Ornamental Cabbage

 

This spring I accidentally bought ornamental cabbage instead of regular cabbage. Now I am glad that I did as I am enjoying the extra bit of colour at the end of the season.  The slugs did a number on the lower leaves but the top leaves survived.

 A pearl in an oyster

 A dainty cup

A scoop of ice cream

 A cotton handkerchief

A delicate fan

Seaweed
Hope you've all found your favourite sweaters, hats and mitts.
Time to cozy up with a good book.

Watery Rocks

 Even branches blocking, catch the sun.

Stepping stones clear in the drought.

 Stuck to a rock together.

To keep from falling, lines of light.

 Dark and hard: light and soft

Splash!

From the Dark Ground

From the dark seemingly dead ground come beautiful fragrant roses.
Let's not be discouraged by the news.

Watery Colours

 Some photos I took along the walking trail in Morin Heights.

The autumn colours were reflecting in a variety of interesting ways.

The water is shimmering like metal, or, not so pleasantly, like an oil spill. Thankfully, the water is, in reality, very clean.

A bright red maple reflects beautifully in some still water.

A flash of bright yellow glows in a shadowy spot.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving , Canada.  We are having lovely weather and the fall colours are at their peek.
I took a few photos as we drove into the hills to see my mother.

(click on this one for full width).
Now to eat up all the leftover turkey and find the warm hats and mitts as the weather is turning colder.

Vines and Leaves

 Here we are in October and there is still a lot of green around. 

Some Virginia creeper has made berries.  The red stems really set the blue berries off nicely.

The Virginia creeper is not as brilliant as it can be - quite dull in most places, actually.

Here and there, a bit of brighter colour shows up.

Grape vines and Virginia creeper are turning some trees and bushes into leafy mounds.

Grape vines are falling out of sumac which is also not as colourful as normal at this time of year.

An old barn makes a good support for vines.

 Here's another one. Soon it will be all covered except for the roof.

Spots of bright colour stand out against the green leaves and the blue sky.

A good frost often makes the colour more dramatic and we haven't had a hard frost yet.  I can't say that I am minding the pleasant weather, though. The cold will be here soon enough.

A Few More Pictures from Upper Canada Village

 Here are a few more views of our visit to Upper Canada Village.  In this back shed, an attractive small wagon was parked and, in the background, is a substantial amount of firewood that would be used to heat and cook with.

 A pleasant vignette shows a couple of farm workers piling loose hay into a wagon. The St.Lawrence river can be seen behind the field. The "villagers" do real farm work with the horses and oxen.

 This is an unusual house.  To me it looks like it should be in the South-west US. The fences around the houses and gardens provided protection from the farm animals who were often left to wander loose to eat grass where they could find it.

The tinsmith was busy at work producing household items.  Tourists can purchase his wares at the gift shop.

I liked this picture that was being made out of dried flowers.  The words at the bottom say, "Long Live the Queen."

 The brooms are made from broom plants that are grown at the village. 

 The sawmill is a great place to see.  I wish I had better pictures of it and that you could smell the delicious pine scent that permeates the building.  The mill is powered by a water-mill placed in the small stream that runs through the village. Just to the left of the man is a large vertical saw blade.  When he has finished placing the log, the blade will be engaged and move up and down cutting the log which is slowly moved along by a frame. The mill makes quite a bit of lumber which is then used in the village for various building projects.

I really like this cabin.  It is so typical of the early settlers rough buildings. Notice the little eaves trough over the door. The cabins were small making them easier to heat in the winter.  Heat was always provided by wood, and it was a lot of hard work to cut the trees down and into short lengths and then split the wood into manageable pieces. Even today, using a chain saw, cutting enough firewood for the winter is a lot of work.