Better Look Up

Chrismas with the Grandkids

Seems the presents are getting larger or the grandchildren smaller. Here we see Grace opening a present from Jessica on Christmas Eve.

 We had a really nice Christmas visiting with our grandchildren Christmas Morning. We actually had to be called as we slept in...guess it was the late night Christmas Eve. After a 8am call from Dee (we were to be at Dee's at 8am) we scrambled to get ready and over to Kyle and Dee's home for gift opening....George

Did I mention the kids are getting smaller. Owen's hot wheel set is as tall as him.

After visiting with Owen and Grace we headed over to our sons home Jamie to open gifts with our grandson Kingston. Here is the gang in their onezies.

Jessica's little one Declan is seen with Susanne on Christmas Eve. Declan was the first that evening to call it a night. I am sure that will change in a few years.

Owen always has a smile on his face. Here he is in front of our Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve

Devin, Jamie, Susanne and Nathan finish off the last of the liquor on Christmas Eve. Little did they know I have a stash hidden for Christmas Day.

The gang gathered once again at our home for Christmas Eve...the gang seems to keep growing year after year. Anyhow the last of the last did not leave till well after 2am. By then most of the booze was gone. Seems my son and son-in-law got a little creative. The took the ice bucket with some melted cubes, added what was left of the rum and the part bottle of Coke that was on the counter making one last drink. Since it became a group drink...straws were in order. Could not miss a chance for a photo of this....cheers....George

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year....New Years goal is...look for a warmer spot in 2014....George Dutka

Out on the Lake for Sunset

A happy crowd out for a sunset ride at Grand Bend.

This photo I took a few years back at Grand Bend during a sunset run on future brother in law's Mark Crompton's 30' Doral. We used to do this regularly....a run up the river then out to the lake. On this trip as on most we have a big gang on board. At the rear is my son Jamie on the left and son in law Kyle, in the forground is Susanne, Michelle and with his back to us Devin. This is one of my best memories of summer evenings at the lake....George

Along the way

With the US Thanksgiving past, pumpkins still grace many location  in New England and New York state. Here is a group of pumpkins lining the entrance to a restaurant in Utica, NY. The old steam engine is found on display at the train station.

 Along the way...to the Berkshire`s

Thought I would share a couple more views I took while traveling to the Berkshire`s. As Don and I age we need more stops to stretch. This gives us more opportunities to get in some extra photography....George

A late afternoon view of main street in Cambridge, NY. during my trip to the Berkshire`s. As one can see it is a sleepy little town.

Tropical Bar

Thought you might enjoy a view of a great place to be sitting at on  a weekend afternoon....George

Pull up a chair and enjoy yourself.

A great looking display for a tropical feel to a bar.

Boy its cold out side,,,well maybe not that cold yet!

In the Berkshire mountains Florida, Mass is far from a warm place during January...Don Jane took this photo of me.

Back in January 2010 Don Janes and I travelled through the Berkshire mountains from North Adams to East Deerfield, Mass. When we climbed the mountain East out of North Adams we passed through Florida, Mass. which is near the crest of the mountain...well  we found Florida was really cold that year.....I mean really, really cold.....our cameras actually stopped operating at one point...I think the batteries lost power or the shutters froze...we had to keep the batteries warm under our coats. I hope my next visit to Florida will be a bit nicer...the only white I want to see is sandy beach white...this past week we had two winter type storms...Sunday we awoke to two feet of snow, then Thursday morning arrived with another foot...we are in for a long winter....George Dutka

More Snow

It was snowing hard all evening, so it was not a real surprise this morning when I looked out our bedroom......another foot of snow to shovel.

Another storm was fore casted last night for the London area. Not all of London got hit, west London where we live and Komoka area did....another foot of snow......we now have three feet of snow on our front lawn with snow banks one can not see over......the ski club in Byron will be opening tomorrow, the first in decades for this time of year. I wonder how much more snow we will get in November...we still have two days left.....George

A California Thanksgiving

As we walked Carlsbad beach on Thanksgiving after dinner I asked the girls to gather together for a sunset photo. Well this is what they came up with.....A Charlie's Angels pose. In the photo is Susanne, Nancy and her daughter Andrea.

