Little Gestures

This is Sue sharing a remembrance moment, in spirit, with her sister and for Elisabeth.

Twenty-nine years ago, yesterday, Heather's little girl, Elisabeth, died suddenly She was five years old. It was also her grandmother's (Sue's and Heather's mom's) birthday. Pearl had also died suddenly in almost the same spot on the past Christmas Day.

Heather takes the day to be still and to remember. Yesterday, she decided that she was going to feed the birds. In Heather's park, birds will sometimes land and feed directly from the hand. I hope that was the case for Heather yesterday. That doesn't happen here, but Sue went out to leave piles of seed for our feathered friends.

Little gestures can mean a lot.

A picture of Elisabeth from Heather's journal.

My Old Brain has trouble with the New Coffee Maker

We have a new coffee machine. It’s this one → and it works well. It makes single servings of up to 14oz, hot and quickly. I usually just make an 8oz cup, twice each morning.

It is replacing two machines which pretty much broke down simultaneously. Our tassimo machine, which was really Shauna’s old machine, gave up the ghost one recent morning. Seeing as it was second hand already, that it was the time for it to cross that famous coffee ground bridge to the great plantation in the sky  

In addition to the tassimo machine, we also had another machine, our main machine, which would make big pots. However, it was also on its last legs and no longer rendering the coffee very hot. Its flow had also all but reduced to a dribble. This symptomology (of the slow drip) leads me to believe that it was a male machine because that’s kind of consistent with what happens to elderly males — in my experience, that is.

The spiffy new thing works well, and we feel better about not adding plastic pods to the landfill. We don’t even need paper filters with this shiny newfangled thing.

But I have a problem with it, and I don’t know why. In point of fact, I have forgotten to insert the mugs four times, thereby causing the coffee to pour all over the place. The latest occasion was on that recent very early morning (as described in yesterdays post) when I had awoken in some discomfort at 2 o’clock. I actually got the first mug right, but two hours later I forgot the mug for my second pouring — and I do mean pouring.

There is something about the sequence of setting up this machine that causes my brain to feel that I have completed all of the steps when I haven’t, but I can’t figure out why that is the case. When I am in a compos mentis state of mind (it does happen), I look at the machine and wonder why I have this difficulty, and quite frankly, I don’t know.

I admit that from time to time, I would make an error with one of the two other machines. This didn’t occur frequently, and it was usually that I forgot to actually add the coffee to the big machine. But 4x in two weeks with this gadget seems quite ridiculous.

I have always always been an absent-minded, daydreaming sort of person, even as a child. My mind is prone to wandering, and I forget things. This is not new, and I don’t think it presages mental decline although I am pretty darn sure that I am not getting smarter.

Whatever it is about preparing this machine that makes me feel like I have completed all of the steps when I haven’t, I am not sure. But I would like to figure it out and get over it before I pour too many more dollars worth of coffee all over the counter and floor. 

Another Cost of Aging

So it is 3:30AM, Sunday night (or Monday morning), and here I am writing this post for Tuesday. If that isn’t early enough in your estimation, I hasten to add that I have been up for more than an hour already. I certainly hadn't planned it this way, but here we are.

As you know, I do get up rather early at times, but 2:15 or so just about takes the cake.

On this occasion, I was awakened by soreness in my nether regions and soon decided that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep through it. It was not (and is still not) a killer pain, but it is enough to keep me awake. This phenomenon also occurs sometimes during the day, but one just lives through it then and carries on. It’s just hard to sleep through discomfort down there when it happens at night.

So, I went from bed to chair, turned on the electric blanket because I was feeling a bit cold in the middle of the night. (Well, why else would one turn it on? Duh.) But as odd as it seems, I also applied cold. Yes, I placed a freezer pack onto my sore nether regions, first on my front apparatus and then on the rear.

The cold treatment seemed to help a bit initially, but I am now somewhat sore again, so I am probably up for keeps after a grand total of three hours of sleep.

This is another cost of aging, just not a monetary one as in the previous post.  

Since I also decided that I may as well make coffee, I have effectively reduced further the probability of getting back to sleep. So here I am doing this and that on the iPad. Maybe I will watch a photo tutorial, and I do have a book to read although I don’t know if I am exactly perky enough to concentrate, especially since I am still contending with soreness.

Perhaps I shall force myself to endure another round of the freezer pack. 

