Sweet Home Alberta

Sorry for the lengthy radio silence, it being summer finally, I've been busy enjoying it instead of editing photos.  Although, I assure you, I have been taking photos.  Last month Allan and I packed up the car, and along with Charlie, we made the long drive back to the prairies.  While we were visiting Edmonton we stayed at a friends house about an hour out of town.  We got our fill of farmlands, sun, and stormy prairie skies.  Here's a few shots I got driving around those country roads.

Those horses are always keeping an eye on you.

I was pretty excited when we turned onto one road and there were a heard of bison staring at us.

These two little twins were pretty curious about me.

Mum was sure to follow close behind as they came to check me and my camera out.

Allan got a little nervous when they came right up to the fence, but I felt like they were just curious, not defensive.

This one kind of reminds me of the old MTS commercials, back when they used the live bison with dubbing.

This is an HDR shot I did of a barn in a canola field on the way up to Edmonton.

Beautiful Baby Boy

I'm Back!  I was waiting to make some upgrades to an old Mac desktop, that my parents had recently donated to me, before I loaded Photoshop and got back to business... but it just took too long, and the photo withdrawal was just too strong... so I loaded it anyway, and here we are.

One of the main reasons I was itching to get Photoshop going is this little man right here:

Benjamin Wyatt here is my unofficial nephew (my boyfriend's sisters new baby... and only unofficial till we make it official, if you catch my meaning).  He, along with his parents and Uncle on his Daddy's side, came for a visit shortly after the water vs. laptop incident, and these pictures were just burning a whole in my memory card.  So without further ado, I give you Bennie!

This handsome little fella has a thing for lights, so it was no trouble keep him happy while I had my flash going.

Although he figured out pretty quickly that three little flashes are followed by one big one, and you could see his eyes open so wide right before the big flash almost every time.

I ended up with a lot of horror movie expressions, adorable and funny all at once.

I'd have to say that this one is one of my favorites.  Ben spends almost all of his day with his hands in tight little fists, so much so, that he gets fuzz built up in there, just like toe jam.  Except when he sleeps, he sometime holds both hands flat out in front of him, as if to say "Whoa guys, just, whoa."

This was one of those moments, so Mamma took the opportunity to give him a high five.

Oh and P.S. I knit that blue blanket myself!

Technical Difficulties

Due to some technical difficulties (re: Steve knocking a pint of water onto my lap top, and thus no longer having access to Photoshop) it may be a little while before I can make a new post.  We can blame Steve's insatiable taste for pizza, and my own lack of foresight in placing a glass of water between my laptop and a pizza box. Blast.  Anyway, stay tuned, and hopefully we will be back up and running soon.

Beautiful Baby Girl

So my short trip last weekend was actually to visit my friend Amy, who was visiting from Alberta, and finally meet her baby girl.  I was totally taken by her beautiful blue eyes, and just couldn't stop taking photos of her.  And thus I give you Claire: 

I just couldn't believe those eyelashes either.

And I couldn't forget about Brad and Annette's baby girl Obi.  She was so good with Claire, and she's only 7 months old herself.

Just look at that smile!

Vic to Van, and Back Again

I just took a really brief trip to Vancouver this weekend to see some friends who were there on holidays. Since I was only there for 24 hours, I only got a few shots, but I just wanted to share them.

This was taken from the look-out deck at Schwartz Bay ferry terminal as I was waiting to board.

This was just outside of Granville Island on the Kits side.  I wondered if the bike was just left there, and the building managers got creative with it.  The whole thing was painted white, bike lock and all.

Love Cookies. Perfect for Anyone you Love.  This was inside the Granville Island Market.

And, surprise surprise, I didn't make my intended ferry, and ended up hanging out at the Tsawwassen terminal for an extra 2 hours.  Does anyone ever make the right ferry at Tsawwassen?  Because I certainly haven't.

My parents came out last week to visit and escape the snow that is still plaguing parts of Alberta.  Since Quita is at the breeders with her little litter of pups, they just brought Brio with them.  Brio was the man of the month in April.  He fathered two litters that were born last month.  I wish I was able to visit them and share some photos, but you can check out Cindy's web-site, Drobot Labradors, for any info on them.  She may even post some photos, although I'm guessing she's got her hands pretty full these days.

I pulled out my camera and flash to try and get some better shots of him than I managed last time.  Black coats are a hard one, but these turned out a bit better.

He always looks so worried.

Charlie eventually got jealous of my attention being on Brio, and decided to insert herself into the shot.

This photo pretty much sums up how the week went with these two (oh, and yes, Charlie is humping him).

Steve was, as per usual, a good sport about the whole thing.

Proud Pitty Parents

Allan and I have shared a passion for Pitbulls for a while now.  Mine started shortly after high school, with a rescue pitty who came through the Vet clinic that I worked for.  He had a particularly hard four years on a reserve, and ended up in our care after being found laying in the snow, unable to stand.  He had a bullet wound through his leg, along with buckshot wounds all over his side, and lots of bruising and swelling.  In his weakened condition we were unable to give him an anesthetic while we treated him; so I was given the task of sitting with his head in my lap, and keeping him calm.  It was almost instantly that he he seemed to realize we were trying to help him, and were not there to cause him anymore harm. He even wagged his tail and tried to give kisses through the muzzle as we washed out his wounds.  We decided to keep him at the clinic until we could find him a home, and thus, he became my charge.  Every morning as I entered the kennel, he would erupt into full body wags, and I couldn't do anything else before we said good morning.  He earned a place in my heart through his strength and his giant heart, and I was both happy and sad to see him eventually find a home.  

Allan had the pleasure of living with an extremely cuddly Staffordshire terrier when he went to school in Thunder Bay.  So when we were finally able to get a puppy, we new exactly what breed to look for, and that we wanted to rescue.

I started doing some research and found that there were three rescues in the Vancouver Island and Lower  Mainland areas: Respect-A-Bull, Hug-A-Bull, and Bully Buddies.  We decided that we wanted a puppy since Steve is young too, and we thought it might be better for the two of them to bond.  We also wanted to be able to train the puppy as she grew.  So I started scanning the adoptables lists, and one day this skinny little freckly girl popped up on Respect-A-Bull's site.  We thought she kind of looked like Dobby from Harry Potter, but she was adorable, so I applied the next day.  

One of the things I liked about these rescues, is that you have to go through an approval process in order to adopt a puppy from them.  There is an extensive application form (it took me two hours to fill out), which even included questions like; what food you plan to feed the dog, what is your fence made of, and how big a vet bill can you afford at once.  If your application is approved, there is a phone interview, if you are approved after that, there is a home check.  And finally, if you are approved for that, you get to meet the puppy.  And if you like the puppy, you do a foster-to-adopt, which means the puppy lives with you for a bit, to see if it will fit into your family, and your life.  All of this may seem a bit extensive, but I think it's important, and I wish everyone did this before selling or adopting out a pet.  All of this is nothing compared to the commitment of owning a dog, and not enough people understand that when they adopt.

Anyway, at long last, we got to bring home our beautiful baby girl, Charlie! 

If you're wondering why she's sleeping in most of her photos, it's because any other time she would just be a tan coloured blur.  

She is a handful, to say the least.  Pitties can be very head strong, and tenacious.  But they are also extremely loyal, and loving... and SO cuddly.  She loves people, and other dogs, and we're working on her manners, so she doesn't bull-dose anyone in her excitement.

She's intelligent, and VERY food motivated, and I know with the right training and socialization, she's going to be a great dog.

Oh, and her and Steve get along well for the most part.  We're still trying to reign in that enthusiasm though!