. Whoooooooooshhhh and suddenly it's Boxing Day already. While it doesn't seem five minutes since this year started, here we are again, within days of saying farewell to 2014 and hello to another new year. Next year I definitely need to put "something to slow down time" on my Christmas Wish List.

Nevertheless, while I have a few updates I'd still like to add here before the year is out (and knowing that my very good friend, Carol, is now reading my blog as a way to keep in touch....thanks Carol!), I figured with this still being Christmas n'all that I would post a rather lovely pic I took recently of our little Ella. 

Just like this time last year, she is clearly enamoured with Christmas - the lights, the decorations (which she steals repeatedly from the tree and hides by her bed), the hide-and-seek games with the other two critters among the carefully wrapped gifts.....which then mysteriously become bent, squished and slightly torn overnight. Gooooo figure.

So while Ella was looking so ridiculously adorable, staring at the tree, sniffing the coloured lights (and no doubt planning her next clandestine haul), I caught this shot of her:

I'm quietly very pleased with how it turned out. I purposefully used a very shallow depth of field (with my aperture wide open at F 1.8), to intentionally blur everything behind Ella while keeping her pretty little face relatively sharp. The coloured lights and decorations cooperated wonderfully in creating a very Christmassy bokeh effect and even creating catchlights in her eyes. And what a perfect model she was too. She patiently posed for quite a few shots, although this is my favourite. I swear she was transmitting a telepathic "please deliver lots of treats and catnip toys" message to Santa at the time I took this.

So, from Ella and the rest of us here in this crazy little family (me, Lorne, Mel and Louis), a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all. Wishing you much love, happiness and cheer!

Random Photo Friday: Still Trying Pet Portraits

What the heck - have I seriously not posted anything to this blog since July? Yikes, time is going tooooooo fast. And I have oodles of photos from the past couple of months, not least the 1600 pictures from mine & Lorne's trip to Europe in August - namely, a soggy, cold, blustery and flash-flood week visiting family in England, followed by a cool, grey but drier week in the Czech republic, mostly in the fantastic city of Prague. What a place!

So, while I work my way through those photos (which reminds me, I don't think I ever even finished my Germany photos from last year), I thought I'd quickly post a couple of pet portraits I've shot recently.

Eeeeeeazy like Sunday morning.

Firstly there's our own enormous bundle of fur and cuteness, Louis. Suffice to say he loves basking in the sun as it pours through the window of our second bedroom. (Well, it's more of a den than a bedroom, since you'd be hard pushed to get anything larger than a pet-bed in there anyway.)

I purposefully shot this f1.8 to create a very shallow depth of field, highlighting his paw but capturing the lazy, snooziness of his overall demeanour. He was the perfect model.

The next image is of a wonderfully loyal dog patiently waiting for his owner outside of a coffee shop on Main Street. I used the same lens (my 50mm f1.8 portrait lens) again for a shallow depth of field, to highlight his soft, soulful eyes as he waited so calmly. Well, I say 'he' but he might actually be a she.

Patiently waiting. Dog Days on Main Street.

My Lightroom/Photoshop editing skills are really very basic. In fact I hardly touch my photos afterwards other than a minor tweek of contrast, exposure of colour temperature as needed. But for this pic I felt it warranted an olde-worlde look. I like the effect. I only wish I'd actually looked at his/her collar to get a name - I like to think of these captures as unique moments where two lives touch and the picture holds that moment in infinity. It doesn't seem right to not know the name. :-(

Meet Metformin - Tamoxifen's BFF

Just over a month ago, I wrote a rather exasperated update about my continued frustrations with the weight gain and distinct difficulty in getting any of it to shift, despite my pumped-up workouts. Well, since then, I've been working out even harder - to the point I'm putting in approx. 40% more effort and have even added an extra weekly workout to my usual 3-4. Now, ordinarily (i.e. for the past 15 years) such increase in effort would easily have the weight dropping off me. Even early last year, I dropped about 10 lbs within just a few weeks simply from a slight increase in effort and switching things up a little. But that was then and this is now - and heaven knows I'm probably putting more into my workouts now than I ever have......and, while I have FINALLY started to notice an improvement - the effects are nevertheless somewhat minimal and slooooooow.

That said, in doing a little more research into Tamoxifen and its apparent tendency to 'encourage' weight gain, I happened to come across some rather interesting information about Metformin, a drug ordinarily used for people with type-2 diabetes or other signs of insulin resistance. In fact, I even took it myself for quite a while about 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) when my weight was going up and my skin erupted in acne (something I've been prone to all my life - for worse....and even worse.) Back then I was prescribed a pretty high dose of metformin (about 2500mg/day) by my dermatologist in an effort to help clear the acne. And, while I didn't necessarily notice much improvement in that department, I did happen to shed close to 12 lbs! Not that I needed to lose 15, in fact it was getting a little ridiculous how much my clothes began hanging on me, but I felt fine on the meds (mostly - except for when they tried upping the dose to 3,000 mg/day which soon had me feeling like utter crap).

Anyhoooo, it turns out metformin has medically proven benefits in cancer-fighting, particularly in breast cancer and especially in combination with tamoxifen. How about that? And WHY has this never been mentioned to me before? Thanks to Dr. Google I've found quite a few reports on just how beneficial it is against ER+ breast cancer, even for those without type-2 diabetes, especially in enhancing the estrogen-fighting properties of tamoxifen. And of course the other nice benefit to metformin? - It helps you lose weight, or at least keep it somewhat under control anyway.

So I booked to see my Doc, explained my utter frustrations about the weight gain and the apparently futile efforts of my increased workouts, and we talked about the metformin thing. She agreed with the research, it's definitely been found to be beneficial in enhancing the cancer-fighting properties of tamoxifen and it probably wouldn't hurt to get me started on a low dose - 500mg/day. I was so happy - I literally thought I would have to beg and cry to get a prescription, not least because it's not like I'm fat, just that I've gained a few pounds and, despite my best efforts, am struggling to keep it from continuing going up.

