V is not just for Victory

I learned two new words on the same day. They both came from online activity, one word from Flickr and one from Twitter. Oddly enough they were both V words. I post of them here today in the hope that might actually remember them. These are high hopes indeed and probably unrealistic.

I came across verklempt from reading a sports-related tweet. (From dictionary,com)

adjective
INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
overcome with emotion.
"she was all verklempt earlier this week over her latest split from her husband"

A Flickr photo used verdigris in the title. I had to look that up too. This time from Wikipedia, just for variety:

Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass.

Although these weren't from reading books, it does highlight one advantage of reading on a device such as a computer, phone or iPad. You can easily select the word and do a search. When you, or at least I, am reading a physical book, I am prone to just move on. I mean, if I am engrossed in a story, I don't want to close the book, find the dictionary, thumb for the word, close the dictionary, re-open the novel, and only then get back to the story. In comparison, it is so easy and efficient to search on an internet-enabled device.

Sue is not short of Devices

She's well connected this woman o mine.

I saw here with her lineup of devices — laptop, iPad, and phone  all in a row— and couldn't help but take a picture.

The iPad is new. Well, all of the devices are pretty new — the laptop for Christmas 20 and the phone for Christmas 21 — but the iPad is brand spanking new.

With the Christmas phone came an increase in Sue's interest with photography. She was doing all of her processing on the tiny phone screen rather than the computer because it's easier to get all of the apps on the phone and use them there where the photo is already located. Getting the photo and apps from the phone to the laptop would have been cumbersome for her.

Sue has an old iPad mini, but it wasn't able to install some of the apps that she wanted to use and not always the latest version even when she could download an app that she wanted.

So, she has gone from the ancient mini to the modern iPad Pro (not the biggest one) in one heck of an upgrade. Not only that, but she has the keyboard and that fancy dancy Apple pencil. You can see all of the devices plus the computer in the photo.

I have posted some of her pictures here in the past, but this was her recent creation in response to the prompt, Distorted/Picture my Hands/Happy. In this case the distortion in the rendering from a normal photo to a comic sort of look. Her description to her FB group is below the photo.

My hands were very happy to grasp this little beauty when it arrived in the mail.
Now I just have to learn what it will do, and how to use it.
Oh joy, it will keep my hands busy and my mind spinning.

Third Colour Expedition

On Saturday, we realized that, due to the weather, a colour trip would likely not be the best. On the other hand, it could be the best day for about a week. We had just experience a few days of cloud and rain, and there were more in the forecast. Although it was cloudy and windy, we decided to head out regardless, thinking that we could still see colour even if the conditions would not be ideal for photography. As it eventuated, that is pretty well what happened.

We headed northwest in the county, to the area folks call the Lanark Highlands, Lanark being the name of our county. It is rugged Canadian Shield territory up thataway, and we travelled on a road with no spots to stop and shoot. But both the geography and the colour were in top form and pleasant on the eyes.

Eventually, we drove onto a secondary road although secondary might be overstating it. We got to the top of a hill and pulled over where a certain lady gave me a wave. To the left, you can see a lot of the type of colour that we had passed along the way. That will feature in the next photo. To the right, there is a rise and a patch of fence. The subsequent photos, after the first, will show what I saw up there. All photos reveal a less than sunny sky.

To the left.

To the right from up the incline.

We had another stop in mind, but as we neared the location, it began to rain, so we turned toward home. At a corner where we were about to turn, we saw many leaves being blown from the trees. We had to brave the cold, wind and rain and hop our of the car for a quick photo or two. Some of the fall can be seen on the road and more against the trees to the side of the road. 

With fumbling hands, I took a quick video, but under the inclement conditions, and I did a very poor job.

Sue found the rest of the drive home, or at least some of it, to be quite magical with the leaves falling around us in profusion. 

When we arrived home, still chilled and wet, I immediately turned on the furnace for the first time. We made it three days longer than last year. If it hadn't been for the drive, the thermostat  might still be be set to off, but it had to happen sooner than later. Please don't think that we have been shivering in the cold all of this time. Except for one cold night that may have been the result of a lack of calories for supper, we have been fine under our layers.

That was likely our last colour expedition unless we get out for a short drive today if the weather looks conducive. The next few days, however, are forecast to be rainy. Autumn, or at least this colour part of it, passes so quickly, and then much of it does not have favorable weather. We enjoy what we can, however.

Caturday 42: A Territorial Dispute

In my previous Caturday post, two weeks ago, I wrote about Lacey suddenly reclaiming Sue's lap as soon as he weather began to chill and Sue got her sweater out.

Since then, she has decided to also reclaim my the her chair.

I don't know why the chair would be a seasonal thing, and maybe it isn't really. Maybe the mood just struck her one day, and she now has a bee in her bonnet. Whatever the case, we are experiencing an ongoing territorial dispute.

I really don't mind sharing the chair, but there are times when I know that I will want to use it in just a little while, but if she gets on it, she will not want to move for hours. So, I try to place an object that takes some space to hopefully cause her to find another less congested spot. My goto object of dissuasion has been an empty Coke box.

It doesn't always work.

Sometimes it does, however, and I may get a certain look in return.

Second Colour Expedition, Part 3

Our colour-drive to Clayton ended with a stop at the Guthrie United Church Cemetery in Clayton, or just outside, I imagine.

I was taken with these partly-concrete benches. They look built to last but not for people to last sitting on them for very long.

As you can see above, there were numerous trees in their autumn colours. I tried a few compositions, but this is the only photo that really worked for me. The colour is great and the fence line provides additional interest.

There is an old-fashion general store in Clayton. You may find such stores where you live, but they are pretty scarce in these parts. It's little inside, but they have gas pumps, a post office, food, wine and spirits, fishing equipment, and baking. Sue bought some local honey, and we both bought a little baked goodie, which we took to the boat launch.

At the boat launch there was an extremely uncomfortable-looking stone bench. Surely, there is a story behind this, but ooh, my back and bottom.

It's good that we got out when we did, for the weather has not been great ever since. It is raining abundantly on this Thursday. I hope we get out for one more drive while some colour remains.

Second Colour Expedition, Part 2

We turned off concession 7b onto Bellamy Mills Road. This is also an autumn drive that we've repeated for the past few years. It's different from 7b, at least in the first section — quite tree-lined and shady. This is a somewhat typical section.

Aside from the occasional glimpse like the one above, most of the colour was off to the sides, where background trees were catching the light behind the shadier foreground trees. Although it was brilliant to see, I don't find it easy to capture in a photograph, but, with the help of post editing to balance the light and shade, one does try one's best to share the local geography with others.

This is another photo looking into the bush with the orange trees being well backlit.

The other side of the road wasn't backlit, so the colour was not the same, but it still had something to offer.

Coming around a bend, a single tree caught my eye.

That was my last photo from along this road, for the scenery opened up after this, into somewhat more of a farmland than woodland environment.

Second Colour Expedition

As you are well aware, I have certainly taken autumn photos since the first expedition, but yesterday marked only the second actual, dedicated colour-peeping tour.

The first stop was a roadside spot that we usually manage to stop at, either coming or going. In this case we were going. It's where the Indian River, which is scarcely a creek here, crosses Ramsey Concession 7B. It's a nice spot, but our vantage point is limited. Nevertheless, we do our best.

I think the next version is my favourite. I tried to emphasize the long line of trees, and I cropped heavily from the top and  bottom to really focus on them. The colours are gentler than in the other photos, and sometimes, gentler is better.

This is my favourite person, apparently taking a similar photo.

Part 2 to come.