I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to family and friends in the USA. Seems everyone we know in the USA have moved to Florida or California...guess winter in Michigan and Ontario is not the greatest. Anyhow as mentioned earlier we spent a nice Thanksgiving in California during 2010. We also got up before dawn to hit the stores on Black Friday....a first for us...it sure was fun....George & Susanne

The 2010 Thanksgiving dinner gang...I believe Nancy is working on her Mimosa (champagne and OJ)...or is that a second one....cheers!

A warmer November out west - 2010

A November sunset on the beach in Carlsbad, California.

After spending two days shovelling two feet of snow plus the extra's the plow's gave us.....I long for warmer day. Back in 2010 Susanne and I visited our son-in-law's parents in California and did not see anything white other than sand. We spent that thanksgiving week having a great time with Murray and Nancy who were great hosts. The photo above was one of the memorable sunsets in Carlsbad on our visit.

Let it Snow....

Today when we woke up what a surprise.....the weather man called for some snow but not two feet worth overnight. It took us a few hours to get it out of the way...boy winter sucks...George

Looking across the street they have their work cut out for them. As one can see the kids started the snow blowing but once a case of beer arrived via a friend, the blower sat idle for most of the afternoon.

As you can see Susanne is not even holding the tape at the tallest snow fall location.

Susanne with the tape,  1 foot 10 inches is the average with some spots well over 2 feet.

Our patio table kind of measures what we got.

Late day walk on the beach.

Grand Bend July 27, 2010

As usual I took my camera along while walking Grand Bend beach late in the day. As one can see a sailboat has its sails rolled in as the wind was very light. A group of teens are out for some wake board fun. I always like the look of back lit photos especially if one can get some glimmer on the water...George

Berkshires Sunsets

I took this sunet photo out through the window of the 12th floor, Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pittsfield, Mass. It had been a nice and sunny day but the evening brought in a layer of clouds. The sun has set but the reflection in the clouds was kind of neat.

There was many overcast days on my trip to the Berkshires, but on occasion the sun did peek out giving me an interesting looking sunset. They are quick since the sun seems to set quicker and earlier in the mountains.....my favourite sunsets are still at the beach....George

Driving back to our hotel in northern Mass. I bailed out of the car as Don pulled over to catch the last of the sun. The roads are narrow with no room to pull over...we missed a better location by about half a mile back but you get what you get.

Once again another view on another day....a 12th floor view of the setting sun.

A slice of Heaven

Back from the Berkshires

A view from the 12th floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Pittsfield. Mass our base for three days.

I was away for 8 days with my friend Don Jane visiting in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. We also did some visiting with friends and had dinner one evening with a small group of friends including an ex-NHL player. We spent most of our time around the Pittsfield area, visiting Adams and North Adams. During this time I took over 1,000 photos...I guess that is why I had to get a new camera card mid week. The weather was mixed and the daylight short. We had some obstacles to overcome while trying out different features of our cameras...learning along the way I guess. We also got a few nice sunset mountain views....although they were unexpected or last minute shots...will see them later. Our last day started out sunny, followed by rain part way home and heavy snow by the time we arrived in London...George

The view is from down the road after a nice visiting  with Dick Elwell in Adams, Mass.

Downtown Pittsfield, Mass.

Along the way we stopped to take a few photos in upstate New York.

A view looking north into the Berkshire Mountains, Mass.

County road, Adams, Mass.

One of our visits was to the home of Bob Van Gelder who lives in Conway, Mass. He has a beautiful home....the red berries on the bushes out front adds great colour this time of year.

A barn along the way found in upstate New York.

A view from our room towards the Pittsfield downtown round about.

Questions?

I was going through some of my older Latts and Atts boating magazines on the weekend and decided to share some of the phrases that one finds along the edges of the pages. Bob Bitchin is quite the character....enjoy...George

"Since bread is square. why do they make sandwich meat round?"
"Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?"
"I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!"
"What happens if you get amnesia and deja vu at the same time?"
"If money does not grow on trees, why do banks have branches?"

August Storm Approaching

An approaching storm, Aug 2008 is on its way. I always love staying aboard my boat during such events.