Well, it's been about 3 weeks and I can honestly say - "YAY!!!!!!!" - I am finally starting to see some improvements. I've been pushing the workouts (despite the chronic glute issues in my left bum-cheek that have had me in physio the last several weeks - but that's another story) and I've felt determined to get things under control before we head off to England in a couple of weeks for my brother's wedding....and at long last, all things are finally combining to create a noticeable improvement - in my health, size, wellbeing and improved self-esteem. I feel like I'm back in control once again, even if it is with the help of metformin but hey - from what I've read - there are only benefits to be enjoyed from my low dose and to think it even plays nicely with tamoxifen, what more could I ask for?

Anyway, blah, blah, blah - I'm pleased to report that, while my actual weight has changed very little (which is as I suspected because I'm increasing muscle mass), the needle has finally dropped a couple of pounds - wohoo! Not that weight is so much what bothers me as size and the fit of my clothes. So I also took my measurements the other day and compared them to a month ago - I've lost about 1" on my waist, more than half an inch off each thigh and about an inch around my hips/bum. And that's already enough to make my clothes look and feel so much better - which makes me mentally feel much better too. I can't believe it, I was seriously beginning to doubt I'd get things back under control. And it's not like my weight/size sky-rocketed upwards, don't get me wrong. But relative to my usual stats and the fact I've managed to stay that way for nearly 20 years and that working out like I have been doing would normally be rewarded with much greater improvements, in a much shorter space of time, I am nevertheless very happy to see a small but positive change in the right direction. What's more, I feel great!

The Dr. gave me a 3-month prescription of metformin, so that will at least see me through our vacation (in England and Prague) which I'm glad about. It's always hard when you're eating out all the time, not to mention the fact there are some fantastic Czech beers that I know we're going to be 'sampling'....in varying quantities, as one must - especially on vacation, right?

So YAY! So far so good and hopefully I won't have to feel like a badly over-stuffed sausage in the dress I want to wear at Graham's wedding :-). And for anyone else out there who's struggling against the 'spread' that comes with tamoxifen, I hope this will help. Not that adding metformin is the absolute answer, it's certainly not. You also have to put in the work - and it's definitely worth the extra effort, mentally as well as physically!

Random Photo Friday: Dance of the Sugar-Bum Hairies

It still makes me laugh when I think of my Dad always referring to Tchaikovsky's Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairies as 'Dance of the Sugar-Bum Hairies'. And, while this post isn't about fairies, sugar-bummed, hairy or otherwise - it is about feathers and a couple of noisy crows that have taken to tap-dancing on the balcony skylight outside our bedroom window, and it's driving the cats crazy.

So this was the scene of torment a couple of days ago when the clattering, scraping and squawking of a couple of crows - or perhaps it was just one - started up again on the skylight.


Crows Tormenting Cats. (L-R: Louis, Ella, Mel)

I just managed to grab my IPhone in time to snap a picture of all three with their necks craned desperately trying to get a glimpse of their tormentor(s).

Crows are cunningly evil little buggers. Not only have they taken to clattering and sliding around over the balcony, but both Lorne and I have also caught them tapping on the glass and peering down at the cats from the two large skylights above the landing/stairs. No wonder Louis' been doing a number on himself and nibbling away at his foreleg to the point of scabby baldness - if these crows are what's been stressing him out. And from this photo, you can also see just what a MASSIVE cat he's become though most of it is down to his absolute puff-ball hair!

(Despite our best efforts putting him on a low dose of Zylkene meds and even using a bitter-tasting spray on his baldy area, he still seems to be nibbling away and no doubt the recent heat wave hasn't been helping. In most other ways he's improved a lot in recent weeks and is very happy and sociable once again, but the leg-nibbling continues regardless. (Maybe it's the feline equivalent of me still chomping on my fingernails.)

Anyhow, suffice to say those crows are tormenting, yet creatively entertaining, little buggers!

A new approach.....again!

Well I haven't posted anything for a few weeks here - not even photos, although I have been adding some to my Flickr page and getting some nice feedback.

Anyhooo, in the weeks that have passed, I'm continuing to fight the somewhat relentless battle of the impending bulge as my body seems determined to gain weight. Admittedly I can't be 100% sure whether the upward-creeping scales and tightness of my clothes - especially as I pull out summer clothes that fitted perfectly just last year but look positively shrink-wrapped on me this year - is down to the cancer-fighting, estrogen-zapping Tamoxifen that I'm taking, or whether it's the onset of that dreaded middle-age-spread....not helped any by my penchant for hoppy West Coast craft beers!

So, not in the least bit impressed that my bum and thighs have literally gone up nearly an inch and my summer clothes are all feeling awkwardly 'snug', I've decided to try another revamp of my workout routine plus I've added a few dietary supplements, to see if they help. Gaawd knows the whole Garcinia Cambogia and Raspberry Keytone thing was a big fat waste of time. The first time I've ever bought into the 'Dr. Oz' hype (and I don't even like that show). And, wouldn't you know it, there are many stories in today's news that even chastise him for it. I tried GC for about 9 months and the RK for about 6 months - religiously - to ZERO effect. Not one scrap of difference..... in anything; appetite, weight, energy, size - nothing! I'd say it was a complete waste of money too, except that I ended up being refunded for most of what I bought after taking legitimate advantage of the company's Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee. Just as well, since both products proved to be nothing more than utterly useless and made not one ounce (literally) of difference!

But, I haven't quite given up on the supplement thing yet - I hear good things about Green Tea Extract, including it's cancer-fighting properties, and have also read up on how Tamoxifen can negatively impact the body's handling of calcium, insulin etc. and fat in cells. So I'm armed with about 90 days' supply of Green Tea Extract, Calcium Citrate tablets and a Magnesium supplement, on top of my usual Iron, B-Complex and Vitamin D. Bloody hell, it's a wonder I don't rattle from all these pills.

Added to that, I read a little more about how to improve my workouts in the face of Tamoxifen's potentially negative side-effects, of which weight-gain seems to be a common, though not quite medically proven, feature. In fact, for me personally, I'd say that's the only thing I've noticed, otherwise I've been fine so far (in the 18 months I've been taking it). But, like I said, even I'm not convinced the weight/size gain is down to the meds, it really could just be one more 'joy' of aging.

