Raptor hunting in Ian Millar's Field!

Birds are migrating. I spotted a purple finch pair.

Frog pond has a skiff of ice on top.

Cold days in Lanark County still. Overnight, the frog pond refroze. The Voices of Spring have been silenced, as they dig deep down into the muddy bottom.

Usually there are deer feeding here,
or wild turkeys.

New birds, purple finch, have been at the feeder.

Today, on my way into my volunteering at PCCC, I saw a BIG bird. At first I thought it was the hawk. Can you see it?

On closer inspection of the photos, I think it is the owl! But maybe not! People with eagle's eyes have thought perhaps the red-tail hawk.

You'll remember we visited the sugar shack on the weekend.

Whilst there, we saw owl's ear tufts, she was sitting high atop her nest. She is very high up in the nest, quite safely methinks.

I stopped the car this day, turned around, and refitted my camera with the zoom lens.

After cropping, I realized there were some duds, but you can see that it isn't a hawk, osprey or falcon. It has a very thick neck!

These fields belong to Ian Millar, international horseman, famous for Big Ben.

What an amazing bird!
Tough to follow it, very fast creature.

Camera Critters Meme

We visited my in-laws on Monday!

Off we went to Chesterville, where hubby lived with his mom and grandparents, on the family farm. He was born in Ottawa, but his father's death left he and his mom without support. His mom worked in the Post Office eventually. His grandfather sold the farm and they moved into town.
South Eastern Ontario, off we went.


And here they are, resting comfortably. Hubby goes about once a season to check the stones. You'll see why below!

His grandparents, with his Dad and Mom's stone  in the background.

His Dad died in a workplace incident in 1951.

Three brothers married three sisters, and all farmed in the area. What is sad, is that his grandmother lost a son in the war, a son (his dad) in the accident, as so often happens in that era.

This is his paternal grandmother.

His maternal great-grandfather and child.
Richard Kelly bought a farm,
lived on Beckwith St. in Chesterville.

Some stones are older than others.

 

He had the stones redone,
as they were hard to read.

Great-grandmother

This is what happens to the limestone pieces,
those that shift in the soil.

Died in the 1800s

This stone has lost the top

and is nearly illegible.

How tippy they are.

This one has gone all the way over.

1886

Typical of older cemeteries

We decided to keep on truckin'!

After lunch with Papa Gus. (I'm not kidding!)

A big Sens fan, he has two restaurants,
with another in Finch.

I was a bit worried, as we were the only customers, and the signage was a bit...well, this was the least offensive, if you know what I mean!

Lots of geese in the fields

Dog's body found in Bracebridge

Shauna's precious dog has been found on the date of his 5th birthday.
He did drown, as she suspected. We can all have a moment to grieve for lost pets. Bless them all!

 This is Shauna's update. I told you I would let you know when I did. At least now she can begin to grieve.

"It is Sarge's 5th birthday today. And this morning his body was found. Sargie's birthday gift to me.
Thank you to all of you who held me up these past few months with your words of empathy, and encouragement, and stories of your own furry children loved and lost.
Thank you to all of you that came up to Bracebridge and comforted me and fed me.
Thank you to those that joined in the physical search in the woods, on the water, at the cottages & towns.
Thank you to those, from their own home, with their children and pets nearby, who made phone calls, and wrote letters, and sent out posters, never giving up hope that he would be found. And he was found, thanks to all of you.
Thank you for checking in with me, to make sure I was alright. Thank you for keeping me company. Thank you for keeping us in your hearts. I love you all very much.
He was found in the water by some boatmen, brought to Cathy's Corner, and is being picked up by Dave, my Mohawk Warrior. He is on his way to Bracebridge to be cremated. He will be picked up, brought back to Toronto, and kept safe until I return in May. Thank you, thank you...I don't know what I would have done without you.

Shauna."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still no word, Jan. 31, 2012
Posting for a friend – Jan 11th, still no word. Our thoughts are with Shauna.

AT 1 PM, Friday, Jan. 6th, SHAUNA BLACK'S ENGLISH BULLDOG, "SARGE", WENT MISSING OFF THE PENINSULA OF CRYSTAL LAKE, NEAR BRACEBRIDGE... 70 lbs, very very friendly, doesn't know area at all, can't swim. No collar, but is microchipped.

