Capturing the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
This in a nutshell is what best describes the photography of Janet Slater. You can see for yourself in the splattering of her work shown here on this site.
I had the pleasure of meeting Janet this past summer in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. We had dinner at a mutual friend’s house. I was amazed at her creativity, imagination and ability to capture small details. It’s the small details that an experienced photographer uses to capture emotion and turns it into an art form. And so, it’s not just another sunset, another beach shot…you get the picture (pun intended).
Janet shows a lot of diversity on her web page so I had to pick and choose which ones to showcase here. That alone was a challenge. Her interest runs the gamut of architecture, nature, ballet, bridges and barns…and more.
Did you know that it wasn’t until the 1940’s that photography was accepted as an art form?
Alfred Stieglitz ( American photographer, Author; The Photographer’s Eye, Art Dealer 1864-1946) is credited with getting photography accepted as an art form.
Obviously a different effort put forward than painting or sculpting, although the capture is what defines the art.
It’s the peaceful moments in a noisy world. The element of surprise and the unexpected. It’s the calm before the storm, the water droplets, the perfect and imperfect smiles and a sparkle in the eyes; these are some of the short-lasting emotional moments that makes every photographer’s dream shot.
Janet was awarded the FCAPA (Fellowship in the Canadian Association for Photographic Art). A high honour in recognition of her high standard of photographic achievement. More on the link below.
You can browse more of her work and also make a purchase at:
I’ve been meaning to post something about my talented, beautiful singer/songwriter friend JenniDoyle ever since I first met her in Palm Springs the last time I was there. She and her husband live in Vancouver and also have a home in Palm Springs.
I feel like I’ve known Jenni a lot longer than I have because I’ve heard so much about her through two friends that we’ve both known forever, although these two other friends have never met. Our mutual friend Susanne has written lyrics to some of Jenni’s songs, while our other mutual friend Michael, wrote music for her album “Night Angles.”
Talk about a small world and having something in common aside from our love for dogs and Palm Springs.
Her single “Only One Cook” was filmed at philanthropist Joe Segal’s breathtaking waterfront mansion in Vancouver and directed and edited by Dave Benedict. Jenni’s make-up by Safina Kataria. Photo from her website.
Jenni has been entertaining people since the ripe age of two, when she donned her first pair of tap dancing shoes. After her early years in musical theatre and dance, she was accepted into Canterbury High School for the Arts in Ottawa, which then led her to Vancouver where she studied acting at Vancouver Film School. In the years to follow, Jenni was one of the top 25 finalists out of 4,000 girls, to make it onto the Global T.V. reality show “Popstars.”
This experience propelled her into the music industry, where she worked with producer/songwriter John Dexter (Carly Rae Jepsen, Bif Naked, D-Cru). She recorded two songs on the D-Cru album “Into the Future” which was released in stores across Canada. She went on to sing in a duo called “JeLL” where they performed their “Night Angles” songs and “The Star Spangled Banner” live on ESPN in Los Angeles.
Jenni has also had the honour of singing “OhCanada” and performing her Shania Twain act in front of thousands of people at B.C. Place.
With Gloria Macarenko, longtime host of CBC Vancouver’s supper-hour television newscast at 6:00, and Tina Turner and George Michael lookalike performers. Jenni does a tribute to Shania Twain. That’s her up on the screen.
Jenni also shared a heartwarming story about meeting her cute little Shih Tzu named Bella. This is her second Bella. Her first Bella passed away from cancer at a fairly young age. Jenni loved the dog and was completely heartbroken. About two years after Bella’s passing a friend suggested it was time Jenni get another dog. She wanted another Shih Tzu. When she went to look at a litter of pups one got very excited, ran right up to her and jumped into her arms. The owner said the dog’s name was “Bella.” On her birth certificate was written “Bella Comes Back.” True story!
I just heard this song Feel Good Feelin’ for the first time yesterday. I thought since the title has Feel Good in it, how appropriate for an uplifting Friday note. Hope you enjoy it even if you’re new to country music. Be sure to check out the Kelowna, B.C. scenery (and the tattoo on her arm in the very beginning).
Have a great weekend! The last one before Christmas.
With Christmas around the corner and families staying put, it’s beginning to look a lot like a different kind of holiday season. Lots of things are up in the air and I’m not talking flying. Life as we knew it is a little blurry right now. I’m trying to look at the positive, but with so many small businesses getting shut down again and struggling to survive, it can become dispiriting. “This won’t last forever,” encouraging as it sounds…is not soon enough. We should help to save lives while also saving livelihoods. We have to take care of ourselves the best we can. Little things here and there help to uplift our spirits.