Because Tamoxifen is rumoured to affect your body's absorption - and processing - of fats and insulin and such, it's important to focus on weight-training exercises (to deplete fat storage) rather than putting too much emphasis on aerobic exercise. With that in mind (and on the recommendation of a couple of different websites), I've toned down my cross-trainer time to about 25mins, though I've made that time a little more intensive - working harder at it for a slightly shorter period. For my weight training, I've stepped up from two sets to three of 20 reps per machine/exercise. On a couple of machines I might tone down the weight slightly for the 3rd set (mainly due to dodgey, unpredictable shoulders - one of which used to dislocate frequently prior to surgery) and a continuously sore glute/bum cheek - which appears now to affect my left side more than it used to on the right. I'm at the point where I may even need to look into physio for my arse.....if I can just pluck up the nerve. Sitting all day at work doesn't help matters and, lately, really seems to be making it worse.

I was actually hoping to get back into running this summer and, on a gorgeous day a couple of weeks ago, I finally took the plunge and went for my first outdoor run in nearly 2 years. It started off well, despite the noticeably slower pace than I used to have, but I've had pain in my left bum cheek/hamstring almost every day since then, enough that I haven't been able to attempt another run. Maybe I pushed it by running for a full 35mins for my first time back at it, or maybe I have just completely knackered my glutes, since most exercise seems to aggravate the issue, even a short walk.

Anyhow, I'm determined to push through and get some of this weight shifted. And, like I've said many times before, I know it's not so much about the 'weight' per se, and there's every chance that will continue to go up with the boost to my weight-training, but rather it's about size and how I fit into my clothes. Right now my thighs and bum are definitely larger and my clothes are all fitting just a little too snug around those same parts, so this will be the best way to (hopefully) burn it off again.

I started the new supplements last week and boosted my two workouts (then we went away to Portland for a few days where I didn't exercise but ate plenty and took advantage of their fantastic beers - doh!). So basically I'm considering this week as my start, and I have 7 weeks to our vacation/Graham's wedding back in England, by which time I aim to be back down to my usual measurements. I have to give it my best effort anyway, nip this thing in the bud before things keep getting tighter and I feel more despondent. I have to say, the workouts are knackering but I'm excited to see the results. I really doubt the supplements will make any noticeable difference, although I can't decide if perhaps the green Tea Extract is actually helping to keep my appetite in check, but we'll see. I'm sure the combination of all these things is going to help - way more so than getting upset and fed up about it....which (many moons ago) used to lead to me eating too much out of frustration and resentment. And THAT's a road I do not wish to go down again, that's for sure!

So, let's see how this goes!

Random Photo Friday: Float your troubles away

Put your troubles in a bubble and float them all away.

When I first moved to Vancouver (late March '96 - after 5 miserable months in Calgary) my sister, Victoria, and her good friend, Laurie, sometimes hung out with an older and rather eccentric hippy  called Wanda-Mae. I only met Wanda-Mae a handful of times but I have the memory of an elephant when it comes to recognizing faces, even years later (often better than I remember them at the time) and have seen W-M a few times around the neighbourhood though I know she'd never remember me personally.

So why does she still come to mind and what the heck does any of this to do with the above random photo? Well, one of the very few things I remember about Wanda-Mae, is an expression she used to use for letting go of things that are weighing on your mind, "Just put it in a balloon and let it float away". So easy to say, I know, but I actually find that her simple visualization really does work, if you let it. Many times I've thought back to it and heard her voice, "Oooh, just put it in a balloon..." Even if you have to use one balloon per problem - simply put them in there, let go...and watch them float away......

And that's what I thought of when I saw this rather enormous bubble down at Kits beach. Admittedly it's not a balloon but I think the imagery still works. Visualize those niggling doubts, fears and anxieties in there, and send them on their way. It may not completely resolve what's bothering you, but it certainly helps lift the weight from your shoulders...and frees up some mental space - if you let it.

So next time your head's spinning with this, that and the other, try to filter out the small stuff. Put your troubles in a bubble...(or a balloon)...and float them all away.

Happy 1st Anniversary to our sweet little Ella

Whether we call her Ella, Ella-Bella, Ella Bella Belly-Rub, Ella-Bella-Boo or simply (the) Boo, there is no denying that adopting this little Miss (although fraught with no lack of anxieties at the time), has proved to be a very wonderful thing indeed. She's a charming, sociable, cuddly and entertaining addition to our family.

Ella matches our furniture purrfectly :-)

Not only does Ella love being around people, she also gets along perfectly with Mel and Louis. We're all happy to be celebrating her first anniversary in our crazy little household.

Mel and Ella - they snuggle together frequently.

Even Louis (top) is getting in on the action.
(With just enough space to fit one more cat?) 

Their first album cover :-)

Bless.

Random Photo Friday: "Just Good Friends?" and "Cleared for Takeoff!"

Well, since the freedom of my mid-week afternoons spent hanging out at the local beaches taking photos has drawn (somewhat) to a close, I thought I'd share a couple of my favourite shots from the past couple of weeks.

MacKenzie (left) and Misty. Just good friends?

Voilà MacKenzie and Misty, two very good friends from different families but the owner of MacKenzie often takes his neighbour's dog, Misty, along on their walks. Two incredibly beautiful and lively dogs, huskies I believe.

What I love about this photo is that they seem like the perfect couple. Made for each other. I imagine they'll still be like this in their senior years.

In a way it also makes me think of Lorne and I. Such good friends as well as being married - he's very much the ying to my yang and I can't imagine a better life partner. I suspect we'll be just like these two even in our 80's, walking (or hobbling slightly with the help of a cane/zimmer frame) along the beach together. I have no doubt that two dogs can complement one another in exactly the same way as two humans. Misty and MacKenzie have certainly found that balance and I suspect that synergy between them will never change. 

(I uploaded this picture to the Georgia Straight's Flickr page on Wednesday and, within an hour, they flagged it as "Photo of the Day" - wohooo!)

On Tuesday I went out for a long walk along Kits beach and headed over to the dog beach there....again. We had a lovely few days this week, where the weather was more like summer than spring, and I'm grateful I was still off work and able to take advantage.

