Bloodroot and Squill on the Trail

For our Friday walk, we decided to drive to the part of the Riverwalk Trail by the arena. We were hoping that some wildflowers might be appearing.

It was Sue who first spotting small white flowers down  a little offshoot path from the main trail.

My bending low shots have been pretty poor lately, but this is what bloodroot looks like, or at least what it looked like on Friday morning. Apparently, when it opens, it will resemble the third photo, below, which I am obtaining from Wikipedia. (My bend down photos are terrible again. I will try to do better.)

Wikipedia

Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot, is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the only species in the genus Sanguinaria . . .

Plants are variable in leaf and flower shape, and have been separated as a different subspecies due to these variable shapes, indicating a highly variable species.

In bloodroot, the sap is red and poisonous. Products made from sanguinaria extracts, such as black salve, are escharotic and can cause permanent disfiguring scarring. If applied to the skin, the extract sanguinarine may cause a massive scab of dead flesh where it killed the cells, called an eschar. (Wikipedia)

Farther along the trail, sharp-eyed Sue, spotted purple. I remember this patch of squill from last year. Once again, my bend-down pics failed, so I am not going to post them.

They were right beside the main trial on the right.

You'll have to bend better than that, AC.

Scilla siberica, the Siberian squill or wood squill, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Despite its name, it is not native to Siberia.

Many parts of the plant such as the flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, sap, seeds, and stem are poisonous to eat for some animals. (Wikipedia)

One more thing: the swampy area on that one spot along the trail was ... um ... very swampy.

Hyacinths and Daffodils

Certain houses back onto our local park on one side. This ↓ lady has a garden, which she is quite willing to share. I mean the lady on the balcony. She is British, which probably explains why she has such a nice, little garden. But perhaps that is too much of a stereotype? 

The lady was very friendly and didn't mind us trodding about her garden.

On a windy day, I took a few quick snaps. The pics are nothing special to look at, but the flowers were certainly good to see. There were hyacinths and two varieties of daffs. No tulips yet, but they will come in time. You can also see some low-lying purple squill in the background of some of the photos.

I know that I do go on, but spring flowers are just so doggone wonderful to see and last for such a short time. 

Photos from the Unveiling

I have more photos to post of the Unveiling or Opening of the WWI planes exhibit this week. I could have posted them with the original post, but that piece seemed complete as it was.

I begin with another photo of the Baron's Fokker is descent mode.

The two planes had very busy backgrounds hanging from the ceiling, so I used my very dubious photoshop skills to try to extract them and fill in the background with skies. I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I did, if not well. The second one went a little easier after I fumbled my way through the first. That makes sense. Right?

TV News showed up. I am so charmed with their little rigs working around an iPhone. I asked him if he had once carried those huge cameras that were used up until recently. He had. I also asked if he was responsible doing the editing. Yes, he edited his stills but not the videos.

We met up with our  former neighbour. Al was part of the leadership that got the Men's Shed started in our town, and he remains active in the group at 93 years of age. He is well respected and loved.

Sue greeted town councillor, Linda. Sue likes people. I will never understand that about her.

My friend, Bob, who loves shooting events, was there with his Canon. I fiddled with editing this photo and sent him a copy. I think he liked it.

Most of us, however, are more familiar with the alternate version.

Addendum from Sue

Chasing the Fokker

On Tuesday, we headed down the road a bit to view an unveiling of airplane models created by the town's Men's Shed group. Quite a crowd gathered to witness the two models which were hung from the rafters of a trucking establishment.

The models were of the Red Baron's, Fokker Dr. 1 and Captain Roy Brown's, Sopwith Camel. Fittingly, the Sopwith Camel is chasing the Fokker because that is how the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, met his end.

Roy Brown was officially credited with shooting down the infamous Red Baron on that day in 1918 although it was likely ground-based artillery that finally accomplished the deed. Nevertheless, the story is that Brown was in pursuit, and that is what caused the Baron to fly low over allied artillery as he maneuvered to evade his pursuers.

The date of the presentation on Tuesday was April 21 2026. It was appropriate for the official inauguration of the deed that occurred on April 21 1918.

Roy Brown was born here in Carleton Place in 1893. The house in which he lived still stands, not far from town hall and just across from the mill that his grandparents owned.

He has become our most honoured former citizen even though he settled elsewhere in Ontario after the war. There is a statue of Roy near town hall, and there is a park named after him as well as a prominent mural, all of which have appeared in this space in times past. (Remembering Roy Brown, I Am but a Lowly Tripod, Roy Brown Park)

Back to the present, the replica models are well constructed and to scale. They are made of solid material, and it is said that they would be sturdy enough to fly if they were powered.

The Men's Shed certainly did and outstanding job that will be viewed with admiration and pride for many years to come.

Roy Brown's Sopwith Camel chases the Baron, flying above and behind
as the Baron's Fokker points downward in his final descent.

Upon Reflection

On Monday Evening, I had the bright idea to visit Riverside Park at sunset. I was hoping to get sun reflecting in the temporarily flooded ponds that I also showed here the other day. For the most part, we were a little late for that, at least where I was. I went mostly right while Sue veered to the left. She caught more reflection that I did. Since she got the better photos, I'll show mine first, two of which included her in the frame.

My two fav photos, the one immediately above and the one below didn't involve water or reflections at all. Go figure. I love how the setting sun lit up the grasses.

I did get this one with some reflection and a bench, but I had to do some editing to get it looking as good as it does.

I tried to avoid direct shots of the sun as the variation in light can really throw-off a photo, but Sue managed those, as well as reflections, very well.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

JJ’s accident keeps on with its repercussions. Not only did Dani lose her vehicle, but JJ will be out of pocket for getting the car towed and then likely have increased insurance premiums. Now, there are repercussions for us too.

As you know, we loaned our ancient, 2010 car, Hermione the Honda, to Danica to help her get to her final exams. It was a nice thing to do, but they say that no good deed goes unpunished, and they appear to be correct.

Danica hit a road hazard on the expressway, or the road hazard hit her. I am not sure which, but she was fearful that she had blown a tire. Thankfully, she hadn’t. That would have been frighteningly awful on that busy, urban highway.

Unfortunately, on the weekend, we saw that there was some damage near the passenger door: a bit of a dent and loose molding. 

I took Hermione into the auto body shop just around the corner. She’s a 2010 model with many scratches and scrapes, so we just want to keep her functional. There is no way that the car needs to be restored to pristine condition.

The estimate is $200 to refasten the molding. We’re getting off easily compared to what could have happened. Nevertheless, it appears to be very true about good deeds and their subsequent punishment. 

After the Croci

This Monday morning dawned cold but bright, with prisms being cast upon my wall. 

Yesterday was not so fine, also cold but overcast and windy and miserable for walking. However, when we checked out the crocus patch by the abandoned building, we were delighted to find a profusion of squill/scillia. So although the croci are pretty well done for the year, the squill are spreading their joy.

Part of one patch but there was another patch as well.

The squill flowers are smaller than a fingernail, but pictures had to be taken. They won't be sharp in the stiff breezes, but soft focus has its own charm.

If you go back up to the first photo, you may see some purple flowers to the right and back. They are somewhat larger than the striped flowers, but they are also a type of squill. (In both images the common names are at the top and the proper Latin designation at the bottom, but you probably have to enlarge the photo to see the Latin versions. Of course, I can only rely on the iPhone's ID,)

On somewhat miserable morning, we were quite chuffed and charmed to find these little beauties gracing an otherwise forlorn piece of property.