nonamedufus

For reasons that will soon become apparent, I missed the deadline for PJ's last Photo Blogger Challenge . But as I sit here in the Canadian deep freeze of -23C I think you'll appreciate my delayed efforts with respect to the prompt Tis the Season . The season started out normally enough with a bit of a snowfall. I got the outdoor lights up just prior to our first dump of the white stuff. And then my wife and I gave all that up and escaped to Panama for two weeks where it was over 30C every day. We golfed. We spent a lot of time at the beach. And we enjoyed the gorgeous sunrises. So that's why I'm late this month. Are you feeling sorry for me yet?

P..J. over at a lil 'hoohaa has outdone himself this month with the November theme of where the streets have no name . I mean really? C'mon, I mean wherever I go all the streets have "noname". They don't call me nonamedufus for nothing. So, like, this month's challenge is a no-brainer for me. Which is probably a good thing because I'm challenged at the best of times. So here I am (noname, remember) on a street in Old  Montreal. Look at the outline if the house on the side of that building over my shoulder. A house with no name! Here's another street with noname in Montreal. It's actually rue St Paul Ouest, across the street from Stash Cafe which serves the best Polish food in Montreal. This street with noname is down the street from where I live. This was the second week of November and it was so cold noname donned a toque. According to that post over my shoulder I'm under surveillance. Now, enough selfies. Here's...

I think our good friend P.J. over at a 'lilhoohaa must have run out of topics because he told participants in October's challenge that the theme was Photographer's Choice .  Fine by me. And so I've got a somewhat eclectic collection of photos to share. In late September my wife and I took a little long weekend getaway to Mont-Tremblant. Some of you may know already that I march to the sound of a different drum. Given that, I went and bought one at an antique store for my music room. We spent the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in Bath, Ontario near Kingston at my brother's place. Here's a snap of the nearby Loyalist Golf Course. Isn't it gorgeous? My brother's wife cooked a delicious turkey dinner for about 20 people. But before the company arrived my brother and I engaged in one of our favourite activities when we get together...snacking on devilled eggs. There weren't many left for the rest of the family. Mrs. D and I took the l...

This month's challenge from ol' P.J. is black and white . I took him literally and so all my photos this week are black and white. I'm used to colour photographs so this month's collection was a bit of an eye opener for me. That round thing on the table is a ceramic puffin we picked up at a gift shop in Ogunquit, Maine a few years ago. But what I like about this picture is how the light shines through the metal shade onto the wall behind. These are flowers on our kitchen table. I was having lunch and doing a crossword when I thought these white flowers might satisfy this week's prompt. I'd been passing by this place for weeks but could never find a place to stop and park so I could get out and take a few pictures. I was really quite taken by this dilapidated barn. But as I approached it I came across a fence post that I included in my shot. Here's the barn, which used to be white but it's now pretty aged by the weather. I had to p...

I don't know how he does it or just what inspires him but P.J. over at a 'lilhoohaa runs a monthly  photo challenge and always comes up with interesting prompts to guide us through our 5 favourite photos of the month. August's theme is colorful (he's American, eh). A month too soon to capture the fall's turning leaves so what the heck can be colourful/colorful in August. Well, I went golfing with my brother Whitey and the language was colourful. I hosted #lostmyliverpalooza in August attended by bloggers Cheryl Duford - no slouch when it comes to photography - and Paula Larew Wooters , and her dog Henry. Paula has good posture. She's no slouch either. Look at Cheryl's colourful Jeff Gordon NASCAR jacket. I had to wear sunglasses near her. Mrs D prepared a colourful breakfast for my blogger friends of bacon, eggs, cheese and fruit. Nice, eh? Here's Paula sporting her colourful "caution" socks. She provided all of ...

The prompt this month was "baseball" and for a while I wondered just how I'd illustrate it. But then one day on an errand I happened to pass by the city's former Lynx Stadium. The Ottawa Lynx used to be the Montreal Expos AAA farm team and in 1995 they won the International League Championship only two years after they began playing. I witnessed that win and remember fondly taking my kids to Lynx games. In 2007, however, new owners moved the team to Allentown, Pennsylvania. All that remains is an empty ballpark, used mainly by local teams for tournaments. When the Expos folded the Lynx began an affiliation with the Baltimore Orioles from 2003-2006 and ended their Ottawa days affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007. But in their 15 seasons in Ottawa the Lynx never came close to those heady days in the mid-1990s. Be sure and visit    P.J.'s blog  and see what the rest of this month's participants developed. (See what I did there...

Ol' P.J. tested our creative abilities in June with the prompt "vehicles". Nevertheless I think I've risen to the challenge (pun intended) with this collection of photos. This is Big Red, used every week to deal with our acre of grass (the kind you cut). I took this shot coming off the local Highway 50 at the Des Allumitieres exit. Can you tell it's rush hour? This little vehicle carts my son and I around the golf course every week. It was a great day for a round last Thursday. This old relic is at the entrance to the Gatineau Golf Course. There were three of us playing last week. I though they might rent us the truck so we could travel the 18 holes together. The Beast. It's a 2006 Mitsubishi Outlander. Eight years old and it still runs like a charm. Drive on over to P.J.'s blog where you can discover what the rest of this month's participants came up with.

They say April showers bring May flowers but around here it just brought more showers. We've had more than enough rain. So much so it prevented me from getting out onto the golf course. I did get out though to snap some shots for   this month's photo challenge from P.J . His theme this month was "fun". And so I had a little fun with the following pictures... It was a rainy day and the playground was abandoned but I know on sunnier days little ones have fun on this apparatus. It looks a little worse for wear but there was a time kids had fun playing tennis here. Speaking of kids, what's more appealing than a cereal "fun pack". For an old guy with diabetes I avoided these. We use this little guy for chemical pucks to chlorinate our pool. What's more fun than a pool? Or a plastic duck with sunglasses? This creature sits in a corner on our deck. What can be more Canadian then a moose flower pot? That's the col...

Oh my God, it's the end of the month already? Hell I thought there was one more day. That's what happens when your birthday is on the 28th. You're still hung over on the 30th! There, did I make you smile? That's the theme of this month's photo challenge from P.J. Now, let's see, what made me smile this month? How about my grandson, Miko, who we took out for breakfast after his hockey game. He has a whole different concept when you ask him to "smile" for a picture. This is the other side of the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel in Montreal. It goes under the St. Lawrence River. It's a little disconcerting to see water dripping down throughout the tunnel. It gives Mrs D fits. But she was driving and I was...smiling. There was just something photogenic about this guy at the Montreal Planetarium. He was smiling. At leafs I think that's a smile. Can you imagine how much toothpaste this guy would have to use. That thought made me sm...

The theme of this month's photo challenge coordinated by P.J. over at  a 'lilhoohaa  is "one".  One? Now I'm a music buff so when I hear a word or phrase I often think of a song. How about 1968's " One (Is The Loneliest Number)" by Three Dog Night or the hauntingly beautiful "One" by U2 from 1992? But those are videos and this is a photo challenge. So here are my "ones" from March … The sign said "one way". Maybe if I keep going I'll find summer. The clock in the car said 1 o'clock. Don't stare too long. You may have an accident.  I went to a hospital appointment about mid-March and parked my car on Level F-1 We're health conscious in my house. Well, one of us is anyway. We drink 1% milk. And a quick visit to the music room turned up this post-Beatles Beatles CD of #1 Beatles songs. That was my month. Now, march on over to P.J.'s place @  a 'lilhoohaa   and...