Dec22 Art - Sit Spot #1577 - Dec. 22, 2024
6 hours ago
Halloween!!!!!
Tomorrow is a day of fun for the children. They get to dress up in fantasy costumes and when it is dark they will walk the streets, going door to door and Trick or Treat for candy!
What most of the children don't realize is that some of the adults have as much fun as they do. My son usually does up a cool Halloween theme and a couple of times I have been there to help "dole out the candy" but what we really do is put on a show for the older kids. We scare them and they love it. Not too much of a scare just enough to get a jump or a squeal out of them. We are very careful to look who is coming up the driveway so as not to scare the little ones with our antics. We have had kids come back just for the scare and didn't even want candy!
Dressed all in black, with my face painted with fluorescent paint, I stay slightly off to the side where it is not well lit and we have placed a fake "dead body". As the kids come up the walkway. I am bent over it, motionless. They think I am a fake person but are not too sure, so, they keep watching me as they come up. I will remain motionless until I see that they have decided that I am fake and then I move, just a little, just enough to catch their attention out of the corner of their eye. In the meantime my son, keeps talking to them, to distract them with the candy bucket. They get their candy, with cries of "Happy Halloween!". As they turn to leave I will start to move in slow motion, picking up the "dead body", moaning and moving it around and then I will freeze again, looking straight at them! The kids squeal and scamper away, laughing with false bravado once they get partway down the walk. We hear them say "I thought it was fake!".Unbeknown to them, the coffin leaning against the tree they passed on the way in contains Dracula, ready to pounce! The door to the coffin creaks open and out comes Dracula, reaching out for the children with long fingernails! With a final squeal, the kids are off again, down the driveway to waiting parents. We hear them comment on the way down,"I wasn't scared!" and then another "Oh, Yeah? Then why did you scream!" and still another "Let's go back! That was so cool! Mom you gotta see this!".So the parents do too!
Ghostly figures and scary things hidden in the shadows!
The graveyard on the way up the walkway.
Our ghostly friends come for a visit. Of course there is spooky music in the background with howls and screams from a CD.
My sons look a fright!
My older son is quite talented with pumpkin carving!
Here Lies The "Pillsbury Dough Boy". He will Rise Again!
So have a great Halloween, but beware....
For all that goes bump in the night,
Bwaaahaha!
Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!
It looks as if these clouds positioned themselves just above the fountain for the photo.
Fall "metal grey" skies betrayed by light fluffy clouds and the reach of the fountain. Stars alight in the pond grasses make one think of things mystical!
Blue that almost hurts in it's extreme and a colour contrasted sunset bidding "Adieu" to the day in my backyard.
So many beautiful skies to see at SkyWatch Friday. Go and visit!
|
|
A few weeks ago I showed pictures of the railway bridge that went over the Credit River where I live in Georgetown. I have always thought it was a grand bridge due to the height and the wonderful valley seen from the train below. The photos I showed were interesting as they seemed to be examining the structure and I thought it was in need of repairs. I became curious as to when this bridge came into existence and what kind of repairs were needed. I was surprised to find out this structure was built in 1904! It is 104 years old!
- Westbound supervisor special rolls over the Credit River on this gorgeous Saturday morning. Work has begun to lay the foundation and bridge supports for a second span across the river as part of GO Transit's expansion to provide GO Train service to Kitchener-Waterloo.
Sept 2009
The iron bridge (Grand Trunk Railway bridge) over the River Credit.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
The iron bridge (Grand Trunk Railway bridge) over the River Credit.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
I went searching on the net and came up with two old photos of this marvelous bridge. It amazes me that the stone supports have lasted as they have.
1908
1908
This one was taken in 1905. Look at the train in the distance puffing out smoke.
This is an eastbound photo of the Georgetown Train Station in 1908.
This is a photo of the Georgetown Station up close. The write up said it was a photo of volunteers waiting at the train station. I assume they mean volunteers for World War 1.
The train station still stands and is used to this day.
Watery Wednesday
I am out of ideas today. A little worn out I think! Just finished working 14 days in a row.
I have always liked the Watery Wednesday theme so today , I will indulge.
On a working trip to Nova Scotia I manged to have a day off with my working partner by driving longer hours and switching off drivers. This way we arrived late on Saturday and had the Sunday to our selves before starting work on Monday. Only having one day we decided to check out the Bay of Fundy, a World Heritage UNESCO Site. We queried the locals as to a good time to go as the tides are quite amazing and apparently the longest tides in the world. Bay of Fundy is a 270 km (170 mile) long ocean bay that stretches between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast. Each day 100 billion tonnes of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers! This is also in February so a little on the chilly side as well!
