T/ Alphabe-Thursday

TRASH the dress photography, Lake Simcoe, Ontario

Trash the dress is a style of modern wedding photography in which a bride's wedding gown is destroyed to create an "artwork" to be displayed on a wall, a reflection of the couple's crazy younger days as they grow old together.

I don't know this couple. My camera and I were spies. Well, actually we just happened to catch this on our way to photograph a beautiful sunset.

Same couple trashing the dress

So, what do you think about this kind of artwork?

Added later: I don't think it's the dress they hang on the wall but the photos of the trashing. :)

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

Late August/ Nature Notes

The colours of Autumn

These photos were taken beside local railroad tracks and country roads.

The largest square: common ringlet butterfly on Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota).

Moving clockwise: wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus), wild yellow apple, mountain ash (Sorbus decora), pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), and goldenrod (Solidago ssp.)

Please note that I include the botanical names because they remain the same around the world but the common names vary.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Bobcageon/ Watery Wednesday

Trent-Severn Waterway, Bobcageon, Ontario

It's hard to believe that it's almost Labour Day, after which kids in Ontario return to school!  Can summer really be over?

I am linking to Watery Wednesday where you can find many more watery photos.

Alton Mill/ Our World

 Alton Mill, Ontario

Built in 1881, this building was originally a knitting mill that manufactured fleece-lined long underwear. (Yep, really!) Then in 1935 the mill was converted to manufacture rubber products such as balloons for Disney and (believe it or not) condoms for Canadian troops during the Second World War.

The mill was closed in 1982, the longest running water-powered mill on the upper Credit River system.

 Machinery from inside the mill

But the mill has been restored and is now the Alton Mill Creative Art Studios.

 A foundation outside the main building

Outside the studios is an outdoor gallery of works by sculptor Ted Fullerton. One of his scultures is called Squaring the Circle.

Squaring the Circle

On a sign near this sculpture: The symbolic association of red and green align with the notion of the perfect balance of the vertical (the mystical) and the horizontal (life experience). creating a balance of the "mystery of life"or "creation." The square with it's perfect proportions has become a symbol, in particular within Eastern culture,of the womb, suggesting the mystery of realization or life (cycle). The female form is placed on a plinth as a sign of veneration.

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Hollyhock/ Macro Monday

 Hollyhock blossom close up

A few hollyhocks are still blooming in my gardens. Here's what two of the blossoms look like close up.

Closeup of another red blossom

To see more macro shots visit  MACRO MONDAY at Lisa's Chaos.

Horse Farm/ Scenic Sunday

Farm on back road, Ontario

To see more scenic photos visit  SCENIC SUNDAY.

Little Barn/ SOOC

Little ol' barn south of Orangeville, Ontario

To see more photos straight out of the camera, visit Jan's  SOOC at Murietta365.

The Teaser/ Camera Critters

 Green heron atop a dead branch

This elusive green heron was a big tease. It sat way above my head (I cropped this photo considerably) and watched me. Luckily the light was good. When I tried to move in closer...

 Atop a second branch

it flew to another branch!  I think it was more annoyed with me than afraid. But finally it grew bored with me and then...

Green heron in flight

it flew away.

To join in the fun, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS 

Harrison Creek/ Weekend Reflections

Late summer reflection in Harrison Creek, East Gwillimbury

The closing of summer is less than a month away, represented here by pink blossoms of Joe-pye weed, green but yellowing grasses, blue sky and wispy clouds reflected in the creek.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

East Gwiillimbury Farm/ Sky Watch

Monday evening sunset over an East Gwillimbury farm

The sky was more colourful north of where the sun was going down.

Pink clouds to the north of the farm

To see tons of beautiful skies from around the world, visit  Sky Watch

S/ Alphabe-Thursday

 SQUARE (some say rectangular) bales of straw ready to be taken to the barn

Whenever hay or straw has been cut and sufficiently dried, it's baling time in East Gwillimbury, which could be one, two or three times a year depending on rainfall. Believe it or not, watching the process can be entertaining... for a few minutes each year, at least.

 Shooting up, up, UP...

Making SQUARE bales can be especially fun to watch for a photographer. You can't see the tractor in this photo, but it is pulling the baler, which is making the bales and shooting them up, over...

 and over!

and into the hay wagon.  Capturing a bale in mid air is the entertainment for me.

 Smokin', baby!

A couple of years ago, I even captured dust coming out of the bales. Doesn't it look a bit like smoke?

Neat and orderly, and not nearly as entertaining

These SQUARE bales look like they might actually be SQUARE (or in three dimensions, cubes).

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

Roadside Finds/ Nature Notes

Along East Gwillimbury roads

Warm days, cool nights - it feels like September is not far away. Largest square : great blue heron rising out of a roadside pond Working clockwise: ripe wild cherries (Prunus virginiana), yellow coneflower (Ratbida pinnata), ripe elderberries (Sambucus canadensis), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and flowers of bur cucumber (Sicyos angulatus). Please note that I include the botanical names because they remain the same around the world but the common names vary.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Shaw's Creek/ Watery Wednesday

Dam at Alton Mill on Shaw's Creek

Can you imagine yourself sitting on the heart-shaped rock watching the water flow over the dam and listening to the sound?


I am linking to Watery Wednesday where you can find many more watery photos.

