Project 365: The Vacation Edition

Can you believe I almost forgot to put up my 365 post this week? My goodness, a little sunshine appears in an otherwise damp and dreary summer and suddenly the blog is the last thing on my mind. Sheesh!

It was a busy week for photo opportunities, largely because we tried to cram an entire summer’s worth of activities into five warm and mostly sunny days. The week started on a high, with a fun birthday party and this perfect birthday cake handcrafted by my excellent friend Jojo:

Isn’t it great? I laughed out loud when I saw it, and it tasted even better than it looks. And yes, the photo was entirely edible and no, I have no idea how she did it!

On my actual birthday, we went to the beach. I love this shot, called “birthday beach bliss”:

This is my brother. He’s being eaten by a tyrannosaurus. His shirt pretty much says it all. (As one of my flickr friends said, ‘That’s going to leave a scar.”)

On the Civic holiday Monday, we did something I’ve been meaning to do for years: we went to the Changing of the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill. I have a thing for marching bands.

I almost called this one RGB Icons — don’t you love the intense colours? That’s straight out of the camera. If only I’d had a hockey stick on me, I’d’ve been able to cover the Canadian iconic spectrum in this shot!

After the Changing of the Guard, we wandered over to Sparks Street to catch the last day of the Busker Festival. These guys, a local act called The Cow Guys, put on an excellent show with a bull whip, juggling machetes and some really impressive balancing acts.

As much as I love my D40 (a *lot*) I do have to say, my little Fuji Finepix point-and-shoot takes some awesome super-macro shots. I can’t get closer than 15 cm or so with even my fastest dSLR lens (I’m coveting a macro lens, but can’t justify the hundreds of dollars right now) but the little Fuji can get within 1 cm. This is one of the roses from the birthday bouquet my mom gave to me (in a yellow happy face bowl — very sweet!)

(I had a lot of fun with photoshop this week! Almost all of the shots have some sort of post-processing play on them.)

I called this one “Toddler Rage.” He’s officially one and a half today, but the terrible twos have already set in. My, but the boy has a temper on him. (Mind you, I’m holding a half-eaten fudgesicle just outside the frame of the camera, and just outside of his reach. Can’t say I blame him for giving me a piece of his mind. If there were a thought bubble over his head, I imagine it would say, “I am not your dog and pony show. Get that &%$#@ camera Out. Of. My. FACE! And give me back my popsicle!!”)

On Thursday, we tried to visit the Farmer’s Market at Lansdowne Park, but found out too late that it doesn’t start until 1 pm. Instead, we entertained ourselves with a wander through the Glebe to Sugar Mountain. The plethora of photo opportunities kept me content, and the boys (big and small) were thrilled with their sugary booty.

I searched the Web for the story behind this weathervane outside the Aberdeen Pavilion, but couldn’t find any explanation. It’s a flying cow with bicycle wheels, perched on a fish. ???

Speaking of whimsical, I was entertained by this house near Lansdowne, tricked out to look like an old street car. I loved the complimentary colour blocks.

After much agonizing, I selected the cow weathervane as the picture of the day because of whimsical nature of it, but I think in the end I prefer this photograph of a painted bicycle tire outside a bike repair shop on Bank Street.

I’ve been waiting patiently throughout my 365 project and this endlessly soggy summer for a decent rainbow picture. I finally got my rainbow on Sunday:

And then yesterday, when I had no other good ideas, I made another one of my own!

Each week, though, I’m reminded that after all the flowers and rainbows and whimsical oddities, I still have a few favourite subjects that make it all worthwhile…