Signs of Fall

Despite the warmest weather we’ve had this summer, there are many signs of fall approaching.

Some maple leaves are well on their way to changing colour, and some sumacs are showing promise of the bright colours to come.

The fall wildflowers are out in full bloom including Marsh Milkweed and Goldenrod.     

                          

The backyard is busy as usual.  The turkeys have finished their moulting, leaving feathers anywhere, but this has not prevented them from continuing to enjoy hearty dust wallows or nice snoozes in the back yard.

What the poor hen doesn’t realize is the danger lurking behind her in the guise of a red squirrel.  The turkeys don’t like squirrels because the squirrels move too fast, and often you will see a turkey leap straight up into the air when a rodent goes by too quickly.  Our big Tom, Lincoln, has learned that there are good things like peanuts near the patio, but unfortunately there are also rodents nearby.

The chipmunk is too impatient to wait for things to fall on the ground, so he comes up our laps to the patio table to see where the next booty is coming from.  (This was a special picture for Austin.)

In the meantime, work in the form of a logsplitter arrived to help us deal with the piles of wood to be cut and stacked.

Clogging classes are almost ready to be resumed, but in the meantime we are giving some demonstrations at fall fairs.  We were in beautiful downtown Elmvale on Friday, dancing up a storm on a VERY small stage.

We played hooky from stacking wood this morning, and took advantage of the cooler weather to go cycling on a quiet road near us.  This is on the very of Canadian Shield Country, with all the beautiful rock outcroppings.

There are lots of little wetland patches and we came upon a huge pool of waterlilies blooming. 

Now it is back to woodstacking...........

Brian's Kayaking Trip August 8-10

Brian has just come back from a 3-day overnight kayaking trip to One Tree Island in Georgian Bay.  This is an annual ritual because the Perseids meteorite shower peaks at about this time, and with no light around the viewing is excellent.  One Tree Island is in the midst of Canadian Shield country and the rocks are really impressive.

One Tree Island is named because there is only one tree.

The scenery is beautiful from the shore.

Brian knew this was the right place because as he was approaching the island he was greeted by a landing party of two loons.

Placing the tent can be a little challenging, because there are no real soft spots.

Brian checks for a lot of beasts because he has woken up to things like snakes cuddling up under the tent for warmth.  He forgot one thing this time.  There were frogs in the pools.  Eternal night-calling frogs.  Loud ones.

Much of Brian’s kayaking is very solitary, but this time he was joined by a friend.  It may have well been a young one, because it was extremely curious, and at times laid down to better supervise Brian making dinner.  He could practically touch it.

The sky was a little too hazy to see much more than a couple of meteorites, but it was still a good trip.

A Glimpse at some of Brian's Family

We had occasion to attend a wedding reception for Brian’s niece near the end of July and got some nice pictures of much of Brian’s family.

Gini and Ted Purnell (Brian’s sister and brother-in-law) were the parents of the bride, Heather.  I got a nice picture of Gini and Mary, Brian's mother, who at 95 still lives on her own and is fiercely independent.

Ted Purnell always does the unexpected, and he appeared in fine style.

Heather and Brent Anderson were the feature couple.  Heather got her master’s degree in social work out at the University of Alberta, and is moving to Guelph to work.

Ashley, Heather’s sister, was present with her husband, Matt, who is in residency while he finishes training to become a GP.  Ashley has two doctorates (!).  Their two children are ferociously intelligent, as might be expected.

Brian’s brother, Dave, flew in from Regina along with one of his two daughters, Brigid. (The older daughter, Bronwen,  is also extremely attractive.)

Only Brian’s sister, Barb and her family, were missing, but we do get to see them at other times.  With such a far-flung family, (and now three great-grandchildren for Mary), it is much more challenging to see everyone together, which made this such a treat to see as many as we could.

As you can gather from the background of the pictures, the event was held outside.  Ted and Gini had organized everything wonderfully, and the bride had chosen hamburgers and hot dogs as the main menu.  The one thing we were most impressed with was their cooler.

Everyone had a lot of fun.