Oh You Dog

Summer Time And The Loving Is Easy

2009-07-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tails on the Trails

2009-06-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I love mutts.

I love mutts that need a good home.

The following are all dogs (adoptable, or adopted) who attended Second Chance Animal Rescue Society's annual Tails on the Trails. I chose these photos because all of these dogs are adorable and together they show the amazing variety of great dogs that come from shelters or rescue groups.

Zoey a.ka. Bandit. Adopted.

Coho. Adoptable.

Jimmy. Adoptable.

Zeus. Adoptable.

Coco. Adopted on June 6th.

Lily. Adopted.

Gracie. Adopted.

Springer. Adopted on June 6.

Finnigan. Adopted.

Holly. Adopted.

Simon. Adoptable.

Wembley. Adoptable.

Gnash. Adopted.

Ezzy. Adopted. ( Ezzy and Finnigan are siblings!)

I've always been a rescue girl through and through. But this weekend reenforced that even more ( if that's possible!)

Please consider looking in shelters or rescue organizations for your next family member.

www.petfinder.com is a great place to start.

The Dog

2009-05-30T14:16:00.001-07:00

...'s of bearspaw.

This post consists of deliciously cute photos of two of my favorite dogs in the whole wide world. They just happen to live in a 20 foot radius from my house.

Pretty

Crazy

Sun

Flares.

This shot is cute, a dog and a girl, running and smiling.

Who brought crazy eyes along for the ride?

Ohh.. Rocky. Aka a baby lamb, a marshmallow, a snowball or a puppy.

This one is my favorite.

No ears!

Brief interlude...

Come get the ball.

I dare ya.

The key moment of distraction.

My dog is so smart he created a new trick. This is a hybrid of shake a paw and be pretty. This way it doesn't really matter what command was spoken, he hit the nail on the head.

Waiting oh so patiently for the magic fence to open and for the walk to commence.

That's all folks.

Bad to the {Busy} Bone

2009-05-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

Things that happened over the last weeks that were picture worthy include:

A special lady's birthday.

She got lotsa candy cause she's so sweet.

Who's that handsome mutt?

Old, I mean long time friends had a good time.

Some man eating cows escaped.

Cousins bonded.

And took wicked {b}ass selfies.

And in between snow storms, mother nature provided us with some pretty cool sunsets.

How did she know my favorite color is purple?

This questions is open to the public. Where the heck does time go? I feel like I have none. Ever. Or energy for that matter.

Who's stealing my time and energy

Round and Round

2009-05-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been neglecting the blog, but NOT my camera. I'm off to Banff later today for a stagette so here are some Edmonton snap shots to tide you off til tomorrow. Tomorrow will be... mountain pictures!

Nothing spectacular about this photo except, both ears are up!

German Shepherd anybody? Any takers?

While taking these pictures I received the comment:

"What are you trying to do? Take a picture up his nose?"

Nooo, I'm trying to take a close up with a wide angle lens. But your idea sounds easier.

I hope you like tire swings.

I happily took photos of this tire swing until a cute dad and daughter pair showed up and the playground felt crowded.

This is the gross pond near my house where flocks of Canadian Geese land during migration. Lately I've been given flak for saying Canada Goose instead of just Goose. I still don't think it's that weird to specify.

This shot is supah soup'd up. Because really a speed bump with that much damage wouldn't really be that yellow.

Coolski

2009-04-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Coolski.

More wide angle fun. I haven't grown bored of The Dog look yet, but I think I'm going to need to photograph some more dogs to keep the fire alive. The new lens is awesome, but takes some getting used to. It's very inflexible and impossible to use for close ups, which I'm beginning to learn I took more of than I thought. However it is fantastic for landscapes and now that I have more time on my hands I can explore with those.

In the meantime...

Check out the shadows in the left of this photo..completely accidental but definitely cool. I'm still trying to figure out how Buddy's body is perfectly shaped yet I look like a blob from waist down but we'll leave that one as it stands ;)

This is Buddy's view of the world for 99.75% of the day now that it's nicer out. I don't see anything special about it, but I guess it's a good patrol lookout. He can scan every inch of the fence he would give his life to protect.

