Shareflowers

2007-04-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Back from CAMBODIA!

As most of you already know, Calvin and I recently spent a month in Cambodia. Without a set itinerary we embarked on our journey with open minds and a craving for adventure and discovery. Our hopes were to spend 90% of our time in the rural/remote areas of Cambodia and to mingle and possibly stay with locals in their villages. Through past travels we have found that the most interesting experiences occur when you simply arrive, talk to the locals and accept the experience as it unfolds. If you go in with a set schedule you may miss out on what could be the highlight of your trip.

Calvin spent a couple of months learning Khmer (self guided) which is the spoken language. It still amazes me how fast he picked it up. Carrying on a 30 minute conversation seemed fairly effortless and the more practice he had with the locals the better he got. By the end of our trip he had learned more than double of what he knew at the start. We were determined to get off the main tourist route and gain a genuine understanding of the people, culture and way of life. Learning Khmer allowed us to experience a side of Cambodia that without the language would not have been possible. Not only did it free us from having to find tour guides, it opened many doors that would not have appeared otherwise. It would have been extremely difficult to get by on only English. No one spoke it in the areas we were in. The locals were not only surprised to see a foreigner around their villages but their eyes brightened with glee when they found out Calvin could speak Khmer. Wherever the two of us went we were invited into celebrations, offered extended stays within the villages and treated to many hours of interesting conversations into the night. On strolls we usually had a fan club pack following us trying to show us off like we were celebrities. I've never had such positive attention in my life and I felt very flattered and important...hehe.

Not once did we feel unsafe. Cambodians are one of the friendliest groups of people I have ever met. They genuinely just wanted hang with us and expected nothing in return. Overall it was a very rewarding and unforgettable trip and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to travel to such a place and experience Cambodia in it's entirety.

I've posted some of the pictures on my photography site which is www.pbase.com/sharinpix

Stay tuned for stories and video clips :)

2007-01-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

My FIRST PORTRAIT!

This is a portrait that I did of my sister for Christmas. My very first basic sketch was of Calvin a few months back and I decided to give it another go and try Rachel. I've never had the confidence to tackle any kind of life drawing because they are so hard to get right and take a great deal of patience. There is a TON of stuff to learn and improve on that's forsure! Took much longer than I thought and I learned from a lot of trial and error!!. Next time I'll work with a better quality picture that shows more detail and blow it up full size. I had to use my imagination for the hair and neck areas cause the original was cropped too much...eeck! I guess you have to start somewhere :)

2007-01-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

CHEERS TO 2007!
Happy New Year to all our amazing friends and family! I thought I'd jump start the new year with a blog entry! Yes can you believe it? I'm actually posting! I probably lost what few fans I had but have a little faith cause I'm back in blogging business :)

Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities

Christmas dinner at my house

Christmas with the relatives

New Years Dinner with the Hass side

2006-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Mature Bald Eagle

2006-09-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

Calvin and I spent last weekend learning about birds of prey and falconry.

This is actually a young bald eagle. It's full grown but won't develope it's white head until it more mature. I couldn't believe how large she was!

This is one of the hawks that Calvin was handling. She is a beauty!

Some facts:
Raptors are characterized by a hooked beak, strong feet with sharp talons, keen eyesight(8 times sharper than ours or 100 times sharper than mine..haha), and acarnivorous diet.
Hooked Beak - The raptor's beak sets it apart from other birds. All raptors have the samebeak design, curved at the tip with sharp cutting edges to rip and tear apart their prey.Falcons use their beak to kill their prey by severing the spinal cord.
Sharp Talons - Birds of prey have powerful leg and toe muscles that terminate with sharptalons, making their feet lethal weapons. Their feet are perfectly designed to catch, hold,and carry prey. These toes can apply an extremely powerful grip on their prey, literally crushing it to death. The talons may also kill the prey by piercing the soft tissue and vital organs. Size Difference - Female raptors are generally larger than the males.
Eyes - Raptors have three eyelids! They have a top and bottom eyelid plus a third, transparenteyelid which closes laterally across the eye.

