Saturday Photo: Thinking of Getting a Hypoallergenic Cat...

 Visited a cattery (not at all a cat house) to see if members of the family react to Siberian cats with an eye to getting one.  The good news is that despite cuddling with six Siberian females, all concerned report no allergic symptoms.  Yay!

Saturday Photo: First Morning of Standard Time

 It was "Fall back" time today, so we woke up extra early and made it to the Technoparc before the sun was up.  Frost on everything, birds still asleep, but a lovely sunrise.

Satuday Photo: Some Strange Creatures at the Lachine Rapids

It looks like some folks had a grand time preparing for Halloween at le Parc des Rapides de Lachine.  About a dozen carefully carved pumpkins were dotted around the park the weekend before the holiday, some of them in pretty hard-to-reach places.  Kudos for originality. 

 

Saturday Photo: Thanksgiving Greetings

Heat on, considering getting out winter coat. A chilly Thanksgiving day. Not at all religious but very grateful for all I and my dear ones have. Everyone should be so lucky!

Saturday Photo: The Sun Is Shining in the Trees...

 It's taken awhile this fall for the trees to turn colour.  Another sign of climate change?  Perhaps.

But the sun has begun to shine through the changing leave, giving back some of the light that that the leaves stored  during the warm season.

Oh, you say, it doesn't work that way.  It's just that the trees have stopped making chlorophyl and the underlying pigments in the leaves are now visible.

Maybe, but you can't deny that trees in their marvelous way have taken the energy from light and used it to make all those leaves, once so brilliantly green and now flashing gold and crimson. 

Saturday Photo: When Stars Fell on....

 This is the time of year when the stars are out...in the front yard.  I mean, asters are in bloom everywhere, rivaling the heavenly show.  Quite lovely.

Saturday Photo: Resilience, Or Solid as a Rock?

 Yes, that's a weed growing out of this rock. For some time I've been taking photos of the resilience of life--the way plants find niches to grow in the cracks in pavements, and shoots burst forth from stumps of trees.  This is the first time I've seen a very solid rock where a plant has found a place to spread its roots in the absence of any notable cracks.  And it's got a very nice colony of moss...

This is the way the world goes, one little eroding, infiltrating, invasive bit after another until it's all dust...

Saturday Photo: Sixty Years of Fun

We were good buddies, until he bought the car and asked me out for a real date.  After that, things developed and sixty years ago this coming Thursday, August 29, we got married.  

It's been a lot of fun, from the very beginning.  Word to the wise: choose somebody you really like to be your life partner.

Saturday Photo: Nothing at All..

 Time to take a break.  Dog days, August doldrums, other things to do....

Saturday Photo: Morning Rituals

 

In the morning everyone needs to freshen up a bit.  Glad to see that the ducks are back in our neighborhoood. 

 

Saturday Photo, a little late: A Rose by Any Other Name...

 ...would smell as sweet, so said the Bard.

But what happens when people don't agree on how you spell your name?

On my birth certificate, my name is Mary McGowan, daughter of Donald K. McGowan and Ella Fraser McGowan.  My uncle Paul, though, spelled the family name MacGown, and my grandfather, David, McGowan.  But Dave's father, Lachlan, spelled in McGown in the inscriptions inside book of his that I've inherited.  

Apparently so did one of Lachlan's cousins or uncles, Thomas McGown who settled near Parry Sound and made a fortune--or so it seems--in gold mining.  Coming back from a camping trip on Lake Superior, some friends saw this sign near Parry Sound.  

And these are all literate, even  well-read folks!  Not surprising that sometimes names get messed around-with!

Saturday Photo: The Woman of the Hour

How the world has turned around in the last week! Or at least the prospects for a good outcome to the US presidential race!

I am two weeks to the day older than Joe Biden, and while I respect him and many of the things he has done, I could not see how he could have the energy to lead the nation for the next four years.  So glad he was a mensch and has stepped aside.

So Kamala, you go, girl! We're with you!
 

Saturday Photo: Making a Joyful Noise....

Titled "The McGarrigle Sisters," this sculpture by Glen LeMesurier is one of many in the northern sector of Mile End that combines cast-off materials to make art.

Makes me feel good when I see it.

 

Saturday Photo: June Is Busting out All Over...

It's la Fête nationale in Québec, whose flower is the fleur de lys.  Great timing, as iris have been in bloom for about a week, making a great show this year.

June is a great month for flowers...

Saturday Photo: More Great Lawns...

The grass in our small backyard is getting pretty long, but I'm putting off cutting it until the forget-me-nots have gone to seed.  Then I'll shake the seed over a bare patch in one of the planter boxes and finally cut the grass.

Would much rather have flowers than grass.  So much prettier...
 

Saturday Photo: Canada's Memory...

 Saturday the new Preservation Storage Facility of the Library and Archives Canada was open to the public for the first time.  

There were crowds waiting to get in when the doors opened.  They got a glimpse of what it takes to keep Canada's memories intact...

Saturday Photo:The Best Lawn Is Flowers

 Why plant grass when you can have this instead?

