New York over Christmas 2010

I was away for a short while visiting New York City over Christmas. It was mighty fine with good food, lots of shows, and plenty of shopping. It was my first visit but not the last one. The first photo was of times square on Christmas Eve.








Photo 2 was a shot of Manhattan from the Empire State Building.

Inside the Empire State Building.












This is a pic from Forever 21 - Four stories of shopping for Women.

 Beautiful Christmas Tree.

One of many Christmas window displays at Lord and Taylor - the best displays of all the stores in my opinion.

Of course I sampled many Bagels in NY and they did not disappoint.

Another Beautiful Day in the Valley

 Sunny day in the valley so I was out snapping pics of the scenery. Hope everyone is getting ready to celebrate Christmas and that the weather stays mild to help us out a bit.

Wind Storm Nova Scotia

December 13th the weather forecasters were calling for temperatures of plus 16 and strong winds to 100 kilometers per hour. One out of Two is not bad normally but the winds hit 140 at least in the Annapolis Valley. How strong is that. Look and see.

Cannon at Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal

This picture was taken in the fall and was post processed using Photomatix. The process is called HDR and it is used when the lighting conditions are not ideal. Click the picture to see the great detail and wonderful contrasts. 

Last Jump of the Day

 Happy group of people getting in the last Jump of the Day in Waterville, Nova Scotia. 

Tenderize Steak

 

I was out shopping today at the local super and while at the meat counter a friend mentioned using a kiwi fruit for tenderizing steak. I gave it a try and have to admit it was great. It is simple. Cut the kiwi in half and squeeze the juice out onto the steak. Rub it in and let sit for 30 to 60 minutes. Two thumbs up for this idea.

November 13th and 20 above

Today was a spectacular day with temperatures reaching near 20 C. Motorcycles were everywhere and people were in a great mood after the 6 days of rain we experienced. Clear skies tonight and more goodness ahead.

Sky Diving in the Annapolis Valley

Today was a perfect day for sky diving in the Annapolis Valley, so I packed the camera into the bike panniers and rode down to the municipal airport in Waterville to see what was up! Sure enough five young ladies from Newfoundland were trying sky diving for the first time. The owner, a guy named Dave introduced himself and suggested a good area to stand in for pictures. He explained the direction they would come from, and then the group took off in the Cessna 172. Pilot, two instructors and two Newfoundlanders. The other three had already had their turn so this was the last group. Here are some pictures on a beautiful November day in Nova Scotia. Click each picture to enlarge them.

It is always great meeting people who are enjoying themselves, and even more so a person such as Dave who obviously loves what he does!

Lots of Rain the last few days

and more to come. Nova Scotia has lost some bridges and some roads are closed. And to think it will rain for three more days. Not good for a lot of reasons.

Need Some Sun!

Rant finished.

Riding Along the Fundy Shore

Back a day I had an opportunity to take some pictures of some animals I normally don't see. The first one was a porcupine. I went whizzing by him as he crawled along a back road. I stopped and he stopped. Then he went into a defensive posture. He hunched his back towards me and sat still. I had time to mount the zoom lens and snap some pictures while he kept an eye on me. Check out his fangs. I wouldn't tangle with those or the quills. Nasty! Click to enlarge the pictures.

Sea Lions and some seagull pictures from Port George on the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.

Simple Solution to Stop Traffic Violators. Guaranteed!

Are you looking for an simple solution for stopping traffic violations in your village or town? The fine folks in Annapolis Royal have come up with a unique home grown solution. With hostilities between France and England recently ended, the town folks decided to put the war surplus equipment to good use. And it seems to be working well, as I noticed no cars making an illegal right turn onto main street.

Need more information. Contact the town office to purchase your very own pre American Revolution 16 pounder cannon and stop traffic violators dead in their tracks.
Click to preview a larger image of the Cannon.

Organic Weed Control

Here is a solution for those pesky weeds that pop up on your lawn. Buy the totally organic Brown Standard Poodle.

Notice the technique. First you stare at the weeds, and then you chew them. This is the No chemicals alternative for weed control.

Lobster Traps For Sale

Take a little bit of Nova Scotia home with you by buying an honest to goodness lobster trap. Just $20. This unit will pay for itself in no time once you put it to work ;)

Brown Standard Poodle Puppy

This is a picture of our new dog a few months back that I wanted to share. She is quite attractive and intelligent, although she may be a bit of a Diva. She is lying around with her buddy ms. piggy. Such is the life of a poodle. Click to enlarge the pictures.

Marsh in behind Gran Pre

 Blomidon from the Marsh behind Gran Pre. This area was one of the deportation sites for the Acadians in 1755. A small park is situated here, with a gorgeous view and park benches to relax on. I would say this would be a great place to have a picnic.

This Majestic Bald Eagle was cruising around the marsh area.

Bought two new sigma lenses for my camera.

I just spent a bit of money on two new sigma lenses because I was getting tired of not being able to capture images to my satisfaction. So I went to the city yesterday and bought a Sigma 10-20 mm wide angle lens and a 120-400 mm Sigma telephoto lens with optical stabilization.

This is a photo using the Sigma 10-20 mm wide angle lens. It was quite bright out so I adjusted the brightness down on my software program.

This picture of a flower was taken in Morden by the beach using the monster telephoto lens. This was fun zooming in to capture the details. Hopefully the learning curve will not be too big to use these well. So far I am happy but then again I am a novice with this camera.