November 1, 2010

November 2, 2010

November 3, 2010

Here are some morning photos of the lake taken from our deck on the first 3 days of November. It's pretty clear from the mist that's visible that the warmth of the lake is leaving and that winter is around the corner.

This is the front door to Legion Branch 245 in Merrickville where bartender "Limerick" Len will entertain you long after you have run out of groans.

This is the stairway to the 2nd floor of a fabulous little mustard shop in Merrickville. Actually it's way more than a mustard shop, more of an anything goes eating/kitchen shop complete with a sampling kitchen.

Between Ottawa and Deep River there are lots of fields with milk weed bursting at the seams. In some cases the fields look like they are covered with a layer of snow from all the "hatched" seed pods.

These folks in Smiths Falls really got into the Halloween thing early. I'm thinking they need an extra shed or garage to store everything for the rest of the 11 1/2 months of the year. Happy Halloween!

With winter and the cold weather coming, I'm not sure if this "cabin" will be getting too much use until spring.

I don't know why, but I prefer this type of bike more than the bike from yesterday's post.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s when I lived in Germany I saw a lot of BSA , Norton and Triumph motorcycles. This bike in Merrickville was the 1st Triumph I've seen since then.

I'm not sure what variety of apples are on this tree. They seem to be either a yellow type, or they are overly ripe.

No hunting, fishing, trapping or trespassing allowed here - a small corner lot (approx. 75 feet x 75 feet) in Merrickville, ON, where there is an absence of water, trees and animals except the occasional dog on a leash that strays off the sidewalk. What the heck has the owner been smoking?

We were in Eastern Ontario for the weekend. We stayed on Bass Lake at Rideau Ferry on Friday night, and I took some photos of a nearby cornfield on Sat. morning.

These "musicians" are a far cry different from the 8,000 or so French and British soldiers that battled on the same spot, the Plains of Abraham, Quebec, in the 1700s.

This photo was taken from the Plains of Abraham, the spot where the history of Canada changed in the mid 1700s, looking east towards the Chateau Frontenac in old Quebec City.

This statue sits atop a tall "pole" in old Quebec City. There are a lot of art works of Samuel de Champlain there, but I don't think this one of them. I can't remember who it is. And it sits up so high it's hard to see definition from the ground.

Cruise ships in port in Quebec City - who'd have thought? I wasn't aware that Quebec City was a cruise ship destination, but it certainly is. There are up to 6 cruise ships a week docking there. And just like in more likely cruise ship destinations, the passengers disembark and flood the local area invading the restaurants, gift shops and local historical sites. It's a huge boost for the local economy, but it sure raises the "stakes" when trying to get a restaurant for a meal or getting around the old city.

I'm not sure of the name of this building in old Quebec City, but I do know 2 things, I think - it sure looks like the building is giving all who view it over the skyline "the finger," and, apparently, Jean Charest, the Quebec provincial premier, has an office on the top floor - nice view!

Yesterday was a great fall day, and in advance of planning to take the boat out of the water, we went for a boat ride. We had a great aerial display by this bald eagle at the far end of the lake. It was circling, looking for fish when we sailed under it. What an amazing and huge bird!

This is looking east to the western edge of the old city of Quebec from the edge of the Citadel, the largest old fort in North America. Our hotel is just to the right of this photo, one block in.

The Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City isn't as old as most of the other buildings in the old city. It was constructed sometime around the late 1800s early 1900s. It does, though, dominate the old city skyline, and it's a visual treat.

Here's another panorama composite photo (this is 5 photos) of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City taken at the Plains of Abraham, where it all went down hill for the French.

OK, I know it's long and thin/skinny, but I was playing with panorama settings on Photoshop Elements and had it "panormacize" 6 photos together. If you click on the photo you may get a better picture.

Here's a side street photo from QC showing some of the many old structures. There are very few places in Canada with such old buildings, let alone as many as there are here. In "Ontario the good" we seem to value history less and demolish the old for new.