At Kits Beach, I stopped to take a couple of photos of seagulls in the tide (which turned out to be so-so at best) and began to wander off towards the dog beach. But 10 mins later, something caught my eye, and as I turned to look back I noticed a crane in the spot where I'd just taken the seagull shots. I decided it was worth walking back to see if I could capture a decent picture....but the crane wouldn't stand still. He/she kept striding through the tide just as I was about to click the shutter. 

Finally I sat still, set up my focus and exposure ready to hopefully get him/her standing still......but, just as I was set to shoot the standard 'crane in tide waiting for a fish' pose, the bloody thing upped and left......leaving me with me this picture instead:

My what BIG wings you have!

I took just two photos and wasn't actually expecting either to be any good. So I was delighted when I saw this one, especially capturing his/her head poking out just beyond those enormous wings in the split-second of takeoff. I'm as pleased with this image as I am of the bald eagle from a few weeks ago.

Evidently more practise recently has made an impact on capturing the right shot at the right moment. Even though I now have a job, I need to make sure I keep getting out and about taking photos outside of work hours. I hope there are many more wonderful images where this one came from. I just need to be there to take them!

Must all good things come to an end?

Ho-hum!  Remember that sinking feeling you had when the summer holidays were drawing to a close and you had to start getting your stuff together ready for school the next day? Always a very melancholy feeling but also tinged with anticipation - and an element of dread - about the new school year?

Tough last day at my 'other' office

Well, I kind of have that same feeling today. It was a perfectly glorious sunny, warm and positively summer-like day and, after a last morning workout at the gym, I spent the majority of the afternoon out walking at the beach - from Jericho Sailing Club to the dog beach at Spanish Banks, and back again - enjoying a couple of pints of rather delicious Eastside Bitter on the terrace of the Jericho Sailing Centre, while admiring the lovely view and amazing weather. Oh my, I could have happily stayed there forever, just soaking up my last day as a Lady of Leisure - and what incredible weather for it! Not only sunny and blue skies, but even passing 20C. Wohoooo!

After 2 months of unemployment since my contract ended, I have in fact found myself a 'real' job, starting tomorrow - my birthday, no less. While I can't deny the heavy sigh and overwhelming sense of wistfulness that my time off is coming to an end, along with sunny afternoons spent getting pet portraits down at the local dog beaches, I'm nevertheless looking forward to being around people again and especially getting a pay cheque. Two months of zero income - not even any unemployment benefits - when you have an outstanding tax bill of $8,500 is far from ideal even though I'd saved money beforehand knowing I'd have a hefty amount to repay. (Thankfully I found out I can repay it in monthly instalments.) So, with a little savings as a buffer (albeit the money was spoken for) the pressure to find a new job ASAP hasn't been quite as bad this time around. In fact, I've actually managed to allow myself to quite enjoy the gift of a little time off. I've been busy at the gym, I've enjoyed the extra time spent with our crazy brood of kitty-cats and my photography has gained momentum and even taken a step forward into a new direction - the pet portraits. I seriously cannot complain and for that I am extremely grateful!

So what's the new venture? Well, having applied for many jobs and never hearing a single thing in response and even signing up with a happy-clappy temp agency who failed to come up with a single day's work, I was contacted early last week by a friend and ex-colleague from my last job (she left there last November after many years), because the company she's now with was looking for a marketing person. She was thrilled to hear I'm job-hunting and recommended me most highly to her bosses, who interviewed me last Friday morning - perhaps one of the nicest interviews I've had. I went in there with an open mind - not negative but open, anticipating it may not be quite what I'm looking for - and came out 90mins later feeling quite excited by the whole opportunity. Albeit it's for a mechanical engineering firm and, if I'm honest, I'd been hoping to break away from the whole architecture/engineering environment and get into something I might personally enjoy more, but they made me feel incredibly welcome on top of being so impressed with my level of experience and made me a decent job offer - better salary plus benefits and health insurance again, since it's a salaried position not contract - and I start tomorrow, my birthday, though I'll try not to hold that against them. Plus, they have a Victoria office and will soon be opening one in Calgary too, so there'll be an element of travel to my job, which I've actually missed. While Calgary's hardly my favourite place - and I don't exactly hold particularly cheery memories of my short stint living there back in 1995 - I'm glad to have that variation of travel and new environments with new people. Even the trips to Victoria might allow me time to grab coffee or lunch with my good friend, Debbie.

So all in all, I confess, I'm quite excited about it - though nervous too. Maybe because I've been bitten by the past couple of jobs not working out quite as I expected; firstly the incessant long hours and humourless robotic existence of the one company, followed by working hard and still getting unceremoniously thrown under the bus and subsequently laid off from the Cancer Society, which coincided with my own diagnosis of breast cancer shortly thereafter.

Yes indeedy, it's been an odd couple of years in that regard and I'm ready for things to be a little more normal and positive. I'm definitely grateful for many events since 2012 that have, in their own way, led to this and I count myself as extremely lucky to have been able to take the past two months off and, in that time, pursue and even improve upon, the hobbies that are my passion. Plus the fact I've at least had health on my side this time, thankfully spared the concerns and uncertainties that clouded my days when I was out of work for several months in 2012.

I am lucky and very happy. I live a good life with a wonderful man and three adorable cats, in an amazing city and I am so proud to have an incredible family and great friends.

I might be nervous about the big new start tomorrow but I'm also excited to begin a new chapter - as long as I make a promise to myself to still make time for all the things I've enjoyed so much of the past two months!

All in all, not a bad way to end my 45th year :-)

La Conner in Red and Yellow

Since getting our NEXUS cards last year, Lorne and I hop over the US border (about 45 mins drive from home) quite frequently - and with a much, much shorter wait at the border - mainly to stock up on cheaper groceries courtesy of Trader Joe's, but also to visit the quaint little towns of Fairhaven or La Conner. Fairhaven is perhaps my favourite of the two, not least because we always enjoy a delicious italian meal at Mambo Italiano Cafe, but there are lovely locally-owned shops and pubs there too, whereas La Conner is very cute but perhaps a little quieter and geared towards a slightly older crowd.

The area around La Conner is particularly pretty at this time of year, well known for its vibrant fields of daffodils and tulips, and for once we've actually hopped over the border for both.

