Almonte Celtfest

Earlier, I posted some pics and a vid of drummer extraordinaire, Catherine Hauke, of the Rogues. Now it's time to post more general photos from the event. I have to pick and choose here because the festival goes for 10 hours on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. So, these are just a few pics, mostly from the leading acts, even so with much omitted.

Before we go there, however, let me say that there are any number of fine local acts too. However, they tend to repeat from year to year, so I won't post much of them for now.

Another note: I may put together a video compilation at some point, but I am just passing along a few stills today.

Alrighty then, here we go.

↑ I mostly want to post in order, but I love the Celtfest stage at night, and I especially love seeing the Rogues in their kilts. Unfortunately, the lead singer/musician, Nelson Stewart, misplaced his kilt. The lady he is singing with is his wife, Jeania, who just joined in for one number on each day.

There is a unique form of step dancing in the Ottawa Valley as well as other pockets in Canada. The daughters of fiddler, Louis Schryer, Chelsey and Kaitlyn, are keeping this exuberant genre alive. ↓

↑ Salty Dog is an English, Montreal-based group that specializes in Maritime music. They are a lively group that interchanges fiddlers at times. This was their fiddler for the Celtfest event (sorry, I don't recall her name and can't find it on their site), but I have seen two others in times past.

We were also treated to three beautiful Irish dancers this year from the SFH Irish Dance Studio in Ottawa. In their rehearsal costumes ↑ and in their presentation costumes ↓ .

Le Vent du Nord,which translates to Northwind in my mind, is a French speaking group from the adjacent province of Quebec. They are absolutely fantastic, both singing and playing extremely well. They travel all over and are worth the experience if they come to a place near you. Check out their website. Their sing in French but patter very well in English in their delightful accents. They really got the audience up and dancing.

↑ Réjean Brunet is on the left and fiddler, Olivier Demers, on the right.

↓ Nicolas Boulerice plays the hurdy gurdy. I am glad they named the instrument at some point in the performance because we were all scratching our heads. You can see his left hand turning a crank in the photo.

Nicolas Boulerice

Réjean Brunet

Réjean Brunet

My final photos for now are a collage of five of the fiddlers of celtfest ↑ and the concluding song The Parting Glass ↓ sung by two local young ladies.

The collage ↑ features two local and excellent fiddlers at the top: Matt Pepin on the left and Kyle Felhaver on the right. Below are Corey Walden of The American Rogues and Olivier Demers of Le Vent du Nord. The fellow in the centre is Louis Schryer and Canadian fiddling champion many times over. For the background, I used the photo of the rogues which I used to begin this post. I used it for the sake of continuity and atmosphere but blurred it to minimize distraction. May I brag a bit by mentioning that all of the fiddlers are Canadian, including Corey Walden of The American Rogues. In fact, three of the five performers with the Rogues were Canadian.

For awhile Celtfest always concluded with a song called The Parting Glass. That tradition got lost in the last few years, but was brought back this year by these two lovely young ladies ↓ who were accompanied by The American Rogues who just learned the tune.

Celtfest is a great festival that we have attended every years since our move here to the Ottawa Valley. So ... until next year.

Amma and Buppa's Excellent Summer Camp: 2014 Round 1

We've had six days of round one of Amma and Buppa's Excellent Summer Camp and are now on a three week hiatus until we once more step into the breech. Beware: I am posting even more photos than usual today. Oh, stop that sighing. I mean it. I hear ya, Tex.

Day 1: The kids began their third annual summer swim lessons. I decided to wait until further on to start taking swimming photos, and the rest of the day was rainy, so for once, I have no pictures.Sorry about that; it won't happen again. lol

Day 2: It was a hot, muggy day. Somewhat stupidly, I suggested that we take a walk in the woodsy area on the other side of the river. Said woodsy area is quite swampy. Hmm ... hot + muggy + swampy + trees = very mosquito-y. Silly Buppa.

The kids found this big branch. I don't know where they thought they were taking it,
but they were made to leave it behind in the woods. Sorry kids.

Day 3: This was a very hot day, and we thought we would use the neighbour's pool since we have an open invitation every year. But the dog was out and nice neighbour wasn't home, so we ended up at the beach and water park down by the river.

Although there are lifeguards, I also sat on guard: first on the sand (left) and later on a chair.
That's Danica standing in the pink bathing suit holding seaweed ... or river weed.
Note the geese passing by.

You have previosuly seen my gif of the kids under the water buckets.
Here, Danica walks through the adjacent sprinkler area.

Day 4: This was our day to visit the Country Depot to see if the chicks were in that day. Later, we did the river walk in Almonte and had a picnic lunch by the river.

Yes, there were chicks ...

... and there were riding tractors. Vroom.

We walked by the river ...

... climbed a tree

... and ate a picnic lunch on the Preacher's Bench [sic].

