Yeah Me!…

So as some of you may know in late September I am competing in my first ever Spartan Race, it is a 5km Sprint. So in getting into better (not enough time for good) shape and so I had set myself a goal at the gym: get to 5km on the treadmill.

Now for those that partake of the MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) or other gaming genres I would fall under the Tank Classification: Big & Strong but not so great at distance or speed. Add in some previous knee(s) & hip damage and the task becomes all that much harder.

But today I did it! 5kms in 38 minutes and 21 seconds.

Okay I will wait for all you runners and other healthier people to stop Rolling on the floor laughing. …3…2…1…and give myself a pat on the back.

I feel quite good about this, and the best part is now that I have hit the target I can only get better and I know I can do it. So I hope to see that time drop as I continue working out before and after the race. For a guy my size I think I’m doing pretty well.

Might need some deep cold gel for a few of the other muscles used tonight and I drank my new après workout drink: HoneyMaxx – Orange. See if your local health food store carries it. HoneyMaxx is a honey-based sports and exercise drink, and it’s very good. Now if I could only get them to pay me for saying that…LOL…no seriously… 😉 They also have a Lemon-Lime flavour.

But time to get to bed, considering how much lifting & carrying I do at work all day, and then go to the gym, I should be looking like a Mr. Universe contestant, but no such luck…

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

 

Yes, I am still alive…

If anyone is still following this blog I just have to say once again, sorry,  a daily blogger I am not…

I tend to find that life gets in the way of posting more often than not. That and I tend to not have much to say, at least not much that won’t get me in trouble… I have been posting a few photos over on my Flickr page instead of on here as of late. So if you want to see some of the new pictures head on over there for a peek:

Other than that it has been all work and some play. Big car show tomorrow in town so I am hoping to fill up the memory card(s) on the camera. Don’t know if the 37 Celsius weather will be all that fun on the blacktop, but you gotta do it now and then. Considering I work outside most of the time now I think I’m getting use to it.

Still trying to get into better shape for my Spartan Race in September. I’m doing better than I thought I would so far, but… I see many Burpees in my future…

Doing some push-ups here at the house and all I can hear is my elbows crackling as I work out…I’m getting old and those dang Glucosamine / Chondroitin supplements that I am taking are not doing a damn thing. Sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies® in the morning when I stretch…SNAP! CRACKLE! POP!

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

Some July Photos…

Busy, Busy, Busy…

One more week of work then a bit of a break (kind of) but still a week away from the job is always a good thing. I have been trying to hit the gym more and get myself ready for my race in September. So far it is going very slowly with lots of Tiger Balm and other muscle ointments required. But I did hit 4km on the treadmill tonight so not all bad. I really should try writing more as this is a blog but as normal I’m just going to post some photos.

A few Pictures from Canada Day…

Canada Day Fireworks #1

Canada Day Fireworks #2

Canada Day Fireworks #3

Twinkle, Twinkle little star…er…I mean Venus…

Venus

Some more photos from the work phone…

HTC 1 Cicada

HTC 1 Western Terrestrial Garter Snake

I think these barn pictures worked better in Black & White…

Decaying Truck & Barn

Derelict Barn

Have a random flower…

Unknown Flower

Came across about 7 of these Western Painted Turtles, I have been to this spot before so it was nice to find them still around.

Western Painted Turtle #1

Western Painted Turtle #2

Western Painted Turtle #3

Western Painted Turtle #4

Western Painted Turtle #5

Western Painted Turtle #6

Western Painted Turtle #7

An odd subject, but the glass insulator caught my eye… I’m kind of like a crow, shiny!

Old Insulator

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

An Evening Drive…

Was out of town for a quick visit with family this weekend and took a few pictures from around a town I lived in for years. The odd part is I never really took many pictures while living there, so here are a few of them. I also went out and about tonight to see what I could find locally and had some success I think. But it is late and it is a busy Canada Day tomorrow so I am off to bed…

Brower Hatcher – The Bear

Local Brownstone

Robert Dow Reid – Spirit of Sail

Mariposa Lily #1

I kind of like #2 better, which one do you all prefer?

Mariposa Lily #2

Mariposa Lily #3

Paramount Tilt-shift

Pine Branch

Off the Ramp

Off the Ramp #2

Three Bridges – Redux

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

More HTC One pictures…

A few from today, not much time to find anything as I am at work and only try this on break times. Some days the HTC one camera does very well and others not so much. Today it was giving me some weird colours, I had to restart the camera app and the phone to try to get it working right. Still I am trying to see what I can capture with this phone…the experiment continues…

Spider #2

Spider

Fly on a box

Same fly, just off colour by phone…

Beetle #2

Beetle

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

HTC One pictures…

I have been taking pictures with my work phone which is an HTC One, and going for some macro style pictures. Other than the standard colour adjustments these are straight from the phone. I am finding the phone does quite well, it also seems to create a tilt-shift effect when shooting this close. Let me know what you think.

