Saturday Photo: The Great Huntress

 Evi on the hunt for a bee! Luckily for it and for her, she didn't catch it.

 Note the harness.  She's an inside cat who has learned to love her harness because it means she can go outside.  

Saturday Photo: The Last Bridge?

 Pleased to announce that Dundurn Press will be publishing my novel The Last Bridge in May 2027. For those who'd like to know more, check out my short story "Ketamine" which Queen's Quarterly published in their Summer 2025 number.  https://www.queensu.ca/quarterly/

Saturday Photo: Smoking Toilets?

 A young friend went running to his mother one morning this week, shouting "Come quick, the toilet is smoking!"

 What she saw:

  

Saturday Photo: Sunflowers on a Sunny Day

 Nothing but hot weather and sunshine around here for the last little bit.  So far the native plants are doing all right, but we need rain!

Saturday Photo: The Bee's Knees in Monique's Gardem

Hot and dry, and the flowers, if they've been watered regularly, are blooming.  This pleases the bees, seen here enjoying my friend Monique's lovely garden. 
 

Saturday Photo: A Little Action....

 

 
I see I haven't posted for a while.  Been busy with a number of things, including getting this cat to behave!  Actually she's a sweetheart and has been relatively easy to convince that she should follow the house rules.  True, she's awake when the sun rises, but then so am I usually.  And she always purrs when she comes to sit on my chest and inquire about what the day will be like.

One of the reasons we got a cat was to try to avoid furture invasions by mice. I think this video suggests that she should be more than a match for a mouse who might try to insinuate its way into our menage. 
 
 

Saturday Photo: Another Heartbeat in the House

Evlampia Siberian Glory joined our household Saturday July 5.  A sweet, three month old Siberian kitten who supposed to be hypoallergenic.  So far so good.
 

Saturday Photo: Up, Up and Away... Flying Buttresses

 This is l'église St-Pierre in Chartres, but down the hill from the cathedral.  The church was built in the 12th century, even before the cathedral.  I find it amazing that such a massive structure depends on the buttresses for equilibrium.  Truly a combination of the static and the dynamic. 

Saturday Photo: More Roses...

 Enjoying the flowers while we can.  I understand that picking roses and trashing the ones that have blasted on the bush will encourage more blooms.

 

We shall see... 

Saturday Photo: A Rose by Any Other Name...

 Was delighted the other morning to see that we have roses!  Hadn't even noticed the buds, but after a long stretch of cool, rainy weather, a warm day seemed to be the trigger for blossoms.  Suddenly there were lots of buds and several flowers ready to burst out.

 Spring is always full of surprises, many of which smell wonderfully sweet, as these roses do.  

Saturday Photo: Finding Room in Paris...

Space is at a premium in the Haussmannian buildings which give the city such charm.  The owners of this one got around the absence of space for an elevator by putting it in the middle of the spiral staircase.  Room enough for two persons or one person and a suitcase, but it gets you up to the fifth floor which we found most useful during our recent stay. 

 

 

Saturday Photo: Flowers on the Bridge over the Eure at Chartres

The pacquettes were in bloom when we were in France a couple of weeks ago, even on the bridges.  This one is in the lower town in Chartres. where the famous cathedral is.  Certainly there is a lot to see there in addition to that church.

Saturday Photo: Le Jardin des plantes etc.

We were in Paris for nearly two weeks.  Lovely weather for the most part and many enjoyable experiences.  Glad to visit le Jardin des plantes again, which was the reason I first went to Paris 25 years ago.
 

Saturday Photo: First Daffodil...

 Well, spring had better come soon.  A few snowflakes this morning.  But I saw bees yesterday afternoon.  We'll get there yet!

Saturday Photo: 125 Years and Counting....

 

Was in Westmount Library (Quebec) last week and saw this wonderful Lego version of the library which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Lovely place, serving readers and inspiring people for a very long time.

https://westlibcat.org/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=home/

Saturday Photo: The Kind of Thing Libraries Need More of, Not Less

At a time when libraries, archives, and, yes, even National Parks are under pressure in the US to "forget" important parts of the past that should be remembered, I was pleased to attend the launch of Fred Anderson's memoir Eyes Have Seen: From Mississippi to Montreal.  A story that should be told, and heeded. 
 

Saturday Photo: Duck Pond?

 

Went for a walk in the Mount Royal Cemetery this morning.  Signs of spring included robins singing, racoons courting, and earthworms wiggling around on the pavement.  And there was this big puddle where two pairs of mallard ducks were checking out the amenities.  

There's a stream that runs through the cemetery and most years at least one pair of mallards raises a few ducklings.  But it is down hill a bit, and this where meltwater (later on, rain water) pools no matter how hard the groundskeepers try to clean out the drains.  Looks as if this couple of couples thought they might have found another place to nest. 

Saturday Photo: The Rink at the End of Winter

Looks pretty sad, doesn't it ?

But that's what happens when the ice finally melts.  Spring (maybe) is on its way.
 

Saturday Photo: Listen, the Redwing Blackbirds Are Back

No photo because my hands were too cold to get the phone out for a picture. But trust me, there were some red wing blackbirds scouts at the Lachine Rapids this morning, calling and calling. The males arrive first in the spring (usually the last week or so in March) and stake out claims for good nesting sites. Hope these guys don't freeze to death: they looked really cold.

Saturday Photo: First Sun, Or Stonehenge in Outremont

 The sun in its progression around the  heavens shines in our back bedroom window just about the first of March every year.  It was right on schedule this year, a true sign of spring.  But as you can see out the window, there's still a lot of snow around!

Saturday Photo: The Meeting of the Planets...

I didn't take the photo and it shows only Venus, but these evenings there has been a wondrous display of planets in the sky.  The other night--when it wasn't snowing for once--I saw Venus, Jupiter and Mars as the sun was setting.   Quite amazing, and this despite the city's lights.

 

Saturday Photo: On the Right Path

So 11 days after the operation, I'm walking quite well with a walker, and even made it to the corner outside since the sidewalks have finally been cleared. 

Spent a couple of hours in the kitchen doing whatnot, and now I think I'll take a nap....
 

Saturday Photo: Not a Place to Break a Leg

 It was cold Saturday morning at the Parc des Rapides de Lachine, and the going was treacherous. Last time we'd been there in the winter, the paths had been cleared but either they aren't doing that this year, or the recent winds had blown snow into ferocious piles. 

I made it this far, leaning on my walking stick, but decided this was far enough. Going to have my right hip replaced on Tuesday after all. Would have been terrible to break a leg before hand.

Saturday Photo: Down the Rapids toward a New Book...

 Okay, the next step is taken!  Friday morning I sent off the completed (but unedited) manuscript of my next book Thanks to the Memories: How Remembering Will Get Us through the Next 75 Years. Dundurn Press will publish this book about individual and collective memory a year from now. In the meantime here's one of the images that I'm suggesting for the finished product for reasons that will become clear as the book's production progresses.

Saturday Photo: Ducks and Oil Sands This Wednesday

A heads up: the Atwater Library book group will be talking about Kate Beaton's graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5. It will be a Zoom meeting, so register with Jason Grant-- jason@atwaterlibrary.ca --to get the link, which will be sent out shortly before the meeting.

The book, which won a slew of prizes after it came out in 2022, is more relevant than ever.

 

Saturday Photo: Sun Trying to get There....

 Cloudy weather, a little snow, not much sunshine...That's the way the year is starting here.  Could be worse, could be smokey. .. 

Saturday Photo: The Kings Are Coming...It's Not Over Yet

Our holiday table still is set for friends to join us.  In January you can't get enough good times....