New Man in the House

This is "Nash", the puppy we're keeping from our litter born early December. He's our newest hopeful, and is the most darling puppy to live with; we think he's quite the cutie! The head-only picture was taken last weekend, and we did the body shots on Saturday. Nash was a very wriggly fellow, and we never did get just one good photo. Chelsea is my right-hand everything, and we've been doing photos together for a long time. It has not been the easiest dog/puppy-related thing that we do. My instructions from the "taking" side of the camera are, apparently, not always clear ("My left, not your left ...!!") and can sometimes result in very animated differences of opinion. We decided to try things another way, and agreed that it worked out really well. We didn't get the exact pictures that I was aiming for, but it was a very acceptable attempt with Chelsea behind the camera and me positioning the puppy. And I have to remind myself from time to time, this blog is supposed to be FUN, and not necessarily perfect; in fact, imperfections are something we can all identify with, and are part of what make us interesting and different. I'm pleased that Chels has discovered a fun side to the picture taking, and I'm glad for the chance to share another interest with my daughter ... as long as I don't take it too seriously :)

Day at the Beach

We are really fortunate to be living within a couple of hours of three of the five Great Lakes. One favourite spot on Lake Erie is Port Stanley, which boasted "in the day" a famous night club, The Stork Club, and a booming fishing industry. The Stork Club was destroyed by fire in early 1979, and the fishing boats are nearly extinct. But the beach is still there, and is a thriving attraction, not only during the summer months, but as I discovered, even year round.

This view is just one portion of a huge oil container of some sort, I don't know the right word for it, but the fence in front is a good 10 or 12 feet high, and the trees to the right look dwarfed. Some of the other structures are just black and ugly, but the two that are on the beach have this much more attractive art work.



Continuing to the right of the oil storage tank, in a line directly toward the lake, is a break wall that extends at least 100 feet past the shore. In the past, it was a favourite stroll, when the weather allowed, but despite posted warnings and various safeguards, a few accidental drownings and near-drownings did occur, and so now the wall is totally off limits.






This couple is not actually on the break wall, but on the snow and ice that is banked there.




The shore line is totally obstructed by the mounds of snow and ice. There were still a number of people who were on the beach, or more likely standing on the iced-over lake, and some intrepid younger souls still attempted to build castles, of a sort. The jagged ice and frozen snow were quite unforgiving, and no one stayed too long at it.





It was a very pleasant surprise to find that the beachfront restaurant and Port Stanley landmark, "Mackie's", was open even in the off season. Mackie's orangeade is practically world famous, well, at least to those of in this part of the world!