2006-09-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Calvin and I Spent a full day with the different raptors and I can't believe how much we learned in one day.From the biology and all the different type of raptors and their characteristics to what falconry was and the art of it, to interacting with the birds (holding, feeding, flying). It was such a unique and amazing experience.
Near the end of the day we took the raptors for a walk through the forest. They would fly from tree to tree staying close to us and every once in awhile we'd hold out a piece of meat and they would come swoopng down to our arm. In the wild, raptors only fly when they are hunting. They can get tired out and it's was cute to see how they wanted to use you to carry them back once they were tired. Falconry is a team effort between you and the bird and you could tell that there is quite a bond that developes between the bird and the owner. The birds that we trained with were hawks, falcons,owls, a bald eagle and a golden eagle (which has a wing span of 8 feet!). The more time I spent with these birds the more appreciation I had for them and I couldn't get over how intelligent they were.

2006-09-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

Can't forget the Butterlies!

I had to throw a moth into the mix.He counts for something too :)

2006-08-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dragonfly HEAVEN!

TUCK THOSE ARMS AND LEGS IN!

This guy was so cute. He looks like he's smiling and squinting his eyes..haha

Itchy eye. His head looked like it did a 180 turn.

If you look close you will see a curious dragon fly near calvins eye in mid flight. He stayed there for while and then kept returning. They were just as curious about us as we wer about them.
.

This is the encasing that a baby drangonfly emerges from. Once they are true dragonflies they will only live about a month.

2006-08-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

These two are mating!! Talk about tricky possition! They actually fly around while their at it as well!

2006-08-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

HAPPY GULL LUCKY

We were driving back from treating ourselves to an ice cream at Marios gelato( you have to try the white chocolate raspberry!) when Calvin yelled out “oh no I have to help him!” and took a sharp turn to stop the car. I didn’t know what he was talking about and he didn’t have time to explain. He dashed out in a hurry and ran across 2 lanes of traffic. There was a seagull in the middle of the road which was actually a baby even though it was pretty big. Calvin stood out trying to stop a car that was about to run over the poor thing. It missed hitting it by a foot. Calvin carefully picked it up and carried him across the busy lanes to safety. People drove by wondering what the heck he was doing. . It melt my heart seeing him care so much about something that many wouldn’t even bother with.
We both sat with the little guy for a bit petting and comforting him while wondering what to do. He wasn’t injured but it was apparent that he was very weak when he almost fell over trying to take a step. I know from childhood experiences with baby birds that when you see one on the ground it’s usually because the bird is learning to fly and the mother is nearby watching over it. I kept this in mind but there was no mother in sight and this baby was not going to live long seeing how weak it was. We decided to take him to the emergency. Calvin gently scooped him up once again and placed him in my lap. We wrapped the little babe up in small towels and drove as smoothly as we could to the hospital.

When we arrived the receptionist looked at us and laughed. Calvin looked hilarious holding this bird while it’s webbed feet were doing slow motion bicycle kicks in the air. Unfortunatley the vet told us that the poor little bird was too weak and was probably the runt that got picked on and pecked at and was left out when it came to feeding time. The mother had probable abandoned from the poor little guy and there was no wa it would have survived much longer on it’s own. The vet said that there wasn’t much they could do for the fellow because he really needs his mother at this stage to teach him how to fly and fend for himself in the wild.

Calvin and I were sad to hear this but we realized that we probably did the best thing for him because otherwise he would have spent his last few days suffering. At least he got a taste of love before he passed and could go peacfully.

2006-07-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Just a few more...hehe

2006-07-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Something new

I have my favourite things that I love to photograph but I wanted to try something I've never done. So this was an experiment and I wanted to try something more abstract.

