Getting lucky and high in the city

Because I wanted to have this little fella as my opening picture, the post of today's proceedings is not in chronological order, but that doesn't matter too much since, time is an illusion. As I mentioned, my wife and I had most of the day off together and spent a lot of it running around, but there were photo ops along the way, so this will be a photo-heavy post.

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I like it when I get lucky. I like it when I get lucky with the camera also and on the way to the lake for an afternoon swim with the family, I took a meander through a field to see what I could find and chanced upon this pretty little thing at the top of a blade of grass, posing for me. It wasn't for long though and I felt "a little unlucky" when I missed capturing it taking flight by what mush have been a millisecond. Still, I like the colors of the burnt orange on green and the smudges of "lupine purple" in the background.

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And just on the other side, @momone and @smallsteps walking the trail to the lake beach. Smallsteps has been loving the water this year and spends the majority of her time splashing around by herself commentating on everything she is doing and making up games. Truly happy kids have an infectious energy and no matter my mood, she makes me smile.

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Every kid has their moments, but I am glad that beyond the various challenges we have faced over the last 4 years, moments with smallsteps are overwhelmingly positive and we are very lucky that while she has a very strong personality - she also got my sweetness ;)

And speaking of sweetness, the first strawberries are starting to poke their head out of their flowercaps and while they aren't ready yet, things are looking good. It might even be that Smallsteps will be able to have a few of these after all, as we had a bit of a successful test with some fresh strawberries the other day.

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And you can't have summer without some daisies...

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... and both cherry trees are bearing fruit - as are the apple trees, pear tree and various berry bushes that we have randomly growing here. It is great to see the garden start to become more practical and offer something back after all the water and love we have given it. Okay, not so much love, but I like it a lot.

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And an ugly bee. If one is short real bees, flies are great stand-ins to practice with. I was actually chasing some small blue dragonflies that I saw in the area the other day, but it wasn't to be - they seemed to have cleared out. One of the problems with a short summer is that things come and go very quickly - it is take the opportunity when it presents now - or miss it.

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And then, what we started the day with. There is a new "attraction" in the city, which is a rooftop walk around an old textile factory building. Finlayson is one of the traditional Finnish companies and is celebrating its 200th birthday this year - It was founded by a Scot.

The walk is with a guide who was cute and friends, but didn't speak much and was there mainly to stop anyone from jumping out of the harness attached to wound steel cable. The guidance came via a headset and it wasn't until 20 minutes in that the guide realized I had no idea what was going on and apologized for not giving me an English version - if they had one - which they don't. I am guessing that they will have to eventually.

Two things I did learn:

  1. There are sniper points built into the clock tower, just in case.
  2. One hotel was serving alcohol even under prohibition, because that is where the police drank.

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This next photo is taken by the cute guide. I don't know if she was cute to be honest, but she was an "eye-smiler" which I have always found attractive. I think I have looked out for them ever since as a very young kid I read a Roald Dahl book called, Danny, the champion of the world and it was described in there. Eye smiles are genuine, they can't be faked - even by Americans.

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No one wants to see pictures of me, so the next few are of my wife as we headed back to the starting point and then to a rooftop cafe for a salad and a cup of tea. What is cool (and I don't have a good picture of) is they keep a hive on the roof and collect the honey for the cafe. Not only that there is a live feed of the hive available, but if tuning in as this is posted, remember that it is after midnight here and they might not be out and about as much - but you can see inside the hive too if you watch as the camera changes angles.

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It was a pretty good day and it ended up that we got nearly everything on our list ordered online, including the bathroom mirror and toilet roll dispensers - the important stuff. It really is amazing how expensive some things are these days and how fast the "small purchases" add up. Scope creep is a very real issue with a project of this size with amateurs (my wife and I) at the helm, but it has been bearable so far - just a few more years ahead. The greys are filling my head faster than my wife's though and by the time it is over, I might look even a little more haggardly. She might trade me in.

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Perhaps that is him on the phone now :D

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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You take some good photos. I love small's Tigger towel, how cute is she in it why do you do this to us xD

Seems like you're enjoying having a garden :)

Scope creep is a real issue in everything x_x

I get lucky :)

I love small's Tigger towel, how cute is she in it why do you do this to us

One of the benefits of being an "old parent" is that we have friends with older children and we get some pretty cool hand-me-downs.

Scope creep is a real issue in everything

It is a hard thing to keep track of at times and it is only "felt" later - when there is no money left :D

It's also fun to prevent with your clients who don't see why you can't "just" also do this because this XD

Lol the last line got me laughing. No need to fear, am quite certain she won't be going man shopping long as you keep being you

long as you keep being you

This is the reason she is more likely to!

As an American, I protest! I know I can fake it till I make it.

These are fabulous pictures and smallsteps is truly photogenic. Or a ham. Either way, she is freaking adorable.

The bugs are spectacular. I can see it smiling. Get a little closer. I am appalled how much it costs to renovate, but, the good thing is that you plan to live there for the rest of your life and everything that you do to improve it, you get to reap the benefits.

You really need to take more pictures! You do it so well.

Upped and Reposted

!tip

As an American, I protest! I know I can fake it till I make it.

:D
In Finland they have this saying "yankee smile" to mean a large disingenuous smile. Not sure if it is all true, but at least there is a grain in there.

She is photogenic - but she is also a ham. :)

The renovations are moving along well enough (although well past budget) and I think the final result will be decent considering the starting point.

You really need to take more pictures! You do it so well.

Thanks. It has been easier in good weather and being able to head into the garden for a bit to see what is going on.

Lovely images friend. Hope to shoot great like you someday. I take cool shots too with my Xiaomi Redmi note 8 Camera.
Nice clicks

Is it a good camera?

Not really good as yours but it's a little bit encouraging 😂.
Here are some kitchen photography I made with the camera, you might want to check them out 😊
https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@geyzee/inside-the-kitchen-of-a-bachelor-or-baked-bean-sauce-and-rice

Great photos! Small purchases really add up, I agree. But what can you do, gotta keep things running😊

Yep, not much to be done about it - just cut some where we can :)

Yes, adjustments have to be done. That's how life goes, constant re - evaluation and decision making.

If it ever changes you with another, remember that only photos like these can be taken by you.

I will ask for them all back, so she has no history of our time together ;D

I love the pictures that focus on bugs here and I don't even like bugs. Something about the Camera focus is attractive...

The benefit of a good lens bokeh I assume. :)

You said no one wants to see a picture of you. Smile 😂 but I do.

But I have seen today but it's not really a clear one.

Lovely pictures 🤗👍

The camera has an "auto hide" feature that blocks me out

Hahaha.. so does it mean the camera can recognize your face 😂😂😂

It has an algorithm that predicts and favors attractiveness and blurs out what it considers not good enough :P

Hey, great photos my friend 👍Nice post

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