So I’ve made cookies. Lots of cookies. Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin with Indian spices, Thumbprint with Jam, Peanut Butter/Chocolate Chunk and finally holiday shortbread. The one with the least amount of ingredients and the most challenging.
This one is a Martha Stewart original. The only thing I’ve changed is instead of using granulated sugar I’ve substituted with organic cane sugar. They’re really yummy. My added touches: some are cut out round and sprinkled with chili cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar. Or; should you decide to melt chocolate, you can dip half the cookies in the chocolate, as shown.
Shortbread Cookies with Cardamom
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground *cardamom
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar (original recipe calls for using granulated).
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Whisk flour, salt & cardamom in a medium bowl.
Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in Vanilla.
Reduce to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.
Press the dough into a 10” x 15” rimmed baking sheet on top of parchment paper. (the recipe doesn’t call for this but this way turns out being a lot easier to work with the cookie dough).
Press parchment paper onto surface and smooth top. Remove top parchment; wrap sheet in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes. This will help the dough become harder and therefore easier to cut into cookie shapes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using snowflake (and other) cookie shape cutters, cut out cookies, and arrange by size on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with sanding (icing) sugar. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.
Let cool on sheets on wire rack.
You can freeze what you don’t immediately eat. I freeze all my cookies. Once thawed they’re as good as new. Enjoy!
*Cardamom is a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family. Cardamom pods are spindle-shaped and have a triangular cross-section. The pods contain a number of seeds, but the entire cardamom pod can be used whole or ground. The seeds are small and black, while the pods differ in color and size by species.
LUMIERE IS A SERIES OF ARTWORKS INSPIRED BY LIGHT AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.
We enjoyed the colourful display of public interactive artworks in Vancouver’s West End during the day and also in the evening. Something festive and uplifting. It ended November 30th.
Davie the Bear and an Orca Whale. Standing at 24 feet tall, ‘Davie’ is a bright, inquisitive and playful grizzly bear. He joins a series of other nature inspired art works at English Bay that pay homage to BC’s wilderness. Davie hopes to shine a light on the story of BC’s grizzlies. For more info you can visit: http://www.grizzlybearfoundation.com Photos: d. king
Stanley Park is home to one of the largest urban Great Blue Heron colonies in North America. These majestic birds have been nesting in various locations in Stanley Park as far back as 1921. Created by MK Illumination, standing 13 feet tall and boasting 10,320 lights, the heron pays tribute to Stanley Park’s Great Blue Heron colony. It is an amazing sight to see these birds building their nests. Photo: d. king
What the World Needs Now Photos: d. king
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – at Vancouver Art Gallery Photo: d. king
Bute St., Vancouver Photo: d. king
Remember This December, That love weighs more than gold! – Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon
I love unexpected afternoons that end up on a positive note.
Last week we happened upon a dog training farm in Duncan (located in the District of Cowichan Valley) on Vancouver Island complete with sheep, lambs, ducks and one wily border collie.
And, as I happened to have one Shetland sheepdog in the hatchback of my car, I thought it a good idea to see how she would respond to the little lambs that were silently grazing behind a fence. Especially since knowing that the breed (sheltie for short) are herding dogs that originated from Scotland’s remote and rugged Shetland Islands. Known to be easy trainers and world-class competitors in obedience, agility, and herding trials, I was dying to find out how she’d react.
We took Layla out of the car and held her as she watched and sniffed, all the while appearing calm and disinterested.
Anyway, before we drove off we stopped by the farm which goes by the name Ash Farms and has been in the family for generations as we learned from Linda, the owner, who came out and greeted us. As luck would have it, she’s a dog trainer with a specialty in training them to herd sheep and ducks.
A light went off! After chatting with Linda for several minutes I decided to take a trial training run from her to find out if Layla has what it takes. Even though I don’t live on a farm and don’t plan to buy sheep anytime soon.
My imagination led me to believe that Layla would start chasing them around the pen in circles while nipping at their hind legs and I expected that it might get out of control.
So Linda, with the help of her very smart border collie Jock, was more than patient to find out if Layla has a natural instinct. Jock helped to show Layla a few tricks. They showed us that there’s a method – and it starts off slow with an eye to follow the sheep.
