Shauna on Women's Day

On Sunday, I walked into Sue's room and wished her Happy International Women's Day. She reminded me of the day back in 1994 when I sent her flowers. This was during my major back event that had me on the floor for weeks on end. Somehow, I learned of the day, and I managed to order flowers. Sue was delightfully surprised when they were delivered to the door. I haven't done that since then. For one thing, we aren't overly thrilled with either of the of the florists in this town. We decided after the disappointment from her previous birthday, or perhaps our last anniversary, that if we were to require flowers that we would simply choose them from whatever was available at the grocery store.


However, later in the day, I was delighted to see this Facebook post and photo from Shauna's employers and staff.

Today on International Women’s Day, we want to recognize someone who works tirelessly behind the scenes but plays an incredible role in everything we do at Lanark Lifestyles — our Executive Director, Shauna Rayner.

Shauna is one of the smartest people we know and the person all of us turn to when we need guidance, perspective, or help finding a solution. She is the sounding board for so many ideas and challenges, always helping us find a way forward. 

While she may not always be the visible face of Lanark Lifestyles, she is truly the heart of it. Shauna leads with compassion, wisdom, and a sense of humour that keeps us all going. Her infectious laugh and approachable nature make her someone everyone feels comfortable turning to. 

More often than not, Shauna puts our work ahead of her own — making sure we have what we need to succeed before focusing on herself. Her dedication, leadership, and support do not go unnoticed. 

Today we celebrate Shauna and all the incredible women who lead, support, and inspire those around them every single day. Happy International Women’s Day!

That's my girl.

Foggy Evening

Alexa popped a notice onto my phone: a yellow warning for heavy fog. It was Saturday evening, and we had just watched an episode of Boyd. Well, we call it Boyd, but that is the protagonist's name, the head cop on Waking the Dead. It's a series that was shot from about 25 to 15 years ago that has stood the test of time, and there have been enough episodes to get us through February and into March.

Of course, I digress. Sorry: it's habitual.

I had been preparing to go up to my den and watch the hockey game, but the weather alert caused to peer out. I popped my head out the door. There wasn't much to shoot amidst our townhouses, but one tries.

Back in the house and upstairs, I tried my long exposure phone app. I am not very familiar with it, but I tried a couple of 2 second exposures to try to capture the car lights moving across the frame. It's an effect that one may or may not like. You will notice that the whole scene tends to blur on the phone. I don't mind that.

We decided to go around to the park. It's just around the corner. We sure wouldn't have wanted to drive any farther in the pea soup.

I thought the little phone relay station, or whatever its name, looked interesting in the atmospheric conditions.

Sue was following her own muse. I liked the shadow that she cast.

A car came toward us. The light diffused and were also picked up by the puddle and pavement. I have two versions of the same image, the second one a little more processed. I can't make up my mind.

In retrospect, we should have gone the other way than the park where there are more interesting lights and structures, but I glad we did what we did before I went home to catch the final period of the hockey game.

Trips Little and Big

Our scions have been enjoying somewhat opulent weekends. Last weekend, Shauna and three friends took over a grand, heritage b&b on the eastern side of Toronto. Sue hitched a ride to visit her sister, Heather, who lives in the region. This weekend, Danica and her friend are staying on the 31st floor of the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto overlooking Lake Ontario. Sue and I dropped them off at the train station in Smiths Falls yesterday. They are making a big weekend out of attending a concert tonight.

After leaving the kids at the station, Sue and I stopped at the greenhouse down there on our little portion of the adventure. While they are still close to two months away from the busy spring season, it was pleasant to wander about for a few minutes with Sue looking for her daily photo. I managed to get two photographs that I liked well enough. I didn't stop to note their names.

Working backwards: the day before, on another little trip, the boys and I went up to Almonte for our coffee outing. Nick had a photo in mind, but that didn't eventuate. Still, the coffee was good enough in the OVC, or Ottawa Valley Coffee. The first is a candid of Nick with guitars hanging in the background. Then, Bob wanted a more formal pose with the guitars. The Nick photo turned out better in my opinion, but Nick probably got a better shot from his angle.

It's rainy here today, which is much more appreciated than snow at this time of year. For the first time in forever, we left the car out overnight to absorb somewhat of a washing from the rain. With semi melts going on, we've been splashing through a lot of puddles. I washed the car once but re-splashed it in record-breaking time, and even if the rain cleaned it a bit overnight, we'll be forced to drive through more puddles before long. It simply cannot be helped.

Of Tea and Cadence

I don’t exactly love tea, but I missed it on the weekend when Sue absconded to her sister’s in Toronto. Après lunch and dinner tea has become part of our cadence of living, so there was a bit of a void when Sue was gone and when my routine became a non-routine. 

While it is within the realm of possibility that I can brew tea, I didn’t. Then, the problem became what to drink in its place, especially with that stabilizing routine temporarily lost. So next time, I will do it differently and make tea, but I will still be out my routine and rhythm and a little bit lost. Or not lost really but just a wee bit untethered.

When she got back home on Monday afternoon, we had tea at supper and watched tv during and after dinner, and it seemed right.