2006-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

NIGHT DIVE

After talking to some of the locals of Bonaire about night diving we decided to be a bit daring and go for it. Calvin and I were told about what the experience would be like and it definitely wasn't something a lot of people are craving to do but we thought the thrill of diving complete darkness with nothing but eachother, a small flashlight and and invisible sea life would definietly be an thrilling experience. We decided to take the plunge. It was 9pm and the only light to be seen was that of the moon and the glow from the dive shop on another dock. The air and water were both warm, meaning that we could simply jump in with our swimsuits. Without turning on the dive light, there was only inky black surrounding us. Turning on the light, all we could see was a narrow beam of light and a small area illuminated on the sandy bottom and occasional fish caught in the light's beam. The fish to be seen at night were quite different than those we had seen earlier in the day. There were many schools of smaller fish near the surface, some silver, others blue. When these ones were caught in the light, they would zigzag towards the beam, eventually hitting the front lens of the light. Moving on to the open, with deeper waters, we tried looking for other varities and were told to be aware of VERY large fish. It was very disconcerting having only a small beam of light to expose whatever lay in any direction. In fact it was somewhat uncomfortable scannning the light an offshore direction, where obviously deeper waters and larger fish no doubt lay. After Calvin's previous experience in the daytime with a large barracuda, we weren't keen on attracting any of them any more. Having heard that there are bigger fish that will eat other fish when illuminated, we decided to give it a try. Floating near an area sprinkled with smaller fish, Calvin and I quietly sat and directed the light on a medium-sized white fish. This area was a little murkier from sand or silt that had been stirred up, and it was harder to see much further than about twenty feet. Not believing the stories about the big fish, we impatiently sat, wondering if illuminating the fish was going unnoticed. Just then, out of the light's periphery, a huge beast of a fish circled by. This fish was likely 6ft long! As we shone the light towards the beast, it arched and finned into the darkness. Panning the light around, we couldn't see anything. Both Calvin and I (well especially me) made some noises through our snorkels in utter disbelief and horror. It was an extremely unnerving feeling to know that something so large was just beside us somewhere. With our arms clutching eachother, we again started to pan the light on an innocent fish. Waiting a few seconds more, we see the large silvery tarpon slither towards us from the darkness. Praying that this tarpon was only interested in the smaller fish, we quickly tried finding the smaller fish to offer, but we had lost it in watching the beast. Whenever we weren't supplying the BIG fish with small fish (using our light) we'd be confronted. The massive fish would bash into us until we shon our light on some bait for it to devour. I felt sorry in some ways for the poor innocent little fish that was just about to be swallowed but when something out of the darkness knocks into you don't feel so bad anymore. Calvin and I let ourselves go out pretty far and I was not looking forward to the swim back. If Calvin let go of my hand for even half a second I would freak out. It was quite the night!

Check out some small clips below!

Bonaire night dive 4

2006-07-26T22:29:00.000-07:00


This was the first time we saw a larger fish. They got MUCH larger later on.

Night dive 3

2006-07-26T22:27:00.000-07:00


Here we spot a bigger fish. Unfortunately we ran out of card spae on the underwater amera and weren't able to capture the huge one we saw.

Night Dive

2006-07-26T22:24:00.000-07:00


In this clip I say "it's scary over here". We were pretty deep at this point and far from the dock

Night DIve

2006-07-26T22:22:00.000-07:00


Night Dive clip

2006-07-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Why Bonaire?

One of the reasons Calvin and I choose to go to Bonaire for our honeymoon was because the island is known for it's abundant marine life and is a very well known place for scuba divers. I’m not a scuba diver new it would be an excellent opportunity to freedive. We were excited to put our skills to some use in a fun way. The sea life was incredible and more beautiful then I ever imagined with clusters of vibrant fish at every turn. The advantage of free diving is that because you have no equipment you don’t create any bubbles which scare the fish and therefore they don’t view you as a predator. You are able to swim along side the pools of fish and join in on their journeys. Calvin wanted to do a wreck dive which was 70 feet deep. While I waited at the surface he dove down and was able to briefly explore the wreck. A pair of scuba divers saw him and were speachless (literally…haha) when they saw he had no equipment. It was hilarious how Calvin described them with their big surprised eyes and gestures but not being able to say anything.

