May 5, 2008

This little pansy popped up in the garden, even after I cleared all the plants out last Fall. It must have self-seeded and I do see them all summer long, here and there. Despite the fact that I didn't deliberately plant it, I let it stay because pansies are so cheerful.

On the other hand, despite the fact that this is also a cheerful yellow volunteer, I am afraid it has to go with all its brethren.

My mixed bag of tulip and other bulbs that I planted last Fall has done its work. The crocuses were first but they are long gone.

They open right up when the sun's out and close up when it's not.

Finally, the cardinal again, this time set against the fresh new green of the maple tree. All this new growth makes for pollen everywhere and so I am glad I do not suffer from allergies.

April 29, 2008

Almost May! We have had a run of extremely beautiful weather which ended yesterday and I think I have been outside the entire time and so not blogging. I even have a tan line on my arms! But now it has got cold and damp which is more normal for this time of year so I will post a few pix.

I took this photo of the construction site on the 18th, one of those gloriously sunny days. The roof trusses are in place.

Here it is on the 28th (a grey day) and there is plywood on the roof now. There are several other buildings going up too - I should go take pix of them. Some of them have their back "yards" (we assume it is the back) smack up against the bike path in the Centrepointe park. I can just imagine them sitting out on a nice day, staring at people walking by within a few metres... maybe they'll put up a fence? I'm still not convinced about the planning.

My few tulips are up on the back now - the crocuses have long since faded. Peter has taken some pix of tulips downtown but has only seen one full bed of them in bloom. These are some daffodils by the old Nepean City Hall. they were under a layer of snow fencing all winter but they are looking good now.

This is that tree in the 'hood that was buried in snow up to its first fork. Who'd have thought it would ever be seen again?

April 16, 2008

More Spring today! By 5pm, we had achieved a temperature of 16C (60F), the sun is shining, the birds are singing. I got my hands dirty in the garden, although I only spent a few minutes out there. It seems my thyme survived being buried under 4 feet of snow and it is growing and green!

Some neighbours were out talking about gardening. One fellow was already raking. I'm not going to rake even after the last of the snow goes because the lawn is too tender right now but it will soon firm up. I talked with another neighbour and she told me that she has actually seen the nefarious beaver in Centrepointe park! She was walking her dogs in January during the big thaw we had then and the animal walked right across the path in front of her. And her dogs went crazy of course. We wondered and don't have an answer for where the beaver came from. But she said it has done even more extensive damage in the park. I may call the animal control people to have it removed to a more suitable location because it isn't doing our trees any good out there.

I notice there is a roof line forming on the first of the new housing units to go up.

There are still unmelted piles of plowed snow all over the place, but most of the rest of the snow has gone.

Except for here on the bike path. I rode out this afternoon to see how far I could get going north to the river. Some of the bike path had been plowed in the winter, as evidenced by the grit all over it. But when I got to the Queensway transit station, it suddenly stopped. I guess they figure no one walks north from the Queensway. I walked the bike over the small bit of snow and ice at the station but when I crossed the road and headed toward the creek, I decided to call it a day when I saw quite a bit of snow still on the path. I could have walked through it but it probably would have gone over the tops of my running shoes and I didn't need wet feet. I figure there must have been one huge drift here, for this fallen (not plowed) snow still to be unmelted.

April 15, 2008

I can't believe it has been an entire week since I blogged. I've been busy but I guess the 'hood has been quiet. After my gripe about garbage, I spent about an hour (maybe less) picking up garbage along the route I always take to get out of the 'hood. It filled four shopping (grocery) bags. Later, I went for a walk where I don't usually walk (now that we don't have a dog, we just don't get around the other parts of the 'hood like we used to). I was appalled at the quantity of garbage strewn all over. Especially bad was one location where an entire row of houses places their garbage on garbage day (if you don't have a garage and a driveway, you put your garbage out in a collective spot). Nobody had ever picked up one thing over the winter, from the looks of it. We have got to take more pride in where we live! Of course, for me, "where I live" is the whole darned planet but for most people, it should be a source of embarrassment to see your garbage that didn't get picked up, sitting day after day by the road. Anyway.

It's great how quickly but without fanfare the snow is melting. It just keeps shrinking, day by day and even the giant piles that overwhelmed trees are shrinking.

In the last few days, there is evidence that street and sidewalk sweepers have been out. I even saw one in action today. This stretch of sidewalk was particularly grim, with mud from the construction site caking it.

Speaking of construction, the above ground structures are going up fast. This unit caught my eye for how very close to the road it is. Centrepointe isn't a highway and it does have a 40 kph limit but it is still busy and I wouldn't care to have my house that close to it. I wonder if the front doors of those houses will face onto Centrepointe? If not, they sure won't have any backyard to speak of.

The melt water still covers this part of the bike path in a shallow pond. The ducks and gulls enjoy it. In the morning, you can catch ducks sitting around the perimeter, snoozing with their heads under their wings. This morning, two gulls were busy preparing to make more gulls. But soon the surface water will be gone and the water birds will move down to the river or any of the several creeks that feed the mighty Ottawa. The geese have been spotted flying back north too. I know they can seem a nuisance but I am pleased we are on a flight way, as they are the harbingers of the seasons.

April 6, 2008

The weather alternates between freezing and really nice - around 10C or 50F.

This was the first pair of ducks I've seen this Spring. Ducks tend to mate for life and I recognized this male from last year because he is missing a foot.

It is pathetic to see him struggle in the snow without a webbed foot on one side. I am sure I don't know how he manages to swim in a straight line.

But his wife stays near him and waits for him to catch up. They must manage all right together because here they are again. I wish them well.

April 2, 2008

Okay, I wasn't going to complain about garbage but really...

You know you threw that particular box away, after you bought the Shark vacuum cleaner (as well as that Delissio pizza and those eggs). Just because the garbage guys didn't pick them up for whatever reason, doesn't mean you can look the other way every time you pass by them, lying by the side of the road. It was your garbage the first time and until it's gone for good, I think it's still your garbage. So please pick it up and try to throw it away again. Thank you.

Also, now that they've banned smoking on OC Transpo premises, we get this yuk factor. Butt buckets anyone?

Okay, back to the no complaining, especially as it was ultra beautiful yesterday. We've gone back into the deep freeze today, especially with the wind chill, but yesterday it was plus 13C and sunny and a joy to be out. Oddly, the construction site was empty, devoid of human life.

This sidewalk is covered in the kind of sticky mud that clings to your shoes and then builds, mud upon mud. Best to use the one on the other side of the road for now.

There's not even a pretense that people want to keep skating. Winter is over and we want spring!

I wonder if the bark on this bush has been stripped by hungry rabbits? I'd have to examine it more closely to be sure. But why only this one and not the ones beside it, I wonder?

It had rained all morning but when the sun came out later, it was a nice contrast to the lingering dark clouds. They were being pushed out of the way in a hurry by the stiff winds.

I noticed the usual lake of melt water in the middle of this part of the bike path. I think I'll have to avoid walking there for a while.

And they shoved so much snow out of the way, so many times, that they broke this fence at the transit station. One of the many casualties of winter.

April 1, 2008

Not an April Fools joke (I loathe practical jokes in any event).

It's a terrible photo but I couldn't wait to make it better to share it. These are my crocuses coming up! All Winter, I have been staring out the upper window, off at the horizon or at the cardinal in the top of the tree next door. But I have obviously failed to look down until this afternoon. I was opening the windows because it is so balmy - currently it says it is 13C (55F) - and chanced to look straight down. That's when I noticed that not only had the snow melted from the corner of the yard but that my crocuses were out and blooming! Of course, I still can't get over to them without tall boots but soon! Actually, sooner than I think because I have a netting over them to keep the squirrels away from the bulbs in the Fall and I don't want them to grow up through the netting so I will have to get out and shovel. But it's worth it.

March 17, 2008

Not much green on St. Patrick's Day, except for what people were wearing. Nice sunshine though, even if it was unseasonably cold at minus 14C this morning. Ouch.

On the weekend, you could really see that things were melting nicely but you only see bare pavement if it had been scraped earlier. The city is still working at removing snow banks and probably will be until summer.

We passed this dog and his owner out for a walk. He is not even a year old - a great big puppy. I think his name was Meiko. He was lovely.

The construction is proceeding. More foundations are going in and the Stone Slinger was there, slinging stones. This one building now has some structure above the foundations. I see they are using what looks like proper safety barriers at the edge of the top level. I learned about them during the "Fall Prevention Course" that I took at Safety Training Inc..

Speaking of falling, someone has dug out the storm drain at the base of the snow mountain where everyone walks every day, to get into and out of the 'hood. There was a huge puddle there and so it's good that it is draining now. But that first step is a whopper! It is actually about 4 feet off the ground, if you are standing on the storm drain, trying to get over into our neighbourhood.

Thankfully, some intrepid souls have stomped out some new foot prints in the snow bank to the side and so I can take a short detour and still use this path. Not for long however, as once it starts to melt in earnest, everything will crumble. I just don't want to be standing four feet off the ground when it decides to give way.

March 8, 2008

Yesterday in between snow storms (insert humourless laugh here), I noticed that there was now what appears to be framing above the foundations on the Minto building across from Marshy's.

I wonder if it is framing because the buildings are three or more storeys high but time will tell. I don't have the blueprints.

I also noticed that the snow is kind of piled high at the side of the plaza. Last night we got another foot (not an accurate measurement - I just looked out the door) and we're getting more now. Peter took a few pix this morning. Zoom has decided she doesn't hate Winter any more. I know that no matter what, Spring will come along and soon. But the bother of boots and the weight of coats and the struggling through snow is beginning to pall.

March 2, 2008

I saw two Cardinals last weekend but this morning, I got a photo, as he was calling his territory from the top of a tree.