Friday, December 31, 2010

My View of The Day

This is the remains of the "Blue Satin Rose of Sharon" Bloom
taken today Friday Dec 31 2010.
It must be the warmest day of December,
...actually I think it is the only warm day in December of 2010.
The camera has picked up even more detail than my eye could see.

So to reflect back to a warmer time of the year..
this is what This Bloom looked like in the Summer of 2010
This Blue is my favourite Colour.
I could never describe it better than right here.

Cedar Waxwing..trying to keep warm


I mentioned a few days back in a comment to this post,
that I was going to show you this video, but the original video was too long to upload here,
so the Editor from the Office cut it for me.
He has so many talents......that Man from the Office.

Blowing in the Wind

I am referring to the tuft on its head
This is the last half of the video, I was just referring to.

Where are all the Birds when you are ready for them?

So, being such a nice warm day today, it was easy for me  to finally take the time to fill up the bird feeders properly, and in fact.
I even put out the NEW Finch Feeder.
The old one actually ended up with a horizontal crack right through it.
 We keep choosing this same one because I like the yellow top.
See the new CLEAN Finch Feeder below ..and notice the only visitor around today.


Here is a closer shot of him, before he noticed I was there.

He ran off to the wood fence and sat there.
Hmm...here is a short video of this guy chewing something and watching me......
waiting for me to go back inside so he can go back into the yard
and really check things out on the ground more thoroughly.

OH! and  just to show you how warm it is,,,,the bird bath has water in it.....not ice

Could this be a kind of Bird?

Is this a Thunder bird?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Boxing Day Villian ruined My Shopping Spree

I thought I would Shop Till I Dropped on Boxing Day this year.
I had a strategy in place.
I was going to entice the Man from the Office to come with me
with offers of buying him some new electronic toys....
but really end up somewhere else.. more my cup of tea.
I would cry some crocodile tears
about how I really needed some new Office Attire,
like some new t-shirts, jeans, 
and maybe some more dressy clothes like new silk blouses,
cashmere sweaters,
and maybe some new jewellery to match ........
and how the Home Office could use a face-lift
with some brand new things, such as: 
some new throw rugs,
maybe some nice art work,
 a new set of good china dishes,
new sofas and chairs,
maybe... even a new dining room set .............and.....

However, my plan was foiled by some new clients 
that were REALLY in TROUBLE on Boxing Day
with this Christmas Computer Infection.
It is the "System Tools Anti-Virus" that has been going around these days.

Nothing like a "Client in Need" to Energize the Man from The Office
and transform him into the TERMINATOR once again...

I couldn't do the Damsel in Distress thing..
He was having way too much fun.
I would have felt way too guilty, with my  frivolous needs.
I don't think my plan was going to fool him anyway.
So, I went shopping alone and bought some coffee mugs.
(disclaimer: I also bought some little trinkets.I am not really that materialistic.It was exaggerated for humour)

My View of the Day

It has been so cold these days,
that I have had trouble holding that little camera outisde with my bare hands,
so I found a little Bird to take a photo of inside...
This was one of the those little trinkets I bought on Boxing Day.
This Bird looks much bigger here than it really is...
and looks so much more imposing...

hmm...I think this is a better representation of the little bird
sitting in the sun....

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I D0 Love Close-Up Photography

but....WOW this might be too close for comfort.

All about Chuck -The Original Dog Whisperer

I opened the Globe and Mail today to see a tribute about Chuck Eisenmann in the Obituaries.
(This segment is usually on the last page of the Sports Section.)
I could not find a link to this article on-line today, but I thought I would relate a little story about a memory of mine related to this topic.

He was the trainer of the Dogs in the Original Littlest Hobo. That was one of my favourite shows as a child. When I heard he was coming to the Castle Loma with the Littlest Hobo Himself, I made certain to be there. This was many years ago.

I was so excited to see The FAMOUS  LITTLEST HOBO IN PERSON in Toronto.
I remember feeling so let down to discover that four dogs played The Littlest Hobo. It was like discovering there was no Santa Clause.

But, once I recovered from my disappointment,
I was still in awe in how he could get those dogs to do such smart things.
I bought the book "Stop! Sit! and Think".
I don't think I had the technique down though, because I never could get our toy poodle to act as clever as The Littlest Hobo.
Chuck  really did believe that dogs had the smarts.
He had the ability to prove it.

My View of The Day so far -It was really last Night at 5:15pm

This was ths the red sky I saw last night.
It appears to be already dissapearing.
This was taken around 5:15 last night in Toronto, on my way home.
It was set on Night Setting, no Zoom...but with a flash.
This has different meaning depending when it was really taken.

My View of The Day -the true view of this morning

through the window

Monday, December 27, 2010

My Vew of This Bitter Cold Night

Christmas Colour Still in the Air Tonight in Toronto
On my way home this evening, I saw the red sky.
I happened to have the camera with me.
I pulled over to the side of the road and
and tried a few different settings and took some shots.
This was my favourite........
Within 5 minutes the red sky had gone away.

My View of The Day

This gives you a glimpse of how Windy it was at the feeders today..

Saturday, December 25, 2010

My Christmas View of The day

The Red Male Cardinal strikes me as a good Christmas symbol
There is a little story here.
At busy intersections, you can sometimes hear this chirping sound.
It is said that is sounds like a cardinal.
I am not sure I agree with that comparison,
but it certainly does sound like a bird chirp.
They are going to change this sound.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

My View of The Night

Lovely Season's Greeting Card

with Compliments from Proven Solutions Inc.

I came across these little treasures very recently.
I would like to share them with you.
If you would like one of these lovely Season's Greeting Cards
please contact Proven Solutions,  so we can mail one out to you.
(the catch is,.....we will also send a Proven Solutions Inc. fridge magnet )
This is a limited time offer in Canada only.

My View of the Day-Robin Christmas Lights?

How Many Robins can you spot?
The Man from the Office took this shot.
This is the Juniper tree that was loaded
with the Cedar Waxwings and Robins.
There were only Robins in the tree
when the Man from the Office came by to take a picture.

Here is a close up of one of those Robin Christmas Lights.
(this was coined by The Man from The Office)

My friend from California thought Robins were assoicated with spring.
So did I, until this major sighting.

WOW- what a coincidence!

So this morning I was writing to a friend to let her know where I did buy
those special Gold Bird Holiday greeting cards.

I happened to look at the ad on top of my email account,
and there was an advertisement for that very store.
"WOW", I first thought "what a coincidence!"

.........and then I remembered...GOOGLE ADS.

still "WOW ......and kind of creepy"

Maybe it was Google all along reading my thoughts.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A Cedar Waxwing eating Juniper Berries today in Toronto

Play this Video.
Look carefully and you will see the Tuft on the head.

The Story begins with noticing yellow Tipped Tails

What are those birds with the yellow tipped tails?
Last Saturday we were taking a little walk in the neighbourhood.
I didn't bring the office camera with us.
We sometimes walk past trees with lots of bird action.
Sometimes we know why and other times we really don't know why.
That day we heard lots of bird noise in a tree.
 I noted that it was a Juniper Tree.
It has berries that must be attracting the birds.
We saw many little birds fluttering around in the tree.
We assumed they were sparrows or something common.
I happened to look up and noticed yellow tipped tails and kind of yellow bellies.
I said "Hey...they have yellow tipped tails"
as we were walking away from the tree.
The man from the office said
"They are probably some kind of finch because I saw yellow-like under bellies."
I said "hmmm, I have never seen that before."
He said "Well you have never stood under them."
I said "hmm, I think the yellow tip was not just on the underside."
Now, the Man from the Office never saw what I saw.
I said "I am going to google images for yellow tipped tailed birds when we get back"
Of course when we got back to the office,
 I had completely forgotten and didn't get to it until later that day.
First I looked at our flash cards which the Man from the Office had suggested.
I screamed out.
"YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS, BUT THE ONLY YELLOW TIPPED BIRD HERE
Now this is an in-joke, because one day in the early fall,
 I was convinced I saw a Bohemian Waxwing
(which are rare and not usually seen if not winter in this area)
 at our feeder, but in retro spec, it was probably  a female cardinal.
The Man from the Office started laughing and said
"I am sure there are other birds with yellow tipped tails
and they did not have tufts on their head."
I checked out google and the only bird tail that matched what I saw was this bird.
I said "We really didn't check them out closely enough to be sure they didn't have crowns."
I am going to go back there and find out.
So Sunday, I drove by there, but there was nothing doing at that Juniper Tree.

Yesterday morning, I decided to walk over before we had some other things to do,
and I came across the Pileated Woodpecker. That was way too much excitement for me,
and my hands were now bitter cold from taking pictures without my gloves.
After he flew off, I continued to walk to that Juniper Tree and heard and saw ACTION.
I had brought the binoculars and sure enough there was a HUGE FLOCK of
cedar waxwings in the area sitting high in a tree, etc.
There were actually two juniper trees and the more vigorous action had moved to the
other juniper tree. There were many many robins too.
They were all feasting. "Breakfast at Goddards"
The trouble was, It was rather dull out.
 I only had so much time, so felt rushed.
My hands were cold.
It was hard to see where to zoom into in one large mass of Juniper tree.
These little cedar waxwings were flighty
and every time I finally had a good view of one through the camera,
it flew out of my view as I snapped it.
I even came back later
and sent the man from the Office to take a look when he could.
He pretended not to believe me.
I wanted him to see the tufts for himself,
because I couldn't seem to get them well in a shot.
This was the Best Shot we have for now. I hope they return today.
The feature that really makes them stand for out for me.... 
is their masked eyes,which reminds me of this.

