Summer Road Trippin' 2014

I must admit it's been strange to no longer do the Photo Challenge.  In a way, it's been a relief because I don't have to think about it or hunt for my subject, but I also miss it.  I miss having "something particular" to do each day.  I find I now look at things differently than before and pay more attention to  things that you wouldn't normally think to photograph.  The photo challenge is a great way to learn how your camera works so that you become more comfortable with it and it's various settings.  I will do another photo challenge in the fall, but it might not be a daily one.  However, I'm on vacation for the next 2 weeks and will be taking lots of pictures of all kinds of things.

What am I doing for vacation?  I will be going with my two friends Nina and Robin to their home towns, Nash Creek / Jacquet River, New Brunswick (I can't remember which friend is from which town, but their childhood homes are less than a kilometre apart), and we will also be going to Gaspe, Quebec to do some whale watching, sea kayaking, and sight-seeing.

Now I have never been to these places, but I know it's a long drive to get there.  It's at least a 10 hour drive from Ottawa, Ontario to  Nash Creek / Jacquet River, New Brunswick and we need music, lots of music.  Nina and Robin go home every Christmas and I usually make them mixed music CDs to help them pass the time and one time I made a copy of Aziz Ansari's Dangerously Delicious comedy act. For this road trip, I have Eddie Murphy's Greatest Comedy Hits; 2 mixed music CDs of current Alternative hits (i.e. alt-J, Broken Bells, Vance Joy, Lorde, Echosmith, etc.); and a mixed classic road trip songs (Summer Road Trippin' 2014).  I would have made more, but I ran out of blank CDs and Robin's car doesn't play MP3 CDs.  We discovered that the hard way many years ago.

Here's my Summer Road Trippin' 2014 playlist for our trip.  Take a listen and let me know what you think.  Does it make you feel like you're on the road, cruising down a highway, and having fun?  Do you feel the sun shining on you and the wind blowing through your hair?





Here's the playlist:

1. Just a Girl - No Doubt
2. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
3. Radar Love - Golden Earring
4. Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
5. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
6. Panama - Van Halen
7. Going to California - Led Zeppelin
8. Free Ride - The Edgar Winter Group
9. Thunderstruck - AC/DC  (A friend told me to play this song when we drive through Montreal.)
10. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
11. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen  (This should be on all classic road trip playlists.)
12. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler (I remember my older sister playing this song ALL. THE. TIME.)
13. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
14. Kung Fu Fighting (Dave Ruffy/Mark Wallis Remix) - Carl Douglas
15. Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
16. Roam - The B-52's
17. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
18. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

I hope the girls like this one and the other CDs I've made. Hope this makes you want to go for a road trip.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Celebration - Day 27

Day 27's photo challenge was "Celebration", unfortunately, I did not see any celebrations whatsoever.  No balloons for a party, no one cheering for a goal at the soccer field, and no celebrations of any kind.

I wondered what to do for this challenge, but then it came to me as I accomplished something for my blog.  In a way it was a celebration ... well, at least to me it was.  I created this blog back in 2008 prior to my trip to Turkey as a way to document it and so that friends and family could follow along.  Over the past 6 years (can't believe it's been 6 years since Turkey) I've changed the template, layout, and colours for this blog always trying to achieve a more personal look because I am always envious of great some blogs look.  For many months, I tried to figure out how to put social media icons on my blog and successfully added them in Tangerine Tango, Pantone's Color of the Year for 2012.

These sites provided great tips, instructions and code which I used to create my icons.

• Helpblogger
• diy Design Fanatic
• Code it Pretty

First, I went on the hunt for free icons and true to Pam's (diy Design Fanatic) post, there are tons of free social media icons and some can be found on Pinterest. I liked how Pam used Pantone's Fall 2012 line/design for her icons.  However, I didn't want something that looked like her icons and to be honest with you, I was not a fan of the dotted circle icon.  I Google "Pantone tango tangerine social media icons" and found various images and chose one to use.  Once a style was selected, they were saved on a local desktop and resized to a size that looked good on my blog, then they were uploaded to Picasa photo album that is open to the public.  I remembered I had to do this in Chrome because Google changed something and you couldn't upload or get the embedded link from Firefox or Safari.  I already had a "Follow Me" gadget in Blogger Layouts and removed what ever was in there and entered the following code (see image below) and an embedded link for each icon.

