In the Red

A former blogger told me something like this quite awhile ago when I mentioned temporarily fumbling for words.

But losing words or numbers temporarily can induce anxiety. A few days ago, I fumbled with remembering the code to get into my financial spreadsheet. It was frustrating. I left the room and then soon remembered. I can tell you that it was a relief. I can also tell you that I know the number right now. Finally, I can tell you that it is also comforting that I can recall the whole incident in detail.

I also have two sixteen-digit codes more or less in my head to access banking information online. Every now and then I momentarily fumble for the starting digits, but once they lock into place, I am set.

So, we worry a little bit about whether this is normal aging or the onset of true and actual dementia. I suppose any diminution of mental processes indicates some level of dementia, but I guess there is normal slowing and the more concerning level. At least we hope so 

Following is a chart that may give us some comfort. (Click to embiggen.)

I may be getting worse on the red side, but on the red side I am, I am. Praise and glory be.

How about thou?

Where Were Our Heads

When I call myself silly, I am not referring specifically to this photo of me sitting in an store although I guess it qualifies.

It was decided that we required new, light lawn chairs to stuff in the car. to pull out easily at the park, or maybe in other places too. Chairs would be more comfortable than a hard, metal park bench. Or so the theory went.

We already had very comfy lawn chairs for endurance sitting at events like the weekend long Celtfest that we used to attend. But they are somewhat large and cumbersome to lug around. So . . .

Off we went to Canadian Tire, which, for ye foreigners, is a lot more than just tires, and tried out their lawn chairs. The above photo reveals that we tried four and settled on a pair of chairs like the one I was sitting on.

Of course, we were eager to put them into service at the first opportunity.

Let me tell you that they were about as uncomfortable as you can imagine. When we got them home, we took them out of the car, and put them in the garage where they remain.

I don't know where our brains were on that day in the store, but we now sit on those uncomfortable park benches by preference.

Photo Play

I admire the General Store in tiny Ashton and have been inside when it was under other management. After it sat idle for awhile, new owners picked up the business, and I have been told that it is worth another visit.

I like the look of it, but I have never been pleased with my photos.

I decided that it required a better location. Hmm . . .  how about a park. Can AI create a park around the store? 

Why yes, AC, yes it can and did. And it looks like it's on the water, but that is just an illusion.

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So that ↑ is or was the post, but I've played with other photos since I drafted it, so I'll append them since we are all gathered together anyway. You've seen them all at some point, but they look different now. What one does in the dog days of summer, eh?

I've blurred the background of the stiltwalker, and whatever else I did, he also looks more like a toy now if you look closely.

I also showed this next one not long ago, but I brightened it, made a border, and put a texture on the background. It looks much better now.

I got very silly with the next and final edit. I was looking at Dani's grad pics from last month and thought I could play around with the surprise element from her opening of the gifts by showing fireworks almost coming out of her head. The fireworks are also from one of my past photos.

Silly me.

Just Ducky

Our walks have suffered a bit due to heat and this and that, and don't forget the other thing. However, one morning early last week was very pleasant, so rather than continuing to walk right through the park as has become our custom, we detoured to the bench by the river.

Along the way, we spotted this boy fishing in the pond. It seemed like an almost quintessential summer photo op.

We proceeded to the bench that you have seen many times and in various seasons. In summer, the riverbank is lined with foliage, but a little gap has been maintained opposite the bench.

A very cool thing happened as we sat there gazing outward although I lean to gazing inward. We spotted a lot of vigorous duck activity way over near the opposite bank. The ducks were being extremely frisky. It was almost as though they were running on the water and creating a lot of splashing as they zoomed back and forth.

Eventually, they zoomed nearer to us with great exuberance. Sue jumped up and used her telephoto lens to try to catch the action. Under the circumstances, they are not stupendous photos, but we were surprised by what they revealed.

You see, they we're not our usual, more sedate mallard ducks, which, except for one other rare and fleeting occasion in our many years here, are the only ducks that we have ever seen. No, they were either mergansers or grebes, which I think are similar species in appearance. The splashing in the next photo reveals a bit of how active they were zipping back and forth in a manner that mallards would surely disdain. They were frolicking merrily, speedily and splashily.

So that was an extra treat in what was already a most pleasant morning.

