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.

Great Blue in Thames River

I'm not all that knowledgeable about birds, but I believe this is a great blue heron in the Thames River beside Springbank Park in London, Ontario. According to my Peterson Field Guide, adult great blues may attain a height of up to four feet, with the white about their heads another telltale marker. This sure looks like a great blue to me.

More than a decade ago there was a push on to have the Thames, the second largest river system in Southwestern Ontario, declared one of Canada's heritage rivers. In August, 2000, the river formally joined the ranks of Canadian heritage rivers.

The North Branch of the Thames flows into the Thames River at the forks at the western edge of the city core. Despite being surrounded by a city of hundreds of thousands, if one canoes or kayaks down the Thames, the varied wildlife sighted makes the river run seem almost like a wilderness adventure — this is especially true if you're a city boy.

And I am still a city boy at heart, even if I am in my 60s and retired. I shot this "wilderness" picture a short distance from my suburban London home.

PhotoCamp London 2011

My shot of Queen Anne's Lace inspired by watching Ms. Mary Lou Roberts.

Today PhotoCamp London 2011 was held at the Convergence Centre on the grounds of the UWO Research Park in North London. Local photographer James Wilkinson deserves to receive a lot of praise for his part in putting together the very successful day.

The morning ended with a PhotoWalk.

One part of the day involved a PhotoWalk around the centre's grounds. I noticed a lady, Mary Lou Roberts, getting down on her knees to take shots of Queen Anne's Lace from the underneath looking up. What a fine idea!

It turns out that Ms. Roberts took a some photography instruction from a fellow with whom I once worked — Dave Chidley. Chidley is one of the finest newspaper shooters in Canada. He taught his students that if one isn't getting their knees dirty they aren't finding enough different angles. It's a good rule.

The afternoon photo shoot had two professional models.

The afternoon offered a photo shoot with a couple of professional models.

I felt out of my league shooting with my simple  cameras — my Fuji FinePix HS10 bridge camera and my point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot S90.

DSLRs and long lenses were the order of the day. We learned that all lenses have an f/stop at which they perform best. The info can be found on the Internet using Google.

The leader of the walk, James Wilkinson, said he was shooting at f/4.0 with his portrait length lens. This gave him reduced depth of field to make the models pop from the page. Also, f/4.0 was the sharpest setting with his particular lens.

The models had photo-perfect bodies.

I must say the models were both good and very professional but I, as a former news shooter, prefer less structured, more natural, poses. I felt the late Peter Gowland would have been comfortable shooting the poses taken by the young woman model — especially those she took after stripping down to her bikini.

I'm a still photographer but my background is in film. I have a degree in filmmaking from Ryerson in Toronto. I found the talks on shooting video the high point of the day. I found myself fully in agreement with the advice delivered at the morning panel discussion.

Edward Platero told us: "Embrace the limitations of the camera." Man, is he right. Chris Hachey added: You must get "the best you can with what you've got."

This is good advice for still photographers as well as videographers.

Chris Hachey

The enthusiasm for the art of shooting video was quite evident at the morning discussion. I loved it when Chris Hachey said:

"You'll never stop learning."

Addendum: At PhotoCamp I learned there's a lot of experimenting being done with Canon DSLRs being used to shoot video. For instance, a season final of House was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II. Amazing! If you're interested in seeing a short shot with a Canon DSLR check out this post on Rockin' On: The Blog. 

My best shot of the young model was taken before the shoot.

Thank you LHSC!

There was a time when I thought of flowers, I thought of full blooms. I wanted peak action. No buds and no wilted petals. Just gorgeous flowers in their prime.

Then I experienced Sheila's art. Sheila, at the time, was painting flowers. She didn't narrow her focus to just blooms, the climax of the story. No, she captured the whole tale from bud to bloom to fading away forever.

Now, I see flower art entirely differently.

And now I see life a little differently — and it's not just because of flowers. You see, today I visited the London Health Sciences Centre and a doctor there informed me that I have arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). I now know why I've had the heart problems that have plagued me this past year.

