Blue/ Theme Thursday

Sailboat entering the harbour at Beaverton, Ontario

The Theme Thursday challenge this week is BLUE.  I hope no one is feeling blue on this holiday weekend.  In Canada, we are celebrating Canada Day (July 1) and in the U.S,. the Fourth of July.


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

To find out more about Theme Thursday, click HERE.

Beaver River/ Nature Notes

On the banks of Beaver River, Cannington, Ontario

A walk on a sunny day last week was made even nicer when my camera spotted this turtle sunning himself beside the Beaver River.  He/ she wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to me!

Nearby, these plants were growing: forget-me-nots (Myosotis scorpioides), tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), swamp milkweed (Asclepias  incarnata) and bullhead lily (Nuphar variegatum).

For more Nature Notes,  please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods by clicking  HERE.

Looking behind / Watery Wednesday

A curious mallard turns his head to check what's behind him

Can you turn your head and stretch like that? Makes me wonder how many bones he has in his neck.

   You can find more photos celebrating Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com

 

Lock 20/ My World

Tour boat out of Peterborough, Ontario

The tour boat is returning home, entering Lock 20  at Ashburnham on the Trent-Severn Waterway.  It's early evening and the tourists have just been to the highest lift lock in the world, which is less than a kilometre north of this lock. The water in the canal on this side of the lock is approximately 3.7 metres (12 feet) higher than the water in Little Lake just ahead.  So the boat must enter the lock to be lowered. Then the gates close behind it.

Water drains from the lock, lowering the boat

In the left-hand corner you can see the very back of the tour boat. The back gates to the lock have closed and some water has already been drained from the lock.

Nearly 3.7 metres (12 feet) of water inside the lock has now drained out of the lock

The boat will soon sail into Little Lake.

 

 Opening the gates in front of the boat

As this Government of Canada employee pushes this lever as he walks around, the lock gates in front of the boat slowly open...

Little Lake

and the tour boat motors on.

Visit My World Tuesday  HERE to see tons of photos from around the world.

Forget-me-nots/ Macro Monday

Wild forget-me-nots alongside a creek

These are garden -escape artists that now grow freely in damp places in central Ontario.

A longer view

  To see more macro shots visit Lisa's Chaos at http://lisaschaos.com

Harebells/ Today's Flowers

Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) in Ontario's "cottage country"

The bluebells of Scotland are called harebells here. They were bobbing in the wind when I first spotted them by the side of the road, but they stopped momentarily for my lens to capture them.

If you love flowers -- and who doesn't - check out Today's Flowers at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Fancy Free/ SOOC

A carefree day in the country

Mother and child out enjoying some yummy grass.

  To see more photos Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) visit Jan at http://www.murrieta365.com

Highland Lassie/ Camera Critters

Highland cow among the grasses and buttercups

This highland lassie comes from hardy stock, perfect for surviving Ontario winters.  Notice her lovely shaggy coat.



  To join in the Camera Critter fun, visit Misty Dawn's site at http://camera-critters.blogspot.com

Canal Lake/ Weekend Reflections

Canal Lake, City of Kawatha Lakes, Ontario

This was a quiet day on the Trent-Severn Waterway with he light just right for creating c;et reflections.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, click HERE! 

Girls' Evening Out/ Sky Watch

Girl talk at sunset

Yep, their parents know where they are because I heard one talking to mom or dad on her cell phone.

  To see tons of gorgeous skies from around the world, visit the Sky Watch Website and click on the tumbnail photos: http://skyley.blogspot.com
 

Museum Swamp/ Nature Notes

Living in or just outside the cattails at the Uxbridge-Scott Museum, Uxbridge, Ontario

Uxbridge - the town just east of East Gwillimbury - was settled at the turn of the 18th century by Quakers. One way Uxbridge celebrates its heritage is to house many artifacts in its museum, a collection of historical buildings. To the south of the buildings is a small wetlands that's very popular with red-winged blackbirds. Noisy blackbirds. Bossy blackbirds, too, that try to scare all intruders.

But I was brave...very brave. I wandered into the edge of the wetlands and found these, starting with the largest square and moving clockwise:  red-winged blackbird,  very aged cattail,  budding black-eyed Susan, red-osier dogwood (still in flower, even though many berries have already formed and turned white!), greater plantain, and St. John's-wort.


I've included the botanical names as common names often vary from place to place:
cattail - Typha latifolia
black-eyed Susan - Rudbeckia serotina
red osier dogwood - Cornus servicea
greater plantain- Plantago major
St. John's-wort - Hypericum perforatum

For more Nature Notes,  please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods by clicking  HERE.

Something Fishy/ Yard Art

Guarding the driveway to chainsaw sculptor's home

To see more of Mark's sculptures, click on Kreative Kindling.


To view more YARD ART, check out MaryT's blog HERE.

Evening Swim/ Watery Wednesday

Mama and baby ducks heading off into the sunset

It was a warm June evening on Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, when the ducks slipped into the water and headed westerly.


   You can find more photos celebrating Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com

 

The Homesteaders/ My World

Mom

Last week I posted Moose Scraps, a sculpture in the Haliburton Sculpture Forest made of  recycled farm equipment.  Click HERE to see the moose.

