One more look at an abandoned apple orchard

I don't know the exact reasons for this orchard in southwest London being abandoned but I do know that it is not an uncommon event. Growing fruit is tough. I understand it can be especially tough in Ontario where a warm early spring can encourage fruit trees to blossom only to be hit with a destructive late frost.

I believe we had more orchards when I was a boy growing up in Southwestern Ontario. I know we had far more canning operations back then. Today there isn't one cannery taking fruit this side of the Rockies. (I know this was true a couple of years ago. This info could now be out of date.)

This apple is for the birds and insect pests. No one will pick it.

It must be summer; The lilies are blooming.

At first, I thought these were tiger lilies, sometimes known as ditch lilies because they often grow wild in the ditches beside our Ontario highways.  But tiger lilies have small, dark dots and the petals do not have ruffled edges.

Still, they may be cousins to the  tiger lily. I don't know. Maybe someone will comment and clue me in. If they do, I'll add the info to this caption.

These lilies were spotted blooming along the riverside road bordering the Thames River in Springbank Park. Springbank is one of the finest parks, of its type, that I have ever encountered anywhere. Londoners seem to really appreciate the place. It is a love affair that has gone on for more than a century.

Hens and chicks can survive almost anything

One of my most popular posts featured a picture of hens and chicks in flower. If you're curious, check it out. The flowers are most certainly weird.

Hens and chicks are native to southern Europe and yet they survive the Canadian winters in London, Ontario, and are not fazed by the hot, dry, Southwest Ontario summers. These plants are resilient. Heck, mine have now even survived being brutally walked on and energetically jumped on by my granddaughter. She meant no harm and no harm apparently was done. Amazing.
I love the way these succulents cover the ground with clusters of rosettes.  The largest rosettes are the 'hens' and the smaller ones springing from them are the 'chicks.' But these birds do produce flowers which sit on the top of tall, erect stalks that can tower up to a foot over the foliage.

My hens and chicks appear to be getting ready to flower. Each time they do this, I think, "Weird.

In the middle of some of the best farmland in Canada: An abandoned orchard

An abandoned orchard in South London

London, Ontario, likes to brag that it is situated right smack dab in the middle of some of the best farmland in Canada. Plus, we usually have ample rain keeping crops healthy and growing and our summers are long and hot --- very supportive of agriculture. Southwest Ontario is the ideal location for a successful apple orchard. Or at least it should be.

Sadly, fruit orchards right across the southern part of the province are being abandoned, bull dozed, ripped out, with the land growing its last crop: A subdivision.

The abandoned orchard shown is but five minutes from my South London home. When I moved here in the early '90s, there were orchards reaching for kms along Southdale Road. My wife and I used to buy fresh baked fruit pies from a couple of places that also sold the locally grown fruit.

Today many of the orchards are gone with houses occupying the land. Some of the other orchards are simply abandoned. The pies are but a memory.

Why there is no money in maintaining these orchards and reaping the bountiful crop of fruit for as long as possible is my question. Something is wrong. It is not just the pushing of the city into the surrounding country that is killing the orchards. More is at work here. Maybe the fact that there are no longer fruit canning plants in Ontario could have something to do with it. The market for the fruit may be as withered as the trees themselves.

I know that the last canned peaches I bought for my granddaughter came from South Africa. The last fruit cocktail I got came from China.

One of the hottest days of the year

Today is one of the hottest days this year. At three o'clock it was about 33 degrees Centigrade, or more than 91 degrees Fahrenheit. And, as it often the case in London, ON, it was humid. This meant that the humidex number was much higher: 40 degrees Centigrade or 104 degrees Fahrenheit! If you were going to do something outside, the morning was the time to do it.

Splash pad picture from my files.

This young woman was spotted in mid morning taking two young children to the neighbourhood park. Both little ones had on wide brimmed hats and they rode to the park in a flag shaded wagon. My guess is that they had sun block applied to their bare legs and arms.

The city has been advertising that the splash pads are open providing relief from the heat and the wading pool at Springbank Park is also open.

Lilies beginning to bloom

I know very little about flowers. But, a lady with whom I worked at the paper was a lily enthusiast. She sent me to a place northeast of the city called Horner Lilies. Wow!

I love my lilies; My wife loves my lilies; The squirrels love my lilies and I mean love 'em. They eat the tubers. They find 'em delicious. And me, I'm finding fewer and fewer of my bright orange lilies as the years pass by. I think it is time to head back to Horner Lilies and restock my flower garden.

Can't let the little squirrels starve.

Oh well, I still have my grass.

