Spiderman Halloween Preview

Our recent trip to Victoria meant taking a few pictures.  Here are the highlights.  This lovely red bush bordered the walking trail we took every day to pick up the Times-Colonist for Ron.  Don't think we have these orange-red-flowered bushes in Ontario.

Chelsea was excited to see the fields of pumpkins growing so we stopped the car and I caught Beth.  Was she thinking of stealing one?  Later we bought Chelsea's choices: a 7-inch diameter, a 4-inch diameter and a small gourd.  What can I say?  She loves small things.

Beautiful fall flowers adorned this fence line across the road from the pumpkins.

I've saved the best for the last--Spiderman!  Well, maybe Spidergirl.  Chelsea's dad came home with this awesome Halloween costume  one day.  Since we wouldn't see her on the actual day, Chelsea modeled for us.  Here she is climbing up the wall.  I think Grandpa would have liked if she had used her web-throwing capabilities and climbed up that way.  Too cute!

What is your favorite Halloween costume?  When did you wear it?

Wild Beauties of Ontario--Weeds

Near my home is a bit of land waiting to be developed, but while it's waiting colourful flowers fill up the space.  Here is a self-seeded poplar tree, flanked by that wonderful shade of blue cornflowers.

I saw these a few days ago but didn't have my camera.  The next time I went by there was no blue in sight.  I thought I had missed them.  Then I realized that the early bird gets, not the worm, the flowers!

This weed is so pretty there is even a crystal pattern, very popular when I was getting married, called cornflower.  Of course the crystal misses the heavenly colour.

Vibrant tiger lilies always greet us beside every country road but this year they are more plentiful and a deeper colour.  I think our wet spring really served them well.  Now, we could stand some rain!  (Notice the rising corn behind the lilies.)

And further along my picture-taking route I found these beauties:  tiger lilies, something purple and something taller that is violet.  I could look up the names but to me they don't matter.  The beauty does.

Highway 401 has been planted with great stretches of crown vetch.  Here I found some along a country road.  It is so luxuriant I just want to lie down and let it cradle me.  As long as there are no bees, that is.

Little compact patches of this vibrant yellow clumping flower grow sparingly along the roads.  Of course this one was on a busy highway so I had to fight traffic to get these shots.  Worth it, though.

And here I've pulled back to show the distance shot.  Like a shot in the arm these bits of sunshine are.

After I got my pictures I headed for the garage to book another appointment to fix the thing we paid $500 to fix two weeks ago.  A sad way to end my beauty tour.

Beaching in Victoria in February

Last week we got back from a two-week stay with our daughter and her family. Here are some of the pics from a cloudy, cool day when we were pushing the beach season. Grandpa has had many sand-castle building years to prepare for his role with his granddaughter. Here they are just getting started. Before long we had trenches winding over twenty feet. Chelsea loved them.



While they were building I turned my attention to the many others sharing the beach space that day. This couple were mixing dog-walking and coffee drinking. Looked good.


There was a sailing class in the bay, each boat doing its turns, heedless of the cloudy skies.


Yet another dog person had a thrower for tossing the balls to his two dogs. The dogs got lots of exercise. He was pretty laid back, ambling along in front of my lens.

I turned back to the builders and got this long shot.


We all went home happy that we had done the first rite of summer even though the actual season is far off in Australia or some place. Certainly not in Victoria this year.

Cancun's Dreams Riviera Hotel

Some of you may know that I won a trip to Mexico through East Side Mario's contest almost a year ago now. Well last week I finally got to take it, along with my sister. Here is a shot of hotel employees setting up near the beach for one of the many weddings which are held here each week. The wind was a bit of a problem this week but the beauty held.

Our room was gorgeous and comfortable with its marble bathroom, complete with Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower, double sinks and lots of counter/cupboard space for the two of us.

At night the beds were turned down, side curtains hung and a bottle of cold water plus chocolates put out for us. Nobody does that at home!

Standing on our porch we could see the plunge pools which units on the first floor had. Nice idea but I never saw anyone use them the whole week. Not warm enough, I guess.

Looking the other way from our balcony the ocean was in the distance as was the hot tub. Sadly the hot tub was at best lukewarm. Not much point in going in.

Huts on the beach were plentiful and we claimed a spot every day for at least a few hours. Such a lovely place to read and dream.

