Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures are best.

~ Alan Bradley

Chickadees: everyone laughs at so small a bundle of large enthusiasm.

~ Aldo Leopold

This sweet little feathered friend landed on the base bar of the patio table. She looked so sweet just sitting there, posing for me. Really, she was eyeing the birdseed that was scattered on the deck.

I have trouble with seafood because it tastes like a dock.

~ Douglas Coupland

Would you believe that I've never cooked mussels before? My son has though, and he decided to cook up a huge pot of them for us, one night. They were delicious. And a lot easier to prepare than I thought they would be. I've since cooked them again. Yum!

Blood may be thicker than water, but it's certainly not as thick as ketchup. Nor does it go as well with French fries. ~ Jarod Kintz

This is representative of a much less healthy meal but it's also a must-do out in cottage country, in the summer. A chip wagon situated about ten minutes from our place serves up some very tasty fries. They stay open on weekends until Thanksgiving (the second Monday in October) and then they'll disappear until next summer.

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.

~ Theodore Roethke

These beauties appeared in both the front and back yards, this summer. Some of them actually grew up between the boards of the deck. Despite being top-heavy, they held on until our first frost, when we reached a temperature of -4 C (25F) overnight.

A man of wisdom delights in water.

~ Confucius

My sons were here together on the Labour Day weekend. Alex was only able to stay for one night but it was wonderful to spend time with both boys. My next door neighbour is rarely up at their cottage. In the spring, she told me that I was welcome to borrow her kayak anytime - to just come get it from where it's stored under her deck. I never did use it on my own but each of my sons thought they might try it out. First Jeffrey took a spin around the island, across the bay.

Never tell someone that a kayak is so stable you can stand on your head in it. They will insist that you prove this!!! ~ Dave Lindo
 Then he passed the paddle over to Alex who took the same route - a fifteen or twenty minute tour.

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.

~ Walt Disney

Just across the bay, through that channel and around a corner or two, you'll find the best boathouse ever built. Who would imagine that a wonderful pirate ship was lurking in these waters?

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

~ Helen Keller

Late in August, I spent a few hours visiting my cousin who was renting a cottage with her adult kids and grandkids for a week, less than two hours from my place. These are her daughter's dogs who fetched every tossed stick together like this. Such teamwork.

Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.

~ Paulo Coelho

We also attended a wedding in August - Frank's niece. Our drinks for the duration of this celebratory event were to be enjoyed in a wine glass of our choosing. Here is only part of the selection from which we chose our glasses.

It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.

~ Lewis Grizzard

What better way to enjoy the fruits of summer than with homegrown tomatoes. They were sweet and wonderful.

That's it for this collection of simple pleasures. There's be more photos coming up soon. It's only a matter of time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canucks.

Dancing in an Autumn Sun

I see

the turning of a leaf

dancing in an autumn sun,

and brilliant shades of crimson

glowing when a day is done.

~ Hazelmarie Elliott

Okay, own up - who asked for autumn?

Whomever it was, I don't blame you entirely. Don't get me wrong - I love summer best of all. I don't mind the heat and I can't quite get enough of the long hours of sunshine. The bugs were a challenge though. This was a new revelation for me - a city girl most of my life. Who knew that when people said that the black flies would drive you nuts up north, they really meant it? Well maybe not full-out nuts but the maddening sting-itch they cause can make you a little bit crazy. And then on came the mosquitos. And deer flies. And staple flies. And so on. Still, despite the lumps and bumps and blotchy red spots, summer came and went all too quickly. It's not what I would have chosen for my favourite season but nobody asked me anyway.

So autumn is here whether it was invited or not. The changing of leaves has come early but has been beautiful. We've already peaked and are now in swift decline. But while colours were still at their best, I made sure to give the camera a good workout. I hope you enjoy autumn in my world.

Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies. ~ Sharon Kay Penman

Our view wasn't quite this brilliant all of the time, but it was on overcast days when the sun peeked through tiny breaks in the clouds.

The mountain trees that grew between the pines were a brilliant blaze of fall colors, like fire against the emerald green of the pines, firs and spruces. And it was, as I'd told myself long ago, the year's last passionate love affair before it grew old and died from the frosty bite of winter. ~ V.C. Andrews

That kind of light and shadow could be quite dramatic at times.

Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.

~ William Cullen Bryant

Sitting on the dock, this is the view of the bay to the right. That rock face is Blueberry Island off to the left.

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

~ L.M. Montgomery

Here, have a closer look at the bay.

Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.

~ Jim Bishop

That's our dock over on the right - abandoned for a few hours of fishing. Those lovely colours in the hills are what we see each morning through our kitchen window.

I was drinking in the surroundings: air so crisp you could snap it with your fingers and greens in every lush shade imaginable offset by autumnal flashes of red and yellow. ~ Wendy Delsol

This is a house just down the road from us. They live on a very large property on a peninsula.

Just before the death of flowers, And before they are buried in snow, There comes a festival season When nature is all aglow.

~ Author Unknown

A little further down the road, these cottages were doing good business in the summer. Frank figures they'll continue to rent to hunters through the fall.

Autumn flings her fiery cloak over the sumac, beech and oak.

~ Susan Lendroth

It's difficult to tire of a view like this - even for a summer lover.

I am struck by the simplicity of light in the atmosphere in the autumn, as if the earth absorbed none, and out of this profusion of dazzling light came the autumnal tints. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Beautiful Blueberry Island in the late-day, autumn sunshine.

Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.

~ Faith Baldwin

There are a lot of interesting characters in our neck of the woods - not the least of which are pirates. Or at least some very creative people who built this wonderful boathouse to mimic a pirate ship.

Methinks I see the sunset light flooding the river valley, the western hills stretching to the horizon, overhung with trees gorgeous and glowing with the tints of autumn -- a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.

~ John Greenleaf Whittier

It was a sunny but misty and deliciously warm day when my friend Carol Anne came up for a visit. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and take a bit of a hike around Eagle's Nest which overlooks the nearby town of Bancroft, Ontario. This is the view of the town from the lookout. That's the York river winding its way through the lovely town below - a town which slowly but surely is becoming mine.

October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in the aftermaths. ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

It's a pretty nice place to spend your time shopping, dining occasionally, or just wandering about. And I get a kick out of seeing the hills and rock faces (underneath our feet from this vantage point) whenever I go into town. That's the York River, once again and the obligatory Canadian small town Tim Horton's (one of two!) with the cars parked behind it to its left.

It was October again... a glorious October, all red and gold, with mellow mornings when the valleys were filled with delicate mists as if the spirit of autumn had poured them in for the sun to drain - amethyst, pearl, silver, rose, and smoke-blue. The dews were so heavy that the fields glistened like cloth of silver and there were such heaps of rustling leaves in the hollows of many-stemmed woods to run crisply through. ~ L.M. Montgomery

This was taken a few days earlier from a stop at the lookout. It was a clearer day and we were at bit of a lower altitude.

So, as you can probably tell, I'm not too upset that somebody ordered up autumn. But please, just don't put out any requests for winter just yet.

I have more photos from the days prior to autumn so you'll probably see some of those coming up soon. I just had to share this season with you while while it is still ongoing.

In the Presence of Oddity

This is a scheduled post. Photos were taken over the past couple of months. I'm busy packing up a trailer and planning my move in a few days. I'll meet you over at the new place soon! 

I feel comfortable in the presence of oddity. Probably because I'm a little bit odd.

~ Martha Plimpton

This post is all about oddities - things that are out of place or our of their proper timeline.


My sister lives in Port Dover, Ontario and although it's pretty southern as far as the province goes, it's still significantly northern as far as palm trees go. And yet here's one of several which beautifies the beach view every year. We have very cold and snowy winters so they can't grow there naturally. This restaurant, Callahan's Beach House has borrowed and planted them every May and then dug them up again in late autumn so that they can continue their lives in greenhouses. In recent years, they have simply left them growing on the beach until icy weather does them in. Then they plant new ones the following spring.  Just imagine walking through the snow and seeing palm trees.





The Ridgetown is a 1905 Chicago-built freighter with an interesting history. She serves as a breakwater off the shore of Port Credit in Lake Ontario. You can read about how she got there, here.






I apologize for the extremely poor quality of this and the next image. It was taken through the windshield, while my son was driving, with nothing zoomier than a portrait lens. I thought my eyes deceived me and I'm still not sure how or why this "flying machine" was soaring across the highway, high in the sky.






This is the best I could do by enlarging and cropping. It still has me scratching my head.







This pirate ship is docked pretty close to our new place, on the opposite shore. If you look closely, you'll see that it's actually a boathouse and probably a bunkie or playhouse for the kids.







In fact, there's a little cutie peeking out from beside one of the pirates. The folks who designed and built this have no shortage of creativity.







This boot was climbing a ladder outside my office window, just beyond my computer monitor. Was I worried? Nah. It belonged to one of the roofers who was laying new shingles, in the hopes of making my house ready for sale. It's not every day you see a man on a ladder outside your window, so how could I not snap a quick shot?


 





Last but not least, we have this little out of place cutie. My neighbour, Caroline and I were walking along the park path when we saw some teenaged girls mildly distressed by something following them. We looked down to see this very young squirrel who was quite determined to chase after someone. I remembered the orphaned raccoon kits, Sugar and Spike, under my deck, and how they sought out human help when they were cold and hungry. We stopped, and the squirrel immediately turned its attention to us, first climbing Caroline's leg and then mine.

I picked it up and held it in the palm of one hand and rubbed her back and belly with the other. It was cold and desperate for food. She tried sucking the end of my finger. Another neighbour of ours, Nicky (who orchestrated the raccoon rescue along with her daughter, Sarah), would know how to care for her. When we got to Nicky's place, she readied a small carrier for her and headed off to the pet store to get her some squirrel specific formula. She estimated her age to be about five weeks.

Although Nicky wasn't entirely certain of the diagnosis, she believes this little thing was ill with squirrel pox - which developed over the next few days. She is a member of the Grey squirrel family (despite her black fur, she's still an Eastern Grey) and therefore has built up something of an immunity to the disease. She will likely survive it. But she will also always be a carrier and can never be released since it is quite deadly for our red squirrel population. I should learn more the next time I see Nicky and I'll be sure to fill you in.*


Despite her illness, this little cutie is very affectionate, energetic and bright. Thankfully she's in good hands. The hands in the picture belong to Caroline's husband Lloyd.

*And now, I do know more. We learned that what this sweetie had was a nasty but now-cured abscess and nothing more sinister than that. She's healthy, energetic, growing and full of mischief. She's also extremely affectionate according to Nicky. We went to visit her semi-recently and she was understandably a bit wary of us but in fine shape - she jumped up toward the ceiling to watch us.  



See for yourself.

More photos coming up soon.