Long walls are becoming common

When I was born, Canadian neighbourhoods didn't have walls. This is no longer true, especially in the newer subdivisions. Roads are far busier today than they were in the past. And busier means noisier. Walls not only block out the sight of a busy road, walls deflects noise.

This wall is quite new. It is just a few years old. As you can see, some areas are already showing wear. This is because the wall is not solid brick; It is not even a brick veneer; It's fake. This wall is a relatively, inexpensive prefab construction. It is not very durable.

Curious as to what is to be found hiding behind this wall only a short walk from my London, Ontario home? Look below.

City Centre towers

Decades ago the finest hotel in London sat at the corner of Dundas and Wellington Streets. Londoners still talk fondly of Hotel London and its beautiful, oh-so-ornate ballroom. But the hotel fell to the wrecking ball, makimg way for the modern towers. At the time they were built, the towers were the tallest buildings in London, Ontario.

Today a hotel is part of the complex: Hilton London. It's a nice hotel but not all that special. Originally, it was a Holiday Inn and one might say the old girl's roots are showing.

Personally, I wish Hotel London was still on the site. I'm very fond of old, city-core hotels.

White swan on dark water

You can't go wrong with a shot of a white swan on dark water. Trees bare of colourful leaves and ground still bare of white snow, take a picture of the perfect fallback - a white swan on dark water.

(This image has been messed with a bit using Photoshop content aware. To learn more, I posted some info on my Photo blog on a post titled, "It was a firing offence." Stay alert, there is a link that leads to a post on media use of models to illustrate news stories. Forgive me if this appears like I am trolling for hits. I'm not. I'm just trying to share.)

Children are the future of our cities

Fiona checks out the bouquet she gathered for her grandmothers.

Many cities are in trouble, all around the globe. But they do have a hope: Children.

Fiona loves walks and this fall she discovered the dry, withered leaves of fall covering the ground. She loves them. They crackle and snap when walked upon. They float wildly, dispersing everywhere, when tossed in the air. And they make a great bouquet when gathered up and carried home. (Huh? I never thought of that.)

The little 26-month-old child carefully gathered a fist full of leaves, telling me they were for her grandmas back home. When she had gathered too many to carry without damage, she called for me. "Help, gah-gah! Help!"

After spending some time gathering leaves, she examined her collection with a critical eye and decided something extra was needed. She picked a couple of dandelions gone to seed. The white fluffy heads contrasted perfectly with the brittle, brown-yellow leaves. She had the focal point for her dried leaves bouquet.

Our children have imaginations that are not trapped in the past. We must nurture these young minds. We must encourage our children. The seeds of a promising future are contained within.

More Fall Colours

This is another shot of fall colours in London, Ontario. This one, too, was taken in London's Springbank Park on the Thames River in the southwest end of the city.

For a post on art, craft and photography, please follow this link to Rockin' On: The Blog.

Fall colours in London and Southwestern Ontario

Took two shots, then wind blew away the yellow leaf.

The past couple of days have been blessed with wonderful fall weather. Days just on the verge of being warm. They've been perfect for getting out to enjoy the fall colours.

Today I hiked about Springbank Park. I took lots of shots but the one I liked best was a shot of fallen leaves on pavement. Maybe I should have just shared it as it was shot, but I shot it RAW and when it came time to convert the file I took some liberties with the colour. It was just too tempting. Forgive me.

The colours now reflect my memories of fall rather than the reality.

Green Toys sold in London, Ontario

"Oh boy! Yots uh yummy stuff. gamma."

Fiona's mother and father follow the green path as do many of their young friends. When Fiona hit two, a couple of months ago, her mother's lifelong friend, Emily, gave the little girl a Green Toys tea set.

I had never heard of Green Toys but it is not surprising that Emily knew of the company and supported it. All Green Toys are made in the States, mainly from recycled plastic milk containers. The company says that every pound of recycled plastic they use saves enough electricity to power a television for three weeks.

Just recently I blogged on a Canadian entrepreneur, Kevin O'Leary, the chap from the Dragon's Den and Shark Tank. In researching the piece I learned that the American toy manufacturer Mattel no longer makes toys in the United States. Some years ago, Mattel CEO Robert Eckert closed the toy company's Murray, Kentucky, manufacturing facility, moving all production to China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico. (I don't believe they have brought back much, if any, of the production.)