A friend once said I was one of the luckiest guys they had ever met. I'm beginning to believe my friend. Having a rare, genetic heart disorder is not lucky but living in London, Ontario is. The excellent hospital here in London, and the absolutely wonderful doctors and nurses who didn't stop looking when the reason for my heart problem proved elusive, gave me a future.

Thanks to my ICD, I no longer fear sudden death syndrome. And my meds are keeping my weird heart beat patterns at bay.

I may still be wilting, aren't we all, but I no longer fear that I am a day lily. Thank you LHSC!

Joy

"Joy!"

When I saw today's shot, the word "joy" immediately came to mind. For me, this picture conveys an enthusiastic love for life.

Letting dogs run free just anywhere in the city is against a London bylaw. There are off-leash parks for that purpose. Still, one often sees dogs running after balls in city parks. My granddaughter laughs with loud delight whenever she gets a chance to watch one of these dogs in action.

One time the pooch in question, hearing Fiona, brought the ball right to the little toddler, dropping it at her feet. The dog brought more than a ball to Fiona, the dog brought her "joy".

Market may be on the market

This is the Covent Garden Market in downtown London, Ontario. A market has stood on this site for more than a hundred years.

There is little point in writing a lot about the market as the above link will take you to a fine slide show detailing the market's history. When watching the slide show, note the size of the crowds and the great number of cars in some of these old photos.

Contrary to what some would have us believe, walking wasn't always the way to get around, even in the distant past. 80 years ago parking spaces for all the cars was already an issue under discussion. And before cars circled the market and clogged the area, horse drawn carriages filled much of the open space.

Today there is talk of the city selling the market. Times are tough, they say. Time to make a tough decision. Maybe the tough decision is to hold onto the market and the site.

Reclaimed gravel pit

When I moved to my home in suburban Byron on the edge of London, Ontario, there was a huge gravel pit immediately across from my home. The pit was actually closed, no more gravel was being excavated, and the pit was now going through a process of reclamation.

My wife and I were warned that we might have to put up with dust from the closed pit for twenty years. Reclaiming a gravel pit requires a lot of fill and dumping that fill creates a lot of dust.

Well London grew faster than estimated and new construction creates a massive amount of fill. The old pit disappeared quickly. It was gone in just a few years. The steep cliffs of the pit were sloped and a beautiful park took shape, complete with a baseball diamond and a children's play area.

Watching these boys ascending one of the wildflower covered slopes, it's hard to believe that just more than a decade ago this was the steep, sandy home for hundreds of cliff swallows.

It is funny to contemplate but sometimes I wonder if my home, sitting on a mound of gravel and fine sand hundreds of feet deep, will be torn down someday in the future in order to get at the gravel underneath. It is not unknown for homes to be demolished to extract the valuable aggregate on which they sit.

Back from extinction

Sighted behind a London home flapping in the summer breeze.

The clothesline was a dying feature of Canadian urban live. In some suburbs long clotheslines were banned. If one felt driven to hang wet laundry outside, exposing all to the neighbourhood, a circular, rotating line was the only type allowed.

Three years ago all this changed when Premier Dalton McGuinty lifted the ban on outdoor clotheslines by overruling the common suburban bylaw. McGuinty said the move was aimed at curbing the use of energy-sucking clothes dryers, which burn up to six per cent of Ontario's power.

In explaining the change, McGuinty said:

"There's a whole generation of kids growing up today who think a clothesline is a wrestling move."

Hmmm. I guess there's was a whole generation, mine, who thought a wrestling move was a way to dry laundry.

A storm rolls over the city

Minutes before the storm hit, this was the sunset.

I cannot recall the last time an electrical storm frightened me. The one that rolled over London, Ontario tonight was scary. The bolts of lightning hit so close to my home, I live on a hill overlooking the city, that the thunder had not just sound but real fury. My windows rattled and the pens on my desk trembled.

The sky was thick with storms all day.

