Farmer's Market

A wonderful farmer's market on the #4 highway to Port Stanley.

Frog & Toad

Frog & Toad together in a hat, from K.

Augest 28, 2008

Tonight at the ballpark

Tonight was one of those perfect late summer nights at the ballpark when the beauty had to come from somewhere else other than the scorecard.









This fan sign made me smile. We could use some coolness in our rumoured election. Maybe I'll just write in "Curtis." That's change I could certainly believe in.

Lavender

When I planted three lavender plants a few years ago, I imagined a night like tonight when the scent of lavender would fill the late summer air. Mmmmmm.... I picked a few sprigs tonight remembering how useful they were last February.

Carpe Summer

The muggy heat broke and today S and I had lovely crisp weather for our afternoon constitutional. Seeing the pony sculpture that I love reminded me of a day months ago. Being reminded of that day in turn reminded me to marvel in the warmth and sun of a lovely day and a good friend.

400

The London Short Film Showcase on Saturday was a great afternoon of new films, shown at the Rainbow cinema. The Dandy Dwarves have created some amazing stuff, including the brilliant (ly-deranged) Love Hurts.
ps 400 posts! that's pretty amazing.

Back from the underworld!

Today was my first real venture out in the world since Tuesday when I had my four wisdom teeth out. I really wanted to see some water and sunshine and have some food that is neither yogurt, apple sauce nor pudding. So, off to this waterside cafe for some soup. Feeling ghastly every once and a while is a good thing. That said, I'm overjoyed not to be feeling like one of the extras in this film. Hurrah! Hurrah!

Wordle today photo

On his radio show today, D played a John Hiatt song for my dentist: "Somebody hurt my baby, Somebody hurt my girl." Oh, what an excellent choice. I'm going to be taking a few days off to recover but I leave you with a wordle-d version of today photo via the link Alec sent me.

Memory

I don't remember actually taking this photo though the camera obviously does. I know something about the moment must have struck me as important. What I'm left with is the record of an experience that now exists only as potential for other memories and ideas I can overlay it with. A palimpsest of words over emptiness. Is this what memory is? art? age? life? Still, it captures something more than light. Christ I must be getting old.

Books in Biblio Limbo

Each morning I pass this shelf and sort of snicker to myself at the idea of a thick book called "Find it Online" (2000). And yet I also find it pretty revealing that ten years ago publishing, purchasing and reading such a book made a lot of sense to a lot of people.

Smoke Tree

A smoke tree, Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', with amazing seed hair like tumbleweeds.

On the bright side

There wasn't a lot of joy in Mudville today. But it was a nice summer day.




And I got to see my favourite center fielder.

Neighbourhood Park

One of the things that I love about living in an older neighbourhood is that they were developed at a time when parks were seen as vital elements of neighbourhoods. After a walk today, I was motivated by my gratitude for these lovely trees to do a bit of research.
Here's what I found: "First established in 1925. The site was more like a nature reserve than a recreational park, boasting a magnificent stand of mature oak trees. Various other trees were also present and read like the appendix in a forestry manual: soft maple, white ash, walnut, red cedar, spruce, pine, basswood, wild cherry, witch hazel, thorn apple, elm, hickory, silver maple, and wild crab apple. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them were seriously diseased and the Board of Parks Management had to weed out these layers of blighted underbrush. Except for a few healthy, young elms, which were transplanted along City streets, and several uniquely shaped trees, the area was almost totally thinned out. As a result of this stewardship, there are approximately 2,000 oak trees presently growing in the park's vicinity."

Tea Descriptions

They're like little poems:

Silver Tip Earl Grey
A fine Darjeeling first flush
Bergamot & cornflower blossoms result
in a beautifully balanced cup.

Pear Green
Fresh organic green tea.
Pear chunks and Vitamin C.

Water

Line, Colour: DFT

Tonight's show at the DFT was really, really interesting.







I've always loved the space of this usually busy area; I was happy to capture it in silence.

Apples

These apples seemed to suddenly appear overnight.
The recent rains followed by sunshine have created an explosion of green lately.

Ghillies at rest

I've just returned from two amazing days of dancing and wish I could have stayed for two more. Life is grand.

Summer School Dance

T, J and I use cups, waterbottles, granola bars and coffee to plot out the evening dances.

Garden for K

The seeds fallen from this pine tree create a great Japanese garden feel to this spot.

Font

I've driven by this hundreds of times on the way back to the mother country but never noticed the font on this sign.

Before and After

I love this ballpark.

Rain II

There has been some spectacular weather here recently so I hope it reaches you soon.

Rain!

I'm still waiting for a thunderous downpour but am pleased to see rain in any form. Even the smallest bit of rain has perked up my garden considerably. I should add that seconds after taking this photo, I saw what I first thought was a weird looking cat at my feet. Turns out it was a skunk. He or she ambled past me without a care in the world.

Seeds

A rainless storm blew in Thursday and cooled things off. On Friday I went for a walk and detected the slightest hint of fall. I collected these seeds for next year.

Closeup

I have become a grower of ferns

I never thought it would happen to me but I have become a grower of ferns. I might even have a case of Pteridomania. How did this happen?
Our front porch is my favourite part of our house and we spend hours and hours out there in the summer. Last summer I bought three hanging ferns to hang out there and I grew to love them for their shape, colour and the way their leaves unfurl. When winter started rolling in last October, I began what I expect will be an annual event: "Take Your Giant Ferns to Work Day." And then, in the spring, I arranged for the first annual "Take Your Giant Ferns Home From Work Day." Some members of this household refer to both events as "Make Your Husband Carry Your Giant Ferns Across Campus Day."
I've spent a lot of time staring at these lovely plants over the past two summers. Tonight as I listened to them swish in the breeze I wondered why I have two seemingly disparate associations with ferns: dinosaurs and Victorians. Ferns have been found in fossils dating from the Carboniferous era (roughly 359.2 - 299 million years ago) and it has been suggested that ferns made up a significant part of herbivorous dinosaurs' diets. Ferns are also part of the phylum or division Pteridophyta (which, ok, I admit, sort of reminds me of the pterodactyl.) The phylum name is where we get the name Pteridomania - the Victorian Fern Craze. I've just started poking around this topic but I'm intrigued. In my short research, I've also discovered the name for something I've always admired but never known what they're called: the Wardian case.

Will in the Library

I think Auden said something like Hamlet was the definitive Shakespeare play of the 19th Century, and Lear was the one for the 20th. Which will be ours for the 21st? Hopefully not Titus. Judging by this decidedly odd but weirdly compelling bust in the library entrance, I'd say Comedy of Errors.

Doing my dishes, still looking for rain...