There was a wonderful set of stairs for walking down to the bay. Well built and attractive to the surroundings. Flowing underneath and then beside it was a little bubbling stream with the ancient rock beneath it.
Originating from this well built causeway under the road and being fed by a stream from the fields behind it. I love the winter brown grasses and the leafless bush showing tans and browns of winter.The grey slate under the water adds to the effect.
The fishing boats are tied at the dock. As the tide goes out they sit on the ocean floor. It was a beautiful day at minus 15 Celsius! It gives the look of being late in the day but you can see the sun is coming up. In February the sun isn't very strong in warmth or light.
Just slightly over to left, it gives a better view of the bay and the tide level.
This little slip of a boat launch is way out from the waters edge at this time!
On the cliffs, an ice cascade, formed by the cold and the windswept area is coloured by the presence of red clay.
Visit more sites at Watery Wednesday!
Visit more sites at Watery Wednesday!
|
|
I didn't even realize it. Went right past it really. There was no"to do", no fanfare. It just quietly slipped by. It was such an unassuming little post too. Nothing grand. My last post was though, my hundredth post. Here is to 100 more!
SkyWatch Friday
I was bored and had a few hours, so off I went for a drive. I came across this lovely little lake on a back road and drove past it. Then, it registered how lovely the sky looked, in it's pale autumn blue and how wonderfully the water shimmered with light! I turned around and got the photo.
All that follow or read my posts probably now by now that I love reflections! Here the blue sky is displayed only by the water although the sky itself looks dull.
There is an amazing site to visit to see more SkyWatch Friday posts. Go visit all the wonderful skies the world over!
I have been working at a part time job that has been full time days lately. It is for funds to help pay the bills until I start college in the spring. Even though I should get the funding for college, there are certain things they expect you to pay as well so I have to try to save some funds for that.
There are things I had forgotten since I haven't done work like this is quite some time.
- Your feet will feel like they are on fire after standing for twelve hours.
- You will go cross-eyed reading numbers over and over for 12 hours.
- Working 12 hour days for several days in a row after slacking off all summer will have you in bed by 9:30 - 10:00 o'clock.
I realize that I have become soft and am in the process of "toughening" again. I would hate to start college and realize I was tired out in the first week or worse yet first couple of days. I have to get my fortitude on!
I am grateful for the work though and looking forward to working on and off until school starts. It is cramping my style on blogging and I will have to see what time I have each week and when I can put up a post. I start out early and get home late so I have little time at night. Possibly the best time will be doing a post in the morning.
If you don't see me for a couple of days at a time, I am still around, just not active. I will visit and comment still though. I also expect it to slow at work so will have more time.
See you all soon!
Autumn Reflections
I must admit I love the fall colours and the fall celebrations but not the way it is turning so cold so fast! It has been an extraordinary year for weather and I think we are going to be hit with a long cold wet winter.
This picture has it all. The building storm clouds, the lake and the gorgeous fall colour!
In the evening it can be so calm. Nothing to be heard but the cry of the loons, a few cottagers around a campfire in the chill night and our own breathing.
In the early morning it is once again so tranquil! Not one leaf was stirring , not a sound was coming to me other than my own footsteps as I walked and took in this misty morning.
Please go to SkyWatch Friday blog where you will find great posts and hosts from around the world!
We had a great Thanksgiving at the cottage. My self and my sons family arrived Friday night. Holiday traffic was pretty good, and we managed to get to the cottage around 9pm. I always find it a bit unsettling going over to the cottage in the boat after dark at that time of the year. We settled for the evening with a nice fire on and I had my electric blanket pre-warming the bed! Saturday arrived in great shape, very sunny,around 5 Celsius, so nice weather to work in. First on the agenda was tearing away an addition on my Mom's cottage that had the soil run off and build up around it unfortunately rotting part of the floor and of the wall. With two strong guys going at it, it was surprising how quickly it was gone!
A chainsaw helped quite a bit!
It came down faster than it was built!
Sunday was pretty cold. My "other son" Mark (my sons best friend and an adopted family member), had to leave to go to his families Thanksgiving and had turned the water off in the one cottage before he left. One major chore out of the way. It snowed all day, melted as soon as it hit the ground though, and since we had already done all the major work that needed to be done, this day we just relaxed. A few little chores to assist in closing the cottage. Cleaning the shed out, putting away all the summer out door furniture. Of course we had to continue burning the rock as well. It was a large boulder when we started last weekend.