A British invasion: the British roadster

I still have my Morgan, bought in December of 1968 from Metro Motors on Howard Avenue in Windsor, Ontario. With Metro Motors the only dealer east of Sterne Motors in Burnaby, British Columbia, Morgans were more common in Ontario than in other Canadian provinces except for B.C. Metro Motors is long gone, as is Sterne Motors for that matter, but the wealth of Morgans in the southern Ontario region is a continuing legacy of those long ago days.

I believe there are at least half a dozen Morgans in the London area. I would be very surprised if there were not a lot more if one were to count them all.

Morgans are interesting in that the owners like to drive them and, despite their age, they do not like to tow them anywhere. Morgans are made to be driven and to be enjoyed.

Saturday the Morgan club held a party in Mississauga west of Toronto. Members drove their cars from all over the area to attend. But there were not just Morgans at the party. Check out the beautiful Triumph TR3 (below) that motored over.

Ah, how I smile when I recall the days when the British roadster ruled the back country roads. Cheap to buy and relatively inexpensive to drive, they were the favoured cars of a generation. When one says British invasion, one thinks of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other British groups. But before the British rockers hit the North American shore, the English sports car was leading a British invasion of its own.

And a thanks to Paul in Powell River for letting me know my error. I always appreciate a good editor.

A bit of the country in the middle of London

The southern bank of the Thames River where this fellow is fishing is Springbank Park. The northern bank is the edge of The Thames Valley Golf Course. Still, this chap is enjoying a little bit of the country right in the middle of town.

Stores, lots of stores, a big plus for London

We've got stores. Lots and lots of stores. We may, in fact, have too many stores.  There may be more than can be easily supported, but that is another post. With that out of the way, let me say London is a great place to live if you're a woman looking for clothing bargains.

And if you're an aging husband being dragged about from store to store checking out dresses and jackets, well I've found something to do to wile away the time: Shoot pictures of fabric.

There are some rules for this game, I have to add a challenge, you can't touch the clothing. The picture must be created out of a found situation. The image must owe its existence to your abilities to see and crop in order to produce something out of the ordinary.

Check out today's picture. Now, you know what is possible. Get out there with your point and shoot and create.

Port Stanley: sand 'n' surf 30 minutes away

A couple of swimmers enjoy the surf off Port Stanley, Ontario.

Port Stanley is a good beach. The sand, especially at the water's edge, is fine and easy on the feet.

Now that June has arrived, the water is warming but it has not yet reached the temperature that blooms of algae, etc., are a problem. Runoff from area farms mixing with warm lake water can put the shoreline waters of Lake Erie off limits to swimmers.

Because of the danger posed to anyone venturing onto the long, concrete pier, the pier at Port Stanley is now closed to strollers. In the past it was open. It was exciting to head out onto the pier when large waves were crashing over the concrete structure. I confess that I did it myself in order to get a good picture. Sadly, people died after being washed off the structure by the raging surf.

Not everyone misses the walk on the pier. Kids are quite happy with the fine sand, with the water, and with making sand castles --- or, in this case, sand slop in a purple bucket.

Patios: a part of summer in London, Ontario

 
Patios are a solid part of life during the summer in London, Ontario. Heck, there are even local businesses specializing in the sale of  furniture and stuff like barbecues for backyard patio use.

We have two patios in our backyard. One at the end of a block wall that keeps a large hill from slipping slowly into our yard and our other paving stone patio is right at our back door. Our one neighbour has a large, wooden-deck patio and our other neighbour has not only a patio but a pool as well.

Our front porch is small, as are many porches in our suburban neighbourhood. Yet, in a very real sense, our small front porch serves as another patio. We have three Muskoka chairs sitting there: one for Judy, one for me and a very small, bright pink one for our young granddaughter.

I believe patios are a response to the loss of the large front porches that once graced many homes in Ontario. And, I must say, patios are a proving to be a fine response.

Wind turbines line the Lake Erie coast

Electricity generating wind turbines line the north shore of Lake Erie catching the wind near Port Bruce. To encourage the building of wind turbine farms and the installation of solar collectors, the Ontario government sweeten the pot with exceedingly generous payments for the power being generated.

This past March the province reduced those rates. Installing wind turbines or solar panels is no longer quite the sweetheart deal it had been. I considered having solar panels installed on the southern exposure of my own home's roof. But now, thanks to the reduced payments from the provincial government, such an installation does not seem to make as much financial sense. I have not signed a contract for panels and will probably take a pass.

