Dragooning a Young Body into Service

We call on JJ for a bit of help with the garden and grounds every now and then. This week we brought him over to help spread new mulch and to cut down the overgrown easement. Sue and I had already laid a few bags of mulch, and while we could have done more, we thought it prudent to dragoon a young body.

Sue took various photos and applied her usual compositing.

Of course, I snapped a few using the lilac bush and the tree-bush as a frame.

I posed this one with the inukshuk in the front and the daylilies behind. The daylilies were about his height although they look less tall in the background.

All done.

It was nice of the boy to loan us his young body for a few hours. We might dragoon him again in the fall. 

I use dragoon in the second verbal sense although I don't really require force or violence to get him to comply. 😁

dragoon

1 of 2

noun

1

: a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed mounted troops

2

: cavalryman

dragoon

2 of 2

verb

dragooned; dragooning; dragoons

transitive verb

1

: to subjugate or persecute by harsh use of troops

2

: to force into submission or compliance especially by violent measures

Sue Kept Going

After Sue completed her photo prompt (see yesterday's post), she did what she tends to do and kept on going and going with more photo ideas and layouts.

She found as photo of me and my mother at sometime close to when I might have first used her SIX-20. Then she included one of the current me with my Canon R, 70 years later and still into photography. She made many layouts, and I picked these two to post.

She then posed the old camera with two newish ones.

She thought that she should get one with a bottle of coke since that has been another standby in my life. (The sand in the bottle is there because it was a gift brought back by my daughter from a Caribbean cruise.)

Almost certainly, these photos of me would have been taken with the 620.

I wanted my own camera, and was gifted with a Kodak Starflash. It was cool, but it didn't hold up for long. After awhile, when I pressed the shutter, it would just stay open. This picture of me was taken by my friend at a summer camp called Wildwood, possibly in 1959 or 60.

On my 15th birthday, my dad passed on his Super Richoflex to me. I liked it and used it periodically until I got my first SLR, a Pentax Spotmatic ii with my income tax rebate in 1972. The Pentax is still in the house somewhere, but the Richoflex is long gone — to where and from when, I know not.

These two posts are all because of Sue's old camera prompt and from me borrowing Bob's cameras. It's like opening a bag of chips — hard to stop. Munch, munch. 

Vintage Photos and Cameras

One day last week, Sue's daily photo prompt required her using an old camera in a photo. I have older cameras, but they don't look old since they are all of the SLR style. It's too bad that I hadn't kept my earlier cameras, but how was I to know when I was young that I would feel nostalgic about them now.

In the absence of a suitable camera, she did the next best thing and made a collage of old family photos. Starting top left we see her mother and her twin brother That's her grandmother, top right. In the middle we see her mother's school class. Bottom right is her grandmother's class. Finally, at bottom left is a tintype photo that we think might be her great grandmother.

Tintype photographs were first made in the 1850s and remained in use from the 1860s through the early 20th century.

A tintype, also known as a melanotype or ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal, colloquially called 'tin' (though not actually tin-coated)

She made the collage early in the day, but when she showed me her work, I knew that I could help her fulfill the project requirement even more. You see, my friend, Bob, is a collector, both by nature and by practice. For example: his CD collection is vast. I knew that he also has a vintage camera collection, so I invited myself over to borrow a few, and I took three back to Sue who then took this photo. Cool, eh?

The camera on the left, the Target Brownie Six-20 being also my mother's camera and, therefore, the first camera that I ever used, Sue decided to photograph it on its own along with empty film cannisters.

One thing led to another, and Sue kept on extending the project. I will post more photos tomorrow, or soon.

Coffee Walk #4 on a Sunday

It was unusual for us to do our coffee walk — our 4th this summer —on a Sunday, but that is what we did. After the recent hot weather, we decided to enjoy the weather on a slightly more moderate day. It wasn't exactly a cool walk, but at the end of it, near the play structure, we found a very nicely shaded bench, enhanced by a cool breeze.