Follow Me Gadget with Code to link to images

Social Media Icons in Tangerine Tango

At some point after G+ was released, users were prompted to use their G+ profile for their Blogger profile instead of having two separate profiles.  Some people prefer to have separate profiles and other choose to have one profile because it's less maintenance.  I don't remember when exactly but I switched from two separate profiles to my G+ profile for both G+ and for this blog.  Now this put a "G+ Follow" button on my blog and in or around the "About Me" gadget and I couldn't get rid of it until I found instructions on a web page that has since been removed.  I will try to find the link and add it to this post.

Earlier in this post I mentioned a Website called "Code it Pretty" by Marie Mosley, and Marie provides codes and tutorials to help people like me customize their blogs.  I recently saw one of her tutorials on adding a signature to your blog posts.  I thought it was pretty nifty and decided to try it.  I created a signature using the A Beautiful Mess APP, resized the image and uploaded it to Picasa.  Once again, I couldn't use Safari or Firefox to upload the image, I had to use Chrome.  Why Google are you being so difficult?  Once my signature was uploaded it changed the background from white to grey and I was stumped why it was doing this.  I commented on Marie's post and she replied that it's a "feature" of Picasa's auto-enhance.  She also provided a link to a tutorial with directions for turning it off.  I followed the instructions in the tutorial and turned off the auto-enhance "feature" and voila the background went back to normal. 

Next, I couldn't find the "Link to this Photo" option since Google transition to G+.  I scoured the Internet and found a Google Page about Picasa photos and there were numerous complaints how people could no longer do the things they used to do once Google switched the pictures from Picasa to G+ Photos.  Someone commented on this page that you can see this "Link to this Photo" option if you link to your old Picasa Album folder and provided a link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1

Finally, I was back on track and returned to Marie's tutorial and followed her instructions and used her code for my blog.  This code displays my signature image at the bottom of all of my posts, both on my home page and on individual post pages.  I decided I didn't want my signature on the bottom of my posts on my home page and used Marie's additional instructions to use Blogger's conditional tags to display my signature on post pages only.  WooHoo!  It worked!  If you click on the link for one of my titles, you will see this signature at the bottom of each post page.  It will probably change it at some point to something smaller or completely different.  The point is is that I did it.  This was an accomplishment for me and I did a mini-celebration when I first saw it on the page.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 27 - Celebration (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Someone Else's Pet - Day 31

My parents (M&M) and I looked at small house today (house #2) in Vanier.  My real estate sent me a new listing yesterday.  This house was listed in the Winter and was taken off because I assumed it had sold, but I guess not.  In the meantime, the homeowner replaced the oil furnace to a gas furnace and did a slap-hazard paint job.  It looked cute in the pictures and the price wasn't bad, but it just didn't do anything for me.  I didn't like the tiled ceilings in the most of the place and they were bent and could push up on them.  For some reason, when the home owner put down flooring they kept the carpet in the bedroom and it's dirty and stained.  They put in a new bathroom sink/vanity, but didn't replace the tub and tiles around it, which are lifting off at some parts.  The kitchen was dated, which is fine because it could be replaced at some later date. They opened up the attic and put a room up there, but I didn't care for the open, narrow stairs that led upstairs.  The backyard was fine, but it didn't have any grass, so I would have to remove all the stones and get sod.  I couldn't see myself living there and being happy.    My real estate lady said it's fine, to take my time, and that I will know when I see the right place.  I hope so because I would love to own a cute, little home with a backyard with grass.

If you recall from my first photo challenge post this was originally supposed to be 30 days.  However, my friend Vicki said the challenge should be 31 days since there are 31 days in July and that it should be a photo of Someone Else's Pet.  For today's challenge, I took some pictures of Raven, a green-eyed, black cat who lives down the street from me.  Raven is a rescue, and had never been outside in it's prior life.  Now Raven is always outside and she's either very confident or stupid as lamppost because she often sits right in the middle of the road and cars and cyclists have to go around her.   She's lucky she hasn't been hit yet.  Raven has also been seen sitting on the corner with her back leg up in the air and cleaning herself and so that everyone can see her doing this.

