As a photographer and gardener,  yellow is one of my favourite colours and one colour I am attracted to in all situations, except in the choice of clothing ( turns my complexion sallow!! )..

Sharing a few of my favorite shots!

Even get abit artistic.

There is nothing like the crackle of an outdoor fire..

More from dew after a rain on my garden lilies  to the nodding heads  of ripe sunflowers…

Yellow can add much yard design..

Abit of history I found…

• Yellow, in the form of yellow ochre pigment made from clay, was one of the first colors used in historic times e.g. often used in wall paintings in Ancient Roman villas and towns. Van Gogh was one of the first artists to use commercially-manufactured paints, rather than paints he made himself. He used the traditional yellow ochre, but also chrome yellow, first made in 1809, and cadmium yellow, first made in 1820.

• Process yellow (also known as pigment yellow, printer's yellow or canary yellow) is one of the three colors typically used as subtractive primary colors, along with magenta and cyan. Painters traditionally regard the complement of yellow as the colour indigo or blue-violet and evident in this cheerful arrangement of pansies 

• Here is an example of sunset from the Seattle airport..

• Yellow is the most visible color, and is particularly attractive to birds and insects.

• Autumn leaves, yellow flowers, bananas, oranges and other yellow fruit all contain carotenoids, yellow and red organic pigments. Carotenoids are common in many living things; they give the characteristic color to carrots, corn, daffodils, rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.

( Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow

XXX- One of the more difficult letters in our posts and word games such as Scrabble or The Minister's Cat which I started way back at C!

The minister's cat is named Xavier, a xenial cat who xeroxes x-rays!

Xenial - means friendly and hospitable

On the topic of cats and kittens have come to a decision on the naming of mine!

Kitten to be named SHILOH or SHI as nick name..and loves to give XOXs

Simple meaning: Tranquil, Hebrew name of Biblical origin. It refers to a geographical place, an ancient city and assembly place for the Israelites before Judah. Shiloh was the dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant...Authoritative.Powerful.Tough,Tenacious,Wealthy, Problem-solver, Achiever

Yesterday added a new addition to the household and yet to give this new little one a name? Suggestions? How do you name your pets?

My little boy, long haired, born March 9, 2014 left his mama, Duchess, a Persian, Rag doll cross and sibs...no name yet!

With his sibs called Clown but will probably change.

Also adjustments to my older husky Nanuq !

Again on abit of a travel log theme two of my favorite cities, visited last week for a touch of spring in the pacific northwest, south west corner of British Columbia, our western most province.

Vancouver officially the City of Vancouver, is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants .

Canada will host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and several matches will be played in Vancouver, including the final at BC Place Stadium. The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics were held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city.

Victoria is well represented in this video..

My own experience included  a weekend away to visit with Amelia, my daughter and husband, Sean ( and dog Ilala) and get away from Alberta snow and grunge!  Queen Elizabeth Park,   a day at Whistler, wandering around UBC with camera, and some good eats. An older tower with vines growing to top and cedar tree in bottom.

Good eats on a Sunday afternoon Ernest's Ice Cream on Fraser St. — in Vancouver. Sunday brunch Fresh pasta rolled out

Do you ask for directions? Do you read the instructions before assembly of a new project? OR do you launch forward thinking that you can figure it out as you go?

Personally I have always been directionally challenged and a “ hands on” learner. This combination can at times end one up with some odd results…e.g. the year I sewed Sesame Street puppets and the eyes were on the back of the head.

The other thing I find is that projects always take much longer than one estimates. Thus sharing a recent one where a few days ago before a major spring rainstorm predicted I decided to buy and install a new rain barrel at the side of the house.

These things always take longer than planned!

Disarray in corner..old rain barrel sprung a leak and is green one is background sitting there for two or more summers.

Dug down next to foundation Tree Root right under the garden beam...horrors to get rid of it! 

Packed and slanted away from house..

Landscaping fabric and rocks and free pallet from Home Depot —

Painted with last of tin from eco center 

Rain barrel assembled and shimmed to balance, downspouts cut and inserted, cedar trimmed and left over wooden edging 

Voila! 