Beauty Shots

These next three photos are unedited. The sun was shining unbelievably bright on the neighbors house, yet the sky was angry and grey. And then the trees decided to turn red.

Coolsky.

Cuteski.

Best Commercial Ever

2009-04-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, bear with me because this is my first time posting a video. I don't know if everybody will love this as much as I did, but it's worth a shot.

Things to look for that are cute and funny to the max:

(In order of appearance)

1. The donut behind the glass

2. The radish stepping on the donut

3. All three tucked carefully in a seat belt.

4. The coffee cup smiling and wiggling his feet while in car

5. The coffee cup helping the donut up the stairs

6. The radishes face when he pulls out the excel

7. The coffee cup helping both the donut and the radish

Enjoy, and feel free to watch over and over to catch all the cute moments.

Double Trouble

2009-04-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Kids in rubber boots...is there anything better?

Caden and Carter visited and we all had a grand old time. I think everybody is just happy that we can play outside without jack frost nipping at our nose.

Caden (7)

And my parents wanted to take that swing set down...

Carter (3)

omg freckles!

Buddy

Can I manage a post without the appearance of a dog? Probably not. But it is nice to have some non-furry creatures allow me to take their photo.

Thanks Caden and Carter!

New Toys

2009-04-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am the proud new owner of a Sigma 10-20 mm F4-5.6. I brought it home and decided to take a picture of Buddy.

What the what! Crazzzy wide angle!

I love it.

Buddy is less than enthused.

Don't even try to mess with this dog while he's on patrol.

To serve and protect.

Oh please, no more..

Apparently he is very much above cooperating for pictures.

It Will

Not Happen.

This photo's a good example of the crazzzy wide angle-ness. If you look carefully at the distorted part on the right, you can see Pop's hand wrapped up carefully. Poor Pops.

Still refusing to look at the camera until...

Did you say Walk?

Didja??

Sure did Bud! Let's test this puppy out!

Tree scene in Balto? Anyone?

I have taken a photo of this specific spot with every camera/lens I have ever owned.

Yay.

Truckin' through the crystal clear water.

While I forked over the dough for this lens, I made myself keep thinking about the kind of shots it would take.

The image I was thinking of looked something like this:

That's my boy.

Things are not as always as they seem

2009-04-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's spring, it's a blue sky, it's lovely, but more importantly...

It's a bunny race!

Oh I have missed you big fluffy clouds.

Warning: Object in mouth is bigger than it appeared.

Wet nose? Check!

Ladies and Gentleman we've got ourselves a healthy pooch!

What dog? There's no dog in here.

Just one delicious pie.

Muddy Foots

2009-04-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Remember when two weeks ago we had 3 feet of snow? Well it's gone.

Creek's a runnin', Birds are a singin', Mud is Muddin'.

Sometimes Buddy and I like to play a game called "I move my head my around really fast while you chase me with the camera for a straight on shot"

It's not as fun as it sounds.

Got it! And does Bud ever look happy about it!

I thought this looked like a dinosaur footprint. I guess pretty much just because of the cracks, it's clearly a dog's paw.

Look at that pretty clear creek sigh.

Introducing...my new rubber boots. I love them.

Two of the three amigos. Walk amigos.

Where do spiders go in the winter?

Every time I get a picture like this I get real excited because it looks like the forbidden forest in Harry Potter.

Does moss survive under snow?

Releasing the beast into the forbidden forest.

Baby tree.

Happy dog.

Many trees.

Look at the colors! We have color!

Spring has Sprung.

Earth Day!

2009-04-10T09:10:00.001-07:00

OK so Earth Day isn't here YET...but there's nothing wrong with some early preparation!

Don't look away

We need all the help we can get

Is it worth cleaning up?

I think so.

Wordle, Worldle, Wordle...

2009-04-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

..I made you out of words!

I've been wanting to make one of these word webs for a looong time and was waiting til I had a substantial amount of posts on the blog. The size of the words is relative to the amount they are used on the site.

Take your time, breathe it in, enjoy.

Things I thought to myself after seeing this wordle:

1. Dang. It only uses the first page. Waiting was a waste.

2. Stop using the word "shot"(oops) and say photo more. Shot is such an ugly word when taken out of context, photo is always pretty. Photo photo photo.

