It's winter right across North America

The news is filled with stories of winter. Aircraft skidding off runways, wind chill factors dropping to -50 degrees, entire cities (like St. Louis) shut-down on account of snow, high winds and freezing temperatures.

London hasn't been badly hit, so far. But the cold arctic air mass moving east is pushing into Southwestern Ontario. The temperature is dropping, the wind picking up and snow is falling. It is not going to be as bad in London as in other areas far west of here but it will be cold. By tomorrow morning it should be around twenty below. That's Celsius, of course.

Around Woodholme we now find . . .

New homes now sit near the gated entrance to Woodholme.

Yesterday I featured a picture of Woodholme, the home of the late Col. Tom Lawson and his deceased wife Miggsie.

The Woodholme Estate, with its concrete castlelike home dating back to the late 1880s, was a special residence in London, Ontario. The grounds were extensive. Before Col. Tom past away, he and his wife donated a large track of land to the city. Today that land is known as Lawson Park.

At one point, tearing down Woodholme for redevelopment was discussed. For the moment, the home has been saved. The land surrounding Woodholme has been subdivided and upscale private homes have been built.

Woodholme is still sitting in a pretty nice location in the expanding city.

Woodholme: Col. Tom's London castle

This castle-like home in north-west London, Ontario, is Woodholme. The residence of the late Col. Tom Lawson and his now deceased wife Miggsie. Woodholme has quite the history and it may even have a future. Time will tell.

Built in the late 1800s, Woodholme is showing its age. It's a cool home to look at and I'm sure it would be a cool home to live in. Very cool. Downright drafty and cold, in fact. While working as a newspaper photographer I had occasion to visit the place. If it had not been for the engaging, eccentric design, I would not have been impressed. I kept my coat on all the time I was there.

My wife attended the 50th wedding anniversary party held at Woodholme for Col. Thom and Miggsie. She had a lot of the same feelings about the place that I did. The best thing about the old concrete castle was Col. Tom and his wife -- especially his wife. Miggsie was at home in Woodholme.

When my wife and I were married, we got a card from Miggsie. My wife worked in the charity world and thus worked a little with Miggsie. Miggsie did not forget friends nor acquaintances. My wife was acquainted with Miggsie but she was certainly not a friend. Still, Miggsie sent a card with a short, handwritten note.

In 1983 the Lawsons put Prince Phillip up in their London, Ontario, castle. The prince came to town for the Royal Canadian Regiment 100th anniversary celebration.

Today the grounds have been subdivided for upscale housing and a residence for seniors. A ravine to the north and the land around it was donated to the city by the Lawsons some years ago. That area is now known as Lawson Park.

Water vapour envelops home during cold wave

Last night it got down to something in the neighbourhood of -22 Celsius in London, Ontario. That's cold. This home, heated by natural gas, is enveloped in the resulting water vapour being exhausted at the back of the home. This cloud of vapour is causing frost to form on the roof and eaves.

To read a warning about the use of insulating window blinds, see my post with pictures. We are always surrounded with water vapour but during the coldest days and nights of winter, this water vapour becomes briefly visible.

London, Ont., has rare eight-day garbage pick-up

January second and finally my neighbourhood has its garbage bags picked up and recycle bins emptied. It has been twelve full days since the last pick-up -- a long time.

London, Ontario, is the only city I know of that has garbage pick-up on an eight day schedule. If the pick-up is Monday one week, it is Tuesday the next week. Then it moves to Wednesday. Holidays can really stretch out the time between pick-ups. It get so confusing that the city distributes a calendar with the garbage days clearly marked.

The city claims this approach saves money. A lot of folk, especially in the hot, summer months, don't think it is worth it. Garbage tends to, shall we say, ripen in the heat. City council may bring back weekly, same-day pick-up but I wouldn't hold my breath -- not unless its the summer.

Happy New Year!

The annual New Year's Eve bash was held at the London Regional Children's Museum Tuesday. Well attended as always, the balloons dropped at 12-noon to much cheering and tooting of horns and popping of balloons.

The museum, in a former public school in London, Ontario, has outgrown the building and is now on the market. On being sold, the museum will be looking for larger place to call home. The goal is move the museum to the core of the city, if possible.

One maybe and one why

Garlic and tomato bought recently in London, Ontario.

When I was a boy growing up in Southwestern Ontario, this was farm country. We grew so much. Summers were a time of abundance with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables available in the stores and the farmers' stands that lined what were then known as the King's highways.

The King's highways have, for the most part, been handed off to the counties and townships. And much of the fruit and vegetable business is either gone, going or threatened.

In December I can understand tomatoes from Guatemala but garlic from China? Garlic producers in the province have been just about driven out of business by the cheap imported garlic from China.

Essex County, to the southwest of London, was once the home of the biggest ketchup making plant in possibly North America -- certainly Canada. A few weeks ago it was announced that that plant, owned by Heinz, was closing in the new year. Many tomato growers in the county are threatened.

In the fifties, folk in Ontario were far better at eating locally produced food. It can be done -- even in a country as far north as Canada. Sadly, we are paving over our farmland and if the time should come that we will want to return to growing our own food, it may be difficult.