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Personal musings on my travels throughout the world and examples of my work
We haven’t sold the house yet, but in preparation for same, I am making changes to my website – disconnected because the business is closed – and the blog. I am too busy to spend time updating it now that we are in the process of showing the house on almost a daily basis, so I have instructed my web host to pull the plug on the blog site until we get to the UK. Then I’ll see if I will re-start from across the pond.
Thank you all who have been my followers!
A bientot!
Inge
September 14, 2011 - 3:13 PM - Inge, we too echo Marlene's, sentiments, we will miss your lovely photos, and hope that you will be able to continue your blog, we would love to see updates on your incredible journeys and adventures! Here's to hoping the house sells quickly and you can take your first steps in your new life! Please keep in touch with us, we will miss you both! Layna
September 7, 2011 - 9:08 PM - I'll miss viewing your beautiful photographs. I do hope you will be keeping this up from the UK - I can't wait to see your new home and the beautiful locations found in the UK.
You are sipping a fine glass of chilled Chardonnay while you lie back in your hot tub, surrounded by tall evergreens in your landscaped and secluded back garden. Bird song serenades you from the branches, and butterflies flit from flower to flower. No need to go to the cottage – you have all that you need here. Inside, your house is cooled by an energy efficient geo-thermal furnace/air conditioner. Company is coming and you’ve set the table in your spacious dining room, and your huge living room awaits the laughter of friends. The aroma of baking drifts from your Jenn-Air gas oven… Both your bathrooms gleam, and the three bedrooms are the quiet refuge from the cares of the daily toils. Although it’s summer, you know that in the fall your son will continue his studies at J. R. Reid, only one block away, and daughter will make her way down the block to Massey. You know all your neighbours, and they are good friends now because that is what it is like in this neighbourhood. If you can imagine yourself living this lifestyle, call Lina Nikolova Sutton-Harrison Realty at 761-7444 for a private viewing.
Offered for Sale – Extremely well kept 3 1/2 level, 3 bedroom Split Family or Executive home with attached garage converted into studio/workspace ideal for home based business or huge family room or Master Suite (507 Sq. Ft.). 647 Sq. Ft. on main level, 498 Sq. Ft on second, and 498 Sq. Ft on lower level with a further 647 Sq. Ft. crawl space. Hardwood flooring under carpet throughout, window coverings stay, ceramic tile flooring in kitchen, master bathroom and 3 piece bath, and utility room. Geothermal energy efficient heating and a/c, updated kitchen (new track lighting and fixtures) and bathrooms (new fixtures), hot water heater (new 2008 Dec.),energy efficient toilets, triple pane aluminum windows. Jenn-Air self cleaning gas stove with convection oven, Maytag dishwasher and side-by-side fridge freezer with ice/water dispenser. Central alarm system. Abundant storage space both inside house and outside. Huge landscaped back yard with mature trees. Broil King Gas barbecue (attached to house gasline). Patio-stone tiled patio backs house. Attached dog run. 1 block from J.R. Reid Elementary School, 1/2 block from Vincent Massey High School.
As we are moving to the UK any and all furnishings are open to offer.
Property Taxes: Gross $3123.42. With Manitoba Education Property Tax Credit Advancement of $700, Total Current Taxes $2423.42
For personal viewing please call 204-761-7444 to arrange appointment.
ASKING PRICE: $277,900
What can I say? The anxiety level regarding this move is increasing day-by-day. When I was still a psychologist and patients came to me suffering from anxiety I would try and re-frame the way they were feeling by using cognitive therapy. To wit, what is the worst thing that could happen, and what is the likely hood of our worst fears happening. In our case, that we couldn’t sell the house for the price we want for it. The chances of that happening are slim, if at all. We live in one of the most desirable areas of Brandon where there have been bidding wars on houses, we are within one block of a highly rated elementary school, and a half a block from one of the best high schools in Brandon. So why the butterflies?!?
I guess it’s the fear of the unknown. We haven’t got a house at the other end yet, though we will be the time it will be for us to leave. Where will we live while the house contents are being shipped by container to England? Will the dogs be OK on the flight over the pond? Will we be able to sell the things we are not taking with us without taking a beating? These questions are what are keeping me awake nights.
Meanwhile, I should be focusing on the positives. We are going to be much closer to family, we will be downsizing from ’stuff’ we no longer need, we will enjoy the milder climate of the UK, we will be able to go to continental Europe for a song on Easy Jet, I will be redecorating our new house, the dogs will love running in the fields of England, and already some of our friends have expressed an interest in coming to visit us when we are settled. So I am now telling myself to “get a grip”. This move will happen smoothly as long as I am organized. I have already started ‘down sizing’. Yesterday I cleaned out the closet in the master bedroom and made two piles of clothes that are superfluous, which will be going to Value Village of the like. Next week, I will tackle the closet in the guest room. A Chinese proverb says “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. I just have to break this move into single steps.
You know what? I feel better already! 