3. Why the heck is face so big?

4. I love Buddy.

5. Where is ravine? I'm pretty confident I say that word quite a bit..but I can't find it! 15 points to whoever spots it!

6. Why is toonie on there at all let alone decent sized? ( right above adoption) I KNOW I have only said that word once. Ok, maybe twice.

7. What else can I wordle?

This wordle is going to look awesome next time!

Love Photo Awesome Pylon Love Buddy Dogs Dogs Love Photo Ravine Dogs Buddy Photo Dream Food Dogs Love Photo Ravine Buddy Family Dogs Photo Love Family Awesome Life Love Laugh Spaghetti Buddy Dogs Adoptable Photo Ravine Love Laugh Cute Woof Buddy Rainbow Love Family Buddy Dogs Adoptable Photo Woof Pylon

Beauty Shots

2009-04-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

I was house sitting five amazing dogs for a night this week, plenty of time to snap some photos! My goal was to get one beauty shot each. We'll start with some candids. :)

The Whole Gang...

From left to right: Gracie, Sophie(Just barely in there), Ginger, Lucy and Avery

Patrol

Everybody's got a fluffy butt!

Poor Ginger was pretty scared at first, but she came around.The first time she came within 10 feet of me it was to interrupt a Sophie Photo shoot! (Ginger on the left)

This is Sophie's "pet me now" face. Followed shortly thereafter by her jumping in your lap. I suggest you obey the face.

Grace didn't leave my side for most of my stay.

Beauty Shots!!

Sophie

Grace

Lucy

Ginger

(next time I'll get a great shot of her cute face! Didn't want to force it this time)

Avery

Shame, Shame, Shame

2009-03-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been a whole week since I last posted...I haven't been all that busy..I think a word that starts with L and ends with AZY sums it up better. Here are some shots from the week in a jumbled up order!

Beautiful Paula. This is the best shot I got of her at the adoption event. Those eyes are amazing! Paula's adopting is pending, which makes me so happy!

This picture does the snowflakes no justice. It's the end of March and we've been getting snowflakes the size of toonies. Don't know what a toonie is? Don't you wish YOUR currency had cool names? Of course everybody from Canada knows what I'm talking about.

It was a difficult task getting this shot to turn out. Only Buddy would decide to look irresistibly cute in a spot where half his face is in bright sunlight and the other half complete darkness.

Two face. Kinda sums up his personality actually...

As usual, some kind of flower floating around the house.

Johnny D...easily the best behaved dog at the adoption event. This poor guy was shot at, and a bullet scraped the top of his scalp, and one lodged in his back foot. He doesn't care, he loves everybody.

Adoptable!

More toonie snow!

A shot at the bright side. Maybe this photo represents hope that Buddy will conquer his behavioral problems!

There's always reason to hope.

Mutts Adored

2009-03-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Adoption event!!

Saturday was a really busy today and tons of people stopped by Mutts Adored to see a adoptable dogs from three different rescue groups.

First up, Leasha! Adoption status: Pending :)

She's like a friendlier version of Buddy!

I love those ears...

Next up, Reese! This boy just wants to play, play, play.

Adoption status: Adoptable.

This sweet girl is Callie. (You might remember the picture I posted of her during her fight with demodex.) Look at her now! She's winning the battle folks...and her adoption status? Adoptable

This is Dandy, she's six year old and a big ball of energy. She was a bit of a camera hog ;) Adoption status: Adoptable

Reese and Dandy

Here's Mason! This dog is strong. And that is probably an understatement. He is super friendly with dogs and people and gives great hugs. Adoption status: Adoptable.

Dandy has to get the last word

The picture speaks for itself.

Deep...Snow

2009-03-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's not often our daily walks to the ravine are filled with gut splitting, rip roaring laughter, but you know..every body has those days! This post and the pictures on it mean a lot to me, as my camera had a near death experience. There are a TON of Buddy action shots so if that is a good thing for you, read on! and if that is a bad thing, stop right now.