Monday Morning Microwaves

I found this odd question on social media. Many of the replies were very clever and humourous. I thought that you might enjoy them on a hot Monday morning. Or maybe your sense of humour differs from mine. 

Do Canadians not use microwaves? No where we’ve stayed has had one.

Nah. I just heat my food over the woodstove after I'm done bathing in the river. Maybe one day we'll have running water too, if we can ever figure out how to keep the water from freezing in the igloo. Can I interest you in a Molson?

This is simple geometry. Microwaves are generally rectangular. Our igloos have curved walls.

It’s not my turn with the national microwave. Bob from Canmore has it this week. Then Gord in Dildo, then Jenn in Fort Mac, then it’s my turn.

We actually have 13 microwaves. One for each province and territory. There should be a Facebook group with a list of who has the one and who gets next. Hope that helps

No, we have not yet received that amazing technology way up here in Canada. Also, in 2 or 3 years we might be getting VCRs, so that's exciting.

No. This is common with socialist countries. We prefer to heat with love. Anytime we want something warmed, we goose the local moose so they let out a “gather ‘round” call. This summons the community to the local warming pad where we huddle in a tight group hug (elbows flared outwards) to warm the food with our combined body heat. Not only does the food heat faster, but it releases tension in the community.

PS:  I woke up in some pain at 4:30 this morning because I forgot to use my supporting pillow for my legs last night. So, I moved from bed to chair because I can often get my legs comfortable there, but by then ], my neck was aching too. Here I am almost three hours later, not in too much discomfort. Fortunately, I don’t have to perform brain surgery today; it’s my day off. 

Summerfest

Summerfest was on! One Saturday, every summer, they close Bridge St (our Main St) to traffic and line it with vendors. And it is always always hot hot hot.

I am not sure when we last strolled the vendors gauntlet, but it had to be before the big C. The thing that inhibits me to a large degree is my dang foot because I can’t know how far away I will have to park. But this year, we were able to snag a close-by spot because we arrived early. Being early wasn't a problem because the booths were mostly set up.

This photo shows the view up the street. The vendors stretched beyond what the photo shows, and there were also vendors behind us.

I put my real camera in the car before we left the house but then decided to leave it there because porting both a big camera and a cane for a distance on a hot day is not all that enjoyable. I took a few pics with my phone, like the one above, but mostly relied on Sue’s better phone camera.

Therefore, aside from the one above, I only have three photos from Summerfest 2025.

The first is of two wonderfully bearded gentlemen who crafted very impressive what I guess I should call woodturning. Looking at them, we had reason to think that they are brothers, but they are not. They are partners, however, and have been so for 36 years. I decided that I liked this photo in mono.

I took a picture of the stiltwalker and Sue took one of the butterfly girl.

After our hot walk, we drove to Tims for coffee, which, of course, we took to the park where it was wonderfully breezy and cool in the shade and a very welcome treat after that very hot walk downtown. We sat on a bench and took our usual selfie. I don't think I looked as stunned as usual, and I was also pleased to get a lot of our beautiful river in the background .

But then, Adam happened by and offered to help us with a photo.

While I was happy enough with our selfie, of course we took up this stranger's offer. He proved to be a very friendly, garrulous extrovert, so it was a delightful little meeting.

Adam continued his walk with his old, deaf dog, that he had rescued sixteen years ago when it was a poorly treated pup. Us? We sat on the bench, drank our coffee, enjoyed the breeze, and watched a few craft on the river. Surprisingly, there wasn't much activity on the river on such a hot Saturday morning, but Sue did get this photo.

Then, we went home to recuperate from the heat in the AC. So it was AC in the AC. The AC was definitely on. Eh?

Jolly Jumpin JJ

On a hot afternoon, JJ came over to help Grampa to clear the easement of which I have recently bemoaned. We did get the bushes cleared and grass and weeds whacked, and then we took the extracted brush to the yard waste depot.

I don't have any pictures of that, but I do have pictures of JJ jumping for joy Sue. It was to help her with her photo prompt of the day.

In addition to helping me with the easement, or rather me helping him, he helped Sue spread some mulch over the more bare spots. We should probably top up the whole yard next year,

Although this isn't on topic, I must share this photo that Sue took from the back door on the same night. Yes, we did have quite a storm later.

Up In The Air

Can you see the spider? It's a faint dot in the middle against the blue sky. I have labelled it.