A few weeks ago the daffodils were out in full bloom, fields of striking sun-shiney-yellow that brighten even the greyest of days. And this past weekend we finally got brighter weather to make it worth the drive down there again, this time to catch the tulip festival - albeit most of the tulips had already been pulled up, probably because the risk of heavy April showers threatened to demolish what was left of them.

So, while we didn't quite capture the multi-coloured array of tulip fields for which La Conner is famous this time of year, we nevertheless found a large field full of the most incredibly striking, vivid-red tulips I've ever seen in my life. Their colour was so rich and intense it almost hurt your eyes just to look at them. Even my camera (and its operator...) had trouble figuring out the perfect combination of exposure, colour balance and ISO to make the most of the blindingly vibrant spray of red and green.

In fact even the daffodils were a challenge; partly because of the slightly cloudier weather that day, but also because of the intensity of their bright, glowing (almost neon) yellow.

Nevertheless I took a few photographs to try and do them justice - personally I prefer the tulip pictures, perhaps because the light and my camera settings gave a greenish hue to the daffodil shots. But hey, I'll leave it up to you to decide:

Heyyyy, whose that handsome fella in my shot?

And then (fast-forward a few weeks) there were tulips....

Tulips as far as the eye can see

Heyyy there's that bloke again.
Funny how he always follows me around :-)

This is perhaps my favourite. I also uploaded it to Flickr
and have had positive feedback.

She looks familiar - even with the wind-scragged hair.

Thought I'd go for a dutch angle on this one. Get it?
Tulips...dutch.....dutch angle? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Okay, I'll skip the terrible pun on this one.
I love that the colours and the flowers' slight movement
in the breeze give this image a painted look.

And, last but not least, a new profile image - including wild 'n' whispy hairdo, courtesy of the strong breeze.

Random Photo Friday: Hoppy Easter

Awww the Easter Bunny. Well, one of the many resident
bunnies from Jericho Beach Sailing Club anyway. 

When I think back to the easters of my childhood, I don't think we were as big on the whole Easter Bunny aspect to it as seems to be the case in North America. We generally got an easter egg on the Sunday, but there was never a big 'egg hunt' or huge inflatable bunnies and ducklings out on the front lawn, like I've seen here. In fact, as a child, the thought of a sasquatch-sized pink/white rabbit stomping around the place and hiding eggs would probably have frightened the living daylights out of me.

Also, easter eggs have long since been a big thing in England - for every type of chocolate bar you can think of, there's a massive egg-shaped equivalent, full of mini versions. Shelves at the local corner store, newsagent or supermarket would be lined choc-full (excuse the pun) with all the variations you could possibly think of. Woolworths, especially, was The place to go. 

Another easter treat we enjoyed back in the UK, that I struggled for many years to find anywhere in Vancouver, is hot cross buns (accompanied by that repetitive chime/nursery rhyme, "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns. One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.") At least not until the Australian bakery company, Cobs, first opened up here. And their hot cross buns really are deeelicious!

Anyhoooo, to get back the the little fluffy bunny photographed above, my sentiments are a mix of 'awww what a cute little rabbit' and 'how can people just abandon their pets?' since the majority of rabbits that roam a good portion of Jericho Beach, in and around the sailing club, are the direct result of lazy, heartless and despicable owners who, tired of their rabbit or whose kids couldn't care less about it anymore, simply take their once-loved pet(s) to the beach and dump them off, leaving them to fend for themselves - against coyotes, eagles (as we've seen by my pics), hawks and other predators, some of whom I suspect are humans. In fact, just as I took photographs of this little guy, I noticed huge chunks of bunny fluff scattered about nearby. Clearly something had ripped apart and eaten one of its relatives a day or two before. And the sad thing is, it's not just pet rabbits that get so heartlessly abandoned there, but hamsters, gerbils, dogs and such as well. I remember a few years ago, over-hearing two kids talk about a big fluffy Chow dog that passed us at the beach. The girl nonchalantly said to her friend, "We used to have a dog like that." "Really?" asked the other. "Yeah, but my parents left him at the beach one day because he barked too much." Just like that. As if it was no big deal! What the f***!

So while it's a sweet photo of a cute and fluffy bunny, I suspect the back story as to how it even got there is not nearly as endearing. And unfortunately, it's likely to find a few extra friends around in the days and weeks following easter.

My first published AND paying photograph!

Today was a fantastic day! One of the eagle photos I featured in my April 4th Random Photo Friday post was published in this week's edition of  The Georgia Straight, Vancouver's popular entertainment newspaper, which came out today - and they're sending me a cheque for the privilege! Wohooooo! I'm absolutely thrilled....to say the least. (I was delighted when a couple of my flower photographs were published before - used for the poster and promotional materials to North Vancouver Arts Council's annual 'Art in the Garden' event - 2011 & 2013.) It's the first time I've submitted a photo to The Straight and I sent it in just a few days after snapping the original shot down at Spanish Banks on April 1st.

Published in this week's Georgia Straight - April 17, 2014

I was pretty happy when they emailed me right back saying, "Awesome work, Katrina" and then, a couple of days ago, they sent me another email confirming it would be in this week's edition. Needless to say, I picked up a copy and Lorne, sweety that he is, came home with about 5 more 'spares'.   :-)

The original photo - taken April 1, 2014

I was amazed that the timing was so perfect for me to catch this shot in the first place, especially so close up, but to see it in print, with my name right there, is an amazing feeling - the fact they're apparently sending me a cheque too is pure bonus!

Naturally I shared this news on Facebook and have had some lovely compliments. Even a guy I worked with a couple of years ago (who's also an avid photographer and has had his pics published in the Straight) had seen my photo in this week's edition and took the time to send me a congratulatory note - we're not actually FB 'friends' but he messaged me to say congrats on a stunning photograph. How nice is that?!! :-)

Furthermore, in the past couple of weeks I've updated my Flickr photos, not least to include the eagle shots, but to add the pet portraits, that way I at least have somewhere to point people to (since I was asked) until I might get an actual website going. I noticed just a couple of days ago that The Georgia Straight also has a Flickr group, which you can join and upload 10 pics/day and they might get used/acknowledged on their website, while simultaneously linking back to you/your Flickr site, so I added my first 10 pics.

