update

Circumstances over the past few months have kept me occupied with other activities.  First, my old laptop died after four years of service.  Then I got a new notebook through a new IP but in the mean time I had to set up things with the new computer, which took time.

Then some weeks ago I adopted a 15 year old boy, who is now 16 since his birthday came along since, but this has kept me away from blogging since we chat online daily.  He is in Indonesia and I am in Canada.  Wahid lost his parents and his older brother in a car accident in the mountains.  They were on vacation and the car ended up in a mountain ravine with all occupants dead.  So the 15 year old (now 16) came looking for someone that would fill the roll of a father.  He found me and neither of us has looked back.

The weather has improved, so I have been back to hiking over the past few weeks.  I hope to post some photos soon from some of the recent hikes which include the Fraser River near home, Barnston Island in the Fraser River between Surrey and Pitt Meadows, British Columbia plus some from Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver (that hike is planned for tomorrow).  Look for some interest new images soon!
- Volker

Strasbourg, France - Strassburg, Frankreich - summer 1972

During my trip to Europe during the summer of 1972 I visited three places in France, Carcassonne, Paris and Strasbourg. This is a street scene I photographed looking up a small street in the inner city. The cathedral is in the background. Its very historic and you can't miss it. This is one of my favourite regions in France: Alsace! When you see the rest of the photos, you'll know why. There are more photos coming along with descriptions. Meantime, enjoy this one! - V

Veronica

In the 1970s I started growing various kinds of alpines and other flowers suitable for a rock garden or along a flower border. Veronica (V. longifolia) was but one of them. Campanula latifolia was another. This is a series of photos (all Veronica) taken in 1977 (London, Ontario) in the back garden. I later moved the alpines to another flower bed in the front yard. I had ordered a few seed packets from a seed house that contained mixed alpines and veronica was one of those included in the mixture. There were still some of these flowers growing in the garden when I sold the house in 2005. As you can see, the bees loved them! - V

Carcassonne, France 1972

After my visit to Switzerland in 1972, my next destination on my itinerary was France. I ended up leaving southwestern Germany where I was staying with my half-sister, took a train through Alsace on the way to southern France. This route took me down the Rhone River valley and on to Arles before heading west to Narbonne on the Mediteranean coast. From there I caught a train heading inland to the city of Carcassonne which was my first destination. The old fortified city dates from the time of the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe originating from the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea that settled this area and on south into Spain. The Visigoths left their homeland during the movement of various tribes into what was left of the Roman Empire. The walls were restored in the mid-19th Century. There was a television program that I watched in the early 1960s about a war between the English and the French (Black Prince). Carcassonne was the setting for this program. I was intrigued enough to want to see the place firsthand. Google to find out more!
Here's a view of the typical countryside in southwestern France. It was overcast weather but warm, not ideal weather for taking photos but I did my best.
Here's a view of the castle which I ended up taking a tour through and a view of the River Aude with the old city of Carcassonne in the background.
And what would France be without vineyards!
After my stop in Carcassonne it was off to Paris and then Strasbourg, Alsace in eastern France. I took no photos in Paris (it was pouring rain when I arrived at my hotel on the Rue de Gramont) but I did take a walk the next day in the old streets of Paris before heading off to Strasbourg where I did take quite a few interesting photos. The weather in Paris was starting to get better as I left. Its known for its rainy weather because of its proximity to the English Channel and the weather systems coming off the Atlantic Ocean. You'll see the photos of Strasbourg next. Meantime, enjoy these!! - V

scanner ready!

After weeks of trying to get things set up, my Epson Perfection V500 photo scanner is finally ready to go after I cleaned up the files on my laptop plus did a defrag of the head drive. Now since the software is installed, I'm ready to start scanning. This weekend is the time. I'll post some images before the weekend is out. Come back to see more! - V

new scanner

I purchased a new photo scanner on my way home from work yesterday, an Epson Perfection V500! It scans photos, slides, negatives and documents. There were a total of three Epson photo scanners that I was interested in. This model happened to be on sale. I could have bought the V600 for another 20 dollars but the main difference between it and the one I purchased was that it could identify characters in documents and one had the option of making changes. Since I don't have any documents that would require that option, I opted to go with the one on sale and wait until the technology improves, and it will, before getting a scanner with that option.

So, now I plan to work on setting up the scanner over the weekend and then do a few test scans to see what it can do. After that, I have about 40 or more years of my own photos to work with and then more that belonged to my father. My father's photos are from the late 1940s and the 1950s. His photos taken during the 1930s and early 1940s were lost as a result of WWII. There are also family albums and other photos going back to as far back as 1916. I'll be scanning as time allows and will do this over the winter months. I hope to start with slides from my trip to Europe during the summer of 1972. Berlin (Germany), Strasbourg (France), Carcassonne (France) and Lauterbrunnen (Switzerland) seem to be a good start. What do you think?

Have an awesome weekend! Look for more soon!!! - V

masthead pics

A couple of days ago I was spending some time creating masthead photos for this blog. You've probably seen the one above long enough, so its time to change it. These are from photos I've taken at Burrard Inlet and the Spanish Banks. Any thoughts on these? - V

mosses and ferns

Back in March of this year I did a walk on the trails in Robert Burnaby Park in south Burnaby, British Columbia. Its been a while since being able to edit and post these photos of mosses and ferns growing on the bark of a tree in the park but they're finally done. Feel free to comment and to send me your comments privately. Enjoy the photos!!! - V

It's raining, it's pouring but I don't hear the old man snoring!!!

Well, that's not exactly how the words go but humour is helpful on a day like today. Outside it's pouring rain. The sky is overcast and certainly dull-looking. The weather was warm, sunny and very summer-like during the week but yesterday the rain clouds returned and began dumping that wet stuff on us once again. Yesterday it was occasional with the sun trying to make it's appearance but today the rain is pretty constant and heavy at time. Hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday will be much better weatherwise!

That being said, I guess this is a great day for indoor work. There are files to download onto CD and images to download onto the computer, so expect some posts in the very near future with recent photos taken at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. Of course, the weather was not at all like today. These photos will show clear blue skies, sunny weather and many other things, floral and otherwise. It's the Victoria Day weekend here but I hope mother nature is more co-operative where you are. Have a great weekend! Come back soon for more!

Scenes of Hawthorne Park - Surrey

These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon (February 27) at Hawthorne Park in north Surrey, BC. As you can see, the little bit of snow we had is melting. The day was partly sunny with some cloud. It was cool but warming up nicely. A pair of ducks was seen on one of the two ponds in the park (I think they are Hooded Mergansers but I'm not certain). The other pond was full of mallard ducks but a fallen tree did not make for a great view or photo. The first crocuses are coming up as you can see in the second image. The spring heather (Erica) is now in bloom as seen in the third photo. The last two images give you a better idea what part of the gardens at the park look like. As we get into spring, the azaleas and rhododendrons should come into flower making for a great show. There are enough of them to do just that.

Scenes of Vancouver and Stanley Park March 2006

English Bay at sunset

Sunset Beach

Freighter entering Burrard Inlet

Looking toward Grouse Mountain

Birds near Siwash Rock

English Bay Beach

Seawall at Stanley Park looking north

Sunset at Third Beach

Sun disappearing behind Vancouver Island

Weatherwise, will March 2007 be the same or better?

Surrey - A break in the rain with a patch of clear sky and sun

Tuesday we had a break in the rain with a patch of blue sky and sun above. That didn't last too long because the rain came back by late afternoon. The photos show the view outside my dining room window looking to the east and northeast. Not to worry. There was cloud all around us just none above us. It was nice to see the sun just the same.