Here's a family in the forest, this one created by JakeMol, a water-colour teacher at the Haliburton School of the Arts.

No, NOT your typical Canadian family.  This family is made of recycled materials,  some that might have been found at the nearby farmstead - part of the Highlands Haliburton Museum adjacent to the the sculpture forest.

Pop

Kid

Dog

Visit My World Tuesday  HERE to see tons of photos from around the world.

Clover Closeup/ Macro Monday

Alsike clover

Look closely and you can see that each "blossom" is actually a cluster of many tube-shaped flowers. Some at the bottom of this cluster are already fading while some at the top are opening out.


  To see more macro shots visit Lisa's Chaos at http://lisaschaos.com

Sulphur Cinquefoil/ Today's Flowers

Sulphur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)

This wildflower (or weed, depending on who you're talking to) with five pale-yellow, heart-shaped petals is a relative newcomer to Ontario. It was first officially sighted here in 1897.  Each blossom opens in the morning and sheds its petals  by late afternoon. But hey! The next morning  new blossoms open!

Here in Ontario, sulphur cinquefoil blooms in fields and waste places from June through August. I don't grow these in my gardens. I think they are pretty but also invasive.

If you love flowers -- and who doesn't - check out Today's Flowers at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Lake Shore/ SOOC

A misty day beside Lake Ontario

  To see more photos Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) visit Jan at http://www.murrieta365.com

Something to Crow About/ Camera Critters

Bagel-stealing crow

This clever crow discovered someone's lunch in a local park, ripped it open and took off with a tasty bite.


  To join in the Camera Critter fun, visit Misty Dawn's site at http://camera-critters.blogspot.com

Just Before Sunset/ Weekend Reflections

Looking easterly just before sunset

This shot was taken from the dock beside a public boat ramp on Lake Scugog. I was there to see and take photos of the sunset. These reflections were a bonus!

To enjoy reflections from around the world, click HERE! 

Fishers Coming In/ Sky Watch

Sunday evening after a few hours of fishing on Lake Scugog, Ontario

Sunset, time to return to shore.

  To see tons of gorgeous skies from around the world, visit the Sky Watch Website and click on the tumbnail photos: http://skyley.blogspot.com
 

Vivian Creek Park/ Nature Notes

An afternoon walk in Vivian Creek Park, East Gwillimbury

Vivian Creek Park is just north of Mount Albert, one of the five villages (as well as many square kilometers of countryside) that make up East Gwillimbury.

Starting with the largest square and working clockwise: an ebony jewelwing damselfly, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Canada anemones, meadow buttercup, wild raspberries, alsike clover

I am including the botanical names because the common names vary from place to place but the botanical names stay the same (almost always)
Jack-in-the-pulpit - Arisaema triphyllum
Canada anemone - Anemone canadensis
meadow buttercup - Ranunculus acris
wild raspberries - Rubis idaeus
alsike clover - Trifolium hybridum


For more Nature Notes,  please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods by clicking  HERE.

Bear Bench/ Yard Art

Little people can sit on this  bench and commune with the bears

My husband  and I took a road trip to Peterborough (Ontario) last weekend  and made  several stops along the way, the hubster to take in garage  sales and I  to take photos. Well, one garage sale host, Mark Andrews,  turned out to  be a chainsaw sculptor who graciously allowed me to take  photos of his  work.

I think this bench is wonderful! (The whirlygig on the left is NOT part of the bench, although I admit it sure does look like it.)

To see more of Mark's sculptures, click on Kreative Kindling.


To view more YARD ART, check out MaryT's blog HERE.

Iris Versicolor/ Water Wednesday

Blue flag iris growing on the edge of  Canal Lake, Ontario

Wild iris  (the Province of Quebec's flower) grows in shallow water and bloom here in early June. Here my camera captured a clump at its peak bloom.

A closer view

And for a much closer view of a wild iris click HERE.


   You can find more photos celebrating Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com

 

Moose Scraps/ My World

Composed of vintage farm and other retired hardware

For those who follow my other blog (Another Slice of Life) here's another sculpture in the Haliburton  Sculpture Forest,  next door to the Haliburton School of the Arts, Haliburton, Ontario. I have posted a couple of other sculptures (click HERE and HERE) and still have a few more to share with you later.

Since 2001, the group has amassed a collection of 21 sculptures by Canadian and international artists. The collection is arranged in a maple forest with trails for cyclists and pedestrian.

The forest is operated by a non-profit organization and is free to the public in spring, summer and autumn, although the organization does ask for donations (a box is provided at the entrance to the forest) to help with the forests upkeep.  On Tuesday mornings during July and August, guided tours are an option.

View of moose's side, the one with the best light on an overcast afternoon

The forest is home to various wildlife such as white tail deer, woodchucks, pileated woodpeckers,  red fox AND - one of the wildest of all - "Moose Scraps" by artist Leo Sepa, which he created with found metal objects. Isn't "Moose Scraps" wonderful?

This sculpture is 2.5 metres (8 feet) high. Yes this moose is big...but very friendly. It didn't even snort, let alone bite me.

Visit My World Tuesday  HERE to see tons of photos from around the world.