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!