53. Cactus land

Yet another day, yet another day dreaming about the deserts of the North West. I don't think anything would make me happier than a trip to learn about cacti, their pollinating insects, and different succulent plants that live in the dessert. It's such a foreign world to me, and something that I desperately want to learn more about.

After I post this final post, I will be off to my family's home in the Annapolis Valley for a few days. I cannot wait. A little taste of life in the Annapolis Valley is just what I need. Beaches, family, fires and beer. What could be any more appealing for a burnt-out student.

Let the reading week commence.

52. Thripidae

I am taking an independent course which lands me in the horticultural building on campus each Thursday morning. I always make a point to take a few minutes wandering the greenhouse, and looking at the plants. Trying to learn a few scientific names, saying 'Hello' to the red-eared sliders, the normal things. There were some beautiful tulips in bloom, and one was highly infested in thrips. So I took a very 'typical' picture of the little insects running around the bell-shaped flower.

Can you see the little critters?

51. Symbiosis

I have always lived the word symbiosis. The interaction of two living things, interacting, living together. While the term can be applied to a myriad of situations, I like it best in the sense of a mutualistic relationship. Everyone benefits. Here is a nifty little photo of some mutualistic benefits taking place on a public pay-phone on campus. How beautiful!

I don't have any knowledge about lichens, and would like to learn more. Perhaps this would be an interesting off-season insect hobby to dive into! 

50. Shapes in the ice

I walk to school each and every day. I walk about 400m, it's a quick walk, and very enjoyable. This last week has been dominated with an icy puddle that has thwarted me twice. It's always nice to be outsmarted by a puddle. Why isn't it solid at -25 degree temperatures? I will never know. God it's good, so good.

On my way to school I fell through the ice, on my third trip home - this is the beauty that I found. 

49. Trees

I had an absolutely wonderful dinner tonight with my good friend Julie. We chatted about life, got nicely caught up on everything and shared a few good laughs. On the way out of the meal hall, the trees were illuminated by a setting sun in the West. Of course, I had to snap a quick photo. Sometimes I regret not including colour in this blog. This being said, I think my composition is getting better as a result of shooting in B&W. 

48. Lavender Bridge

Another wonderful thing about my girlfriend? She has an incredible green thumb. Everything she cares for grows big, tall and healthy. It's absolutely wonderful to know that she'll be looking after my green-babies during my travels to the UK. Janey's French lavender has grown so big and tall, that its' surpassing the height of a local housing complex in Fairview. I say that's mighty impressive for a little plant. 

47. Slug town

Nobody likes to find a slug in their garden. Unless of course the slug is made of glass. This lovely little slug was a gift from my mother in my stocking, and is made by a glass artist in Halifax. Since Sarah-Jane loves slugs, I have the slug on semi-permanent leave at her apartment in Fairview. The little fellow is taking up residence in her phalaenopsis. I couldn't think of a more fitting place for the little fellow!

46. Heliotropism

Need I say any more? I have a wonderful, wonderful girlfriend who knows me to a 'T'. Thank-you Janey. To make a great day even better, throw in a wonderful 3-hour meeting with Dalhousie Student Union, and an acceptance letter to University of Oxford. Life is good. 

45. Love Connection

We held the presidential speeches tonight for the Dalhousie Agricultural Students Association. A wonderful turnout, and paired with a musical act, a mock game-show, and a student pub night. How could you go wrong? We had a really great time, with interesting debate, new ideas, and a few laughs. How could you go wrong? Sometimes my job is the best job in the entire world.

Pictured is Jessie Swimmaner, a great laugh, a wonderful sport, and just an incredible all around person. She made 'Love Connection' a smashing hit. 

44. Birthday Bliss

February 13th was my 22nd Birthday. I celebrated my day with a huge surprise. My girlfriend Sarah came down from Halifax, completely throwing off her schedule to surprise me with a visit and a beautiful gift. When I was in class, she decorated my room with 22 balloons, each with a photo that she scavanged from different places, mostly from different points of my life.

It was the sweetest most wonderful gesture. To top it off, Sarah baked me some beautiful home-made cupcakes, and gave me a copy of Steve Marshall's new book on flies! It was absolutely wonderful. I have the most generous girlfriend in the whole world, she makes me feel so darn appreciated. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a wonderful feeling to feel so loved and appreciated.

The photo today is what I came home to from class. 

43. Haunted Cumming Hall

I tend to spend most of my nights in the library, or in the basement of Cox Institute. Often I take a quick swing through by Cumming Hall, and the Rock Garden. Sometimes I see mice, and sometimes I see interesting moths hanging by the light.

I have a theory that Cumming Hall would be probably the best location for a haunted house in all of the world. We could have students in spooky make-up, and bats on strings. If you ever walk by this beautiful administration building at night during a full moon, it can be truly spooky. A very beautiful site, it has a huge amount of potential as a venue for a Halloween function. Perhaps for a fundraiser in the future? A Haunted Halloween Shindig?

You bring the ouija board. I'll bring a couple of hard-boiled eggs, a bag of apples, and a bottle of wine. 

42. Monday, monday, monday

On my walk home from school, I found a few chloritic leaves with some very interesting shapes. They were blowing in the snow, and some had a very delicate, beautiful look to them. Of course, I had to feature this wonderful sugar maple leaf. Such a little beauty. Bent almost in half, and slightly transparent, ever so beautiful.

Winter always seems to have some beautiful treasures to find. Particularly if you keep your eyes on the ground. Eye-contact is overrated sometimes.

