Falling into 5 on 5

My monthly 5 on 5 photo blog nearly slipped past again but I snuck it in under the wire.

 Glad you came by to visit - read on, and then check out the other blogs!

This year, October did not live up to its autumnal promise in our neck of the woods. Unseasonable warmth lingered till the very end of the month with only a nod to Fall on an occasional frosty morning or blustery day. Because of that, the rich hues that we normally welcome were muted - more yellow, less burnt orange, more leaves of speckled brown instead of rich red and rust.  

You can see that difference in the following photos but my determined search for Fall colour was rewarded, though sometimes in more subtle ways. Light helped.

It always does.

(Click on photos for larger or sharper versions.)

It's ridiculous how happy these warty pumpkins made me.

What are these? Don't know, but their delicate strength caught my eye.

Light drenched.

Golds, greens, browns were still beautiful. The plastic bottle? Not so much.

He was more red than the leaves. Pretty boy.

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Thanks for spending time here today. Now step on over to see the breathtaking clarity and detail found in Maureen's lovely photographs. From there you can click on to experience all the wonder of the rest of our 5 on 5 community!

Earth to sky and all between, September 5 on 5

The time for the monthly 5 on 5 photo blog snuck up on me this time around, but here we are! Glad you could drop by - read on, and then check out the other blogs!

The days, hours and minutes of this summer are flashing by and I blinked this morning to find that the return to school is only two days away. So I settled in, slowed down, and spent some time wandering through the photos taken on our trip to Prince Edward Island in August.

We skipped and played in the beloved fields and woods where L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables, soaked in the sun on the island's breathtaking shores and ate SO much delicious seafood. But as I skimmed through the hundreds of photos captured on phone and camera, I noted that my photographer's perspective often seemed to pull the eye toward the sky. Sky obsessed, I call it.

But I ramble... so as the minutes tick toward the deadline to get this post published (!) I will simply present my chosen five.

(You can click photos to enlarge.)

PEI's red roads fascinated me.
 

My girl, Sea, sky, wind.

 Beach house garden - and a peek at the sunset.

Most easterly point of the isalnd - click on this one.

Seriously.

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Thanks for spending time here today! Now step on over to see the heart-stirring images on Kris's photography site. From there you can click on to experience all the September wonder of the rest of our 5 on 5 community!

Room to breathe - August 5 on 5

It's August! Is Summer flying by for you, too? Thank goodness for this monthly 5 on 5 photo blog so that I can save the season to enjoy again later. Read on, and then check out the other blogs!

I spend a significant portion of our household's disposable income on vacations. Whether we camp or cottage not far from home, take a jaunt to the warmer coasts of California and Florida, or soar further afield to Europe or Asia - I believe wholeheartedly that every darn cent it costs to get us there is worth it.

Every moment I take to show my children the world outside our door, every opportunity I have to escape the more typical routines, deadlines and expectations of daily living, every photo I capture of vistas unseen from the safety of home, makes me feel that I have more room to breathe, to deeply and happily INHALE life.

Two weeks ago, I headed west to the Canadian Rockies and spent five whole days with my sister exploring the lands around the gorgeous town of Canmore (with the added benefit that a dear cousin lives there now and we had a mini family reunion). GORGEOUS. I gulped and inhaled huge amounts of that mountain air and despite a sniffly cold one day and a migraine another, felt joyfully alive.

Take a breath.

(You can click photos to enlarge.)

 

Quarry Lake above Canmore. Seriously, doesn't it look like a scene from an old movie?

Kim capturing the amazing hue of Lake Louise. I'm always fascinated to watch where her photographer's eye takes her.

Trees. Mountains. Breathe.

Look at the moss! (Inside joke, but really, another breathing moment.)

Sky capture, Emerald Lake.

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Thanks for spending time here today! Now step on over to see the always breathtaking images on Janice's Shine photo blog. From there you can click on to experience all the August wonder of the rest of our 5 on 5 community! 

(And because you came this far, you get a little bonus...you're welcome.)

Summer starts here - July 5 on 5

Wow - it's time again for the monthly 5 on 5 photo blog! I'm posting from cottage country where internet is intermittent at best, so let's hope I can make this happen!

In 2008, a dear friend invited a group of us to a family cottage on the shores of Lake Huron, Ontario. Little did our four families know then that that lovely week would be the start of an annual escape from our busy lives. Always at the end of June as soon as school let out, it marked the start of summer for all of us.

