Monday, March 28, 2011

LITTLE PURPLE PERIWINKLE

We have all these little purple flowers outside the house. They seem to be ground flowers. I've no idea what they are. You can see the occasional bloom as early as February and though they bloom most in the early spring, it's not unusual to see them, to some degree, all year.

If you have any idea what these are, please let me know.


Saturday, March 26, 2011

EARTH HOUR 2011

We will be celebrating Earth Hour tonight by turning out all unnecessary lights in the house between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

We don't typically have lights on unless we're in the room anyways, but we'll make an effort to be completely in the dark.

Now if they'd ask us to turn off the TV or our computers for an hour, THAT would be a sacrifice! Maybe we'll give that a shot.

Going to candle power in 2 hours, 30-ish minutes.

Happy Earth Hour to all!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 7

Willette Photography & More has been hosting THE JOY OF LUCK, a free online photography class.

Assignment 7 - YOUR RAINBOW. "What will your luck bring in your future? What blessings do you look forward to? I like to think of this as your own personal rainbow."

My rainbow is my daughter, who happens to like drawing rainbows. I look forward to... everything. But I'm going to enjoy the right now, too. And right now my daughter likes to draw rainbows. I'm a lucky gal.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

SPRING BLOSSOMS

It's spring! Beautiful white and pink cherry tree blossoms are popping up all around us. It always makes me happy to see them. Welcome little blossoms - you're certainly keeping the bees busy! The little buzzing buggies seem a bit dopey. But you know what they say, you never can tell with bees.



BIENNALE BLUE TREES

There are blue trees in Richmond. I have not color enhanced these photos. We drove past these yesterday and though we were more than a block away, they were practically glowing. Does blue glow? These did. They're almost neon.

It's part of the Vancouver Biennale Public Art Exhibition. You can see some other pictures here at the Vancouver Biennale Blog.


Trees in Garden City Park to turn blue
By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review

Trees in Garden City Community Park will begin turning blue today as part of a Vancouver Biennale public art exhibition.

Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos is scheduled to spend five days in the park creating The Blue Trees, an installation meant to spark discussions about global deforestation.
“Through colour I am making a personal statement about the spirituality of trees and their importance to our very survival: trees are the lungs of the planet,” said Dimopoulos in a news release.

According to the Vancouver Biennale, the colour used on the trees is biologically safe pigmented water. The colour will naturally fade and the trees will revert to their natural state.

Dimopoulos will return to Richmond April 7 to deliver a lecture as part of the Lulu Art in the City series. That event is set for 7 p.m. in Richmond City Hall council chambers. Admission is free; reserve seats at lulu@richmond.ca.
Do you recognise that City of Richmond saw horse? I'm pretty sure that was the one they used to block off the digger in the ditch earlier this year.

I like and support the arts, but I'll admit, I've not liked a lot of the past Biennale art in Metro Vancouver. And I cringe at how much money tax payers are spending on this when so many important programs are being cut and woefully mismanaged. But that's another rant for another day. This is about the blue trees. Did I mention that they are blue? I think it's more interesting than not.

Richmond, come for the rain and the likely liquification of our soil in a decent sized earthquake, stay for the weird stuff.

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 6

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class. The Willette blog doesn't seem to be updated with the Joy of Luck posts, so there's no blog party going on over there, but you could update on Facebook or Flickr, if you feel so inclined.

Assignment 6 - THE BIGGEST CURRENT BLESSING IN MY LIFE. No contest. My wee baby. She's not so wee anymore. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful family. Then I was lucky enough to find a wonderful partner. Then I was incredibly lucky becoming a mom to the most amazing kid in the world.

The photo is a bit grainy and has some odd shadows, but I was going for the expression on her face in a non-hyper moment as she was crashed on the floor watching cartoons.

Monday, March 21, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 5

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class. The Willette blog doesn't seem to be updated with the Joy of Luck posts, so there's no blog party going on over there, but you could update on Facebook or Flikr, if you feel so inclined.

Assignment 5 - WHAT BRINGS YOU LUCK. I'm not especially superstitious. I make my own luck. I had a pack of big Wintogreen Life Savers in my desk today. They made my desk smell minty awesome. They tasted minty awesome. I was lucky to have remembered to bring them to work. Minty luck.


