"Don't try so hard, God gives you Grace, You can't earn it" - Amy Grant

Truth is, if you really believe HIS grace is sufficient, then there's no need to try too hard to do anything! 

"You're lovely even with your scars" 

Get Don't Try So Hard by Amy Grant from iTunes

Listening to Ian Anderson and painting Somewhere On the Way to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Got some shades of blue and suddenly remembered that beautiful place on the way to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

On one of our road trips to Eastern Canada, we briefly stopped to enjoy the scenery. 

We walked to the edge of the lake and hidden between the trees, we saw this beautiful home!

One of my favourite albums of Jethro Tull is Minstrel in the Gallery, released in 1975.

This is One White Duck / 0¹⁰ = Nothing at All

Somewhere on the Way to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

14"x 18" oil painting on canvas

Moving photos from a Canon DSLR camera to an Android cellphone via USB without a computer

On our last road trip we lost our laptop and miraculously got it back. 

Next time, I don't want to take the laptop, instead I'd like to download photographs from the Canon camera directly to my cellphone for 3 reasons:

1) It's a backup in case something happens to the SD card in the camera

2) It's easy to share photos online from a cellphone

3) It saves space not having to carry a laptop!

Most of the folks I met (including the store where I got the cables from) said it was impossible to connect the Canon to an Android device via USB without additional software and hardware, so I said let me try.

Here's how I connected the Canon 60D DSLR directly to the Sony Xperia X Performance via USB with just two cables.

All you need is an OTG cable like the one below in my hand, and the USB cable to connect your camera to a computer (although in this case you don't need a computer)

Plug one end of the (camera/computer) cable into the camera, and the other into the OTG

Turn the camera on, and then plug in the micro USB end into the cellphone

You'll see a popup on the phone like shown below letting you know that the USB is connected

Select the downloads application to do the transfer

The cellphone is now connected to the Canon camera 

From your cellphone, select the photos you want to move from the camera to your cellphone

Select the folder on your cellphone to where you want to move the photos to

DCIM > 100 ANDRO is where the cellphone camera stores pictures by default, so I've selected that same folder

And select Move

That's it!

The photos are now on your cellphone, with the originals still on the Canon camera.

Canada Geese crossing

As the setting sun moved slowly over the Mississauga horizon,

a speeding Range Rover overtook me, and went past a white car, 

narrowly missing this family of Canada Geese

I quickly changed lanes and got into the lane of the geese, turned on my hazard lights, and stopped, preventing anyone in the faster lane behind me from moving ahead

Love the way the parents go always on either side of their young ones, to protect them!

The two geese in the centre are probably a few days old

Drive safe, and keep an eye out for wildlife!

Viewing the Agawa Rock Pictographs, Lake Superior

For generations the Ojibwe have recorded their dreams and visions with paintings on this rock face at the edge of Lake Superior, in Ontario.

Because of the sloping rock and very unpredictable nature of Lake Superior, one has to exercise extreme caution when going down to the edge of the water to view the images on the rock face.

Especially if you are with little children.

We've been to this place twice, when our children were little, and when they were grown up.

On a calm day, the best way to see the Agawa Rock Pictographs is from a canoe on Lake Superior

Viewing the Agawa Rock Pictographs, Lake Superior

14"x 18"