Went with family to take my granddaughter to the park, which is to the right of this area but I thought it was interesting how deserted the beach area looked…it was a warm night, definitely swimming weather?
Another photo taken while driving with my iPhone…of course I wasn’t driving. I enjoy this type of landscape, barren but every once in a while something cool pops up!
Don’t bother me…
This fellow was relaxing, without any concern for those who where observing him…Naples Zoo, Florida
how to paint a sail boat!
Certainly an interesting undertaking…with a crane involved I’m sure expensive as well!
laying down…
this particular Bougainvillea tree is on the property of the condo we rented in Key West this year. It has grown terribly out of shape, completely bending over, and yet it continues to thrive. As you can see it is lifting the interlocking brick as it grows. 
to thrive.
contrasting views…
Both these photos were taken while driving to Sudbury, (not me of course) 1.5 hrs west of North Bay…definitly a contrast between the two views!
puff the magic dragon…
On Saturday June 28th the local FLK Taoist Tai Chi Society, held a Dragon Parade, celebrating 35 years of Taoist Tai Chi activities! The parade ended at Civic Square beside the North Bay Farmers’ Market…when they arrived the Market walk way was too busy for them to parade through but after a bit of Tai Chi demonstration they were able to take the beautiful Dragon through…as they paraded it through the busker/entertainer for the day sang “Puff the Magic Dragon”…anyone old enough to remember that song???
a close up of the beautiful Dragon face
smaller Dragon…part of the parade
Saturday at the North Bay Farmers’ Market
I’ve not posted photos of our local Market before but a first time for everything I guess…
Saturday not long after opening, before the crowds…you can see the RE/MAX balloon in the distance…they were offering free rides, but were accepting donations for the North Bay Habitat for Humanity
Mid morning, this is the west entrance of the Market, it is diffiuclt to tell but, there are a total of 46 vendors.
a closer look at the RE/MAX hot air Balloon, if you look closely you can see that it is tied to the ground…it goes up and down but not away!
Ice gone…
the weather is getting better, the ice is off the lake, I can see summer in the not too distant future! These photos were taken two weeks ago before all the ice was off the lake. I’ve not taken anything much since, too busy preparing for the Opening Day of our local Farmers’ Market.
the photos were taken at Sunset Park…a favorite childhood place for me to visit. The ice was moving about that day…you can see it piling up on the rocks.
when I took the photo below I stood at the shore line listening to the ice as it moved, I could actually hear it moving against itself…a very strange sound!
hopefully it is gone!
I took these two photos on the way to a meeting in Rosseau on April 27th, they are from separate lakes. Don’t know the names, but you would think I would after driving this way every Friday in July and August for eight years? I’m sure the ice is gone by now…hopefully!
old and gray…
as always, while driving somewhere I bring my camera and snap photos as we drive along…here is a great old barn/shed!
flowing…
I had the chance to take a few photos last week…thankfully we have lost most of the snow we accumulated in the mini snow storm we had last week…but the lake still looks very solid…no dark patches at all yet, so it will be sometime before there is open water!
This creek is certainly running fast…hard to tell from my photos though…
treasures of the sea???
It all depends on how you look at things, what you see…right? I’m sure many see these as nothing of importance or worthy of a second look. To me these are interesting finds…especially the beautiful empty intact shell! Just look at the Nacre, or Mother of Pearl as it is known in the jewelry world… it is smooth, an even color, without damage. For those who aren’t familiar, Nacre is the white inner lining of the shell, the outer layer of pearls is also Nacre. This would make a beautiful piece of jewelry if you were into making something from raw materials such as this…
look what was washed up on shore after a windy day…
.
close up…
It is great when I’m able to get close…there is so much detail to see! This fellow along with a few friends was at a Marina on the North East side of Marco.
I got the feeling food tossed their way at this Marina, there were a few people fishing from the dock & something smelled tasty!
Family outing…
On the beach, Marco Island…not sure but I think these are Willets? If anyone thinks differently let me know…
surfer dude…
the first couple of days it was windy…one of those days we saw a few fellows out catching a few waves…this fellow did well, I managed to capture one attempt.
I don’t know anything about surfing but I wouldn’t have thought the waves large enough for a descent ride?
He seemed to enjoy himself and make the best of it managing a few rides!
All be it short rides…
different…
this vacation was much different from what I’ve done for the past eight or so years…I’ve not stayed at the ocean for two weeks, nor in a anything higher than the first floor, for that long…we generally rent a condo in Key West in a complex which is only two stories, and always choose the ground floor. Last year in Marco we rented a house, so being on the 5th floor was different…it was so awesome to sit on the deck and look around, watch the people, the water and the sky. So much to see from one view point. I do have to say I’m not a fan of highrises…but that was the only option if we wanted to be on the beach…
this is looking right/north off the balcony, it looks like a short walk, but in reality it is much longer than it appears…
this was our first day, a bit cooler for some, around 18c I think, but for us it was fabulous
this is looking left/south of our balcony…the beach ends there as a rock formation which would make it difficult to walk on.
