Month: May 2015

Photo of the day: Willie in the window

It’s been a while since we’ve had a photo of Willie, hasn’t it? He likes to hide out in the unphotogenic basement where the big boys have their bedrooms – and where Bella can’t go. He’s figured out that although Lucas is not one of his favourite people (that list comprises Tristan and Beloved, and Simon in a pinch), Lucas’s room has a window with a perch and is also a baby-gated Bella-free zone.

willie in the window

You can pretty much read the derision on his face, though. Oh Willie, I’m not nearly as evil as you seem to think I am – although I will admit to being the catalyst that brought the dog into the house, and an unapologetic dog person.

One day, maybe we’ll have pet harmony in the house.

Photo of the day: Fisheye view of the Rideau Canal

You might remember a few months ago, I was having fun with a fish-eye lens I had picked up second-hand from a local photography forum. From the day I got it, it was a little sticky in its focusing ring, but within a few weeks the focusing ring was getting so jammed that I couldn’t get it unstuck.

I brought it in to a local camera repair shop, but they couldn’t guarantee they could fix it, nor could they guarantee they’d be able to get it back together again in working order once they pulled it apart because they didn’t know what the problem was. They quoted me $300 on a “maybe” and I shrugged and said, “Forget it. It works well enough most of the time and I can work the focusing ring loose when it gets jammed.” He cautioned me that the torque I was using to twist the focusing ring could damage my camera where the lens mounts over time, and I walked away thinking I’d basically peed the money I’d spent on the lens down the drain.

It’s a Sigma fish-eye, so my last-ditch attempt was to call Sigma and see what they had to say. They would look at it for $25, and apply that fee to whatever the repair cost was. For $25 plus the cost to ship the lens off to Mississauga, I figured what the hell. I told them it was a second-hand lens and I didn’t know the nature of the damage, and hoped for the best.

The best, as it turns out, was way better than I could have hoped for. Within two weeks, the lens was shipped back to me in working order — and completely free of charge. Even though I did not have any paperwork and was not the original owner of the lens and had no idea of the nature of the damage, they covered the repair under warranty AND waived the $25 fee AND shipped it back to me free of charge.

How’s THAT for amazing customer service? Yay Sigma!

To celebrate, I took my new/old lens for a walk on a sunny summer afternoon.

Rideau Canal in summer fisheye

That’s the best thing about a new toy – revisiting old favourite places and giving them a new twist. 🙂 Thanks Sigma, for the awesome customer service. I am highly impressed.

Planning for PEI: Five places we must revisit

Yay! I’ve been biding my time through a long cold winter, but it’s FINALLY time to kick it into high gear in planning for PEI in summer 2015! Next week we can say we’re going next month. And if you think I’m excited, you should hear Lucas – he asks at least once a day how much longer until we go.

I honestly can’t tell you what we’re more excited about: revisiting favourite places from last year, or discovering new ones. For today’s post, here’s five places we loved so much that we know we’ll be going back again.

1. PEI National Park at Greenwich

Adventures in PEI

We loved this part of the Island so much that we chose a cottage in the vicinity for this summer. Pastoral dunes, marram grass, calm waters, red rocks… I swear, I feel calmer just thinking about it. During our 2014 visit, we only had time to hang out on the beach for a couple of hours. This year, we’re planning on exploring the interpretive centre, the dunes and the boardwalk. And I found this awesome list of fun activities at the Greenwich, Cavendish and Brackley parts of the park. Sandcastles, beach detecting and a discovery dome? Yes! And there’s even geocaching. We’re pretty excited about the time we’ll be spending in PEI National Park!

2. Souris and Chef Michael Smith’s Flavour Shack

At the Flavour Shack

Although Souris is a little bit off the beaten path, it was one of the main areas we considered when renting a cottage this year. It’s a delightful little town with everything you could want, including one of only two Tim Hortons on the eastern half of PEI. Of course we’re looking forward to returning to Chef Michael Smith’s Flavour Shack. After a year of inviting Chef Michael into our home two or more hours a week as we PVR and watch archival episodes of Chef at Home, I feel like we know him personally! And here’s a not-so-secret: there’s great beachcombing and seaglass hunting right behind the boardwalk where the Flavour Shack is perched! If you like sea glass, be sure to check out the Souris Lighthouse – they have a big exhibit of sea glass and lots for sale in their gift shop.

3. Basin Head Provincial Park

Souris and Basin Head PEI

Our cottage is about a five minute walk from miles of white sand beaches, but we’ll still make the drive out to the far northeastern tip of the Island to revisit Basin Head beach and its famous singing sands – probably more than once! Last year the water was cold but lively with waves, and our visit to Souris and Basin Head was my favourite day on PEI. I might even let the boys jump off the famous bridge and let the river current carry them out to the salt water of the open sea — maybe just once! There’s a fisheries museum there too that we missed last year. That will be definitely worth checking out!

