Dappled Air

It is the end of November and a glorious morning. At 9 am the temperature is around 0°C, no wind and sunny. I just had to go for a walk around Oat Hill Lake. As usual, I took my camera with me in case there was something that would grab my attention. And something did grab my attention. On the western side of the lake there was a small area where dead reeds were sticking out of the water where the water was frozen. I bent down low and tried to capture the ice with the open water. Oat Hill Lake - November 2010 As I continued walking on the grass, I realized that the ground was frozen and it felt different walking on it than earlier in the year. Once I made it home, I shrank the photo for the web and then tried my newly discovered Pixel Bender Oil Paint filter in Photoshop. Oat Hill Lake photo as an oil painting I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

On Friday's walk around Oat Hill Lake we came across the first ducklings of the season. That's why I always take my camera along on my walks. The ducklings must be very new as they still have yellow in their plumage from the egg.

On our daily walk around the lake we came across some elementary school aged kids with one of them holding something in his hand. It turned out to be a 'Spotted Salamander'. They had found it by turning over a rock. Always having my camera with me allowed me to take a picture. The animal was scared and peeing, so they decided to put it back where they found it. Here is the info I found at Wikipedia about the Salamander: Latin name: Ambystoma maculatum "The spotted salamander is about 6-7 1/2 inches long. The spotted salamander's main color is black, but can sometimes be blue-black, dark gray, or even dark brown. There are two rows of yellow/orange spots that run from the top of the head (near the eyes) to the tip of the tail. These rows are uneven. An interesting fact is that the spotted salamander's spots near the top of the head are more orange and the rest of the spots are more yellow. The underside of the spotted salamander is slate gray." "The spott...

After finishing my morning gardening I was tired and hot and was looking for a pleasant way to cool off. Rather than jumping in the shower as I usually do, hubby and I decided to go for a swim. I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia just across the harbour from Halifax. Technically it is all one big city. Dartmouth is called the city of lakes and we are lucky to live next to one of those. The lake is our hidden treasure. Most people don't even know that it exists, due to the fact that it is on a dead end street and not visible unless you are on that street. It is about 500 meters long and just under 100 meters wide and about 20 meters deep. It is not a big lake, but very private as there are only houses on our street next to the lake and even here only on the side that is opposite the lake. There is a path around the whole lake, where we go for our daily walks. The lake is spring-fed, which is very noticeable when swimming as there are cold spots where there are springs. This has been m...