First Picnic

Yesterday, we took JJ for his first picnic with us this season.The boy can be a picky eater and doesn't care too much for sweets (lucky fella),  but, like his buppa, he does like his chips (unlucky fella).

We sat by the river, and he played there while the grands were still content to sit, munch and finish their large coffees.

After lunch grandma helped him survey the scene before we all sauntered up the park and back.

At one point he found a boulder to climb and sit on. The monument was placed there by the cancer society. It is beside a daffodil bed, the daffodil being the society's symbol in Canada.

But then he wanted help getting down. Being a crusty old gaffer, I told him I thought he could manage. So he did.

Confidence boosted, he climbed it again.

We walked as far as the point before turning back.

He sure felt weary and complained about his legs being tired

But, miraculously, he did manage to make it back to the car. And we all lived happily ... for the rest of the day.

The Narrows Lock on the Rideau Canal

Here are a few more photos from Narrows Lock last Saturday Evening. The first one is the lock itself; there is only one here to connect Upper Rideau Lake with Big Rideau Lake. It is Lock 35 of the 49 locks on the Rideau system.

The Rideau Canal connects Kingston on Lake Ontario to Ottawa on the Ottawa River. Both of these routes connect to Montreal and the St Lawrence River. The system was built as a precaution against American invasion. While they could possibly shut down shipping on Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River, it would be more difficult for the Americans to proceed inland. Indeed, some of the locks have fairly heavily fortified block houses for extra protection. (click here for a map of the Rideau Canal system)

The Narrows Lock is one of these extra fortified locks, as the first photo shows. The blockhouse is to the right in this photo, and the lock is to the left. The lock is behind the bridge which is swung open to let the boats pass through. (click here for a map and aerial photo of the isthmus and canal)

Faintly visible beyond the land is Big Rideau Lake. There is just a narrow strip of land separating the two lakes. The original intent had been to join the two lakes without a lock, but the hard granitic rock was difficult to blast through, so just a narrow cut was made, and a lock was installed.

We had our picnic supper on this pier.

All of the locks on the Rideau Canal are like this and only used by pleasure craft these days. Barely visible in this photo on the other side of the lock are several boats which were docked overnight as the lock was closed for traffic at 5:00 PM.

A closer view of the boats docked for the night.

Opened in 1832, The Rideau Canal is " the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America, and in 2007 it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site."

After a pleasant drive, picnic lunch, and just plain sitting and enjoying the day and the view, I set up my camera and waited for the light.

Eventually, the light came. This photo was taken more or less in the direction that my camera was pointed in the earlier photos.

Anniversary Weekend Continued ... from Sunup to Sundown

Our anniversary weekend continued yesterday although with an increase in cloud cover and a decrease in temperature today, the majority of the frolics may be over.

Actually, the day began in solitary mode for me yesterday. I awoke early and was out of the house shortly after 4:30 to go on a solitary photo shoot. This may be my favourite photo from the shoot and was actually an incidental one. As I returned to the car, I glimpsed this view across the river from the parking lot. It was still pretty dark out, and I think blogger darkened the photo even more, but I love the purple tones and the reflection — even if I do say so myself.

Later in the morning, we headed to the opening day of the farmers market. Traditionally, many spring/summer activities begin on this May (Victoria Day) long weekend. They have just built the roof. It isn't even shingled yet.

What with beef, maple syrup and rainbow trout and who knows what else for sale, this was quite the eclectic vendor. And a happy one.

Then, Sue met another vendor, Heather, who has a farm-size poperty in the woods. Before hunting season, she orders up to 2000 pumpkins to attract the deer into the safety of her property just before hunting season. She helps feed them all winter. If you squint, you can see many deer in her photo. She was selling dropped antlers decorated with various stones. You can begin to glimpse one to the lower right behind the photo.

Later in the day, we went for a drive to the Narrows Lock on the Rideau Canal system.

We had a picnic lunch and just sat around for a few hours ...

... and even managed to reach each other this time around ...

... while AC waited for the sun to go down so he could take a this photo of the sunset on Big Rideau Lake.

I took the above picture from the pier and thought that I might have the opportunity to take the iconic pier into the water shot that every photographer should take once. Alas, the fisher people had other ideas.

It was a good day. I'm glad we got out while the gettin was good because today ain't so grand.

Anniversary Picnic

As you know if you read the previous post, yesterday was our anniversary. Since we still had to be around to get Danica off the school bus, we weren't able to do much or to go far. It was just as well because when did decide to take a picnic lunch to the riverside, we were reduced to shivering in the cold. It looks nice enough in the photos, but in point of fact it was windy and cool.

You can't count on the weather on this holiday weekend. It was also blasted windy 44 years ago. It was cloudier and rainier then, however, and the rest of the weekend looks promising.

I had thought to bring my tripod and decided to memorialize our anniversary picnic by setting it up and taking some remote photos. I angled the camera to include the park along the riverbank, but as you can see, this angle caused Sue to look like a midget beside me.

We're supposed to be gazing across the river, Sue.

Look at the imaginary birdie.

Wave to the camera.

So I moved the tripod and took a few more with the beautiful water treatment plant in the background.

Smile.

Let's pucker up for a little anniversary kiss. Uh, can't reach that far. Damn.

After that stretch we were so tired that we went home for a nap. And nap we did, unlike 44 years ago.

May 17 1969

These two people got married on this day 44 years ago. The one in white has kept her looks quite well. The one in black has not fared so well.

Mothers Day and a Sick Kid

Sue's Mothers Days have entered their fourth decade. I am not sure how I got married to such an old woman.

When we arrived for lunch Danica was sucking on an electrolytic popsicle ↑↑ because she hadn't been able to keep any food or drink down after throwing up 13 times yesterday.

After brunch when Eric and I managed to combine to cook bacon, eggs, hash browns and biscuits, Grandma got to open her gift with loads of help from JJ. ↓↓

Then, Amma and Danica had a little lap time.

But she was not her usual, boisterous self.

And Dani and Mom were soon seen having a protracted snuggle on the couch. After a hot week, a cold front has blown in, and it was darn chilly, so they huddled under a blanket.

Meanwhile, Jonathan enjoyed looking at his reflection in the monitor.

And that's how Mothers Day 2013 went down.

Springtime and Boy Time

Spring vaulted into summer in the past week with temperatures reaching past the mid-20s°C and into the 80s°. The trees went from bud to full leaf very quickly that I missed getting some photos that I wanted. However, these two old oaks in the park were among the very few that hadn't yet leafed out completely.

Blossoms also suddenly appeared. This tree was in Sha's yard, and I snapped the photo while waiting for the parents to come home after I dropped the kids off for the day. Unintentionally, I caught a bee approaching the blossoms.

Other than the rapid weather change, some things have been proceeding as normal. For example: JJ and I still have a story time after lunch and before quiet time.

And he continues to shadow me. I decided to bbq some hot dogs for lunch one day, and he was around the whole time. In this photo, he was examining the workings of the gate.

One day, we helped a neighbour with her move. We trudged back and forth together: the boys and the Bups.

I Once Was Lost

I kind of got lost or at least I lost track of my blog for awhile. These are some more photos from what is now the weekend before last.

Sue snapped this picture of me wandering around with my camera at</ br>Festival of the Maples.

Just some of the chainsaws at Wheelers..

And some more.

A storage area at Wheelers.

A green door in Balderson advertising cheap pop from a bygone era.

A barn at Balderson that Brian and I visited while the women were doing a wee bit of shopping.