4. Green Gables House

Cavendish, PEI

We’re still working our way through the Anne of Green Gables books. We’ve made our way to Anne of Ingleside so far, which we’ll probably finish in time for our trip. I would have thought that one visit to Green Gables would have sufficed to satisfy the boys’ curiousity, but to my delight all three said they would like to go back this year. It’s a lovely, low key way to spend a few hours.

5. Cows Ice Cream

Souris and Basin Head PEI

Okay, the photo above wasn’t actually Cows ice cream – we weren’t exclusive in our ice cream choices on the Island. 😉 But the Cows was the best, and the boys (and their ringleader Beloved) have been talking about Cows ice cream and going on the factory tour we didn’t take last year all winter long. We may also find it in our hearts to sample ice cream from a few competitors while we’re there. You know, just to make sure that Cows is in fact the best on the Island. And we’ll quaff a bottle or two of Anne’s Raspberry Cordial while we’re at it.

Other places we’re looking forward to revisiting: Peter Llewellyn’s Shoreline Designs in Georgetown, the lighthouse at Panmure Island, Rick’s Fish and Chips, Boom Burger in Charlottetown… so many great memories, and so many new ones waiting to be made!

Points East Logo 1Most of the places mentioned above are on the Points East Coastal Drive, our favourite region of PEI. If you’re looking for ideas, inspiration or accommodations for your PEI vacation, check them out!

In my next post, I’ll talk about some new places and events we’re looking forward to discovering for PEI 2015!

Disclosure: Points East Coastal Drive is one of our bloggy sponsors. However, if you’ve been around at all this year, you know my love of PEI and my excitement to share it with you are 100% genuine!

Photo of the day: The Library in the Lilacs

You might have seen an earlier version of this photo if you follow me on Instagram. I’ve been meaning to bring my camera downtown for a while, but sort of missed the tulip festival this year. The lilacs are just a wee bit past their prime, but I do love how they frame the back of the Library of Parliament from this perspective. As soon as I saw the lilacs, I poked around until I found a composition that would let them frame the gorgeous Library building, and conveniently block out some of the cranes and other construction equipment around the Parliament Buildings.

Library in the lilacs

I took the photo above with an 85mm lens, which is a little on the telephoto side, meaning it magnifies the image a bit and has a narrower field of view. Telephoto lenses also have the effect of compressing elements in the frame, so it looks like the lilacs are fairly close to the Parliament Buildings where in fact, they are on opposite banks of the canal and probably half a kilometer or so apart.

The photo below was taken from the same spot (crouched, as it happens, with my lens pressed between the bars of a black wrought iron fence to get the best perspective) but with a wide-angle 24 mm lens. The shorter focal length (24 mm vs 85 mm) means a wider field of view but things seem smaller and further away, and elements in the composition also seem further away from each other.

Library in the lilacs - wide

You can see much more of the environment, but to me the Library almost gets lost in this composition. I like that you can see more of the sky and the water, but you can also see that unfortunate dead tree to camera right and some of the ugly scaffolding on the Parliament Buildings. I could, of course, remove some of those in Photoshop, but I’m not invested enough in this particular image to take the time to do it.

Which one do you like better? And do you like these types of posts? Are they interesting/helpful to you? Because I could talk about this stuff all day long!

Flash Giveaway: Kinder Surprise Minions!

I have a bloggy confession to make. I have never actually seen any of the Despicable Me movies, although the kids have seen them all. And yet, of course I know all about the Minions, because you’d have to be living completely off the grid to miss the Minion memes. There are tumblers, dedicated Facebook pages, and of course, a Minion Meme generator.

Speaking of generating memes, here’s a fun way to bring a little old school fun to a 21st century meme: how about making your own minion? Have you ever noticed that the inner capsule of a KINDER® Surprise Egg is like a minion waiting to happen?

To celebrate the pending release of the Minions movie this July, you’ll soon be able to find a whole line of Minions toys in specially marked KINDER® Surprise Eggs. Fun, right? There are 11 Minion toys to collect, for a limited time only. And for you, my funny bloggy peeps, here’s a chance to win a $40 KINDER® Sur-prize pack, with a chance to find the ENTIRE Minions collection.

