Jack’s Walk

This is sumac and it grows wild just about everywhere in this part of the world. It fills the ditches lining our highways and roads and it’s a nuisance plant in gardens. It’s very hardy and once it gets growing it’s hard to stop. We had one park itself right next to the foundation of our house a few years ago and we just can’t get rid of it. Every year we cut it down only to find it sprouting again in a few weeks. We tried to dig it out once, but the roots were too plentiful and too deep and the next year it popped up again. I poured bleach on it one year and watched it die back and then watched it grow back the following year. As I said, very hardy. Despite my dislike for the sumac living at my house, I do think it’s a pretty plant and enjoy seeing them when driving. In the fall the leaves turn beautiful bright colours, mostly red, but with touches of yellow and orange. It’s one of the first plants to get its autumn colour on and it’s a sure sign that the big trees will be changing colour soon.

Monday Mercurial: Making a Splash

This little fellow at the Barcelona Zoo was obviously torn between wanting a swim and actually doing it.

Open to see the photo story.

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Harakka Island- Chapter 4

We’re on to chapter 4 of Ice Swimmer’s series, Harakka, an Island and today we’re heading toward the water. I’m always drawn to big, open water and these photos show off the sea beautifully. I’ll let Ice Swimmer fill you in on the details.

Chapter 4 – West

The western shore of Harakka is visible from Uunisaari and one conversation with Nightjar in the comments of a posting with a picture of Harakka from Uunisaari sparked the idea to go and explore the island.

There is a path from near the northwestern corner of the Artists’ Building to the other side of the earthworks behind the building. The path leads to cliffs on the western shore of Harakka. When looking southwest from the path one can see some islands, but also open sea.

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Bumblebee Party

Avalus has sent some pictures from early this year of bumblebees having a party in lavender.

I do not remember ever seeing so many bumblebees at once! I need moar lavender probably.

©avalus, click for full size!

Shiny

In early summer we shovelled about 1.200 kg of pebbles into the gap between the front yard and the house.

One of the secrets is to wash them and make them wet or you’ll suffocate, and also, wet pebbles are just too pretty. I proudly announce that I did not put any of them into my mouth.

More below the fold

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Harakka Island – Chapter 3

It’s time for the next chapter of Ice Swimmer’s series, Harraka – An island. Thanks again, Ice Swimmer. I’ll let you take it from here

Chapter 3 – Former FDF Building

The building is from 1928 and it used to belong to Finnish Defence Forces and nowadays it is used by artists who can hire studio space for five years at a time there. This is the main entrance.

There is a big birch next to the building.

A ring fixed into bedrock next to the building. As for the picture, Caine was definitely an influence for me in this kind of photography.

We’re going around the building. This is the northwestern back corner.

There was a lot of fireweed in bloom on the island. Now we’re in the backyard of the Artists’ Building, looking at earthworks built when Harakka was partially fortified.

The little tractor is probably used for hauling various things.

7. Chemistry Equipment, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights re

The building was used by the FDF as a chemical laboratory. For that reason, while there were plenty of wild raspberries, strawberries and other berries growing on the island, tasting them didn’t feel too attractive. The building is actually the third site for the FDF Chemical Laboratory. At first, the laboratory was in downtown Helsinki, in the same building that housed the University of Helsinki Chemistry Department and after that in one of the garrisons in Helsinki before it was moved to the island.

The ratio of shoes / webbed feet is fairly small.

At the southwestern corner of the building, there used to be a birch.

Now we have seen the building used by military chemists and subsequently artists and some of its surroundings. Next, we’ll go a back, a bit south in the backyard of the building.

(link to previous post, Harakka an Island: Chapter 2)

Jack’s Walk

This photo was taken in a place called Terracotta Natural Park and it’s right in the heart of Pointe Claire. It’s a huge park (almost 100 acres) with lots of connecting and well maintained trails. It’s one of Jack’s favorite places to go, but unlike our woods at home I won’t allow my boy off-leash here because of the threat of coyotes. We’ve never seen one ourselves, but there are signs posted at every entrance to the park advising extreme caution and noting that they’ve been spotted in the area. My husband grew up near the park and we’ve been taking our dogs to it for about 15 years and this is the first time we’ve seen such warnings. That probably means there’s an established population of coyotes. And why not? The park is exactly like their natural environment and it’s filled with their natural prey plus it has the added bonus of human leavings. As their environments shrink or die all animals, including large predators, will move ever closer to populated areas just trying to eke out a life and avoid extinction. I think they have as much right to the land as we do. Maybe more. At least they’re not destroying the planet.

Friday Feathers

A young blackbird in my front yard, which completely didn’t care about me “intruding” in its territory.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I are having a better day today. It’s still humid, but the temp plummeted overnight and today it’s a reasonable 22 º. We actually went for a real walk around the neighbourhood this morning and just down the street we found a front garden full of milkweed. When I was young I used to love pulling the pods apart and playing with the silk and it was awfully tempting to pluck one today. Instead, I took this photo, but the desire is strong and I cannot guarantee that I won’t pick one later.

Jack’s Walk

Well, it’s a scorcher of a day here. 31 degrees with a humidex of 40 degrees. Ordinarily I could laugh it off, but we’re staying with my mother-in-law who doesn’t have air-conditioning and it’s just not as funny when there’s no relief. Poor Jack is suffering the most. Thankfully, he’s still in his light summer coat, but he’s disinterested in everything except sitting in front of the fan. That’s pretty much my attitude to life, too. My fibromyalgia flares up in high humidity and it feels like I’m walking through a dishwasher in double gravity boots. As a result, our walk today was strictly business related and once Jack’s business was done we trudged back home to sit in front of our fan.

Harraka Island – Chapter 2

Today we’re back with Ice Swimmer for the next chapter in his series Harakka, an Island. Thanks, Ice Swimmer. I’ll let you take it from here…

Chapter 2 – Uphill

In picture 1 we’re looking south. The low wooden building is the brackish water aquarium building. We’re going to go uphill, to our right.

A barnacle goose family is blocking our way. They’ve got little ones so the parents may get aggressive.

A closer look at the geese.

After a bit of an undocumented detour, the goose family is elsewhere so we can try going up the hill. It seems there’s a dead tree at the end of the road.

Indeed, a dead tree, a lamp post and a windmill/wind turbine. And there are a few gulls.

Going up the hill and looking at the gravel, one begins to wonder: “To whom does this island belong?”

The gulls are observing their surroundings and we can see a vaguely neoclassical building.

(link to previous post, Harakka an Island: Introduction)

Wednesday Wings

Another one from Barcelona. Parakeets are neozoons in many parts of Europe, including the Mediterranean, though interestingly, their number their is relatively low (3000 in Spain, 800 in Portugal) when compared to colder countries like the UK (35.000) and Germany (10.000). The Barcelona population makes one wonder about the accuracy of that count.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I have arrived safely in Pointe Claire and we’ll be staying here for a week or two before heading home. The weather here is really humid and hot so we decided to head out early and what better place to go for a walk than beside the scenic St. Lawrence River. The road that runs beside the river is called Lakeshore Drive and it’s a very exclusive address. The homes along it are all large, beautiful and most definitely out of my price range. That’s alright. Looking is free and dreaming is fun and at the end of the day I’ll still be content with my own little house.

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Chapter 4 – West

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Chapter 3 – Former FDF Building

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Chapter 2 – Uphill

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