See how this picture looks as if it was taken from the top of a mini hill? ( note how small the figure at the bottom is) Well it was taken from the top of a mini hill! This is one slippery hill and I decided the best strategy was just running down the whole thing. After sprinting by my cautiously stepping dad and hearing his urgent words "Easy!" I felt my foot get caught oh so suddenly in the deep snow. Time passed in slow motion as my body pitched forward and my hands grasped at the camera hanging around my neck. Hands busy protecting the goods, I made no attempt to catch myself and did a major body slam, chin scrape followed by a face smash INTO the camera.

With an unharmed camera, a slightly fat lip and a severely bruised ego it was safe to say the walk started off with a bang!

Favorite of the day! Well...one of many.

After many failed attempts at a "cool snowball shot" (only in Edmonton right?) my dad insisted that Kayley should just "throw right it at my face!"

Will do Dad!

At first I was disappointed that the hand stole the focus of the shot...but it turned out for the better! This is Buddy pretending to have a good recall.

Some face shots.

I think the soundtrack for the next four images should be Lucky Man by The Verve Pipe. ( Ocean scene in Marley & Me anyone?)

What's Buddy running towards you say? Once again Kayley has rolled her ankle while standing still. It truly is a mystery how she manages to do that...

Man down

But...you're not a St. Bernard!

Have no fear! I'll jump on your face!

Feel better already?

You are safe with me

Stay away predators, she's with me.

Good rescue boy.

Ok I lied, THIS is my favorite.

Who knew that a dog could double as a teeter totter?

creak

Well Dad and Buddy were pretty proud that they escaped the trip without injury, and Kayley has vowed to never come on a walk again.

But I know she'll change her mind

In like a lion...

2009-03-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

...out like a...lion? The weather here insists on staying terrible, but it's nice to know somewhere else, Tulips are blooming!! Hallelujah for indoor plants.

Favorite shot...

And all the while, sweet little Buddies lay snug in their beds.

well...MY bed.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

2009-03-17T14:23:00.001-07:00

Buddy is cursed with looking extremely cute when wrapped up in a scarf. I hope you all have some laughs at his expense.

Plum tuckered out! Funny since he was comatose on 3/4 of my bed last night.

The Many Faces of Jace

2009-03-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Introducing my baby cousin Jace! He is nine months and sooo close to walking on his own. So close that you can just place him by a low table, and watch.

Oh wait...two older cousins (who shall remain anonymous) tried that and he fell and got his very first shiner. Whoops.

At first Jace would cry every time we made baby eye contact, but that soon changed to smiles. Eventually everybody realizes how funny my face really is.

Babies for lunch? Nahh

She thinks she's been forgiven for the "shiner." In my opinion he looks a little scared.

Great Grandma Ruby and Baby Jace!

Papa Jeff and Baby Jace. If you look really closely you can see an itty bitty shiner forming on the corner of Jace's right eye.

A funny series of events...

Busy times..

2009-03-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Buddy and I got some awesome presents in the mail. It made our week and hence I have neglected the blog. Ok that excuse sucks, but times are busy!

Buddy's new skunk kind of haunts him...I think it's supposed to be roadkill..yikes!

My new sunglasses haunt me in a different way. Get here soon summer!!

Be very afraid :)

Puppy Love

2009-03-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: EXTREMELY cute puppies below, the pictures really do them no justice. From R to L in the first shot: Rosemary, Sage, Paprika, and Ginger. A.K.A The Spice Girls.

These girls did not like to be in their pen!

Paprika meeting Chopper.

Ginger, caught in the act of giving me puppy kisses..sigh..

Can you believe that NONE of these girls got adopted on Saturday? I wonder if Buddy would like a puppy....;)

FOUND

2009-03-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

Puff is Found!!

I'm so happy to hear that she is safe and sound, and apparently no worse for wear. I just might celebrate.

Odd Socks

2009-03-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

I have been putting off making another post because I wanted Puff's pictures to stay near the top. But, I thought the blog deserved an update, and I'll post a picture of her Lost Poster right at the top.

This is Puff, she's been missing since Saturday evening and we are all really worried about her. Please keep an eye out if you live in the Edmonton area.

This is Buddy. He's a lazy bum who is spending the duration of this blizzard inside.

Anybody seen Shopaholic yet? Well aren't you jealous of MY green scarf that looks kinda sorta like the one in the movie? Ok it's a bit of a stretch, but I love it anyways.

I also love this picture. Very much.

