Trying the Trail Again

Note: There is a PSA about blogrolls at the end of the post.

We are not exactly burning up the trails, but we did go for another cycle yesterday (Sunday).

We didn’t ride with that ↑ bike, but I thought this is as good a place as any to drop in a photo of this bicycle that we see as an ornamentation downtown.

On our own more prosaic devices, we opted to head for the trail, you know the one where the insects feasted on Sue last time. Our luck held as the cold nights have either ended their season or at least they hadn't warmed up yet on this morning.

As I have mentioned before, we both seem to maintain our balance fairly well, but when Sue wanted to stop to get shots of oncoming cyclists, I was glad to stop wile they passed because I do feel a little unsure and wobbly when they whiz by on that fairly narrow trail.

We made other stops: one where we ride by a swampy area and another by the farm field where we turned around. We could have gone a little farther, but my ancient legs were hinting that I should exercise prudence.

Since our return trip would take us by Dark & Deadly, we decided to park our bikes and go in for  a coffee. We didn't have our bike lock, but we sat right by the window to keep an eye on things, and you might see the handlebars very faintly behind Sue. The Score (as in toffee) coffee was quite wonderful. I sometimes try the flavours there, and I have found that I like Score. I like the real chocolate bar too, but that is a whole uhter thang.

There is usually a new monster in there, or at least one that is freshly dressed, so I took a few photos, but I think I might save them. October and Halloween are coming after all.

However, this ↓ is our summary. Such summaries were not a thing 20 years ago when we cycled much more often and much farther too. We rode only 6.35km, but I think that is the most yet. We stopped a lot for pictures, so I don't know how accurate the average speed is. I had a moderate heart rate of 102 while pedalling.

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PSA

Before Blogger had proper blogrolls I found a reader program called Feedly at feedly.com. It has been working for me while Blogger has, apparently (from what I read on various blogs), been fumbling its blogrolls. Of course Feedly will want you to upgrade to get more features, but the unpaid version works well for me and has for many, many years. I can access it through my browser on the computer or via an app on the phone or tablet. You have to get the url of the blog you want to follow and then paste it into the Feedly search function, and then you should be good to go. I am sure that Blogger will correct the blogroll problem in due course, but you might like Feedly better regardless.

Here's a sample screenshot.

Photogenic Nick

When I at coffee with the boys, I sometimes take candids of Nick. I find that he is an interesting subject, maybe it is the hair.

From my birthday lunch

This week, I took my mini tripod-like device to show the boys at coffee, and I clicked a few photos from my watch.

I took that photo using an Apple portrait mode and did very little post-editing, but I was stuck with the reflections on his glasses. Although, Lightroom has an algorithm to deal with reflections, it really only applies to big windows as far as I can tell. Removing reflections manually is beyond my skillset, and even if I could, I wasn't about to invest a huge amount of time in a candid photo.

In the event, I asked AI to remove the reflections, but it just changed the glasses and did other alterations with his eyes. It did a good enough job, but the point is that it didn't just replace the glasses themselves but rebuilt that part of Nick's face. I don't think one would ever know, however; it is still unmistakably Nick.

With or without, he is kinda a cool-looking dude. 

Doors but no Music

Some time ago, I showed you the out-of-town Reciprocal Door. It stood alone as just a door as an art installation.

This week, we found another standalone door in a garden in town, along with a bicycle. There is something appealing about things out of their usual places.

It was actually this ↓ door that we were looking for when we found that ↑ one.

Someone had posted on Facebook that it was near the museum. We drove around the area but couldn't find it, but we did find that other door in the garden. When we got home, Sue contacted the poster of the door in the fence and was given the location. So, we returned to find and photograph it. I took the above photo from low down and the next photo from an angle.

We listened hard but the Doors weren't playing their music on that day.

Another Blogger Hiccup

The times, they are a changin. As the evenings shorten, Sue has invoked the electronic candles, There was more than one on last evening, but I only like (sorta like) the photo of the one on the edge of the kitchen, near the front floor. It emits an pleasant odour.

Well darn! I cannot post pictures today, but I will keep going for a little bit regardless.

The next picture that I cannot post is of my computer screen. We stayed up until 1a.m. to watch tennis. It was a great match, but we packed it in at 1 although the game went on until 3:33 in the morning. The American, Ben Shelton defeated Carlos Alcaraz after almost 4.5 hours. We, and especially Sue, do not stay up that late, she being abed shortly after 9 on most nights, but they are our two favourite players. Of the two, we favour  the Spaniard, Alcaraz, a bit more, but we like the American, Shelton, a lot too.