2006-07-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

The JUDGES

Recognize me?
Here I am at the regionals competition warming
up before my static (underwater breathhold).
I look like some sort of super hero..haha

Calvin on his way up from a constant balast dive.
His record is 41.5 meters

2006-07-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

THE WORLD OF FREEDIVING
(Calvin took this picture from way down looking up at me)

What is free diving?

"Freediving or breath-hold diving is a type of advanced snorkeling and water adventure that allows enthusiastic men, women and youth to experience the sights, sounds and challenges of the most natural of underwater experiences. Human evolution and development has ingrained us with an underwater potential the same as our marine cousins, whales, seals and dolphins. Without the use of underwater breathing apparatus, freedivers on a single breath of air can explore the underwater realm for minutes at a time with relative comfort. Freediving is about the comfort and exploration of the ocean realm for recreation, spearfishing, competition or personal discovery. "
(quote from performance freediving website)

MY EXPERIENCE

A few years ago I participated in a freediving course after listening to Calvin's rants and raves about it. At first I was weirded out by the whole idea and didn't see the fun in suffering from lack of o2. I had many questions about safety and health as well. Of course one of them was "doesn't it kill brain cells?" After hearing all of Calvin's detailed explanations I thought I'd give it a try. Seeing what he was capable of really made me want to test out my limits to see if there was even a potential for me. Prior to the course I tried a test breath hold and was amazed at the timing on my first attempt which was 4:30! I couldn't believe it and right away I saw why the sport was so addicting. Shortly after I began taking the course (Performance Freediving by Kirk Krack) and learning the biology and science behind it all I felt very comfortable and assured. 75% of the course is focused purely on safety and spotting and that really put my mind at ease knowing that at all times I would have someone by my side.
My next few attempts at static's (underwater breath holds) were still within the 4:30 range. My record time reached 4:52 but I had some difficulty so it didn't qualify. My final attempt was in a regionals competition where I reached my average again. I was the only girl along with Mandye Rae (a world record freediver) so I guess I got second place in the womens..hehe! I could never seem to get past a certain point without having problems and figured I was at a peak. I decided to take what I learned and use it in other fun ways (such as freediving for underwater exploration).Challenging mylef with this sport taught me that what may seem impossible can be possible if you really put your mind and heart into it. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to train with world record freedivers who saw a lot of potential in me and pushed me to succeed. They are a wonderful team!

2006-07-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Now here's a cutie! Love the cartoon eyes. I wish I could have got a close up of this one instead..lol

2006-07-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like he's driving a bug mobile.

2006-07-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

I love dragonflies but I think this is too close to be pretty. Looks like wings are attatched by nuts and bolts. Maybe if it was a nicer color it would have been more pleasing to the eye.
Click on the pic to see every detail.

2006-07-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is Luke(on top) and Dudley. My dads girlfriend just got the pair and I got to meet them last weekend. I grew up loving horses and was overjoyed when I found out about them. They are so much fun to be around and quite the characters as you can see in the photo...haha! They are smiling for the camera! I taught them well!

Dudley is actually a miniature horse from South America and I forgot what Luke is but I will find out again. Luke's real name is Spook but no one really favoured that name so Susan is going to name him Luke which I think is better.

We took them for a walk towards the beach and it was pretty cute seeing Dudley taking multiple steps to make up for one of Lukes. Dudleys canter was as fast as my run!

I can't wait to see them again. I miss them already!

2006-07-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sister Rachel with the horses

2006-07-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

They were so friendly.

It was their party too. Dudley couldn't resist Rachel's beer. Don't worry we only let him lick the bottle ;-)

2006-07-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

The land of lizards!