The food was dispensed at this all-inclusive resort via many small restaurants. Our favorite was this one which overlooked the swim up infinity pool and the ocean. The seafood was excellent in this restaurant.

Beside the pools there were many cabanas with large mattresses, filmy white curtains and thatched roofs to keep the sun off. We claimed one on our last afternoon there and found the Internet connection better than in the room. Joyce got her family on the screen and then walked around to show them the whole area. Pretty neat use of a computer.

From the huge main hall we walked toward the beach along a stunning boardwalk with shops and lovely shady sitting areas lining it.

The view of the outside entrance is not ostentatious at all, a surprise although I never left the compound the whole week we were there so it didn't really matter.

Here is Joyce inside the huge welcome building posing for me. There is a bar on the left--free drinks whenever, whatever.

This was a six-star hotel and we loved it. I only wished that our husbands could have been there with us. Maybe another time.

ROM Terracotta

ROM Terracotta. Oh, doesn't that just sound like a recipe? No salivating here; this title is about my train trip to Toronto yesterday with my friend, and our day-long visit to the Royal Ontario Museum's exhibits. The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army is the title of the ROM's starring attraction just now and we entered at 11:00, the first showing of the day.
Right off the bat I was disconcerted as the din of numerous school groups filled the exhibit hall. We tried to keep away but sometimes that was just not possible. I do like to be able to quietly find my own way through museums but had to make allowance for the kids. Okay I could do that, and, actually, it wasn't too bad. The tour guides must have been good as the kids listened attentively and only made noise when moving to their next stopping point.

Well, the warriors were the main attraction and were pretty interesting but not as great as I had hoped. I pictured many terracotta figures lined up in rows like soldiers at roll call and in the web picture above. Actually there were not many, maybe 10 or so around the main room. There were, however, excellent short videos and many other related artifacts.
Confusion rained about whether the warriors were real live people buried with the first emperor, Qin, but no, they were figures made out of terracotta. When I was in China there was no time to fly to the actual site where the terracotta warriors were found, a loss I really felt yesterday as I was standing in the museum. I had been so close to the real thing!
The rest of the day we visited other museum exhibits, got a feel for the integration of the two additions to the ROM, and just soaked it all in. Close to closing we whipped into the gem exhibit and were entranced by the stunning colours and formations filling many rows of cabinets. I saw names that I never heard of in Rocks 21 (Geology) at Western in the sixties. I guess I don't know as much as I thought about this earth of ours. This exhibit was a fitting and beautiful end to our day at the ROM.
Two other highlights were the Italian meals we had, yes, lunch and dinner, and the train ride home again. Our feet were worn out but not our voices. We talked contentedly all the way home.

Canmore Collection

Partway along the trail beside Lake Louise I took this shot as we walked towards the cut in the distance. Still the lake was glassy. Later as we returned kayaks cut into the water with very slight ripples which spread across the lake.


Here Ron posed for me before the more visible glacier which we were nearing. Taking a bad picture would be pretty difficult here.


After our lunch in the restaurant at Chateau Lake Louise where we were seated by a window looking out over the lovely lake, we made our way a few miles up to Moraine Lake. A kind passerby took our picture in front of this grizzly (I think!) and I made copies for our two grandchildren. Of course we know this is a statue but the wee ones will be wondering, I'm sure.

Moraine Lake was worth the drive even though the sun had disappeared for our visit. These mountains have so many secrets to give up that I think we could travel forever and not see everything.

I knew about Japanese internments in British Columbia during the second world war but this monument told of Alberta's camps for suspect peoples. This one was along the secondary route, not the Trans Canada, the 1A, I think. We made the stop and remembered a not so wonderful part of our Canadian history.

Back on the Trans Canada highway I made Ron stop so I could get a good picture of the crossings which have been built for wildlife to get over the highway. I had read about these before so knew what we were seeing. There are many in different stages of development along the route to Banff and beyond. Such a good idea. Notice the vegetation planted all over the trail. I would have loved to see moose, bear, mountain goats, sheep or anything using the crossover but was not so lucky.

As we drove the Trans Canada we needed our movie camera as there was never a moment when stunning sights and beautiful mountain vistas were not before our eyes. I love this country!