Ottawa's Peace Tower Carillon Honours Juno Nominees

It's been many years since I visited the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. I have been downtown in awhile. But here is an old photo of mine from my dear, old camera that did panoramic shots!

Parliament Hill is located in Ottawa, Canada. At the top is a flag, which my daughter raised one day during a co-op work placement for her M.Sc., must have been fun, if tiring to go up 7 flights!

Famous Five: honouring women in parliament

Parliament Hill has some fabulous sights to see, as with any capital city.

Normally, the Peace Tower Carillon automatically plays Westminster Bells, that traditional quarter-hour, on-the-hour song. Our wee mantel clock, inherited from my mom, plays this. (When I remember to wind it!)

Many tourists!
My favourite things to visit are the Famous Five Statues.

This quarter hour bells are built into the system here in Ottawa, but we have a live concert at 12:15, September to June. In July and August (tourist time!) there is a full-hour concert.

You can view the ©photos of the past and present carillonneurs here. The current Dominion Carillonneur is  Dr. Andrea McCrady.

The Flemish got tired of the usual playing of Westminster Bells, and in 1500 they began to produce real music, and hire real musicians!

Our Canadian Peace Tower bells have hammers, you can see Westminster Abbey's pulls below.
You can view a video of Westminster itself here!

Westminster Chime - On the hour 5.00PM

Westminster Chimes - on the hour You can ring this on 6 bells or 8 bells The notes are: (Letters) (on 6 bells) (on 8 bells) FAG c 3 1 2 6 5 3 4 8 ...

In the meantime, what has been fun is that Dr. McCrady has been called up to play some modern tunes. This requires some modification and rewriting to adapt the pieces for the bells. Another bit of advertising for the Canadian Juno Awards, hosted by the infamous Canadian William Shatner. His self-deprecating humour might make this night fly. We'll see!

Fri Sept 16,  MERA fundraiser,
St. Paul's United Church, 
Perth ON

Our Lanark County musician, David Francey's album Late Edition, is nominated for Roots and Traditional Album (solo) of the year. I caught him playing in town last year. I saw him at a MERA fundraiser September, 2011. His faithful fan, and partner, Beth Girder in attendance. I asked her to sign his CD, too!

Carillon ConcertsDate:

March 26, 28 and 30 Time: 12pm – 12 :15pm
Location: Parliament Hill Description: During JUNO Week, selections of JUNO- nominated music will be played on the Peace Tower Carillon by Dominion Carillonneur, Dr. Andrea McCrady.

 Line-up during the noon recitals:

• “Grateful”, by David Francey — Monday, 26 March 
• “C’est un monde”, by Fred Pellerin —Wednesday, 28 March 
• “Sepia Fragments”, by Derek Charke – Friday, 30 March 

Spring is coming, hear the geese!

Gaggle of geese gather on the South Nation River,
near Crysler, Ontario

But we've gone a bit back in time! Back to March temperatures.

I took out the hydro lines. Bad job!

That said, we have skeins and skeins of geese flying overhead.

I know that they cause trouble in cities. They are quite the poop machines!

They are part of the cycle of life.

Large wingspan!

Eddie and Eva

Barge waits for spring

Heaven knows how many little goslings  feed the other creatures!

The Beveridge Locks wait for spring

You can hear them on my video here: ♪♫ We shall gather at the river ♪♫♩♪

Daffodils are raising their wee heads,
but shivering in the cold!

Planted this last fall.
I totally forget what it is!

Wee robins are pulling worms up,
like good little birds!

Sugar bush visit leads to foal

The blue barn is a landmark!

Here is Caitlin, with Isabelle on her back,
and Josephine, last year.

We made our pilgrimage across the road to the sugar bush. On the way we were distracted.
We stopped at the blue barn.

Josephine had a bit of a word with him!

Penny Pig was quite exhausted.
She had a litter last year.
Tressa said they had to get the piglets to her every hour, otherwise Penny could roll over them. Later, they feed longer apart.

Today there were several visitors to her sugar bush. It's hard work being Ms. Greeter beside the blue barn!

But THIS year's news:
The miniature pony had a foal! How delightful!

He was born at the end of February. Soft fuzzy, with delicate little whinny!

Twas a great visit.
Too bad the syrup season was awful this year.

It bounces around the paddock.

Momma and baby!

Have you ever??!!

What a fuzz ball of joy!

One of their machines!

Don't you love REAL syrup!

Visit other worlds!