This particular pain is random and doesn't occur all that often, thank goodness, but it does happen more often than I’d like. It is yet another cost of aging and one that doesn’t exactly bring joy to my heart  

Costs of Aging

Last week, we had our winter tires swapped out for the all seasons tires. I look forward to the change because the ride seems better — certainly less noisy. 

But the changeover reinforced the cost of aging.

For any number of years, we haven’t had to lift the tires into the trunk for we have improvised a makeshift ramp. It makes it much easier than lifting the blessed things. 

Last week, however, while rolling the rubber up the ramp, I had the thought of having the tire shop store the dadblasted things to save me the hassle of loading and unloading twice a year. It’s not that we can’t do it or that it is all that difficult, but I just felt like I don’t want to be bothered anymore.

So I asked about the service, and it isn’t cheap. It’s 60 smackeroos per season, or 10 bucks per month. It’s a lot, but I decided to do it anyway.

I experienced one payoff right away when I got home and didn’t have to contend with getting the tires out of the trunk.

You see, that would have involved a bounce. Rather than roll the tires down the ramp, I would drop them, rather carefully, from the trunk and let them bounce. I would then try to contain and control them on the hop and then roll them into place. It usually worked well enough, but I was glad to not face the struggle this time, for this unloading was almost as bothersome as the loading by rolling them up the ramp. I say almost, but perhaps it was even more of a hassle.

When you add that to other costs of aging, it mounts up. I am thinking specifically of the horrendous expense of hearing aids, which averages out to about $1000/year. My first car cost less than the tiny things that I now stick in my ears. Significantly less as a matter of fact.

But I am still here and hanging on, and I rather appreciate that.

Speaking of aging, when I quickly scan messages on the computer, my deteriorating brain often misreads them — just for a second or two, you understand. Then, I have to pause and reread more slowly. For example: I thought the subject line of this ↓ email read: How to Make the Perfect Bikini Without a Recipe. Fortunately, I am not so far gone that I fail to realize that there must have been something amiss with that reading.

Coffee Selfies and Sue's Shoot

Well well. I have nothing but Sue's pics today, but you will be relieved to know that I do make appearances. What? Relieved is not the right word? Well, anyway . . .

We did have a car lunch and coffee this week. I know, I know, but it is a tradition to show these. I bought a turkey club sandwich and she a bagel with cream cheese, yet look who has what in the photo.

I am not sure if Sue did the following shoot on the same day or a different one. She had another prompt that involved textures, so we headed to anther mural. She presented this ↓ collage to her group.

After seeing the teaser above and maybe wondering if your eyes were deceiving you, I hereby present a clearer view of that funny fellow sitting on the bench altogether too close to a lady reading a book. The nerve.

Who knows where we will end up next and whether we will see that funny guy again?

Birthday Hat and Cookies

Two years ago with the advent of the pandemic, Sue had to settle for a drive-by salute from the family. Last year, with yet another phase of COVID raging, we suffered through a cold garage party. This year, with everyone well vaccinated (although the kids will just get their boosters today), we had a more comfortable get-together.

As we waited for the pizza to come, Sue opened gifts. I don't know where my head was, but I didn't think to take pictures. But this is an image of the front of the card that I made.

Shauna made Sue don a funny hat, and we did take a round of photos.

Instead of the traditional cake, we had some of Sue's favourite cookies: maple with walnut and white chocolate.

Danica quite liked them. We all did, but no one more than Sue.

Happy 75th

This ↓ is m'lady, who is 75 years young on this day, which I hasten to add is also the Celtic New Year and the New Year date that Tolkien used in Lord of the Rings. (I think I have always mentioned this, ever since I learned of it, because I think it is so darn cool.)

I actually took this ↑ photo five years ago, but since it is in my blogger folder, it is the one that I shall use today. I am sure that I have posted it once before, but I believe that I re-edited it not too long ago, and that is why it has found its way back into my blogger folder.

Let's do a few retro photos too, shall we? This ↓ is her college grad photo that had a place on my desk at uni.

I think this ↓ was her first visit to my house for Sunday dinner after church. She had a the same hair style as above. We lived on a nursery where dad tended the greenhouses; he was pleased to show her around.

After that visit my mother reported that he really liked Sue.

A Different Look

I showed you this ↓ photo almost a week ago.

 

But I took a vertical photo too. It is often a good thing to take as photo both ways, but just as often  I forget or remember but can't be bothered. This time I did remember, but I wanted to process it differently than the first one, so here it is.