41. Bird snacks

After this huge storm, I have noticed some very hungry birds in the back-yard. I decided to help them out a bit by putting out some herbaceous woody plants that I made cuttings of earlier in the fall for a floral arrangement. Our cat also likes to eat the seeds, and after a couple of days of Daucus carota seeds littering the living room, I called a truce and moved it to the sunporch.

As it got dark, I noticed a couple of beautiful little black-capped chickadees having a snack in the snow. I hope they appreciated the gesture. Such sweet little birds.

40. Wild, Wild, Wild, Woodsman

Today marked a special day on campus. The annual Rick Russell Woodsman Tournament. I have volunteered the last four years, while being part of the process through my role in the Student Association. This year, rather than being a photographer or a timer, I judged the axe-throwing event. A very interesting way to spend the day. Did I mention we got hit with a massive snow storm? Despite upwards of 30 cm of snow on the road, and drifting as high as 1m we had stands full of people eager to cheer on some quality lumberjacking. Heave ho!

This is a photo of one of the competitors during the highly anticipated, crowd favourite...
WATER BOIL.
Basically in this event, an individual prepares a cedar log to boil a litre of water. The first individual with a boiling can wins. You should really check out the event on youtube, but this photo does demonstrate the dramatic nature of the event.

Big shout out to friends Julie, and Geoff for organizing such a wonderful event from the student side. You lovely people are going to be missed!

39. Interview II

I had another interview via skype. This was certainly the first day that i ever had two interviews back to back. It went quite well, and I was happy with how I performed.  I received a piece back that I had fired at a local studio earlier in the month. I didn't make the physical piece, but I did do the drawing. Had a lot of fun with it, and the end result ended up being quite nice. I have it set aside as a gift for a special person in my life that I will give a few weeks later. I hope they like it!

38. Sunlight

Today was one of those days when nothing seems to go your way. I had my interview with graduate school today, and I'm very disappointed in how I interviewed. I was far too nervous. That definitely came out with my speaking and presenting. That aside, the day just got progressively crazier.

Things started to cool down towards the end of the day, and had a beautiful walk home from class. When I arrived home around 5:00, the light coming through my window was absolutely beautiful. Though the air was cold, the sky was bright and the sun made this beautiful casting on the East wall of my rented room. Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference. Today was certainly one of those days. 

37. My bird friends

Every morning on the way to school I am greeted by a chorus of birds from a mugo pine. Today, I spotted six of them (four pictured) on my way back for lunch. Three different species: European Starling, Bluejay and White throated sparrow looked back at me. The white throated sparrow and one of the starlings made off before I could get the photo, but I did get this lovely shot of four of my little friends. Maybe these are the birds that I feed from our lilac?

Truly a welcome sight on this beautiful winter day.
Keep warm and healthy.

PM 

36. The gifting of a rutabaga

I have a huge amount of generous friends, but one person who's generosity never fails me is my friend Kevin. We've run together on the cross country team for the past two years, and have been friends since first year. A back-to-the-earth kinda guy, with a love for vegetable production Kevin is always known for his love for sharing good food. He gave me this lovely rutabaga, which I can't wait to cook up and eat. Or maybe just eat it raw? Who knows, whatever way I will eat it, it will certainly be delicious. Thanks for the lovely vegetable Kev!

Veggie lesson of the day.
For those of you wondering the difference between turnips and rutabaga. I did a little reading when people asked me about the 'turnip' I was carrying around.
- Rutabagas are rougher in texture than turnips
- Rutabagas are starchier and rougher than turnips
- Rutabagas are yellow after cooked, turnips white after cooked (Generally, not always)
- Rutabagas tend to be a little sweeter than turnips

Never hurts to learn something new!
Hope you're well, happy, and healthy.

PM

35. Thoughtfulness

I'm normally not someone to ever talk about gifts I've received. But yesterday, I received what was easily the most sentimental and heart-felt gift I've ever received. My lovely girlfriend compiled a book of memories of the past 66 weeks when we first met. She went through text message conversations, hand written letter, and e-mails, selected memories and paired them with photos. It was so touching, so thoughtful and so beautifully done. I've got a really special thing with my beautiful girl, and just wanted to share how thoughtful and lovely she is. Not to mention, she is a very neat printer. How did I ever get so lucky?

34. Comes the snow

Though I must admit that winter isn't my favourite season, I do enjoy the beauty of snow. On Sunday, February 3rd 2013 we got just that. A big, old-fashioned, winterland whomping of it. It is blizzarding in this photo (Note the blurry blanched on the right).

On another 365 topic, Sarah Jane and I celebrated a very happy year together after spending most of the day apart working on independent school work. After hours of meetings, and homework she met me at my apartment with a bowl of homemade onion and potato soup. We spent the rest of the evening exchanging gifts, and chatting. Both of us made the intelligent decision of drinking caffeine earlier, and as a result we were both up until 2:00 AM. I'm so incredibly lucky to have someone as lovely as Sarah Jane. 

33. Library Days

I can't believe that I've gone my entire four years at the AC without taking a photo of one of my favourite places. This is the MacRae library, and is an incredible place to read and study. I generally spend a couple of hours here each day hiding in the stacks, working away. In the fall, a beautiful feature of this garden is a curtain of soft, billowy Miscanthus sienensis behind the 'Library' sign. It is truly one of the most beautiful features of the campus landscape.

Today I spent several hours here, working on a projects, and finishing up a presentation for graduate school admission. 

32. Happy February

February has come, and has brought with it an interesting feature on the river. The thick ice from several weeks of negative temperatures cracked during a freeze-thaw. Add a damming effect of the ice, and you get some very interesting sliding and shifting of the ice sheets. This is what I have photographed today. Truly beautiful. It was great to see the town of Truro appreciating the beauty of the ice.

Keep warm,

PM