Raven licking a puddle

Raven giving me the Stinkeye

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 31 - Someone Else's Pet (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Self Portrait - Day 30

I've spent this evening with my parents and we discussed mortgages, rates, how much CMHC charges if you don't have 20% for a downpayment, lawyer fees, land transfer tax, property tax, connection fees for hydro, gas, water(?), and internet and there was something else, but can't think of what it was.  I've done more calculating the past few weeks than what I did in high school and it's exhausting.

Today's photo challenge was another "Self Portrait".  Not sure why there's 2 self portraits in a month's challenge.  You can see my first self portrait and first photo challenge picture here.   I probably should have done this picture in the morning when I didn't have so many fly-aways, or I should have wet my hair before taking the photo.  I didn't think of it until after and I don't own any hairspray, gel, or mousse to hold my hair in place.  I'm wearing a green tank top and cardigan from H&M and a white and green domino scarf that was locally made in Ottawa.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 30 - Self Portrait

As for Day 27's "Celebration" picture, I do not have a celebration photo of a crowd cheering, or a part, or a birthday cake, but I do have a photo that I created that represents a celebration of sorts for me.  I hope to post it tomorrow, if not, the following day.  Stay tuned.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Black & White - Day 29

Today's photo challenge was "Black and White".  I used the macro setting on my camera, and changed the setting to black and white.  My 1st picture is a section of the cast iron and cast stone fence that surrounds the Rideau Hall property, the official home of the Governor General of Canada.  My 2nd picture is MacKay House, a 5 storey condo building with 27 units.  My 3rd picture is a view of the sunset while walking down St. Laurent Blvd.

Rideau Hall Cast Iron and Cast Stone Fence 

MacKay House

Sunset view on St. Laurent Blvd.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Flowers - Day 28

Yes, I missed yesterday's photo challenge.  I tried, I really did, but I didn't see anything for "celebration".  I watched men playing soccer at the park, and waited for someone to score and capture  a picture of the celebration.  Instead I saw men drop to the ground holding their calf, then their faces.  Apparently, they watched a lot of World Cup and took notes on how to milk the sympathy.  Don't worry, I will find something, or at least I hope so, take a picture of this week that's a celebration.  

You know it's Monday, when your about to leave for work and bike lock falls apart in your hands and on the ground. To make matters worse, someone told me there was a Baconfest last Friday and it was the 3rd year for it.  I call this person many names for not telling me about it.  Let this be known that if you ever, ever hear that's there's a baconfest or something like it with bacon, TELL ME.  This person then proceeded to tell me there was a sirloin steak marinated, wrapped in bacon, grilled and was served on a brioche bun with a bacon-something jam/chutney.  Go ahead! Stab that knife a little deeper in my heart.  I still can't believe he didn't tell me about it last week.  I will get even. 

Today's photo challenge was "flowers" and I was looking forward to it after yesterday's dismal fail.  I saw various flowers on my walk this evening.  Hope they brighten your day.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 28 - Flowers (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Close-Up - Day 26

For some reason I didn't think to look up today's challenge until late in the day.  I've been mostly preoccupied this week with the possibility of buying a home.  You see last Sunday a new listing for a tiny bungalow house came up on the Realtor site and in a neighbourhood I liked.  I emailed the real estate agent on the listing for more information and to see it.  The real estate lady called me within 5 minutes of me sending my email.  I asked about the property taxes and the age of the roof, furnace, which was incorrect, and something else. I set up a time to view on Monday evening.  My parents and I went to look at it the next evening saw that it had potential and needs some renovations, which we thought could be done over the next few years.  We knew the windows needed to be replaced and hoped that we could do at least one this year and the rest next year.  We knew the bathroom needed to be gutted and replaced ASAP.  The basement was musty and we figured the basement walls needed to come down and air out and see what was going on.  We knew it needed eavestroughing to direct water away from the house and foundation, and figured this could be done quickly.  The fascia/soffit needed to be replaced.  Knowing all this and after supper and a discussion with my parents, I put down a conditional offer on the house depending on my finances and inspection. 

The most stressful thing for me, took place on Tuesday afternoon and that was to see if I would be pre-approved for a mortgage.  I was so nervous going to the bank and having someone look at my finances and critiquing it.  I felt like I was going to have a heart attack just before entering the bank.  I would rather go back to Chamonix and run off a mountain to paraglide and/or jump out of a plane. That's fun, not stressful.  Good news!  I was approved for a mortgage.  Phew!  What a relief.