June 16, 2011 - 6:09 PM - Layna, we can't leave until the dogs are ready to be accepted into England which will be at the end of October. We will, however, sell our house and hope to be gone from Brandon to Steinbach to stay with my best friend until we can leave with the boys. I am still working in the studio as long as we are still in the house - we hope to set possession date for September 1st. So call me in July or August and we'll set something up. Congratulations on Liren's BIG win!!!! You must have been bowled over and very proud!
June 16, 2011 - 3:05 PM - Dear Inge, When I opened your blog today and saw your post , I must confess, my stomach flipped, and my heart skipped a beat, please do not think that I am not incredibly happy for you, I just can't imagine you being gone!!!!! Have your plans come to fruition? will you be leaving Canada? if so do you have a departure date? We have the most incredible news to tell you, though minor in the big scheme of things, Liren, our beloved bitch, went BEST IN SHOW back at the beginning of May!!!!! We would love to imortalize the moment as only you can do, will you be doing any bookings still????? Sincerely, Layna Allan
June 6, 2011 - 12:17 PM - Yes, Michael was at Denstone College! I'm so pleased you think of him as a 'breath of fresh air' - the more liberal thinkers in the Brandon Diocese LOVE his sermons, though I can't say that for the conservative sticks-in-the-mud. I just read your note to him and he says he does remember you! Once we are settled - we don't know yet where we will be, do come and look us up! Ron Trounson has died - about 2 years ago - but his wife is still living as far as we know. Michael says, quote "I look back on the Denstone times as a 'formative experience'". Very nice to hear from you through my blog, which, I'm afraid, I have neglected of late because of this move!
June 6, 2011 - 11:56 AM - Interested to read your comments about returning to England. Was your husband at one time Assistant Chaplain at Denstone College when Rev RC Trounson was the Chaplain? I was at Coll 1960 to 1965 and Rev Mike Skliros was a breath of fresh air as Rev Trounson was a bit "old school" and always wore a black cassock. Does your husband recall a D A Norman-he taught me "A" level history in the sixth form? He was a wonderful teacher but I believe he left Coll in late 1960s to work in a State school and wonder what became of him? Best wishes, Peter Barnshaw.
In March my husband Michael and I, with my BFF Marlene Fast, took a whirlwind two week trip to Hungary and the UK. We left on March 8th, leaving Canadian winter behind, only to arrive there in full spring with temperatures in the mid to upper teens and even in the low 20’s. We visited with family in Hungary, celebrated my father’s 92nd birthday – Marlene did a family portrait of the ‘Horvaths’ – and then flew back to the UK to see the Skliros side of the family, and visit Suffolk, Oxfordshire and even Stratford. On our return home, we were disappointed to see that the snow was just as deep as when we had left, and indeed the weekend after our return, we had a snowstorm which dumped a further 15 cm of the white stuff on the ground. We were not amused.
Michael and I had been seriously thinking about a possible move back to the UK, and returning from this trip, we decided that we were going to do it – move to England, lock stock and barrel. Our families are there, we have lots of friends there and there was more reasons for us to go than to stay here, I will miss some friends we will be leaving behind, especially Marlene, but the positive thing is that she will have a place to stay in England when she decides to visit. So with this blog, I will try and chronicle the move from start to finish.
We will, of course, be taking our ‘boys’ with us, our beloved Vizslas, Hunter and Grissom, but we have to get all the vet papers done so they will not have to be quarantined upon arrival in the UK. They are going for their annual check-ups and rabies booster on Monday, after which they will have to get blood tests done to ensure that the antibodies against rabies are up to UK standards. Then, 6 months later, we can go. So we are looking at October-November for the move, provided we can sell our house before then.
So now comes the tough part…how do you ‘downsize’ after 50 years of collecting ’stuff’? A friend, Dave Howard, from Howard’s Van & Storage is coming today to help us estimate what it will cost for a container to move possessions across the pond.
Lord, give me strength! This will not be easy. But I hope to keep you updated on the progress of our move.
Before we headed off to Hungary and the UK – more about that trip later – I entered 4 images into competition at the annual Image Salon of the Professional Photographers of Canada. I knew I had some nice photographs, but when I heard that all of them had earned a ‘Merit’ rating, I was over the moon! Having images just ‘Accepted’ for the salon is an honour, but to have all of them be rated as a ‘Merit’ was a huge thrill!
Here they are:
I titled this image ‘Sitting Ducks’ for obvious reasons. I captured them on ‘film’ while visiting Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. They are an Asian Species called a Mandarin Duck, and this is a drake and his hen.
The second image is titled ‘Take the damn picture already, my feet are killing me!’ Titling an image is an integral part of the submission. Get the title ‘wrong’ and your image may not score as high. Also taken at WDW Animal Kingdom.
Title: ‘Wise and Knowing Eyes’ Again, taken at the Animal Kingdom in December 2009. I love this image!
The final image was one that I took when visiting Hungary in 2009. My brother had taken us on a tour of the Basilica in Esztergom, and I took an HDR image of the huge dome of the church from under the centre of the dome. I called it ‘Symmetry’.
