A MIssed Selfie

It happens once or twice a week from both kids, but it is coming to an end for one grandkid.

Danica is booking the month off before heading back to uni in September, but she will be living there this year and not commuting. In the interim, there is a vacation to take with mom and JJ, and her apartment/room to get ready for the fall semester at Carlton U in Ottawa, so she won’t be working this month. 

The baby is leaving home and us.

sniff

I did get her to work, but she wasn't a happy camper because she had forgotten several things, including her lunch for a long shift.

I said that I would came back and take her to Tims for lunch. We used to take the kids there every now and then when they were little and we were the daycarers. So, it has been awhile, but it was nice to reprise one more time.

Sue and I picked her up at 3 and just drove the very short distance to Tims.

That evening Danica posted this.

Yes, a homeless (I don't think that is right word anymore) man asked us if we had money for a sandwich. I don’t carry much cash, but I was willing to buy him a sandwich. I said so and headed to the cashier with app in hand. He was specific and requested beef and cheese. I asked if he would also like a coffee.

"Yes please: large 2 creams and 2 sugars."

I placed the order and paid with my app. It came to $10 something. I went back to the table while he waited for the order to be processed.  

With the interruption, we didn't think to get around to the selfie.

Darn. 

One Chicory Bloom: Three Takes

I'd seen photos of chicory recently and also seen chicory in the distance as we have been  driving around, but when we passed the abandoned building by the little back bridge, there were blooms aplenty. I didn't spend much time with them, but I did snap a few of one flower that I could capture on its own.

I used portrait mode to give me the blurry background. We call that bokeh. Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur in out-of-focus areas of an image. It is created using a wide aperture lens, commonly producing soft, pleasing circles of light. (Mr Google)

An even slightly blurrier background might be preferrable, but that was as far as portrait mode would take me. I switched to normal mode which would really show the background detail, but then  I managed to soften it well in edit, proving that you can sometimes fake with software what otherwise might require a high quality lens on an expensive camera. While it might not be good enough for a pro photographer, it is good enough for me in this phone stage of my photography.

I did take another photo in portrait mode when the wind kicked up a bit. With some selective editing of the background detail, I like the result well enough to post here if not on an actual photo site, such as Flickr.

As she often does, Sue had caught me in the act of shooting these photos.

The Credit Card Mixup Again

Almost two weeks ago, I posted of The $343.17 Mishap. I will try to do a very condensed recap and then post the follow up.

I made the error of paying my Visa bill to the wrong account: an account that was effectively dead, and yet, somehow, wasn’t. With no actual credit card, we had no way to access the surplus. It required two long telephone calls and one long todo at the bank, to have TD send us an actual credit card which we would use until we had effectively recovered all of the money.  

That was than, and it all seemed settled when we received a mailing form TD that obviously contained a card.

When we opened it, there was a problem. It was a debit card, not a credit card.

What?! We don’t have a bank account with them. What is there to debit? Then, I thought that it might be a pre-loaded card with our funds. That was not the case. It was a card to nothing since we have no accounts.

Furthermore, the accompanying letter said to use our existing PIN.

For one thing, we had no account to PIN to, and for another, whatever PIN that we had more than two decades past was totally erased from our memories.

Back to the bank went Susie and Johnny, hoping to find the same teller who had worked through our silly situation once already..

Nope: not working that day. Let me tell you that it was extremely confusing for two confused seniors to explain a confusing situation to an also confused new teller.

After a lot of going over and over it, she finally understood and suggested that the easiest solution was for us to close the account and be issued a cheque.

To accomplish this, she had to call the institution which passed her around from pillar to post and all of the way back again with many a “Not my department,” response.

Eventually, and I do mean eventually, we were told that it would all be done. Our account was now closed, and a cheque  would come to us in three weeks.

UPDATE

I wrote that two days ago.

Would you believe the credit card came in the mail yesterday. 

If we had waited, we could have begun spending the balance. It was that debit card that threw us. Why would they send us a debit card when we had no bank account and no password? It remains a puzzle.

So . . . there’s nothing to do but wait for the cheque. If it doesn’t come in due course, we have the physical credit card just in case it is still active and the funds are still in there. 

The situation remains bizarre.