After this stressful ordeal, my parents and I went back to the house that night for an inspection.  It wasn't good.  It was BAD!  The windows and frames were all rotten and need to be replaced, the foundation need grading all around it, needs new fascia, soffit, and eavestroughs, the stucco has major cracks and needs to be fixed.  Once the inspector told me the quote to repair the outside of the house, I was done with the house, and we hadn't even done the inside yet.  There's no way I could come up with that kind of money.  What did the inside need?  The new insulation needs to come out and have the old vermiculite (with possibility of asbestos) removed, the bathroom needs to be gutted and replaced, it needs a fan, the walls in the bedrooms and dining rooms had big cracks on the exterior walls.  The plumbing in the kitchen needs to be replaced, actually, the entire plumbing and electricity in the house needs to be looked at and probably replaced.  The list went on and on.  I had a vision of me as Shelley Long in the Money Pit, falling through the ceiling in the bath tub and have Nutmeg looking down at me.  Despite all this, I'm glad I paid for an inspector because this is their job to tell you what's damaged, operational, and what needs to be updated. I couldn't imagine buying a place without one and then discovering everything. It would be awful and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Purple Cone Flower

After this inspection, I rescinded my offer on the house.  I met up with the real estate lady this afternoon to get my deposit cheque back and to sign the termination of my offer on the house.  The house has been sold to a general contractor who owns/owned other houses in that neighbourhood.  He renovates them, then rents them out and/or flips them.  I don't mind fixing up some things, but I don't want to have to replace every single thing for my first house, nor do I have the money to do that.  At least I now know I'm approved for a mortgage, and I can seriously start looking for my first home. Wish me luck!

Nutmeg smelling the flowers/weeds

Nutmeg and I went for a walk around supper time and I remembered to look up today's photo challenge and it's "Close-up".  I decided to take close-up pictures of flowers (weeds) on our walk.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 26 - Close-up (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Strangers - Day 25

Today's photo challenge is "Strangers" and what better place to do this than the Byward Market in Ottawa.

Tonight I met up with some friends over beers at the Lowertown Brewery that has been open for 6 weeks. Their beer selection is limited at the moment, but will expand over time.

Here's a picture I took of strangers sitting on the patio.

Here's a couple of pictures of Spartacat, the Ottawa Senators mascot.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 25 - Strangers (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Animal - Day 24

Today's photo challenge is "Animal".  I tried to get a picture of one of the hundred squirrels that run the outside of my place but they are so fast and scatter like the wind as soon as you make a move.  Instead I took a couple of pictures of one Nutmeg's buds on our street.  This is Kara, a golden retriever, who is a year and a half old and lives up the street from us.  Kara refuses to continue with her walk until she says hello to me and Nutmeg.  She's a very happy and excitable girl.  She's trying really hard to sit and stay seated in these pictures, however, she won't stay still so the owner has a grasp on her harness.  Sometimes Kara and Nutmeg will stop and sniff each other, then walk away, other times they are hugging each other, lying down and facing each other, and doing zoomies/hops around each other.  It's very cute and they always do this on the sidewalk or on the front lawn.  

Kara Sitting with a tilt

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 24 - Animal - Kara (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Patterns - Day 23

Today's photo challenge is "Patterns".  I wasn't sure what to do for this challenge, but thought I could find something on my walk with Nutmeg.  I paid attention to my surroundings and was looking for patterns with houses.  Took some other pictures of interesting things around the neighbourhood, such as this front lawn/garden.  I've been meaning to take this picture for a while now.  Hope you like it.

Stone Bunny in Greenery

 More stone pieces from another front yard/garden:

Contemplating in the Greenery

Perhaps a large stone moulding from a building?

After walking by some of the older homes, I noticed many of them had exterior moulding and millwork and decided to focus on this today's photo challenge.  Here are some various pictures.