Surely, making stuff in the States from materials made in the States is better for the American economy than the Mattel approach. It would certainly have been better for the workers and the cities and towns affected by the closures.

If companies like Green Toys are able to produce stuff in the States, why idle plants and throw thousands out of work? Is the company's bottom line that important?

Dandelions are invasive; they're from Europe!

I always knew dandelions were invasive. When they invade one's lawn, they are just about impossible to get rid of. This is especially true in Ontario now that the province has banned herbicides for use on lawns.

What I didn't know is that dandelions are a true invasive species; They are not native to North America but came here from Europe. Gosh! Did someone bring them here with the goal of making dandelion wine?

I hate to confess this but in the spring I actually find lawns bright with yellow blossoms quite attractive. But it isn't long before the youthful, spring dandelions have grown old and grey, covered with seeds ready to be spread by the wind.

Fiona loves dandelions, spring, summer or fall. I told the little girl to make a wish and then try and blow all the seeds away. If you can blow a dandelion bare with one try, I assured her, your wish is granted. Well, that's what my mother told me. I'm just passing on the fun.

Using up the Thanksgiving leftovers

"Me try. Me try." She tried and she succeeded. Kids amaze me.

Monday was the Canadian Thanksgiving. Today, Thursday, we are down to our last leftover turkey, thank goodness.

Judy was making a turkey pie from the last remaining bits of turkey. Little Fiona wanted to help. The little 25-month-old grabbed her toy pastry roller, pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter, climbed up and set to work.

In the end, the kid was actually successful. She managed to roll some dough flat. It was just too cute. Judy took the little piece of dough and patched it into the bottom of her pie shell.

Fall is here!

Fall has come to London, Ontario. Leaves are turning red and yellow, streets and sidewalks are covered with fallen leaves and kids are excited. The red and yellow leaves and stuff are new; kids just tend to be excited; The season doesn't matter.

Little Fiona just turned two. This is her first fall and she loves it. Without prompting, she scoops up oodles of leaves and tosses them into the air. She thinks leaves are even better to toss than the sand she threw everywhere this summer. Leaves don't get in your eyes.

And the big, blue, leaf rake is so much more fun than the tiny sandbox pail and shovel. And leaves are everywhere, just everywhere. Sand is only found in any really amounts at the park --- or in the gutters at the side of the road. But the gutters don't count 'cause nobody will let you play there.

Gosh, if she thinks fall is fun. I can hardy wait to see her reaction to our Canadian winter.

Canadians love their pets

Taking a well earned time out for himself.

I don't own a dog nor a cat. Yet, many of my friends and relatives have at least one pet and often more.

Whenever I take my young granddaughter for a walk around my London, Ontario neighbourhood we encounter lots of folk out walking their pets. It is not uncommon to look up the street and see a couple of dogs and then to look behind us and see another dog or two, all being walked on a leashes.

After shooting this picture of one of my nieces' pets, I began wondering, just how many dogs and cats are there in Canada? I found this estimate on a pet forum site:

"Canadians currently own a total of eight million dogs and cats. According to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 3.5 million dogs and 4.5 million cats in the country."

Well, now I know. And if my granddaughter had her way, I'd be among those pet owners.

Neo-gothic buidings at the UWO

The University of Western Ontario (UWO) is famous for its campus. It is has lovely grounds with a great many neo-gothic style buildings. Up until the 1960s, the neo-gothic style was the rule rather than the exception. Today, the UWO plays an important role in the life of London, Ontario. The building towering over the trees is Middlesex College.

Rain, rain, don't go away! On second thought . . .

It rained today. At times the downpour was a veritable deluge. Fiona thought it was simply wonderful. You see, she had her red raincoat, red-plaid boots and a new umbrella. This was walking weather.

Fiona ran down the street; She spun about with merriment; She stopped to check her reflection in a small puddle. Everything was wet and that was neat.

She greeted other walkers with a happy "Hi!" They, in turn, would smile and return her cheery greeting. Fiona was the one bright spot in a rather dark and dismal day.

And then it started to rain, really rain. Big, fat drops fell all around with loud plop, plop, plops. When the rain started pounding down on Fiona, I put her umbrella up and showed her how to hold it above her head

This was not a good move, in Fiona's opinion. Her new, hot-pink umbrella was getting wet. She could hear the rain belting down on the taut plastic. Looking up, she could see the rain drops through the translucent plastic. The rain was running down the umbrella to the circular edge and falling to the ground in numerous, steady streams.

