Calm Late December Day

A very large cargo ship sits quietly on the calm waters of Howe Sound, tied up to the terminal and being loaded as we walked past on the Nexen Lands.  After 3 days of being trapped inside by the monsoon rains, it was wonderful to be able to get outside and breath some fresh, dry air!  The clouds were still low, the forecast is still grim (70+ mm of rain forecast for tonight), but the respite from sogginess was welcome!

Happy Recover Day!

Merry Christmas!

He's ready... are you?

"...'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...".  After another whirlwind year, and another month or more of preparation, Christmas Day is nearly here again.  I hope you've had a good 2011, and that you are enjoying today and the next few days with family and friends, celebrating the season and enjoying good times with your loved ones!  Merry Christmas from me and the blog!

It doesn't get any shorter than this...

Darkness falls on the shortest day of the year... December 21, 2011.  After many grey and dreary days, the sun has returned to pick up our spirits once again.  The forecasters all say there will be no "White Christmas" this year... so if the choice is clouds and rain or sunshine, you know which one I'll be picking!  The best news is that the days start getting longer again, working toward Spring and the return of the colour green to the environment!  It's only 4 more sleeps to the big day now... have you got all your shopping done?

Dark December Days...

As we near the shortest day of the year, the sun makes its exit earlier each day.  In these photos, the sun burns through the late afternoon mist before it disappears just after 4:00pm on December 17, 2011.  Thankfully, in a few short days, the days start getting longer!

In the mist...

Some closeup shots of the mist covering the trees and houses in our area today, December 11, 2011.

Sunset with mist...

The progression of the sunset on December 11, 2011.   From 4:00pm at the top, to 4:30pm in the middle, to 5:00pm at the bottom.  By 6:00pm, the entire hillside was socked in by clouds and mist so thick that you couldn't see more than 10 meters down the road.

More alien than the other day...

0445 hrs on December 10, 2011... if that doesn't look like an alien spaceship coming out of the mist and fog (even more than the post from a couple of days ago), then I don't know what does!

Triple Wishbone Sunset...

A triple sunset on December 9, 2011, courtesy of our double-paned windows.  Hey!  It was just too cold to go outside and snap the shot!  And below, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Wishbone" when I saw the cloud hanging overhead at sunset.

Morning, Moon, Mountains and Mist...

There was a lot of talk about the fog today... so I thought I'd share a few photos taken early this morning.  The top photo was taken at 6:30am... with the moon still up and illuminating the tops of the fog bank... while the bright lights of the greenhouse complex light up the inside of the fog bank.  The middle and bottom photos were taken about 7:15am, after things had lightened up a bit.

70 years ago...

6,000 and climbing...

Big celebrations here at the blog, as it has now passed 6,000 page views (since the counter was established in 2010).  In the past year, the blog has received almost 4,000 views, and has welcomed viewers from all over the world.    Your comments are always welcome and appreciated, so feel free to leave a few words behind when you visit.  Thanks for the continued support (especially my 17 "followers"!), and be sure to let others know that this is a great place to come to put a little sunshine in your day!

Southwest to Northeast...

Fall is really making an effort to go out in style with some of the sunsets we have been seeing lately.  This beauty today really came out of nowhere... the sky was blue all day, it started to get dark, and all of a sudden some wispy clouds showed up and made it worth the effort to go get the camera.  The top panorama covers about a 100-degree swath from southwest to northwest.  The middle photo is the view to the southwest just after the sun disappeared, and the bottom photo shows the nice shade of pink the clouds turned over the North Shore mountains and out into the Fraser Valley.

Hello, December

The gorgeous end to December 1, 2011.  It was definitely cold today, but the sun tried mightily to shine throughout the day, and made a wonderful final effort coming out from underneath the clouds around 4:30pm.  Hard to believe that it is December... harder still to believe that it is only 24 sleeps to Christmas Day!

Goodbye, November

November 30th ends with a lovely orange sunset... cool, but not too cold (yet).