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Looking west from my backyard there's such lush gardens I don't take the time to look at clouds enough.

The first thing that came to mind from the word clouds is the Joni Mitchell song that earned Judy Collins a Grammy for Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording, “Both Sides Now”, in 1968.

So I took my little Nikon digital, ran out to my backyard and snapped a few cloud photos just at dusk on Friday evening.

With the mountains surrounding us here in Vancouver, I often forget to look up at the sky. We don’t get the variety of clouds like other places. When it’s cloudy, it’s just a blank cover of Stratocumulus clouds.

None of those Altocumulus or Nimbostratus giants that truly make castles in the air.

FACTOID: Joni Mitchell comes from Saskatchewan, my home province where the sky and the clouds are the most beautiful part of the prairie landscape.

As a kid, I used to spend lots of time watching the clouds form and shift and move — especially in the summer when thunder storms roll in regularly. Now those are dark, foreboding clouds for sure.

Joni Mitchell’s lyrics stand alone as wonderful word poems. Just in case you haven’t “looked at clouds from both sides now” in a while, here’s the lyrics to the song “Both Sides Now.”

Read and weep, my cloudy friends.

Both Sides Now
Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
Ive looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As evry fairy tale comes real
Ive looked at love that way

But now its just another show
You leave em laughing when you go
And if you care, dont let them know
Dont give yourself away

Ive looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
Its loves illusions I recall
I really dont know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
Ive looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say Ive changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
In living evry day

Ive looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all

Lyrics by Joni Mitchell.

Need more help with your Latin? There’s more here and here.

What do the following have in common?

Clips VIA

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Tara's wedding is fast approaching. These are the paper lanterns set to adorn the outdoor wedding ceremony area.

Support is one of the best gifts to give to the mother-of-the-bride!

My friend Faye’s daughter Tara is getting married on August 8 — just a few weeks away. What began as a simple, family affair has blossomed into what most would consider a traditional wedding.

While the wedding venue has changed about five times in the last two months, Faye and Michael’s summer place on the Sunshine Coast is now the wedding site. It’s a beautiful location but taking an event outside the city where most guests live creates logistical challenges to say the least.

But nothing is impossible, in my book. We hand made a four-piece invitation that guests have been impressed with the quality of it. Caterers are booked; tables, chairs, linens, etc. have been ordered. Bridal party bouquets and flowers are in place. Accommodations have been secured for those who want to stay overnight.

I’ve been put in charge of decor — simple but elegant. I found wonderful paper lanterns and have wired a string of 20 watt lights for some of them. Other paper lanterns will hang from the arbutus trees on the property. I’ve come up with table centrepieces incorporating Curly Bamboo set in glass vases filled with stones handpicked from the beach.

Anticipating hot weather, I sourced 100 folding paper fans for each guest to use to cool themselves. Confetti was a concern and the obvious option of bubbles was chosen. I found containers and bubble liquid for 1/4 the price of what you would pay to buy them retail.

Last thing to be done is a simple wedding arch for the ceremony itself. Piece of cake — Tara’s decor theme is “bamboo” — of course, what is a handy guy like me to do but to go and buy some 3″ thick X 6″ tall bamboo stalks and we’re making an arch. Once it’s done, will post photos of it.

Even the simpliest of weddings requires lists, delegation, double-checking, and sometimes a change of plans. But events that look effortless are the ones where every detail has been thought of beforehand.

Back to my “support” lists because Tara’s wedding will be a magnificent, effortless wedding!

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Arcola, Saskatchewan building. Blue skies, new cars, old building.

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Same photo, converted to look old, if it wasn't for the new cars, the photo could have come from some dusty old trunk in an attic.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.

The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
VIA

• Link Tab
• Video Tab
• Quiz Tab

Within this one post, I’ve added three tabs which you can move through by a simple click on the tab heading. Thinking of ways I might use this plugin, but anyway, it seems to work in Firefox.

How is it acting in your browser?

Photo Theme: POINTED

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Entrance foyer with pointed flower vases and metal bubble sculpture.

This week’s theme is POINTED.
Click on the photos for a larger view
and to read the caption.

Summer is my favourite time of year because I can cut flowers from the garden and stick them willy nilly wherever I want. There are flowers in almost every room and in every type of container you can imagine.

These shots are of the entrance to my condo. The two “pointed” vases are actually made of glass.

I covered them in some cheap craft wrapping paper to sort of match my Venetian Plaster wall colour and the metal bubble sculpture I found in Whistler.

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Metal bubble sculpture and pointed glass vases filled with garden flowers. The pointed glass vases are covered in cheap printed craft paper to match the wall colour.

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Pointed glass vases covered in craft paper in my entranceway.

Click on the photos for a larger view
and to read the caption.

Keep some of these handy Latin phrases in your back pocket. You’ll be the life of the party.

• Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.
  It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.
• Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!
  God, look at the time! My wife will kill me!
• Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
  Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?
• Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
  Let’s all wear mood rings!
• Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
  I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

You can find more handy latin phrases on these Funny Pages.

And for the comics out there, try this instant rimshot here.

I guess I’m as porky as I thought. Apparently, I could satisfy a good 10 hungry cannibals. What about you?

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Via

Photo Theme: WATER

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My big bro' Bob and his wife Jo at the foot of Shannon Falls on the way to Whistler, BC.

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Me at the foot of Shannon Falls.

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Shannon Falls falling water.

This week’s theme is WATER.
Click on the photos for a larger view
and to read the captions.

I am a tad embarrassed as I was away and just found out my EMOTION photohunt entry was last week’s site of the week. Thanks to all of you who stopped by.

But on to this week’s very late post.

Shannon Falls is composed of a series of cliffs, rising 335 meters above Highways 99, making it the third highest falls in British Columbia, ranking behind 481 metre Della Falls in Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island and 396 metre Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola.

The tumbling waters of Shannon Falls originate from Mount Habrich and Mount Sky Pilot.

This park is directly adjacent to Highway 99, making it a popular day-use park. This park provides picnicking, hiking and access to the trail in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park.

It’s a popular place for rock climbing and in the winter when the falls sometimes freeze over, it’s an ideal location for ice climbing.