These guys were hilarious and would follow our every move.

Calvin and I had been enjoying a scenic walk along the north end of the island when out of no where a goat comes trotting towards us with three babies in tow. Her long horns concerned me, and I realized that we had better offer something for her to eat, lest we find out if she is prepared to "butt" us for food. While preoccupied by the goat, we suddenly discover several iguanas making their way slowly towards us from the trees. These iguanas were huge. With bodies that were larger than an average cat, it was obvious that these guys were fairly old. Feeding the goat a small cracker, the iguanas quickly took note of the food on the premises and scurried towards us, swinging their hefty bodies from side to side with every step. We gave them the couple of crackers we had left and once there was nothing left we assumed they would leave. That wasn't the case. The whole gang (mamma goat and babies, as well as the heard of iguanas) followed us for the whole walk and back. It was a riot!

2006-07-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

The story of Shamrock (written by Calvin)

(This story if from our honeymoon trip on the small island of Bonaire)

.......After having seen the many countless lizards around the dive site of Andrea I earlier in the day, we raced back to the hotel room to get out of our dive gear and return to the site with my camera. I had hoped to have a chance to photograph some of the lizards, if we were successful in finding them still.

Only having a little success in feeding some of the lizards by hand, as many of the larger ones
simply stole our big crackers and cookies and ran off hurriedly into the bushes, we were getting ready to leave. Sharon had started collecting shells while I started walking back. On the way, I saw a cute green lizard run across the hot sand towards a piece of cement. Unlike all of the other hundreds of lizards I had seen earlier, this one was flurorescent green with a green and black striped tail.

Very slowly, I grabbed my camera bag and took out the camera, hoping to find the lizard again. Thinking that the lizard had run somewhere on the other side of the block, I quietly sat beside the block hoping to spot it somewhere nearby. The cute lizard was nowhere to be seen, even though I was sure he hadn't gone far. Sitting quietly, I noticed a tiny lime-green object on the far edge of the cement block, no more than two feet away from me. It was motionless, and after a few minutes I had assumed that it must simply be a leaf resting up against the block. Inching up slowly, I moved forward slightly to have a better look. Was that a pair of red eyes on either side of that green? I couldn't believe that the lizard had been sitting there all along. Testing him, I took out various pieces of food that I had with me and threw small samples towards the lizard, hoping to lure him out. Nothing. No movement whatsoever.

Inching forward again, I could now see the lizard's head and the start of his wrinkled skin below his throat. His skin was creased with these perfect patterns, and his eyes were deeply contoured with mounds of skin, giving him an expression that could only be described as cute.

Now, having spent at least fifteen minutes with him, I was testing my luck by reaching out with food, hoping that he would try eating some from my hand like all of the other lizards I had seen in the past few days. At the point where I was touching the cracker to his lips, he didn't make the slightest of movements or show any interest in the food. I then tried a raisin, followed by a cheesepuff. Again, nothing. He simply sat, head outstretched to watch me, with no apparent interest in food.

At this point I had been sitting with "Shamrock" for half an hour, watching his cute smile and little red eyes, wondering why he was still with me. I had been stroking his back with my index finger and I could feel his quick heart pulsing beneath the smoothly textured skin. I had a hard time trying to understand what it was that made Shamrock stay, as I had figured that a truly wild lizard would have no interest in staying near a human being for anything other than food. I felt a special bond with Shamrock, and wondered what must be running through his mind. I came to the conclusion that he must simply be curious and somehow ignored his natural instincts to run for cover upon seeing a huge person approaching nearby. It also seemed as though he didn't want to eat anything so that it would be clear what his intentions were -- one of making a connection for the sake of curiosity, rather than one of convenience.

Eventually we had to leave Shamrock. As I stood up and started to go, he scurried a couple of feet along the sand and stopped so that I could take a few photos. Then, he ran upright across the beach until he was no longer visible.