I had just arrived at my boat and decided to take a walk on the beach. From my boat I could see the sky looked as if a storm was on its way. I took my digital camera along for my walk. At that time I only had a entry level Nikon 2200 digital camera with almost no setting possibilities. It took some fooling around to get a better looking view. Most of my photos back then were actually taken with my 35mm camera using slide and print film. On Lake Huron when the weather changes on the lake one gets some  really nice looking water and sky colouring...and on this day it was one of the better ones....George

Wordless Wednesday No. 2

A second look...man and his dog.

Another view of an early morning trip at Mystic, Ct.

I had a few opportunities to photograph this gentleman and his friend as the slowly motor along the inlet at Mystic during my visit back in 2011. One can see another of the many wooden classic sailboats found in Mystic...George

Stable Fly

In light air each spring we seem to get covered with small flies way out in the lake...I have always wondered what they are doing way out there and as you know....boy can they bite.  I call them fish flies. There was an interesting article published in the Summer 2012 GAM and I covered it in the Sept. 2012 GBYC Sounding.

It appears they are stable flies which breed in rotting vegetables along the shore and live for about three weeks in the summer time. It is interesting to know that they can fly up to 70 miles...which means reaching mid-lake is no challenge to them. The only known remedy to keep them from biting you is insect repellent with at least 30% DEET...Shoppers Drug Mart LIFE Insect Repellent reportedly works and smells good....George

Summertime Cheers

Cheers...Michelle enjoys a day out on the lake at Grand Bend during the summer of 2012.

My daughter Michelle is seen holding up a tin cup full of my Pusser's pain killer concoction while out on the lake. Michelle and her husband Devin had been away during the winter visiting the BVI  aboard a chartered sailboat when they picked up a Pusser's tin cup for me....George

GBYC Sunset

 A great orange glow following the setting sun on Aug. 17, 2010 in Grand Bend, Ontario. The mast belong to the Grand Bend Yacht Club fleet.

I returned from the beach after the sun has set into the lake. From time to time one gets one of these nice orange glows into the clouds that makes for a great photo. I am on my boat using my telephoto lens shooting towards the clubhouse (which is a replica lighthouse of Strawberry Island). Just the top of the masts and lighthouse are seen lit by a orange sky...George

Grand Bend Beach - 1960's

Grand Bend has always been a busy place as can be seen from this 1960's view. I spent many of my teenage days there during this era. My parents had a cottage at that time in Pt. Franks which is a short drive away...George

The large Pavilion  at the left of this photo is long gone, replace by high rise condos on the beach.

August 2012 Sunset

We are looking from the south pier toward the north pier during an  partial overcast summer sunset during 2012. I believe we got rain later that evening as I do remember seeing some off in the distance as the sun was setting...Grand Bend harbour is always a busy place at sunset....George Dutka

California Kelp and Seaweed

 

A kelp pile on Sunset Beach, Huntington, Ca. on May 1, 2011.

This is a contribution I made back in the Aug 2011 issue of the GBYC Soundings. On

our visits to California I have noticed a lot of Kelp on the beach and in the water

looking like islands. You don't want to get this stuff in your intake or around

your prop.

It appears it only grows in a few places in the world and the US west coast is one of 

them. Kelp is an algae and a seaweed, not a plant...it can grow up to 2 feet per 

day...or an inch every hour. Chocolate milk, breath strips, blueberry waffles,

and beer all contain alginate, a compound extracted from kelp and used

as a thickener...George

Looking north along Sunset beach, Huntington, Ca. May 2011 one can see there was a lot of kelp on the beach this morning. It comes and goes with the tides.

Deer Ridge Farms

This is the front view of Bill's work shop dressed up for the Christmas season.

On Friday I drove Susanne and Claudette to Deer Ridge Farms for their annual Christmas show. Deer Ridge is in the Woodstock, Ont. area....Bill has some very nice rustic furniture he builds and his wife has some other holiday offerings at great prices. The place was full...not sure who works any more on Fridays but it was a nice outing...George Dutka

Buddies Susanne and Claudette during our visit to Deer Ridge.

Bill's friend is at the door to welcome one in.