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