Imagine my double excitement when I checked my Flickr site tonight (to happily add the above photo to my 'Published' set) and I noticed they have already marked one of my first 10 pics as a favourite.

Selected today as a 'favourite' in the
Georgia Straight's Flickr group.

Heck, after a day like today, maybe they really are :-)

Little updates on this 'n' that

Ugh, I woke up this morning feeling like someone had smacked me in the face with a shovel. Headache, sinus pressure, sore throat and achey all over - the first time I've been ill in well over a year - and no thanks to Lorne who once again came back from his recent Vegas trip with a nasty cold and has just about deafened me with a week of his eardrum-blasting coughs and sneezes.

I swear, when Lorne gets a cold, or allergies, he's the loudest man on earth. And while he only attends the NAB trade show in Vegas every other year, it's already a running joke that he always comes back as sick as a dog.......complete with loud barking cough! Not only that, but his snotty, blustery trip home almost always coincides with his birthday so I've learnt not to plan too much - at least not for the first few days he's back anyway. This past birthday was no exception and, while we had to cancel dinner plans I'd made for Saturday night, Lorne thankfully had enough energy for the second part of the evening, which was for us and a few friends to go to the hilarious and very entertaining burlesque show, put on by Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society. The women are all shapes and sizes, they all look fabulous and put on a highly amusing - if not incredibly hammy - performance. It's definitely worth the $15 price of admission.

As for me? Well, I've been busy applying for jobs and endured a meeting with a happy-clappy temping agency last week just to try and get some money coming in - albeit you can watch them instantly tune out the moment you get past confirming your name, the rest is apparently idle blah-blah. I'm amazed they manage to put anyone on a job, given that they simply throw a handful of patronizing questions at you and don't care to listen to your answer. "In my last job I was an axe murderer." "Aaaaawesome, that's a fabulous skill!"

I also paid a visit to the government employment office which unfortunately confirmed my suspicions that I'm completely hooped when it comes to any kind of employment insurance benefits or similar. Turns out, as a contractor (ie self-employed), you get somewhat hosed when it comes to taxes and, despite squirrelling away money on one side, knowing I had yet to pay taxes from the past year, I recently got the shock of an $8,400 tax bill, not to mention the $4,300 I've already paid back for GST. I hadn't accounted for the fact I'd also be 100% responsible for CPP (Canada Pension Plan) payments too - to the tune of $4,000, which I had not anticipated at at all. Crap! So this swallows up my savings plus a whole lot more and is compounded by the fact we also have a Europe trip to pay for (going home for my brother Graham's wedding). Ho hum!

In the past I've been quite lucky in that, just as my money was running out, something has come along just in the nick of time. So much so, that my Mum has a rather eloquent turn of phrase she's always used for me in that regard, "Money sticks to you, Trini, like shit to a blanket." Bless!

So in between job-hunting and regular visits to the doggy beach to get more pics and racking my brains on how to get really great shots and build a website etc., I've been working out regularly at the gym although still making next to no noticeable progress. Despite currently being stuffed up with cold, I feel fit and healthy and believe me I don't take that for granted, but I'd be lying if I said I don't still have that niggling frustration that I'm constantly battling to hold my weight and size steady. Ordinarily I would definitely have seen improvements by now, given the longer and more intense workouts, and yet just a few days ago I still created a pile of clothes for donating to charity - clothes I wore just last year that no longer fit me. And this in spite of the fact the vitamin company, Trusted Nutrients, finally made good on their customer service promise and sent me not one, not two but three bottles of Raspberry Ketone tablets, as well as an additional bottle of Garcinia Cambogia - all free of charge!

I'm impressed by the service but still incredibly disappointed with the complete lack of benefits noted by taking these supplements. I gave up taking the GC weeks ago after 6 months of zero effect. Meanwhile I've been on the raspberry ketones for 3 months and - what have I noticed in that time? - yup, you guessed it - NOTHING. Not one pound lost nor the slightest decrease in my measurements - nothing. Big, fat nothing! It's all a bunch of bla-bla and nothing more. Thank goodness I didn't waste my money because there really is nothing of benefit to be noted here. Nada.

Gees, I sound like I'm completely grumpy but I'm not - or haven't been - at all, except for today, since waking up with face-ache and a sore throat was hardly a fabulous start to the day. On the whole I'm managing to keep hopeful and mostly positive about the job-hunt, although I do need something to work out soon, and I'm really enjoying doing more photography, even if my head's spinning somewhat about where to take it from here, to keep and expand upon this current momentum. Maybe it's just that sensation of trying to clutch a lot of straws yet feeling I don't have a good grip on anything.

Maybe I shouldn't post on this blog when I feel kinda crappy.

Fast friends

Two of my new favourite photos - these two crazy hounds played like best buds at the beach today, charging up and down, around and around, the smaller terrier stalking and pouncing on the bigger dog. They were having a great old time, extremely entertaining to watch, that's for sure.

As I left the beach, the two ladies (as seen above) with the small terrier asked me if I post my photos online or have a website - Man, I have to get that set up ASAP - but I don't as yet (and kicked myself for having to say so). But I gave them this blog address so, in case they happen to look here, I thought I'd share a couple of the great images I got from today. I should have asked for their email to send pics. (If you do see this, please send me a note/comment.)

I really have to get my act together because the stars are aligned and telling me loud and clear that I should be doing this!

Okay, one more - just because this little guy was sooo flippin' cute!

Random Photo Friday - Part #2: Honouring Jake

I've already posted my Random Friday Photo but it didn't seem right to wait a whole week before posting the truly random picture I took yesterday afternoon (Friday), that literally moved me to tears.

It was already fairly late in the day, around 3pm, but I decided to take my camera and head out for a walk back down to the Kits doggy beach, hoping to practise my hand at a few more candid pet photos. Also, when I'd been there on Monday, I noticed a very pregnant woman sitting on a log, snuggling with her gorgeous husky and he was looking at her with total adoration. I've kicked myself all week for being too self-conscious to ask if I could take their photograph. In part my return visit yesterday was in hope of seeing them again.

I'd been down there about an hour - enamoured by the fervent enthusiasm dogs have for running back and forth, in and out of the water, sniffing, playing and rough-housing with every other dog they meet. And that's when I noticed a gentle and mellow old boy, sniffing the air and taking it all in.

