Category Archives: Image Of The Week

Nellie Belly 2

Unfortunately I have not been keeping up with my Image Of The Week for the past few months. I have no excuses really, I am not sure what was going on. Either way, I am trying to once again focus on what is important to me, so here you have it: Nellie Belly 2

We have had Nellie now for about 4 months now, and she has grown tremendously in this time, as puppies do. She has been spayed, had her first hair cut, and is an all around happy attention seeking member of the family. Nellie and Dyna are also now best buds, who much to our dismay wrestle almost constantly. Dyna’s initial hesitation to the new family member quickly faded.

Looking back at our experience to this point, makes me very happy that Karla and I decided to get another puppy for our home.

Nellie Belly

Karla and I have been talking about getting a new puppy for quite a while, and when we stumbled upon a photograph of a litter of Lhasa Apso puppies for sale on Kijiji, our minds were pretty much made up… we wanted the one with the white boots!

We drove 3.5 hours to meet the breeder (Heidi) and the puppies on a Friday evening, and everything went really well, so we picked up our new little friend the following day and headed for home.

On our journey home I happened to round the corner of an off-ramp a bit too quickly, which caused our new puppy friend to take a rather large tumble in her kennel. Karla’s first reaction to this first boo-boo was “Woah Nelly”, and from there we named her Nellie.

She has been integrating into our lives and routine with surprising ease. We already have a 10 year old Lhasa Apso (Dyna), who has been a huge help so far with the training process, much to her dismay. We were a bit worried about how Dyna would react to a new puppy, and at this point my guess is she’s neither here-nor-there. Some days she is very excited about having a friend to play with so they tug on ropes for hours at a time, and other days Dyna will have none-of-it while Nellie bites her ears and generally harasses her. It is funny to watch, and I am sure they will grow to be great friends over time.

So that’s our exciting news. Puppies are cute, this one especially… and I look forward to posting the dozens of comedic photos we have taken so far. There is also this really funny video I took of Nellie learning how to go up and down stairs, I will throw that on YouTube over the weekend.

Irish Grasshopper

Spring is in the air, can you feel it? The sun is out! I’m not cold! I’ve seen a robin! I’ve seen a few insects! Oh, and most importantly today is a great day because it’s St. Patrick’s Day, hence the Irish Grasshopper title.

While this photograph is far from the best technical shot I have ever taken, I am using it this year to celebrate the season, and the day! Enjoy.

St. Patrick’s Day fact from National Geographic:

In the United States, it’s customary to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky, says Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site.

As Haggerty explains, Irish folklore holds that green is the favorite color of the Good People (the proper name for faeries). They are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.

Grandmother

This week I would like to write a poem to pay homage to my Grandmother who sadly passed away last week after a long and eventful life. Now I have not written poetry in years, so I only hope I would not offend her with my lack of elegance. I only recently discovered that she was in fact a poet laureate, and a published poet.

My grandmother was a caring woman,
a wife, a mother, a friend.

With days of patience, and miles calm,
she carried with her until her end.

These traits live on through her family now,
through her children’s children, down the line.

For these gifts we give thanks, and remember you,
as our grandmother for all of time.
– Matt Simpson

We love you Grandma, may you rest in peace.

Ms. Valentine

While I realize it was Valentines Day last week I still wanted to post my image of the week, which I was previously unable to do simply because I ran out of time before being away for the long weekend.

Ms. Valentine, who is more accurately referred to as Mrs. Simpson is the my sweet wife Karla. Due to unfortunate circumstances we were not able to spend Valentines Day together this year, but instead we celebrated with a nice dinner at our favourite Kingston restaurant on Monday.

Old Man River

Lazing down the misty river before dusk atop a Scudamore punt, face pointing to the West wishing but if for only a moment you would feel the warmth of mother sun on this cool late November afternoon. The fog chills your shoulders until you shiver, but the majestic site of St John’s keeps your keen eyes drawn and your sense of wonder engaged. What beauty came from such dark times you think to yourself as you take a moment to ponder the million thoughts that have passed by here over the ages.

Imminently Pure

I believe that there is something oddly soothing about fire and water co-existing in such a beautiful way. This image is very intense, and powerful to me, bringing up thoughts of good & evil / yin & yang / man & woman / life & death, and beyond.

One of things I love to capture as an amateur photographer is stark contrasts, so I am pleased to share this with you, enjoy.

Warm Memories

Completely by accident I appear to be keeping with my Cuba honeymoon vacation theme for the image of the week.

This weeks image is titled Warm Memories for two reasons; obviously the first being the fact that this was my honeymoon, but the second because it is currently -28°C with the wind chill factor outside today, and recalling this memory of when it was warm (actually about 62° warmer than the current temperature outside) is getting me through this cold snap which is apparently not supposed to end for another 4 days.

Cuba At Peace

While my wife and I were visiting Havana, Cuba during our honeymoon in 2006 I happened to snap this shot while traveling through a small village. It is a simple photograph of a slender Cuban man sitting peacefully in the shade on a beaten up park bench.

I suppose to me this image symbolizes the shadow that US President John F. Kennedy cast on Cuba in 1962, and the struggles that Cuban citizens have had to endure while they wait peacefully and patiently for the attack on their economic resources to cease.