Carousel reopens

The carousel at Springbank Park has reopened. The May 24th holiday was celebrated on May 21st this year. We like long weekends here in Canada. We have no qualms about shifting a holiday in order to line up three work-free days for the Monday to Friday working set. So, the carousel re-opened three days early. Fiona was pleased.

The interesting thing about today's photo is that it was taken with an iPhone by Ashley, Fiona's mom. All I can say is, "Wow!" I find the quality of images taken with cell phones just mind boggling.

What I also find mind boggling, or maybe I should say mind numbing, is the lack of upkeep the city-owned merry-go-round is showing.

The city is entering a year dedicated to ReThink London. Maybe the city could rethink their oh-so-foolish zero tax increase budgeting. With costs rising, albeit slowly, holding the line on taxes has meant putting off till tomorrow stuff that should be done today. Stuff that might cost just a little can be left undone so that much bigger bucks can be spent tomorrow.

Years ago the city tried saving money by not replacing street lights as they burned out over the summer. The plan was to replace all burned out lights in the fall. When fall came, the city found they were unable to quickly replace all the unlit lights. Not only was there a massive backlog of dead lights but more lights were continuing to go black. With winter approaching, the city hired an outside contractor to assist with the bulb replacement. To find a contractor with the proper truck, the city had to go all the way to Hamilton. The city had to put the crew from Hamilton up in a local hotel, it is too far to commute to London from Hamilton. Of course, the city also had to provide the outside workers with expensive restaurant meals.

It was NOT a brilliant move, and our mayor is making a bit of a dim bulb of himself by attempting something similar now as he adheres to a foolish election promise of zero tax increases.

Another good spot near London, Ontario

Port Bruce, a lakeside village on the north shore of Lake Erie, is a great beach destination for those put-off by the crowds attracted to Port Stanley about 16 kilometres to the west. If baking in the sun isn't your cup of tea, fishing off the port pier is another option. The area is known for its yellow perch and walleye fishing. At one time the village supported a fairly large fishing fleet, but today sun lovers have replaced commercial fishers.

One of London's finest features isn't in London

Small breakers rolling in at the Port Stanley beach south of London, Ontario.

Click the link to see and learn more.

Port Stanley on Lake Erie was once thought of as London, Ontario's beach on Lake Erie. Teens would board the London & Port Stanley Railway and ride from London to the beach.

The Port was really something back then. There was a dance pavilion, an incline railway, a casino, a roller coast and more, and of course there was always the lake and the beach.

The Port is still a fine destination. I took my granddaughter there today to build sand castles with the fine sand and watch the tumbling waves gently crashing onto the shore.

It is only early May and still quite cool. Yet, there were a fair number of folk enjoying a little time at the beach.

To learn more about the Port that was click the LINK.

An asparagus farm in the city

This asparagus farm and retail stand is maybe half a kilometre from my London home.

The City of London is convinced that all that is important is found in the core. The local paper seems to agree. The suburbs are a dull, backwater to hear these folk tell it. Boy, do they have it wrong.

Oh, I'm sure some people, maybe most people would agree with them, but I don't. I love living in the suburb of Byron, in the southwest corner of London. Every May I look forward to taking a short walk to the asparagus farm operating near my home. I always buy a couple of pounds.

Trust me, asparagus picked in the morning and eaten for lunch, gently salted with a little melted butter, is "wonderful." The adjective "wonderful", by the way, was supplied by my 33-month-old granddaughter. The kid knows her veggies even if the city and the newspaper haven't a clue.

Fun in the suburbs

There are a lot of myths about suburbia. One being that there is nothing for kids to do.

Well, in my neighbourhood, known locally as a suburb of London, there are lots of parks and open spaces. At the end of one court, the local kids have managed to hang a swing from a not so low lying branch.

One way of knowing what one is reading is myth and not fact is if the claim being made is that all, fill in the blank, are this way or that. Nothing, well almost nothing, is always one way. If that is the claim, be suspicious.

To grab this picture all I had to do was walk across the court from my front door. I can also walk to the grocery store, to my choice of drugstores, to my choice wine stores, to my choice of banks, to restaurants -- not chain places, either, and  . . .

I believe that the suburbs are not given the respect that they so rightly deserve.

A few dandelions today, many more tomorrow

Weed control in Ontario is almost a thing of the past. Oh, golf courses can spray weed killer, anything to encourage a healthy sport. Healthy that is except for walking on grass treated with poison. And farmers can spray weed killer on food crops. Hey, the stuffs harmless, just ask Monsanto.

But on lawns or in parks the application of weed killer is a no-no. This spring the dandelions are worse than ever. Although, I rather like the bright yellow flowers but this is not something one wants to admit to in polite society.

