New Fire Station

 Building the new Mount Albert (East Gwillimbury) Fire Station

December 1st is City Daily Photo Theme Day and the theme this month is People in Their Workplace.

Some of you may remember that last February one of East Gwillimbury's fire stations burned to the ground. I told you about it HERE.  Since then, the village of Mount Albert's fire engines (and whatever else firefighters need) have been temporarily housed in another corner of the village.

Screwing the plywood in place

A couple of months ago work began on the new fire station in the same place as the original one:  a foundation, cement block walls,  a roof....  Last Friday crews were facing the outside cement-block walls with plywood.

 Sign just outside the work area

I am linking to City Daily Photo Theme Days  HERE

Sunset on Greenhouses

 Sun shining on greenhouse frames

Looks like something is on fire but it's just the last rays of the sun reflecting off the metal frames of plastic covered greenhouses, most of the plastic having blown off in the wind.

Another view

In front of the greenhouses you can see the shelves plants are moved around on.

Setting sun shining through another greenhouse

I am linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot.

Tree Sparrow

 American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)

I have been trying to learn how to identify the various sparrows commonly seen in central and southern Ontario, and this is one of the easiest because the top side of its bill is black and the bottom is yellow.  Tree sparrows spend the warm months way, wa-a-ay up north but a few winter here in south-central Ontario.

Thinking about flying down for some seed on the ground

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

Ghosts of September Past

Reflection in a dirty window of tourists looking into another window down the street

Or perhaps these are really ghosts?  Is she a ghost reaching for the doorknob? What do you think?

FYI: From my archives - no one is walking around in short sleeves right now, not even ghosts!

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Turkey standing on fence

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American visitors!!

Yep, wild turkeys CAN fly. In fact they roost in trees at night.  This turkey flew to the top of this fence to get a better view...and perhaps find some bird seed left for chickadees and blue jays.

$67.31!!!

The above label translates to approximately $2.50 per pound. My sister-in-law in New York State bought her turkey for $.42 a pound...but I doubt it was a Butterball.  Did you purchase a turkey and, if so, how much did you pay per pound?

  

But wait! For the next few weeks we in Canada can earn $1 towards our Christmas turkey for every $30 we spend at our local grocery store. To save for that $68 turkey all I have to spend is $2,040 or an average of $508 a week!  Is that a deal or what?!!

Pass me a Drumstick, please.

I am linking to Good Fences HERE.

B/Alphabe-Thursday

Yellow brick house

B is for BRICK

Brick is a common construction material in south-central Ontario. Although many of the older farmhouses here were made of yellow brick (the colour of the clay found in our area)...

 Red brick house

 some of the older homes are red.

 Romanian Orthodox church, Oshawa, Ontario

Bricks are also made of concrete. The church's brick may be coloured concrete, which is much harder than clay.

Red clay brick, an old seminary in Rochester, New York

South of the border (the Canadian border, that is), nineteenth-century builders must have found clay plentiful too.

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Turkey Closeups

 Wild Turkey's head

Last Saturday I posted three photos of wild turkeys HERE. They were hard to take photos of because they bobbed their heads up and down as they scurried about. But the turkey shown here actually stood still for a few seconds.

Closeup of Wild Turkey feathers

As you can see, turkey feathers are quite colourful in bright sunshine.
I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Old Farm Tractor

Sitting in the sunshine

I'm not sure if this is old enough to be an antique or not, but it looks old to me. Old farm machinery is commonly used as "lawn ornaments" in rural areas.

Processed with a bit of sepia

I think it looks a tad older in sepia, don't you?

In celebration of the old and wonderful "stuff", I  am connecting to Rubbish Tuesday HERE.
More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Snow Has Melted

 Rose leaves this morning

Yep, we got snow last week but NOTHING like Buffalo got. It did look and feel like winter, though. Today the temperature feels quite nice because it's above freezing and this morning there was no wind.  YAY!  Sadly, there's no sunshine either.