Monday, December 20, 2010

My wandering Ears and Eyes-EXTRA EXCITEMENT

Now how often do you get to see one of these
 in the neigbourhood and have your camera at the same time?
Too bad, the day was not brighter...

Pileated WoodPecker On A Telephone Pole!

WOW you have to look at the video below

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Isn't this The Perfect Christmas Tree?
But wait a minute........

This is right side up.
I have never seen a tree pruned quite like this.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

They Arrived!

I love Fridge Magnets.
They work on metal filing cabinets too!


Would you like one for your collection?
 with your request for one
and we will put one in the mail for you.

His View of The Day

Running Shoes on a Wre
Where there is one.........

There are two

Traits of Creative People

This was particularly a fun read for me in the Monday Morning Manager this week. It  made some good points about creativity.

I liked the blurb about Ford. People laughed about his concept for a car. If he would have listened to people around him, he would never have pursued his idea.
(I feel like that sometimes.....)

Edison failed over 10,000 times before he got the light bulb right!
(This was inspiring to me. Maybe one day, I will hit it just right too...)

The ENTIRE page was interesting in the Monday Morning Manager

There was a blurb about why work does not get done at work.
It is OHHH so TRUUUUUE.

There was another small little something.
titled "From to do to ta da"
about writing down THE LIST for the DAY.
This is OH SO TRUE for me too.

and Are you a Jerk at Work?
should give some people some insight.
I think we are all guilty of some of these things sometimes too.

Heard this is the car yesterday,,,,,Great Song.....

Sunday, December 12, 2010

The mystery Building...

Here is the building that  you have been seeing photos of in the last week.
 It was the edges of it against the blue sky (it was really that blue)
 that caught my eye.

This is NOT a Sunny Sunday in Toronto Today.

Here is a little sunshine for this not so sunny Sunday
This graceful flower was growing under the bird feeder last summer.

Please turn around so I can get a better look at you?
Very Delicate profile,

but could you turn all the way around?
oh you are a lovely SUNFLOWER

We let the grass grow under the bird feeders late last summer
because we were being visited by hawks.
The hawks were attacking the ground birds which were usually
those innocent slow moving Mourning doves.
We thought if we let the grass grow, the birds could hide better.
(It did seem to help too.)
We started seeing yellow daisy-like flowers sprouting suddenly.
It occurred to me that maybe they were small sunflowers growing from the seeds
dropped onto the ground from the feeders.




Saturday, December 11, 2010

Friday, December 10, 2010

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

 How Do I get this open?
A BLUE JAY who ACTS like a PARROT


Monday, December 6, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Feels like Mistletoe

The HIp Way To say Happy Hanukkah

Action at The green House

Cardinal  Carousel

Caught !

This man was allegedly was responsible for 1/3 of your email spam.

Where there is one, there are many more.

If you need help to set up anti-spam filtering for your email
you can call Proven Solutions Inc.

I LOVE GIFT CARDS

Here is the little story about gift cards from Wikipedia.
It really is a Win Win situation for everyone.
It is true however, you should choose the right gift card.
Here is a little something Proven Solutions will do for you.
There are some choices for you to choose from.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

A Fun Little Promotion only found here !

Compliments of Proven Solutions Inc. Computer Services
 please see more detail below:

You have a choice of one of the following three gift cards.

$10 StarBucks gift card: For Coffee Lovers and more
$10 Shopper Drug Mart gift card: For the More Practical Minded
$10 Cineplex gift card: For the Movie Buffs

This offer will expire on Jan 31 2011.
Please contact Proven Solutions Inc. for any inquiries about this promotion.
This promotion is only available to Canadian residents.
One gift card is available per Canadian billing address during this promotion period.
All gift cards are in Canadian currency and must be redeemed in Canada only.
Gift cards are mailed upon receipt of full payment  for services provided.
Please allow up to one week for your gift card to be delivered by Canada Post.
This offer cannot be combined with any other special offer or promotion.

This is in response to the comment to the post right after this.

Another Cleaning tip......Clean to some motivating music.....

"Reach up and touch the sky"