As we cross the bridge at Adams Basin (a tiny town of 3-6 buildings), we turn right and pass the ubiquitous History sign at each entrance to the Erie Canal Pathway. This pathway is maintained by the state for walkers and bicyclists and goes for hundreds of miles. More on the sign later and perhaps a closeup glimpse of the historic photos there.  The Pathway is where the donkeys, mules and horses used to walk along towing the un motorized barges and canal boats in the canal to destinations all over New York state. They were laden with grain, produce, products and even stone for commerce. This is why the Pathway is also called the “Towpath”.  The animals were harnessed and roped to the long thick towrope to each boat and as they tired they would put out a plank and take the animal onboard for a rest and get out…

I have had a lot of Boudoir sessions, especially in the past couple of months.  I usually do my sessions out of my home in my living room… yes my living room.  Today I had a customer come in and she was so surprised that I am able to create something so beautiful from such simple backdrops.  I am sure she was expecting to walk into a studio type set up with lights set up and backgrounds hanging down, you know the usual studio set up.  Instead she walked in where I had a blow up mattress set up with plain white sheets and a couple of pillows up against my plain white wall.

I have very few things that I do within my sessions (background or prop wise) that I change.  I have a simple black fleece cut into two pieces on for covering the mattress and…

I’ve just realised that my humble little blog has been a whistle-stop for more than 1,000 visitors already!

It wasn’t even four weeks ago when I was sitting in smugness at the fact that more than five people had stopped by of their own accord, and I wasn’t even related to them!

I didn’t notice the numbers were over 1,000 until just now, and if my maths are right, it must have happened a couple of days ago. I’m a little sad that I missed the actually roll over from 999 to 1,000. I know it has little impact on the meaning of life, but I like to see things like that. Sadly, I missed watching my car mileage roll over to 100,000 miles too. Same thing when it was getting close to 123,456. I watched the mileometer for ages, grabbing a peek every thirty seconds, and then got distracted (probably by something irritating like driving …)…

Happy St. Patrick’s day! Two years ago, I was blessed to celebrate this day in Armagh, St. Patrick’s episcopal see in Ireland.  The site of his cathedral is now owned by the Church of Ireland (i.e. the Anglican Communion), but the Catholics have built a marvelous new cathedral not far away.  The photo above shows the interior view towards the altar. Here are more photos I took of that beautiful place of worship.

You can find more photos of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh and other places in Ireland in my photostream on Flickr.

And as a bonus, here is a photo of the church at the site where St. Patrick us buried, in Downpatrick, Ireland.

Thanks again to my good friend Fr. Cathal Deveney for his hospitality during my visits to Ireland!

When this popped up from my memory card I gasped a little.  It seems like it tells a beautiful story.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!