Monday, February 18, 2008

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Just a little something I am noticing

I am deffinately noticing that I am outside more since I got my camera. Just another way that it was deffinately the right purchase for me. I am sure my dog is enjoying it too!
I finally figured out how to add links to the side of my blog, it wasnt as painful as I thought it'd be! Quite easy in fact and you can expect to find many more links there soon of whatever tickles my fancy. Grace and I did a couple of those coffee travel mugs where you decorate them yourselves. I love the way all you have to do is cut the paper and yourdone. Or you can go a little wild and add some embellies to them. You cant go over board with crazy though because then it wont fit in there. I will post the pics tomarrow. Hopefully I will also have th elables for the rest of the Kup Kuffs and I can post a picture of those all done up too. I have a major hurdle to cross with those though as I dont know how to charge for them. I am not sure how to account for my labour plus materials and I dont want to price them too high. I feel as though selling a lot at a slightly lower price is better than selling a few at a higher price. But at the same time, I do not want to undersell myself. I am hoping ppl will be willing to put a decent price on these hand made little gems and of course, support a worthy cause in Mexico. Yikes. I am feeling uncharacteristically tired tonight. I think it has to do with the fact that I laid awake at around 2 am for a long time mentally going through my cookbooks, wondering which ones I am 'done' with and which ones still have some giving to do for me! Crazy! I would have been better off to just get up and go through them!

nighty night.....

Monday, February 4, 2008

A little Cow Bay

I love the town of Cowichan Bay. It is barely the length of a block but in that short stint businesses, there is more character than most cities hold all together. It is like a secret hidden gem in the Cowichan Valley. One of the secrets here is this bakery. I adore thier soft pretzels and thier chocolate buns....... Yep, I said CHOCOLATE buns! The bakery connects to this awesome little deli. All these years I thought that little hallway was where the restrooms were, but it lead to a little deli where they sell hilary cheeses.
Keeping with the character of Cowbay, this is considered a planter. It looks really pretty when its in bloom but right now, not much is in bloom.


I love this wooden pretzel. Though I am sure it doesnt taste nearly as good as the ones inside the store! YUM!


I love all the little details you can find around this place if you look for them. We werent here too long this day and we were only around the bakery.......




But you know I'll be back!!!








Sunday, February 3, 2008

A couple of different views







Affinity Guesthouse

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon for taking pictures, or just being outside for that matter! I have always wondered what the Affinity Guesthouse was and pointed out to my dad the road that had thier sign. He didnt hesitate to turn down the road. It felt more like a driveway than a road, especially when we were greeted so warmly by Dwight. Dwight enthusiastically invited us to come and explore thier place there. First, he took us to the Guest house where we were welcomed through these beautiful doors! It was just as beautiful inside. Tastefully decorated but in a relaxed homey way. I was impressed with the comfort infused deeply in the entire house.
Just look at how beautiful this understated house is!

We were encouraged to walk around the propery to explore, enjoy and take pictures. It was such a beautiful day for all three! I often feel a little self concious walking around taking pictures, specially on someones private property, but here we felt very welcomed.


We even had a special tour guide! Here is Seth. This was a wonderful tour guide, patiently waiting for us as we stopped to take pictures or just take in all the wonderful birds that were out.




Lots of great photo ops the whole way around thier dyke.



They also have an outdoor tour service as well. They do canoe trips.








Here is Seth patiently waiting for us to catch up with his guided tour.















I am looking forward to going back out there when the leaves start to bloom. I am sure it will look entirely different and there will be many new treasures to find!














Friday, February 1, 2008

originals + a goof







The ordinary things.

It was an amazing morning this morning. Just the perfect combination of a bright sunny sky and a thick blanket of fog. I took some time and went to the back side of the Gary Oak reserve at the bottom of Timbercrest to play around with my camera. When I first got there, I was moderately inspired. But I got out into the crisp air and and just started randomly shooting. I am always amazed that when I start looking through the viewfinder, I find so many more things than if I didnt have it.

It is as if the viewfinder opens up a whole new world for me.
I would not have noticed all these little spent seed pods if I had not been looking through my viewfinder. The viewfinder narrows your field of vision. I view things more deliberaltey and focused, all the other 'noise' around is filtered out and the viewfinder points me to the small details othewise missed.



Looking through my viewfinder excites me to no end. I am constantly discovering new things. Seeing mundane things in a new way.


Yep, this is where I belong........ behind the viewfinder.