Wintry presents

It was my birthday a couple of days ago, and for the life of me, I can't think of anything profound to say about the last year or the coming year.  I'll leave resolutions to January, but I do think I'd like to be more physically active than the last year has been.  My svelte physique has gone walkabout and .. I need to catch up to it again.  'Nuff said.

I woke up to our first snowfall of the year and it had mostly disappeared later in the day.  I took some pictures of the backyard and the view from our living room to share with you.  I loved the interplay of sunlight and snow which is a staple of Alberta, but not BC so much.

Isn't this grand? I love the sky behind the trees

A few days ago, I showed you a picture of our Japanese Maple.
Still beautiful, but not quite the same fiery glow.

I have no idea why I like this picture so much, but it makes me smile and feel warm fuzzies inside.

If you look down there in the middle of this picture, you can see a hideaway for small
woodland creatures.  This is what I imagine the denizens of Laughing Brook saw when they
climbed out of their nests, dens, old logs or briar patch on a wintry morn and looked toward
their neighbors for signs of activity.

Ha .. I do get carried away sometimes. 

My husband got carried away and, for my birthday, indulged my spoken-aloud wish earlier this year for a camera with more features.  The one I have is really adequate for a lot of things, but it totally misses the mark on others.  I'm super excited about the camera, which should arrive in store any day now.  The only one they had on hand was the store demo model and no telling how much battery life is left.  The battery on the new camera is something I'm grinning about, since the one taking the pictures above will go through a set of batteries inside of a few hours.  I usually have a pair of AAs stashed about my person somewhere. *grin*  And no, I'm not talking about my boobs.

I have to give the sales rep credit.  He really tried to hit a home run when he saw he had an almost guaranteed sale lined up.  First, it was the Canon Rebel with not just one, but two extra lenses.  I have to admit, I got excited about it for a few minutes.  Then I took a breath and the world shifted back into focus.  (Ha ha .. at the camera store.  I amuse me.) 

Annnnyway, then he suggested I should get one of the new iPhones.  One extreme to the other .. the gent was grasping at the wind .. just couldn't figure out what I wanted, even though I was telling him.  So we nudged him over in the direction of stuff that looked affordable and not too complicated for what I need my camera to do.  He picked up a Canon, but I took one look at the baby below and I was hooked.  I am suuuuch a sucker for a pretty package.  In this case, however, I think I have exactly what I need for my 'next step.'  Looking forward to showing you how the view through the lens looks.