We learned a few things.
For instance, we found out that instinct to herd is largely inherited, not learned.Like ballet or piano, it’s better to start them off young.
Therefore, instinct is a response to stock that no amount of training can create. However, the greatest instincts are not useful without a willingness to work with the handler. Trainability is as important as good instinct, so the greater level of working accomplishments by the parents, the higher the likelihood the offspring will achieve these skills. Without attention to this in breeding, it is all chance.
Ahhh…makes sense now. Her parents never herded farm animals.
So we took a chance. It was worthwhile nonetheless. Layla needs to be more wolf like in her approach so that the sheep are afraid of her. They were not. They kept their eyes on her though.
Layla has potential but seemed distracted and would need more lessons without me hanging around. For now she’ll go back to chasing squirrels and Canada Geese – something she prefers.
It’s easy to see why this open-air art gallery draws visitors from all over the world.
This is only a splattering of photos taken with my Samsung phone camera a few days ago. See story below.
Like many others right now during this pandemic craze, I’m tending to stick closer to home. Well maybe not always too too close; but close enough. At the very least I’ve been discovering places in the province where I live that I have either never been to and wanted to visit, or haven’t visited in such a long time, that I can’t even remember when I was there last.
Such was the case a few days ago when I took the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island with my boyfriend Paul and Layla, my sheltie. The reason I decided to go in the first place was to look at the possibility of getting a companion dog for Layla. I was very interested in getting another male sheltie who lives on the island. However, without going into detail it sadly was not meant to be, at least for now…so we decided to make a little holiday out of the situation.
We took the ferry boat one way going there and another way coming back with stopovers in some quaint little towns…Ladysmith, Chemainus, Duncan and finally ending up in Victoria to take the ferry back to Vancouver. The weather for November was excellent and the scenery very picturesque.
And speaking of picturesque…I was aware of an abundance of story-telling murals in Chemainus as I had been there once before, but I had no idea that it is known as Canada’s Mural Capital. And I don’t remember seeing nearly as many as I did this time around.
I was blown away by how this proud seaside community shares its heritage and celebrates its history through art on the sides of stores, restaurants and private homes. The creation of one mural and sculpture after another which began in 1982, has turned this tiny town into Canada’s largest permanent outdoor art gallery. And might I add… when was the last time you stood in front of a “Subway” sandwich shop or “Canada Post Office” in admiration?.
You can follow the yellow footsteps (like the yellow brick road) on the sidewalks to locate all the murals. Although we did it by chance and decided to spend the night in a hotel there so we could enjoy the town the next day.
Town History:
When Chemainus was established in 1858, forestry was the principal industry, and it is still central to its life. The townspeople were concerned about the future of their one-industry town so looked to economic diversification as a way to thrive. As it has a natural beauty setting to begin with, it made sense to expand as a tourist spot so The Chemainus Murals Program was born.
The subject from the beginning has been the community’s heritage, reflecting the history of the First Nations people and their life here, and the unfolding story of settlement by the families and individuals who built the community.
World renowned Vancouver Island artist Emily Carr’s legacy is depicted in a special Emily Carr Mural Series. It’s really beautiful.
The name Chemainus is believed to have come from a legendary First Nations shaman and prophet who survived a massive wound in his chest to become a powerful chief. Tsa-meeun-is (Broken Chest).
If you’re looking for The Mural of the Story…
Going by the official mural guide I can look through and tell you by number what each mural means, however I think it best you go there and discover for yourself… if only becauseit really is worthwhile.
Ummm… maybe high impact glamouris what I really meant to say.
Photo taken from Tracy’s new Website (see link at bottom of page).
Tracy is someone I met in Palm Springs last year and I’m happy that she’s become a friend. Needless to say, Tracy stands out from any crowd and has a multitude of talents to her credit. There’s almost nothing that she cannot accomplish. She’s also a gracious hostess. I find her inspiring.
And earlier this week she launched a new website that lists all of her creative ventures and adventures. To name a few.…if you’re looking for a cool place to stay in Palm Springs you might consider the ART Hotel, Tiki Hotel or Tiki House that she personally designed.
For now, I thought it would be perfect to share a tidbit of information taken from her actual website. At the bottom of this page you can go directly to the website where you’ll find everything you need to know.