While we were in Quebec City we had perfect fall weather. Here's a view over the city towards the northeast and the fall colours of the leaves on the Laurentian Mountains.

These valises belong to an artist, one of the many who sells his work to the tourists in Old Quebec City on a narrow pedestrian road that has quite a slope, as do many streets in the district, and is not far from the "hub" near the Chateau Frontenac.

Happy 10/10/10, turkey day and Thanksgiving 2010!
Today is shaping up to be a beauty day - great weather (sunny and +16C), lots of fall colours, possibly another boat ride, possibly a bush hike, some burn barrelling, a few cool beverages with friends and family and turkey supper for 15 with our family and friends - pretty hard to get any better than that!!

Here are some of the old structures in Old Quebec City. The colour red is very popular there.

It's pretty hard to not find subjects to photograph as you walk around the old City of Quebec. However, it's not often you see old wooden structures as most buildings are made of stone.

This stone in the center of the east arch on the inside of the Hotel Frontenac in Quebec City was "carved for the priory of the Knights of Malta - 1647." Now I'm not sure if it was carved in 1647 or if that's the date associated with the Knights of Malta. In any event, if it was carved in 1647, that was 250 years or so before the Hotel Frontenac was constructed. If it was carved then, where did it spend its first 250 years?

We were in Quebec City on the weekend and had a blast! We stayed in the old city and walked everywhere and ate well. The weather cooperated as the huge rains the city had been having left on our arrival. We even saw the 60,000+ Nordiques fans on the Plains of Abraham on Saturday. Go Nords!!

Some awesome October weather in store. Well, awesome may be a tad over the top, but at least there will be less rain and normal temperatures and sunny days.

Things go better with ... Coke, but not at Erma's anymore as this little corner store, a fixture at Fisher and Worthington Streets for decades is closing up. Apparently Erma is "getting on" and is tired of selling loto and scratch tickets.

Mooses's Sports Bar on Main Street - a good place to watch a game, have a Harp and get some wings.

Get a load of this boat house on Trout Lake, not the Muskokas. This is just the boat house. The people house is behind it to the right behind the trees. It does look like a great place to spend the summer and party, though.

Years ago the Cochrane Building on Main Street was home to various different business including Cochrane-Dunlop hardware and paints. Currently, and for some time now, it houses Lefebvre's Outdoor store on Main Street and Vested Interests on the other side of the building on McIntyre Street.

Just down the lake from us is this 60's styled cottage, complete with original pink coloured siding. The "stone" railing in front is made of cement blocks laid sideways on top of each other, and it is now crumbling after decades of exposure wear.

At the end of our road, Viceroy Road, is a cottage that is used a few times each summer. These chairs "wait" year round for the owners' visits.

As seen here from an evening boat trip photo this week before the monsoons settled in, the fall colours are rapidly setting in.

In the "old days" there used to be a lot of signs and advertising painted high up on the brick walls of buildings - very effective, visible and inexpensive. It seems now that "flashier" methods are more important to use instead, so these signs are fading away.

Yesterday evening, the first of autumn 2010, offered a sunset at the same time that the full moon, the Harvest Moon, rose at the opposite end of the sky. Naturally I went out in the Fortuitous to get some photos of both. It was pretty neat considering the sky was clear after all the crappy weather we've been having and will continue to have from today forward for the next few days. Fortuitous ... hmmm ....

Northern Ontario ferns in the morning autumn sunshine.

Here's a view down the lake from our little boat cruise on Sunday afternoon.

Here is a group of photos of our place after the new lower deck has been constructed, and after I took down the 30 foot red pine tree that was right in the middle of the yard between the house and the lake. It really opens up the area for a much improved view. Hint - the red arrows point to the house and the missing tree.

Here's the view from our deck this morning - quite cool, misty as the heat leaves the lake, but clearing up to be a nice day.

We finished screwing down the deck last night around 7pm, and then immediately had a celebratory couple of "pops" and a hot tub to soothe the aces in our backs and knees. The next items "on deck" are the stairs down the the hot tub, further bracing of the deck and railings.