Even with the umbrella up, Fiona was getting wet. Dark, wet patches were appearing on her purple pants. It was time to head home and watch the rain from the comfort of a warm kitchen. I picked Fiona up and we headed back up the small hill towards home, all the while Fiona was cheering me on with calls of "Go Ga-gah!"

A Day in the Life of London, Ontario

Stuff is expensive. Children require lots of stuff. You do see where this is going, right?

My little granddaughter was was two as of the second of this month. She is a delight and has brightened up this old man's life. That said, she is expensive. I cannot believe what a good pair of shoes for a little kid cost.

I got very lucky when it came to buying Fiona a little girl's kitchen. I found one at Homesense. And I mean one. I imagine it wasn't the last one in stock but the only one they ever had.

You see, Homesense is a "jobber" outlet, that is, it is a store (in this case, a  Canadian chain of stores) specializing in buying odd lots of leftover inventory from wholesalers and other retailers, and selling the stuff at discount.

The Homesense inventory changes drastically from week to week and, with some things, from day to day. There's no guarantee they will have what you are looking for, but when they do, the price is an incredible bargain.

Scarecrow, nope. A scareowl.

To keep pigeons off roofs and ledges, folks often resort to using plastic owls as a type of "scarecrow" meant to banish the troublesome bird pests. The London Free Press had one; Pesky birds still built nests in the large company sign mounted on the paper's east wall. The owl pictured was set on the roof of an area hairdressing salon. Local birds didn't seem to take much notice.

Kids just gotta run

Do you recall being a kid? You could never just walk anywhere; You had to run. What better activity than running for kids attending a summer day camp, or similar function, at a local park?

When Fiona saw these kids go running by she was jealous. The little toddler took off at, what was for her, a fine running pace. When the group came by a second time, Fiona was inspired anew. I can't speak for the running mob but Fiona slept well that night.

Splash pads replacing wading pools

Splash pads are the watery wave of the future in London, Ontario. They are slowly replacing wading pools right across the city. The pools demand no chlorine addition nor chlorine monitoring. Life-guards are not necessary. Despite what appears to be a very generous use of water, splash pads are reportedly less expensive to operate than the old shallow, wading pools.

London, Ontario bigger by one

The population of London, Ontario took a very small pop yesterday. At dinner time Saturday the population of this Southwestern Ontario city grew by a little one, and the little one is my beautiful, new granddaughter Eloise.

Mother and daughter are doing well.

Cheers world!

Thames Turtle

A park walker noticed that I was shooting pictures and alerted me to the turtle sitting on a rock on the other side of the Thames River. "Do you have a long lens?" I answered yes and headed off.

My little Fuji HS10 found itself challenged. The turtle was quite some distance away. I tried to steady the camera against the trunk of a small tree. I shot a number of pictures and hoped for the best.

I've seem better shots of turtles in the London, Ontario river. Today, this one will have to do.

Cheers!

Simple rides, simple pleasures

London's Springbank train is simple but it provides a lot of simple pleasure.

The problem with the little train in London's Springbank Park, if there is a problem, is that it is just a ride and not transportation in any sense. It would be really cool if the little train actually went somewhere in the park; If it provided a unique form of in-park transportation.  "All aboard for the wading pool and playground!"

Our London train already has a station thanks to the Sifton family. The local London family, famous for such developments as Westmount and RiverBend, built the beautiful Springbank Express train station to celebrate 75 years in the construction business.

As a small boy I have very fond memories of the miniature train at the Detroit Zoo, officially known as the Tauber Family Railroad. That little railroad it still running today with two complete trains of six coaches. There is one standby locomotive. All three locomotives were donated by the Chrysler Corp. in the 1950s and Chrysler is still involved today.

Even a young child can see these trains are special.

What makes the Detroit set-up so neat, is that it serves a purpose other than giving kids with a simple ride; It actually fills a transportation need.

The railway still operates today as it did when I was boy, a family can board the train near the park entrance, ride to the back of the park and then stroll back through the zoo to finish at the front gate. Or a family can walk through the zoo, view all the exhibits and then board the train for a ride back to the zoo entrance. We never bought a round trip ticket. The little train was our transportation within the park.

