Pocketful of Memory Cards

Luckily I had my camera in the car last week when I noticed a swoop of lavender in the west.  I headed over to Lakeshore Road to capture the lovely sunset from Rotary Beach. I'd been taking some indoor shots earlier and had my white balance on florescent so the colours aren't quite right, but anyone who saw the sunset in Kelowna Thursday will tell you it definitely had a lavender/periwinkle tinge. 

My daughter will not be happy with me for mentioning Christmas before the first of December, but I just can't help myself and it's for truly selfless reasons.  I thought sharing a few of my favourite things might give you some Christmas ideas for that wonderful person on your list who enjoys cooking, eating, photography, reading, writing and spending time with loved ones. This is a great little stocking stuffer.  I stumbled across it at Valoroso when they were giving out little samples of it with cheese and bread.  It's a basic paste of hot pepper, olive oil, and white white wine vinegar.  I put it a little dab of it on everything I can think of, like scrambled eggs, meatloaf, or apetizers. A half a spoonful tastes great swirled into a bowl of pasta.  There are a couple different flavours and sizes but I find the 90 g bottle of "love fire" has the best flavour and the most comfortable heat.    A fountain pen makes a great gift for any wri...

The day after Don-O-Ray closed, Jas was kind enough to meet with me so I could buy a few more baking pumpkins to freeze for soups and pies. The fact that I'm roasting these pumpkins as I type reminded me that I'd taken some photos while I was waiting.  It was a lovely fall day and with my iPhone in hand I just I couldn't resist.  

I returned home from running errands on Wednesday afternoon to find a tall narrow box leaning against my front door frame.  It was from my Dad and I had a vague recollection of him saying there was a parcel on the way, but I couldn't remember if he'd told me what was inside.  I carried the box into the kitchen, found an exacto-knife and cut carefully through the packing tape. Inside I discovered a colourful quilt that my mom had started making for me when I was at university. The beginnings of the quilt were discovered when we were going though boxes in my mom's computer room closet after she passed away a couple of years ago. My mom had signed up for a quilting course in Pickering Village in the early 80's.  She made some lovely place mats and a throw pillow and then decided she wanted to make me a quilt to have on my bed at university. Unfortunately while it was being assembled, some grape juice leaked through a knapsack and onto the quilt.   I'm not sur...

Believe it or not we didn't think about the fact that it was Hallowe'en weekend when we chose this wine from our cellar (aka the pantry).   We picked it because we were having fish and most of the wine we keep on hand is red.  This one is a chardonnay called Skulls from Fullglass vineyard in Tranmere South Australia.  It was very fruit forward and didn't appeal to me much.  The BC Liquor Store website didn't give it a very good review either and it received a two star rating with 41 people voting.  The label's kind of cool though...

I feel like I've gotten into a rut with my photography these days.  I haven't been making much of an effort other than point and shoot, mostly with my iPhone. I thought I'd challenge myself a little and try some black and white shots. And just so you know, there'll be no cheating allowed.  I promise to take the photos in B&W mode, I will not switch a colour photo to black and white.  I thought I'd start by sharing a few shots I captured this summer. I'd love to hear any advice you have about Black and White digital. In iPhoto on my Mac, all these photos have the same tones of black and white, but when I uploaded this photo of my hubby, it seems to be leaning towards a brown black tone.  Can anyone explain?