 Seeds of Japanese anemones

I looked for white this morning and discovered  a patch of fluffy Japanese anemone seeds and...

Grass and Annabelle hydrangea in background

small pockets of snow. It's almost gone!!

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Wild Turkeys

 Wild turkey

Thanksgiving (in the United States) will be celebrated on next Thursday.

 We're outa here!

Too hungry to run

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

Tugboat

Port Whitby

Last week this tugboat was still ready for service. It has gotten a lot colder since then so I'm not sure of it's current status.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Late October Remembered

..

Just a few weeks ago

This photo was taken when the maples were colourful, the grass was green, the weeds were drying and there was no snow.

A different view of the same fence

I am linking to Good Fences HERE.

A/Alphabe-Thursday

 September's Autumn

A is for AUTUMN and here's a sampling of what my lens captured in September, October  and November - the different colours of Autumn (when the sun shines) in Ontario.

 October's Autumn

November's Autumn

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

This gregarious egret was not hanging out with other egrets or with cattle. It's best friends (the day I took this photo) were Canada geese.  Cattle egrets are smaller than other egrets, so except for it's bright white colour this one fit in with the geese pretty well.

Out & About

Uncommon here, the cattle egret was seen on a golf course near one of my favourite conservation areas so we popped in to see it. The egret was allowed out on the golf course and people with cameras were not, so I've cropped these photos a LOT.

Capturing a worm

The golf course was a smorgasbord of delightful egret treats even in November. The photo is a tad out-of-focus, but I wanted you to see it pulling out a snack.

 Prancing like a star

It seemed to sense it was the only cattle egret in town, but on Monday I read in an email that another egret was seen on the golf course...so now there are two.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Old Buggy

 Fancy-schmancy buggy lawn ornament

The yellow wheels surprised me but I'm sure it would distinguish the owner's buggy from all the others parked along the street or in a parking lot.

In sepia

We've come a long way since the "good ol' days." Way back when, no one was driving 130 kilometres per hour down a dirt road (the speed many cars today travel on Ontario's 400-series highways).
In celebration of the old and wonderful "stuff", I  am connecting to Rubbish Tuesday HERE.
More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Mid November - REALLY?

 Snow on bench, 'Diablo' Ninebark behind

Can it really be mid November? Already?? The weather has been a little of this and a little of that.  Snow flurries...

 Raindrops on roses, whiskers on...

and rain and sleet.

 Kitten grey squirrel

Yep, the squirrel has whiskers!

Sunshine is a photo op this time of year!

Yes, and we saw sunshine for a while...but I hope you didn't blink and miss it!

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Scavenger Hunt

 1. In a row

This week I am again playing Ashley Fisk's scavenger hunt and here are the prompts:  In a row, salty, sweet, sitting and just because.

This shot was taken where a river empties into Georgian Bay, a popular place this time of year.

 2. Salty (??)

Nope! No salt added here.

 3. Sweet (?)

YES!

 4. Sitting

This fisher looked a tad LOT weird to me.  It was a cold blustery day!!

5. Just Because

It's almost winter and time to put the boat away, me thinks.

I am linking to Ashley Sisk's Scavenger Hunt HERE

Red-Tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Last Wednesday I was lucky to see this handsome red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree right above my head!  Isn't he handsome?  I took several photos before he'd had enough of me and flew away,

If you want to feel really old today, I have a bonus for YouTube video for you to watch about how today's kids react to "old" film cameras:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDtWxURLlPk

Take a deep breath and be prepared to smile or laugh!

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

Quiet Harbour

 Lonely rowboat

The piers at Port Whitby are looking empty. Most of the boats have been put to bed for the winter and this rowboat was pretty much alone waiting for its owner to take it out into the harbour.

 Gate to Pier 2

The gate was locked!But the harbour was not empty as...

Red-breasted Merganser

a few red-breasted mergansers were enjoying the quiet.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE