Open Air Market/ CDP Theme Day

An open air farm stand in East Gwillimbury

Many EG residents like to support local farmers. This is part of a stand set up on the side of the road.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Lake Simcoe/ Watery Wednesday

The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.

~ Pamela Hansford Johnson

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

 

Parry Sound Lookout/ MyWorld

Observation tower atop Tower Hill, Parry Sound, Ontario

Parry Sound - approximately 2 hours north of Toronto - is situated on Georgian Bay, a huge arm of Lake Huron, one of the 5 Great Lakes.  In fact, Georgian Bay is nearly as large as Lake Ontario, another of the 5 Great Lakes.

The sound from which the town Parry Sound takes its name

This photo was taken from about halfway up the 96-foot tall tower. There are many, many islands out there - some say 30,000.

Canadian Pacific Railway runs  over and through the middle of town

As I climbed the steps to the top of the tower, I could hear the train but could not see it...until I reached the summit...and this was all I saw! Too late!

Rectangles I had to poke my camera through to take photos

Hmmm. I might have gotten a better shot of the train if I hadn't had to quickly adjust my camera to fit the lens through the openings.

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

Red Dragonfly/ Macro Monday

Acrobat or ballerina?

Neither, actually. It's a male white-faced meadowhawk.


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

Japanese Anemone/ Today's Flowers

Japanese anemone (Anemone hupehensis)

Late-blooming perennials, Japanese anemones are bright and colourful in my gardens right now.

Backside of Japanese anemone

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

Cruising the Locks/ SOOC

Gamebridge Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway

These two cruisers are slowly entering the lock before the gate closes and the lock fills with water to take them up to the higher level of water on the other side of the lock.

I liked that both of these boats had red roofs.

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

Turkey Vulture/ Camera Critters

Lake Scugog/ Weekend Reflections

Sunset over Lake Scugog, Ontario

Whoever owns this boat and chair missed a beautiful sunset!

To enjoy reflections from around the world, click HERE! 

Cook's Bay/ Sky Watch

A quiet moment, Keswick, Ontario at sunset

Everybody should have his personal sounds to listen for - sounds that will make him exhilerated and alive or quiet and calm.
~ Andre Kostelanetz

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

By the Tracks 2/ Nature Notes

A swampy area near the railway tracks in Zephyr, Ontario

This is the same railway line as last week but several kilometres north in a swampy area. The largest square is of turtlehead (Chelone glabra). I grow a pink version in my gardens and was delighted to find this small stand of white ones in the wild!  Moving clockwise: purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), wild aster (I have no idea which variety - there are so many!), red clover (Trifolium pratense) and Queen Anne's lace  (Daucus carota) going to seed.

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

Lake Rosseau/ Watery Wednesday

Home built on outcropping on edge of Lake Rosseau

There are many beautiful homes and boathouses on Lake Rosseau, which give new meaning to the other side of the tracks  lake.

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

 

Chippewa III/ My World

M.V. Chippewa III, Parry Sound, Ontario

From 1955 to 1990, Chippewa III was known as The Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls, Canada. 
Four years later renamed Chippewa III, she cruised through the Welland Canal to Lake Erie and then northward to Parry Sound on Georgian Bay ( Lake Huron). Wow! She has sailed on three of the five Great Lakes!

Dinner bell? Probably not

Today, tourists can board Chippewa III to view me of the 30,00 islands in Georgian Bay. Depending on which cruise tourists choose, the fee may include dinner.  To find out more, click HERE

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

Spiderwort/ Macro Monday

Macro view of spiderwort (Tradescantia viginiana) blossom

It's one of the longest blooming flowers in my garden. If I cut it back after it flowers, it will bloom again.


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

Wild Cucumber/ Today's Flowers

Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) aka wild balsam apple

Blooming now over most of southern Ontario, rapid-growing wild cucumber vines grow along fence lines, at the edge of woods and in lowland areas.  The fruit looks sort of like a prickly cucumber. (It's not edible, though! At least I don't believe it is.)

The green spikes to the right of the the wild cucumber  -  ahh-choo! -  are ragweed flowers (Yep those are flowers). Ragweed's pollen when blown in the wind causes hay fever.

Wild cucumber climbs up then cascades down this tree trunk

The vine grows to 5 metres (17 feet) long, covering everything in it's path

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

Nearing Sunset/ SOOC

Looking easterly as the sun sets in the west

I'm fond of the golden light as the sun sets and here it shines beautifully on the fields and clouds.


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

Monarch on Buddleia/ Camera Critters

Sipping delicious nectar

Now that my buddleias are in full bloom, I can count on seeing a few butterflies on sunny days. especially monarchs.  This year I am seeing many more monarchs than last year.


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

Water Like Glass/ Weekend Reflections

Fisher on Cook's Bay, Keswick, Ontario

I'm not sure if the fish were biting, but this hopeful fisher was waiting patiently fairly close to shore.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, click HERE! 

Sundown/ Sky Watch

End of day over farmers' fields

Some evenings when their are a few clouds in the western sky, my husband and I jump into the car and head for a high spot to watch the sun go down. Yep, sunset chasers. The evening I took this photo, we guessed right and now you get to see what we saw, a cloud that looks like a giant hand catching the sun as it drops.

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

By the Tracks/ Nature Notes

Seen near the railroad tracks in Mount Albert (East Gwillimbury)

One of my favourite places to look for photogenic bugs, butterflies and wildflowers is alongside railroad tracks. But it seems like many wildflowers here have finished flowering early this year due to the heat we've had. (Is this my imagination playing tricks on me?) A few are hanging on. Here are a few, starting with the rectangle and then moving clockwise: mixed wildflowers (Queen Anne's lace, goldenrod, purple loosestrife and cattails), goldenrod (Solidago - but I have no clue as to which one), chicory (Chichorium intybus), spotted knotweed (Centaurea maculosa) and widow skimmer dragonfly.

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

Idle/ Watery Wednesday

A beautiful Friday morning

It seemed lonely for this sailboat but in a few more hours, weekend would arrive.  Activity! Motor boats and other water craft, swimmers. picnickers...

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

 

CP Rail Mural/ My World

Steaming out of the past: engine 2466

This mural is on the side of a building facing a parking lot in Parry Sound, Ontario. The mural depicts the importance of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) during the early half of the twentieth century when trains were pulled by steam locomotives fired with coal. Here you can see the coal car right behind the engine.

Passenger car following the coal car

CPR and the Canadian National Railway are still very important for moving cargo across Canada and into the United States, But of course they are now powered with diesel fuel.

 

Today's CPR looks like this: engine 8643

You can see the routes CPR takes today by clicking HERE.  Parry Sound - the mural's location -  is approximately between the r and o in Toronto on the map.

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

American Lady/ Macro Monday

American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) butterfly

This lovely American lady has been coming to my butterfly bushes every day. Finally she stayed still long enough for me to capture with my lens.


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

Water Lilies/ Today's Flowers

Waterlily (Nymphaea tuberosa)

This time of year, shallow ponds and quiet waters across Ontario are dotted with waterlilies. So far I have seen no frogs on the pads, though! (Do they REALLY sit on pads?)

Here are four seen from a little further away.

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

Ducks on Dock/ SOOC

Property for sale, but the ducks are free

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