November 15, 2007

Just a few pix from other days. I haven't had the opportunity to use them yet and so saved them for days like today when I had nothing.

Two days ago, they paved the road in front of the construction site. I guess they have finished hooking up the sewer and water lines and whatever else runs under to road and now they are paving the hole.

For a couple of years now, the condo corporation has been gradually replacing all the windows in all the units. It's a good maintenance thing and the units are more than 20 years old (I think they are closer to 25) so it's money well spent. We got our windows last year and I have noticed a difference in drafts.

Over at the old Nepean city hall, they have drained the reflecting pond in preparation for turning it into a skating rink. They even have a real Zamboni to clean the ice!

November 9, 2007

Preparations for Winter are proceeding apace. Unfortunately, some of them are inconvenient, at least to me.

They have removed the bike rack from the south entrance of the Loblaws. Initially, I thought it was to make room for the outdoor Christmas stuff, but there is still room for a bike rack. I guess it has something to do with snow shovelling. I don't ride my bike in the snow, although some people do. But it hasn't snowed yet!

For now, I will park at the LCBO, as they still have a little rack there.

As far as the geese go, they are still eating grass in the park! I think they had better get going soon or there will be no room in Florida for them.

And the construction site is busier than ever, lots of machinery, big holes, piles of dirt and gravel. It will be interesting to see what work they do after the ground freezes solid and the snow flies.

November 7, 2007

I see that this blog is soon going to have to turn to more writing and fewer pictures.

On the way to work, I noticed that almost all the leaves have fallen from the oak tree in front of the old Nepean city hall. There is a real chill in the air AND a wind chill. But nothing else to blog about. Until Peter sent me a photo that he'd taken in another neighbourhood today.

There are good reasons to be happy that we live in the neighbourhood that we do. We have a nice community here and I have never seen anything like the above photo happen near here.

November 2, 2007

It's a Friday and very quiet. I didn't even bother to go around the 'hood to see what garbage got left over after the pick-up today. But on my way home from the gym, I saw there were hundreds of geese in the park and I stopped to take some pictures of them, hoping to capture the wonder of so many big birds all in one location. I loved watching a gaggle of them strike out from one flock to another, walking across the park in single file. They are good walkers and don't waddle as much as ducks but still, I find their stately procession amusingly deflated by the waggling of big white behinds.

November 1, 2007, afternoon

My back aches. I have been pulling out all the frost killed plants. And it always takes me longer than I think - every time.

As I was pulling out and throwing out the annuals, I decided to clip and save the last of the black-eyed Susans, which are perennials. The leaves (the rest of the plant) haven't been damaged by frost yet but the flowers will be enjoyed longer inside than out, now that the rest of the bed is mostly dirt. I'm not used to perennials but I think I will just leave the bases of the daisies and let the snow cover them. I don't have real mulch, tree leaves will only be blown away, and the leaves of the perennial may act as a sort of mulch.

This is the side garden we created this Spring for the first time, right after the condo dug up the foundation and repaired it where the water had leaked into my basement. I thought the ground had settled but I was very mistaken and after I had planted everything, the ground sank by a matter of several inches. The two green plants flanking the edges of the photo are the black-eyed Susans. Next Spring, I shall get a few loads of topsoil and fill in this dent.

Around the back, I cleaned out most of both beds. I clipped back the poinsettia right to the base of the stem and when I did that, two of the five plants popped out of the ground so I gave them the heave-ho. I have no idea if this plant will survive a Winter here but it is quite close to the house and sheltered by the fence too, so it might just.

I am always amazed at how hardy herbs are. There are two kinds of thyme and oregano, growing close to the ground and over the edge and some kind of odd parsley that appeared because it self seeded from last year. I don't remember what I planted last year but this is fairly flat leafed but with small leaves and it tastes faintly of anise. I do know that when plants self seed, they often lose the over-bred and chosen characteristics of the plants you buy from the plant people. In the middle is the wonderful pine-smelling rosemary.

I now have three big yard waste bags to put at the curb tomorrow. As you can see, the yard guys didn't take away any of my leaves - yet.

Addition, Nov. 2:
Due to popular demand, here is a photo of the side garden in July. Enjoy.

October 28, 2007

I thought today would be pretty slim pickings, being Sunday and with nothing planned.

But things started to happen when a neighbour asked if Peter could help her with dismantling her patio table so she could get it into her basement for the Winter. I haven't even cleaned out the garage to make a spot for our table, much less dismantled the garden and planted the bulbs. But it was a nice sunny day even if it was only 5C so we went over to see what we could do and ended up taking only a few minutes to take the table apart and move it into her basement.

With that chore done, we headed out to see what there was to see. A hardy cyclist pedaled by on Centrepointe. It really wasn't that cold and anything above zero is a bonus.

We waved hello to all our blog readers.

The wind was blowing the dried and nearly gone leaves in front of the medical centre at the little plaza whose name we realized we do not know.

And the wind had blown over a chair at the Marshy's patio, signalling the end of patio season in Ottawa.

October 21, 2007

Today the high was 22C and it was sunny and windy and especially lovely for October 21. We went for a walk around Centrepointe Park at around 6pm and took the big, complicated camera so Peter could teach me how it works, and so I could take a photo of the beaver-chewed trees. That's right, there are three trees that have been chewed by beavers at the duck pond! What I want to know is - where did those beavers come from? There must be a conduit from the stream the runs by the transitway and it must run under Baseline, otherwise how could they get here?

This is one of two that were completely chewed down and have been marked by the parks people. The other tree is the same size and has been chewed around so it will die but it is still standing.

Other people were out for a walk or a bike or to play a little pick-up soccer but there weren't any geese on the grass.

There were however, plenty in the sky.

Some folks biked over to feed the ducks at the pond.

When we turned around, the setting sun lit up the trees.

More geese flew north to the Ottawa River for the night.

And as the sun went down, it started to cool quickly and we were done for the day.