Orphan Photos 6: Riverwood

After posting yesterday of our recent day trip to see Brain and the lavender, I remembered that I had put aside some old photos of Riverwood some time ago and just left them there awaiting a propitious moment. Riverwood, by the way, is what we called Brian's place back in the day because it has 130 mostly forested acres with a river running along the eastern property line.

I will just post them in the order that they appear in the folder.

Sue took this of me in 2016, roaming around with my Canon. Unless stated, all of these photos are from 2016.

Way back in 2011, I crawled up the ladder to the top level on the old barn (not the red barn that you saw yesterday). I am pretty sure that I re-edited it at some point a few years later and stashed it in the folder until now.

A panorama stitch of probably three images from as long ago as 2005 but re-edited more recently with more modern software. That long ago, we would sometimes sleep in that yellow tent down by the river (far left).

The house (I often call it a cottage) as we began to drive down the driveway. It has been re-sided blue now, but I didn't think to take a recent picture.

Inside, the living room was cozy at night. It also looks different 10 years later.

One evening, Brian and I shot the stars. I think I posted a number of such photos at the time but not this one, and I thought it was worthy of posting too.

A favourite picture of mine of Sue and Heather with Heather tossing spent milkweed remains at Sue.

This building was once a planer mill back in the days when they logged this area. When Brian refurbished it, he named after us with the planer becoming playner to suit our names. It was protectively screened from the insects, but those screens have fallen into disrepair now that the clan no longer gathers there. It makes me a bit sad.

This is the fence line in autumn. The road runs parallel to the fence off to the right. All of the trees in the distance are part of the property.

I posted many Riverwood photos over the years and probably most of these at some time, but having just revisited the place, I thought to share them again now before deleting them from that particular folder.

Saturday Trip

On Saturday, Shauna and I drove 2.5 hours to visit my ex-brother-in-law, Brian, at his very rural abode. I hadn’t seen him for 8 years, mostly because of the ex designation and all of the concomitant complications therewith. As is evident by all of the green on the map, there are a lot of trees to pass by on the route from us in Carleton Place (right part of map) to Brian's (orange marker in Kawartha Lakes). Shauna took the somewhat quicker dark blue route, but Sue and I would often drive one of the two light blue routes when we had oodles of time at our disposal  

It was good to meet with Brian after so long and also good to see the property once again, for we have spent many happy recreational weeks there in the past. Of course, I had to take pictures. It was a terrible day or time of day for photos, but after 8 years it was a necessity.

First: people and dogs. There have always been dogs, but these two were new to me, and we got along well. Griz, the one on the left, both top and bottom, expected me to go on a woodsy walk with him (bottom left), but that was not to be. Leesi (bottom right) was the more touch-friendly one of the two.

In two of the above photos, we were standing in a lavender patch. Brian has created a lavender garden, actually two, over the past three years. It's a pretty impressive feat in the geographic conditions (soil and climate) that he has to deal with.  He has taken some marvellous photos in sunrise light, and maybe I will find and post one at the bottom,  but I did what I could on that day. The photo at the bottom left of the collage is of the secondary lavender bed.

Another thing that Brian has just begun is the raising of honey bees, The two 'hives' are in the left in the next composite. In the centre, I managed to snap a not-too-terrible pic of one of the flitting bees in the lavender. The photo on the right has nothing to do with lavender or bees but is the part of the river where we used to swim. We'd do down the bank on the bottom left of the image. The slope has become steeper over the years because it is the nip slope of the meander, so the river will cut in that direction (toward the camera). As always, this and all photos are embiggable with a click.

Photography is all about the light, and Brian certainly caught the light in the next photos, the first on one of the smokey days. The sun could not rise in a more opportune location.

Oops, I forgot to post this, Over the years, I enjoyed taking many photos of this old barn, and now I have been able to add one more to the collection.

The Big Squeeze

I have previously mentioned this oddity in passing, but this time I decided to take a picture\ of the drops that I use for my dry eyes (blepharitis),

NOT MY EYE but my drops 🥸😁😉

Blepharitis is a common, chronic inflammation of the eyelids, typically caused by clogged
oil glands at the base of the eyelashes or an overgrowth of harmless bacteria.