Sunday, March 20, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 4

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class. The Willette blog doesn't seem to be updated with the Joy of Luck posts, so there's no blog party going on over there, but you could update on Facebook or Flikr, if you feel so inclined.

Assignment 4 - YOUR SEVEN FAVORITE MATERIAL THINGS. I like material things. Who doesn't? I have way too many material things. I like some more than others. I was a bit stumped in picking favorites. So this is more just a collection of seven various material things that I enjoy.

Knick knacks - love 'em.

Wind chimes - they are awesome!
These ones are in my kitchen.
Not much wind there, but they look cool.

I love that I have more than one pair of shoes.
They aren't fancy, but I like that I have more than one pair.

Books. Can't get enough!
I can't read them fast enough either.
I am a dreadfully slow reader.
I tend to study plot, character and the actual story telling since I like to write.

Slurpees!

Finger puppets. You just can't have enough.

I do like all my technical gadgetry.
Phones, iPods, computers, I love them all!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 3

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class. The Willette blog doesn't seem to be updated with the Joy of Luck posts, so there's no blog party going on over there, but you could update on Facebook or Flikr, if you feel so inclined.

Assignment 3 - LUCKY SYMBOLS. In Japan, it is commonly said that folding 1,000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true. I'm not Japanese, but I've been folding cranes for several years and I know the people who suffered the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor problems in Japan could use some luck and good wishes right now. So this is for them. There isn't a thousand yet, but we have several hundred in a beautiful glass bowl on my china cabinet.


BLOSSOM AT RICHMOND CENTRE

I'd heard that there was some kind of Origami event going on at a mall not too far from us, so we went to take a look today.
Thursday, February 24 - Saturday, April 23

Inside Richmond Centre, spring has come early in a BIG way! "Blossom at Richmond Centre" is an indoor tribute to a spring of epic proportions. You won't believe your eyes when you take in a sea of living flowers, a bamboo forest, the wooden bridge and a traditional Wishing Tree. What do you attach to the Wishing Tree? Your wish, folded into a flower of course!

Write your wish, fold it up and add it to the tree.

Pick up our special "blossom" paper at our Customer Care Centre. Or if you prefer, download a copy from the Richmond Centre facebook page. There you will also find a video showing you how to fold the flower.

For every wish that gets attached to our Flowering Wishing Tree, we will donate $1 to the Children's Wish Foundation* -- a very worthy cause that grants a favourite wish for children afflicted with a high risk, life-threatening illness.

There is a belief that a concentration of positive wishes will increase the likelihood of a wish coming true. So, please be sure to bring your wish to Richmond Centre and attach it to our Flowering Wishing Tree and make your and a child's wish come true.
We made our three wishes, folded our Origami Tulips and hung them on the wishing tree. Here's hoping our wishes come true!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 2

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class.

Assignment 2 - GREEN. Pretty straight forward. Take a picture of something green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the Luck of the Irish!

These shamrocks are from Weeb's St. Patrick's Day shirt.

PS: I don't think we are the least bit Irish. But my favorite color is green. I don't really drink. But I like potatoes and generally bland food. Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

THE JOY OF LUCK, DAY 1

Willette Photography & More is back for THE JOY OF LUCK free online photography class.

Assignment 1 - GIFT. What inanimate object/thing/concept is something that you take for granted on a daily basis? What would someone who is not as fortunate as you are say about your “luck” to have such a thing in your life?

I am thankful for clean drinking water - right out of the tap! So many people don't have clean water to drink. The recent disasters in Japan remind me again how very lucky I am to have clean drinking water so readily available to me.

These were my favorite two photos. As before, nothing fancy, just my Canon PowerShot SD1000 Point and Shoot camera, a fancy green glass, water, my kitchen counter, the kitchen fluorescent lights and a tripod.


Thursday, March 10, 2011

PUB ARTWORK - GLASS

I had lunch with my boss and coworker today. The pub had these glass balls hanging from the ceiling in the foyer. I'm not sure if they have something to do with fishing (the pub looks over the river and there is a small marina there), or if it's local art. I thought they were neat so I took a picture of them. I didn't quite do them justice, but the shots are still pretty cool.