Antique Tractor Pull

 OH OH!

What do you suppose this antique tractor was doing when the tire came off?

 Another old tractor in the competition

Like the modified tractor above, it was pulling a sledge with a heavy weight on it. Tractor pulling is a popular motorsport in farming areas across North America, Europe and Australia.  But if you live in a city or suburb you may never have seen or heard of it before.

 The flag is still green but the tractor is rearing like a horse

The winner owns the tractor that pulls a weight transfer sledge the farthest.  As the tractor moves down the 90-metre (300-foot) track, the weight on the sledge moves forward from the axle towards the front of the sledge making it harder to pull because in front of the wheels there's a pan that digs into the track.

 Tractor in first photo being helped off the track

Unfortunately for this poor driver, a wheel came off as his tractor reared.

Rolling the tire off the track

Hummingbird Moth/ Macro Monday

Clearwing hummingbird moth

This hummingbird moth was in a hurry, darting from flower to flower, hovering for a few seconds to sip nectar.

Another view of the moth

To see more macro shots visit  MACRO MONDAY at Lisa's Chaos.

OOPS!/ SOOC

My face is red!  I accidentally erased this week's SOOC! Hmmmm. I was cleaning up my blog and changing some of the labels to reflect how my blog has evolved since 2008 when this blog began. Would you believe that when I changed the labels the dates changed too? When I discovered that ALL of them were being republished with today's date I deleted them all...including last night's SOOC post. SORRY!

To see more photos straight out of the camera, visit Jan's  SOOC at Murietta365.

Who's Driving?/ Camera Critters

Leaving an East Gwillimbury parking lot

Aren't you just a tad curious about who the passengers are?

Five curious yet worried critters

Is this the driver?

 

Hey, quiet in the back, you guys!

 
To join in the fun, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS 

Studio/ Weekend Reflections

Artist's studio

It tickled me to see the reflection of the easel in the window and the shadow of the window in the easel.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Corny Sunrise/ SkyWatch

Sunrise last Saturday

Five-thirty seems a bit early to get up on a Saturday but, but, but...the sky was promising a beautiful sunrise.

In memory of Klaus Peter, owner of the Sky Watch meme. May he rest in peace.

To see tons of beautiful skies from around the world, visit  Sky Watch

R/ Alphabe-Thursday

Rainbow over an East Gwillimbury soccer field 

R is for RAINBOW.

Rainbow over an East Gwillimbury park

RAINBOW:  a spectrum of light seen in the sky when light from the sun shines through droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere.

Rainbow effects can also be seen near fountains, water falls and...

Balloons in a rainbow of colours

even floating over strip malls. Festive, don't you think?

And somewhere northwest of where I live (I honestly forget where exactly),  a rainbow effect is painted on...

House painted in rainbow colours

a building. Yes, it's for real! So, would YOU paint your house like this?

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

My Garden/ Nature Notes

My garden last Sunday afternoon

Fall is in the air and many of my late season plants are now blooming.

Largest square: a wasp on gooseneck loosestrife (Lysmachia clethroides).  No one needs to tell me this plant is invasive. I know. I tried to tear it out of my gardens a couple of years ago...and looks who's back. Gooseneck loosestrife is pretty but I will be  digging a whole lot out in the next few weeks. This time I'll leave a couple of plants since it's determined to be in this dry garden anyway!

Working clockwise: Buddleia (I'm not sure which variety bit it was the first of my Buddleia plants to blossom this year); giant rosehip of my Rosa rugosa;  cranesbill geranium 'Roxanne', Japanese anemone 'Pembina' (Anemone hupehensis) and phlox.

Please note that I include the botanical names because they remain the same around the world but the common names vary.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Great Blue/ Watery Wednesday

Great blue heron in a pond near me

One of my goals this year was to get some good shots of great blue herons, which in years past has not been easy as they have so many places to hide in the cat-and-nine tails so prevalent in my area. But for some unknown reason I have been in the right place at the right time this year. I LOVE it!

This heron was NOT in the perfect spot to get a super photo - a bit too shady for my taste. But the heron made me happy when it decided to jump out of the water and fly to a better fishing spot twenty or thirty feet away. Unfortunately it flew to an even shadier location but at least I got the shot of the heron in air.

I am linking to Watery Wednesday where you can find many more watery photos.

Badlands/ MyWorld

Cheltenham Badlands, Caledon, Ontario

Welcome to the Red Planet!

Okay, truth be told, this is not Mars but a geological phenomenon here in Ontario. These badlands - an area of soft rock that forms rounded hills and gullies where no vegetation grows - was formed more than 450 million years ago.  Erosion caused by poor farming practices uncovered the rock about a century ago.

Queenston shale, once the edge of an ancient sea floor

Queenston shale is a soft iron-rich rock - iron oxide creating the reddish colour. The greenish grey is also iron oxide but circulating ground water has changed the red to green.

Overview of the eroded area

Wind and rain continue to erode the shale but signs on the property urge visitors to not dig or slide down the dunes.

And look! Other photographers were there too!

The badlands is part of the Ontario's Niagara Escarpment's designation as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

I am linking to My World.

Cabbage White/ Macro Monday

Butterfly sipping nectar

Notice the butterfly's long. long tongue!

Good to the very last drop

To see more macro shots visit  MACRO MONDAY at Lisa's Chaos.