So glad to see that other people are letting nature take its course.

Saturday Photo: Bleeding Heart for Bleeding Hearts

The other name for this in English is Dutchman's britches, or so my grandmother told me.  In French it's sometimes also called the equivalent, coeur saignant, but using its botanical name, dicentra, is pretty nice too.

I love the way it emergences from the ground as soon as the weather warms up, and wihtin a week is knee high and in bloom. 

Saturday Photo: Guerilla Gardening?

 Came upon these daffodils when out walking near the Champs des possibles, a park that is being left to re-wild in the Mile End district, not far from the CN train line. 

The arrondissement planted a lot of bulbs last fall in curb extensions and they're looking great these days.  But here it looks like somebody just dumped some bulbs...or did they?  Usually if you don't bury them  critters like squirrels will eat them.

Whatever, these have survived and are looking splendid when things are only part way to greening up.

Saturday Photo: Ready to Set up Housekeeping

 For several years there have been  Mallard duck couple nesting in the Mount Royal cemetery.  This morning I was glad to see them there again.  They probably aren't the same couple--ducks don't have very long lives, and the American Bird Conservancy says they only stay together a season--but it is good to see that the little stream is still inviting, and that soon there probably will be a clutch of eggs laid.

The male

Saturday Photo: April is the Cruelest Month

 

A few snowflakes this morning, but the ponds at the Technoparc were clear and the geese were cruising. Still, spring seems a long way off,,,

Saturday Photo: Another Kind of Sunshine

We had a total eclipse here this week--quite a show.

And today I have sunshine in the form of sunflowers in my kitchen.  So nice to see these reflections of the Sun inside...

Very cheerful in this world full of far more somber things.

Saturday Photo: The Roman Empire for Today

How often do you think about the Roman Empire?

For a project that has a lot ot do with what we remember, collectively, I'm been doing a lot of lateral thinking and Googling around and found that last year a whole lot of women asked a whole lot of men that question and recorded their answers on Tik Tok. https://youtu.be/FTHL9a3M_q4?si=u-aBVdB9wyHGxC2W

Their answers were amazing (to me, at least): very often, even two or three times a day!

Would love to know how often YOU think about the Roman Empire, FB buddies...

The photo, BTW, was taken at Conímbriga, Portugal, which was one of the farthest west of the Roman outposts on the continent.

Saturday Photo: Let's Celebrate All Holidays....

 

So Quebec and Canada are secular? Why then do we have national holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday? Why not Eid Muburak or Passover? Or none at all?

Saturday Photo: Time and the River Flowing

 The edge of the Ottawa River in March, 2024.  No ice, just reflections.

Saturday Photo: End of Winter, Sad Rink

 Visited some young friends this week.  Their Dad had made a rink in their front yard which only got a little use this winter because it wasn't nearly as cold as it should be.

And this, it appears, is the end of the rink for this year.  A little ice left, true, but you need rain boots instead of skatkes.  The neighborhood squirrels have discovered it, too.  I saw one perched on the edge, leaning over to get a drink one afternoon.

Saturday Photo: Snowdrops--Is This the New Normal?

 This photo was taken in April 2008 when we still had snow on the ground.  The snowdrops this year are already up--March 9!--and the snow cover is long gone.

I'm afraid this is the new normal...  Climate change is upon us.

Saturday Photo: Ice, Open Water and Red-winged Blackbirds

 You can't see them, but we definitely heard them.  Red-winged Blackbirds were buzzing and calling this morning at the Parc des Rapides de Lachine. 

Usually they arrive the third week in March, but obviously they got the word that things will be a little different this year and came north to check out their nesting ground.

Climate change!

Saturday Photo: Blue and Sunny Skies!

 Haven't had many sunny days this winter, but today was one!  Hoorah!

Saturday Photo: Skating at Parc Outremont

It's been a hard winter here  for people who like winter sports.  There has been some snow but the temperature has gone up and down and the outdoor ice rinks have suffered.   This weekend looks like it will be one where folks can have some fun.
 

Saturday Photo: Waiting for the End of Winter

 The snow is melting fast, even though it's not even the middle of February.  But some folks have everything ready for sunny days and barbecues.

Saturday Photo: Lanewalker in the City

 Lots of alleys in Montreal don't get plowed, and so during the winter they take on the appearance of country lanes.  Good for walking, good for thinking that you're far away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Saturday Photo: Seeing Double in the Winter

This photo was taken several years ago, but it seems appropriate today.  You have to look at it twice or on two levels anyway.  In the reflection of outside in the window you see the snow of a Montreal winter, but inside there are flowers and plants braving the season.

Good to have double vision on these days when it is cold, but the world is growing hotter...
 

Saturday Photo: Sunrise, Waning Moon, Winter...

Took this out the front window on one of the few days lately when the skies are clear.

Nice to see the moon  for a change, although as you can see it's waning.  Full moon January 25: hope there will be clear skies so we can enjoy the spectacle.

Saturday Photo: First Morning of the Year

 Cold morning of January 1 when the water was warmer than the air.  Happy New Year all, a little late.