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  1. This giveaway is for a KINDER® Surprise prize package.The approximate prize value is $40.
  2. To enter the giveaway, two steps are required. Please use the widget below and (a) visit the KINDER® Facebook page and (b) leave a comment on this blog post answering this simple question: bananas or apples?
  3. ONE winner will be chosen at random from all entrants.
  4. This giveaway is open only to residents of Canada, excluding residents of Quebec. (sorry!)
  5. This giveaway will run until 11:59 pm EDT on Tuesday May 26, 2015.
  6. The contest winner will be required to provide a full name and complete mailing address to be shared with KINDER® for shipping purposes.
  7. While you may enter as many of the KINDER® contests as you like, you can only win once.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Kinder Minions


DISCLOSURE: I’m a #KinderMom/Maman/Dad who is part of the KINDER® Canada influencer team. As part of my affiliation with KINDER® Canada, I am provided with special perks and products. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Photo of the day: The days are long, but the years are short.

I have always liked this quote, and when I heard that it was coined by Happiness Project author Gretchen Rubin, I liked it even more. It seems to fit the dandelion well: the fragility, but the ubiquity. (And, truth be told, I feared maybe you were getting sick of dandelions, so I thought I’d kick it up a notch.)

The days are long, but the years are short.

The Happiness Project has been on my “to read” list forever. I love the concept – you make your own happy, something I truly believe. Have you read it? What did you think?

And don’t you find with every passing year that those years seem shorter and shorter?

Photo of the day: Crab apple blossom pistils

Can you tell I had fun with the crab apple tree in the front yard? I’m sad that I never got to take advantage of it as a backdrop for portraits, but delighted that I got to take advantage of it as a subject for portraits!

Apple blossom petals, stamen, stigma and style

Now I’m knowledgeable about apple blossom parts – those bits sticking up are the pistils, and the yellow bit on top is the anther. I love how the various parts of the blossom and leaf swim into and out of focus, depending on where the very thin field of focus falls, to give you hints of what exactly you’re looking at but not the whole picture.

I may have one or two other crab apple blossoms yet to share. The photos seem to have a longer lifespan than the blossoms themselves!

Photo of (a few days ago): Crab apple blossoms

I took this photo on the weekend, and didn’t get a chance to upload it before my computer turned into the dreaded blue screen of death. It blue-screened on me once and restarted fine, but the next day it crashed utterly and completely and I couldn’t even re-boot it in recovery mode. It took a call to Apple support and a trip to the Genius Bar, and my MacBook was diagnosed with a failed graphics card – 64 days before the three-year Apple Care warranty was about to expire. Long story short, I was saved a $750 repair bill and had to deal only with four and a half long days without my computer. I missed it so! much! While it was at times liberating to not have my computer calling my name rather constantly, my life is just too big to comfortably share on the four inch screen of my iPhone!

And so, here is the photo I took Saturday and didn’t get a chance to share with you.

crab apple blossoms

Ironically, just five days later and there is nary a petal left on the tree. The blossoms are so lovely, but so ethereal. I didn’t do much processing to this – the neon colours are more or less as nature presented them under my macro lens. The sharp edges come partly from the sharpness of the lens itself, and partly from a bit of a torque to the sharpness in post-processing.

I really love the contrasting colours though! What do you think?

Is fruit juice bad for kids?

This is timely. I was just thinking about writing a blog post about kids and their drink choices when I came across this article in the Ottawa Citizen about how fruit juice may be dropped from Canada’s food guide as a healthy choice. The article illustrates two sides of the argument: on one hand, fruit juice does contain certain vitamins like vitamin C, folate and potassium, which makes it perhaps a better choice than straight soda or fruit punch. On the other hand, drinking a couple of cups of juice every day could comprise a quarter or up to half of a child’s caloric requirements – with questionable nutritional benefit.

I know from my own ongoing research into the healthiest food choices for myself and the family that you should in general try to avoid drinking your calories. There’s no doubt that eating an orange is a better overall choice than drinking a 125ml box of pure orange juice. But is it reasonable to ask kids to drink mostly water? And is an apple going to quench thirst like a cup of apple juice?

4:365 Club soda

I’m not too worried about the amount of juice the kids consume. A juice box in the lunchbox (gasp! I know, but I’m picking my battles) and a half a cup of apple juice at dinner don’t seem to be too unreasonable to me, even if they will add 100 or so “empty” calories. But as the boys get older, what I’m wondering about is the choice between sugary pop and the chemicals in diet soda. We’re aiming to be an ‘all things in moderation’ sort of household, so I don’t want to ban pop entirely, and I want the boys to (a) make reasonable choices and (b) be able to choose things that they find yummy and satisfying sometimes. While I don’t love the idea of them drinking 150 calories of sugar in a can of soda, I think the aspartame and other crap in diet soda could be worse for their growing bodies. Personally, whenever I can I avoid aspartame in everything except chewing gum, which usually means I’m choosing the full fat and full sugar versions of any product over the “lite” low calorie or low fat options. Sugar may be evil, but I’m convinced that artificial sweeteners are worse.

What do you think? Given a choice between the evils of sugar and the evils of artificial sweeteners, which one do you think is more harmful, even on an occasional basis?