I wish I could have gotten a picture but the lightning came and went very quickly. The rumble of thunder is now distant and growing weaker by the minute.

By eleven tonight all storms should be past and tomorrow I will drive my Morgan to Burlington with the top of the old roadster stored on the shelf behind the seat.

Tomorrow morning should be a day not for umbrellas but for sunblock. But by late afternoon it might be time for another thunder storm. That's common summer weather in Southwestern Ontario.

Paul Di Libero: Bike Medic

Print out this post, present it to Di Libero, receive $10 off your first bike tune-up.

The doctor makes house calls; The bike doctor that is.

Paul Di Libero is a bike mechanic. He is also a fourth year student at King's University College at The University of Western Ontario. With college out for the summer, Di Libero is turning from books to bikes.

The London philosophy student perfected his bike repair skills working at the Missing Link on Commissions Rd. W. in Byron. The cycle shop was a fixture in downtown Byron for more than a dozen years. Rising rent coupled with diminishing sales forced the closure of the small, locally-owned store. Clearly not just downtown London is suffering from the growing number of big box stores.

Thanks to funding from the provincially sponsored Summer Company 2011 program, Di Libero has been able to open a mobile bicycle repair business — the Bike Medic. Saturday he was spotted cycling about Byron, his shop/trailer in tow, distributing flyers throughout the suburban neighbourhood.

Specializing in tune-ups, flat tire repair, bike cleaning and maintenance, the experienced bike mechanic tows his cycle-shop-on-wheels to the customer's home. Naturally, Di Libero tows his shop behind a bicycle.

The Bike Medic, Paul Di Libero, can be reached by phone at 519-615-9135 or by e-mail at paul@bikemedic.ca.

With one of his flyers, Di Libero is offering $10 off on your first tune-up. The Bike Medic has graciously agreed to give anyone presenting a printout of this London Daily Photo post the same deal.

Now, forgive me, I've got to go and call the Bike Medic. Oh, and make a print of this post.

FrankenBaby

Has someone slipped chipmunk genes into the little girl? No one is talking.

Canadian scientists in Guelph, Ontario announced they have created a mouse-pig by splicing the rodent's DNA into a pig's.

This is true. Honest. According to John Miner, writing in The London Free Press, the researchers have submitted their data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian government. The data are presently being evaluated. If this latest FrankenFood wins the required regulatory approval in Canada and United States, soon the mouse-pig could be on a dinner plate near you. (Question: Does it taste like chicken?)

A lot of people have expressed concern when it comes to the genetically modified Canadian porker; I have other worries closer to home. I'm worried my little granddaughter may have been slipped a little chipmunk DNA. I can't say for sure but there are signs. The scientists in Guelph aren't talking.

One Dog a Leaping

Dogs love to play catch. And some of them are awfully good. It is difficult to get an excellent action shot at dusk. I came close but excellent it is not.

Someday I'll get a fine picture of one of the neighbourhood dogs in action. For now, this image will have to do.

The best lawn in Canada is no more

Once the London Life lawn would never have had even one weed, yet alone dozens.

It was once known as the best lawn in Canada. It was incredible. It was unbelievable. It was a golf green unmarred by a hole and cup. It was the London Life lawn in downtown London, Ontario.

The London Life lawn is patchy not perfect.

The insurance company's grass was a brighter green. It was finer, denser, shorter. It was so short that a special drum lawn mower — the kind usually reserved for trimming golf greens — was used to cut the grass to a height of 1/8 inch. London Life must have had a full-time greenskeeper. Amazing.

But all that came to an end a few years ago. According to The Londoner the look could only be achieved through the use of chemical pesticides. When the province banned lawn pesticides, the death knell sounded for the famous London lawn.

Greg Sandle, London’s pesticide education coordinator, told the Londoner that folks have to change their perception of what constitutes a perfect lawn.

“There will be dandelions, there will be weeds. But we want people to just relax, they’re only weeds."

If you look carefully at the London Life lawn, you can still see remnants of the former lawn, fine and dense.

