She Takes Pictures, Too

Celebrate Democracy

2008-10-14T09:18:00.001-07:00

TO ALL MY CANADIAN FRIENDS AND READERS: PLEASE GO AND VOTE TODAY! I DON'T CARE WHOM YOU VOTE FOR - JUST GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!!!

Newest Juno Shots

2008-10-08T10:08:00.001-07:00

I never get bored of photographing Juno!

As usual, I put a box out, and the next minute she's in it! And, last night as I talked on the phone, she came and curled up on my desk, eventually falling asleep after I'd turned my computer off. Generally, I don't allow her on the desk as there are too many things she could turn into toys, but it was kinda cute last night so I let her stay.

Puppy Therapy

2008-09-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Taking a page from blogger pal Zoom, I took my camera on my travels to Trail today. I was rewarded when I saw this cute little guy out on an excursion with his new "mommy." It's a chihuahua puppy, and, while I'm not really a fan of that particular breed, you have to be a pretty cold-hearted SOB to not love puppies of any breed, right? Right! The lady was gracious enough to let me photograph this seven week old little guy.

Water Water Everywhere

2008-09-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

These were taken last week during a camping trip to Syringa Creek, which is on the Lower Arrow Lake.

Oh, Juno!

2008-09-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Juno snuggles in a gift bag left over from my roommate's birthday.

Red Mountain & Poochy's

2008-09-02T13:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I hiked up Red with my dad, stopping at the top at Poochy's Inn, the ski cabin. The elevation gain between our starting point and the cabin is just shy of 1500 feet. Full story here.

Cominco is capping off a lot of old mine shafts, so these signs are posted at closed trail heads. Most people ignore the signs.

Mountain Ash in the woods.

Looking up Sally's Alley, across which the Red Summit trail criss-crosses.

Poochy's.

Trail & Columbia River from Red.
Looking north-ish towards Castlegar, which is upstream along the Columbia from Trail.
Looking to the top of Red Mountain from Poochy's.
Rossland from Red.

Full Flickr set here.

Peach Tree

2008-08-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

These are in my SIL's parents' neighbour's back yard. My SIL's mother said that in all the years they've lived at this house, the neighbour has never once let her have a single peach. He also has an electric fence around the yard to keep out the bears. I'm not a huge fan of peaches, but I love the looks of them.

My Garden, In August

2008-08-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

A bee in the rosemary.

Marigolds.

Looking down on dill.

Catnip.

Carrots & beans.

Cattiversary: One Year With Juno

2008-08-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, I brought Juno home from the SPCA. Here is a collection of my favourite shots. Fuller story and more pictures here.

Shedd Aquarium, August 2004

2008-08-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

I always love a good aquarium. The Shedd is in Chicago, and I visited it in the summer of 2004.

Dove Hill Hike

2008-08-05T14:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I hiked up Dove Hill in Castlegar with my father. Fuller story here.

The trail head.

View from the top, looking north up the Columbia River Valley.

This is the view from the south lookout, where you can see the airport and the golf course.

It's berry time! This is Oregon Grape, which I'm not sure is edible, but we saw lots of huckleberries and even some wild raspberries.

Here you can see the meeting of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers. On the left, near the middle, you can just make out Zuckerberg Island.

Zuckerberg in Winter

2008-07-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

I came across these today, having forgotten they were on my computer. They were taken this past winter by my dad, who hikes even in the snow!

The meeting of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers, from Zuckerberg Island.

The house/museum is closed during the winter, but the island remains available for walking around.

The (sort of) famous suspension bridge.

The mighty Columbia, from the island.

Zuckerberg Island

2008-07-25T14:05:00.001-07:00

On a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon, my dad and I walked to this local historical site, where my sister-in-law is working for the summer. Fuller story here. Information about the site can be found here.

Suspension bridge to the island, which my dad helped build when he was in the military. It's fallen into disrepair now, but might be repaired in the future.

Zuckerberg's house.

Detail of the front porch, and the famous "mask" that adorns the archway above. Creepy.
Remnants of the pit houses used by the Sinixt people who originally inhabited the island.

Arrow Lakes

2008-07-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Both the Upper and Lower Arrow lakes are part of the Columbia River water system. We are very fortunate to have many lovely, large-ish lakes here in the Kootenays, and the Arrows are my favourite, in addition to Slocan Lake.

Upper Arrow, from the Galena Bay ferry, July 2005. The ferry is part of the highway system and riding is free of charge.

Lower Arrow Lake at sunset, from Syringa Creek Park.

Rising Waters

2008-07-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here is what the Lower Arrow Lake looked like (at Syringa Creek) on May long weekend, when I was out there then.

During my recent camping trip, I couldn't take a picture from the same spot, because this very spot was completely underwater. Here is a photo from the trail I took to get to the beach back in May.

The reason: late melting from surrounding mountains. Pretty incredible, if you ask me.

Wildlife Shots

2008-07-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

I went camping last weekend for the first time in 10 years. It was awesome. I also managed to get some decent pictures of a few camping creatures I saw during my stay.

A big bug. I have no idea what it is, but it liked the toilet stall in the women's can.

Columbia Ground Squirrel. Isn't he sweet? He was quite brave and spent some time in out campsite cruising for left-overs.

