Changeover

I promise not to cat blog you to death, but I likely will post from time to time. Today, I am posting of a name change as Abby becomes Lacey.

We weren't terribly fond of the Abby moniker, but that was how she came to us. But what name would fit her?

We had noticed that she has a white ring that circles the back of her neck. She has  a white belly and bib, but  a little ring of white goes all the way around the back. We fancied that it was like a necklace (yes, aren't pet owners silly?) and then came up with the name, Lacey. So we are trying it out.

The proof.

And since we are here, this is the spot where she spends much of her time, on our bed, both during daytime and nighttime. Her other daytime spot is on the couch, but she spends the whole night on the bed. On a good day, which this wasn't, the sun streams in through the west facing window.

Also ... the mouth of a predator. I had my longer lens on and she was too close for me to focus properly, but ...

Last Game

Monday night was Jonathan's last game of the regular season. The regular season. Playoffs start (and maybe end for all I know) on the weekend, with three games scheduled. Not being a very strong team, they are in the consolation section, but that is good as it means that they have a chance to be competitive.

The coach switched all of the payers around for fun. They lost handily as a result, or maybe they would have anyway, but fun is important.

That is how JJ ended up playing forward rather than defence, which meant that I got more shots of him in one game than I have all year. So please excuse the somewhat excessive number of photos (and realize that I could have posted more).

When he saw them, he asked for this one ↓ to be printed. I was a bit surprised as it is not the one that I would have chosen. It does show him being active, but the play is away from him. I do like that we can see the bench in the background, albeit the other team's bench, but it gives the context.

Here are a few that I like better. (Reminder: #6 in white.)

In the middle: hunting down the puck

Hoping for a pass and a goal

A scramble and opportunity near the goal

A head-on view.

Hard after the puck

A real chance

In pursuit

Concentration

We Have Cat

After losing Bella 15 months ago and the kids losing Sid this past week, the time seemed right to bring a new cat into our home. We've come close to adopting a few times but couldn't quite feel right about it. However, Abby seemed like the right fit at the right time.

On our bed. She spent the whole first night there with us, which wasn't expected.

Abby is 8 years old but seems like a young 8; hopefully, she'll be with us for another 8 years. She's a pretty perky cat and quite pretty too.

Perky and Pretty.

She is not a lap cat, not yet anyway, but she is a people cat and follows us around. If we're upstairs, the chances are that she is too. Likewise downstairs as in the next photo.

Catching some rays on the spot she has chosen on the living room couch.

On her second day, she was better able to relax.

She's very brainy (of course she is) because she watches tv, and I'm sure she understands every word. At least she understands that when she hears big dogs barking, she should look for cover.

She really does pay attention to the tv sometime.

Addendum: The first shot with my Canon, processed in a slightly glowy, artistic style. I want to do better with Abby than I did with Bella. Although I have a few nice shots of Bella, I do wish that I had a few more.

Going Very Small

After having a go at photographing the polka dot plant in the morning (see previous post), I turned my attention back to the African violet, about which I have also previously posted.

This was all done handheld, single shot (no focus stacking) without taking much care, but just looking and firing.

I liked this one, peering past the petal into the yellow heart of the flower.

Then, I thought that I would see what I could do with a tiny bud almost hidden underneath the larger blooms. If you know these plants, then you know just how tiny these buds are. Without a tripod, I am happy enough with the result.

Back to Macros

I hadn't done any macro photography for a week or more, but with Sue out and with nothing else to do, it was time to play again.

I returned my attention to the good ole polka dot plant and later focus-stacked 6 photos that were shot sans flash.

Then I used the flash for 8 photos this time — 8 photos, and I still didn't get everything in focus.

I find that there is just a little more life to the avec flash version, and although you can't really tell at this resolution, the background is a little less dark and somewhat more textured.

I put away both the tripod and the flash, lay the petals on glass to see if I could get a reflection, which I did get a little bit: one shot, handheld, no flash.

Something unique happened today. After the big snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, there was some melting today (Friday). No, there's not a whole lot of warming in the forecast for the next two weeks, but one still feels a modicum of optimism.

Heart Day

Sue decorates for every season, mostly changing little displays here and there. There are dollar store tinsel sort of hearts strewn about the dining room table. This is a macro of one of the tiny things.

A little fun with a tulip macro. I took a slice and made it into a heart shape. Then I took another slice for the background and added a texture. Finally, I duplicated the right side of the original image and flipped/copied it over the the left side so that both sides are the same. I didn't have to do the flip but decided to ... because I could, I guess.

I used the heart for Sue's card: Still Hearting You.

The inside: an image from our courting days. I think we were off to a church choir event, but this was one of her bridesmaids dresses, so who knows. The to be continued follows up on the still hearting you theme on the front.

Hope you all have a hearty sort of day.

Digging Out

Well, we had our big snowstorm, and while it was big enough, it seemed a little less than expected. Everyone prepared for the worst; schools were actually closed for two days. Usually, they just cancel buses but leave the schools open. They pretty well could have stayed open yesterday because the snow began later than expected and started mid afternoon rather than early afternoon. But you make the best decision that you can with the information that you have.

We get a lot of drifting up by the house, and I shovelled that part out twice last evening. However, I left the bulk of it for the contractor, and it came during the night. There had been some subsequent accumulation, but the lions' share had been removed.

However, there was more to do. First, it is garbage day, so we shovelled a bit of a path to the sidewalk. Second, the contractor has been leaving more and more of a bank on the side of the driveway, making it narrower, so it behooved us to trim it back a bit.

Shovelling a path to the street

A different view of the same path. The accumulation behind is taller than Sue
who is not short.

From the street

The neighbour came over to help out. She cut into the bank for us.

Other neighbours are also out. They later came down to finish our driveway.

I almost neglected to mention that yet another neighbour had cleared our walk
before we came downstairs in the morning.

Sue decided to make sure the vents out back were clear.

Once we were back inside, I noticed my neighbour, he who did our walk, on the ladder.