Beyond the Dog Dish: April 2011

Focus52: Easter Week 16

EASTER PAST

A blast to the past! These eggs were created by the girls over 15 years ago. We were instructed to not blow out the egg contents - just to allow them to dry out over time. If you gently shake them now, you can hear the hard, nugget dried out centre. I keep envisioning them breaking now and worry about the smell they might create! Needless to say I handle them with much care when they are brought out each year. Making Ukrainian Easter Eggs is so much fun - learn how at http://www.learnpysanky.com/

EASTER PRESENT

Easter is about family; here that includes Kodee and Becky! This is a silly moment (an often occurrence in this house) that comes after baking and decorating 36 Easter cupcakes. They told me cupcakes taste best when baked with a martini...

EASTER FUTURE

This holiday weekend included Earth Day on Good Friday. In celebration we hiked to the Second Wildlife Marsh. I loved this breathtaking view - it reminds me the future is open to any number of possibilities.

Visit more Focus52 April 16-23 Easter Photos

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: April 2011

Yes! Winter has left! I can't tell you how happy I was to see the flowers begin to poke out of the ground in my flower beds!

The rain is even a welcomed change. These tulips will be multi-coloured!

This is an old Azalea (Rhododendron) shrub. I am very happy with it so far this season. It is often a hit and miss with this shrub as it is not very consistent year to year.

Question this April is; will the yellow crocuses survive Becky trampling in addition to what the rabbit hasn't eaten! I will let you know in May

View More April Gardens At:

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Critters in the City

Like most backyards ours has come alive with animals and the warmer spring weather. What a treat after the long, gloomy Ontario cold winter!

This female cardinal was busy building her nest and fluttering about very quickly. She made my task to capture her on camera very difficult.

The Cardinals weren't the only one building a nest! This guy did try to build a nest above my patio door. Not a great spot considering the dogs use that door 100x a day. You can read about what Kodee thought of that in her story "Why Does Spring Mean Home Invaders"

This guy almost got caught tonight. We had just come back from our walk and I let Kodee and Becky loose in the yard. There he was not 5 feet from them. Can we say sheer chaos. Becky is fast, way too fast. If I were that bunny I'd think about not entering this yard again - it was close!

Visit more Critter participants for this week at:

Focus52: Prompt "Hope"

Even though our world sometimes crashes about us, hope is not far off in the distance.

"Hope" just bursts from children at play.

Visit:

Focus52: Prompt "Hope" Week 15

Focus52: Silly

Focus52: Week 13 ~ Prompt "Silly"

Kodee exemplifies a first born; she is a bit pushy, must be first and wants centre stage. Today was no exception. I threw 2 balls; one for Kodee and one for Becky. Miss Selfish here wanted to ensure she was the only one in the game. It's OK, Becky was preoccupied eating up my garden... wait... HEY BECKY!

A fitting quote for this RARE weekend the Toronto Blue Jays (baseball) won the season opener game.

First of the Month

APRIL

The First of the Month Meme

"The first of April, some do say,

Is set apart for All Fools' Day.

But why the people call it so,

Nor I, nor they themselves do know.

But on this day are people sent

On purpose for pure merriment."

~ Poor Robin's Almanac, 1790

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"The goal is to capture one thing repeatedly on the first of each month. It can be a landscape, a person, an animal, a project; whatever your focus is. It can even be a record of where you are each First of the Month.

Linky opens each month on the 1st, and remains open for a week"

View All My "First of the Month" Lighthouse Photographs

Canada Blooms

A few weeks ago I attended Canada Blooms 2011 an event noted to be "Canada's largest and most prestigious"garden festival.

Now since photography and gardening are 2 of my 3 favourite things it was not an event I was going to miss. If I could have brought my dogs Kodee and Becky, it would have been a 3 for 3 day of my favourite things!

It is always fascinating to see not just the variety of flowers and plants but how each year they are carefully crafted to be displayed in a new artistic representation. Loved so many works this year. Flowers used to depict paintings as if applying paint, fantasy gardens, walls of flowers, mosaics, eco-friendly children's gardens and more!

Designers gathered worldwide to compete. The show offered 6 acres of garden designs bursting with imagination and colour. Not to disappoint the shopper, it also housed 10,000 square feet of shopping.

Better to get on with viewing it in all it's glory than for me to continue rambling. Enjoy, a select few that represent the best of my photos of the day.