If you'd like to know more, watch the little video.




And folk at The London Free Press please note the involvement of The Detroit News in Detroit's little railroad. Maybe instead of just asking what can be done to improve London, the paper should do what was done in the past and donate time and money to the city in which it operates and which has given the paper such a long and successful life.

Add some track, maybe some new and improved trains and let's go!

In researching this post I discovered that when the new station was built, new track was installed and the loop was moved to a spot closer to Storybook Gardens. See the Closed Canadian Parks Internet page; Scroll almost to the bottom. You will see a picture of an older Springbank locomotive and some interesting background information.

"It was reported that in 1999, plans were being made to connect the old and new track layouts so that people could use the (Springbank) train for transportation to the wading pool at the old location."

From the looks of things, the above didn't all happen. Too bad. The loop should be kept for the youngest of little riders who just want a short, simple ride.

The Port: London's Lake Erie resort

Port Stanley habour is used by commercial fishers and recreational boaters.

Port Stanley is a fine, little harbour south of London on Lake Erie. At one time, The Port was a major shipping harbour but today it is mainly a commercial fishing and recreational port. I bought my second sailboat from a fellow who docked his boat in Kettle Creek just above where the large creek empties into the harbour.

Today being the Sunday before the August 1st holiday, the Port and adjacent beach were busier than usual. Last year I got caught in heavy traffic heading for the beach.

This year I parked some distance away and walked until I found a spot to shoot some quick stuff from some distance. My old car doesn't do well in stop 'n go traffic on a hot summer day.

At one time London had a direct railway connection to The Port but the London and Port Stanley Railway was allowed to fold some decades ago. Today some remnants of the tracks are used by a local group of railroad keeners who run Port Stanley Terminal Rail from The Port to the southern edge of St. Thomas, the town midway between London and Lake Erie.

Today one must drive to get to Port Stanley. The road is direct and it only takes about half an hour by car. It can be done by bike if you've got the time and the energy. At my age, I have neither.

Colourful beetle and spider

"Get your camera!" My wife saw the neatest, little beetle crawling on a piece of stainless steel in our backyard and she wanted a picture; Even more, she wanted to know what this colourful, metallic little beetle was.

According to the Internet, the beetle pictured above is a chrysochus auratus or dogbane beetle. It is beautiful in its iridescent shell and common right across the United States and southern Canada. I read that it prefers milk weed and dogbane for dinner. This makes sense as we have a field with lots of milkweed and dogbane right across the court from where I live in London, Ontario.

While shooting the little beetle, another little fellow showed up eager to pose for a picture. This was a spider with the green abdomen and striped yellow/brown legs.

A search of the Internet failed to turn-up a likely candidate for naming this beautiful little critter.

My guess, and it is just that, is that this is a hunting spider out on the prowl. I don't imagine it ever spins a proper web.

If anyone has a suggestion as to this little spider's correct name, I'd be interested in hearing form you.

English Morgans in Canada's London

An umbrella serves as a quick, temporary tonneau cover.

Back in the '50s and '60s Morgan roadsters were sold in two places in Canada: Windsor, Ontario and Burnaby, British Columbia. Today they are not sold at all, at least not in Canada, at least not new. A dispute between the Canadian government and Morgan Motors has kept the unique, little roadsters from being imported into the country for decades.

My Morgan is well down towards the end of the line.

After more than a century the Morgan automobile company is still building cars in Malvern Link, England. There is still a Morgan dealer in Canada — located a little north of Toronto in Bolton, Ontario. CMC Enterprises, run by Martin and Steve Beer, may not sell new cars but they do a damn fine job of keeping old ones, decades old, reliably on the road.

My British racing green Morgan Plus 4 is one of about half a dozen Morgans in London, Ontario. Because of their past availability, Morgans seems to be concentrated even today in Canada in Southwestern Ontario and southern British Columbia.

Sunday my wife and I took our Morgan north to Durham, Ontario where we linked up with about a half dozen other Morgan owners to tour a llama ranch and later tour a small, craft brewery in Neustadt.

There are quite a number of llama ranches in Ontario and from the spiel given by the owners of the ranch visited Sunday raising llamas is good business.

The owners have three farms devoted to llamas. Mostly they sell the wool sheared from the South American beasts but sometimes they sell the odd one to another farmer to use as a guard animal.