Red brick and white moulding

Red brick and linen moulding

Red brick, grey stucco, and green moulding

This isn't the best final image but triptych represent a pattern on one brownstone with 3-4 homes.  The photo on the left was in the shade, and I had to zoom in between tree branches for the one on the right.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 23 - Patterns (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Inspiration - Day 22

I've been on an emotional roller coaster since Sunday afternoon and was exhausted after my 2 hour appointment this afternoon. I needed something to keep me going as I had another thing to do this evening, so I decided on my way home to get a scone from Sconewitch. I really wanted a big thing of ice cream, but there's no ice cream/gelato shop in my neighbourhood. Oh, how I miss Gelato Boy! While I was at Sconewitch, I walked by their fridge and looked at their  drinks and there it was, my inspiration to get through this evening.

This is my picture for today's photo challenge "Inspiration".

31 Day Photo Challenge - Faceless Self Portrait - Day 21

Today's photo challenge is a "Faceless Self Portrait".  I was planning on doing something creative, but something came up yesterday and I've been very busy today and this evening with it.  I scrambled tonight after 10:30 pm to take my picture for today's challenge because I didn't want to miss a day and have to catch up on another day.

This is my Faceless Self Portrait and this is what I am currently reading, The Lost Girls : three friends four continents, one unconventional detour around the world by Jennifer Bagget, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 21 - Faceless Self Portrait (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - In My Bag - Day 20

My friend Vicki's asked what today's picture was for the photo challenge, and I told her "What's in your bag."  She replied, "Oh, that's not very exciting."  There's your prelude for today's post.  Sorry it's boring.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 20 - In My Bag (final picture)

An itemized list of what's in my Coach bag:

• Guinness key chain with keys
• $2.00 off coupon for a 12 pack of Diet Coke
• iPhone
• Passport
• Presto Card for the bus
• Work pass
• Istanbul map pendant and chain - the clasp is broken and I keep meaning to get a new clasp
• Key to my friend's place
• Flower chain purse from Peru and it holds my earphones
• Glysomed fragrance free hand cream
• 2 USB Memory Sticks
• Butler Soft Picks
• Package of tissue
• Fold-up bag for shopping
• Container of ibuprofen
• Wallet
• List of foods to eat and avoid from my elimination diet
• Burt's Bees pink grapefruit lip balm
• Green Beaver boreal lip balm
• Clinique chubby lip balm in chunky cherry
• Dolce & Gabbana glasses
• Ralph Lauren sunglasses
• Pen

31 Day Photo Challenge - Something You Want - Day 19

This morning I woke up to Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode playing on the radio and it's a great tune to wake up to.  As I laid in bed listening to the song, I remembered when this video came out in 1989 on Much Music and I instantly loved it.  I loved the beat, the tune, the grittiness of the video, and I thought David Gahan was so sexy in it.  You know it has to be a good tune if Johnny Cash covered it.  Back in 2005/2006, when I was studying library science at the University of Waterloo, a couple of classmates and I went to Toronto to see Depeche Mode in concert.  It was a great concert and I couldn't believe I was finally seeing them after all these years.  David Gahan was just as sexy on stage as he was in the videos.  Hope you like it as much as me.

Another old tune I heard this morning is Lucky Man by Richard Ashcroft, from The Verve.  For some reason, this song screams summer to me and feeling happy.  Thought I would share it with you since it's summertime.

Today's photo challenge is "Something You Want".  There are lots of things that I want.  I want to be free of my student debt and I will be very soon.  How do you take a picture of this?  I want to buy a small postage-size house (really small) with a yard so I can sit outside and have a garden and Nutmeg would have a place to fart around and play.  I want to get my drivers license.  My goal is to get my G1 (learner's) by the end of 2014.  I want the IQ Kettle by Breville, which is a stainless steel electric kettle that boils 5 different temperatures for white, green, oolong, and black tea, and I think the 5th setting is for bodums.  It will even keep the temperature for 20 minutes so you don't have to reboil the water.  How cool is that!  I will buy this kettle sometime over the next year after my student debt is paid off.  Lately, I've been comparing 8 speed dutch style bicycles and the various options that come with them, such as a rear rack, front rack or basket, skirt guard, and colours.  Perhaps it will be a purchase in the next year or two. 