If you don't know it already, I don't wear matched socks. I don't TRY to wear odd socks, but I also don't try to pair them up. Never have, probably never will. Yesterday I happened to pick up a pair! But today, when I take a picture of my socks, not so lucky. Such is life!

Second Chance!

2009-02-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Adoption event!! The following dogs are all from Second Chance Animal Rescue Society. Some adopted, some adoptable ;). We had such a broad range of dogs at the event today, it always makes me wonder why people choose to go to a breeder...

This is Puff, she started out a mop and turned into a schnauzer cross. The first picture is Puff before being groomed. The rest are the after shots.

Doesn't look like the same dog does it? And Guess what? Puff is adoptable!!

This is Arlo. 80 lbs, gentle giant, great dog. Adoptable!

London, the lucky dog, got adopted today!!

Callie and Cisco are siblings that were diagnosed with demodex, and they had it pretty bad. This first picture is Callie, but Cisco looked about the same.

This is Cisco now...and should I mention? Adoptable.

This is Valley and she got adopted today! Check out those baby blues..

(J9 this is the Spuds look alike!)

My favorite of the day...

This is a great depiction of the last hour of our adoption events.

If you want to check out more adoptable dogs...follow the SCARS link on the right side of the page.

Choose to save a life, Adopt One Til There Are None!

Into the Wild

2009-02-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

Usually I don't like to bring my camera and Buddy on a walk by myself, it's just one too many things to think about. Today I made an exception and together the three of us trudged through the snow to get some much needed exercise. I made another exception and walked on the creek for the majority of the walk. ( After falling through the ice up to my knee last year, I am forever hesitant to trust it's strength.) For the majority of my thin ice time, I was desperately hoping a) That the water wasn't deep enough to get my camera wet should I fall through and b) That Buddy is indeed a distant descendant of Lassie.

Get Help Girl!

We ventured to an area with no human tracks within 500 yards. No human tracks, but rich with dog like tracks..coyotoes? Yup we wandered ( willingly) into a coyote nest. I don't know if there is such thing as a coyote nest but if there is, we were in one.

In the coyote nest we found...

trees that look like the inspiration for 'family trees'...

...tiny little branches holding up relatively huge piles of snow...

...and berries!

No coyotes to be found...but those were coyote tracks! I swear!

Did you say...

2009-02-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

?Walk?

It's a slippery slope! The weather was so nice today the whole fam ventured out to take Bud for a much needed walk.

We have to cross the creek to get to uninhabited areas. Small price to pay when you have a psycho mutt! He doesn't look so scary though.

Forbidden Forest or Hundred Acre Wood?

This picture is a new fave..

The rare black mutt lurks in the cliffs, all the while searching for his humans to ambush.

Some close ups of the few colorful components of the ravine.

Scary Beast

2009-02-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

On Top of The World

2009-02-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ski trip! Ski trip! Ski trip! These photos are all a little grainy..maybe over edited...but who cares? They were taken in Jasper!!

These two are my faves... why do pictures where the subject isn't looking turn out the best?

Well would you look at that last one? My Pops looks like he belongs in a ski magazine!

Spring time?

2009-02-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

Maybe this post will lead you to believe that there is a speck of green in Edmonton. But there's not...it's all white and grey! I don't remember if the groundhog saw his shadow or not, it doesn't really matter, we always have six more weeks of winter!

Look Out Family Day

2009-02-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

The Weisbrots are out and they've got sticks and sharp blades. Is there anything better than skating on Family Day? Well maybe...but we had a grand old time.

We played out our dreams of becoming pro hockey players...

..And Figure skaters!

One cute family shot...

...after another!

Horses aren't my favorite animal...but Clydesdales are so stunning.

This picture was the product of the camera being set on the hockey net, and only having a 2 second timer..

That's better :) The whole Fam Damily. Minus one big brother, one little Grandma and one furry dog.

Happy Family Day everybody!!

Frosty Frosty

2009-02-15T13:02:00.001-08:00

First of all...midterms are over!! Haven't had much of a chance to photograph cute animals this week, but here is some cool frost to ease the pain :)

This one is a good example of how both types of trees look on frosty mornings.
For some reason my camera picked up almost no color in this shot, so I just helped it on it's way and made it black and white. I think if a horror movie took place in the great white north, the movie poster might look something like this.
Even if this pictures are making you cold as you read, you can't deny how cool it looks.

