April 21 - Day 276

Birds In The Mirror.

A peek at some of my bathroom decor.

April 20 - Day 275

African Peanut Shrimp.

I had some left over soup so I sauteed some shrimp, and added it to the soup, along with some leftover quinoa. To make the soup heat 1 TBSP peanut oil over medium and cook 1 clove garlic finely chopped until fragrant, 1 minute. Add one can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, 4 cups of vegetable broth, 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar and 1 TSP salt. Whisk together, bring to a boil and then simmer about 8 - 10 minutes. (You can add rice to the soup after it boils and then reduce heat to low and cover and cook until rice is tender 15-20 minutes). Soup can be topped with crushed peanuts or green onions (I was out of both). Recipe adapted from Real Simple. Cooking Tunes: Hey Rosetta! Seeds.

April 19 - Day 274

Lady in Red.

A painting that hangs in my house. It's a replication of a Harper's Bazaar magazine cover. I like shooting art to make it into a new piece, by cropping the view presented. If you've never seen the painting you wouldn't necessarily know it was a magazine cover from the 1930's. It's just a lady in red to you.

April 18- Day 273

Out The Door.

I bundled up tonight (bundled, hello spring, come on!) and decided to go for a walk to find my photo today. When I opened the front door I was met with this sky, so thankfully I didn't have to go further than the driveway! I had a taste of warm weather and since it didn't stay that way I've become a cold weather wimp.

April 17 - Day 272

Tea in the Sahara.

Almost every night before bed I have a cup of tea. I know how much more like an 87 year old can I be. I usually pair my cup with a little something sweet, a little nibble of chocolate or something like that, but I'm trying to cut down my sugar. I've been drinking tea since I was a teenager. I actually started as a kid - my parents have tea after dinner and sometimes would let me have a cup, it was mostly milk and sugar with a literal "spot" of tea. My first tea was your standard orange pekoe, but for the last five years I've been all over the green tea. (And a happy birthday to my older bro M!)

April 16 - Day 271

Sugar Sugar!

George is usually not allowed to have soda, but when your step-dad is celebrating his birthday exceptions are allowed. Combine that can of soda with birthday cake and this is what happens.

April 15 - Day 270

Louie's Lady.

Louie is a cardinal that has been eluding me for the past two weeks. He likes to mock me in my backyard but I have yet to be able to get a shot of him. I see him from the window upstairs while I'm practicing yoga, he flies by when I'm taking out the compost and sits in the tree closest to my house when I gaze out the kitchen door while making dinner. Tonight I thought I had grabbed the camera quick enough to get him but no! Instead it looks like Louie's got a lady who also likes to hide from me when I've got the camera. Oh my! I am naming and stalking birds, please help me if I join a watching club.

April 14 - Day 269

Mother Mother.

Eureka! is right. Mother Mother delivers an electrifying, dance-inducing set at Elements in Kitchener tonight. Pictured here is vocalist/synth player Molly Guldemond. We were lucky to meet front man Ryan after the show. He was gracious enough to take a photo and sign an album for M, a 9 year old fan at home, and to lament about the woes of having a heart like stone.

April 13 - Day 268

Bees Knees.

It seems that overnight my backyard is filled with these purple/blue, I'm going to guess weeds, cause that seems to be the only thing that grows back there. As I prepared to take a funky colour swap shot I noticed a large amount of bees feeding off the flowers. Bees are almost as hard to photograph as ladybugs, but I guess the key is to wait it out and wait 'til their occupied. Unlike the ladybug, no bee flew in my face so I was happy.

April 12 - Day 267

Shadows on the Wall.

Taking a cue from my silhouette shot a couple weeks ago, I aim for an artsy shot today. This antique clock and figurines have been the photo/day before, but today we get a different perspective.

April 11 - Day 266

Gallery Lights.

Tonight I'm at the park by the art gallery. Can you imagine a young couple on the park bench below the streetlamp? I can't because the temperature tonight has dropped rapidly and as the wind starts to howl and a light mist falls all I want to do is go home put on a pair of socks and make a hot cup of tea.

April 10 - Day 265

Study Sunday.

I'm taking a 2-day Yoga course at the end of the month. Before I attend I have to complete some required reading that is of the philosophic nature, so I need to do this in public with a latte in front of me, as to not fall asleep or find other things to do.

April 9 - Day 264

Curried Vegetables & Quinoa.

Make quinoa as directed but use vegetable broth in place of water. While quinoa is cooking steam cauliflower. About 5-10 minutes before quinoa and cauliflower are finished saute 1 chopped shallot and zucchini, quartered, and one garlic clove minced in olive oil. Mix quinoa, cauliflower and zucchini mixture in large bowl with 1TBSP curry powder and 1 TSP cumin. Top with chopped tomatoes and green onions.

Cooking tunes: k-os, Exit

Adapted from: 20 minute supper club

April 8 - Day 263

Rockin' Robin

With Spring seeming to have made a point this week, I welcome this little guy into my backyard of woodland creatures, well of squirrels and crows. (At this moment he's enjoying the bounties of my neighbour's backyard but luckily their fence does not block the view, yes that's sarcasm).

April 7 - Day 262

M'Lady. Bug.

Another sign of Spring! Ladybugs in my front porch. I'm not sure what it is about the porch but they love it! This little guy was getting quite annoyed with me, however he only flew into my face once, as I tried for 20 minutes to get a suitable shot. If he just would have stayed still it would have been way quicker!

April 6 - Day 261

Signs.

Not the M.Night-Shyamalan-Mel- Gibson-Alien kind. Signs that even though it's snowed every day since Sunday that Spring is still trying to make an appearance.

April 5 Day 260

I Love Lamp.

Okay, confession. Today was just one of those days where I just didn't have time to think about or get a great photo. So you get my lamp. Deal with it.

April 4 - Day 259

The Tomato Lover's Tomato.

A bunch of campari tomatoes. At the time they didn't know, and I didn't know that they would be diced the next day and made into a salsa for Wednesday's lunch.

April 3 - Day 258

Swans On Parade.

Today was Stratford's annual Swan Parade. While I did not attend the festivities, I did get caught in the stop and go traffic on my way home from getting groceries when the parade let out. Yup, that's a traffic jam in Stratford. I stopped by the river a couple hours later (before the snow started) to see if their egos had deflated at all yet.

April 2 - Day 257

Lawn Bowl Lights.

Today I'm at the Lawn Bowling Club. Since it's the off season I've got the court to myself to take some shots of these lights. I love these lights and I would give anything to have them in my backyard for parties on lazy summer nights.

April 1 - Day 256

I Pity The Fool.

Happy April Fool's Day! I fooled no one and as far as I know I was no one's fool. Here's a photo of the tree in my backyard. (Sorry I don't know where I was going with all this foolery).