A Cool but Colourful Saunter

Friday, on our round trip, there were countless photo ops. But when you're travelling, they pass by quickly, usually with very little opportunity to pull over. So it was that we have no pictures; and certainly none of foxes or wolves who were very quick to cross the road into the forest at the other side. No, you're stuck with either believing or disbelieving that one.

Come Saturday, we were able to take some photos after Cuppa made a picnic lunch to take to the park. As we headed out, it looked promising despite to cool temperatures because the sun was out. So, having arrived at the park, we exited the car and made for a picnic table. Naturally, just as we arrived at the table, the clouds managed to roll across the sun. We sat at the table for a few minutes, but the cool temperatures, plus the wind, plus the ominous amount of clouds in the sky soon sent us back to the car.

We had our lunch in the relative warmth of Harriet the Chariot, but were disappointed not to be able to take at least one photo of ourselves enjoying a picnic lunch in the great outdoors because Althegal so looks forward to these sorts of pictures. In fact, she has often mentioned this to us and pleaded for more: he said, speaking just a tad sarcastically.

We did walk a bit after our lunch; fortunately, there remained just enough colour to satisfy our spirits and to persuade us to snap a few photos, several of which I present below. In the first picture, Cuppa, in the distance, drinks Tim's coffee from her travel mug. However, even carrying a mug around was enough to make the hand cold as I was forced to keep switching my own mug from hand to hand in an attempt to minimize the discomfort. It helped a little, but also informed me that eating in the vehicle had been the right choice.

Before, I mosey off, permit me the reminder that it's only two months until Santa comes down the chimney.

In the Bleak Mid Autumn

Although the Christmas/Solstice song says "mid winter," at least we usually have snow around here to brighten the landscape come that time of year. In mid to late autumn, however, not so much. The trees are bare and there is very little Wow Factor, especially on an overcast day as it was when I took these photos whilst on a little stroll. I was looking for good shots, but I gave up and decided to show just what I saw — not much.



It (above) doesn't exactly draw you in, does it? I mean, I'll bet no one is wishing that s/he were there. There's just no Ooh La La as they might say one province to the east of us. Pointing the camera into the woods (below) seemed to make it even worse. Gloomy or what?



So, I zeroed in on some dead organic matter, and used some filters to warm the pictures up a little and came up with these.





Can't blame a guy for trying, can you?

Autumn Colours at Thanksgiving

I took my old DSLR out of storage on the weekend and have uploaded a slew of photos to Flickr (slideshow below). These were all (but one) taken at or near Riverwood. We saw many great scenes on the trips to and from, but there's seldom a place to stop, so I just try to enjoy as I drive. Cuppa did snap some from the moving car and has and will be posting some on her blog; part 1 is here.

It's still best to watch the slideshow larger, but the smaller version is embedded below.

On a Glorious Sunday in September ...

... Cuppa and I took the kid for a walk in the park by the Mississippi River (the Mississippi in Eastern Ontario near Ottawa). There is already the beginning of autumn colour, which I find wonderful yet not so wonderful. She forever asks us, "Hold my hand?" and we are not foolish enough to refuse. We hold on to these moment for all we're worth, for these days are fleeting. Sniff.



Looking the other way, toward the river, we see greater changes. One tree on the far bank is already ablaze, while others begin to take on the tint. A small boat floats by in the background. I'm sure that it was a marvellous day to be out on the water. The river widens into a picturesque lake just beyond the bridge.



At the other end of the park, I stop the car and roll down the window. This tree is also an early changer, a harbinger.

Foto Friday

Cuppa took these first two pictures when she walked Nikki Dee to the park the other day, and she has graciously saved some for me to post. Nikki Dee is having a great time playing in the leaves.





The next picture is all about getting ready for winter. They've put markers like this on all the fire hydrants in town this week, so they can still be found when they get buried in snow in afew months. Nikki Dee was having a meltdown at the time; fortunately, she doesn't do that very often at all.


I took my fiddle to the cottage last weekend and played it in the great outdoors. On two other days, I took it to the planer mill (that's what it used to be) that you see in the background on the extreme right. It's roofed but all screened in: the best of both indoors and outdoors wrapped up in one wonderful structure.




Finally, here are two more photos taken on our journey to the cottage last weekend. For these, I humbly suggest that you click on them to view them large. They will open in a new window, so you don't lose your place if that's a concern. They were taken from approximately the same spot, the first looking left and the second looking right. That's an old wood silo in the first picture. I don't recall ever seeing another one like it. I suppose most are made of wood, but this one seems to be older somehow.

It Was Splendiferous!

What a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! Whoever decided that it would be this weekend in October certainly hit the mark here in Southern Ontario. It was sunny and warm (for here at this time of year). The changing leaves seemed to be at their peak or so close to it that we won't quibble. Yes, the colour was splendiferous!

Although the main roads from here to Riverwood would certainly be considered relatively rural and relatively lightly trafficked, we still opted to take the even more rural back route. It's slower with more twists and turns, but it's pretty relaxing and very scenic in places. The tress are usually close to the road, but we also pass a number of lakes and obtain a number of views from the higher spots in the uplands through which we travel.

One misses so many photo-ops while on the road. Even though we could have stopped a lot and did stop some, one simply can't keep doing that if one is ever going to reach his destination. Some spots aren't conducive, and one doesn't always have all of the time in the world at one's disposal. (We need a pronoun other than "one." I feel so darned formal when I use it.) Here is one stop that I made on the half of the journey closer to here than there: seemingly of a former church now become a community hall, the John Thomson Hall on Snow Station Road to be exact.



We had stopped here, just outside of Digby, I think, to take a picture of a lake. I took this shot as well to represent a typical view of the road on that day. We are on the rocky and forested Canadian Shield here (as we were for most of the trip).



We took yet another detour from Bancroft to Riverwood along Lower Faraday Road. I had to stop one more time to snap this shot. Because there is a sharp turn in the road ahead, we appear to be hemmed in by a wall of trees, and the cottage and shed add to the rusticity of the scene.



Those are three pics of our journey. Cuppa has posted others, and both of us may post additional photos in the course of the next few days.