I way over exposed this next one, but I kind of like how it turned out anyways!

What's a post without Buddy? Sleepy puppy!
It's officially Reading Week. One full week off! When I'm not skiing in Jasper, I'm going to try to arrange a photo shoot with A) Two Saint Bernards or B) An English Mastiff puppy. swoon.

As promised...

2009-02-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's pictures..Buddy edition!

Friend/neighbor Michelle was on the other side of Buddy's dog houses snapping some photos, and I had to duck down to avoid ruining her shots. So while lying on my back on the deck, I got these three!

And some extras from a 'walk and shoot' with Michelle

This is Harley, he discovered some treats in my pocket and wouldn't leave til he got one! Naturally I charged him the price of one photo :)

Who's a Rock Star?

2009-02-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

This is Rocky! The cute little bichon that lives on the other side of the fence. Buddy and Rocky mutually drive each other bonkers. Rocky's 8 years old but in my opinion still looks like a puppy!

What's that? You think he's the cutest little white dog this side of the North Saskatchewan? Me too :)

Continuous shooting was really fun to experiment with...

And of course Buddy would NOT miss out on the fun! ( He's very focused on the bad of treats to my left)

I took a gazillion pictures today...but I'm going to cheat and save some for tomorrow! Do you think you can make it?

hodge podge

2009-02-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

I impulsively bought a new photo editing program last week and I am determined to get my money's worth! Here's a small taste of what I can do now :)

Puppy eyes! This kind of photo makes me wish I had a wide angel lens..real bad!

Not sure about this words on photos thing... it could be a permanent change sometime in the future!

This is my favorite part of today's entry...

We ventured to the skate park to check out the graffiti. I know it's vandalism to public property..but is it a crime to like how it looks sometimes?

It just takes some time

2009-01-28T14:37:00.001-08:00

It takes a little time for Buddy to truly warm up to a new toy, but when he does...

Those pictures are all just a little off...I am obviously still working out the kinks!

I usually complain about the amount of plants in our house, but today they provided a decent substitute for outdoor fauna..seeing as the temperature is well below zero!

My favorite shot of the day....

Nothing but Bud

2009-01-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more heartbreaking that a forgotten apple?

Well, maybe this forgotten tomato...

Get prepared for my pooch's cute mug! We finally had decent conditions for an outdoor photoshoot!

This is Buddy jumping onto his dog house. Or flying like superman. You pick!

I am forever trying to get a picture of Buddy with a soft/nice doggie face. I think this one worked out pretty well!

Sometimes I feel bad letting Buddy bark at innocent passerbyers to get pictures..but then I get a good shot and all guilt is forgotten.

I don't see how he can sit comfortably on the peak of his dog house!

You can see the grey hairs on Bud's chin here..but I'll just pretend it's snow

Buddy spying on the neighborhood walkers

Busy Busy

2009-01-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

Well I finally received a photography book that I order what seems like MONTHS ago! I have been eating it up! Unfortunately while I get used to creating the settings for all my pictures, they are temporarily worse! Here are some cute dogs to keep everybody happy

My sweet Markus

Nobody can tell me they don't think this is adorable.(Cajun)

The Best Things In Life Are Free

2009-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded a free trial for a photoshop type program called Lightroom. I haven't had much time to play around and get used to it but here are some I experimented on!

You can only take what you can carry

2009-01-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty terrible saturday as we watched a neighbour's house burn to the ground. The house was destroyed and the damage was estimated at $850 000. We are so thankful that the owners were out and nobody was hurt. We watched from my deck and just sobbed at the tragedy. I took these shots and sent it in to a local news station. They used them which means I won $100, which I plan on donating to the family. Never before have I seen such a powerful fire..and I never want to again. The fire was determined to be arson.

I debated posting these on here but they are the only photos I have taken for awhile and basically sum up my weekend.

New Years Day

2009-01-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Ok..I have definitely been slacking! I've SEEN a lot of pretty things, like the frost on the trees ( coniferous and deciduous alike) but then I remember the -30 weather that caused that frost, and decide that my hands and my camera will be happier if I opt to make a hot chocolate and snuggle in for the day instead. Here are some photos from New years Day.

