Over the last few months the weather has really started to cool down, which makes it much more comfortable for this Brit! As a result I have been making more of an effort to get out and take some photos.
Last month I took the dogs up to Lake Pleasant for an overnight camping trip - which wasn't quite the relaxing, serene trip I had imagined....
Firstly, Oscar saw his first duck, which he promptly chased until he ran out of ground. It was like a Tom and Jerry cartoon - all of a sudden he was running in mid air, then SPLASH!!! He was not a happy chappy... and just to get daddy back he rolled in the dirt and then curled up in my sleeping bag, which will never be the same again!
Next, Alfie decided that his dog food was not enough... he wanted some of my food. However, in his enthusiasm he knocked over the billy-tin and the tent now has the red colour and the unmistakeable aroma of chilli - the tent will never be the same again!!
Then... to my horror and embarassment (and for the first time ever) my tent fell down! Of course, it would have to happen after dark... so we packed up and slept in the car! Oscar thought it was great fun.... Alfie had a tough night as he got spooked by every single noise from the nocturnal wildlife. Alfie will never be the same again!!
However, I did get a few nice shots of the bird-life which can be seen in the 'Woodruff Photography' page.
Last week I took a trip out to Arlington Butte - a bird refuge about 40 minutes away. I got there nice and early and was well camoflaged by the time the sun came up. I was so camoflaged that an egret stood about 15 ft from me and had no idea of my presence. I thought I was going to get some great shots of this bird... but duck season is open and the hunters in the area had another thought. BOOOOOM!!!!! As the feathers of some poor mallard drifted to the ground the egret took flight before I could get a single picture. Then it dawned on me... If the egret did not know I was here, then neither do the hunters... BOOOOOM!!!!! I knew I had to let the hunters know I was around... but how to do it? If I stand up am I going to get blasted by buckshot? I decided to whistle a tune... but I could not think of one! Eventually I whistled the first few bars of 'The Adams Family' and got a whistle back... so I was safe, but all the birds were long gone.
Not wanting to repeat last weeks events I deided to try something new this week. Yesterday I drove to the south of Buckeye where the desert meets the farming land and I hooked up 10 bird feeders! This morning I went out to see what was around... nothing! I will have to keep baiting the area and visit again next week. I did get a couple of shots of the cotton-tail rabbits and also of this handsome fellow.
June 13th 2009.
Updated picture of Ella. We are really looking forward to meeting her in September!
May 29th 2009.
This week I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens with our friend Sara to see the Chihuly Glass exhibition. While we were there we took in the butterfly pavilillion too. I have added the butterfly pictures to the animal category on the Photography by Alex page. The Chihuly pictures are in the Object and Miscellaneous section.
Meanwhile, we are getting used to 2 dogs and all that a new puppy brings to our house. Alfie is very jealous of any attention we give to Oscar, but Oscar is besotted with Alfie and follows him everywhere trying to get him to play, or just to cuddle up when they sleep.
May 22nd 2009.
It looks like I have lost some of my recent entries on this page! It is probably a case of 'fat finger syndrome' and not double-checking the changes I make before publishing the news page!
Anyway, a quick catch up on the last 6 months or so....
I have started a new blog which allows me to apply a narrative to some of my favourite photographs. This will hopefully allow me to document my failures and successes in a way that will help me to develop. Feel free to add comments to the pictures - all constructive criticism is welcome. I have also enrolled in the Professional Photography Course at the New York Institute of Photography. I will add any assessed pieces of work to my blog along with the assessors comments to refer to as my own style grows. Just click on the banner below.
I have found a great little pond to the south of Buckeye which seems to have an abundance of bird life to photograph. The only problem is that I think it is on private land and I cannot find out who the owner is. I am going to have to employ some covert infiltration techniques to get to it until I can find out some more info - my old pal Tom would be so proud of me! The ghillie suit and cam netting is packed and ready for a day there next week.
We attended a meeting with the town managers recently and found out that Buckeye is developing a quarry into a huge town lake. This will make a really nice addition to the area - I would love it to have a couple of hiking trails and a bike path etc. I was asked if I would be interested in joining the planning committee for this - which may be interesting. I will keep this page updated with the progress.