Although it was a minor moment with a tiny reptile, I felt a special connection that won't bee soon forgotten. I only wish I understood what he thought as he sat for half an hour watching me sitting still, one foot from his tiny body.

We later found out that "Shamrock" was a baby iguana. But where was it's mom :( Maybe it wanted to be adopted by Calvin....hehe.

2006-07-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

More flowers............I promise my next posting will be something different..haha!

2006-07-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

2006-06-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Went to Queen Elizabeth park yesterday and of course had to take a few flower pics.

Twins :)

2006-06-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

My moms dog Rosie. She was abandoned when she was a puppy and we couldn't resist keeping her.

2006-06-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

REESE

My sister got a new kitten! I went over there and couldn't resist taking some photos before she gets bigger. She is the cutest thing ever! Now she has 2 kitties (Cali and Reese).

Don't worry we didn't cook her!

2006-06-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

FLOWERS AND MORE FLOWERS......

My friend Michelle and I went out to Vandussen gardens and took pictures of the beautiful flowers. It was a gorgeous day and I was so excited to see such a variety of them in bloom compared to what was there 2 months ago. Flowers are one of my favourite things to photograph.

2006-06-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

A few more....

2006-06-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

While I'm on the topic of birds here are some photos that we took from our trip to Namibia and Botswana of all kinds of birds. There was such a huge variety of them there.

This little cutie is was my favourite. It's called
a malachite kingfisher and measures only about 2 inches!

Lilac breasted roller. Very common beautiful bird.

Woody!

2006-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

What are these 2 thinking! There were
no card for hours and as soon as one
appears that is when they decide to pass!

saddle billed stork

Bee Eater

yellow billed hornbill

2006-06-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

2006-06-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is Mr Honks. He lives in our front yard and likes to wake us up at 5:00am. Calvin really loves him and every once in awhile you'll catch him outside trying to feed and be-friend him. Cal gets very defensive when anyone tries to chase after or scare the guy. It's very cute.

2006-06-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

Speaking of birds check out this show off I found!

2006-06-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

BYE BYE BIRDIE

For my wedding present 2 years ago my grandma gave be a beautiful bird house made from drift wood, beach stones, and shells (all my favourite things to collect when I was younger). Because we live in an apartment we thought it would be useless to put in out on the deck because there would be no birds that would want it. But you never know unless you try and so Calvin put it up outside with little confidence that anything would happen. To our surprise it worked and we had 2 tiny birds renting out the house for the spring. It was very entertaining seeing them fly back and forth trying to stuff a bunch of twigs, grass, even cotton into the small door hole. One day I saw a GINORMOUS bumbleee fly into the hole and we are a bit worried about him trying to take over the house. Game on for the birds and the bees!

Recently we haven't seen them and I am sure they've decided to move elsewhere. Come on! They had their own private house with free rent, food and water, What else could they want? I figure maybe they never laid eggs and so they didn't need it anymore OR the GINORMOUS bumble bee took over and is turning it into a beehive!

Calvin and I are both very sad about this. We were really looking forward to watching the widdle birdies attempt flight and feed from the mother.

Maybe next year :(

2006-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

Why Shareflowers?

You may be wondering why I chose the name of my blog to be Shareflowers. There are a few reasons. One being my name is Sharon but people call me "Share" all the time. Growing up my parents called me "Share flower" although my dad threw in "Share head" quite a bit and my brother called me "peanut head". What the heck is wrong with my head! Anyways I also thought it would be good because I absolutely love flowers and I think a lot of the pics that I post will be of ones I've taken of them. There you have it!

2006-06-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST ENTRY!

Ok so here it goes! I'm finally starting a blog! I have no idea where to start, what to do, or what kind of blog I'm going to have but I guess I've got to start somewhere. My posting will consist mostly of random pictures that I have taken rather than journal entries. Who knows! We'll see where it takes me!