At the northern end of the park before we make a circuit to Tims and then go around to the south side, we noticed a number of little kids on the pump track. It's usually empty on weekday mornings, but Sunday is a good day for the parents, especially the dads, to take the tykes out when the older, intimidating boys are still abed.

young boy hurtling around the big jump track

young girl just learning on the starter track

father geese watching protectively

After obtaining our coffee, we continued around the circuit to a shady picnic table where we enjoyed our drinks.

looking north-ish to the play structure with the jump track beyond

looking south-ish in the direction that we had come from obtaining our coffees

Almost opposite us was a delightful family with the cutest young boy who waved to us. Sue took her own pictures of the lady with the purple hair. She might be able to use it this week because the prompts will all involve purple in some way.

As we sat there, cyclists passed by on their section of the trail. This is part of the trail that goes a long way north, or south for that matter. Or they can branch off onto another trail that would take them all of the way into Ottawa.

Finally, I post this selfie because I want to showoff my new hat from a spontaneous and whimsical purchase from Tilley. I have several of their hats already, but a nice red one suits both my country and my preferences. It was an unplanned and somewhat frivolous purchase, for Tilley apparel is not inexpensive. To compensate, I will forego my usual summer holiday to the Riviera.

both of us in our Tilley hats
the other hat-wearer looking less ancient

It was a real treat to get out and about again in the more moderate temperatures.

The Last Fiddler

It's Saturday night as I sit at the computer to write something for Sunday's blog post, and through social media, I know what act is about to take the stage at Almonte Celtfest momentarily. It interests me because we attended the Celtfest weekend for 15 years. In the early days, it was mainly just a Sunday afternoon concert. Presently, it begins on Friday night, continues on Saturday afternoon and evening and then onto and through Sunday afternoon. The curtain will come down with everybody singing The Parting Glass. It's a great event.

We loved it in our time, but that miserable pandemic came along and essentially cancelled it for two years. By then, we were further into our 70s and the thought of lugging lawn chairs and picnic baskets around a hot, sunny hillside in search of a patch of shade felt like a little much. I miss it somewhat, but I take joy in 15 years of memories. We have moved on to a different phase of life, and we appreciate it for what it is.

I looked through some past photos. I think everyone of which appeared in posts back in those days  

This first photo is of the very last act of Saturday night of our final concert in 2019. I have thought that it was the final act that we ever saw but there would have been others on the following Sunday afternoon. However, I don’t remember them, so Ashely MacIssac’s performance stands out as the final act for me. It’s very fitting because he is a world class fiddler who left me feeling that I had been in the presence of musical genius.

Next is another photo from 2019: an inspiring native group who were not exactly Celtic but close enough. Now that we have AI, I put her on a different and better stage for her performance had not been lit in the earlier, daylight.

The whole stage in 2018, not re-edited

also 2018, a drummer with another group, slightly re-edited 2026

from 2017, slightly reedited in 2026

fiddler from the same band as above but in 2016,

a Quebecois French band, Le Vent du Nord

Finally an exceptional drummer from 2010, stage background added

Orphan Photos 4

Two flowers from the Community Garden at the museum from mid-June. The blanket flower is a merge of 5 photos to try to simulate a multiple exposure.

A heron in a sea of green, taken on the day of the solstice. Happily, s/he occupied a little gap within the greenery.

Also on the solstice: a rather nice evening sky from our bedroom. I like the darker cloud that frames the top of the photo.

A mirror selfie from June 19th.

That was Canada Day

We have been experiencing quite a heat wave, so we had no intention of partaking in any of the Canada Day events. I did wear my maple leaf shirt around the house, even when watching Wimbledon.

Eventually, some people did see the shirt although they made no comment. Jonathan and friends had gone out for a walk and ended up here to hydrate and cool off. And eat chips and skittles.

After some games, the four of them put their heads together to finish our jigsaw puzzle. 

It's really Sue's jigsaw, and not ours, but I do occasionally try to help a bit. I was glad for the kids to fit the final pieces.

Back to Canada Day: the town's outdoor festivities would not have gone all that well. In addition to the heat of 33C/91F, there were several downpours (see photo). How disappointing for the town and for those who made an effort to attend, especially the kids!

patriotic shirt and stormy weather

They did go ahead with the fireworks after the rain stopped, and I did try shooting with the phone, but it did not do well in that kind of situation. These ↓ are some of the better shots, if you please. I was dubious about getting anything, so I am not really disappointed. I don't mind posting them here, but I am not sure if I would post any of them to Flickr although the third one isn't too terrible.