Last summer after some work and sudden downpour on a local community farm these beautiful rainbows appeared 

and at times a double arch.

Q is a fun letter to play with the sounds.

Again where I began with the Minister’s cat game ( see C for Cleric’s Cat )….The minister’s cat is a quirky cat, she quarrels quietly!

Or perhaps it is a day of Quiet reflections of questions on the Easter Saturday!

In English, we normally follow the letter Q with the letter U, however this is not so in Inuktitut as can be seen in many of the words below. There is a vital difference between the sound k and the sound q… Q q Like "c" in "car" and K k like "k" in "oak". Inuktitut is the traditional oral language of Inuit in the Arctic. ... Typically, they replaced "q" with "k" and "r" with "g", among other misspellings. Also written in syllabics....

Personally when working in Nunavut, I only picked up a few phrases in Inuktitut offerings being limited to Qanuippit ( how are you) Ilali ( your welcome ) ai ('hello'); nakurmiik ('thank you');  or Qiujavunga ('l'm cold'). Different regions have different dialects…a simple Koana or thank-you will indicate you are from the western arctic such as Kugluktuk or Cambridge Bay. the history of the two writing systems used in Inuktitut is that they used in English in the western Arctic, and syllabics in the eastern Arctic.

But the wrong pronunciation of words could get one in difficult or embarrassing situations...

qaanqijaut

qallunaaq

qamutiik

qanga

qaniq

qanuq

qassit

qaukpat

qausiqtuk

qikturiaq

qikturiaqtauniq

qilalugaq

qimmik

qimmuksit

qisik

qujannamiik

qukiut

For many as Christians, this past week has been the end of the Lenten season as we celebrate Holy Week and retrace Christ's journey to Jerusalem,  with Palm Sunday, today Good Friday and wait in expectation for the Resurrection on Easter morn.

 Reading the story of the triumphal entry  (Matthew 21:1-11),   and then take our palm crosses and process into community and later the church. I was with my daughter Amelia for this procession in Eastside Vancouver, an inner city community, of which St. James Anglican Church is very much a part.

Later on, participation in a dramatic reading of Matthew's story of the Cross (Matthew 27:11-54)

The word Passion comes from the Latin word for suffering.

The Passion of Christ is the story of Jesus Christ's arrest, trial and suffering. It ends with his execution by crucifixion. The Passion is an episode in a longer story and cannot be properly understood without the story of the Resurrection.

The Passion is a story about injustice, doubt, fear, pain and, ultimately, degrading death. It tells how God experienced these things in the same way as ordinary human beings.

Often there was no reply to his accusers or "That is who you say"

One may also attend a Good Friday or Maunday Thursday service in Tenebrae format:

The service of Tenebrae meaning “darkness” or “shadows,” has been practiced by the church since medieval times. Once a service for the monastic community, Tenebrae later became an important part of the worship of the common folk during Holy Week. We join Christians of many generations throughout the world in using the liturgy of Tenebrae.

Tenebrae is a prolonged meditation on Christ’s suffering. Readings trace the story of Christ’s passion, music portrays his pathos, and the power of silence and darkness suggests the drama of this momentous day. As lights are extinguished, we ponder the depth of Christ’s suffering and death; we remember the cataclysmic nature of his sacrifice as we hear the overwhelming sound of the “strepitus”; and through the return of the small but persistent flame of the Christ candle at the conclusion of the service, we anticipate the joy of ultimate victory.

But the final theme is victory -  the victory of Christ over death - and this is why the Passion story is inseparable from the story of the Resurrection.

A different post topic not in the A-Z challenge as am travelling for a week in Vancouver and Victoria!

 Blue herons fishing at low tide Robert's Bay Point, Sidney, BC...saw 5 last Monday!

They stand perfectly still in the water

Caught on Monday April 14, 2014 in Sidney BC

until a tasty morsel passes by.Usually it’s a fish, but sometimes a heron will eat other water life, or even another bird.

When they see something — wham! 

The heron lunges with its body and neck. If it nabs the prey, the bird usually tries to swallow it in one gulp, sometimes choking in the process. 

No need for explanation in this post, just enjoy my collection and have a chuckle or two!