of Christmas decorations

/ Off Grid Islanders

First camera I ever owned was a Kodak Instamatic with the flashbulb cube that spun around in a circle on top. My father gave my siblings and I each one on Christmas Day 1969 as he walked out of the house at noon, never to return.

I and my photograph equipment have come a long way since then. The camera we arrived here with though,  was still not up to the challenge of the wild life photography I wanted to take. First thing we did when we moved here was buy a new camera. I take hundreds of pictures every day. I might take ten pictures of the same bird. At the end of the day I upload them to my laptop and delete the worst and keep the best.

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Today, it was rainy and cold and fogged in. Our rainy day plan was to finish the Tidelines and send it by email to the printing company. But we found out late last night that they should have had it Monday, soooo… we hurried through our work this morning and sent it to them by ten…. They will try to meet my Friday deadline.. no promises though. Ten o’clock and I was completely surrounded with no rainy day plan for the day…. Decided to try to find a picture worthy of going on our home-made Christmas cards this year.

I spent the day going through all of the thousands of pictures I have taken this year.. deleting hundreds more of them.. They were all sorted by month and it was kind of nice to relive our year on the nature channel.. My father-in-law used to tease his wife about how many pictures she took of the lamb on the farm here… For me its sea lions (no surprise).. I have every picture of the BC west coast sea-lion population and their visiting relatives from California.

Still no picture worth putting on a Christmas card… maybe it will snow next week and I will have some options…I was going to have a drink to celebrate the completion of Tidelines but as it was a 10 am accomplishment I have had to wait all day to celebrate. Can you hear the wine pouring into the glass ?

I made a Christmas winter swag for the front door yesterday. I have not started any other decorating yet, even though I want to… I think my eagerness to decorate stems from my less than Walton like Christmas in 1969. E doesn’t complain, since the whole “loss of a plasma tv when I decided if no one was going to help me I would decorate my self” disaster in 2004. Why is it so wrong to want to make things cheery in your house when the days can be so dark and grey? And besides.. I live in a 500 square foot house on an island in the middle of nowhere hanging off a cliff with E and two dogs. Who is going to see it but us? The Tidelines is finished and it’s pouring rain…..Isn’t the idea of living here being able to do whatever makes me happy?

Me and my glass of wine are heading up to the studio to find the tubs

of Christmas decorations.

 

 

 

20 thoughts on “of Christmas decorations”

  1. I check by from time to time as I covet your way of life. The opening lines of this post really pulled me in – they could be the beginning of a novel.
    Surely any sea lion, even a sunny day shot, is suitable for a Christmas card?

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    • Thanks.. I guess the sea lions could do but I was hoping for a snowy shot.. Sea Lions in snow??
      Appreciate you following along and commenting.. Not many comment and I assume I am the only one
      reading….. Its a cold and windy day.. we have to head out across the water.. brrrrr

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      Reply

  2. I check by from time to time as I covet your way of life. The opening lines of this post really pulled me in – they could be the beginning of a novel.
    Surely any sea lion, even a sunny day shot, is suitable for a Christmas card?

    Like

    Reply

    • Thanks.. I guess the sea lions could do but I was hoping for a snowy shot.. Sea Lions in snow??
      Appreciate you following along and commenting.. Not many comment and I assume I am the only one
      reading….. Its a cold and windy day.. we have to head out across the water.. brrrrr

      Like

      Reply

  3. This week, everyone in the village received a note from the Mayor encouraging people to decorate their doors with white Christmas wreaths – this year’s theme colour for the village. I brought a wreath form from home, planning to make my usual wreath using moss and then different conifer sprigs. I also brought several sprays (fake) of berries, a bird, some coloured balls, to wire onto the green stuff, plus a pretty tartan ribbon. I’m dammed if I’ll be spraying it white!

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    Reply

  4. This week, everyone in the village received a note from the Mayor encouraging people to decorate their doors with white Christmas wreaths – this year’s theme colour for the village. I brought a wreath form from home, planning to make my usual wreath using moss and then different conifer sprigs. I also brought several sprays (fake) of berries, a bird, some coloured balls, to wire onto the green stuff, plus a pretty tartan ribbon. I’m dammed if I’ll be spraying it white!

    Like

    Reply

  5. If every time you look at your decorations, it brings you joy, it is so worth it. Putting up decorations is the fun part for me. Taking down and putting away…not so much. Enjoy your decorations!

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  6. If every time you look at your decorations, it brings you joy, it is so worth it. Putting up decorations is the fun part for me. Taking down and putting away…not so much. Enjoy your decorations!

    Like

    Reply

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