Slowly but surely, spring is happening whether the weather (LOL!) likes it or not. Well, I like it and there was plenty to see on the Mill Run Trail this month. And I do mean ON the trail. I had to step lightly to avoid some turtles “on the move”.
Soaking up the sun on the banks of the Speed River – drake (no, not that Drake) Mallard style Fiddleheads unfurling into fresh new fern plants.Marsh Marigolds blooming.What is May without the appearance of May Apple colonies?Trilliums and violets (and garter snake) in bloomSpeaking of snakes, remember these beauties from before? Someone looks very full and has even more friends now. According to this website, this snake bears live young, so perhaps only preggers? Still, it begs this question:Are all your family accounted for? Asking as a concerned friend…
Where my turtles at? Well, just about everywhere in May. I practically stood on a few on a recent walk.
I thought this was a smallish rock on the trail, upon first approach. Then I thought it was dead, until I noticed the fuck-you glint in its eye. Message received. Moving on…I thought this was a pebble! Toonie (Canadian 2 dollar coin) sized baby snapper, too small to effectively glare at me. The turtle pond itself hosted a couple of sunning adult snappers. These guys are also very good at looking and playing dead. I would not be so nonchalant encountering one this size on the trail. They can be quick to strike if they feel the need.
I didn’t see any adult females crossing the trail to lay eggs (only juveniles), but I think it is a bit too early for that. Perhaps for June’s Changing Seasons post…
The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge hosted by the ever lovely Zimmerbitch. Please check out her blog and the other bloggers who participate!
Well here I am with my Monday night Game of Thrones lack-of-sleep hangover, trying desperately to get my April post out before much more of May gets away from me…
In retrospect, April in Ontario was pretty meh with respect to the nicer aspects of spring. It remained cold and grey for most of the month. So it was a relief mid-month to head south to Augusta, Georgia for a few days of spring (and a couple of days of summer-like temps) before coming home to yet more chilly rain.
Here are some photos, that capture my month:
Start of Mandala painting Apr 4. Starved for colour and spring isn’t coming across with the goods!Apr 6 Attended the Lineup Reveal concert for August’s KW Bluesfest. Lucky Peterson performed.Apr 7 Still plenty of ice on the trail.
Apr 7 Sign of spring: fuzzy caterpillarApr 7 Another sign of spring: first frog sighting!Apr 10 Daffodils spotted in Pennsylvania. Enroute to Augusta.Apr 11 Tulips in Wytheville, VirginiaApr 12 Our home for the weekend, outside of Augusta. From spring to 30 degrees C!Apr 13 & 14 at the Masters. I didn’t take this picture as cameras weren’t allowed on tournament days. Someone snapped it on one of the practice days.Apr 21 Speed River flooding just off the trail I walk. Some areas of Ontario were very hard hit by flooding. Apr 21 Colt’s Foot blooming in dry areas.Apr 28 65th birthday party for my BIL at Lionhead Golf Course. It was a surprise party, and it was my job to get him to the course under pretext. I did a great job – he was completely stunned to find out it was his birthday party and that I actually didn’t need his help in planning a corporate golf tournament – but it tore me up inside. I don’t like deceiving people, even for happy reasons, I have discovered.Apr 28 My BIL (in blue) making the rounds of his party. Note the media screens. There were 4 in total. I gave a slideshow of our trip to Augusta.
Apr 30 Progress made on mandala painting
For some reason, WordPress is cutting off some of my photos. Or is it? On some devices I can see the entire photo, and on some they remain cut off. This is aggravating as I do spend some time cropping my photos to enhance them, and then to have them further cropped…well, colour me pissed. I don’t know what I am doing or not doing to cause this to happen. Argh!
Anywho, that was my April. The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge hosted by the ever lovely Zimmerbitch. Please check out her blog and the other bloggers who participate!
March was typical in many ways. Ontarians spent the days waiting for the weather to change, and the ice and snow to melt. And it did! We had a glorious day on Friday:
No wind and plenty of sun. Temperatures reached double digits. A great day to get out for a walk. Sunlight sparkling on the water flowing over the Village dam.Sun highlighting the pampas grass.