This time I actually plucked up the nerve to ask his owner if I might photograph him/them. She willingly obliged and told me his name was Jake, he was 12 years old and had spent half his life as a police dog, before retiring six years ago. I began taking a few pictures and offered to send her the photographs, if she had an email address. Without hesitation, she gave me her business card.

Jake was adorable. A friendly old german shepherd, quite grey with patchy skin and baldy bits on his belly, legs and nose. He was frail, arthritic and, even if his eyesight hadn't entirely failed him yet, he was apparently quite deaf. Regardless, he seemed happy and very content to be at the beach.

"He's always been such a great dog," his owner said and, after a couple more photographs, whispered, "today is his last day".

I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me. "Oh no, I'm so sorry," I said, and we both started to cry. My heart went out to her. To both of them, not least because I'm so horribly familiar with the heart-wrenching pain of bracing yourself to say goodbye to an old and beloved furry family member.

She told me how Jake used to tear up and down the beach at high speed, outrunning most other dogs, playing, chasing tennis balls and charging into the tide, then pulled out her Iphone to show me her favourite photo of him and pictures from his younger days. This was to be Jake's last visit to the beach.

Suddenly it was even more poignant that I capture some great shots, not only of Jake but of both of them. I wanted to do him justice, especially on his last day. Nevertheless, I tried not to be too intrusive in their final - and very special - moments together and stepped carefully over my words.

I hardly dared breathe as I took each picture and, of the dozen or so images, I think this one is my favourite.

Jake - a brave and very handsome boy.

A short time later they turned to make their way off the beach. I gave Jake one last ruffle. "I'm so sorry for what you're going through. He's a lovely, handsome dog - I hope my pictures do him justice. Take care." I said, and we both choked up again. 

They meandered back to the pathway and very slowly disappeared out of sight. It took me more than ten minutes (and a couple of kleenex) to compose myself. It's an odd thing to feel such overwhelming and heart-felt compassion for two complete strangers but what a blessing and undeniably curious timing that on this day, when I finally push myself to ask permission, I should have the honour and privilege of sharing such a special, emotional moment - and pictures - of two dear friends preparing to say goodbye :-( Serendipity? Kismet? Divine intervention? 

When I shared the above photo and a brief explanation on Facebook, my friend, Glen, summed it up perfectly; "Life can seem so random and then there's the odd moment where it seems like it was arranged."

I'm deeply touched to have shared such a special encounter with this brave and magnificent old boy and his human guardian. I'm so sorry that his days with his family have drawn to a close. 

Happy trails to Rainbow Bridge, Jake. xxx

(Out of respect for Jake's owner - M - I chose not to include pictures of them both here.)

Random Photo Friday: Timing is everything!

Finding yourself in the right place, at the right time, WITH your camera AND a zoom lens, is a rare and wonderful thing indeed!

Basically never have the photographic stars aligned in my world, such that I'm casually wandering along, armed not only with my DSLR camera, but also kitted with its 300mm VR zoom lens and ready to go at a moment's notice.....when the absolute perfect moment just happens! But - holy cow - did it ever, just a couple of days ago. And here is the result:

It's not so much that he'd just caught a fish, but rather his massive talons
were so deeply embedded into a dead, half-mangled fish, that it made
take-off and landing a right bugger.

Let's just say, it was a gorgeous, sunny and mild (13C) Spring day and I decided to walk down to the local 'doggy beach' past Spanish Banks, to try my hand at a few more candid doggy shots, having got a few good pics down at the Kits Beach/Marine Museum doggy area the day before.

Lorne and I have made the 90-minute drive up to Brackendale (near Squamish) to see the eagles (Dec-Jan) a few times but we have yet to experience anything nearly this amazing. In fact, the past couple of visits to Brackendale, we counted only a handful of far-off eagles, nothing that you could confidently pinpoint on a photograph, other than a white-headed blob. At Spanish Banks I crept down to the edge of the tide and literally got within 30-40ft of this incredible adult eagle.

It's safe to say, I NEVER would have expected to get these pics, least of all during a casual afternoon walk at the beach, just a kilometre or so from home!

So incredibly majestic and powerful.
I still cannot believe I got this shot. 

What's more, when you go to Brackendale there are lines of avid photographers with their big guns - some seriously enormous zoom lenses and expensive high-tech gear - I always feel so amateur. In this instance, I was surrounded by people armed only with Iphones, so for once I looked like the pro! (Thanks in part to Lorne, for the upgraded zoom lens he gave me for Christmas 2012.)

The main challenge was zooming in just enough to get the shot but not so much that you risk the long lens creating blur from being handheld, even with built-in VR. Not to mention that whole depth of field thing. Of course I still see a little softness to them, but on the whole I'm very happy with what I got.

Naturally I posted these pics of Facebook too and got some wonderful (ego-boosting) feedback and I've decided to submit a couple of them to the local media, mainly just to get the coverage.

But seriously, what a unique and A-M-A-Z-I-N-G experience! And I could have probably taken lots more photos too, were it not for these two rambunctious goofs who came tearing down the beach and into the water, thinking they had a chance at catching Mr. Eagle.

Missing Mooky

It's been a whole year since the chirpy and very demonstrative voice of our furry little princess, Mishka, fell silent. She has, and continues to be, deeply missed. Such a good-natured, highly entertaining, a gastro-intestinally - and gastronomically - challenged and wonderfully vocal bundle of fluff, with whom I shared close to sixteen years of my life. Almost the whole time I've lived in Canada. The $10 pub kitten who started out like a big-headed Beanie Baby, blossomed into a feline Cindy Crawford and aged into a black/smokey-grey-haired matriarch, with a pudgey but cute, semi-baldy belly.

The little love who was certainly happy enough and never, ever unfriendly even if she was nevertheless a tad aloof and didn't really go in for cuddles, snuggles and belly rubs. She simply did her thing, preferred to be somewhat in the background - especially during the years we had a full brood of five cats - and always played nice. Only as she got older, and a few of the other cats passed away, did she really come into her own - and boy, did she ever! She became a new cat, even more adorable and communicative, one who adamantly asserted her presence at every opportunity and in more ways than one. Oh the endless conversations you could have with Mishka. She was never short of something to say....or shout, especially if she thought you had tuna. And what a night-time snuggler she became, curling up tight against my chest - or by Lorne's head - relentlessly purring up a storm.