Horseback riding is big in the Rockies and even in Banff you can rent horses and go on a trek along the Bow River.

Elk saunter nonchalantly over the green spaces along the Bow but also on the actual golf course and wherever they want, it seems. Of the many pictures I took, this one captures the idyllic life of a Bow River elk.

I think I'll get that picture blown up and framed.

Banff Blowout

My last two weeks have been nothing short of fabulous. My husband and I were in Banff, Alberta for four days, Canmore for three days and then home before heading to Leamington, Ontario for two more days. And it was all good. Then this morning, I walked from our home in the northernmost part of this city all the way to the Quality Hotel on the south near the 401. It took me one hour and fifteen minutes. All of that time was energizing so that I'm now pumped enough to carry on for the rest of the day. To start with here are some pictures from Alberta:

Monday morning we got up to a few inches of snow on the ground at the Banff Centre and a lot more on the surrounding mountains. The building to the left held my husband's conference sessions.

This is the reception area of the building where we stayed. I loved the trees all around, the mountains keeping watch, and the lovely baskets whose flowers were valiantly hanging on even through the overnight snow.

A parking lot with cars is not so special but these yellows are the look of fall in the Rockies. Later in the week we saw many more all through the mountains.

And here I couldn't help but think about juxtaposing this view with the sign 'Inspiring Creativity'.

Come Thursday morning the conference was over and we packed up to head for Lake Louise. I mean, you can't go to Banff without going to Lake Louise and although we had been there a few times before we welcomed the chance to see the lake at the end of September. She did not disappoint. Blue-green glass topped with wisps of cloud met us. I couldn't resist this shot of a Japanese tourist searching her bag for something--probably a camera.


We hiked off to the right of this picture on our quest for the glacier in the distance which feeds this pristine jewel.

New Credit Pow Wow

Sunday afternoon we went with friends to the 24th annual Mississaugas of the New Credit Pow Wow. After a few tense moments in the rain when we wondered why we had come as there was little shelter, I began to relax and look around me. We were standing just under the edge of a big tent and everyone seemed to be looking at us. Were we the only non-native peoples there? Maybe we weren't welcome. Then I realized that the tall, lean man in front of me with the long grey hair was speaking into a microphone. His was the voice leading the proceedings. Of course everyone was looking at him.


We stood for an hour or more watching the dancers and the drummers. I heard a sameness in the drumming and the chanting after a while--as the song was ending the drums became loud--the men and boys were really pounding--and then suddenly all would cease except the leader who drummed a few more notes and abruptly stopped. I wish I had known what it all meant but I really enjoyed seeing these people put their hearts into their performances. One little girl sat on her father's lap as he drummed and at the loud ending part she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. So cute.

Another little girl found her fun in the rain puddles left in the grass. Her mother just let her play and soon the wee one's dress was completely wet.





Circled around the main performance tent were many booths with traditional and not so traditional wares for sale. I bought a wee native doll in a beaded deerskin dress for my own wee granddaughter.


A number of the dancers had feathers on their heads but also this lovely array down their backs. In the centre of one of them I saw a wolf and thought it probably signified the wolf clan but I don't know.

The natives wore a wide mixture of costumes, some completely native dress and others with bits and pieces over their normal wear.

Here is one of the groups drumming on a central drum while some of their women seemed to stand behind and keep time. Notice the huge feather headdress hung up behind.

The central young man here was very impressive. He was totally engaged in the performance, his costume making me think of his forefathers a few hundred years ago.

Here is the same young man after the drumming. He and this woman were posing for a photographer. I loved the contrast between his outfit and hers.

More costumes inside the tent as people danced around the circle, keeping their heritage alive.

This face-painted fellow was engaging but I found it hard to get a good picture of him.

Finally the dancing stopped and I zoomed in.


Visiting this powwow was a revelation for my husband and me. We picked up their literature on the way out and read it last night. The Mississaugas of the New Credit have land claims all around Ontario, notably in the city of Toronto. Their literature suggests those who signed the treaties for them did not understand they were giving away the land as that was a concept alien to them. To the natives land is just there and no one really owns it; hence, you can't sell it or give it away. An interesting viewpoint and I sympathize but don't know what could fairly be done now. Anyhow, the Mississaugas were very welcoming and we enjoyed visiting their powwow to learn more about them.