Aside from the edit to b&w, you may notice that I removed the wire that ran across the top of the bar, sort of paralleling the fence. I had removed some other wires in the colour version, but I had left this one in because I mistakenly thought that it electrified the barn and was part of the story. But when I looked more closely, I saw that it just ran past the barn. Removing that wire was not a difficult undertaking.

It did take me more time remove the pennants from in front of the fence. They were a distraction to me in this version because I was aiming for a more authentic, retro feel, which I think suits this barn.

I liked the result ↑ quite a bit but also wanted a more horizontal version. At the same time, I didn't want to be bothered going back to the original horizontal colour photo and doing all of the editing and removal work again, so I cropped the above photo into this ↓ rendition.

While I was pleased with the original colour version, I think I like the monochrome result more.

I Was Sooo Cold

You may recall my New Years Eve fireworks photos. Goodness know that I showed enough of them. But here's another to refresh your memories. It's the building — the old schoolhouse — on the right that is the main subject today.

Now that there is much less snow, I had it in mind to try for a dawn or even a sunrise photo featuring the schoolhouse, so I headed out yesterday morning.

This  wasn't the photo that I came for. To get a sunrise, I would have to be way over to the left. I never got there. I will explain, shortly.

There was a bit of a glow where my car was parked, so I took a photo while I waited for more light. By the way, both photos required 30 second exposures.

It was perishingly (spellcheck does not like that word) cold. The wind resulted in a feels like temperature of -10C/15F. It felt colder than that to me as the wind bit through my layers. Frankly, it was too much for me.

For a few minutes after squeezing off those photos, I sat in the car desperately trying to warm up. My plan had been to wait for the sun, but I couldn't justify idling the car for another half hour or so, and I would have had to keep it running because I felt so cold. Besides that, it was a cloudless sky and it wouldn't have likely made for a very good photo anyway. I do hope to return on a less frigid morning.

So, there are no wonderful photos to be seen, just a record of the morning.

For what it is worth, I also did a version of the schoolhouse ↓ in b&w. I kept it pretty dark and gloomy, which is not far off from what I was seeing at the time.

I can tell you that was a three-cup coffee morning (cups not big mugs) — one upon arising and two afterward to get me closer to being warm again.

Sunny and Sheltered

 This is a rite of spring. I look out my window and see this.

There are two in the frame. You see the guy clearly, and that bit of blue behind him is his wife. They are facing the neighbours driveway to their left/south. Their neighbour is over there, and they're having a chinwag.

They do this a few times in spring. They are sheltered, and the stronger sun keeps them warm in their coats, even when it is a crispy and windy day.

I have shown you photos of the fire hydrant almost completely obscured by snow, so we have come a long way. Since our property faces the wrong direction, our yard has further to go.

Now, I would like to tag on this video at the end. It's from a Montreal Canadiens hockey game last week. In the runup to the game, they filled the ice with the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Then a cellist and pianist played Imagine. It was quite stirring and worth watching in my opinion.

It can be said that the Montreal Canadiens do tributes better than any organization. One journalist humourously points out that it they are on a par with the House of Windsor in this regard.

Looking Up on our Main Street

Last week, Sue had a Looking Up theme, so we headed downtown. It was also a b&w theme, so I processed some of mine that way too. I used my longest lens although I did not have it extended all that far — just around the half way mark of my 400mm

I deliberately blew out the sky, by overexposing, on these photos of St Andrews Presbyterian church. It is technique that is sometimes effective, but I am not too impressed by these results. You probably can't see the 1887 date at this size, but it is there. A few years ago, the property was sold to the All Nations congregation.

As is plain to see ↑ I decided to put two different detail photos into a diptych. It was  last-minute decision, and I hadn't processed the two photos with the same tones, the tower being a bluer tone. I didn't think this diptych is important enough to edit further.

That is quite the ornate tower for a church. As ornate as the architecture is, however, I can’t exactly endorse the interior pews, for I once attended a concert there, but my gamey back couldn't hack those old-fashioned pews. People must have had strong backs in the late 1800s, but I am nothing other than a weak, modern homo sapien. 

I do like the next photo of the tower on the old Federal building that once housed the post office and inland revenue. It is now privately owned. We were in there for an open house tour a few years ago, and I remember being impressed by the commodious vault.

With that green patina on the clock tower, I couldn't face turning this ↑ into a b&w photo. 

Too bad neither the clock nor the bell still function, but as the building is now in private hands, I don't think the proprietors are about to invest in an expensive restoration project.