I have annotated the photo, and you can click to see it larger.
(By the way, that is a narrow 7 for the distance measurement.
I should have taken more care with the font)

This spider is a new guest, just outside our back door; at least it is new to this position in the middle of almost nowhere.

The location astonishes us as she hangs suspended in space, at least 3' from the nearest launching pad. How does she make a web with nothing to hold onto? We find it amazing, She spends her off hours resting in the shade of the umbrella to the left (also labelled).

I haven't seen too many victims in her web. I hope for her sake she is getting fed at night. When you get to the closeup, below, you will see that there is something in the web, but I don't know what it is, perhaps just fluff, and it was gone the next morning.

I got out my macro lens, but from that distance, looking way up against the sky, it was still too small to suit me, so I cropped and then enlarged the image. There she is in all her beauty hanging upside down on invisible gossamer threads against the sky.

 Ain't she cute? Don't you want to take her home?

Ultra Confusing

I experience dry eye, which is properly named blepharitis. Somehow, once I was supplied with the proper medical term, I felt somewhat better because dry eye seemed like a meaningless generic catchall to me, but blepharitis was scientific and sounded like someone actually had studied the condition and diagnosed it.. But that's just me digressing, as is my wont, and not what the post is about.

Daily, and quite a few times daily, I attempt to ameliorate the condition by putting drops in my eyes. I used to apply Systane Original, which worked well enough, and came in decently-sized containers: 30ml if I recall correctly. That product no longer seems to exist, and now, I must purchase Systane Ultra which comes in small 10ml containers for about the same price. But that is another digression.

Yesterday, I opened the newest container, but after applying it, copious streams of liquid were coursing down my cheeks. You see, I had had to press the previous container quite hard and at length get it to flow. This bottle squirts like the dickens. (My mother's expression although she said, diggens.)

There's no consistency here. There was a blue nozzle on the previous bottle. That is what regulated the flow, and I must say that it eventually yielded enough to moisten my eyes. By regulating the flow, that bottle lasted for quite awhile. I suspect that I will go through this newest bottle quite quickly unless I overcome my learned conditioning, which is to press hard and at length.

I wonder if the absence of this blue nozzle was by design or omission. 

Cancellations and Renewals

I signed up for The Sports Network for a month, but since I only wanted it for that long to watch Wimbledon, I tried to cancel online, which is how I signed up. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t get there. I finally had to actually phone in. I hate phoning with my suspect hearing, and then I got a lady with an accent. We did prevail, however.

To be a little fair, I think the option disappeared from the website because they had discontinued my particular package, and so the cancel option got lost as it kept showing me the new packages with no way just to just discontinue the old one.

Come late August, I will subscribe for another month for the US Open because that is what I need to do every year, but when it is time to cancel, I will know to give up and phone for help sooner if there is a repeat situation.

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In other news, the province sent me my official renewed licence (from the time I had to draw the clock to prove that I wasn’t senile). The new Health Card with the same photo came a few days later. You may recall that I almost broke the camera. Well I guess I really did because both cards show the mugshot of some old guy whom I don’t recognize. 

Yikesorama! 😲😔

The paid driver’s licence is good for two years, when I will again have to prove my competency. The free health card is good for five years, and I won’t have to prove anything other than resembling the photo and then verifying my date of birth whenever I use it. Why I have to do this when they can see my face, I know not.

Simply Beeing

Upon returning home from a nice, cool morning walk, we were surveying our front garden with some satisfaction because it happens to be looking pretty good. There is abundant echinacea, some daisies, some yellow coneflowers, and more. There are also various pots here and there, and they are looking grand.

We spotted a bee buzzing, so when Sue grabbed her phone, I realized that my camera was just inside the house near the door with macro lens already attached, so I made a bee-line for it.

The bee had moved, but we did find it again in another section of echinacea. We both took photos. I haven't seen Sue's yet, but these two of mine are satisfactory. They are not super close, but I can't get too close with my macro lens. Still, the bee in the photos is as large as it is in reality, so that's not bad.

Overnight, I began to wonder if I could catch a bee in flight. I would pre-focus the camera and bee ready if they either alighted or disembarked. Yeah, that didn't work although I did capture a few blurs. Even at 1250 seconds, whatever photos I got, and there were precious few, were extremely blurry. Some of the blur could have been due to a very narrow depth of field of a macro lens, but really, they bee fast fast fast.

