Day 2

And no I'm not going to count down the days until I can park in the new garage, but I will tell you that it should take less than 3 weeks, but I can't park in it for a whole month. {insert sad face here} Why, you ask? Because the cement needs that long to set or whatever it does. To this you reply "But on Extreme Home Make-Over they build a house, furnish it and live in it in about a weeks time!" To which I'm pretty sure the answer is "They never show you close ups, and come back in a year to see what it looks like." I never understood how that worked.

The above picture shows the 'little' machines that tore out the cement. I love little machines. I think they are cute. I want one. I spent most of the day looking out the side door and front window at these things. And then the dump truck came and I spent time staring at that . Check out how new and shiney the yellow digger is! And then I shed a few tears, and got teased about it. To the left of the photo, you can't see it, but I had rocks, lots of them. I asked Kerry if we should move them to another flower bed, he said no, they'll be fine. As I was watching the digger, I noticed my rocks were GONE! And so was the dump truck. Seriously, I was so sad for my rocks. I need to get out more. Duncan said I will have new rocks, but it's not the same. Those ones didn't do anything wrong and now they are at the dump.

Check this out...I'm 5'4" on a good day. The mail box is now above eye level. I can't see if there are any spiders in my mail. I won't be able to get the mail for a few weeks. Nice.

Today, we have a 'moat' not around the house, but in the driveway. There is an island. We have discussed the things we could do today...fill moat with water, float around it, ride bikes in it, put dogs in it. Nothing that Duncan would like, I'm sure.

This is my side-door, and the drop off into the moat. A safety hazard.

In other parts of our yard, our new fence is not quite finished, but looks beautiful! Smells good too, after it rained a bit the cedar smell was very nice!

My sunflowers are huge! I've never had success growing them but this year the sunflower gods smiled upon my garden and bam! I have 8 ft. tall plants.And I have sunflower seeds. You think 'duh, sunflower plants, sunflower seeds', but you'd be wrong. Some idiot once made and sold sunflower seeds that result in flowers without seeds. And this idiot bought them. But this time, I paid attention. I have seeds and big ones! I ate this one, right from the plant. It's unsalted, and unroasted, but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten. No, that's goat cheese. Speaking of which we had a little conversation as to why my mom made me drink fresh from the goat milk when I was a kid, she said Auntie Linda did it, so it was okay. And then she said she wouldn't drink it. Hello, if you wouldn't drink it, should you give it to your kid? The answer is no, because it will traumatize her for the rest of her life.Anyways, here's Linus, check out the reflection in his eyes, that's me holding a plum above my head.

Here's Sally's dramatic "Give me the damn plum" look.

I think some wood comes today and maybe cement forms. I love this construction stuff, not the cost, but the smells of gasoline, wood, and dirt. Which is better than the smell of dying fish, it's salmon spawning time, we might brave the sights and smells to check it out this year. But then again, I can think of 37 better things to do, like pick up dog poop, pluck my eyebrows, clean gutters, etc.

Can you hear that?

It's the sound of a little bobcat with a big jackhammer demolishing my carport cement pad. It's making way for a new one, without cracks and weed growing in it. And then a shiney new garage will be put on top of that new cement pad! In the mean time, Sally is trying to find the deepest darkest hole to crawl in because she is so scared. She's tried the bathtub, she's tried the shoe closest, the linen closet, my lap, under the couch, behind the couch, and is now under the desk.
I'm trying to get my kit stuff done but it's hard to concentrate and I can't watch Y&R because I can't hear what Gloria is saying to Jeffrey. I can make up my own story lines, I'm sure she's telling him that they have that nut tied up because she doesn't look natural with that dayglow blond hair. And that a kitten in a basket is the new black. Everyone has one, Jeffrey, so don't take mine away from me.

I've baked 2 pans of cookie bars. It's stormy, windy, raining and cold, so it was a good baking morning.
I'm thinking I need a graduation gift for finishing my Photographers' Workshop class. I might be aiming too high, a new camera body or a new lens is on my wish list but I probably should settle for a new garage or no divorce.

Did I mention I love little bobcats? And little machinery? Little diggers, too. Not little men, but big men in little machines! Do you think they'd pose for pictures?