There is also a masonic temple in town, and it still serves that function. We have toured that too. Only the upper half serves as the temple. The stores at street level provide revenue. It has always been this way from what I can tell from historic photos.

My final UP photo was looking Way Up at the flag flying above the clock tower at town hall. (I emphasized Way Up in honour of The Friendly Giant, a kids tv program that older Canadians might remember.)

It was a very windy day, but I managed to get one photo with the flag revealed fairly fully. I also thought that our fine flag deserved to be left in colour.

Banal Sunday Morning Post

Good Sunday Morn. It is still dark out there at 6 o'clock, but I don't see water on the window. I sure did yesterday when it rained quite a lot. This helped the snow in the backyard to begin to disappear — to the point where we began to see some ground. However, the pile in the front from clearing the driveway all winter, remains quite high. Progress though.

So, while Mother Nature gave the car a free and much needed wash, no one in this household even stuck their heads outside. One of the things we did was binge-watch Unforgotten. We had watched 2 of the 6 episodes on Friday evening at and after supper.

We usually watch a program at both lunch and supper — a program — but on Friday, we watched 2. At lunch yesterday, we intended to watch 1 more, but then we thought, it is Saturday afternoon, and we're not going anywhere, so let's keep going.

I had broken down and purchased the series on Apple TV. It's a favourite British series of cold cases. It is really produced and acted well. We had seen the first 3 seasons on either Britbox or Acorn, but series 4 hasn't made it to those streams. It's a PBS series, and we don't get PBS at the moment.

It's not often that I would rent/buy a series like this, but Unforgotten is special. Along with Endeavour, we find it the best of the current crop of British mysteries. We are also currently watching The Bay. It is pretty good but doesn't reach of the level of the other 2.

One other thing I did was to make little cards for Sue with information about her sister's, Heather's, visit next month. She is coming for a visit and book talks at two local libraries and one in Ottawa. While all of these places will promote the event in their own ways, Sue likes to hand out information for those whom she might meet with in the interim.

So, I made a little card for her — 4 on a sheet that she can cut out and place where she will.

So, I think that is my banal, morning post. I will add that we have a new coffee-maker. I am still getting used to it, and after all of the fiddling with correct water and coffee levels, I forgot to place the cup under the drip. Fortunately, I noticed before there was too much spillage.

Hey! Things like this can happen at 5 o'clock in the morning.

The Worm Moon

I have a few more photos from our foggy morning (not really a foggy morning) photo shoot.

On the way to our intended destination, I was absolutely delighted to keep seeing a glorious full moon appearing off to my right. We were travelling, so I just thought that I would enjoy seeing it and not fret over not getting a photo. Okay, I was fretting, just a bit.

When we arrived at our destination, however, there it was shining over the river. Silly me, though. After we parked, I wasted time sauntering over to the spot, just to check it out even though I had just seen it in passing. Oh yeah, it looked very good shining through tree branches.

I sauntered back to the car, fiddled with my gear, and sauntered back to the spot, but by then, the dadblasted moon was partially obscured behind the clouds. Then, we lost sight of it completely.

I did get one photo before it disappeared. The photo didn't turn out too well and probably wouldn't have, even if the moon had remained full. I converted what I had to b&w because I found the pre-dawn blues too overpowering.

The sun was coming up behind us but not along the river. So getting a sunrise photo wasn't working out either.

Then, about ten minutes later, a gap in the clouds enabled the moon to make another appearance before dropping below the trees, and we got our photos. This spot was to the right of the above photo. It was nice of the gaggle of geese to provide some foreground interest on the edge of the ice, but they did begin honking at me, thus announcing their displeasure of my activity. Like some people, they seemed to take issue with the camera.

When I got home, I searched for the name of March's full moon, for they all have names. It is called the Worm Moon. However, I am not sure that the man who lives in residence on the moon knows this. (In full disclosure, just to you good folk, I must declare that we were actually almost 24 hours earlier that the complete full moon, but shh, let it be our secret,  eh?)

Having missed the fog, or actually the fog having missed us, Bob, who can be a very determined old codger, drove about looking for a sunrise photo. Well, as I have bemoaned over and over again, nothing locally seems to lineup conveniently for sunrise and sunset photos. Or almost nothing anyway.

Eventually, we saw the sun peeking around a barn off in a field. Fortunately, it happened at an untrafficked spot where there was also enough of the shoulder between the road and the snow bank to pull over.

