Nest update

Mama and Papa are doing a great job so far with these two eggs. In this photo you can see Papa on the eggs with his tail straight up in the air.


Here are the two wee eggs in amongst bits of twigs and grass.

as seen nearby

While checking on the mourning dove nest yesterday morning, I nearly wiped out this spider web. The sunlight that allowed me to capture the web turned the spider golden.



My hydrangea after heavy rain - shot through the screen on the kitchen window.
A balloon flower shot through the same screened window.
Evening sun shining through an unknown variety of leaf between the property of Bartley's Dairy and Corcon Automotive.

Right church, wrong pew

I've often heard the expression "right church, wrong pew" but this time I think it should be "right church, different pew". Just over a week ago we had a visit from one of our previous nesting mourning doves. It settled on the ledge where the nest had been but flew off in a huff about half an hour later. Since then I've felt they were still near by but didn't have proof until tonight. We have two pots of Ivy Geranium hanging below the gingerbread trim on the veranda and, when I want to check to see if they need watering, I lift the bottom of the planter to see if it feels light weight (dry). Tonight the one nearest the front door was very light so I lifted it off the hook and watered it. I started to do the "lift" test with the second planter and got an indignant cooing and flutter of wings as Mama dove flew out from the center of the ivy. I lifted the planter down long enough to see the two wee eggs in the middle of the pot and hastily put it back on the hook. So, we seem to have our boarders back.







The nest is located in this planter (below), which is a little deja vu as this planter is directly above the spot.....

where the last babies fledged - as seen in this photo, taken on May 31st.

Out and about

Just east of Embro

both blooms below were shot in tir na nOg - the Land of Youth in downtown Stratford

Photo of the Day, July 27, 2008

Taken in the garden of Tir na nOg - Land of Youth in Stratford, ON

July 26, 2008

The Weather Network promised an unsettled day and that's definitely what we got. I took this shot driving (well, Geoff was driving) from Hamilton back to Woodstock. Pardon the pun but I think it has a watercolour feel about it. It's also my choice for "photo of the day". Everything was quite surreal for awhile
Happily, this ominous sky didn't amount to anything but rain. I really don't like it when cloud edges drop like this....

Milkweed vs. Joe-Pye Weed

The flowers of these two plants look pretty much identical when in bud and bloom but the leaves are very different from each other. The Milkweed leaf is a heavy, waxy type while the leaf of the Joe-Pye Weed is much finer.

Milkweed

Joe-Pye Weed

Photo of the day, July 20, 2008

My rose Jose Carreras with a little visiting friend.

Visiting Cousin 3

For anyone who might be confused, Cousin 1 (Deborah) , 2 (moi, Elaine) and 3 (Sara) are ranked by age - 1 being the eldest by the tiniest smidge over 2 and 1 and 2 having 10 years on 3.

Sara, Kelly and their two cats, Harry and Daisy, live in a charming house with the sweetest backyard.

Here's Daisy, upstaging Kelly, with Deborah and Sara reflected in the mirror in the background.

We had a wonderful meal, prepared by Chef Sara and able assistant Kelly, and then spent the evening looking at old photos and trading family stories and lore. Poor Kelly did a good job of not zoning out from our self-absorbed chatter. Sara and Deborah are deep in discussion here.
Harry knows how to relax.
Saturday morning Kelly headed off to her work as a librarian - one of the most important jobs in the universe, as far as I'm concerned. Sara took Deborah and me on a wonderful walk through the neighbourhood and a ravine down to The Beaches. The air was heavy with humidity and was disguising this sailboat on the waters of Lake Ontario.
The final stop on our walk was at The Nutty Chocolatier - it had a wonderful old fashioned feel about it and, most importantly, lots of British sweets and treats.
We had a wonderful visit with Sara and Kelly and look forward to doing it again in the future.

A trio of churches, July 1, 2008

I think I can legitimately use the trendy term "staycation" for my summer sojurn this year. Everything was done within day trip distance and it was great fun.

For starters I met Cousin 1 at Union Station in Toronto on Friday, July 11th and, after doing our Marco! / Polo! routine, we set off on what became a church tour in downtown Toronto.
Our first stop was St. James Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral of Toronto.

On the east and west sides of St. James are the retired colours (below) of the Royal Canadian Grenadiers and the Royal Regiment of Canada.


Our second stop was Metropolitan United Church. In 1928 fire destroyed most of the church building. Determined to rebuild on the old foundation, the congregation commissioned a redesigned structure . These lanterns are rumoured to have been made from stained glass that members of the congregation salvaged from the ruins of the fire. The congregation of Metropolitan United Church has voted to be recognized as Affirming: welcoming of all people regardless of their sexual orientation to worship and minister among them (http://www.affirmunited.ca/). The property has a community feel about it with these well-used chess tables on the property.
The final stop on our tour was the Church of the Holy Trinity which is tucked behind the behemoth Eaton Centre. The Church of the Holy Trinity opened in 1847 following the gift of an anonymous donor (later revealed as Mary Lambert Swale of Settle, England). Mrs. Swale had stipulated that all pews were to be free and unreserved, a tenet of the High Church party in England at the time. The way the unique and painful looking pews are arranged allows for an unobstructed view of the altar from all seats. Of the three buildings, this is the one that spoke to me.
This photo below give a perspective of how close the church is to the Eaton Centre. The corner of the church is on the far left and an entrance to the Eaton Centre is on the far right.

Congratulations Hilary and Mark

Our friend and co-worker, Hilary Brown, became Hilary Holmes yesterday when she married her darling Mark at Central United Church in St. Thomas, Ontario. Four of us - Jayne, Maureen, Ronalee and I - plotted and planned and showed up at the church. Hilary was pleasantly surprised to see the "wedding crashers". We managed to make a day of it - we stopped at The Green Frog Tea Room for lunch and a walkabout and after the ceremony we popped down to Port Stanley for a visit to Mackie's on the beach. The weather was perfect and we had a great day. Hilary was a beautiful, relaxed bride.

Happy Canada Day

We had beautiful weather for Canada Day here in our area. No humidity, a lovely breeze and a high of 25 degrees.

Geoff and I were out early taking photos at the Brick Works Pond and this time the Milk Weed had started to bloom.
There was also a Great Blue Heron on hand again, no way to know if it was the one I took photos of on Sunday morning.
This little bee didn't know that Canada Day is a holiday and was hard at work on these daisies.
We drove up to Stratford to take in their Canada Day festivities. There was a marquee and stage set up in Market Square. Lots of pomp and circumstance, music etc. Five past noon, Canada Day 2008 (on the Stratford City Hall clock).