Alfie has a new playmate - Oscar. He is an 8 week old Cocker Spaniel pup. He seems to be settling in well and there does not appear to be any serious jealousy from Alfie. In fact, Alfie has taken to the big brother role very well and tolerates Oscar pulling his ears and biting his tail with a really good attitude!
After our kitchen adventures we decided to install hardwood floors throughout the ground floor. It is very funny watching the dogs skidding and slipping on the bare floors! And it gives the house a completely different feel. It is definitely a positive renovation.
I have been craving a good Indian Curry since we got to Arizona and we are gradually becoming non-curry eaters because we can't find a decent one. In fact, we have had so many bad ones that the thought of having a curry here is really awful (the same thing goes for fish and chips)! In an attempt to put my curry world back into some semblance of normality I found a great set of recipes from British curry houses and without a second thought ordered a stash of herbs and spices from Bradford (well, where else would I go for Indian ingredients?). Three months later I discover that my shipment was seized by the Department of Homeland Security and I was curryless again! Oh, the travesty!!! Eventually I found a great online store in L.A. and went about ordering my ingredient list again. When it arrived I was gobsmacked - The spices alone filled 12 tupperware containers and my larder now smells like the Bengal Palace!! Anyway, I am hoping that with some practice I will satisfy my hunger and put an end to the 'dead cat' curries we seem to find here!
April 20th 2009.
We have had Áine's sister and family with us for the last week and we had a great time with them. It is always so lovely to spend time with family and we wish we could see everyone more often. Alfie made some new best friends in Orla and Cian - he has never been so spoiled with cuddles and games! Orla got to meet her penpal (Cherry) and they had lots of fun with a sleepover and a girlie make-over arranged by Aunty Áine! Cian got into the explorer mood and got a couple of scrapes while checking out our palm trees - nothing a little bit of TLC won't fix! Then we had a trip to the Grand Canyon, a wild west show, a trip to the zoo, girlie shopping and a close-up look at some scorpions and rattlenakes! For the adults there was some good food, good wine (with some expert input for Alex the noob) and good conversation. Áine and I had a really good time and we can't wait to see all of you again in September!
January 10th 2009.
December 12th 2008.
BIG NEWS!!!! Congratulations to Jeremy and Caz... and to Ella Georgia Woodruff - who arrived today! Here are a couple of pictures of our beautiful niece.
September 9th 2008.
I finally got around to adding some pics of the new kitchen. Click the picture to be taken to a slideshow which will take you on the project journey.
July 20th 2008.
Áine and I are in the middle of a kitchen refurbishment at this time.... It has been quite a challenge living without a kitchen for the last 2 weeks! Of course, Alfie really does not know what to make of it all! Hopefully this week will see it completed - then we will tackle the cosmetics... the painting and finer touches. I will post some pictures soon.
In the meantime, I have resumed an old blog - Gastro Al's Recipes... click on the link to visit the web-page.
On a sadder note... Marcus sent me a message last week to let me know that our old teacher, Mr Oliver, died recently. He had been unwell for a while - the last time I spoke to him he told me that he was confined to the ground floor of his house after several illnesses.
May 13th 2008.
Finally, some pictures of Alfie - here he is, meeting our friend Cherry for the first time.
I have now been accepted as an 'Expert' on allexperts.com (he types as he stifles his chuckles!). My area of expertise is Nursing, with specific emphasis on pediatrics, pediatric critical care, nursing careers and international nursing.
With this new found power it won't be long until I have world domination at my fingertips!!!
More Dog News! We have another dog causing havoc in our house!! You would have thought that we would have learned our lesson with Ollie!! Our new little friend is Alfie... a 12 week old Cavalier. He is almost house-trained... just the occasional package for me to clear up. He is a little unpredictable right now, one moment he just wants to nuzzle up to us on the couch... the next moment he is tearing around the house like a whirling dervish (whatever that is!). He is an indoor dog for the next few weeks until I have given him his shots, but then we will be out and about whenever we can... I know of a couple of ponds that I am sure he will love! Pics coming soon.
