Frozen Fungus

A walk in the frozen woods yesterday made for some neat shots. This is a tree mushroom covered in ice... I like the way the crystals of ice are in focus.

From the Bridge

Today we went to our first Christmas Market of the season in Frankfurt. Leif wanted to take a walk over the pedestrian bridge over the river. Sunny weather, lots of people walking, Christmas treats, accordian player on the bridge... I had a moment where I felt like I was in a European movie... and then laughed when I realized that I actually live in Europe... lol.

I played a bit with editing on this shot. I like the little couple in the upper right corner. Reminds me of a sort of 1950's shot.

October 18th - Gardens at the Louvre

We spent the weekend in Paris... my first time! It was a really indescribable experience. This was the view from our little cafe table in the Park outside the Louvre. Hard to believe it was real!

July 19 - You've got mail!

Birds have built a nest in our mailbox and the chicks hatched a few days ago. Leif and I greet them on the way in or out of the house. The picture is not great but I was so excited to see the chicks! If you look carefully, you can see a little yellow beak in the middle. I think there are 3 babies.

July 14 - Unfried Green Tomatoes

I have never grown vegetables before. Leif and I planted seeds this spring just to see what would happen. I never imagined that I would keep them alive long enough to see fruit (isn't the tomato a fruit?). So, here are our cherry tomatoes. Amazing. And, I don't even like tomatoes... lol.

July 12 - Future Firefighter

A kid and a garden hose. Need I say more? We had fun in the garden today watering the weeds.

July 11 - The Orchid revisited

This was taken the same day and I guess doesn't technically count as my photo of the day... but I like it and wanted to use it anyway. I was just playing with the light and trying to capture the translucence of the petals.

July 4 - The Orchid

Last year, I got an orchid for my birthday. Since then, it has been a sad little stick on my window sill. Until a few weeks ago when it started to bloom! So, here it is.

June 27 - Need

A few days ago, we were in Strassbourg, France and I spotted this woman outside the cathedral.

May 30 - Catch up

May 22 - Teeny tiny... some little flowers in the garden. Man, I need to get out more.



May 26 - One of my faves... foxgloves. My new garden is coming along well... even though it has been ignored lately!



May 27 - Just plain old happy. Life is busy but somehow, in the middle of it, I understand that I am greatly blessed.

May 16 - buzz off

Finally caught a clear shot of the bee... I have been chasing them around the garden for weeks trying to get them in focus. We also caught (and held!) a 10 cm slug in the garden today... but, I was so grossed out by the slime on my hands that I just didn't think to get my camera.

May 10 - Happy Mother's Day

When my kid won't pose anymore, I take pics of flowers. Hmmm... a lot of flowers lately.

This is straight off the camera... the focus worked out really well.

May 6 - Fields of Gold

Right now, the farmers' fields surrounding our town are striped with Rapeseed... the most gorgeous yellow colour. On the way home from work, I pulled off the road to adventure some of the back roads and see what I could find.

May 3 - Magnolia and Clematis

On a walk around town today I saw the most amazing pergola dripping with clematis and magnolia... gorgeous!

May 2 - Petite

Yup. Another flower shot. And, another macro. We spent today in the garden so I found some little treasures.

May 1 - Petals

I have no idea what these are... but, there are huge clumps of them in my garden. I left them there just to see what they look like and it turns out they are pretty cool. They are two colours of purple and the bees love them. For all I know, they might be weeds and my gardening neighbours might just be laughing at the stupid Canadian who has no clue... lol.

I was trying to make it a unique pic... different angle, neat lighting. I mean, how many pics of flowers can I take? Tomorrow has got to be something new.

April 30 - After the rain

After a few rainy days, I ventured out into the garden this evening and practiced some low-light stuff. Our clover patch (lawn) was sprinkled with silver drops.

April 27, 28

April 28 - I drive over the top of this hill all the time and think, "wow, what a great view. I need to stop and get a pic of that." But, somehow, I just can't capture how neat it is. Even with the yellow stripe of rapseed, it still looks flat to me.




April 27 - Orange. What can I say? It just makes me happy. This flower is in one of the new gardens that Leif and I are working on. Well, I do a lot of the work. But, a garden is nothing without an expert waterer.

April 26 - White

Spent the weekend hanging out at home and playing in the garden... when I was taking some shots of the flowers I planted, I noticed these cute little weeds popping up between some other plants. I just didn't have the heart to pull them out.

April 24 - Neon Sign

Leif and I were at a doctor's appointment today and took the train from home... all pretty exciting. Walking through the little town, I noticed this sign on a small store set back from the street. Something about the colours and the font just caught my eye.

April 22 - Gotta Pea

Yup. We started beans, peas and tomatoes from seeds and they are already outside and sprouting tiny little vegetables. We have had a few beans growing for a while but this is the first pea. Not sure about the black and white... just trying to compensate for another not-so-great focus.

April 19 - The Dew Drop Inn

Another day, another castle. The garden at Eppstein was still covered in dew and these leaves were amazing in the sunlight with little drops on each jagged edge.

April 18 - Lilacs

Today, we hung out at one of the nearby castles with Aunt Cyndi. The lilacs are just blooming and, every once in a while, you would catch a whif of the smell... gorgeous.

I am not fussy about what the processing did to the focus on this pic (which wasn't even that great to start with) but there is just something about the effect that I am diggin'.

Too bad it can't be a scratch and sniff pic!

April 16 - Giraffe on your back...

Hey, it beats a monkey.

Ok. So, we are corny parents who still gush over every little cute thing. We probably always will be. This was one of those moments where Thorsten called me in to Leif's room just to see how cute he is. And, one of those moments late at night when I realize that I don't have a shot for the day.