I squeezed the aperture (f22 for those who know what it means) enough to get a sunburst effect around the corner of the barn. I didn't want the whole sun in the photo to begin with, so the barn made a handy, partial blind. I used the shade white balance to warm up the photo. The winter atmosphere was certainly bluer than the photo. Artistic license, don't you know?

I had all of my lenses in the car. Why I didn't use my head and put on the telephoto one in order to get closer to the barn, I cannot say, except maybe I can put the blame on a poor night followed by a lack of breakfast. Yes, let's put it down to that rather than the more likely cause, which shall not be named.

The Final Photo of the Morning

The forecast indicated fog, so Bob was anxious to get out and about. Hey! If Bob wants to drive the backroads at 6:30 in the morning, count me in.

As it turned out, we didn't get fog, but we still were able to  get some photos.

I am going to save some and settle for a quick post of a single photo this morning.

It ↓ was my last photo of the day. We had stopped to look at the scene on the other side of the road. It turned out that it didn't offer much. But when I turned around, I thought this barn looked like a very good subject.

I like photographing buildings in general: some don't, but I do. Barns, and particularly old ones, really draw my eye. Not only was this barn a good one, but there was light as well as the shadows of trees on the front. I think the fence is a very strong foreground, and, except for the the section by the road, the snow is pristine. I removed some distracting wires toward the top right corner, but I left the one that connected to the barn as I don't find it distracting. I think it almost provides a frame along with the fence.

It's not a perfect setting, but it sure isn't a poor one either.

A Glow on the Horizon

Ever since Danica started to work part-time at the grocery store, I have sometimes been her taxi, or I guess her Uber in this day and age. While some of the requests are irregular, every second Sunday morning has become a routine. That’s her main shift: from 7 until 3 on Sunday. She also usually has a Tuesday afternoon and evening shift. Keeping the shifts down to a reasonable number was a condition from her parents for her taking the job.

The kids are at Mom’s on alternate weekends. On those weekends, I have been picking Danica up at 6:45 for her 7 o’clock shift. I don’t mind. In fact, it helps me to feel useful.

To be on the safe side, I set three alarms: watch, phone, and Alexa to get me up at 6 o'clock. I have never needed one.

On this past, time-change Sunday, I thought I might finally require the help of those devices, but Lacey and bladder provided sufficient impetus for me to arise. Would I have been able to get back to sleep if I hadn’t had to get the girl? It's possible but doubtful, for being able to go back for another hour of sweet repose is a very infrequent occurrence.

It wasn’t my scheduled week to drive her to work, for it was to be her dad’s weekend, but he and Jonathan were still out of town for a hockey tournament. So yes, of course I would be glad to assist once again.

There was almost a last-minute hitch. Our neighbour had asked if he could park in our driveway on Saturday night. Of course, he could. Then, the request came from Danica, and of course I would do that too. 

I didn’t put the two events together in my head until later. So, at the last minute on Saturday night, I informed the neighbour that he needed to move his car out by 6:30. He managed, but I had been concerned that he would sleep in. When I asked if he had remembered the time change, he responded that his phone would take care of the issue.

So, here’s the part that I want to get to. There was a pre-sunrise glow on the horizon when I was driving Danica along the highway, which more or less faces east. I don’t remember seeing that glow on previous Sundays, but I saw it this time, despite us being a whole hour earlier. Spring is coming.

Before I leave off, it strikes me that some may be wondering why I drive her. “Where is Mom?” you may ask. It’s because I am invariably up anyway, and Mom works hard and, unlike me, has the ability to sleep in. So, I fulfill two helpful functions. I get Danica to work and allow Shauna to sleep in. It’s a small contribution when I am not particularly in a contributory phase of life.

Will it Go?

Once upon a time, I was watching a softball game with a friend when the plate umpire questioned the base umpire about the baserunner. Did he go? Note: A baserunner can't leadoff the base like you can in baseball, at least not in fast pitch. The runner must stay on the base until the pitcher releases the ball. 

I can't remember the answer at the time, but my friend had some fun. "Did he go? I don't know." Well, maybe you had to be there lol.

Recently in my comments to more than one blog, I have wondered whether our snow would go before April.

Will it go? I don't know.

This ↓ is the state of our pile on March 15.

With a little more than two weeks remaining in March, there is a lot left to melt, but two weeks is a fairly long time. Most, if not all, days will be above freezing, and it is projected that two days will at least reach 10C/50F.