Photos weren’t taken on the same day as you can tell from the sky…
fishin buddies…
From my balcony I watched a man fishing, he stopped by a few times, never saw him catch anything but I’m sure he enjoyed himself…it really wasn’t the gentleman that caught my eye but these two fellows…his fishin buddies! These two weren’t concerned about people walking by, I’m sure they were just hoping the man would leave something…the man completely ignored them, I’m sure he was used to them hanging around.
This was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had the hoar frost morning, I’ve since learned that is what it is called…”a grayish-white crystalline deposit of frozen water vapor formed in clear still weather on vegetation, fences, etc.” Today it was much warmer -5C or 23F and we now have wet slushy roads. I’ll take a few photos to show you the difference a day can make in the appearance!
sand and sun…
I decided it is time for a bit of sand and sun…since I can’t photograph the sand here I will rely on photos I took in the last few winters…when I go to Florida I generally don’t stay in a condo/house on the beach, for one far to expensive for my liking and Key west generally doesn’t have condos on the beach…across the street or close by but we like to be able to walk everywhere so find it better to stay close to Duval Street…as a result I don’t have a great many beach photos…should have many this winter as my daughter and I will be staying in Marco Islands in a condo on the beach in January…the first for me in many years.
Marco Island, Florida – 2012
Naples, Florida, 2012
Fort Zachary State Park Beach – 2012
towards the Government dock
This is another of the photos taken a week ago…heading towards the Government Dock.
more frosty birch trees…
it was a bit windy the day this was taken…if you look closely, especially on the top left side you can see the snow blowing off the trees…
frosty…
This was taken on Friday morning as well…the trees did look beautiful. The clouds were rolling in fast as you can see behind the trees…
sunny for now…
I went out this morning to take photos at the waterfront…it went from sunny to cloudy in minutes! The lake appears to be frozen over but at this point the ice will only be paper thin…
missed the sunset…
Yesterday afternoon I happened to take note of the sky just around sunset, possibly because we haven’t had much in the way of sunshine lately…I got in my vehicle and drove to a public access close to me, but by the time I arrived the sun had set. The sun seems to drop quickly once it reaches a certain point… I still managed to get a colorful sky!
selective cutting…
This post is all about trees…I love trees, they make the neighborhoods colorful, they attract birds, provide shade, in some cases privacy, short ones tall ones, I love the look of trees, especially in the fall when the leaves have dropped. The neighborhoods with out trees look rather barren to me…having said that I do understand the logic in pruning, cutting back large branches or even cutting the tree down when necessary. The reason I’m talking about this is North Bay Hydro, our local hydro company, pays a local company in town to do this so no branches are closer than 9 meters (29.5ft) to a hydro line…my surrounding neighborhood was chosen this fall to have this done…while I understand the logic of why it must be done, it saddens me to see how spindly some of the trees now look. Many of the large stately deciduous trees are fine as only a few branches have been taken but for some trees, in particular the coniferous trees, the whole side facing the wire is gone! The clump of trees in the center of this photo looks fine…it is large enough to handle a few limbs cut, but check out the tree to the right…
on the tree below, all the branches below the wire are in tact, so it is much like the tree on the right above…half a tree from the wire up!
it is difficult to tell in the tree below, but when the leaves are in full bloom they will be to the left of the cutting, the other branches are from another tree…
again, all the branches are gone on the one side of the tree…
strange sky…
yesterday was a strange day, with the most unusual skies…changing from dark and moody to light and fluffy so quickly due to the strong winds!
got it…
I managed to get a sunset this past Saturday…my first in a very long time. I took photos as it was going down but they were too dark??? The wind was bitterly cold, of course I wasn’t properly dressed as I came from a show, so my hands were not steady…but I was determined!
makes me smile…
the last couple of days have been cold, very wet and windy…typical fall days…but I decided I’d rather look at something else…the beach at Fort Zachary State Park, Key West! The sand is very pebbly and hard on the feet…definitely need flip flops. All three photos were taken in the winter of 2011 with my iPhone…
Serenade…
I was sitting on my deck last week enjoying the last bit of warm weather of the season and was treated to a serenade by this fellow for a rather long time, a good half hour or more…it wasn’t and angry sound, which is why I called it a serenade. In the beginning could hear the singing but couldn’t see the bird as he was a long way up…once I spotted him I took the photo. As you can see the leaves are falling!
both…
this is a building I see on the way to and from Rosseau every Friday…couldn’t decide whether I preferred the color or the b & w…
definitly not serious!
if you visit on occasion you will know clouds are a favorite of mine…I rather liked the placement of the ones below!
clouds and light…something that attracted me, nothing more!
some of the last of the season…the growing time is short!
a different perspective…
usually I go down to the waterfront to take photos, but today I was driving by from one street over and decided to walk to the top of a berm that is in front of this area to see if I could capture a different perspective of this particular spot…
buzzing around!
