It had to happen that one of these days I'd have to stop banging on about the lovely long and mild fall we have had. This weekend (Saturday night and all of Sunday) I got my comeuppance in the form of the first snowfall of the season. The forecast was for flurries, and I figured we'd get a few flakes, then it would melt and we'd be in "business as usual" mode for a while longer. Don't think so. We've got enough snow on the ground to make the streets an icy and treacherous mess, and with enough depth that I think it will likely stay. After making about ten attempts today at phoning the local tire store to see about getting my winter tires installed (line perpetually busy) I finally stopped by and inquired in person about what my chances would be. Looks like if I jump through the right hoops I can get it done before long, which is good as I don't like to take chances with safety issues.
You can pretty well guess which shots I got earlier in the week, and which were taken on Sunday.
Shot one was taken as I was heading home from the stables. The skies were certainly forbidding (this was on Saturday as the weather system was moving in) but the sun in the west illuminated this stubble field and line of trees to make a striking scene that called out to be recorded.
Mid-week I had the fun of heading to Martensville (just north of the city) to do a photo shoot of Ammo the Dogue de Bordeaux and his new young companion, Tonka, also a D de B. It was a lovely day and the boys had a great time romping in their back yard as I took endless shots of them. Ammo's customary rather sober take on life has been modified a lot by having a puppy in his life, and he showed his own inner puppy as they played and wrestled on the grass.
Shot two shows the boys eyeing each other during a brief break in the action.
Shot three is pretty typical of how the boys interact. Ammo is good about getting down low so that Tonka can maul him more effectively.
No direct sun on Sunday, but a lovely luminous quality to the overcast due to the falling and fallen snow. Shot four was taken in the front yard, showing the fruit of the high-bush cranberry with their snow caps. If we're lucky later in the winter, we may get a flock of waxwings feasting on the dried berries.
Shot five is also from the front yard, this time showing the sparrows swarming the nut tube feeder. They get fed daily in four different feeder locations in the yard (two in front, two in back), but they are always interested in other options as well. Although this feeder is not meant for sparrows (mostly we hope to get nuthatches and the occasional woodpecker) they are versatile and resourceful little birds and can usually find a way to exploit all the food options out there. I'm very fond of my home flock of sparrows so have no problem with them going after whatever food source they want.