The yellow flowers are already going to seed and the spring breezes are carrying them everywhere. Next spring will be wonderful --- if you are a weed lover.

Butterfly Conservatory

The Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge is about an hour and a quarter down 401 east of London. Today it was somewhat wet, somewhat cold. A poor day to do anything outside. I thought it would be a perfect day to visit the butterfly conservatory. The crowd would be light.

My wife called my granddaughter's other grandparents and they picked up our granddaughter, Fiona, and all came over to our place. Together we made the trip to Cambridge.

The tropical exhibition hall is warm and humid; it has to be for the comfort of the at least 2000 free-flying tropical butterflies and moths. All the butterflies and moths originate in either Costa Rica or the Philippines and are sent to to the conservatory weekly as pupae (also called chrysalides (butterflies) or cocoons (moths)) from tropical butterfly farms.

Butterfly farming is a sustainable form of agriculture and ensures that natural populations of wild butterflies and moths are not depleted.

With so many butterflies and moths flitting about, it is not uncommon for one or two to land on a visitor's head or hand. People are advised to refrain from trying to pet, or touch in any way, the delicate little insects.

Butterfly on a visitor's boot.

Apparently some butterflies are attracted to salt. Boots, flavoured with salt from trudging along snow covered and heavily salted winter sidewalks, are a strong attractant.

The warm, humid air made me sweat lightly. I had two butterflies light on my moist, somewhat salty, bald head. The butterflies tickled and Fiona laughed.

At the emergence window, Fiona and I watched a butterfly dry its wings in preparation for its very first flight after pulling itself free of its pupa. Some butterfly species are reared onsite giving visitors a chance to observe all four of the stages of metamorphosis: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.

There are approximately 40 different species of butterflies and moths at the conservatory. Its a great place to take a granddaughter.

Is it too late to look for my shadow?

It is now almost mid April and the weather had turned pretty cool. A few weeks ago it looked like we were about to enjoy an early spring. The unseasonably warm weather encouraged the local magnolia trees to bloom.

Very little is blooming today. There is frost almost every night. I wonder if the groundhog that lives in my backyard is still looking for his shadow as he supposedly did back on February 2nd, Groundhog Day. Sunny weather in early February portends a late spring.

Cookie-cutter housing; I like it.

A row of attractive cookie-cutter homes in North London.

I love cities. I'm fond of the countryside, too, but it is cities that I love. As a boy I used to bike about my neighbourhood taking notes. On returning home I would add the stuff I had noted to a large map of the area. In my young mind, I was an explorer.

Mine was a "wartime housing" neighbourhood. My street was 52 similar homes on three city blocks --- a true cookie-cutter development. I learned to study those homes and note what had been done to add a little diversity. The siding was varied, some homes had shingles, others had wooden planking. The colour of the homes was varied with some grey, some white, some deep green . . . . The height of the homes varied as some were single floor homes and others were two floor. To prevent someone looking down the street and seeing 52 very similar homes in a very long row, the home were staggered on the lots. A short row of one floor homes might be forward on their lots, while a following row of two story homes would be placed farther back on their lots.

I noticed these same visual tricks were used in what I called the "brick home neighbourhood." Although the brick homes did not look to have all been built at the same time by the same builder, there were often two or three almost identical homes grouped together. One home might have yellow brick and the other red but they were the same style of home. Over the years I saw the insides of many of these homes and can attest that the layouts were identical.

And so, I have been left puzzled by the comments of writers critical of suburban developments. "Suburbs don't have to look like 'human filing cabinets' ", Randy Richmond of The London Free Press tells us. As if building a row of similar homes is unique to suburbia.

These writers toss about the 'cookie-cutter' remarks all too freely. There can be a beauty to repetition. It all comes down to what exactly is being repeated.

New urbanism, an approach to development favoured by these writers, results in very rule-guided structures. And this isn't a criticism. Rules can be good. Think Paris, France.

A new urbanist community north of Toronto.

Another look at housing evoution

With its front porch intact and colourful landscaping, this is a lovely heritage home.

When built many decades ago, the small cottage homes that dot London provided relatively inexpensive housing. This is not always the case today. Many still present a simple but elegant face to the street but inside they have been upgraded, modernized, and rear additions have been added, expanding the homes to sizes unimagined by the original builders and occupants. It is not uncommon to find these homes have had multiple additions over the intervening years.

This once-small-home appears to have had two rear additions expanding it size.

