Tulips…

Before I forget how to blog completely, have an experimental embedded Flickr slideshow of my excursion to the wetter areas of Oregon yesterday.

Kale

Tastes too healthy to me, maybe with sugar I could stand it. It provides the occasional photo op though, and looks like it will be in bloom any day now…

Trillium

Up at Tryon State Park this weekend there was a Trillium Festival celebrating this rare little flower that’s bustin’ out all over the woods there. The main events seemed to be childrens’ face painting, plant sale, and indoctrinating a new generation to support the Oregon State Lottery.

Prime Blossom

This one won’t win any prizes for originality, but since I’ve been posting rainy/dark/forboding pix all week it’s time for a change. Behold! Spring comes to the Pacific Northwest.

A slice of the forest

Once I’d climbed the steep side of the Columbia River gorge I considered any photo a bonus. When I got into the cloud/rain level I took this one. It’s not black and white. That’s just the colour of the woods…

Into the Unknown

I’m still enjoying a steady stream of traffic from vfxy.com. Thank you all for your clicks and comments. Much appreciated.

This one is from Astoria, Oregon last week on a cold, rainy day. I was risking my camera just taking it out in the elements, but I’m happy with how this one turned out. Thanks should go to the Oregon Tourist Association for placing this info board in just the right place.

Back to life, back to reality…

Mornin’ all. Mum and Dad flew back to blighty yesterday and just rang to say they’d arrived safe and sound albeit with no hot water in the house. Atticus is at sixes and sevens searching for missing members of the household. He’s a bit more resigned now but he’s definitely going to miss his hour long ‘come-let-us-adore-him’ sessions in the morning, bracing off-lead walks around the Oregon coast and thereabouts and regular family-sized left overs.

'Bark if you're irish'
Note St. Paddy's day 'Bark if you're Irish' collar...

Yesterday I took them to the airport and then caught up on 3 weeks of missed episodes of this (The Office) that (Dollhouse) and the other (Simpsons) on hulu.com. It’s a well handy resource that hulu, though I’d swap it in a heartbeat for full access to the BBC’s iPlayer. I also went to the cinema and saw Gran Torino, which I thoroughly enjoyed and I’m not a Clint fan usually. Gangs are bad and grumpy old veterans are redeemable it appears. Watchmen last week rocked, no matter what anyone tells you.

Today I’m hard at work and catching up on my various social networks. Facebook has reinvented itself in my absence by removing all kinds of useful options like see more/see less of this person’s updates, and “What are you doing” is now “What’s on your mind”. If you’d like to see what’s on my mind and don’t do facebook, my statuses go to the lifestream page here. I still can’t get the hang of twitter. I’d like an option where you can see a day’s activity in one place including both sides of any conversations and in chronological order of the conversations, rather than the present ‘reverse’ view. There’s probably some kind of web app that’ll do that, but I’m not there yet.

Thanks to one of Maryl‘s updates I’m discovering Emiliana Torrini, an italian/icelandic singer songwriter who lives in Brighton. Lovely stuff.

And finally, vfxy.com has featured my little blog as their photoblog of the week which is quite an honour, considering the level of quality over there. Can I interest you in an email subscription?

Particles and Waves

vfxy.com has featured my little blog as their photoblog of the week which is quite an honour, considering the level of quality over there. They must have been running out… Anyroad, it means I’m going to have to try for a higher quality of pix because of the increased traffic. If you’re here from vfxy, thanks and BIENVENIDOS! and can I interest you in some subscription options?

This photo is from the magic hour in the back garden here in Portland, Oregon.

Tillamook Dog

Hello! Here’s a photo of Atticus on one of his rare solo forays. He’s rarely off the lead because, although he responds pretty well to clicks and ‘come back here ya little bugger’ shouts, it only takes one seagull for him to head off far out of earshot towards the horizon.

This is from 10 miles north of Tillamook and I think I’ve saved up enough pix to provide one photo a day this week. Gorgeous part of the world, and fine company what with my folks and an adventurous little schipperke.

Bridge of the Gods

Connecting the states of Oregon and Washington. It’ll cost you a buck each way. This is a shot looking at Oregon from the driving seat. I don’t think it’s illegal to drive and wave a camera about, but it wouldn’t take long to get across the state line in the event of a high speed police chase…