I think staging matches that start at 11 and go on until 3:30 are silly, but year after year the US Open cannot seem to find a solution. It occurred so late because the three previous matches of the day were all very long, so the starting time got pushed way back.

The third pic that I cannot post is of Nick and me smiling and laughing at coffee the other morning. I was showing them my tiny phone tripod-like holder and taking selfies from my watch. I cannot recall what was so funny, but we were caught with genuine laughs.

I did not set out to describe photos that I couldn't post, but after the first one, I went with the flow. I wonder how long this new Blogger hiccup will last. It reminds me of my very early blogging days back in 03 and 04 when posting photos could be problematic. I had workarounds back then, but they were temporary, and some of my early blog posts have blank spaces which once contained photos.

Nope! Tried again, but photos won't load. After going through the process and seeming to load, they simply aren't there.

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Later in the Day: Photos are Back
in reverse order

Labour Day Turquoise and Ice Cream

Sue's photo prompts this week have all to do with turquoise. They are all mixed with something else, like surprise or urban or whatever. 

We were driving along main street heading north to check out a new storefront to check its colour, when Sue spotted turquoise chairs outside of the ice cream shop. I already had been thinking that we needed to stop somewhere or other for a cone before summer vanished, as the season has been seen to be packing its suitcase, having booked its flight to Ecuador.

In this shoulder season it was not too hot to sit outside in the sun, but the shady alley would have beckoned on a hot, summer day. It looks so pleasant and inviting.

So, we sat out front on main street enjoying our fifteen dollar ice creams cones. Yes, they came to that with waffle cones and tax. I think a single cone was almost $6 before the add-ons. 

Sue found a unique photo with the two of us, but I had to hold both cones for her to get the shot.

That wasn't just the first cone of this year, but we also missed last year completely, so it was the first and only in two years. The same is true for visiting a chip truck, so I want to do that before I start behaving myself better when it comes to indulging in those calorific comestibles.

Stay tuned.

Cycle Sunday

It had been a week since our last cycle, and the boys were asking, so we planned to go out on Sunday morning. Alas! due to fluctuating circumstances, they couldn't make it. This allowed Sue and me to range a little farther than we had, but not really too far, and I think we could take the boys there. In fact, I think they would like that ride.

We cycled south to the other pond. Although a little farther and past a busier street, it is a larger pond that doesn't seem to get scummy. We were able to ride the trail that encircles the pond.

As you can glimpse, above, there was an good sky, so once we had completed the circuit, I went back to the beginning to try to get a photo. I found out that the sky was tough to photograph, but, quite delightfully, I encountered another photographer. He had his long lens and was trying to capture butterflies and birds. Indeed, he spotted a monarch butterfly and then an egret while we chatted briefly. I didn't see either, but I took a photo of him with pond and sky in the background.

Then, I decided that a different crop with some of the background being replaced might make a good photo. I will let you judge.

On a quiet nearby street, we cycled past a big truck parked on the side of the road. I haven't taken a truck photo for a certain Flickr meme for some time, so I clicked.

I almost forgot to mention the two plants that I stopped to look at along the pond trail. The iPhone was unable to help me identify this whiteish plant . . .  or maybe it did when it said thistle because there are some dried thistle heads within. Yeah, that must be it. I almost didn't notice the globes because I was focussed on the white foliage.

This one is, apparently, a woodland sunflower.

Along with the ride and pond themselves, the photographer, plants and truck also made it a good morning cycle.

That ↑ was to be it, but then I decided to find my pond photos from 2022 when I visited on a few mornings to capture the early light.

One morning, I swung the camera to the right of the pond and captured the lights and sunrise over the highway. Yes, this is a smallish pond with much around it on three sides. It is also nice that the moon showed up.

I don't get photos like that now because I don't make it a point to get out in good light with my little iPhone.

Our Saturday Shoot

Our Saturday shoot involved an umbrella. We went to the park and came away with two photos.

Actually, we came away with many photos of many poses after many clicks, but these are the two that I like best.

When we were finally done, Sue asked if I would like to walk in the park. I replied that I would but that I needed coffee after all of that setting up and shooting. We drove to Tims and back with the coffee, and then we walked our little walk. Afterward, we sat on a bench, and I gathered a few candids of passersby.

The boy in the first photo is carrying a fishing rod, and so is the lady in the second photo. They were on their way to the dock or near to it which was not very far off to the right of the photos. I think the framing, composition and posture is best in the middle photo.

 As usual, I enjoyed taking the candid photos after the fiddling and fiddling over trying to compose photos and worrying about minutia such as which way to tip the umbrella.