Evolution of a building

I'm not an expert when it comes to architecture. And my memory is failing. All that aside, I believe this lovely little home in North London was once white with a red tile roof.

Back when I was in the market for a home, I can recall it being listed as a mission style home in white stucco. It couldn't be listed quite that way today. It is not longer white and its roof is now simply shingled. The mission look is still there but subdued.

Buildings change over time. Often the changes are quite dramatic but they occur over such a long time period the changes go almost unnoticed.

North London is one of the finest areas in town. I would not be surprised if, in the future, this place undergoes some big and very dramatic changes. Already some of the neighbouring homes have undergone some incredible makeovers.

Magnolia blossoms threatened

The incredibly early spring has encouraged London, Ontario magnolia trees to go into full bloom all too early. Now, the weather has turned chilly during the day and is deep into freezing territory at night. The beautiful blooms may all soon tumble to the ground, victims of the frosty March nights.

Spring is here!

Mud baths are fun, unless you're the dog's owner.

The game of fetch is over.

It was the winter that wasn't. I could have slipped through this past winter without owning a snow blower. There was so little snow that the local ski hill was only able to remain open thanks to its sophisticated snow making equipment.

It is only March and the parks are filled with kids playing, dogs relaxing after a game of fetch and other dogs sneaking off for a spring mud bath. Everyone is loving it, except possibly the owner of the mutt in the mud.

The water is only an inch deep but a rock still makes a good splash.

London Orchid Show

Yesterday, Saturday, March 17 the London Orchid Society's 35th Annual Show and Sale started. It is on again today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School, 1065 Sunningdale Rd. (just east of Adelaide).

The well attended event attracts vendors from across the province. The London Orchid Society can be found online. Just click the link.

Shooting orchids, as incredibly beautiful as they may be, can prove difficult at a show such as the one in London. One must be careful that the light illuminating the blooms is not cold, green fluorescent or overly warm tungsten. I focused my interest on the flowers nearest the large windows. They were bathed in wonderful bright but soft, clean light.

It is also important to watch the background when shooting blooms. All too often backgrounds can be very busy and very distracting with other flowers pushing themselves into the picture.

As you cannot touch the flowers at a show such as this, moving the flowers is out. Move your camera. Pick your angle with care. Do not allow yourself to be blinded by the beauty of the bloom to the detriment of the beauty of you picture. Think picture and not just flower.

Orchid in a plastic container ready to be taken home.

A simple, concrete block home - nice!

I wish I knew more about heritage housing. This home, sitting on a large lot in an older section of London appears to have exterior walls of concrete blocks with a surface treatment reminiscent of cut stone. This may be what is known as rusticated concrete block.

I love the home's simple presentation, but I think a covered porch of some sort must have originally graced the front.

I worry little homes, like this one, are always in danger of being bought and demolished by a developer intent on maximizing land use by replacing the heritage structure with a densely built, in-fill style, multi-unit, condo development.

London Normal School sits vacant

Recently I did a post on the former London Normal School. Normal school is the name given to a teachers' college back in the 1890s when the London heritage structure was built. The building hasn't been a normal school for decades. The teachers' college is now in the north of the city and associated with the University of Western Ontario.

The structure is presently sitting vacant but it is still in fine shape. Recently I did a blog post on the building called Promoting a Dream. For more info, please follow the link.

10 degrees and foggy in Southern Ontario

Winter has been a non-starter in London, Ontario. I don't think I got out the snow blower more than a couple of times. And even those times when I cleared my drive, the snowfall was minimal.

Today, not quite spring, the temperature was about ten degrees centigrade (50 degree fahrenheit), a bit rainy, and a bit foggy. Later in the week the temperature is forecast to climb into the high teens or low 20s.

It is time to remove the snow tires. When the temperature is above about seven degrees centigrade, the tire tread wears quite quickly.

So green it's silver

St. Joseph's Hospital in London is getting an extreme make-over, hospital edition. One problem being fixed is the deteriorating exterior brick. Bits of wall were breaking free and falling. A safety issue.

This is being corrected with new cladding and new exterior insulation. The windows are being replaced, too. When done, the old hospital building will be so green that it will be silver, LEED Silver.

This may be green but it comes with few bragging rights, the LEED standard has Gold and Platinum levels above the Silver standard. But Silver is still a great improvement.

According to the hospital, the present structure, as it stands, does not meet today's fire standards, nor is it up to code for floor loading. Windows leak and the lack of insulation results in higher energy use.

The construction causes a little inconvenience for patients and visitors but it when it is done it will have been well worth the trouble and expense.

I saw the gleaming framing for the new cladding and thought "art."