Since we are all gathered together, I will append two non-flight photos from that second shoot: the first because there are two bees for the price of one, the second because that little cutie appears to be looking right at the camera.

A Hackneyed and Aggravating Trope

I was just reading some more rave reviews and comments about Prime’s new cop show, Ballard. For those who don’t know, Ballard is a female detective who was introduced on the final season of Bosch. 

Since Bosch was pretty good for an American mystery, we watched Ballard and give it a thumbs up as well. Neither series was grimy and sleazy with bad language and silly sex, which are both sometimes quite gratuitous in some American series. I don’t say this to diss things American, but we generally prefer the less edgy and usually more thoughtful British mysteries. For example, we recently switched off a series that had two major brawls and a brutal death and lots of language in the first five minutes.

But . . . but …whether American or British, it is amazing how many series …   

…   beware this will be a wee bit of a spoiler but one that won't really detract from the program since it has nothing to do with the main plot…   

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The final episode ended with an accusation of the protagonist and she was dragged away in handcuffs. It’s a tiring trope that I've seen used all too often in detective series, even British ones. It’s supposed to hook us for the next series, but this season was good enough that we don’t need the hook. It’s weak and frustrating and unnecessary element. I roll my eyes and think, "I’ve seen this trope repeated too many times already."

By all means, watch Ballard. It’s just the last minute of the ten episodes than grinds my gears, and I doubt that it will play a big part in the next season. 

Then . . .  (and this was ↓ was not part of the original post)

After writing the above about Ballard, I am quite annoyed that they have done it again in Lincoln Lawyer, which we had watched since I wrote about Ballard (but didn't get around to posting until now).

Both were ten-part series that were done quite well. I think they were produced by the same folks, and both followed characters from Michael Connolly's novels. Unfortunately,. Lincoln Lawyer ended the same way as Ballard. After a satisfying conclusion that should have left us with contented thoughts while we waited for another year, they did the same sort of twist ending with the protagonist getting into a heap of trouble. That was both unnecessary and deeply unsatisfying.

Seriously, if you can put together a pretty good 10-part series, you could also find a non-ridiculous conclusion.

The protagonist being accused of murder is a hackneyed trope. We deserve better.

Back to Double Exposures

Being ancient of days, I tend to move on from something and then forget to return to it.

Recently Val/Mulewings posted a double-exposure photo and noted that I had a small part in inspiring her to try this technique. You see, I had experimented with double exposures in early spring, but then the practice sank into the sea of my forgetfulness. At least I can proudly say that I remember that I had forgotten. lol

After that reminder, I decided to try a few double-exposure macros in a patch of Queen Anne's Lace. I had thought there were also blue chicory plants in that location, and I was right, but there weren't many, and my attempts to use them in photos were not very successful.

Following, are a few results, always with some editing and/or cropping in post. I tend to process one photo one way and the next photo another way, as the spirit moves. One of the first four photos was doubly-exposed in post and not in camera, but I am not sure which one right now. Whatever the case, the other three were blended by my trusty Canon although I do, subsequently, edit to my highly variable taste.

The two parts of this first image involved an unfocused photo (background) and then a more or less focused flower as the foreground subject. I cropped it into a square format and turned the background to mono or almost. It's a gentle look. While the background may look like clouds, it is of other flowers.

This ↓ is a similar idea as above but without converting the background. It is the type of photo that could have been a single exposure without displaying much of a difference, but it is a double.

I processed this third photo maximally by adding a radial blur among other things. I am not sure if I like it, but I like to play, and some of my Flickr friends said that they liked it.

Finally, another double that could also have as easily been a single exposure but wasn't.

This final offering is completely a single exposure. I had used it in a double exposure in camera, but I didn't like it. I did see potential in the single exposure, however. By the way, I have programmed the camera to also keep the singles, even when I am shooting double exposures. Every attempt of a double exposure yields three images: the blend plus the two single photos.

Now, will I forget all about this technique again for a few months? I'll try not to. 

Hard Hitting

It Strikes AC Hard Too

175/40/6

That's quite a date, eh: 175/40/6?

For the past months I have been stepping on the scales on Sunday morning. This Sunday, the scale reported 175lbs dead on. That is a 40lb loss that took 6 months. Hence the 175/40/6 title.