Once again, it’s that time of year - Santa Claus is coming to town – more specifically, to The Green Spot, where I we’ll be on hand to photograph children, young and old, as well as our 4 legged friends, big and small! If you want to bring your horses to be photographed with Santa, we will do them as well! Please see the poster below for more information. All proceeds from the Creation Fee will be donated to the MS society!
After many months of absence from my blog – I’m back! And I have great news… I am a newly Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), one of only 5 in Canada, and less than 2000 internationally!
I first had to take an exam on the technical aspects of photography – lighting, exposure, colour management (additive and subtractive colours, colour balance, etc.,) digital manipulation, appropriate use of lenses, composition and design, etc. The passing mark is 70/100. The second part of the process is the submission of 20 images from actual client sessions – not self assignments! – from my major areas of specialty, for evaluation by a panel of 5 Master Photographers to see if I can put into practice what I know. I have attached the images below.
Certification is valid for 5 years, after which one has to re-certify. This is the client’s assurance that the candidate is current in the latest technical advances and portrait styles in photography.
In this day and age when everyone who owns a digital camera believes they can open a business and call themselves a ‘professional’, those of us who have been in this business for over 20 years know that there is more to being a pro than just knowing how to click the shutter. We constantly strive to further improve our knowledge base and skills, belong to professional organizations such as the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC), Professional Photographers of America (PPA), become accredited in areas of specialty, attend seminars and conventions, take courses, and enter print competitions to demonstrate that we are current and can offer our clients the best the industry has to offer. So when you are ready to hire a ‘professional’ take all these factors into account. Are you willing to trust your family’s memories to a ‘wanna be’? Remember, you get what you pay for.
November 23, 2010 - 1:45 PM - From you best friend and mentor and colleague - I salute you! Well deserved and congratulations!
Over the past weekend we had a showcase of our images on display at The Green Spot, Brandon’s favourite garden centre. The centre was a beehive of activity with hundreds of customers buying something special for Mom on Mothers’ Day, while others were piling up the convenient shopping carts with bedding plants, herbs, and other goodies for the garden. Spring appears to have arrived and summer is not far behind! While at The Green Spot, we met some old friends and clients and made some new friends. To celebrate our new alliance with Bernie Whetter of The Green Spot, we offered a draw for a FREE portrait session AND a $500 credit toward one of our ‘Portrait Collections’ to customers visiting our display. Out of the many-many entries, we drew Sandy Klein’s name as the winner of the draw! Sandy lives in Brandon and will be having a portrait done of their 6 months old female Boxer X Pit Bull. We have probably already met the puppy at the Victoria Avenue East Doggie Park where we also take our boys for runs, but we have not been formally introduced. We all look forward to meeting her and her ‘humans’.
Congratulations to Sandy for winning our draw and we welcome you to our photographic family!
Just the other day I looked out my front window and saw this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker busily making his was around the trunk of my paper birch tree in the front yard. Luckily I had my camera handy, like a good photographer should and I managed to get a few shots before he decided he had enough of my encroaching on his territory. I hope he’ll come back!
April 23, 2010 - 7:58 AM - I was lucky that he stood still for me long enough for me to capture his image. :-)
April 22, 2010 - 8:21 PM - these are great - and tack sharp! what a beautiful bird!
Yesterday afternoon it was a wonderfully warm Spring day so Michael and I along with BFF Marlene Fast, decided it would be fun to take the dogs for a run. It has been a while since we visited the Doggie Park on Victoria Avenue East, mostly because of Michael’s hip, but also because of wet grounds. Now that things had dried a bit, it was time to go and let the boys loose. Marlene and I both took our cameras – me with a 50 mm f/2.8 prime lens and Marlene with a 70-200 f/2.8 telephoto.
These were some of my favourites from the outing. Alice is the prime ‘mover and shaker’ behind the East End Doggie Park and we were happy to see her there with her Shelties.
We also met a 6 years old Dachshund and his ‘Daddy’
A very friendly and photogenic Rottweiler…
Hunter is one of our two Vizslas
Jetson is a 3 months old Australian Shepherd. He just loved to play with the ‘big guys’!
Brindle Great Dane
Fawn Dane Puppy… he’s almost flying!
This little guy looked like he was trying to get inside a bag left on the bench!
Smile for the camera!
An Akita or Akita X… He looks very happy, doesn’t he?
Hunter and Grissom chasing after a ball…
Michael getting ready to throw and… THEY’RE OFF!
Love Michael’s expressions! And I guess this is what is known as ‘turning on a dime’.
Hunter, flying
A happy Golden Retriever X
A tiny white poodle sniffing Michael’s leg on our way to the gate.
The Doggie Park is a happy place. All dogs and humans seem to get along. Wouldn’t it be great if the world could learn from this?
BTW, if you would like professionally done portraits of your four-footed friends, call 728-8065, and we’ll talk!
April 4, 2010 - 9:40 PM - I love the expressions you got on all the dogs - they really do have their own personalities! My favorites are the photos of Michael ready to throw the ball - I can't decide which expression and action I like more... Michael's or the dogs!!! Priceless! I like your last comment as well - and since I was there with you, I completely agree!
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