Sue brought back some photos from the collection that Heather inherited from their mother. This, below, is of Sue’s grandmother, Alice, and her mother, Pearl. It was early in the war when Sue’s dad was off the fight the Hun, and of he who was in the womb was destined to later become Sue's big brother.

I had hoped to recover grandmother’s shadowy face and instructed AI to do so as I had in a previous old photo that I posted some time ago.  Unfortunately, AI just made new faces, so I discarded that attempt. I then tried to fix the face on my own, but it was beyond my ability, so I was only able to touch up the old photo in my usual ways. 

Before I switch from my tablet to the computer to find the photo, I will add that Sue’s family lived with her grandparents until they passed on. Her dad kept adding to the house to make room for everyone as Sue and her three siblings began to fill the space, but for awhile, Sue and her two sisters slept in a little room that wasn’t much more than a narrow passageway  

Lip-Smacking Good

When Sue and Sha were just a little over an hour from home, they stopped at Kingston for food and fuel. Sha sent this photo and wrote: "Amma discovers Popeyes."

When they were back on the road, Sue shared her endorsement: "That was the most spectacular chicken sandwich I have ever ever had. It’s gonna go down in the Hall of Fame wonderful food."

I had barely heard of Popeyes, and now I am wondering where the closest one is. I guess the full name is Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, and GMAP tells me that the nearest is in Smiths Falls, just a half hour away. There are several in Ottawa with the closest also being about a half hour away. But then we'd have to pass Swiss Chalet to get to it, and that would be tough.

A few hours later, she was home, but she didn’t require much for supper for some reason.  

Jiggered

I wrote it in a comment: "I'll be jiggered."

Where did that come from. It is not part of my vocabulary, but there it was popping onto the screen. It's an expression of surprise that my maternal grandfather used to use — the grandfather whom I haven't conversed with for 66 years. I had to look it up to be sure that I was remembering correctly and also getting the usage right. Strangely enough, I was.

adjective

Informal.

1. confounded; damned.

   I'm jiggered if I know what that sign means. (dictionary.com)

Meanwhile . . . 

Sue left me for the weekend, but I carried on as usual, within reason. On Saturday I parked at Market Square and walked north toward the trail bridge but not quite all of the way. I keep hoping for a good snowmobile photo, but those boys tend to ride black machines and wear black clothes.

I bought a coffee and breakfast sandwich and parked in our usual spot. I decided to maintain tradition and take a selfie without Sue. I did roll up the rim, but I am afraid that I didn't win. My open coat testifies that it was a mild day although the next day was extremely cold.

Soon after getting back home, Danica and Jonathan dropped by to keep me company, and we played cribbage. I am sure that Sue requested that they visit me. We were busy trying to remember how to play three-handed crib, so I didn't take pictures. We were figuring the game out by the end.

I shopped for groceries on Sunday, but it was so cold that I put off my walk until late afternoon. There is warming in the forecast, but that begins tomorrow. I did walk in the afternoon. After parking at Market Square again, I walked south along the trail and ended up at the rink where one kid was doing his bit with a stick and puck on the very bumpy ice. With the impending warmer weather, the outdoor skating season is about to end. I decided to replace the banal suburban background with snowy mountains.

Good grief! It’s -28B/-19F this morning, before we head into two weeks of daytime temperatures above freezing. No walky for me this morning. Sue will return home this afternoon. 

Fragile

In my recent tee shirt photoshoot by Sue, I was struck by something, particularly in this ↓ take, which I haven't shown until now.

It was how frail I looked.

I took the phone down to Sue to show her what I was seeing. Did my beloved reassure me that such was not the case? Did she tell me that I looked robust? No, she didn't! She just agreed that I look frail and said that I was almost 80. I was shattered, I tell you.

And then, when I met with the boys and showed the photo and told them what Sue had said, Bob said the words. "You are frail." So, there we are, and here I am. 

Now I have an ex-friend and a wife who is on shaky ground. ;)

But then I got this question on my previous post: "Has anyone told you are just too darn cute?" Well no, not until now or at least not for a very long time. This makes me feel better, and could I please have your phone number? lol

There's nothing more to say about that, so onward to some talk about photo editing.

I wanted to either crop the photo ↑ to eliminate the vacuum hose or just edit it away. Then I thought to see what photoshop could do if I asked for a "cream colored wall background" The result ↓  Unfortunately, it added some floor which I didn't notice at the time or I would have tried again.

I got more ambitious and wondered if it could take Sue out of this ↓ photo and put me in it. 

Photoshop did a good job. While such a merge would have been theoretically possible in the old days and ways, it would be been a very difficult and time-consuming task, and I, personally wouldn't have had the skill.

While I have very mixed feelings about AI creations, I think it is fair enough to use it for editing tasks that I would have liked to have done without it but couldn’t quite summon either the time or skill or both. So, I do find it acceptable to allow AI to do some of the heavy lifting for me. AI does it easier, quicker and usually better. 

Here's another result from the tee shirt shoot in which I replaced the background differently and then merged two photos into one composite. I think I should have been bigger in the goose shirt, but that is my fault; Photoshop AI just handled the actual blending (ie lighting) of the two images.

I have some fun experimenting with the new editing tools that make it easier to reach my vision although that seems to be too strong of a word for the basic work that I do.