Happy Day

I can't take all the credit for how great my photos turned out from Tara and Shawn's wedding. I must first thank Karen Russell for the wealth of knowledge I received in taking her Photographers' Workshop class, I can not say enough good things about this class and how talent she is. And because I knew a bit about how to set my camera up, all photos are SOOC, no Photoshopping!
Secondly, the photographer, Andrea Blair did all the work, set the subjects up, and did her magic, and then I stood behind her and took my shots along with the others in the bridal party. I can't wait to see her photos.
And last but not least, the bride and the groom! They were so cute! Tara's friend brought balloons for a totally different reason, but they made great props for the photos on Knox Mountain.Our bouquets were beautiful.

Shawn's groom's men were great, Nathan is so funny!

They said their vows on the beach at Lake Okanagan Resort. It was a tad hot, but such a great setting.

Kerry took this one. I had only brought the one lens, 50mm f/1.8 and set it on AUTO for him. He got some decent shots. I look a little tense, I don't like wharfs, I don't like deep dark water or sturgeons.

And then we went on a nice little cruise around the lake on a houseboat, had a great meal, danced and I got a little sea sick.

We had a great time. Met some wonderful people. And we wish the couple many, many years of happiness!

Dear Bonnie...

Dear Bonnie,
My mom says you love me.
Can I please come and live with you?
Today I was so embarassed. I had to go, real bad. I went but as you probably know, veggies make poop a little stickier than normal. I love my veggies. So after coming in the house, mom yelled at me and then made me run around the yard, yelling something about "run that turd off your ass". She then took a stick to my bum and removed the very sticky cling-on from my bum. And then she got out the wet wipes, I'm not a baby! I think the neighbours saw and now I don't think I can show my mug in the back yard anymore.
And mom says I smell bad, Emily says I smell bad. I heard mom on the phone, she said something to Kelly-Next-Door about bath, and then I heard trim the back end, and smells bad. I know she was talking about Sally, I wonder what she has planned for her at 3 pm today?
Anyway, I'll be waiting with my box of dog bones, and my blankie.

Sincerely,
Linus Lo Williams

It's great to be missed!

I had an email from one of Linus's biggest fans! She was worried something had happened to me, although I'm sure she was more worried about that big lug.So just for Bonnie, here's what Linus has been up to the last couple of days...

Posing for photo shoots because none of my humans are participating. It's very hard to get the assignments done when no skin toned subjects will sit still. Here's the front shot of Linus. This is the back shot.This is Linus's dad after tearing off most of the tar and gravel from the carport roof. He's so hot. Linus trying not to pay attention to what dad is doing.
Sally, happy that Linus is no where near her!

And the bad thing I taught the dogs to do...Pick their own carrots and radishes. Now they can live self sufficiently in the garden. And I can watch Y&R in peace!

Busy times

We did some of this....

And some of this...

And both of us did this, but I did it from down below...

Some of us practiced lens flare shots...

And some of us did this... but without the chewed up potato on our necks.

Hmmm....still doubting

I slept all day yesterday, and I am a bit dizzy at times, but I think I have a sinus infection and not the flu. Nothing has exited my body with any force, although I have cleaned toilets thoroughly, just in case I have to put my face near any of them. But I do have a headache, sore teeth, and sinuses. And I still can't hear everything out of my right ear.
The dr. did say to wait 3 days and if nothing happened then it wasn't the stomach flu. Not too sure about her skills as a dr. "If your arm turns green, smells bad, and falls off then yes, it was gangrene."
I will stay home another day. But maybe today I will be able to scrapbook. I have some deadlines.

I have doubts

I had to get Kerry's mom to drive me to the clinic because I'm nauseous, and in pain. The dr. at the clinic said if she didn't know better she say I was pregnant. Nice. But I'm not.
So then she says my ear is fine, no fluid, no redness, nothing. That didn't make me feel any better. She pushed on my tummy, how rude, and then said I had the stomach flu, most likely, because it's going around. She said I'd have 3 days of vomiting followed by days of blow out diarrhea, that's what she said. Then she said lay low, it's highly contagious.
I'm so not impressed. I have stuff to do.
So now my morning consists of finding food to eat that won't be so disgusting when I puke it back up. Butter chicken is out, and so are pakoras, samosas, potatoes, tomato based things, spicy things, bread, you get the idea.
So not impressed.

Maybe it's an ear infection

I guess today I should go to the clinic. I woke up with a headache on the right side and some ear pain. I don't want an ear infection and I can't take penicillin. So I shouldn't have an ear infection. Makes sense to me. As I sit here typing it's getting worse. Maybe my eardrum will blow and a money tree will grow out of it.

