Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Down by the River
I decided to take a tiny break between working on Rapunzel, and switching to Little Red Riding Hood. (Yes, good ol' Theatre Orangeville Young Company...) and lured by one of my cardinals calling, decided to wander down and check out the pond.
We've had such an unusual amount of heavy rainfall in the last while that the pond level has increased as if it were spring. Up to a week ago, the water level was receding, as it does every August, and sandy shoals were being revealed, where I could check for signs of snapping turtles. (No signs as of yet.)
Well now the shoreline has expanded outwards by six to eight feet, and much of the edge area is all swampy again. And places that had been dry sand where a cat could roll and get good and gritty, are now under 8 to 10 inches of water!
And I could hear the river. Usually by this time of year, the river is almost invisible and silent under a verdant growth of Joe Pye Weed and Jewelweed. So I fumbled my way through the chest high wet grass up to the road, where I'd be able to see the river from the bridge. While I was looking, I noticed a new bright flower I'd never seen before. However, I couldn't see it well enough to be able to identify it, so came back for the camera. Even with the telephoto I wasn't getting much definition, so had to climb on down to get as close as I could. (Not that close. River's edge is pretty marshy!)
Anyway, I'm fairly certain it's a Cardinal Flower. (Rather appropriate since it was a cardinal who'd called me out!) http://www.wildflowersofontario.ca/cardinal.html
And a quick shot of my faithful companion for this expedition...
We've had such an unusual amount of heavy rainfall in the last while that the pond level has increased as if it were spring. Up to a week ago, the water level was receding, as it does every August, and sandy shoals were being revealed, where I could check for signs of snapping turtles. (No signs as of yet.)
Well now the shoreline has expanded outwards by six to eight feet, and much of the edge area is all swampy again. And places that had been dry sand where a cat could roll and get good and gritty, are now under 8 to 10 inches of water!
And I could hear the river. Usually by this time of year, the river is almost invisible and silent under a verdant growth of Joe Pye Weed and Jewelweed. So I fumbled my way through the chest high wet grass up to the road, where I'd be able to see the river from the bridge. While I was looking, I noticed a new bright flower I'd never seen before. However, I couldn't see it well enough to be able to identify it, so came back for the camera. Even with the telephoto I wasn't getting much definition, so had to climb on down to get as close as I could. (Not that close. River's edge is pretty marshy!)
Anyway, I'm fairly certain it's a Cardinal Flower. (Rather appropriate since it was a cardinal who'd called me out!) http://www.wildflowersofontario.ca/cardinal.htmlAnd a quick shot of my faithful companion for this expedition...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mayhem in Wareham
Admittedly, nowhere as newsworthy as Toronto going boom, we had our own little fracas in Wareham today.
It all began when our neighbours across the road, who've been dividing their time between living here and living in Italy, decided to move back to Canada full time. Today all their goods and chattels were scheduled to finally arrive.
Well, the big truck showed up an hour before the arranged time, for starters, and had difficulty in simply managing to drive down the road. I was getting my cup of coffee, and heard the big truck snorting out the kitchen window, and watched as he did inexplicable back and forthings in the crossroad. Then he drove past the house and out of sight, but not out of hearing. When I went back to my studio, I could still hear big truck sounds for quite some time.
I finally decided it was time to put out the garbage, and check up. The big truck was backed into the drive across the road, and unloading was happening with the hastily rounded up crew of friend-and-family movers.
Then I noticed Larry, my neighbour, photographing the truck. I made a bit of a joke, and he pointed out where the truck had managed to dig up his lawn and crush part of his rock garden, in its attempts to wriggle its back end into the drive.
However, it got quite exciting when the driver tried to leave! For some reason he tried to drive straight out and then turn at a 90 degree angle. (Don't ask me why, makes no sense at all!) This meant he drove right onto Larry's lawn again, in an as yet, untouched spot. And discovered there really wasn't room for maneouvering.
We now had a truck fairly wedged from one side of the road to the other.