This would be the group shot that I used my timer and (new!) tripod for. I had to sprint around the house and it took me 9.5 of the allotted 10 seconds. I am proud to say that we managed to get every face in the shot! Even if one is a partially covered by a wine glass.

The cutest Grandma of all time. 95 years old and Ruby still rocks the new years cracker hats!

Three of my favorite ladies, belting it out to "Leader of the Pack."

Sleepy Buddy. Was he sleeping through all the festivities as this blog entry implies?

If only we were so lucky! But he was a pretty good boy.

I thought I would experiment by putting the pictures on the side this time...I think I prefer them in the middle. SCARS Adoption event tomorrow! More cute puppy pictures, yahoo!!

First day shots

2009-01-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

These are some of my shots from my first day with my new camera. I haven't had much of a chance to take well lit photos of Buddy since...That's going to be my next project.

Check out the drool on this boy!

Wile E. Coyote

2009-01-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

About five minutes into our walk today Buddy flushed out a coyote. A BIG coyote. His complete lack of recall when distracted proved itself again as he took off and made chase. We caught sight of both big boy coyote and Buddy up on a ridge, then quickly lost them again. After about five minutes an exhausted but unharmed Buddy returned and the intense fear for his life turned into bafflement at his stupidity. Bud was so jacked up after that he refused to behave and the walk was cut short. Not much time for pictures! However, I managed to snap a few on the way home.

Somehow my Dad ends up in every picture..it's a little like "Where's Waldo?"

What does the orange tape on trees REALLY mean? I sure hope it's not a death sentence because this ones a beauty.

The fam (part of it) checking out Buddy's coyote chasin' track. After making our way up the hill and back home, I realized I was down a mitten.

The forgotten mitten. (check out above picture, can you see the mitten?)

One last question...Coyote= Kye-Yote or Kye-O-Tee? I think I'll just stick to Wile. E

Adopt One Till There Are None

2009-01-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

I volunteer with an amazing animal rescue group called SCARS. Second Chance Animal Rescue Society. SCARS is made up of a group of the kindest people I have ever met, dedicating their lives to saving animals. The majority of our dogs come from northern Alberta reserves where they have been neglected and often mistreated. Today we had an adoption event and here are some of the dogs.

Sweetie is 11 years old and the happiest sweetest dog I have ever met. She didn't stay still for a moment all day ( hence the blurry picture!)

Callie is a 4 month old mix that had Demodex. A skin irritation caused by mites. She is one sweet pup.

This is Miranda. She was trapped in a burning barrel and attacked and stabbed. She might also be pregnant. One look into her eyes and you can't help but tear up. It never ceases to amaze me that dogs can have such gentle souls after being treated so badly by humans.

Spud. One thick goofball of a puppy. His foster mom said if he didn't get adopted today she was keeping him. He didn't get adopted ;)

Camilla slept in the corner for the whole afternoon. She was the only dog that I got multiple shots of because she stayed so still.

Marcus is my buddy. He was so nervous at first but ended up collapsing in my lap for snuggles.

Please choose to adopt when you are looking for your next dog...these animals are the best pets one could ask for!

-40

2009-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

When the temperature reaches 40 below there is not much to do but follow Buddy around with a camera. Fortunately this seemed like an ok day plan for Bud too.

Buddy got a giant Bobo for christmas from our pal Kaiser. He is officially in love with it.

Off to see Marley and Me now. Got my box of kleenex ready!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T15:35:00.001-08:00

After enthusiastically waving goodbye to 2008, a new years walk was greatly needed. The head was still a little fuzzy so there weren't many good shots to choose from!

*I may or may not have returned from this walk with a slightly delayed hang over!

On your mark, get set, go!

2008-12-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

Well, my first post. I guess this one will serve as a quick preview of what's to come! This blog will have pictures of things I encounter in my day. Focussing on nature, kids, pets and my dog Buddy. Mostly Buddy.

The Ravine I love so much

I love kids (especially in snowsuits!)

Dreaming of sugar plums!

Can't say I didn't warn ya...This is Buddy