Weekend Shots

And I don't mean the alcohol type.

I still can't hear out of my right ear, I'm getting used to it. I'm finding it so very quiet. Kerry was talking away in the other room and I can't hear a word he's saying.

But he doesn't seem to mind.Kerry didn't have anyone to go riding with so I went with him as 'personal paparazzi'. On the way up, we saw a baby moose. He stopped and posed for me, see even a moose is more cooperative than my family. Not too bad for my 50mm, and my hanging out the window of the truck.
I took a few pictures, but I realized that as my skills are improving, I hardly ever use the burst mode, and therefore take 70% less photos. But I end up with 87% more decent shots. Thank you, Karen Russell!
This bridge, made by a handy guy and his kid, but not my handy guy, is about 8 feet off the ground. I crawled half way across to try to get some pictures, but had the wrong lens on.
This kid posed for a few shots before we had dinner with him and his family. I'm learning a few things, like the fact that he's got a cool skin tone, I'd like it warmer, I should have changed some settings but it's still decent. And the fact that he was under a play structure didn't really help much.

Ahhh...Kerry and his 3-D mountain bike magazine, and his Alcatraz Psycho Ward shirt. Just another day at the Williams' house!

And because no one, Emily, will pose for shots for my class assignments, I have resorted to getting the dogs to pose for practice runs. I need skin toned subjects, so I can't submit these shots. Sally was so accommodating, she always is if a treat is involved.

Linus, on the other hand, said there was no way his fat @$$ was fitting in that little seat.

Happy to say all shots are SOOC. No post editing needed! (Except the Moose shot, I had the door frame of the truck in the shot.)

chaos and kind of grumply post. I can't be all sunshine and lollipops all the time.

The next few weeks to a month are going to be chaotic.
And to start it off, I woke up yesterday with a plugged ear. I can't hear much out of my right ear, it's like someone stuffed a cotton ball in it. I hope I'm not getting sick. At least it doesn't hurt.
So besides that, these are the following things keeping us busy...

1. Our fence gets started this week, this means making a temporary fence across the yard so a certain big, red dog doesn't escape.
2. I'm making someone's wedding album and am confident it will be finished before the wedding. Minus the pictures, but finished at my end.
3. Back-to-school crap.
4. Tearing off the carport in preperation for the garage.
5. My Art Freckles kit is calling me, and needs to be done before the 1st of Sept.
6. 2 weeks left of photography class and the last weeks assignment was posted today and I haven't looked at it for fear it must be big and that's why it's been send early!
7. Getting my hair cut and coloured for the wedding, picking up my dress, hoping like crazy that it fits and wasn't ruined.
8. Removing brand new steps off deck to make way for the garage construction. Moving them so that we can still get off the deck. Should be fun!
9. Taking down the pool that was hardly used.

10. All the other stuff that has to be done on a daily basis! Weeding, laundry, house cleaning, meals, etc.

I'm thinking if I could hear properly, I might be in a better mood about all the new things coming our way, and maybe if someone else was paying for them.

Camera Envy

Thanks to Terry, I now have major camera envy and the need to rob a bank. Heck with the finding seeds for the money tree.
She let me try out her Mark II camera with a couple different lenses. Right away I noticed two things, well, make that three...
1. It's super heavy.
2. It's super fast.
3. Terry needs to adopt me.

I can now see why all the major mountain bike photographers have a Mark of some kind or another. The speed! The speed! I need the speed!

So I came home and checked out the details. Kerry knows what I'm talking when I talk about the Mark II because he checks the deets on the mountain bike photographers too. And so when I told him about this and how it's 50% off and that's always a good reason to buy camera stuff, even if you don't have the money, he looked at me like I was insane. And when I told him the 85mm f/1.2 lens for this camera that Karen recommends for mountain biking photos is $2600 Canadian he stopped dead and said "26 HUNDRED!" And I figured it was a good time to change the topic.
But then again, maybe it's a good time to tell him that the 85mm f/1.8 lens for my camera would ONLY be $600. Although I'm not sure if I even need that one now...

A lilttle visitor

Twinkles made it safe and sound to our house this week. I'm hoping he has a nice visit full of fun outings.

It's all coming together...

