Catching Up

The previous post elicited more comments and questions than I had anticipated. In point of fact, I hadn't really expected any feedback, but you folks surprise me every now and then: like about every 30 seconds or so.

My first order of business is to try to track down Elizabeth. I hope that you read this post, Elizabeth. You have commented a few times recently, but I can't link to you anywhere. Do you have a blog where I can visit you? Meanwhile, thanks very much for visiting and commenting.

There was some interest in techniques and that I used to adjust the photo in the previous post and in what software I use. I think I'll refrain from getting to technical about methods, but I will confess to using Photoshop. It's a hugely expensive program, but I managed to purchase an educational version back in my former life. When Adobe now updates the program, I can purchase the upgrade just like anyone else. The academic version is full-fledged; it's just priced with students and teachers in mind.

Another way to get Photoshop at reasonable prices would be to secure a very heavily discounted, but still shrink-wrapped copy of an older version. Then, you too can upgrade for the price that everybody else pays, perhaps about 20%, give or take, of the cost of the full version.

There are lots of less pricey software packages out there that probably do much of what Photoshop does at a fraction of the cost, but I am unable to advise on any of these products as I haven't used them. Adobe itself, sells a lite version of Photoshop called Photoshop Elements. I hear that it's quite good and, once again, does what most people require of full-fledged Photoshop most of the time.

Having said all of that, permit me to show some photographs from the weekend. The first set, below, was taken at Fulton's Pancake House and Sugar Bush. The idea is similar to Wheeler's that I mentioned not long ago. It's not as nice really but seems to be more crowded, possibly because it's closer to Ottawa. Whatever, people were certainly out in droves last Saturday, partly because the weather was absolutely splendid.

The second photo shows part and only part of the lineup just to get inside the door to the restaurant. That's my family standing at the end of the line, looking toward the camera. The picture below that one speaks for itself; the one of the barns is across the road from the entrance to Fulton's.

After the long wait and a decent if not incredible plate of pancakes, sausages, and maple syrup, we headed to Pakenham. While the ladies shopped in stores such as Traditions (second photo below), we gentlemen roamed around and about snapping pictures like demented fools, including the one of the church (bleow left). The Boy played with my camera much more than I and took the picture of me sitting beside the Mississippi River (what I call The Unmighty Mississippi — the local river, not the other river with the same name). I don't know what I was contemplating other than the fact that we were having a pretty nice day. That's daughter and I in the last photo.

After toodling around downtown Pakenham, which only consists of a few shops, we headed to the inn on other side of the Mississippi where several artists were displaying their work. It was a nice spot with a great view of the river (first photo below). The inn has a teahouse in the nice weather, and we plan to go back for another visit then. The second photo shows Cuppa and I sitting on the verandah.

The final photos were also taken at the inn. The first is of The Boy sitting on a bicycle frame to which a little sled-like runner was attached. The one of Cuppa and I was taken by a marvellous old tree: an almost dead tree that had sent out some new branches. These branches have seemed to take root where they have touched the ground. It is quite a marvellous and inspiring tree that proves, "Where there's life there's hope."