Then Saturday came and brought steady, heavy rain. Joanne of My Life Lived Full came to visit for the weekend and join me for a couple of events. We didn’t let the rain stop us from heading out to Crawford Lake Conservation Area’s Sweetwater Festival, and A Taste of Maple, presented by Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette of NishDish Marketeria, a Toronto restaurant and catering business serving Indigenous cuisine.
Rainboots, umbrellas and smiles – all a must in this weather!
We started our culinary adventure with maple taffy, made on a bed of ice in lieu of snow, which had finally melted away (or so we thought! Uh oh.).A documentary was being filmed on the traditional Indigenous view of food as medicine (Chef Johl’s talk).
Joanne and I were so engrossed in Chef Johl’s talk we (almost) forgot we came also for a food tasting. He spoke so eloquently and passionately about his culture and experiences growing up, lacing them with traditional stories about Nanabozho and the origins of maple syrup making. His honest, heartfelt stories of working with Aboriginal Legal and the treatment of the native people in Toronto made me tear up.
Chef Johl started us off with a smudging ceremony, to cleanse us and bring us together for good intentions. Look for a documentary in about a year we were told before the talk, on Traditional Food as Medicine. Chef Johl’s recommended reading for those who were interested (yes, please!).The order of lining up for food: elder women, then other women, then everyone else. On the tasting menu: bannock with maple butter and jam, salmon, and blueberry wild rice pudding. Closeup of blueberry, maple and wild rice pudding in a corn husk bowl.
Once back at Chez Badass, Joanne and I spent a delightful evening and the next morning trading information. I showed her how to make art with spray inks and shaving cream, and she taught me all about Airbnb (teaser: more about why in an upcoming post…hehehe). This was awaiting us outside in the morning:
March 31, 2019. No one is up for a winter wonderland come spring. Even though we woke up to this on Sunday morning, we weren’t going to be stopped from enjoying the day.
Late morning it was off to our second event of the weekend – exploring St. Jacobs and taking in a show at the Country Playhouse.
FABULOUS. The best Drayton production I have seen yet.
Before the show started, we had time to do some shopping and eat lunch at the Stone Crock.
When bloggers are let loose in St. Jacobs, the streets are no longer safe.
I was so excited when I found something I had been searching for since I saw one at Karen Hume’s (of Profound Journey) last summer. (Bloggers: always learning from each other!) It is going to solve one of life’s big (hah!) problems for this badass widow.
Yeah. I made this meme. Hard for me to eat the butter (no matter how minuscule an amount) before it goes bad as I like to keep it on the counter. Because: spreadability!
I was really happy to have finally found one of these butter keepers. I first learned of these at Karen Hume’s house last summer. She had one. I thought it was genius.
The water in the base (must be changed every few days) keeps the butter fresh AND spreadable, on the counter!
And so ended my March, absolutely delightfully despite ALL. THE. WEATHER!
The Changing Seasons is hosted by Su Leslie of Zimmerbitch. Please be sure to check out her blog!
February was an incredible month for me – and one of extremes. In temperature and geography! You can read about my travels here, here, here, here and here.
I started off the month on Vancouver Island, which is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.
Yep, those are surfers behind me. On Groundhog Day!
Surfer!
After a few short days back at Chez Badass (and work), it was off to Barbados, an island surrounded by the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean:
2019 Barbados sign on the beach, just off the boardwalk.
Island of glorious sunrises…
And restful beach vistas…
And beautiful flowers. This one is called Pride of Barbados (aka peacock flower).
And green monkeys. This elusive guy shot by CJ on a morning walk.
And cute little crabs that are really hard to see when not scuttling around the beach.
And racehorses reluctant to be bathed in the sea, after early morning exercise.
And less reluctant horses actually swimming in deep water, for non-weight bearing exercise…
And tall ships (spotted along with the horses, in Carlisle Bay).
But all good things come to an end, eventually. This is how I ended my magical month of February:
Using a hatchet to break up my driveway’s ice.
Observing ice formations on my walks.
Trying to be as stoic about the weather as the Buddha of the Patio.
Today’s weather – I can be forgiven for shedding a tear or two, right?
March and the Spring Equinox – bring it on!
The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge, hosted by Su Leslie at Zimmerbitch. Go check her beautiful blog out!
