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.