April 15 - Happy

Nothing much today... just plain old happy.

April 13, 14

What a great Easter weekend! The weather here is incredible... around 80 and sunny every day for a week. A nice change from the usual rain followed by a little more rain. We have been taking advantage of it and spending a lot of time outside.

April 13 - This is the view from my chair on the back terrace at our house. It was a long day... we gardened and played in the yard. So, this pic is a quickie that I took when I realized I hadn't taken a shot yet that day. Not the best focus.

April 14 - I spent the day today at the local "swimming hole" with my little Huck Finn and some friends. We played in the water of this old mill stream (I know you're singing the song now!) and had a blast. Man, is Leif sleeping deeply tonight!

April 11, 12

April 11 - Sunlit blossoms... same tree, different day. I wasn't happy with the focus on yesterday's shot so I took some more today. The light has been so great these days, I just can't resist this tree outside our kitchen window.

Leif got two soccer goalie nets for Easter and we kicked the ball around today. He was committed to blocking this shot by his Papa... lol. And yes, he did dress himself. The boots and the bathing suit on backwards should be a dead giveaway. And yes, it was warm enough to wear a bathing suit outside.

April 10 - Dappled Blossoms

The blossoms are out in full force here... so gorgeous. Through the kitchen window, there is the most amazing cherry tree. In the morning light, I stepped out of the front door in my jammies to try to capture the light shining through the petals.

April 7 - Spring flowers everywhere...

Spring has completely sprung here. The trees are beyond buds and have leaves. These little whilte flowers cover part of our lawn... so tiny and sweet!

April 4,5 - It's all about the Castles

Well, a new household item is exciting for everyone at our house... the new barbeque was exciting for Papa because it meant that he can cook with a beer in his hand, it was exciting for me because it meant that I didn't have to cook, and it was exciting for Leif because it came in a REALLY big box. So, here he is working on the castle we made out of it.

This is the round tower at the Castle Ruins in Koenigstein from above. This shot really came alive when I edited it. To me, it has a sort of Dutch Masters painting look.

April 3 - Sprung

We have had gorgeous spring weather... today was somewhere around 20 degrees Celsius. I spent the better part of the day in a beautiful park hunting for Easter Eggs in the woods. Not a bad gig...

The trees are beyond budding... the leaves on some are coming out. I love the way this one is reaching for the sun.

April 2 - The View from Koeningstein

I spent the afternoon today at the Castle at Koenigstein... incredible. A beautiful sunny day brought out picknickers. How picture postcard perfect. And, then it got more perfect. A couple of people brought out their guitars and started to play. I started to wonder if I really live here or if it was a movie set. And then, when I thought it couldn't get more idyllic, two people walked into the field of the castle and pulled out REAL swords and started to practice. Honestly... surreal.

April 1 - Bokeh Rattan

Bokeh = out of focus...

Happy April Fool's Day!

March 31 - The Drive to Work

Driving to work in the last few days has made me realize how beautiful it is here. This is just one of many scenic views on my drive. The castle in the foreground is Kronberg and the tower in the background is Frankfurt. This was taken on the way home in the early afternoon... the sun in the morning was even more amazing but, hey, I was running too late to get out and snap a pic. Maybe one of these mornings.

March 30 - Curly

No idea what this plant is... it grew up in the middle of our lawn (translation: mud pit) and doesn't appear to show any signs of spring. It sort of has a "Little Shop of Horrors" feel to it. Remind me to make sure the terrace door is locked before bed tonight.

March 28, 29

Today was a nice sunny day. Leif and I transplanted his bean and tomato plants to a larger outdoor container with some trellises to grow on. Yes, we WILL have tomatoes this season. You just have to believe. That is, if they survive the transplanting.

Today's shot is a macro of some tulips in a vase on the coffee table. I have been having a hard time getting the focus on macros right but the focus on this one looks good. This is pretty much straight off the camera.

Yesterday was a weird day for weather... rain, sun, cloud, clear sky... so Leif and I took a bike ride to get some shots of the weather. I got a few cool shots of the sky but this was my fave. I did some editing and like the kind of "old painting" look.

March 26 - The Dome in Frankfurt

I finally had a chance to get back into Frankfurt today... it was a cloudy, rainy day but I had a chance to wander around in the old city. You can see the Cathedral from anywhere in the old part of the city. It's gorgeous inside and out.

March 25 - Sir Leif the Pensive

After a long day of slaying dragons, Sir Leif the Pensive takes a break to reflect on a day of conquest. I guess the waterwings are in case he falls into the moat. Hey, safety first.

March 23 - Fields of Green

Our town is surrounded by farms. We can walk two blocks and be in the fields. It is delightful to see that bright, spring green again. Here, a horse is just heading for the barn. Good thing, because tonight it rained and hailed like crazy!

March 21, 22

March 22 - This sign is on the outside of a local art store. Kind of creepy, I must admit.



Yesterday, Leif and I made Oreo Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake... here he is multitasking... cleaning the mixer AND taste testing. This kid is going places!

March 19, 20

March 19 - What's your point?
I have been playing more with editing and also scrambling to find things to photograph. So, yes, this is a ballpoint pen. As this project goes on, I see that I am drawn to taking macro pics and have been enjoying taking everyday things and making them into something a little different.

March 20 - Twilight Daffodils - And yet another macro. Leif and I did a first run to the gardening center. As I have said, our yard is a huge mess and we have been working hard to get it ready for planting. These are the only flowers in the whole garden at this point... three little lonely miniature daffodils. Hopefully, the after pictures will be a little nicer!