Day 5: This was quite a day, featuring a trip to the Mill of Kintail. It started with a picnic lunch,included some brave forging of the Indian River, and ended in the cemetery.

After lunch butterflies were hunted with enthusiasm ...

... and one was caught ... and released ... of course.

Then it was time to play in the river. After a little hesitation, they got right into it,
and got totally soaked in the process.
It's rocky with a current but so shallow that we weren't overly worried.

Danica took it in her head that she wanted to visit a cemetery,
so that's what we did on the way home from the mill.

Day 6: Phew! Almost there, folks. We visited the library in the morning, had lunch at the chip truck, and went swimming in the pool in the afternoon. It was a good final day to a good six days of summer camp. Now, what the heck will we do with them next round?

After the library, the kids played war.

Waiting for our order to arrive at the chip truck.

Fun in the pool.

Was Buppa hot or cold? Well, he started out cold after swimming, so he grabbed a sunny spot on a partially cloudy day. Then, the sun came out, and he actually used the towels as a shield from the hot rays and not for the cold.

After three years of needing to be in the pool with them, I could actually get out after awhile and sit and watch because they have progressed so well. Frankly, the fact that they no longer need me is a bit sad-making. But just a bit.

Three Weeks Off

Round 1 of summer babysitting  2014 is in the books, and Amma and Buppa have three weeks to recuperate before their next stint. Phew! It's fun, but it's busy and tiring.

Last evening, to celebrate the ending of babysitting and the beginning of holidays, we went out for supper followed by a walk in the park. The weather was just about perfect, and I caught my golden lady in golden light.

Below, are the thank you cards that I made for their swimming teachers. Both are composites with a larger photo of the kids superimposed on an interaction with their teachers. This is their third summer of lessons, and their has been a great improvement over the years. They only get two weeks per summer, but they still get better.

We'll be around for the most part during this interval. Perhaps, I can catch up on some pics and vids ... oh ... and blogs visits too.

At the Water Park

Waddayano? I figured out how to make an animated gif in Photoshop. Just don't ask me how because I'm not really sure.

This is from 7 photos and shows the kids under the tipping buckets at the water park. They are both much braver this year, him particularly.

Now I could have just shot a video ... but then I wouldn't have done or learned anything new. lol This is part of Amma and Buppa's Summer Camp 2014.

We try to do a little something everyday, and this was an activity from Tuesday.

I know: endlessly looping animated gifs are very annoying, but it is what it is.

Plays and Pantomimes

After swimming class yesterday, Danica was inspired to perform some play/pantomimes. Well, they were mostly pantomimes. Jonathan, as usual, was cooperative. Naturally, she made sure that the camera was out. This is the record of the session.

She was unaware of Daddy photobombing this picture. ↑

But is seemed to be a good idea. ↓

Cute, eh?

Next, she came out totally starkers, and he as a princess.

↑ The princess was scared of the naked monster, who was wearing green monster teeth that you will see later.

↓ Then, she got dressed and put panties on her head.

Finally, they both came out with scary green teeth.

Then, it was onto videos, including her interviewing me about how I became such a great photographer. (Don't I wish?) Anyway, I will spare you the videos, which seem too much like work right now.

A Mesmerizing Drummer att Celtfest

This was our eighth year to attend Almonte (with a silent 'e') Celtfest although our visit last year was pretty brief. This time, as in most years, we were in full attendance on Saturday from 12-10 and on Sunday from 12-6.

The first half or more of each day features local talent, and there is some excellent local talent in this area, so it's all good. The headliners this year were The American Rogues. Their only previous visit was in 2011, and I was pleased to hear them agan. They played the last session on both days and were quite wonderful both times.

New since last time was their drummer, Catherine Hauke, and she was absolutely mesmerizing. It was like she was dancing with the drumsticks and drum. Every time she came to the forward position, all eyes were riveted.

Naturally, I took a bunch of photos. For some reason many of my photos weren't very sharp this year, but I like them anyway. At the end, I will post a video in which I combined a number of little clips featuring Hauck. It's 2:33 minutes, and I hope that you will take the time to have a look. Obviously you can get a sense of the Rogues' sound as you watch Catherine do her thing. This kind of Celtic music with a bit of a rockish edge may be new to many of you.

I may or may not post more Celtfest stuff in due course, but I wanted to get this one done.

Oh ... remember that big monitor that I posted about last week. I discovered that it had a dead pixel, so I took it back. Now, I am back to my single 21" monitor while I contemplate whether to try again and what model to try.

My World in Black and White

Sometimes it's fun to experiment with black and white photography (or at least monochrome if you think sepia or tinting). For a long time monochrome was all photography could be, so it's sort of our roots and makes photography distinctive from any other art form.

It can be effective with people.

And human-made things. 

As well as natural things.

And even on scenes.