I lost much of that poundage in the first two months before I really began weighing myself, but I did know my initial weight. I think it has since taken me a month and a half to lose the last 5 pounds, or maybe even just 4 pounds over slightly longer because it is slow going now, and that is okay at this point.

I didn't have a particular goal in mind when I started this way of eating, but lately, the 175 figure has been in my sights, and I didn't want to report until I reached that weight. I don't know why 175 is more significant than 176, but that's how it feels, right? It's the same with anniversaries; being married for 50 years is so much more impressive than a mere 49 years.

Who knows if there are more pounds to shed? If I were young and needed to be in tiptop fighting shape, I might theoretically be able to hit 165 or perhaps slightly lower, but alas I am not young and I couldn’t fight my way out of a paper bag, so I am quite satisfied with 175/40/6.

One thing has been made remarkably and almost frighteningly clear to me is that there is a very fine line between losing, gaining and plateauing. I recently, despite sticking pretty close the plan, gained a pound one week and another in the next week before I lost them slowly over the following two weeks. It's a near thing and a lifelong struggle, it seems.

Picture Yourself

Our extended heatwave broke overnight on Thursday. The temperature went down to 10C/50F and the wind blowing through my window was so strong that I was getting cold under the blanket that I had dug out of the cupboard in anticipation of the cooler weather. In the middle of the night, however, I had to get up and shut the window. Crazy, eh?

The cooler temperature meant that we didn't have to rush to get our morning walk in early, and when we did go out, we took a new-to-us route that would be too sunny and hot on many days. After driving downtown (it's not far) and parking at the Wool Shoppe, we walked over to Tim Hortons and ordered coffees to go.

The entrance at Tims has red trim, and with red being Sues' theme for the week, she grabbed this shot. Too bad that I wasn't wearing red on this day. But I like the perspective.

Having procured our drinks, we headed toward The Junction recreational area, but we stopped on the way to photograph red fire trucks at the police and fire station.

We continued on the the park, found a shady bench, and watched the children playing on a red structure. You shall see that shortly, but I withhold the photo momentarily.

As we were sitting there enjoying a beautiful day with the children also playing happily, Sue got a message from her sister, Heather, the contents of which are not important. She decided to send a a selfie photo of our pleasant situation to Heather, which she did.

I, however, noticed that Sue switched out of Messenger into her camera app, to take the photo, and then switched back to Messenger to send it. I told her she could save a step by accessing the phone through Messenger itself.

What I didn't know is that you can do a picture-in-picture that way. I discovered this accidentally. Feel free to ask, “What’s with the long face, AC?” Answer: I’m not sad, it’s camera distortion. 

And there is the aforementioned red play structure.

Oddly, we can only do this effect with in Messenger and not directly from the Apple camera app. It doesn't quite make sense to me because Messenger, obviously, uses the Apple phone.

So there we are. You can take a selfie+scene in the Messenger app. To do so, activate the comment box, click the camera icon at the side, and just select the DUAL option when the app opens up. Once you are done with Messenger, be sure to also save it to your phone.

Go ahead. Try it, and post it. And may your face not be distorted in the process.

Fie

Fie on't! Oh fie fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed;

I was sure that I posted about our northern neighbour last year, but, of course, \ I couldn't find the evidence. However, every year until this year, she has purchased at least one new flower pot and hung it proudly from her little porch. And every year, she neglected to water it — at all! It dried and died in short order. This year, wisely, she put in a fake fern, but there are still neglected pots on the ground below.

So much for the northern neighbour, but we have a new southern neighbour. She's a teacher in her first house. We were expecting to see the pride of home ownership displayed. Well, there definitely is some pride, for she planted nice flowers in a bed out front, and she planted a nice row of flowers in a little raised border along her back fence. But then, she hasn’t maintained her plots well.

I splash a little water on her front patch when I am out giving my plants a drink, so it is doing alright. But that poor back border!

To be fair, her property hadn't been well tended for awhile, so it was already weedy. She and her friend did weed the raised border between the bricks and fence ↓ before planting, but the roots were there and the weeds grew back very rapidly. She made an effort to weed again, and you might possibly discern that the weeds in the very centre of the border are slightly less large than the others. But she and her helpers didn't get very far before they abandoned the project, and there has been no further work — not even watering.

We had also hoped that a new, young, fit neighbour would maintain the front lawn, most of which is hers. After my last mowing in early June, we informed her that I would be unable to mow until almost August. It got pretty ratty before she mowed, but she did mow — once. So, dear Sue has got down on the ground and at least trimmed the edges several times. 