Llamas will protect a herd of sheep from coyote predation, for instance. The docile looking animals can be quite fiesty when pushed and they don't take any pushing from coyotes.

Flowers, not grass

My day lilies are doing nicely this year. It make me think that I should follow the lead of some of my neighbours — put in flowers and other decorative plants and rip up my front yard grass.

I envision a pavement stone walkway curving around the front yard with lots of hostas filling in the open spaces — at least, in the early years.

Flowers are so inviting. I mean who stops to smell the grass?

Heat wave rolls over London

Yesterday a record fell that had stood since 1918. Yesterday the high in London hit 36.4°C. I believe that's pushing 98°F on the old scale.

Fiona, at not quite two, insisted on going outside, running smack into a wall of heat. I filled her little, blue wading pool, dumped her bath toys in the water and let the naive little thing head outside to play. Damn, but it was hot!

Playing it safe, I sat on the grass beside the pool. Every now and then I took some cool, pool water and splashed it over my head and face. I would drip some on my bare arms.

Fiona watched and exclaimed, "Gaga!" Then, imitating me, she'd do the same. We sat together enjoying the fiercely hot day, our heads dripping wet.

Blackfriars and Londonlicious

Roulade of Basa

Some years ago, the Blackfriars Bistro opened as a very small neighbourhood restaurant. Today it is still a very small restaurant but its fame has spread across the city. Staying small and staying true to its original vision has been a successful business plan for the little, niche restaurant.

After being hospitalized in California last summer with a serious heart problem, traveling outside of the country is now on hold. I have discovered getting travel insurance is almost impossible.

My wife and I are spending our time, and our money, enjoying London, Ontario. Luckily, London is a fine city offering lots of stuff both for residents and visitors alike.

Roasted Chicken Supreme

At one point, both my wife and I lived just west of the downtown core in a neighbourhood bordering the Thames River. When a small, neighbourhood restaurant changed hands and moved upscale — The Blackfriars Bistro was born. We both loved it immediately.

Today we live in what many call the suburbs. Yet, we are only about a ten minute drive to the Blackfriars. Yesterday we celebrated a birthday with a visit to our old haunt. The dinner was as good as expected plus a little bonus — we benefited from the annual Londonlicious event.

Londonlicious is a local restaurant festival featuring almost 30 local eateries all offering a $25, three-course, prix fixe menu. The menu offered by the Blackfriars can be found here.

Last year my wife and I traveled across the States to the California coast in my old Morgan. This year we are enjoying a staycation in London. Our Londonlicious meal would have been a delight if we had encountered it anywhere on our six thousand mile route last year. It was doubly delightful enjoying it right here in town.

Double Vanilla Bean Champagne Sorbet

Flowers: One of the wonders of summer

Forgive the easy shots of lilies but they are beautiful and they are part of summer in London, Ontario.

I don't have a green thumb, or a green anything for that matter. When it comes to lilies, I buy 'em; I plant 'em; I enjoy 'em. Now, you can enjoy 'em, too.

London raptor

It's call was loud and raspy and impossible not to notice. Walkers stopped walking; Joggers stopped jogging. It didn't take long to spot the source: A large, noisy hawk perched on a high limb overlooking the park.

The hawk's call attracted this photographer.

Hawks are common in the London, Ontario suburb in which I live. The Ingersoll glacial moraine runs right through Byron. The high ridge of land has rather steep approaches and raptors hover in the strong updrafts.

The open fields in the subdivision are well populated with mice. Those with homes bordering the fields hate those mice but the raptors love 'em.

During the fall migration, half a dozen large raptors of assorted species can often be sighted hovering in the steady updrafts seeking a quick meal, while literally hundreds of birds pass overhead possibly on their way to Hawk's Cliff near Port Stanley on the north shore of Lake Erie.

Blooming lotus

Years ago I studied hatha yoga in Toronto while going to film school. When I saw this young woman sitting quietly in a version of the yoga lotus position, it brought back memories. I used to sit with my feet resting on the tops of my thighs, and no cushion. It's a position known as the padma-asana.

This woman was clearly waiting for others. I chatted with her briefly and learned she was from the merged Lotus Centre/Shangrila Yoga on Mount Pleasant Avenue in west central London.

Briefly, and I must stress briefly, I thought, "Hey, I should take up yoga again." Yes, I'm a dreamer.