A new life; same as the old life?

Last couple of weekends I have gone out to take some photographs. I have a laundry list of DIY tasks on my list that I am supposed to be doing, but work is so busy that I don't really seem to have the energy. The family are out of town in the UK for a few more weeks. Yesterday I went to shoot Fabyan Villa, it's Japanese garden and the restored windmill, out in Geneva, Kane County. Unfortunately the garden was closed for three different wedding shoots; so I will have to go back some other time and maybe take the kids. I was able to watch them put up the sails and start up the windmill which was very cool. The guy climbing the wooden substructure to grab the sail cloth and unfurl it, then watch on a windy day how they adjusted the sail to make sure that it wasn't turning too fast. From their website... Fabyan Forest Preserve was once part of the large country estate of George and Nelle Fabyan. They came to the Fox River Valley in the early 1900s and bought a farmhouse ...

Yes I have started another day by day photo 365 project; and I am already behind! The winter hasn't helped me so far, and the weather generally has been blah. Click on the links over to the right and you can see the album and the rejects as I go through the year. Please feel free to leave feedback.

I took my fourth trip to Montreal this past week. On the previous three trips, I had not had much opportunity to go out and shoot photographs. Two trips were with Steve and so we spent most of the time out eating and drinking, the third trip it rained pretty much the entire week, and I thought this was going to be the same this week. For the first two days it rained pretty solidly, although I managed to sneak a few hours one evening. I had been checking out many of the fountains on previous trips, and so I decided that would be good subject matter. Click on the picture above for shots from that evening. On the last night I decided to check out what is supposedly one of the best attractions in Montreal, the Bio Dome in the old Olympic stadium. I have to say that whilst I thought it was kinda fun, and the exhibits were good, I really didn't think it was all that! The one thing I did do when I was there that impressed the heck out of me. I went up to the botanic garden, planning to ...

and I am a blogger, it has been over a month since my last post! Seriously, where does the time go? September has been a super busy month, with the end of summer and everyone trying to squeeze in their events before the weather starts to turn. WARNING; monster post, lots of pix, grab a coffee/G&T! Every year, the rules are that everything opens up for summer on Memorial Day and closes on Labor Day (this year Sept 5th). With this in mind, I took a day off work in the middle of the week to do some stuff with the family, including a day trip to Six Flags Great America. Well I guess Labor Day came early in Gurnee, because the Wednesday that we went to Six Flags, August 31st, they were closed! WTF! Fortunately they were still open weekends and holidays, so we used our season passes to spend a couple of hours there on the Monday night of Labor Day. We even managed to get Addison onto one of the water rides, twice! Only a few pictures of the fun and games as it was a short evening. Wauke...

We went to the botanic gardens again today, this time for their 7th annual kite festival. We watched the skilled flyers take their kites in very little wind and do amazing stunts. Unfortunately it was VERY hot and we were sitting in full sun, so we were not able to stay very long. It was like watching an air show though, these folks could fly their kites in perfect formations, just like the jets and bi planes due in the air and water show. Click here for some shots from the little time we stayed there. Click here for full event details if you want to see more about the event. We are hoping that this one is a little cooler in September!

Last weekend there was a classic car show in our local town, one day only. I was looking at it as not only an opportunity to indulge my passion for photography, but also for old cars, and I even saw a couple of MGs! A very rare MG PA Airline coupe was one of the stars of the show. The blurb on the event said.. Auto Historica XI, is the most elite exhibition of rare and unusual automobiles and other motorized vehicles in the Midwest. This invitation-only event is considered to be one of the finest automotive exhibitions in the United States, thus the nickname “Little Pebble Beach”. Auto Historica XI invites a select group of collectors to participate with vehicles that are specially chosen each year to create a themed exhibition. This year’s theme is Woodies, classic American wood-bodied station wagons from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as well as unique European wooden skiff-bodied touring cars. Approximately 50 cars will be on display, including such rarities as a supercharged Duesenberg, an...

I know I have been missing from this blog for a while, and largely because life really is just the "same as it ever was" to quote Talking Heads. I don't know that I even have any readers any more that care, or if the 30 or so people that drop by every week are finding me on some random google search. I have been continuing to work on my photography and maybe when I am done with the Photo 365 project, I will move back over to here and post the photography work over here. In the meantime here is a quick update of what I have been doing. Family : all well and getting ready for summer Phrase of the week (Addison) : "I totally can't do this!" Cooper's favourite word : Car! Cubs : suck Golf : mediocre, with some flashes of brilliance Kitchen : done, looks awesome Weather : getting hot Photography : having fun with it Work : busy as heck This weekend is 4th July weekend, and I reposted an item I did from way back in 2005. Addison's school have a group in o...