Symptoms include red, itchy, swollen eyelids, flaky skin, crusted lashes,

and a gritty burning sensation.

The two bottles contain the same volume — 10ml for an exorbitant price  — but they are manufactured differently, which I find extremely odd.

The right  model requires a squeeze worthy of Charles Atlas to extricate a drop. On the other hand the one on the left pours copious gushers with the lightest of touches.

When I spend a month squeezing hard on the right bottle and then switch to the free-flowing model, conditioned reflex tends to take over, and I swear that I squeeze half the bottle out on my first few applications before I adjust.

I cannot fathom why they manufacture two different bottles, but I think I would prefer the easy-flow version as long as they would stick to it and not continually switching it up. It is very easy to confuse me, and people need to take my muddled brain into account.

Wildflower Time

On a recent trail walk when we were near the bridge, I looked down to spy quite a field of Queen Anne's Lace somewhat in the middle distance near where we sometimes park our car, but didn’t on that day.

That led me to look around, and when I saw more flowers near WalMart in a field by the ditch, I decided to stop. It was windy, so I decided to go with the flow (haha, literally) and shoot in Live mode and later convert to gifs.

More Queen Anne's Lace (aka Wild Carrot)

Even more of The Queen mixed with golden rod (solidago)

The invasive Purple Loosestrife

The Queen was dominant, however

I did take a still photo of a plant that was new to me. It looked a lot like Bee Balm. Sure enough, when I got home I did identify it, or Apple did, as Wild Bergamot or Wild Bee Balm. I hadn't noticed this plant before, and I think there was only only one clump, but there should me more because it is quite pretty. I think it would even look good in a rough, not too pristine, garden. I have planted Bee Balm in the distant past. 

That evening, I found two varieties of thistles in the park.

Perennial Sow Thistle

Spear Thistle

Candidly at Coffee

Keeping it short today. Had coffee with the boys yesterday. Nick had things to say.

The guy on the next table was all-in with technology: ear buds, phone, tablet, and a nifty stand for the tablet. He kept himself occupied for a long time.

Somebody might think that I like taking candid people photos.

From a Different Point of View

I purchased this light, tiny phone holder for Sue for Mother's Day.

It is self-described as a Geometrical Pocket Tripod PROv2 - Card-Size Stand, for iPhone. We hadn't used it as of yesterday, but as we exited the car for a walk in the park. I decided to take it with us to try to capture a different look — for selfies, if nothing else. It's a marvellously engineered little device that can fit in a wallet as seen below and open as a phone holder as seen above.

But is is tiny and light and it was windy out, so it wasn't easy, but here we are on the park path. I think I look ginormously tall.

We tried sitting on a bench, and we got this ↓ because it focused on the grass instead of us.

One more try after me trying to set the focus by bending my ancient body as near to ground level as I could to poke my finger in the preferred focal point, which happened to be Beloved's face. BTW, both bench pics had to be straightened and cropped.

We have another holding device or two that may be easier to use than this one, so we'll likely try again at some point,

Totally off topic, here is Sue's latest jigsaw.

Soccer Surprise

We don't subscribe to a sports package. During winter I surreptitiously find a stream for my hockey games, but I don't watch other sports except tennis in summer when I follow three events: Wimbledon in June, Canadian Open (properly called the National Bank Open) in August, and the US Open in September.

The bonus this year, was that the sports channel that I subscribed to for Wimbledon was also the one carrying FIFA. After I watched a game or two, especially involving Canada, I told Sue that she might like watching soccer. While we do watch tennis together, she wants nothing to do with hockey on tv although she did enjoy watching Jonathan's games live when he was playing.  

It eventuated that she did like watching FIFA and was frequently much more vocal than I with many an imploring, "Shoot, shoot, shoot!" 

Because of my ancestry I had to cheer for England once Canada was eliminated, and they did win the bronze, which was good enough. Then, I had to cheer for Spain in the final because they don't like Trump and also because Argentina's star player does. Spain finally scored a goal and won, and the pathetic, childlike president tried to get into the celebratory team photos. He did manage to insert himself into a few, but for their part, the Spaniards photoshopped him out.

It was a great event. I wonder if I might be able to view any European soccer while I have the subscription.