Here is what I have so far…

Worm #2

Worm

Moth

Moth #2

Ants dragging spider

Ants dragging spider #3

Ants dragging spider #2

Rusty Nail #3

Rusty Nail #2

Rusty Nail

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

Father’s Day Car show photos…

I went out to one of the Father’s Day Car Show’s to snap a few pictures during the kids nap time…sense a theme here yet?…Nap time = Photo time (if I don’t have other things to do and it is nice out). The pickings were a little light at the show as there was multiple car shows on today, but here are a few pictures. Happy Father’s Day!

Some Classics in a Row

Corvair

Dice

The Judge

Chev logo

Chev Logo level…better?

Chev Hood Layer Mask

Chev Layer Mask #2

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

Need more Bug Spray…

So on Thursday I took my camera into work as we had a robins nest in the rafters of one of our shops awnings. There are 4 of the little ones in that little nest. Mom and Pop have been keeping busy feeding them and keeping watch. Might try drawing this one later, but I will change the rafters into a tree trunk or something…

Four young-lings in that nest

That adult robin was just sitting there eyes closed now and then rocking back and forth, wonder what it was thinking… We got four, maybe the noisy one fell out of the nest, ya that’s it… sleep, need sleep…

Feed Me!

I have to say my work phone’s camera does a pretty good job on the macro front… Found out it is a Sculptured Pine Borer

Taken with a HTC One phone…

Headed out to one of the local lakes for a bit of a tour and got a few pictures in, had some loons on the lake but they were staying out of camera range for me. One day I will get a good loon photo, one day… I had doused myself in Off Bug spray but I must have an old can, because I had to re-spray 2 other times, the mosquitoes are bad this year with all the rain as of late, lots of pools of water for breeding grounds. I was trying for some pictures of some warblers but had to get out of the area as the pictures were being wrecked by the swarm in front of the lens.

Song Sparrow

Columbia Spotted Frog

Female Blue Bird…from Thursday

Spring Azure

Spring Azure #2

See the fish?

Wildflowers

Lakeside Tilt Shift

The next photo was about the half way point around the lake, which is when I checked my time remaining from the kids normal nap time period. And dang was I running late, so I packed up the camera, cinched everything tight and did the rest of the trail at a fast jog. Missed a few picture ops, but them are the breaks. Made it back home soon after they all got up from their nap.

Lakeside Path

Kids got me an early Fathers Day gift, works quite well, but a touch finicky with the throttle control, it is kind of all or nothing, and my ceiling can’t take anymore all’s… might have to find some time to try this outside… I get about 10 minutes of flying time, might be a bit longer if it didn’t have all the lights on it, not like I would fly this thing at night.

New Toy

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

Weekend adventure…

It was a busy weekend. Out and about for pictures and Geocaching. Took my one daughter out Geocaching and while out we came across this lone deer. We could have gotten closer but my daughter has a nasty dry cough at the moment, which let the deer hear us a long way off; was amazed it stuck around as long as it did. Was hoping for a bit more of a reaction from my daughter on her first close-up with a wild deer but I think the wildlife park has ruined her.

Daughters first Deer in the wild.

I could hear the little one(s) screeching inside the nest when momma showed up with a snack…

Female Kestrel with snack

American Kestrel watching from nest

Anise Swallowtail

I just liked the colour on these, I don’t even know what type of bush it is.

Berries

Cactus in Bloom

Noisy buggers…

Cicada

Cicada #2

Cicada #3

Molted Cicada Skin

This little one just screams cute…

Smile!

Did a tilt-shift and a photo merge for this one, worked out pretty good I think.

Tilt shift

Rock-scape

Flowers in the meadow

Still playing around with some of the pictures, tried something different…too weird?

Seeds

Seeds #2

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.

Evening Adventure…

Thought I would get out and try my luck on some roads less traveled (by me at least) tonight. I found a few nice shots but was surprised at the lack of wildlife on these quiet roads. But considering how windy it is out; maybe they knew better and found a nice place to wait out the coming weather. I saw a few birds having some issues with the wind, nothing worse than being blown off your perch. If I keep wanting to do these outdoor kind of photo’s my next vehicle may need to be a 4X4, saw a few other paths off the road that looked interesting but was not gonna happen in my vehicle.

The Path Less Traveled

Should have tried a long exposure with the Old Shack, could have got the grasses all blurred as they swayed in the wind… But I was taking the picture from the middle of the road and the last thing I needed was someone coming down the lane with me and my tripod in the way.

The Old Shack

Had a number of pictures of the deer, but they all came out worse than this one…

Grazing Deer

I’ve been taking more pictures with a silhouette theme as of late for some reason…

Hilltop in Silhouette

Almost forgot, we have some short term visitors…Ducklings…They will be off to their farm soon.

The Lone Yellow Ducky

Its a Duck Pile

Ducklings

So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D.