While the circumstances around my having several months off in 2012 were not what I necessarily would have asked for, I will always....always....be grateful for the extra time it gave me with Mishka, and at a time where she needed us to be there for her too. If there was ever a bright, bright shiny silver lining to what might otherwise have been one of Life's clouds, then that was surely it for me, and for her. She was my constant companion, my friend. therapist and mentor, and my furry little shadow everywhere I went. Those precious months together, on top of more than 15 years of endearing companionship, are what fill my heart with joy and love whenever I think of my precious little luv. I am forever grateful for the sheer privilege of sharing so many years with her, and all our kitties come to think of it.

Here's to you, Mishka - my wonderful Mooky-Moo. You are loved and missed every day.  xxxxxxxxxxxx

The Inevitable Break-Up

"It's been seven hours and fifteen days....since you took your love away" or so the song goes. Actually, it's more like eighteen hours and twenty one days, but who's counting? Suffice to say, as of March 7th, Omicron and I have officially broken up. Again.

Well, that's how it feels anyway. This time the shoe was on the other foot, "It's not you, it's us", they said. "I know we've been great together, and these past 16 months have been awesome - the best ever - but, deep down, you know we can't keep going on like this, kidding ourselves that this can last. You've never professed to being in this for the long haul and we can't make you any promises that things will ever really change around here. We've given it a lot of thought and, as stressful as it might be, it's time we tried this on our own - it's for your sake as much as it is ours."

Okay, so maybe they didn't use those exact words, it was more like "I'm afraid we just don't have the budget to renew your contract at this time, we've just laid off 15 people. Maybe, a few months down the road, if we're able to and you're still willing, then we can have you back, but for now we just have to go it alone and see how we manage."

My latest contract was set to expire February 28th and we agreed that would be it. As the final few days ticked by, there was a last-minute panic - too many proposals all popped up at once, which coincided with the marketing guy in the Calgary office quitting - so they asked me nicely to give them one more week, which I dutifully did. (Admittedly I felt a wee bit smug at the desperation in their tone.) And so March 7th became the new end date - this time we both acknowledged and honoured it.

I can't lie - in an odd sense, it's like our 5-year on-off relationship has finally come to an end. Died of natural (financial) causes, if you will. It was all amicable, absolutely. And it's not like I didn't know this day was always on the horizon anyway. Heck, it was only supposed to be for a couple of months......which somehow turned into nearly eighteen.

So we're through. And even during the first week of our separation, I half expected the phone might still ring - a call asking me to please come back, "we just can't do this without you". It didn't. And it hasn't rung for the three weeks since things officially ended between us. Any initial denial on my part has since faded, replaced somewhat reluctantly by the long-anticipated reality that I really do have to get myself a real/new job. Ho-hum!

During the first 2.5 years I worked so damn hard at that relationship, I gave it everything - too much in fact. The long hours, the frequent cancellation of plans I had outside of work because of too many imminent proposal deadlines and all for the arrogant (and much better paid) people relying on me to write that winning bid and find enough work to feed the whole corporate family. No pressure! And then they expanded their business portfolio into Alberta's Oil & Gas industries - namely those MASSIVE oilsands projects - and it just felt wrong in my stomach to be a part of that. An environmental horror story in which I wanted no part, least of all to actively pursue the dirty business opportunities therein. And so I told them, "it's not me, it's you" and I wandered off to pastures new.

For a little while the grass really did seem greener. I worked a 37.5 hour week instead of averaging 50 - 60. I got back in touch with friends I hadn't seen in a long time (including my best friend 'gym') and this new, easier life - yes, I had a life back - was ok overall. Of course I missed the writing, the editing, the proofreading and desktop publishing, but at least I was working with content that felt more like it mattered, i.e. helping raise money for kids suffering from cancer. Little did I know in all of this, that it'd be only a matter of a few short months before everything changed again and that 'c-word' would hit even closer to home.

So we went our separate ways for a while. Indeed, I needed that break from our intense relationship and to evaluate my own priorities in life. But when I needed - and was ready to - go back to work, Omicron was there for me with open arms. Welcoming me back into the fold to give things another go - "it'll be different this time". And it was. Quite different. Pretty damn good in fact. Quite the opposite to my initial experience and I am definitely glad for that. I got to work on projects I enjoyed, the pace was less frenetic, deadlines were perfectly manageable, people seemed friendlier. I confess I was actually enjoying being back there. Of course there was still that fundamental problem of their interests in the oilsands.....I tried to make my peace with it, knowing this was just a temporary gig to help us both out and my other choice was unemployment. (Never look a gift horse in the mouth.)

Besides, there was so much more to it this time - for me, personally - the freedom of being self-employed, the writing and editorial work, the proofreading that appeals to my inner word-geek and nit-pickiness. Plus I was using InDesign again - how I'd missed the desktop publishing and design/photographic slant to the work. Not forgetting that I also took on the role of resident portrait photographer for anyone new who joined the company.

Yep, I'd have to say I was quite comfortable in this new take on our original relationship, things were going well, on both sides. But even I couldn't ignore the signs that, despite our mutual efforts, it was nevertheless destined to be short-lived. I fully expected it to be over long before - done in a couple of months. The fact we got this far - from 2009 - 2014 almost straight through - is admirable in itself, given the tough times we went through.

So we've called it a day, gone our separate ways and there are no hard feelings. We had what we had and it was great while it lasted, especially the second time around. They'll continue without me - which, due to a relentlessly heavy workload, layoffs and resignations, leaves a lot of stress and overtime on the remaining three marketing team members. As for me, I'm enjoying a little time off, hanging with the kitties (Ella just follows me around all day long, such a sweety), and have started applying for other jobs. Heck I even finally got around to posting my profile on LinkedIn, so we'll see if that helps any.

For now I've managed to remain fairly optimistic, at least I know I definitely want to continue in a position that involves the more creative writing, editing, proofreading etc. and, ideally, more photography. This is but a stop-gap between chapters and I'm excited to see what the new chapter brings.