That being said, I was, however, pleasantly surprised when I checked the easement outside of our back fences but, technically, within our property boundaries. For 20 years, I have been the only one to attend to the easement. Somebody has to do it, or at least should do it. Lo and behold, when I recently checked, she has mowed her patch.

Mine and even more so our northern neighbour is a different story. I last mowed six weeks ago before surgery, and it's awful. The weeds have taken over.

However, the most egregious issue is the bushes of trees or whatnot that are growing  behind the northern property. They emanate from growth on her backyard side of the fence. I can do the mowing, but I will have to get JJ to help with the bushes, which have escaped from her side of the fence. 

Isn't that awful?

The question becomes, once we have cut down the bushes should I just toss the debris into her backyard, or should I transport it all to the town yard for recycling. While she deserves to have the debris tossed into her yard, we would have to look at it for however long, maybe even until kingdom come.

Next week, I will be out of my recovery period and on one bright day will doubtless be out there mowing my back section ... and hers.

Les Bluets

A fellow blogger wrote about picking her own blueberries and making a pie. I jogged my jiggly joggily brain to recall what my friend, Nick, recently told me about his experience with blueberries. 

I love blueberry pie.

As a boy, Nick lived pretty far north in the province of Quebec. It’s an area noted for its wild blueberries, but I never knew just how abundant they are until he told me about his experience.

His father would make a big deal about picking blueberries to supplement family income, and Nick was conscripted to labour in the natural and untended fields. The blueberries grew wild, but Nick's dad knew where to find them, and he actually bought his first car for the purpose of collecting and hauling blueberries. If I recall correctly, Nick said they paid a thousand dollars for the car.

It was Nick’s description of the picking that impressed me most. He reported that the blueberries were so abundant in season that he could walk through the blueberry fields with buckets and his side, and the pails would simply fill up with blueberries as they brushed against the plants.

On my own, I recalled that people from that general region of Quebec are sometimes nicknamed, Les Bluets, or at least that was my memory told me, so I googled to be sure: 

In Quebec, "les bluets" refers to wild blueberries, which are a significant part of the province's agricultural landscape, particularly in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. While "bleuet" can also refer to a cornflower in standard French, in Quebec, it's strongly associated with the wild blueberry. (Google AI)

Beyond the AI descriptor, Google provided more detail.

Wild Blueberries: Quebec is a major producer of wild blueberries, with the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region being the heart of this industry, accounting for 77% of wild blueberry production. The term "les bluets" is often used to refer to these blueberries, both in a literal sense and as a symbol of the region. 

People of Quebec:

The term "les bluets" can also refer to the people of Quebec, particularly those who identify strongly with their French-Canadian heritage and the province's unique culture. This usage is often associated with a sense of pride and belonging to the Québécois nation. 

Cultural Significance:

The wild blueberry is a symbol of Quebec's natural resources and the connection of its people to the land. The term "les bluets" evokes a sense of place and cultural identity, particularly in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. 

Linguistic Context:

While "les bluets" is a French term, it is also used within the context of Quebec French (often referred to as "joual"), which has its own unique vocabulary and pronunciation.

Random Recent Photos

Today, with little else going on in this torrid weather, I am just going to drop a few photos from the past week or two.

For the past few years, we have been delighted by volunteer petunias growing here and there in the backyard. They grow right out of the mulch because there is landscaping cloth over the soil. In this photo by Sue, with appropriate, text added, the volunteer plant is to the bottom left. There are others elsewhere, but I think this one fits in nicely with the other pots. 

We photograph each other on walks. The next three photos were taken in the park, the first of Sue by a property that backs onto the park where the lady has a spectacular garden, mostly of big, beautiful flowerpots. The two of me are from a garden within the park.

The spotlight effect was done in camera as one of the Apple portrait options. 

AC lost in the flowers.

Guess who doesn’t want to bend too far.

There is a chipmunk living in our backyard, close to the daylilies by the fence. It was our first close encounter and s/he didn’t seem overawed by the gigantic two-legs  

Finally, for today, this a storefront on main street, the Carleton Place Gallery.

It's been hot, but I think this is the last day of this particular episode although there is not exactly a deepfreeze on the way. Maybe I will get some fresh photos or blog fodder in the coming days.