What is Something I Really Want?  I want to go to Egypt more than anything.  Egypt has been my dream destination forever.  I have two Egyptian style mugs, which you will see in the picture and I believe they were given to me by my grandmother.  They sit on my book shelf two shelves above these books:

1. A River in the Desert : Modern Travels in Ancient Egypt by Paul William Roberts
2. Nefertiti : Egypt's Sun Queen by Joyce Tyldesley
3. Teach Yourself Hieroglyphics by Ronald L. Bonewitz
4. Fodor's Exploring Egypt (2001)
5. Egypt by Eyewitness Travel Guides

I want to see Cairo and wonder around it's markets.  I want to stand next to the Great Pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure) and be awed and feel minuscule by them.  I want to look dead on with the Great Sphinx and maybe some of it's power will transfer over to me.  I want to sail down the Nile on a felucca and dream of days past.  I want to visit the Luxor Temple, the Edfu Temple, and see the Hatshepsut Temple.  Yes, I want to be engrossed in this ancient history.  I want to go to Oasis and camp in the Desert.  I want to go Alexandria and see it's ruins and new buildings, such as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.   I wrote a paper on the library in my 4th year Alexander course in my undergrad.  I want to ride a camel to Mount Sinai and visit Saint Catherine's Monastery, which is one of the oldest Christian monasteries (I'm not religious, but I like to know about various religions to have a better understanding of people's beliefs and what makes them who they are; and churches, monasteries, mosques, etc are great examples of architecture.)  I want to meet local Egyptians and eat and talk with them over meals and tea/coffee.  I want to sample all of their food.

Initially, I planned to visit Egypt for my 30th birthday, but I went back to university full-time and couldn't afford it.  Back then I said I would go for my 40th birthday because I want to celebrate my birthday in Egypt.  Well my 40th is less than 6 months away and unless I win some money I will not be going there in December-January.  It does make me a little sad that I won't be spending my birthday there.  I have a little over half of the required Aeroplan points to fly there from Ottawa.  My friend Vicki offered to give me the rest of the required points as a birthday present, however, it costs more to transfer the points over to me than to buy a ticket outright.  Why is that?  In the beginning, I wanted to spend a month in Egypt and travel on my own, but due to the unrest, I will go with a travel company.  My favourite tour at the moment is Absolute Egypt by G [GAP] Adventures.  It's 16 days and pretty much goes to all the places I want to see except for Mount Sinai.  I will go to Egypt at some point next year.  

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 19 - Something You Want (final picture)

  

Show me a picture or tell me Something You Want. 

31 Day Photo Challenge - Your Shoes - Day 18

Check out my new bike pedals that I got today at Full Cycle on St. Laurent Blvd.  My other pedals were plastic and cracked.  The bike guy at the store told me, plastic pedals don't last very long and was surprised when I told him they were the original ones that came with my bike that I bought in the Spring of 2006 after my other one was stolen.  Soon I will need to replace my bike lock because the middle piece moves and sometimes I have to struggle with the lock.  I may also need to replace my bike seat because it has crack in it.  Oh boy!  Someone suggested I buy a new bike.  Last Friday and all weekend I thought my odometer screen was going, but then I realized it was new polarized sunglasses that would distort the screen.  Oops!

New Bike Pedals

I noticed the Flatbread Pizza Company, a mobile, wood-fire pizza company (they also live down the street from me), were set up at Full Cycle's parking lot this evening and decided to order a pizza before looking at pedals.  I was planning on strapping it to my bike rack and eat it when I got home, but my bungee cords were in my pannier which was at home.  What did I do?  I sat down on the curb and wolfed it down.  It was hot, a little greasy, and gooey, but isn't that was a pizza's supposed to be?  It was the perfect size.  Next time you see it, stop and a get a pizza. I think they are at Full Cycle on Fridays and Saturday, but not next weekend.  They take cash and credit cards using the Square credit card reader that works with your phone or iPad.        

Flatbread Pizza Company - Supper

Now after these interesting pictures, I will return to today's photo challenge "Your Shoes".  To be honest with you, today's picture is not exciting.  Remember that coworker I asked for advice on taking pictures of eyes?!  Well he came to my desk this morning and I gave him heck for not getting back to me (we bicker back and forth to each other all the time) and he apologized, then asked if it was too late.  I told him it was too late.  He asked what today's challenge was and when I told him "your shoes" he looked at my cubby hole of shoes beneath my desk.  He said it would be a good picture because it shows how practical I am.  I wasn't sure if that was an insult or not.  He said, "You have a pair of black flats, bronze flats, brown low heel, and a black low heel".  These shoes are always kept at my desk since I wear them mostly in the fall and winter I hate having to drag shoes back and forth, especially throughout the winter.  I usually wear other footwear to work, then change when I get there.  In the summer time, I mostly wear flip flops, flat sandals with straps, wedge sandals, black ballet flats, or Toms' grey leopard print ballet flats.