Our children looked forward to those seven days all year. "Sister-friends" from babyhood, they waited to reunite at the cottage, and spent hours exploring beaches, playing board games and hanging out in their own bunky. The moms would go a little crazy planning a plethora of delicious appetizers and cocktails for the week, then would slowly wind down as we settled into Muskoka chairs to chat, read and catch up on our lives.

Fast forward almost 10 years and the oldest of our girls is about to head off to university. The youngest two will be starting high school in September and all are busy, as teenagers are, with their lives. Adding another facet to the changes this year, the magical cottage is being sold. As I prepare this post, we are in the countdown of what may be the final days in our little piece of paradise.

But we can't be sad. We are all together now in this gorgeous place. Maybe we will return, but if not there will be other adventures. For now, we are enjoying every beautiful moment.

Sister-friends in the cottage hammock, circa 2008.

Yesterday.

Ever changing, the view from our summer home.

Pebbles and driftwood.

Serenity. Peace. Beauty.

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Thanks for spending time here today! Now step on over to see the meaningful images on Kris McNeil's 5 on 5 photo blog this month. From there you can click on to experience all the July wonder of our 5 on 5 community!

Oasis - June five on five

Wow - it's time again for the monthly 5 on 5 photo blog! I missed last month but I think that was meant to be. A little something that I've always wanted is now a reality and I get to share it here. 
 

We have been in our home for almost 14 years. The girls like it - a lot. But in all that time, I have never used the master bedroom balcony. Poorly designed, it was more like a massive cage with walls that towered over my head than a place to read a book or enjoy a wee drink. So for 14 years I have watched sunsets bloom, storms threaten, and snowflakes drift and settle - through the windows of my room.

Fortunately for me, the old spindles and posts of the balcony finally rotted out. (Even spongy, insect-ridden, peeling wood has a purpose!) And now a new gorgeous railing, built by a real carpenter, has transformed the cage outside the windows into the oasis I had longed for in my sometimes crazy life.

Oasis. Say that word out loud. It's marvelous. And the definition? Oh not the one about a water hole in the dry desert, but THIS one: Something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change from what is usual, annoying, or difficult.

Perfect. So come pull up a chair and I'll pour the wine. You're welcome.

Just a sample of my end-of-day view. Ahhh.

I bought a planter! For the balcony! These beauties make my heart happy.

Honestly, who needs palm trees with this in my oasis?

This buddy finds his way out there every chance he gets.

Hello lovely.

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Thanks for spending time here today! Now step on over to see the glorious blooms on my sister Kim's 5 on 5 photo blog this month. From there you can click on to experience all the June wonder of our 5 on 5 community!

Embracing magic - April five on five

MAGIC, I love the thought of it. I love fairy tales and castles and imaginary princesses trapped in solitary towers (especially when the princess saves herself). Oh, and sparkling pixie dust and musical spells and mice who wear clothes.

So, of course, Disney World. Loved it when I was little, loved it as an adult, ADORED it when my girls were wide-eyed toddlers. When she was not quite three, my now almost-17-year-old stared up at Cinderella and BELIEVED that she would keep her safe from that nasty witch, Maleficent, hanging out nearby.

My girls are almost past magic, but not quite. So a few weeks ago, I grabbed my two teenagers and we set off for Florida once again and bundled a lot of fun and exploration into a very short few days. And I discovered (remembered?) that magic is always waiting to be found. 

The magic I grew up loving. I felt like bursting into song when we turned a corner from Tomorrowland and were met by this vision.

You would think I would have focused on the castle. But no, it is my lovely, brilliant daughter who captures the moment.

It's not a magic fountain, certainly not a perfect photo, but the light pulled me toward it every time I walked by,

Seriously, these two. If this isn't magic, I don't know what is.

The castle again. But different. Not the perfect fireworks shot, but powerful. And the shadowed tower in the foreground? MAGIC.

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Where did the month go? Can't believe this is my third five on five (five photos on the fifth of the month) - a project I share with some very talented photographers. As usual, I scrambled to pull my five together. But no matter, I made it! 

Now you MUST travel on and visit my sister, Kim's, 5 on 5 post - you will definitely find magic there!

Embracing Winter - March five on five

In southern Ontario, this has been a non-Winter. Climate change, El Niño, unseasonably warm, whatever the reason - our regular three months of bitter cold and regular snowfalls have been noticeably absent. And I was fine with that.

