Beautiful Lake Louise in Winter

As winter comes to a close and CTB will be saying good-bye to winter forever (???), as we prepare to move to the Caribbean, I wanted to share some images of the Great Canadian icon in winter. Lake Louise, a short drive from Calgary, feels like it is a world away. You have seen the photos of the surreal turquoise waters, but have you seen it in winter? It is stunning, breath-taking and surreal in a new way. The elevation allows for great snowfall amounts. The trees look like they are covered in icing and the views look like a movie back drop. The dry cold makes you soon realise it is for real.

In late November, once the lake is completely frozen, the Chateau Lake Louise builds an ice castle and skating rink. Cross country skiing, snow shoeing and horse-drawn rides are also things to enjoy. Not far from the Chateau you can even go for dogsled rides! In January, there is an ice carving contest. As long as the weather allows, the ice sculptures sparkle in the sunlight and add to the surrounding landscapes. We enjoyed just walking in the snow and taking in the beauty of it all. Soon this will be traded in for hot temperatures and new vistas. I feel like Frederick from Leo Leoni’s book and soak it all into committing and etching it to memory.

 

Frozen – Lake Louise in a new way

The Ice Castle on the Lake

 

The boat house cabin patiently waiting for the spring thaw

Have you ever been to Lake Louise?

Stay tuned…

 

Winter Wonderland

Winter has arrived in parts of the Northern Hemisphere. In the Rocky Mountains of Alberta snow has been falling regularly over the last few weeks. In Lake Louise in a 24 hour period 54cm fell. We happened to be there that day and look at the fantastic views.

Lake Louise. Along the path to the Lake. A small ‘cabin’ near the Chateau Lake Louise.

Unfortunately the turquoise lake was under a thin layer of ice and the heavy snow blocked out the majestic mountain view. The snowflakes were quiet and wrapped the area in a surreal silence.

Banff -The snowy walk pack to the parking lot from the Hot Springs

You may have wondered where I have been lately. It has been weeks since I posted anything. I have taken to Twitter and have been using it more frequently to do a quick post right from my phone. You can get the link to my Twitter feed to the right of the posts. I don’t think you need an account to view, but may to comment and like. I will try to get back here more frequently and post.

 

Fadoodle Faces #6

Depending on how you look at this you can see 2 different faces. One looks like a cat with whiskers, which is what drew me into it.

Fadoodle Feline or Masculine Face?

 

This is a theme I started a few weeks back called Fadoodle Faces, meaning nonsense or foolish. Check them out here:

• Fadoodle Faces
• Fadoodle Faces #2
• Fadoodle Faces #3
• Fadoodle Faces #4
• Double Take
• Fadoodle Faces #5

If you have a cool face and want to share, link to it and tell us about it in the comment section below. In your post please give me a ping back to this post (or a previous fadoodle faces) so we can all share and easily find them. Can we see what you see?

Fadoodle Faces #5

Continuing on with my silly theme of faces in nature here is another. This face is a little harder to spot… Can you see it?

Long Face

I challenged you to tell me what Fadoodle means and thanks to Quiall and my Aunt Freda for their guesses. Faces in a doodle was Quiall’s guess and Faces on Food was my Aunt Freda’s definition. Drum roll please…. fadoodle means nonsense, ridiculous or foolish. I thought it was fitting since the faces in my photos are in nature or food. How silly is that? Faces are not meant to be there!

Check out my other fadoodle faces in the previous posts:

• Fadoodle Faces
• Fadoodle Faces #2
• Fadoodle Faces #3
• Fadoodle Faces #4
• Double Take

If you have a cool face and want to share, link to it and tell us about it in the comment section below. In your post please give me a ping back to this post (or a previous fadoodle faces) so we can all share and easily find them. Can we see what you see?

 

Grid -Photo Challenge

This week’s challenge asks for a photo framed in a grid like fashion. As WP says we often use the invisible grid, or lines within the viewfinder, to frame photos into the ‘rule of thirds’. The photos in this week’s challenge will show the grid.

My first pic was framed in the Lake Agnes Tea House, a little wooden cabin, at the top of the trail from Lake Louise. A rainy hike had a little surprise rainbow. I snapped the view from inside the cabin looking over the valley with Lake Louise below.

Room with a Rainbow View

As I searched for the above picture I came across this one, which I didn’t think about when considering the theme. It doesn’t have the clean sharp lines, but the interesting shape and view I decided to include it. The unique tube like bridge made me feel I was inside a fish or a snake. We went for a walk along the Bow River in Calgary through the parks. In various places bridges crisscross the river making both sides accessible for walking and biking.

Inside Looking Out

Stay tuned…

Fadoodle Faces #3

More funny faces in nature, pareidolia. As I was looking through the archives I found this little face in the woodpile. An old tree had to be cut down because it became dangerous. The interesting patterns in the wood and how the pieces were randomly placed provided a little face looking back at us. Certainly made me do a double take.

Grinning ear to ear or should I say limb to limb?

Want to see more faces check out my other posts:

• Fadoodle Faces
• Fadoodle Faces #2
• Double Take

Have a face you want to share like Patchwork Ponderings did? Provide a link in the comments below and link back to this or another one of the Fadoodle Faces post so we can all share. Can we see what you see?

So what is Fadoodle? Add your ideas below in the comments. Stay tuned for the definition.

Fadoodle Faces #2

The image that inspired my idea to post the faces I found in nature (known as pareidolia —para-dole-ee-ah). Although I don’t think this one occurred naturally. 😉

Along the hiking trail from Lake Louise to Lake Agnes. A very HAPPY place.

Check out my other posts on faces in case you missed them.

• Fadoodle Faces
• Double Take

 

If you have a cool pic and want to share link to it and tell us about it in the comment section below. In your post please give me a ping back to this post (or the previous one fadoodle faces) so we can all share and easily find them. Can we see what you see?

 

Fadoodle Faces

While out hiking recently I spotted a little face on a log, then in a rock. Before I knew it I had close to 10 images of faces in nature. Looking for a good title I discovered I am not alone. Social media even has a hash tag #iseefaces. As I researched it more I found there is a name for it pareidolia (para-dole-ee-ah). Pareidolia is the brain’s way we perceive a sound or image of patterns. Some believe we see these images because it is how we are hard-wired. Our brain tries to make sense of what we are looking at and the most familiar is to see faces. (David Robson -bbc.com)

Then I remembered the first ‘face’ I saw while working in Shanghai. I was walking home and something caught my attention. I stopped to look closer and saw a little face looking back from me. The tangle of the branches and these white shell looking items made a little face. Can you see it?

A little face… what does it look like to you?

And there is more. One of my most popular posts was ‘double take’ and it has a little face too.

Have you ever seen a face in nature? an object? food? Tell us about it below, or better yet provide a link to your post for us to check it out. Please link back to this post Fadoodle Faces for everyone to check out the pareidolia. Can we see what you see?

Over the next few weeks I will post more faces, pareidolia. Stay tuned…