I thought I would re-introduce my travel map from the old website... if only I could remember the Mark Twain quote about trade winds in your hair etc. etc.
Anyway, for anyone remotely interested here is my Travel Map.
We heard from the animal hospital (via the pet store) that Ollie died over the weekend. In some ways it has been a relief to us - he had been sick since birth and as we know from our careers a 4 month old baby who has been hospitalized with a raging chest infection for that amount of time will undoubtedlty have a long-lasting chronic condition.
So, we are dogless again, but we have both agreed that we will look for another dog in the near future.
Otherwise, life rolls on here. The summer is coming and we already have temperatures in excess of 90°F.
I have been doing more wildlife photography in the last 2 weeks - with mixed success! But, like everything else, I look upon it as a learning experience. I have actually found it quite peaceful, in a meditative way, to be sat in my hide in the bird refuge at 3 am, just listening to the breeze and the occasional ripple on the water.
As far as the success of my outings is concerned, I have been taking some one-on-one advice from a great photographer who is also a member of the same forum as me (www.photocamel.com). In time I hope to show some real development in my technique.
The sports photography has taken a back seat in the last month, but Richard (my mentor and partner) is keen to exhibit our work. We will see what happens.
So, after the introduction of Ollie to our house Áine and I have had a very stressful couple of weeks. We knew that he had a respiratory infection when we bought him, but thought that it had cleared up with the antibiotics and care he had received in the store. We had to wait for a week after we bought him before we could take him home so that he could complete his nebulised antibiotics.
Over the next week Ollie's cough got progressively worse and Áine and I were making daily trips to the vet. Of course, we had to use a vet that was covered by the warranty insurance - which meant a 70 mile round trip each day! It has been a real struggle getting Ollie to eat or drink and finally we resorted to syringing fluids into his mouth and force-feeding him. Even with this effort he lost 25% of his body weight and became more lethargic each day.
We increased the vet visits... or at least the length of the visit. We would drive him to the vet in the morning and then pick him up in the evening... that means driving 150 miles per day!
Last Thursday we had him hospitalized. The pneumonia (which had been right-sided) had spread to his left lung and the frequent subcutaneous fluid boluses he was receiving had led to some pulmonary oedema. He had a chest tube placed to remove some of the fluid that was impeding his breathing. He has now been in hospital for over a week and appears to be doing a little better... but will probably have an ongoing chronic lung condition from now on.
We are not sure when he will be fit enough to be released and come home, but when he does he will be one very spoiled puppy!
I have finally achieved with Áine what I thought would have been impossible... we finally have a dog. And what is more amazing is that Áine chose him... and is totally in love with him. His name is Ollie and he is a 4 month old King Charles Cavalier. He is driving us mad with house training, but he is good fun and we are pleased to have him with us. For some reason he is neglecting the great toys I bought him and is very content playing with my shoelaces. Of course his favourite thing is the blue, fluffy bed that Áine bought him... that and crapping in the living room!
At last we have compiled our wedding album from our favourite pictures. To see the album you can either follow this link - here, or go to the Photo Album page and follow the link from there.
We hope you enjoy the pictures of our special day.
Firstly, welcome to our new website. Our web-hosting company has changed to an 'all singing, all dancing' platform.... which has had me scratching my head and swearing at customer support numerous times over the last 2 weeks.
So, welcome to the new platform.... Nice eh? I think it will take me a little while to find my way around the system... I guess I have my next project!
Secondly (and more importantly), we are now back in Phoenix after an amazing trip away! The wedding went without a hitch (no pun intended), and the visits to Dublin and Bristol were absolutely incredible to say the least.
We were so overwhelmed by the celebrations... so many great people in one place!
And now we are back at work......................................................................................!
We will be posting some photographs on this site.... for those that are interested! And I have made a little YouTube video of the big day... which can be seen here.
I will post the wedding pics in the Photo Album as soon as I am able.
My photography is continuing to keep me out of trouble. This week I visited Buckeye Union High School where I will be taking pictures of their sporting events... maybe all that running up and down the field/court will help me lose some inches!!!
Anyway, I hope the New Year finds you all well... and that 2008 continues to be as good as possible.