My bronze Target strappy sandals - they go with the bronze buttons on my dress 

31 Day Photo Challenge - 18 - Your Shoes (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - Technology - Day 17

Today's photo challenge is "Technology".  When most people think of technology the first thing that comes to mind is laptops, computers, tablets, iPads, and cell phones.  What about those other things you use on a daily basis, such as the stove, fridge, microwave, electric kettle, television, and lights.  These devices represent such a big part of our lives that some people forget they too were once technological advances.  If you watched Downton Abbey, you will recall how the estate transforms over the seasons with new technology (electricity, cars, small appliances, etc.) much to the chagrin of Charles Carson, the Butler and Beryl Patmore, the Cook.  I loved watching their reactions when they saw the toaster and mixer.  A big part of Downton Abbey is the music played in the series, which leads me to my next technology device.

My first photo example represents music.  First, it was put on records, then there was 8 tracks, tapes, and CDs and now it's digital.  Now, we need a device to listen to our music whether it's stereo, record player, phone, MP3 player, iPod, computer, television, and last but not least, the radio.  Way back when before television, people listened to shows and sporting events such as hockey over the radio.  I listen to the radio every day.  It wakes me up in the morning, I listen to it as I eat and get ready for the day, Nutmeg listens to it when I'm gone and I listen to it while making supper.  It provides me weather, news, stories, and music.  I had a picture of a Tivoli Audio radio on my fridge for 3 years and finally bought this one in Montreal after passing a store carrying Tivoli Audio radios.  I didn't know at the time that they came in other colours.

Tivoli Audio - Henry Kloss - Model One Radio

I found this little gem on one of my walks today.  It's a New York Rangers 1998 zamboni dinky car.  Think of the technology used to build this one and other dinky cars.  My brother had so many of them and I used play with them and his model cars.  Actually, I repainted his model cars.  Oops!  It's a good thing I was young and cute.  I returned this little zamboni to where i found it because I assume it belongs to one of the kids that live on that street.  Does anyone remember who played for the Rangers in 1998?

New York Rangers 1998 Zamboni

For our 3rd walk of the day, I took Nutmeg to the Kavanaugh construction site to take some pictures because it's a prime example of how technology is used in construction, engineering, the crane, tools to dig, to excavate, etc.

The Kavanaugh Construction Site

I chose the crane as my final picture because it's one of the first things to arrive at the site, you see it for many, many months, and yet it does so much and can withhold enormous weight despite it looking so frail.  I also love the big, blue sky behind the crane.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 17 - Technology (final picture)

31 Day Photo Challenge - A Good Habit - Day 16

Today's photo challenge is a "A Good Habit".  A good habit can be so many things ... walking your dog, make your bed, do the dishes before you leave in the morning, brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss every day, eat well, exercise, read, watch less TV, drink plenty of water, spend time with friends, be positive, and the list goes on and on.

I had supper with my mom this evening and we were to meet at my place for 5:00 pm.  I was a little late getting home and when I did there was no mom or Nutmeg.  My mom took Nutmeg for a walk around my crescent and I met them outside and snapped a couple pictures of them walking towards me.  We went down by the river and walked along it for a bit then made our way back home and I took a few more pictures along the way.

Me and Nutmeg

I like this picture because both my mom and Nutmeg are not aware of the camera, and I caught my mom glancing to the side and smiling, and Nutmeg is looking in the other direction with a very weird look on her face.  This picture is also a good representation of today's challenge for it's a good habit to get exercise by any means necessary whether it's biking, running, yoga, cross fit, skiing, canoeing, walking, etc.  Exercise is beneficial for your health physically and mentally.

Since I live in an apartment, I need to take Nutmeg outside for walks at least a couple of times a day.   She's a great motivator to get me outside and enjoy the fresh air.  It's a good habit to take your dog for walks because it encourages bonding between you and your dog, you and your dog get to interact with other humans and pets along the way, you both get exercise, and you are both happier.  It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Now get off that couch and go for walk.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 16 - A Good Habit (final picture)