Devonian Botanic Garden Luminaria

For years I have wanted to see this event.  It was either too cold, no snow or bad highways.  Yesterday was perfect.  A little cold (minus 17 Celsius) but no wind so I spent the evening at the Devonian Botanic Gardens with my two photo buddies.  Both of them being so polite, neither would tell me it might be a tad too cold for this.

First a stop at an Indian restaurant for a fabulous meal.

Ice cold water was served in beautiful hammered copper cups.

We had the most delicious mango milkshake with dinner.

After dinner back to the truck and the drive to Devon.  At the Devonian Botanic Gardens we were greeted with thousands of luminarias leading the way to the Japanese Garden.

Lanterns and luminarias adorned the trees.

During the summer a large pond and bridge are the focal point of the garden.  Seeing this in the winter I sure want to make a trip back in the summer.

Ice sculptures along the paths were plentiful.

Looking back at the end of the trail through the five acres, it was a beautiful sight to see and certainly worth the frozen fingers and camera.

Joinging up with

Shooting Grosbeaks through the window.

During the winter we have a little bird feeder outside the window where we feed the Chickadees.  They've become little piggies and spill as much as they eat which has been a good thing as it has attracted a family of Pine Grosbeaks.  This afternoon they arrived for their feeding while I was near the window with a camera near by, so I did the natural thing and stated shooting.

Northern Lights November 13, 2012

There is an advantage to living in Alberta with our snow and early darkness.  Tonight while making supper, my husband came into the house and told me the Northern Lights were out.  I checked the Aurora site and the percentage was only at 22%.  Further checking on the internet really didn't show anything spectacular so I went outside to take a look for myself.  Saw the lights in the sky and thought it wouldn't last long so went back into the house for supper and a little TV.  When we were finished supper the lights were still in the sky so we took a quick trip down to the lake.  This is the same lake I got the truck stuck in a few years ago so my husband told me I'd have to walk in.  Bundled up and ready for some exercise, off we went.

This is the view I saw when I stepped out of the truck.




Took a few steps towards the fence line.




Turned the camera a little eastward and caught a trail someone was brave enough to drive down.




I turned facing North as the lights began to appear down the trail to the lake.




And a few more steps.




Finally to the edge of the bush looking out towards the lake. Here you can see the clouds staring to move in.



Not wanting to walk to far in the cold, I found a very different view than I usually see.  The long exposures of 20 - 25 seconds have lit up the snow like daylight, but it was actually very dark outside.  Kind of thankful my husband made me walk tonight.

Christmas Luminaire

Thanks to my daughter and her Christmas decorating ideas I decided to make ice Luminaires for our deck railing  to light up on Christmas evening.  The idea was to place them in the snow that accumulates on the railing, but with the lack of snow I have to shovel the grass and place the snow on the deck.  First time I've ever shoveled the grass, but it was fun and I'll be trying it again next year with a few modifications.

Saturday Morning Visitor

This year we bought a new bird feeder for the Chickadees.  The last one we had was made of wood and was in need of replacement after the deer chewed on it.  Careful consideration was taken in trying to find a place to hang it so the deer, cat and squirrels would leave it alone.

This is what it was meant to be used for.  Sometimes we have dozens of these little Chickadees flitting about to get their seeds.

This little guy showed up Saturday morning and asked if he could please have some seeds too.

He then let us know how cold it was outside with the blowing snow.

After climbing the house and making the jump to the feeder he felt quite at home and began to fill his little belly.

The weather outside is frightful.

Our first snow storm arrived with a vengeance today.  After arriving home from work I took this picture of our front yard and so many snowflakes landing on the lens it looked like a very bad case of sensor dust.  The only way to fix it was add a texture or two.  I first used Kim Klassen's  Phoebe followed by her Grunge frame. I finally figured out the mouse over code so you can see the before and after by hovering the mouse on the photo.