Up, Up and Away

Had our visit from the Hydro One helicopter this afternoon.

The line up to the helicopter was 100'

At the foot of the driveway...the gravel was biting my legs, but I endured!

Above the place it would stay

No more ring-neck ducks Pat!

I know I'm a bit lazy about updating this blog, so here are a few new ones.

I expect to have some interesting ones tomorrow, as Hydro One is coming with a helicopter to install a new pole on the corner of the property.

I enjoy nodding trilliums...we don't have the other ones here, at least I've never found one.

The evening out at the lake before our fireworks on Sunday night.

My apologies to the fox, but this has to be the scraggliest one I have ever seeen. I was standing out in the lake, because I won't walk on the trail ever since I found bear poo, and this guy wasn't sure whether he should be afraid of me or not. I walked down to where the eagle's next is, and could see one youngster up in the nest. He was peeking out, but the distance is too great for any sort of decent pictures.

Spring Shots...finally

Well, interspersed with cold, rainy days, we have actually seen the sun and had some warm days.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these are ring-necked ducks? I figure the hunters in the family would know. They had a band around the end of their bill.

This young fella was outstanding in his field and quite obliging to have his picture taken. At one point he lay down and chewed away on the nice new grass.

Marsh Marigolds are finally blooming


So are the tiny little wild violets

Squirrel, very curious and scolding me the whole time I stood under his tree

This swallow was in our back yard perched on the chimney of our old wood stove

Black Bay on Lake Superior, an unusually calm moment

What happens in Vegas...

Had a great time in "sin city", but as you can see from the photos, not much sinning was to be had by us. Spent all our time either walking, taking pictures or snoring the night away from all the walking and taking pictures!

This bronze casting "adorns" the outside of the Riviera where we stayed.
This was the extent of Bruce's sinning!

These were 3 of about 8 gorgeous umbrellas hanging from the
ceiling of the Wynn Hotel.

A hallway in the Venetian Hotel. Nothing ornate about this place!

One of our favourite hotels, the Bellagio. The entrance way by the registration
desk was decorated with these glass flowers. Each of them was probably at least 18 ins
across. Very pretty with the natural light shining through them.

This conservatory in the Bellagio, was very cool. There was a row of about 8 of those
big watering cans constantly watering the gardens below. That snail to the left was made
of rose buds. The poppy was huge, and it too was made of glass. Just amazing.

This tree was very cute. Not sure if there was actually any real wood involved in it's
construction though!

The Wynn hotel in the evening sun.

Caesars Hotel at night. An immense place. The statues at the bottom were backed with what
appeared to be gold...I suspect it wasn't. Very glittery though.

We spent a day exploring Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. A great spot
with an interpretive centre and a 13 mile drive where we could get out and
poke around in the cactus and rock.

This "tree" was about 6 ft high...wonder how old it was?

Some of the beautiful flowers that manage to spring out of the dry, stony ground.
robust hedgehog cactus (pink); weakstem mariposa lily (mauve);
Englemann's prickly pear (yellow) and haven't figured out the blue one yet.

I really liked this one (globe mallow). The bush was loaded with these orange flowers.

And finally, to prove I was in Vegas, a picture at the airport with a concrete
scorpion. Inset shows the lizard beside it taken from above. Very cool.

Close Kestrel Encounter

This guy/girl has been hanging around, and I assume is preying on my birdies.
He was perched on the internet antenna this morning. The weather is awful, rain turning to snow and back again, so he looks pretty bedraggled.
A very pretty bird...always wanted to be close enough to get a picture of one.

Guard Deer!

Some people around here get mules to guard their horses against wolves, but the Fagan's have a guard deer to ward off the unwanted cats.
This was a real hoot! This young deer couldn't quite figure out the cats. His tail would go up, and he would walk towards them planting his front feet very firmly with every step.
This went on for about half and hour. Fortunately for you, the videographer and her shaky hands didn't film for that long! Excuse the flaws.

Ah, Southern Ontario

A happy group of Hamiltons and Fagans after a "leisurely" lunch at the harbour in Bronte.

One mustn't be in a hurry when dining at Longboats restaurant, but it was tasty.

Erin and Mike

If this cat is going to live here, it has to be able to enjoy spending a great deal of time in front of the computer~or is it just after the mouse? :)

A mallard in High Park. We spent 2 hours roaming around here, and enjoyed a very nice warm day in the sun. I think it must be a pretty place in summer and fall. Lots of bikes, kids, romancers on the grass, joggers and strollers. Alot of hubbub for a person from the north who hears little more than the twitter of birds most of the time. But heck, civilization is something we should be subjected to once in a while.

The photographer trying out her new macro lens.

Here I am in 'Thuet', a lovely french restaurant in the fashion district of Toronto~who'd have thought?

I am admiring my plate of meagre vegies and duck which cost considerably more than a chicken burger at Wendy's. What the heck, you only live once, and it's a good thing I was there with our rich daughter and not my frugal husband.

"Morgan Farm organic duck suprême, ragoût of Laurentide canary mushroom, saffron infused purée of spring cauliflower, Carica, Ontario peanut binded jus"
I don't even know what most of this is, and the waiter was our interpreter. I passed on the piglet!

A Nice Mild Day

Went for a walk today...finally mild and sunny.

Noticed these wolf tracks as we walked along. Eventually came across the ribs of some unfortunate deer, but didn't see any other signs of the feast. This is a AA battery beside one of the tracks.

This is the bridge at the foot of the hill. The trail we take follows this "creek"...a small river actually.

You have to enlarge this to appreciate it.
I love this. When we got home this chickadee was drinking the water as it dripped off the eaves trough.He couldn't help keeping an eye on me I guess.

Eclipse

Spent a little time outside last night taking these. I have discovered that my camera is not quite suited to lunar eclipses, but you get the idea.

More bluejays

Giving me the look! This time I was under my sheet, but up on a ladder...I have no shame!

"You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out".
I think this picture is a hoot. Just wanted one of him(her) sitting on the feeder,
but he(she) had other ideas.