I was at the waterfront the other day and came upon this pretty pink flowered bush…I’m not up on my flowers so I don’t know what it is called…but the closer I got the more Bees I noticed…so I tried to get a few shots. I have to say these fellows don’t stay in on position for more than a couple of seconds, it was very difficult to get photos…I’m sure the people walking by where wondering what I was doing? these are three different Bees at three different bushes…in case you were wondering!
water day…
I’ve not had a chance to get out and take new shots so for today, two of the photos will be ones I took two Saturdays ago, the other one is from Cocoa Beach that I took this winter…I love the water so never get tired of see or taking water photos! I wanted the whole pier so had to stand way back then crop the photo to bring it in…not thrilled with it though.
the pier at Cocoa Beach…only visited for a few days but enjoyed it…on the pier I think there are 4 restaurants…only visited one but enjoyed the food and music!
this is another part of the waterfront here, if you look closely you can see the Chief Commanda I, restaurant in the background.
and of course Chief Commanda II, from a different angle…
her replacement!
yesterday after the Market I went down to the waterfront hoping to get a couple of shots of the Chief Commanda II. I got much more, but that is for another day…today here are shots of the grand old lady’s replacement. Info regarding the Chief Commanda II can be found here… http://georgianbaycruise.com/index.php?page=home
community waterfront friends pergola!
this pergola is used as a fundraiser for the Community Waterfront Friends, they are raising funds to complete the North Bay Waterfront Park, which is a work in progress…the pergola allows for 2,500 stainless steel numbered leaves at $500.00 per leaf. the idea is these are “leaves of inspiration” as they are engraved with the names of those individuals, family, children, parents, or non-profit organizations which have been an inspiration to others…with the purchase of each leaf the Community Waterfront Friends be one step closer to completing the North Bay Waterfront Park.
jm
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I’m sure most people would think this photo was taken in the country somewhere…but what is on the other side of the red roof buildings is Lakeshore Drive, a busy road in North Bay…there are many areas along Lake Nipissing that look like this…this was taken from Sunset Park looking east…while the bay is open there is a very thing layer of ice on the water…
I know this is a rather simple photo of pussy willows, but I have to say this was a huge surprise to me…the tree had to be 8 or 9 feet tall…very scraggly with only the buds you see in this photo…I didn’t know they grew that tall…
anyone who visited in the winter time saw my post regarding the snowmobile “drag races”, well this is what is left of the drag race track…you can still see the banks on either side, showing the location of the track…
experimenting…
I visit a number of photography blogs and every now and then I’m inspired to try something different with the processing of the photos. I’m limited to some extent with the programs I have, Photoscape, and Picasa…I also have gimp but I’ve not taken the time to get into it. recently I”ve seen a few blogs who are using some form of HDR effect, which I rather like so I checked Picasa and it has a setting called HDR-ish…so I gave it a try with a couple of my photos…if you’ve been visiting for awhile you will know I’ve a thing for gnarly, naked trees…the waterfront on Lake Nipissing offers a few great ones due to the very high winds blowing regularly in the area…below is the original photo.
below I’ve used the HDR-ish setting…
of course this one is a simple black and white…more dramatic…
this one is black & white with HDR-ish used…
spring is working on it!
here are a couple more of the ice breaking up…all were taken on Sunday. this is facing the area/bay where I grew up, if you look closely you will see a water tower above the tree line on the left just past the clump of trees in the foreground. my home as a child is to the left of that…I know you can’t see anything but this may help visitors understand why I love the water so much!
I like the dark and light of the pieces of ice…some pieces are more saturated with water than others…I heard on the news last evening there is a possibility of flooding on Lake Nipissing…they feel it could reach flood levels by the weekend…
some of you may remember I shot a photo from a similiar angle in the winter…looks different…I’ll take another when the grass is green…
Sunset Park…
Sunday afternoon I ventured over to Sunset Park…the last photos I showed from here were during the snowmobile drag races…well this day was all about the ice beginning to break up…this is facing the sw shore…I’ve more ice shots and will post them once I’ve had a chance to look through them all…I should make an effort to go back in the next day or so as the temperature has been around 58F yesterday and today which will to soften the ice.
Heather Cote... 