When we started this weekend it looked like this, the result of last weeks burn. Throughout the day the rock continued to crack and we were able to reduce it even more.
This is how much we have taken off the rock, quite easily since we started the burn. There is about 1/3 left. The next time my son goes up it will be gone from there.
On Monday my son and youngest granddaughter went for a walk way back on the property. It goes up to some cliffs and the view over our bay on the lake is amazing!
A very good weekend and Thanksgiving! We came home late yesterday. I carried that relaxed feeling on into today and am now cooking for Thanksgiving #2 at home.
While driving to Bala last weekend we stopped for breakfast and were rewarded with this view. The sky was grey and clouds gathering, ready for rain showers. The solitary little white lighthouse on the island was the only bit brightness in the landscape. The tall White Pines are majestic in their reach into the sky beside the slate grey of the lake.
The sun came out for a brief appearance and to display the beautiful riot of fall colours around the bay.
Be sure to go to the SkyWatch Friday site for great hosts and many more posts
|
|
Watery Wednesday It is only 7 Celsius ( 43 Fahrenheit) and it is raining with high winds blowing all the leaves around. A true Watery Wednesday! On the weekend at the cottage on Kawagama Lake, the weather was pretty much the same as today with brief periods of non-rain. I took this shot in one of those windows of time but you can see it soon began to pour. Use the link and check out other posts for W.W.
The lake reflects the colour of the sky, a stark contrast to the oranges,reds and golds of the autumn leaves.
|
|
Fall is Here
Helen H. Moore
Fall is here.
Another year
is coming to an end.
Another year
is coming to an end.
Summer's finished,
Summer's gone,
Winter's round the bend.
Fall is piles of crunchy leaves,
orange, gold, and red.
Fall is sweaters with long sleeves
and blankets on the bed.
Fall is football,
Fall is pumpkins,
Fall's where summer ends.
And
Fall is coming back to school,
and seeing all my friends.
|
|
We found out a few years ago, by observing the stone around the fire pit, that rocks that are heated for long periods of time and then cooled, will split along natural fault lines within them. With a little help of a sledge hammer after this burning process to break the rock at the fault line, we have manged to remove several unwanted boulders that were far too big to move manually. This information became one of the best tools we have for removing unwanted large rocks. The long heating with an intense fire makes the rocks brittle and susceptible to breaking or fracturing.
First chore is to dig around the rock and slightly under to make an area for the fire. We use a fan as well to keep the heat intense which shortens the process a little, but you can do this without a fan, it just will take longer. Once the area is cleared, set up and light your fire. Keep lots of wood on hand as you need to keep this fire hot! Under the wood panel in the picture is the fan. It was raining most of the weekend so we needed to keep the fan dry. You can see that fire isn't to deeply under the boulder. That is due to the small rocks and gravel just under this particular rock, making it impossible to dig to deep. As long as the flames can lick along the sides and heat the rock it will start the process.
The fire is kept going throughout the day and into the night. Many times when burning rocks we have used this as our fire pit for the night and all sat around the "rock fire" and socialized, cooked marshmallows etc. This rock is directly behind the cottage and we are trying to make room behind there as it tends to get overgrown and damp. We had stared to clear behind there and this big boulder is in our way.
We let the fire die out at the end of the evening and turn the fan off. The next morning shows a crack running along the fault line. Two good hits with the sledge hammer and Voila! A large piece and several smaller pieces are broken off! We had tried to sledge this rock without heating and barely got a chip off. This is extremely hard rock! What a difference after heating.
The process starts again the next morning. The idea is to cook this rock until it is gone! It may take us a few weekends to finish this but well worth it.You can see the fan this time. It is used to keep the fire burning intensely to produce greater heat. We were also able to dig farther under the rock enabling a larger fire more directly under the rock.
You can see the fault line. At this point a ever widening crack is showing on top and down the side. We pour a little water into these cracks occasionally to let steam help separate the stone.
Next weekend we will continue "rock burning" and before you know it, this rock will be gone. Reduced into smaller stone that we have used in our patio, to help to build up the embankment at the front of the cottage and even as seats around the family fire pit.
It's fun, it's effective, and the stone is "recycled". It is definitely "back saving"!