Hoo boy, it IS mostly dark these December days so I’ve been taking advantage of what daylight there is by hauling my sorry butt outdoors whenever I can.
Sun peeking over a riverfront building in ye olde Village on the River.
Sun and shadow painting the path.
I’ve been noticing seed heads and pods and all manner of lovely wintery things on my walks.
Bullrushes caught my eye.
And this: Blown milkweed pods at side of railroad tracks.
When it gets dark, it’s time to head home and throw on as much light as possible.
Let there be lights!!! Welcoming Yule…
Also: when it gets dark, it’s time to celebrate and visit with friends.
At my friend Mizzus J’s (far right) retirement gala party. Interesting story – Mizzus J and I met at work at a lab many years ago. Mizzus K (middle) and I met at work (another job, another lab) years later. Mizzus J and Mizzus K met for the first time at late hubby JD’s 50th birthday party and hit it off, resulting in Mizzus K working for Mizzus J (who now owned her own lab). Now Mizzus J has retired and Mizzus K has accepted the position of President. I feel proud and happy to have been a part of this!
Visiting JD’s best man and his wife, who have become “lifers” in the Friends Department. Clearly my selfie game is not strong. Yes, M has been queried about playing Santa and is considering making it a post-retirement hobby, visiting nursing homes and such. And Mrs. M is not averse to becoming Mrs. Claus, and making it a duo.
I am not a night creature, anymore though. It’s damn hard for me to leave the house once the sun goes down, in the winter months. My natural inclination is to slip into jammies and wind down my day as soon as it gets dark. Like 5 pm. Seriously.
So no surprise here: I am ecstatic to welcome back the return of longer days and shorter nights, for my personal productivity if nothing else!
Getting too old for all these late winter nights. My eye makeup went the distance, even if I pooped out after several hours of dancing and celebrating.
The Changing Seasons is a monthly blog challenge hosted by Su Leslie, at Zimmerbitch. Check out her blog, to see how it’s done!
Wishing you all a happy New Year and a fantastic 2019!
But the wind and rain soon stripped the trees and I struggled to find whatever colour was left:
Berries in the gloom
And then it wasn’t long before this happened:
Winter wonderland drive to work, November 13
And I did manage to capture one spectacular sunset:
November 14 Red and Navy sunset
But the snow didn’t last, and we were back to dull skies, clouds and rain and a dearth of colour:
Mill Run Trail, November 25
Clearly I wasn’t the only one that felt November needed some brightening up:
Well, this is one use for a poppy after Remembrance Day I suppose…
I noticed many things on the trail that I just walk on by, when the foliage is rich and lush:
I walk by this all the time, but this time I really noticed this stump and the stump behind it.
The shapes of these oak leaves caught my eye as well.
The beauty of a feathery pampas grass head…
This scene, although kind of desolate, speaks to me.
I don’t know what these are, but I do like the look of them…also that they provide some welcome colour!
And while I was noticing all these beautiful and delightful things, I felt like something was noticing me as well:
Eeeek! The trees have eyes!
I went to the Orthodontist’s office on November 26. Soon I won’t need to visit them anymore as I am almost at the end of my Invisalign treatment (yay!). This time, it was full-on Christmas decor:
A tree dedicated to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, of course! (For the hockey-mad clientele.)
A corner dedicated to the Nutcracker Ballet, with Nutcracker and Mouse King (For the rest of us?).
A view of the main treatment area.
These were some of my impressions of this overall mostly dreary November.
Hope yours was more colourful!
The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge that anyone can join. Please visit Su Leslie at Zimmerbitch, for more information, and to see what others are posting.
It’s been hard for me to blog this Fall. October is the month you realize there are not many days left you can head out with bare hands and a bare head. So that puts some urgency into my outdoor activities and causes me angst when I’m stuck indoors (looking at you, work!) on a beautiful day.
Luckily there have been some stellar weekends (although this cold, blustery, rainy one is not one of them) and I was out on the trails with my trusty iPhone camera in hand:
Fiery Foliage peeking through the trees
Who says you can’t wear purple and orange together? Not Mother Nature, that’s for sure.
I don’t know if this was an exceptional year for fungus or not, but for some reason I noticed fabulous fungi everywhere I looked, this fall.