Orphan Photos 5: Old Men

These photos are not quite true orphans because I haven't forgotten them at all. I have been just posting other things. I like these candid photos of old fellas, particularly the third one.

One day, I spotted this old gent sitting outside a cafe. He was across the street, but I zoomed as best I could and even then, cropped somewhat afterward. What is he musing over? Is it a past loss, or is it perhaps that he's just waiting for someone to fetch his coffee?

Eventually, I saw another way to edit the photo. I can't make up my mind.

On a walk in the neighbourhood park, I couldn't resist shooting this old guy with the grand beard mowing his back lawn. While I like the previous two photos, I like this one even more.

In the coffee shop, I spotted two old goats having a stare-down.

Four Yards from Our Back Window on a Rainy Saturday Morning

I was wandering about the house on a rainy Saturday morning. When I looked out the back window, I thought, "Why not?" 

Consequently I photographed four yards although the first is a soccer field, or I guess football pitch would be more proper. Kids play soccer over there four nights a week in summer in any and every kind of weather. The neighbouring school kids also make some use of it during recess.

Every now and then , however, and only they can explain why but won't, the seagulls gather for a morning breakfast. I removed the screening (it is easy to do) and grabbed the photo.

That is a fun sight, but the neighbour's yard to the north is quite another sight to behold. We had high hopes for a for a more kempt view this summer when she trimmed and mowed in May, but now the yard is reverting to nature. This contravenes town bylaws, and we could report her, but we won't. It is fenced off, and we can only see it from that one window.

The other adjacent neighbour — to the south — has her own issues.  She diligently weeded her little flower garden but didn't plant flowers, and then she left the pail of weeds as an accent point. Maybe it is meant to be an art installation? At least the grass is mowed. Her front yard is mowed too, but it is because her good neighbour takes care of that — the old fella next door, whom you all know and love.

Our backyard is a little better. We and JJ replenished the mulch this year. Sue keeps it pretty well weeded, and she tops up the birdbath regularly. Meanwhile, the treebush on the left and the lilac bush in the centre are nice enough to look at. Every year, the Joe Pye plant, on the right between the yellow and blue lawn chairs, grows from nothing to almost fence height. It will bloom soon enough, and eventually, the bees will descend in droves to feast on its sweet nectar. 

The visible flower pots are all fake flowers because the backyard gets the hot sun for much i the day, and it isn't fun to spend much time labouring out there. It looks nice enough, and the real flowers are out front for the world to gaze upon. Meanwhile, we can just manage see common orange daylilies in the background by the fence and mostly hidden by the bushes. Blondi from Saskatchewan, if you're reading, that is one spot of three spots where I planted your cosmos seeds. Sadly, nothing has come up in any spot.

==========================

UPDATE

Amazingly, north neighbour had a man over to tend to the back weeds, just yesterday. This is a good thing, but look.

In their great wisdom, they left patches of growth in the back corners. But what ar those patches? They are . . . 

WEEDS

JUST WEEDS

They chose to leave patches of weeds as a landscaping choice. It beggars the imagination, I tells ya. Just . . . 

!!WEEDS!!

🫨😬🙀🫪

Fish and Milkweed

I know that Sue and I seem to indulge in many outings and treats, but they are mostly just coffee. Only on occasion does the treat involve a scone or perhaps a turkey-bacon-club sandwich in the car in winter. I had a hankering for a bit more than that, so we took a little drive to Generations on the Lake in Lake Park for their Friday, fish n chip special.

For some reason neither of us got a picture of the meal, but I did take my necessary photo of Sue at the table.

She thought we should take a selfie with at least some of the outdoor background. You know that I hate taking selfies, but I screwed my courage to the sticking point and fired anyway, hero that I am.

After lunch we waddled down to the lake, but there is not much of a gap through the trees and bushes by the water, so I took a photo looking back at the inn instead. The dining room is the low part of the structure at the front, which of course is really the back of the house. 

The meal necessitated a walk, but that came later after we hade been home for awhile to let the meal settle. By the pond, the milkweed was opening.

The next milkweed plant was still just in bud. I got really close for this macro. 

I noticed a few bullrushes for the first time this summer, but I think you may call them cattails.

It was one of those halcyon summer days with close to perfect weather.