Here, he's drinking left-over grape juice from my sister-in-law's cup. He got purple whiskers.

Butterflies at the beach. Gorgeous!

I have more photos to post in the coming days.

Pictures of some of our camping grub are here.

Cool...

2008-06-30T15:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, I wish I were a water bird...Like when it's 35C and sweltering out, for instance. I could just jump in the lake and cool off...

Alas, I must settle for a fan.

These pictures were taken in Lakeside Park, Nelson, BC, on Saturday.

Juno: The Shopping Bag Shots

2008-06-25T16:06:00.001-07:00

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

2008-06-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night a series of thunderstorms rolled through the area. Spectacular!

2008-06-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures back in March. This is the Osoyoos tourist centre.

Rossland's Bank of Montreal

2008-06-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I posted about Rossland's historic Bank of Montreal building, which is currently for sale. I've come to love old buildings and old architecture, and today I had the opportunity to go inside this old beauty for the first time in nearly 15 years. I used to bank at this location until I left town, but that was before I learned to appreciate a historic building for what it was, and well before our digital camera era.

This weekend is Rossland's annual Spring Wing Ding, and the old bank is being used for an art exhibit featuring local artists. I am not the biggest art aficionado in the world, so I was trying to discretely take pictures of the interior detail the bank is so well-known for while trying to be interested in local artists. Some of the art was actually OK; some of it was God-awful.

Exterior of the building.

This is an example of some of the original plasterwork in the main part of the old bank. Also, note the arched windows, which are very cool.

This is the fireplace in the manager's office.

Someone remarked that this would make an awesome bar.

The foyer, looking out the front door.

More pictures here.

Images from Bear Country

2008-06-06T11:37:00.001-07:00

These were taken two nights ago. The dumpster is located across the street from my brother's house. This is my first bear sighting of the season!

Pictures from Syringa Creek, Victoria Day Weekend

2008-05-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

We Haz Blooms

2008-05-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Forsythia, Dandelion, Pansy.

Trail

2008-05-15T16:36:00.001-07:00

Shots of the bridge, a close-up of the water, and a local coffee bar.

Me, My New Glasses, and Juno

2008-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

Queen of the Castle

2008-05-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

The queen in this case is my roommate's cat, Turtle. Juno is not amused.

Conversions

2008-05-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Reno Rage is upon us, we all know it. I've heard that the new houses being built nowadays are only meant to last 20 years - which doesn't surprise me because they seem to be made primarily out of plywood and glue. But what do you do with a building that was built a century or so ago, that may have outgrown its original purpose?

You get creative.

McLean School Annex. The original McLean School was a very cool old building that burnt down in 1980, when I was attending grade one there. Arson, but no one was ever charged. The school was K-7, so there were lots of displaced students. What wound up happening was that grades 1-4 were housed in the annex, and the district came in and built dividers to create four separate classrooms. I spent about a year and a half as a student in the basement of this building. The Annex is now a Francophone school with a flourishing student population.

Rossland's historic, copper-roofed Courthouse, a very famous building around here. Still used as a courthouse, but it's ancillary services have gradually been cut back over the years. I went to my dad's citizenship ceremony here. My parents' divorce trial was here...

...But the basement used to be a jail way back in the day. Then, many years later, the jail was converted into a public library. The entrance is just under the granite archway you can see at the bottom of this picture. I remember going here regularly to check out kids books - I loved Curious George best of all...

...Then the library outgrew the space in the basement of the courthouse, and a garage from the 1930s or 1940s on Columbia Avenue was converted into what remains to this day the Rossland Public Library.

Then we have this building. It was Mater Misericordiae Hospital. I had my appendix out here when I was seven. This was also the ambulance service's local HQ and a long-term care home before it gradually lost funding and all of its services were pulled (though there is an ambulance bay on the property, just out of view in this picture). The building went up for sale and about two years ago it was bought, and just very recently it's been converted into condos. I would not live here. I can't imagine living in a converted hospital...The energy must be very strange...

Who Needs a Beach?

2008-05-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Three Cemeteries Hike

2008-05-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

I intended to go for a one-hour walk and visit one cemetery, but I wound up going on a three-hour hike and visiting three cemeteries. Go figure. Story here.

1. Happy Valley.
2. Bear Aware sign at the trailhead.
3. The Old Mining School.
4. Cominco from the Old Mining School.
5. Old Trail Cemetery.

6. One of many baby and infant graves in the Old Trail Cemetery.
7. Older graves at the back of the Old Trail Cemetery.
8. I don't think anyone is actually buried under these upright stones. I believe these were moved here in the 1920s when Cominco needed the land they were originally on. As you can see, the stones are sinking into the earth.
9. Mountain View Cemetery, our "current" cemetery.
10. New-ish mausoleum at Mountain View, not full yet but whoever is there is of Italian descent.
11. Old Rossland Cemetery. This is just stone's throw from Mountain View, and at the bottom of Happy Valley. There is a Catholic cemetery in lower Rossland that is much older and much creepier than this one.

Juno

2008-05-03T14:21:00.001-07:00

First Shots

2008-05-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

1. Record Ridge & Mt. Roberts
2. Red Mountain - from my back yard!
3. Future site of my garden, when it warms up and thaws out.