Brilliant Bracket Fungus
Aptly-named Turkey Tail Fungus
I don’t know what this is (and neither does iNaturalist for sure, apparently). Way too many suggestions and none looked quite like this.
I’m lichen this Wrinkled Crust lichen 🙂
This one is called Bears Head Tooth. And it’s edible, though I didn’t try it. One of my fellow walkers did, and I see he is still posting on Facebook so that means he survived. 😉
As it’s almost Halloween, I thought I’d share some of the wild decor I saw at my latest visit to my orthodontist.
When one looks up…
Where you end up when you don’t floss, I guess.
The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge hosted by Su Leslie, of Zimmerbitch. Please stop by her blog to see the Changing Season, down under in New Zealand.
September started out still blazing hot but now the weather is reasonable again, and perfect for heading to the woods.
Head to the woods I did, with a local group that took me to a brand new area, right off the trail I usually walk. I’d known of this side trail for years of course, but because it looked overgrown and in denser brush I was leery of going too far in by myself. When the group advertised a guided walk into this area I jumped at the opportunity.
We followed Chilligo Creek for most of the walk.
Heading to a crossing point at the creek.
One of our group refers to this oak as “The Mother Tree” 🙂
The forest floor is full of fungus-y finds like this one.
Fall is the time when the wild asters are the most beautiful.
Another purple fall flower. According to iNaturalist, it is a knapweed.
Beautiful bright red foliage of the Virginia Creeper spotted in the meadow.
View of Chilligo Creek as it come out from under the highway. Taken from the side of the road, above.
My pants were covered in “travellers” at the hike’s end. Another sign of the fall!
Heading back from the walk, I took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the plantings downtown. They are putting on a show as well, as we cruise into fall. Hydrangeas are changing from white to pink and bronze.
A few steps further, I took in the riot of chrysanthemums planted to celebrate fall in our downtown.
Home again. Sipping wine and picking seeds outta my pants…a perfect end to a perfect walk in the woods.
Sublime. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have wild areas close at hand, with which to restore my soul.
This has been a Changing Seasons Post. The Changing Seasons is a monthly photo challenge, hosted by Su Leslie of Zimmerbitch.
The first weekend of August was reserved for the Mill Race Festival of Traditional Music.
I enjoyed listening to the world music brought to this festival. This year, I listened to an artist from Afghanistan:
Qais Essar getting ready to play a 2500 year old instrument – the rabab
And one originally from West Africa, now based out of Montreal:
Zal Sissokho playing the kora – an African harp. It was magical.
The second weekend of August was KW Bluesfest, starting on Thursday night with Rik Emmett (formerly of Triumph):
Rik Emmett and RESolution 9
And then it was Jonny Lang’s turn:
Jonny Lang
Saturday afternoon, I watched Magic Dick (of J.Geils Band) work his harmonica magic:
Magic Dick and Shun Ng
Saturday night it was the Ghost Town Blues Band – highly enjoyable – so much so that I forgot to take any pictures!
Sunday morning it was gospel for breakfast:
Quisha Wint at the Gospel Breakfast
Then my daughter and her guy left for BC and I fell apart, and into a frenzy of cleaning:
Washed and resealed the slate floor in my bathroom. On my hands and knees. Ouch.
The third weekend of August was set aside for Riverfest Elora.
Friday night, July Talk hit the stage:
Leah Fay of July Talk
More July Talk, a really great band
Riverfest has gained popularity. It was quite crowded this year. Grrr.
The Beaches’ set at Riverfest
Dear Rouge – another great Canadian band I was privileged to see.
The final weekend of August was for connecting with friends and recovering from all the festival action.
Then a few days ago, I took some time during the week to go to Stratford with Joanne of My Life Lived Full, to catch Rocky Horror at the Avon Theatre:
Waiting for Rocky: Let’s make silly faces, she said. OK, I said.
The next day we got even sillier on the Speed River. Not really, although I did get baptized in the river when my kayak entry went awry (first time, ever!). Thankfully no undignified pictures were snapped because Joanne is a FRIEND first and blogger second. 🙂 Check out her kayaking photos here.
And that pretty much wraps up the month for me.
The Changing Seasons is a monthly blog challenge hosted by Su Leslie of Zimmerbitch.