But enter my sister and niece, who flew 3600 km across the continent, desperately hoping to find snow and ice. I kept warning them to give up the dream - the Toronto area was a patchwork of brown and beige with days nearing spring-like temps. But wouldn't you know, the weekend they arrived it was bitterly cold (I mean, yikes!) and we had a huge snowfall. It's my sister - she's kind of magic that way.

Surprising captures

So it seemed appropriate that Winter become the focus of my March five on five. But as I set out to capture the frosty season through the lens, I was continually surprised by what my camera delivered - often not what I intended in the least.

My sister and I spent a couple of hours that weekend traipsing through the snowdrifts around abandoned farmhouses, along country roads and through an old country churchyard. I took hundreds of photos that afternoon but my two favourites?

My sister caught in the afternoon's waning light, camera in hand...

...and behind a beautiful, old farmhouse that I shot from a dozen angles, this tree. I wanted the house, but instead it is the almost careless capture of the sun peaking around the trunk's twisted shape and texture that I return to time and again.

A week later I pulled off the road on my early trek into the city, stepping down to the shore with my camera clutched in chilled fingers. I took dozens of photos of the skyline and the sunrise, but when I reviewed the photos later, I was enchanted....I never even saw the ice.

This week I was caught downtown in the largest (and one of the only) Winter storms we've had this year. In the aftermath, I searched for idyllic shots of city streets in the new snow. Instead, my quiet steps startled a flock of birds into sudden flight.

And finally, this bronze. There was a beautiful park next door, a perfect winter scene with towering evergreens but Glenn Gould wrapped in a scarf of snow mesmerized me.

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Thanks for spending time here today!  Now step on over to see the gorgeous light of Sandra's 5 on 5 photos this month. From there you can click on to experience all the monthly magic of our 5 on 5 community!

Embracing February - five on five

A few weeks ago my sister put out a call on Facebook for anyone interested in taking part in an ongoing photography project. I feel that it's always easiest to meet goals (even creative ones) if you have deadlines and a community to keep you encouraged, so I jumped at the opportunity.

And that's the reason for this. A 5 on 5 project means that on the 5th of each month, I will post 5 of my favourite photos from the past month for the world to see. I really felt the need for a spark -- or perhaps a kick in the pants -- to get back to my creative self.

But then I started paying attention. This was going to involve some WORK.

I needed a canvas for my photos - so I built this new blog (with a little help from my web-savvy sister). Oh, and I would have to write something. I mean, people like to know the whys and wherefores if they are coming for a visit. AND I had to dig my camera out of the depths of my closet and actually TAKE SOME PHOTOS.

So here I am at my deadline and despite all the weeks of walking and searching, hemming and hawing, focusing and UN focusing and fiddling with filters, I still did not end up with FIVE photos that I loved enough to share. As a result, and just for this month, you get to see 3 new photos, and 2 oldies but goldies, that I still love to gaze upon.

I hope you enjoy. As an intro, you will note that I named this blog a glimmer and a spark because, well, LIGHT.  I love all kinds of light - captured, glaring, glimmering, glowing, shimmering, and sparkling. And shadows too - bending, wavering, hiding, revealing. Love it all.

So each of the following photos reveals something about what I love about light. Hope you can see it too.

And scroll down to find the link to the next lovely blog in our 5 on 5 roll.

It was cloudy, gloomy last week. But these hearts - gathered for a children's activity - sparkled anyway.

Downtown Toronto, near the CN Tower. Never noticed before because this is a fountain in the summer and these fish sculptures would normally be partially submerged. But I paused in wonder as the shadows of the bare trees made it seem like the fish were underwater -- surrounded by concrete, in the middle of February.

Not sure why I like this one. Maybe because of the suggestion of warmth on the grass as the rails travel onward out of the shadow.

Southampton, on the shores of Lake Huron not long before the sun dipped below the horizon. Love the light caught in the breaking wave and in the splash of water. The long shadows caught on the beach, the darker clouds in the distance. All good.

No filters, no fiddling. Purple light. Cool.

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I feel humbled (and, truth be told, a little intimidated!) to be taking part in this 5 on 5 project with some amazing artists. To see some gorgeous photos, please visit Maureen's post at Cottage 960, and then click on from there to see all the monthly magic of our 5 on 5 community!

It's a new day

Life is fun. But busy. And sometimes (often!) my creative leanings are what have to be put aside in the midst of career and motherhood.

But the creative stuff? That's what often adds the sparkle and brightness for me when things get a little routine. So I'm dusting off the old keyboard and pulling out the camera and will launch this new blog with a five on five photography project.

Yep, I'm an amateur, but I love the process. Can't wait to get at it.