Which was bad enough, then the driver, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, decided that by simply turning left, somehow the entire truck was just going to follow the cab, and they'd drive off down the road. Except we've had an unparalled amount of rain in the last week or so, and the ground is very soft. And the road we live on was built up some time in the past, and our yards slope down. So all the truck could do was work its way deeper and deeper into Larry's lawn. (All the while subdividing the hamlet into Wareham East and Wareham West.) On our side, we had a small tractor and his trailer load of equipment, and an OPP guy sadly watching the whole affair. On the west side were Larry's vehicles, which he'd moved out of harm's way as much as possible, and a few other trucks that had hoped to drive east down our road, and lots of neighbours' feet.
Eventually, the cavalry came in the form of a heavy duty tow truck. He attached a chain and quick as a wink pulled the stupid truck free. (Of course, then there was a lot of wrangling about whether the truck driver was going to pay or not, as all the Warehamites looked on in bemusement.)
However, it didn't quite come to blows. Though Larry's lawn may never be the same again...
It all began when our neighbours across the road, who've been dividing their time between living here and living in Italy, decided to move back to Canada full time. Today all their goods and chattels were scheduled to finally arrive.
Well, the big truck showed up an hour before the arranged time, for starters, and had difficulty in simply managing to drive down the road. I was getting my cup of coffee, and heard the big truck snorting out the kitchen window, and watched as he did inexplicable back and forthings in the crossroad. Then he drove past the house and out of sight, but not out of hearing. When I went back to my studio, I could still hear big truck sounds for quite some time.
I finally decided it was time to put out the garbage, and check up. The big truck was backed into the drive across the road, and unloading was happening with the hastily rounded up crew of friend-and-family movers.
Then I noticed Larry, my neighbour, photographing the truck. I made a bit of a joke, and he pointed out where the truck had managed to dig up his lawn and crush part of his rock garden, in its attempts to wriggle its back end into the drive.
However, it got quite exciting when the driver tried to leave! For some reason he tried to drive straight out and then turn at a 90 degree angle. (Don't ask me why, makes no sense at all!) This meant he drove right onto Larry's lawn again, in an as yet, untouched spot. And discovered there really wasn't room for maneouvering.
We now had a truck fairly wedged from one side of the road to the other.
Which was bad enough, then the driver, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, decided that by simply turning left, somehow the entire truck was just going to follow the cab, and they'd drive off down the road. Except we've had an unparalled amount of rain in the last week or so, and the ground is very soft. And the road we live on was built up some time in the past, and our yards slope down. So all the truck could do was work its way deeper and deeper into Larry's lawn. (All the while subdividing the hamlet into Wareham East and Wareham West.) On our side, we had a small tractor and his trailer load of equipment, and an OPP guy sadly watching the whole affair. On the west side were Larry's vehicles, which he'd moved out of harm's way as much as possible, and a few other trucks that had hoped to drive east down our road, and lots of neighbours' feet.
Eventually, the cavalry came in the form of a heavy duty tow truck. He attached a chain and quick as a wink pulled the stupid truck free. (Of course, then there was a lot of wrangling about whether the truck driver was going to pay or not, as all the Warehamites looked on in bemusement.)
However, it didn't quite come to blows. Though Larry's lawn may never be the same again...
Monday, August 04, 2008
Because...
Because some people get grumpy when I don't post updates, and don't feel that my sewing costumes for two dozen fairy tale characters for Theatre Orangeville's Young Company qualifies as an excuse...
Well, for those people, a really hasty little array of snaps:
Lily's morning preening.
Morning spider webs
My woad seed harvest. No idea if that's lots, or anything.
And in some sort of context, so you can gauge the size of the container, next to my big black cat.
Well, for those people, a really hasty little array of snaps:
Lily's morning preening.
Morning spider webs
My woad seed harvest. No idea if that's lots, or anything.
And in some sort of context, so you can gauge the size of the container, next to my big black cat.
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