By comparison, this ↓ was taken on March 12 2021 — three days earlier than this years ↑ photo. There was less then — about one-half the present amount — even though it was a few days earlier.

I have a photo from March 29 last year showing no snow whatsoever in the park.

You just never know: in the countryside on March 23 2019

At the beginning of April 2018, JJ was rollerblading out front, but you can spot a little snow in the yard beyond.

And back on March 15 2017, we had a major dumping.

And yet, weather records tell me that we had an almost record warm day of 24C/75F, just a week later.

Unfortunately, I don't see a similar warm day forecast for this year. On the other hand, while I do see some possible snow in the two-week forecast, it seems that there will only be trace amounts on days that won't be cold, so the new snow will likely melt on impact. 

Oh my! I remembered the little fort, but I had forgotten that it happened early in April 2014. For a few days, the kids had afterschool snacks out there.

In a year like that, we have sometimes helped Mother Nature to bring in Spring by shovelling snow off the yard and onto the street. My memory tells me that. one April, we uncovered tulips growing under the snow. I really thought that I had a photo of that and that I had posted it but durned-drat-it if I can find it now.

The Last Train

There's no doubt that Sue's 365 project requirements are also getting me out of the house with the camera. On Sunday, here them was b&w along with stairs/architecture. B&W is her theme for the week and stairs/architecture were the additional prompts for the day.

It was another tough day with miserable, cold winds, but out we went.

I thought of this building with a mural and stairs. It didn't work so well for Sue, but with some finagling in both camera and edit, I somewhat like this result.

When I posted this on FB, a local enthusiast told me that it wasn't actually the last train but it was
one that had gone through town. He wasn't sure if there ever was a photo of the very last one.

I've been driving by this mural for years, thinking it deserves a photo, but it is a drive-by location, and I never have thought to return – until yesterday when Sue needed a photo.

Due to the snow we couldn't get a good angle, and I needed two shots to capture the whole building. When I combined them in post, the more normal perspective didn't turn out very well, so for fun I decided to use the warped perspective that you see above.

Carleton Place was a small railway hub as north-south and east-west lines intersected with the town. The east-west line was actually one that ran the breadth of the country – at least sometimes – but it was long gone by the time that we arrived here in 2005. The north-south line expired a few years later and was converted into a long, recreational trail.

Since it is Sue's b&w week, I also decided to convert my image. 

This ↓ turned out to be Sue's photo choice for the day, which had a subset theme of awesome. This one doesn't have stairs but it does have rather awesome architecture. It's our town hall, which has made an appearance in many of my photos over the years. I like it with the tree branches, which is not something that I would be likely to think of doing.

Cold'n Golden

Sue's photo theme for last week was golden hour: the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset when the light is low and, well, golden — on a good day, that is. It was winterish and dullish last week and days hadn't been all that good for light, but a theme is a theme. I think these weekly themes are contrived by folk in California. #kiddingnotkidding

We did try one day when there was some light. The first two spots we went to didn't offer much hope. I tried a few shots butt ended up trashing them. However, Sue got a few that she thought she could use.

Eventually, we found a location, not new to us but new on that day. The light was pretty good for a few minutes, and I was able to get a result that I like quite a bit.

Partly I like it because I know the conditions that I was working under, such as the weather and the fact that I had to hold my camera up over a snowbank to get the photo. Sometimes, we like a photo an extra bit because we know the circumstances, but I also like this for the photo itself. The light is pretty good, and we also have a leading line, a decent sky, and then a pretty good tree as the focal point.

I should say before I leave off that I prefer that my golden hour photos not contain the sun. In this case, I think it is the light that is cast by the sun that is the key thing. Of course, there are always exceptions, and preconceived ideas can't apply to every situation.

Here's to Light and Colour

Sue bought window film to um stick to our windows. When you affix it, the light will sometimes catch it and cast colourful patches on walls or floors.

It recently cast an interesting pattern on the wall which is at right angles to the window.

I don't know why it broke into three separate blocks. I thought it interesting and worth posting. It's like the centre block is mainly the shadow and the side panels are a result of the prismatic effect being cast. 

That was in my den that gets morning sun. There is another piece of film on the bedroom window that catches the late light. Sue once got this delightful photo of Lacey sitting in the rainbow.

And here is Sue bathed in the light.

This is the box that may guide you if you want to try out window film. I suppose that we got it through Amazon, like most things any more.