Tuesday, August 9, 2016

A Few Shots

This is my post for Soma's Wandering Camera Linky for August.  Like the bugs and flimsy clouds in this post, I am flitting in and out of QBL this summer, but I have been getting a fair bit accomplished in the sewing department.  EEEK!  Dayna's quilt has almost fully metamorphosed from flimsy to quilt!


Rocco and I are walking 1 km, sometimes slightly more, this past couple of weeks. He is SO happy, although he does turn into a bit of a grump when we turn around (much too soon in his opinion).  This is this morning at the beach as you enter Lakeside Park from the east:
A few gaggles of geese! Easily 40, and six sailboats.

Last night it was an incredible sultry evening, the kind I just love, so I went for a walk about 8:30.  On my way back home, I came upon this stunning scene in Lakeside Park:


Nature and her glories NEVER fail to soothe my soul and put things in perspective:  I'm pretty minuscule, me and my issues and my celebrations.

This next one is a woe and a celebration.  Naala alerted me to the presence of a bug in our bedroom a few weeks ago when MacGyver was in Alberta. She was doing her job, protecting the sanctuary since the boss was away.  I saw a bug that I have never seen before, a good 3/4"-1" in length, and quick grabbed a shoe and smacked it.  I gasped when I saw its most incredible lettuce-green blood.  I got it onto a piece of toilet paper and went into the ensuite to toss it into the garbage.  The light wasn't on.  Why does that matter, you think.  Well, this is what I saw in the garbage when I dropped it:

Its blood GLOWED (bioluminescence - I looked it up)!  That's when I knew I'd killed a firefly.  :-( We have lots because of the small group of trees and bush behind our patio, and I just love watching them sparkle and wink at dusk, so magical, so ethereal.  I felt very sad that I had lashed out first without trying to simply get the bug into the tissue and set him or her free outside...  hmmm, there's a life lesson there isn't there.


Looking up the other day at the incredible blue sky, I saw this sight, another I have never before seen:  cotton candy-coloured clouds!  Look at the ones below the top white gauze one.  They shimmered and changed colours, much like the Aurora Borealis (which sadly we don't get to see now I live so far south in Canada). I think it was the humidity in the air, and the reflection off the waters of Lake Erie perhaps? These iridescent rose and turquoise ones took my breath away.

Attentive doggies:
Oh how they love getting their Kong biscuit/peanut butter treats!
One final collage:
Clockwise: another hydrangea from our bush, flanked by two Pee Gee ones from our small trees.  The pink ones last and last and last.  At first I was horrified to see this dead, huge 'cricket' on our front step.  MacGyver said he did not believe it was a cricket...I finally got up the nerve to gently nudge it over with a shoe and saw the pincers or mandibles...I knew this was no cricket.  So I texted Julie of Pink Doxies to see if she knew what it was (she knows a LOT about the flora and fauna around this area) and immediately got a response: "A stag beetle, quite rare! Save it for Brady!" which I have done. I'm not as much a fan of it as I am of cicadas, but it is rather fascinating, and very large as you can see.  Here's an interesting article I found on these beneficial insects. On to warmer and fuzzier bodies...Belly pics of Bella, sunbathing early this morning in the sunlight streaming through the open full-screen front door, and last Friday, Rocco having a wonderful back itch on one of our walks.
I'll also be linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts
Now back to the cool basement to churn out Dayna's quilt!



17 comments:

  1. I love this, Sandra! I will have to hop over and check out the linky party. Ah, yes, the stag beetles. We have them here and they can get huge! The pic of Rocco and Naala waiting for their peanut butter treat makes me smile. Absolutely beautiful shots. Reminds us that we need to slow down and savor our days. There is beauty everywhere...even in a lightening bug accident.

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  2. Water,clouds and summer sun, and that pink hydrangea, beautiful, not to forget the doggies.And I agree, nature will always provide that ingredient we need for our everyday comfort .Down here, frost on the grass, a little sunshine, and even grey skies behind the bare trees are all lovely.

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  3. At least you have been flitting through QBL. I've been mostly absent! Summer called.
    You have a knack for capturing images with your camera. I particularly like your sunset and the cotton candy daytime clouds. I've seen plenty of shades of grey and sometimes yellow in our clouds but never pink or turquoise!
    I'm glad Rocco is on the mend and able to get outside again, even if it is for shorter outings than he would like :)

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  4. What a beautiful place to walk! I actually think my favorite is your dogs carefully watching their peanut butter treat. I thought right away that the bug you killed was what we call a Lightning bug, I'm sure it is the same thing as a Firefly.

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  5. Sandra, beautiful view to enjoy while walking! And, oh those cotton candy clouds and your sweet doggies! Thanks for sharing a bit of your summer with us!

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  6. Lovely photo of the dogs waiting so patiently for treats! I'm not an insect person, massive fear of spiders and things with more than 4 legs - I'm usually a run away and sleep on the sofa rather than try to evict offending beastie!

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  7. It looks so lovely on the lake. I too like fireflies.
    I had a look at your quilts; they are so pretty!
    The doggies are sweet, and Miss Bella is definitely a beauty.

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  8. A very thoughtful post with wonderful photos, Sandra. I am so glad that Rocco is doing well now. I am not absolutely sure, but you may have spotted iridescent clouds. They really are quite beautiful. Thank you so much for linking up on Wandering Camera!

    -Soma

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  9. Love your post and my favorite pictures are always of your fur kids. I checked out the Wandering Camera. That's pretty cool. I'll need to go back and look some more because, hey, I don't spend NEARLY enough time on the computer.

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  10. Some truly beautiful pictures, Sandra! I once lived too far north for the northern lights, lol. Now, of course, I'm too far south.

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  11. Lovely pictures. Well mostly I'm not into bugs at all!! Those clouds though may just have made up for the afore mentioned bugs.

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  12. So glad that Rocco is feeling better. Awesome photos.

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  13. OMG eeeeeeeeewuh!!!!!!!!! Bugs!!!! Blech!!! But poor little firefly. Yup, as revolting as many bugs are, they too have their purpose and are only living out their little lives.

    Beautiful pics, all of them, but those clouds are weird!! But beautiful!!

    Oh my furry nephew and nieces <3 <3

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  14. Ah, beautiful photos. Well, not so much the one of the lightning bug, poor guy, but how were you to know? Love the sky pictures. I wonder if the awesome sunsets and colorful clouds during the day are a happy side effect of this hot, droughtful summer. I do wish we'd see the northern lights--it seems we did see them quite regularly when I was a kid, and once when I was in college they were so vivid, it took my breath away. Do look up tonight. Perhaps you'll see the meteor shower.

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  15. Beautiful shots! I really like the cotton candy clouds, very pretty.

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  16. Gorgeous photos and your quilting looks great :)

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  17. Great photos! Esp. The beetle. I like bugs, too!

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