Taken from Tracy’s website:
The creative mind behind brands such as SalonTea, Tracy Stern Shoes, Tea & Co. and a whole lot more, Tracy Turco – formerly Tracy Strern – is an artist, designer, author, hotelier, entrepreneur and style icon residing in the midcentury mecca of Palm Springs. As an interior designer she has brought her touch to numerous stylish residences and businesses, as well as vacation homes and colorful boutique hotels such as the Tiki House, Art Hotel and Tiki Hotel in Palm Springs, not to mention her own home decor collection.
Tracy also attended numerous Paris fashion house shows as well, regularly seen front row dressed by luminaries such as Emanuel Ungaro and Guy Laroche to name but a few. She was voted ‘Best Dressed New Yorker’ five years in a row by the respected Avenue magazine, and has also featured on style-driven TV shows such as Bravo’s ‘Mad Fashion’.
Tracy’s shoe line came into being when she created a patented design for interchangeable uppers on a shoe giving multiple shoes with just one pair.
From there the Tracy Stern Shoes line took off internationally, selling to destinations such as Japan, Russia, Paris and Italy. It was equally popular with celebrities around the world including the likes of Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan.
Didn’t I tell you she was inspiring? For more go to:
Canadian Thanksgiving is this coming Monday, October 12th. With whomever you decide to celebrate with, be it friends or family in your small group – here is an easy and delicious little recipe to add to your dinner. Or; just have them for breakfast or afternoon tea.
photo: d. king This plate belonged to my grandmother.
I used Wensleydale cheese only because I was looking for a good way to use up this cheese which is one of my least favourites, and I love cheese. This type of cheese is not easy to spread on crackers as it crumbles and it has a slightly sweet taste. However it’s awesome in this recipe. You can also use aged cheddar or a combo of cheddar/parmesan. I bet Gruyère would be good too. This recipe was supposed to be scones but I think they turn out more like biscuits. The lavender pepper is a nice added touch and something I’ll continue to use.
Cheese Biscuits with Lavender Pepper
Ingredients
1¾ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
5 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed
¾ to 1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded *Wensleydale (the one without cranberries) or other cheese
1 ½ teaspoons dried, culinary lavender flowers (or use 1 teaspoon fresh lavender flowers)
1 tsp. **Lavender Pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a shallow mixing bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and lavender pepper.
Add the cubed butter and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter or a fork until butter is about the size of small peas.
Stir in the buttermilk, a quarter of a cup at a time, until it forms a wet dough. Stir in the cheese until completely combined.
Scoop onto a baking sheet by large spoonfuls and bake 12 to 15 minutes until tops are golden brown.
photo: d. king. Adding red chili pepper spread is yummy.
*Fun Facts: According to the official website of the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, a.k.a. the company that produces Wensleydale Cheese, the first people to make this particular dairy delight were French Cistercian monks back in the 12th century. After arriving in Wensleydale and the nearby surrounds, they set about making their cheese, albeit with ewe’s milk rather than the cow’s milk typical today. I say Ewwww!
Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit fame) is an advocate of a good hunk of Wensleydale, but did you know that the Aardman Animations shorts helped revive the company back in the 1990s? It’s true! The brand was floundering, but animator Nick Park’s (coincidental) decision to namedrop Wensleydale Cheese helped boost sales. You can now even get Wensleydale Cheese wrapped in Wallace and Gromit branded packaging.
Another fun fact: I never watched Wallace and Gromit – but I think this marketing ploy was genius.
**To make lavender pepper combine black peppercorns with lavender flowers (half and half) and grind together using a clean coffee grinder or herb grinder.
The lavender works surprisingly well with pepper, offering a flowery note that stands up to the peppery bite without the bitterness. Also good to use on pork, chicken or beef.
Emphasis on “Fresh and Light”
With Christmas around the corner and families staying put, it’s beginning to look a lot like a different kind of holiday season. Lots of things are up in the air and I’m not talking flying. Life as we knew it is a little blurry right now. I’m trying to look at the positive, but with so many small businesses getting shut down again and struggling to survive, it can become dispiriting. “This won’t last forever,” encouraging as it sounds…is not soon enough. We should help to save lives while also saving livelihoods. We have to take care of ourselves the best we can. Little things here and there help to uplift our spirits. 
because Fall Fashion makes everything better
And earlier this week she launched a new website that lists all of her creative ventures and adventures. To name a few.…if you’re looking for a cool place to stay in Palm Springs you might consider the ART Hotel, Tiki Hotel or Tiki House that she personally designed.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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