The new grass is hardier. It doesn't demand all the pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer and water of the golf green variety. You might say that, despite appearances to the contrary, the new lawn is actually "greener" than the old one.

Old and new: patches of the old, perfect lawn are still visible.

A walk on the suburban side

There are a lot of myths about North American suburban neighbourhoods; Like all myths, there is a bit of truth in what people say — but there is also a lot of folklore. According to popular mythology suburban streets are wide and designed with cars and not pedestrians in mind. There are few trees in suburbia. And the streets are often ugly, their appearance marred by the presence of all the garage doors.

Bunkum. At least it's bunkum when one looks at many specific suburban developments. The suburban street this 21-month-old little girl is strolling is very quiet when it comes to vehicular traffic; the street dead ends in court. Fiona has found that it is more heavily traveled by people out walking their dogs than by cars.

The traffic is so light that there are no sidewalks. It's mostly folk living on the short street that use this section of road. The street has no speed bumps nor does it have any other annoying, traffic-calming measures. The road itself is somewhat narrow and gently curved, this design acts to slow traffic down.

London, Ontario, is called The Forest City, and this neighbourhood is an excellent example of why the moniker fits. The large trees near the curb are trimmed and maintained by the city. The evergreens and other trees closer to the homes, like the Japanese maples with their deep red coloured leaves, are the responsibility of the individual home owners.

Fiona likes this street. Farther up the road, there is home with a rock garden instead of a lawn. She loves it. She thinks that rocks instead of grass is pretty cool.

She also loves that she can reach the court by strolling down a long walking path that starts opposite the park where she sometimes plays. I say sometimes because there are three parks in the area that have playground equipment for young kids. Fiona likes to mix 'em up as each one is a little different from the other two.

Just because a court is a dead end for cars does not mean it is necessarily a cul-de-sac for strollers.

Why Hamilton?

Recently, the local paper has made a number of references to Hamilton, Ontario as if Hamilton has it right while London has it wrong. Hamilton is deep into the "creative city" stuff.

My wife and I found ourselves in beautiful, downtown Hamilton the other day. We didn't aim to be there, we blame our GPS. But, the moment I saw the entrance to the downtown, I knew it was time to get out the camera.

London has a number of one way streets downtown. These one way streets are constantly nattered about. Cool folk hate 'em. Note the main drag in Hamilton; It's one way!

And, immediately to the right as one enters downtown there is a coffee shop; It's run by the Salvation Army. I guess in Hamilton, it's move over Timmy.

I wasn't too impressed with the Hamilton downtown. It reminded me of home, of London, or of any of hundreds of hollowed out downtowns in the core of North American cities. As we left the core, I grabbed one last picture; a once grand hotel, now boarded up. Oh well, at least Hamilton hasn't demolished this fine, old structure.

Maybe Hamilton does have a leg up on London after all.

It's closed; It's empty; But, it's interesting.

It's closed; It's empty; It's the former McCormick's biscuit and candy plant on Dundas St. E. in London, Ontario.

According to the London Public Library, years of study went into the design of the 1913 biscuit bakery and candy manufacturing plant. The plant was one of the largest, most modern and most sanitary factories of its kind in North America. The exterior was finished with white enamel terra cotta. There were so many windows, it became known as the Sunshine Palace.

The McCormick's factory was meant to be a model facility. Not only was the plant itself an amazing state of the art bakery and confection plant employing about 1000, producing 135,000 lbs. of candy and 100,000 lbs. of biscuits every working day, but it was to have a baseball park, bowling greens, a tennis court and croquet grounds for the enjoyment of the workers.

In 1854, Thomas McCormick opened his biscuit and confectionery manufacturing business. In 1926, McCormick's purchased its London competitor, D.S. Perrin and Company Ltd. In the 1940’s McCormick's itself was taken over by George Weston Ltd. In 1990, the business was acquired by Culinar Foods of Montreal. In 1997 Beta Brands Inc. took control. In 2004, McCormick was sold to Sun Capital Partners, a Florida investment firm.