Just got back from the annual Jolly Boys Outing to Vegas. BTW anyone who wants to come any of these years is more than welcome. Obviously the details are sketchy because after all what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but here are a couple of the highlights. The most beautiful golf course we have ever played on; Wolf Creek Resort in Mesquite. 90 minutes from the city, but worth every minute of the drive out there. True desert golf, sand and rocks all around, advisories not to seek lost balls for fear of snakes! Johnny Bravo (Steve) and Rusty Bedsprings (Gordy) winning $200 a piece on the same penny slot machine one after the other. I shouldn't have stood up! The fabulous fountains of the Bellagio. I didn't know until recently that Steve Wynn actually built this property for Mirage until the sold out to MGM. If you have never seen these live, then you need to, they are incredible! Only in Vegas! A fully detailed Statue Of Liberty, made from Jelly Beans! Click here if you would...

no post; I know Charlie, very disappointed, but really there is not much going on. Also, I only have about 18 visits per week and about three comments a year, so I am not sure anybody even cares! Winter was long and pretty hard with some fabulous snow falls. The snow blower got a great work out and even earned me a few bottles of wine from the neighbours. The kitchen is done from a contractor perspective, although touch ups, painting and backsplash tiling needs to be completed. I have started the clean up, with the family room back to "normal" I started the backsplash tiling as well, with the back semi-hidden area, to make sure I could do a good enough job, without professional help. It looks good and photographs will follow as I near completion. The whole house still needs to be cleaned. Mot of the upstairs is done, we (Lorraine mostly) have been washing all of the carpeting, walls, etc as everything was just covered in dust. We are up against the wall as my sister, her ba...

I have so much work to do on the house, tidying up after the builders have finished. The kitchen needs the backsplash, the laundry room needs a little more paint, the ceilings and walls need refinishing where drywall has been done, and the place needs cleaning. However this weekend it has been all fun, all the way! I went on my first outing with the camera club yesterday to the Chicago Flower Show. I have to say that it wasn't nearly as grand as I thought it would be, and I am sure not a patch on the Chelsea Show. It was kinda cool though, as we were able to get access to the show 2 hours before the general public, and therefore able to shoot lots of pictures without being jostled or worrying about the tripods, etc. I am not much of a floral person in terms of knowing the names, but I think this is a lily variety, maybe even an Arum Lily. Here are some more pictures of the day trip. The theme of the event was "The Sport Of Gardening" The folks I was driving wanted to le...

Can there be anything more American than the Bald Eagle? Even though not technically bald by today's definition, historically (colonial times) bald also meant to have white hair, hence their name. They appear on coins, flags, standards, logos, pretty much anything you could think of. Every year Bald Eagles come down from the north on their way to warmer climes and to be able to eat. They stop over in the Midwest in Illinois and Iowa amongst other places, for a few weeks, using the locks and dams where the water doesn't freeze to fish. Years ago the eagles were on the endangered list and were struggling to have any success breeding due to DDT weakening the egg shells causing them to break when the females nested. DDT was banned and populations immediately increased, but are again under threat, though they are no longer on the endangered list. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a Photo Safari with Chicago Photo Safaris to view and photograph these magnificent birds. My ...

This it the tourist slogan for Illinois , a play on the name of the main shopping street in Chicago. IE there are more miles worth seeing in Illinois than just the Magnificent Mile; or at least that's how I interpret it. So this weekend, we decided to see if it was true. As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot more photography wise, and one of those guys I have been working with runs his own business doing "Photo Safaris". Well on Sunday Gary was running an aerial safari from Rockford "International" Airport. Gary actually runs some really cool safaris, both locally and around the world. Click here or on the logo for more info. I could have gone myself for the two hour flight in a Cessna, over Rockford, Galena and the Mississippi river, but we decided it was a good way to start to prove/disprove the Illinois tourist board, and take the whole family; with a view of seeing what we came across on the journey worth doing. We left home around 10:30 on Satu...

As you no doubt saw below, Addison went of to school this month. That's about as much excitement as we have had, although we did finish the plans for the kitchen upgrade (more on that in a separate post) We just got back from the UK, and I have been working to upload all the photos we took there and since we returned..here they are. Browse at your leisure, but here are a couple of my recent favourites. Random pictures of the kids from September 2010 A weekend trip to Center Parcs A day out at Longleat Safari Park Fall festival at the local nature center A day out with some colleagues down in Chicago Fright Fest 2010 - Six Flags Great America