My photography skills, that is! I am slowly coming to understand how the camera works. And I'm applying it. Or at least I'm trying to, which is good too.
After our very expensive, very yummy brunch at the Eldarodo, we walked down the Greenway for a bit.
Hey, stop in this shady spot for a few photos, please and thank you.

Get closer together, so it looks like you like eachother.

Smile and maybe look this way. Very funny, Shaun!You guys suck!

Never mind. Forget I asked.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I found a card, made by me, from Kerry when I got out of the shower.
Hallmark has nothing to worry about in the sentiment writing end of business.
The card said "I'm nuttier than squirrel poo for you!"
Apparently, it's right out of the last Harry Potter book.
Thanks Kerry!

We are off to birthday brunch at the Elderado. My mouth has been watering for days.

It's PAYDAY, Baby!

So not what I needed now that I have started eating better. But Marg gave Tara and I our first Payday almost a year ago and since then we've been trying to find someone to get us some from the States. Her parents went down to the States and this is what I got for my birthday! 5lbs on my butt!

Ami Vitale : Video Photography with the new DSLR Nikon D300S

Kerry sent this from work. It's beautiful.

Reason #1

This is probably the number one reason I dislike swimming in the lake...sturgeon. This is the picture off of Castanet, our local news website and it is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen, right up there above the dead cat picture last week. Why am I sharing it? To warn you! These things live in the Okanagan Lake, this one was in the Fraser River. I'm so grossed out.

In the Attic

The August kit, In the Attic, for Art Freckles is available now. It features Webster's Pages patterned paper, very vintage looking. "Your laughter is MUSIC to my ears", I added Making Memories tiny alphabet and Basic Grey stickers. And a Mellisa Frances resin photo corner.

Beauty...my mom and her twin sister, about 55 years ago. I used SU's Wings of Friendship bird stamp and SU's dies for the title.

My grandma. "I wonder what they are doing? Why they are dressed up?"

I painted the flowers with SU's watercolour crayons, and re-inked the brown stems and architectural swirls with a brown pen. I used a Heidi Swapp mask and Making Memories paint for the back ground.

A book for thoughts. Will probably remain empty.

Baby boy card.

Thinking of You card.

Bon Voyage, using Martha Stewart stamps.

Reunion Fun and Games

It's just about over, the 2009 Koga Family reunion. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one feeling the effects of the weekend. Too much food, too much sun, too much running around in the heat and smoke and not enough stretching, water, or sleep.

I did not go bowling, but I did go to take pictures. And I got a few fairly decent ones considering the bowling alley is one of the hardest places to shoot in. I knew if I did bowl, it would be a bad beginning to the weekend with a trip to the chiropractor and lots of drugs.

Saturday night was the big catered dinner and talent show. It was great with the exception that the hall is not air conditioned and Saturday was probably the hottest day yet, with 39 degrees! And then add over a hundred people to the mix and it was probably 4800 degrees! The food and talent show made it worthwhile.

My dad won a door prize but he let my mom pick it out. She picked wine. Dad doesn't drink.

My mom's aunt, in the orange, has this amazingly talented family. They re-wrote the lyrics to YMCA to be KOGA and each verse was about one of the 8 original Koga siblings. It was hilarious!

We got up bright and early Sunday and headed out to the Olympics. All family members are divided into 4 teams, it's very competitive and there are cheaters. But they are reprimanded with the loss of points. The blue team won, and my cousin was nice enough to pose with her 'golden delicious' medal. She's testing it to see if it's real gold. We have lunch, swim, compete, eat dinner, pose for group pictures, and compete some more with plenty of mingling, and laughs!My 92 yr. old grandpa was probably the oldest person there.It's so great to have such a big family come together from all over! We don't think one kid cried the whole weekend. I love my family!

{Insert Witty Title Here}

Whoo Hoo! Reunion day is here! Although I just heard that some of my cousin's from the coast won't be able to make it.
And the most disturbing news, of course is about me, is that my tattoo scabs still have not come off. They are very thin scabs, and there is hope on the horizon, Shaun's right eye fall off, but the rest is still very similar to an embossed image. So until the scabs come off completely, I can't soak my leg, so I can't swim. I might dip, but no laps, diving, lounging. And to make it worse it's supposed to be the hottest day ever tomorrow. Kerry's tattoo is completely healed and looks great! He can make his 'kids' dance, he looks at them all the time!

Hope everyone has a great long weekend! Stay hydrated, safe and sunscreened!