• In 2007, Sun Capital Partners closed McCormick's, cut 275 jobs and denied workers severance, vacation pay and pensions.
• McCormick's workers fight two years in court to win vacation pay and have to pay their legal bills from the winnings.
• One 48-year employee now earns a pension of $300 a month.

Today, the Sunshine Palace sits empty. Its glow dimmed. Its white terra cotta soiled. Inside it's been gutted of its bakery and confection making equipment. The next important date in its more than a century and a half of history might well be its demolition.

"Life is Good!" at Winter Wheat

Shelters allow visitors to relax, sip a coffee and enjoy each other's company.

"Life is Good!" at Winter Wheat.

"Life is Good!"

Winter Wheat is the inviting home of Canadian folk artist Lucy Ogletree and her husband Mike Roberts. The five-acre property, filled with whimsical art, is open to the public for much of the year. Check the website before going. The grounds and shop make a perfect destination to explain a drive in the country.

According to the Winter Wheat site:

"Folk Art is created by ordinary folks who express what they are feeling in their hearts by creating imaginative things. Often times the expressions they create are extremely exuberant, witty or humorous."

Morgans leaving the parking lot in Sparta, Ontario, Sunday.

Sunday the group of Morgans touring Southwestern Ontario stopped in Sparta, the village just north of Winter Wheat. They proceeded down Quaker Road to Ogletree's oasis of creativity. The group, mainly from the Toronto area, was impressed.

To reach Winter Wheat, take 401-exit-177 and head in a southerly direction on Hwy 4 towards St. Thomas. At the edge of St. Thomas, turn right, staying on Hwy 4, now also known as Sunset Road. Turn left at Union and head east on Sparta Road. In Sparta, turn right onto Quaker Road and head south for about 2 km. Winter Wheat is on the west side of the road. Watch for the property dense with trees and the fence posts decorated with angels.

Winter Wheat is an amazingly welcoming place.

Ogletree's studio and her home are nestled among the tall pines and spruce trees, along with a country store filled with her beautiful folk art paintings and whimsical creations.

Visitors are encouraged to not only stroll the store but to wander the grounds. There are a couple of shelters where one can relax with a coffee and some friends.

The sculptures dotting the property are brightly coloured with a whimsical, upbeat quality. For Ogletree, everything is art. Brooms? Art! Funnels? Art! Keys? Art! . . .

The richness of Winter Wheat means everyone has a slightly different reaction to the place. I find the spot inspiring. I wander her gardens, stroll down her flower-bordered paths and smile at the merriment added by her sculptures. It all leaves me wanting to do something with my yard. So many times backyards are nothing more than a barren, sterile patch of grass.

The easiest answer is to buy some of the yard sculpture for sale at Winter Wheat. Mix some Ogletree sculptures with your day lilies and when the blooms are done, the sculptures will continue to brighten your garden.

Bud Light Lime crew at Crossings

Morgan owners snap on the tonneau before dinner at Crossings Grill Pub.

The British Sports Car of London sponsored a car show Saturday at Bellamere Winery in the northwest end of the city. Morgan was the featured marque. Morgans were driven from as far away as Windsor, Toronto and Welland area to enter the show.

Events like this are good for a city. They generate revenue a little revenue and a lot of good PR for the city. Many of the visitors arrived in London Friday evening and left Sunday morning. In between they dined, they shopped and of course they all had rooms in local hotels.

Despite the views of the local paper, all the visitors that this blogger chatted with enjoyed their stay in London and plan on returning. They found it a good city and certainly not boring by any measure.

Saturday evening the members of the Morgan Sports Car Club of Canada had dinner at the newly renovated Crossings Grill Pub. The members were asked to park their old English roadsters in a long line on the front lawn facing Hyde Park Road.

Bud Light Lime, a new lime flavoured brew from Budweiser, is in the midst of a big promotion. Saturday evening the BL van and crew visited Crossings, giving sample bottles of lime brewski and BL hats to the car club members.

The Bud Light Lime crew made everyone smile as they gave out samples of the brew.