On my way to the Ottawa Valley region on Saturday, I stopped at Deux Rivieres, one of my fave stops to view the Ottawa River. I was quite taken aback at the low water level of the river.

The northward migrating ducks weren't taken aback. They seemed to relish splashing around in the muck.

There are two of these bridges connecting 2 small islands in the river.

However, for some unknown reason the access across the bridge is now a "no go." It was open last fall.

Even though the Ottawa River water level is low, the streams flowing into the river are dumping the normal spring volume of water.

Yikes!! Look at what we woke up to this morning! And we're expecting more snow before midnight when "normalcy" returns. Tomorrow should be +8C and sunny, so most of this "illusion" should disappear.

The moon was pretty spectacular last night as it rose over the lake as seen through the trees.

They may not be blooming in your gardens yet, but these spring flowers are everywhere on the streets of Toronto.

Hope "spring"s eternal at this time of year. There is still 2 feet of ice on the lake, so the Fortuitous isn't going too far yet, just hoping ...

Our Saturday afternoon "stroll" around downtown Toronto offered many photo ops. Here the gang mug it up in the alley, site of many Rick Mercer Rants, south of Queen Street.

This is the "back end" of the Flatiron building on Front Street in Toronto: a bit different than the triangular point of its other side.

You tell me - did it work?

Continuing with the theme of Toronto reflections, here is the clock tower of the old city hall reflecting off an adjoining glass building.

After a trip to Toronto it's time to distill the photographs taken. As usual there are a number of reflections to look at. Anyone recognize the buildings here?

Just got back from a "boys" weekend in Toronto. Here's an important shot from the cellar bar at the Flatiron Building.

So that's how they see at night. Looks like a way better idea than headlights. These guys were posing at the side of the road as we were chauffeured home by the Ice Marshal after a great night with the Sadies.

Duchesney Creek isn't quite spilling out its spring amount of water, but it's nice to see the water spewing forth among the melting ice.

A nice spring day view down the lake, but I can honestly say I prefer this view sans ice - only about 3 weeks to wait. Last year on April 3 it was +28C, the snow was gone, the lake was completely ice free and we put in the first 2 sections of the dock - sigh ...

How can you tell it's spring in the north? Everyone tosses snow on to dry dark surfaces to hasten the melting process. Even Sunny gets into the act as she tears up the large pieces.

Here's a scene you don't often see behind a Tim Hortons - a "Beware of Bears" sign. Only in Northern Ontario I s'pose.

The ice is expanding due to the heat of the sun, so it starts to fold along the shoreline. Soon there will be open water along the shore, then it won't be long before it all melts away.

Soon there be smelts.

Last year at this time there was no snow left and the ice was virtually gone from all the lakes. Not so this year, as the ice is just starting to recede from the little creeks and streams, with the lakes a long way (3 weeks at least) from being ice free. This is Four Mile Creek as seen from the last bridge before it empties into Four Mile Bay of Trout Lake.

Perhaps the sign should have included "No Hunting' as well. A bit surprising, also, since this is located within city limits with a couple of houses within 100-200 meters.

Here's the back of the truck after the Toronto dash last week. Very definitely time for rain or a wash.

OK, here we go with another in the series "what have we got here?" Any guesses?

Spring - Hopefully we will now get days above 0C so that scenes like this will be set aside until next winter.

Granite slabs, from Italy no less, for kitchen counter tops. Eeny, meeny, miney ...

... moe.

A visit to the Bass Pro Shop in Vaughn off Highway 400 is a must visit. The huge aquarium contains many large and huge fish native to the waters of Ontario. Visible here are a few Gar, each about 3 feet long.

This is a UC inspired post. What the heck is "Immediate customer parking while on premises?"

Sunny, the wonder dog, is an able co-pilot and navigator, but all bets are off is she spots another 4 legged critter.

The plan was to play a bit of shiny on the lake on the last afternoon of winter. The previous day's ice conditions were perfect; however, the day of "play" had some sun which warmed the ice surface so that skating was not possible. We were undeterred, and we played some shiny in our boots on the lake. Then we "burned" the afternoon away as seen in yesterday's post.

So what did you do during the last few hours of winter? We burned the last few hours away.

Havana, Cuba

We are planning a spring trip to Cuba to visit more of the island - Santiago, Bay of Pigs, Trinidad.

Here's a little fixer-upper from London at the bottom of Waterloo Street near the Thames River. I'm sure it could be had for a song.

This is the view from the deck about 15 minutes ago on the first day since last fall of 12 hours of daylight. The lake ice is starting to deteriorate after 2 days of melting and heavy rain yesterday.

This is a little creek just north of the village of Burrit's Rapids on the Rideau River between Merrickville and Kemptville. With the recent warm temperatures and rain, it should be flowing furiously right now.

That's it. Keep right on melting!

There's a lot of this going on - melting of ice under the direct sun, then re-freezing overnight. The whole melting process can't happen soon enough for me.

With the "expected" warmer temperatures this week, hopefully this type of scene in the bush behind our place will be a bit different soon.

St. James Anglican Church, Kemptville, ON

The spire on this church is similar to the spires of the Catholic churches in the small towns of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. Not too surprising as the Anglican Church is sort of the Protestant equivalent of the Catholic Church.

Here's another Heritage building in Kemptville still in use. Too bad there aren't many stone masons around anymore to build buildings like this now.

Old brick and stone building in "lovely" Kemptville, ON.

Hopefully the weather starts "turning" soon, and spring starts to "invade."

Here is the gang from this year's "lovely" Kemptville Lahr Reunion Team & Hooters Extravaganza! Yeehaw!!

All eyes in the hockey world will be on "lovely" Kemptville this weekend as the Lahr Junior Canadians Reunion Team & Hooters bring their show to town. Look out Hooterville!!

The beach area at Portage Park remains ready for the summer, even though it's still a long ways away until bathers need to concern themselves with swimmers' itch.

Getta load of the moss and fungi on this tree, and all on the north side of the tree.

The Killer Strawberries Hockey and Gentlemen's Club last night in the semi-finals - 365 years of on ice hockey experience, you'd think we'd know better.