Lambs Down Shots

We didn't spend a lot of time at Lambs Down, but I did squeeze off a variety of shots.

First, some family shots that I didn't show yesterday in my Fathers Day post.

We stumbled onto a skateboarding demonstration. My angles weren't great, but I nabbed a few action shots.

The musicians.

Inside the Wool Growers Co-Op.

A clown clowning around.

An interesting lady taking pictures of the seep shearing demo.

My Extended Fathers Day

It's a week later, and I guess I should get around to posting about Fathers Day. I had been waiting to complete it with the museum trip that I wrote a bit about yesterday, but since that is on hold for now, I'll post what I can.

My Fathers Day began on the Friday, two days before the actual event. We went out for breakfast with Shauna.

Time with the grands was to be on Saturday as they would (as they should) be spending time with their dad on Sunday.

We went to the Lambs Down event for a spell. It's called Lambs Down because we have the country's wool collecting and grading station in our town. A sheep shearing demonstration is always part of the event. The football stadium in Ottawa is called Lansdowne, and I am sure (though I've never been told) that Lambs Down is a word play on that.

A few photos of the ladies and the kids, which make it seem more like Mothers Day, but it's all good.

It was rather windy

I may post more Lambs Down photos at another time, but from there we went to their place for supper. I am wearing the shirt that Sue had already given to me and am opening the fine socks that I had seen at our local museum and which appealed to me and therefore hinted strongly that they would make a nice gift.

You already know about the Neanderthal exhibit (which I hope to get to tomorrow), so let's skip ahead to Sunday, the calendar Fathers Day.

As we began to leave the house for a visit to the chip truck and a walk in the park on a fine day, I spied flowers at the door. Good thing we planned to go out because they could have been left there for quite awhile. They were sent from my other daughter and her partner who live way across the country on the west coast.

We did get our fries which we ate on a bench at the park and took a selfie or two before a leisurely stroll on a very nice day.

So that's my late report on my extended, three-day Fathers Day, with one day left to go: hopefully, tomorrow.

Rona Ice Time and Spamming Backs

You see those funny autocorrect snippets here and there, and you wonder if they are fabricated. Perhaps they are, but they're funny. I had a real one or two autocorrect funnies yesterday.

The background is that we were preparing to go to the museum with Shauna. It was my special Fathers Day treat from her and the kids — the Neanderthal exhibit at the Museum of History.

I was getting ready to leave within about a half hour when it happened. A Back Attack!

These things happen to me on occasion, totally out of the blue as it were.

In this case all I did was to lean over my easy chair to straighten the blanket which was dreadfully askew. Then I was yelling in frustration as my back grabbed me a good one.

I know the routine as this happens every few years. I need to take it easy for about three days for the spasms to stop. But how bad was this attack? Should I still try to go on the excursion or call it off?

I texted Shauna and Sue about my predicament. As the conversation transpired, I was to take Rona Ice Time to ease my troubles because my back was Spamming me (as captured below with me captioned in blue).

Then, and this is not particularly funny, but when I could have used autocorrect, it failed me. We were still texting about what pills I needed — the version with acetaminophen and not ibuprofen, except I couldn't think of latter and couldn't spell the former at the moment.

So ... how's the back a day later? It's sorer and stiffer than usual (which is saying something), but it is still not exactly spamming (or even spasming) which is extremely painful and debilitating while it runs its course for about three days.

But I must be careful and continue to take that Rona Ice Time in the meantime.

Danica and the Talent Show

Danica's school had a year-end talent show, and Danica showed her talent by being one of the five emcees. We decided to show up for the event, and for a change 😁, I took some pictures. 

They set up at the side of the stage early and waited for the parents and the rest of the school to file in.

Here is JJ coming in (left, green shirt). He studiously avoided acknowledging us.  😄

The emcees introduced the event and themselves. (Almost all of the acts stayed too close to the front of the stage where the lighting was poor.  They should have been in mid-stage.)

Each act, and there were many, was introduced from the side of the stage. It was Danica's turn to introduce an act.

There were many acts, but most were short, and it was well organized with each group being ready to step right up. Danica's step-sister (right, aqua) danced in one of the acts.

My old body got tired of sitting in those stacking chairs, so I stood at the rear for the final few numbers and took this shot of the whole scene. The emcees are back on stage wrapping it up.

I managed to get a shot of Danica at the end before we went our separate ways.

They have three more days of school next week and then two months off.

Sun Down and Up

It's difficult to find a good view of sunsets (and sunrises) hereabouts. There may be a few spots over cleared farmers' fields like the one that I showed last week, but they are just sunsets with nothing much else to look at and not exactly an ocean view with sea stacks on the horizon.

But sometimes I drive around to check things out anyway.

Eventually the other night, I spotted rays between trees in an actual public spot, and goodness knows there aren't many of those (publicly accessible place, I mean).

Next morning, Miss Lacey Cat got me up very early after deciding that my arm required a prodigious washing at 3AM. Eventually, I took the camera to the park just around the corner where there is a bit of a view of sunrise beyond the trees in a little island.

It won't win an award but it was a pretty good sky with a strip of orange at the bottom. In part,, the clouds look the way that they do because it was a 30 second exposure.

The Time of the Iris

Irises are quite beautiful. Mind you, when I grew them back in the day, I didn't have a long-lasting variety, and once they were done flowering, I was left with a rather unattractive plant. So, I pulled them after a year or two.

Now, however, I can enjoy them in local gardens when they are in bloom.

I posted one last week from the museum garden, so I went back with a different lens and got this shot. I quite like the composition and blurry background (bokeh).

Then I checked out the neighbour's garden.

That one ↑ was OK, but this ↓ is my favourite photo of the three. To my eye, this one is print-worthy. I think it is the lightness along with the specular highlights that appeal to me. (Note: I think I might also print the first one, above, as I do like it — just not as much as the third one.)

Strawberry Moon

It's a time of year for more photo ops. There was Fathers Day, which I shall surely post about. There are irises, and I will have one more post of them. We had a one day festival here called Lambs Down, during which we stumbled upon skateboarders doing their tricks.

But I thought I should get my photo of the Strawberry Moon posted first since it is somewhat time sensitive.

I went out for a bit of a random drive on Sunday evening. At one point I stopped for this photo. Not that it's a super scene, but it is something. (The foreground should be a little lighter if enlarged.)

Then, out of the corner of my little eye, what did I spy? There was a full moon rising over a farm. I went to the trunk for my tripod, but alas it was missing. So I shot it handheld.

Actually, that ↑ is a composite of two photos. The moon didn't appear as large in the main photo as it seemed to my eyes, so I took a second shot zoomed in a little and superimposed it over the smaller moon of the first shot in post. This feels like what I saw but, doubtless, isn't.

I had no idea that this is referred to a Strawberry Moon until I posted it on FB.