An Instant On The Northwest Arm

For an  instant on Wednesday afternoon I watched as this sailboat headed

up the Arm.

Thinking Out Loud

ON THE ROCKS

When I was taking this series of Sophie 'on the rocks' yesterday,

I couldn't help but realize how accustomed to and adapted 

with these rocks she has become.

At first, about a year ago, she would not walk on these ledges.

She would walk around them and meet us at the next clearing.

Now that we have been doing this 'hike' on a regular basis for a few months now,

and this is what we have to access to get those bricks I am so obsessed about,

Sophie, as well as the two of us, are getting better at climbing and maneuvering

up and over these rocks. 

Goes to show what a little practice will do.

Sea Bricks

We walk quite a bit along shorelines.  Recently I noticed these discarded bricks being washed up at a city park, probably having been thrown into the sea some time ago instead of a landfill .

I loved the 'tumbled' look they have gotten from the constant action and movement of the tides.

I thought I'd like to do something with them at home in the garden.

After lugging a few home over the past two weeks, I started to 'play' with them in an area of the garden which was never completed a few years ago.

So I began to place them and thought they would look okay. They come in all shapes and sizes and there are plenty more being washed ashore.

I'm experimenting with the gravel/sand at this point and I suspect that I will have to go with 'crusher stone' to keep the bricks stationary. This substance is very effective when it hardens with the help of water/rain.

This area is quite large in the back garden and I will need a lot more of these tumbled gems from the sea. The weather is getting cooler here and will be perfect for this type of project.

Morning Walk At The Beach

Contemplative Monday

WANTING TO BE RIGHT

"We feel that we have to be right 

so that we can feel good.

We don't want to be wrong because then we'll feel bad.

But we could be more compassionate

toward all these parts of ourselves.

The whole right and wrong business

closes us down and makes our world smaller.

Wanting situations and relationships to be solid,

permanent, and graspable obscures the pith of the matter,

which is that things are fundamentally groundless."

The above excerpt is from Heart Advice: Weekly Quotes from Pema Chodron.

Eclectic Tastes

Glenn Gould was and remains to be one of Canada's treasures.

The 'Goldberg Variations' are among his finest work.

Well before his 50th birthday he predicted he wouldn't live past that age.

He died shortly into his 50th year.

What I always enjoyed, along with his ability to make the piano 'speak',

was how he would make vocal sounds during his playing/recording

which were quite audible to the listener.

I hope you enjoy this.

Summer Saturday......lecture

It was so refreshing to me to hear this man speak his mind.

This was done in 2010 and he was elected President of Ireland in 2011.

His passion, determination and knowledge deserve a listen.

Oh, you don't want to mess with an Irishman!

To All You History Buffs Out There

The photo above and below of the cannon at Point Pleasant Park,

were made during the reign of Queen Victoria. Thus the 'VR' on it. 

This means Victoria Reigns.

Now here is where I could use some help. Look at this other  cannon

at the same park. It is not Victorian and appears to be an older

cannon with initials that look to be an 'L' or a 'T 'with the 'R'.

Any ideas as to whom these initials belong?

I checked out the chronology of English Monarchs and it shows that William IV ruled before Victoria. Before him were the four Georges. Could this be a 'G'?

I know the British built the forts at this park but nonetheless checked out the names of French Monarchs. I found that Louis XV was King prior to the British founding of Halifax in 1749.

Confused? Me too!! It does look like an 'L' but the French didn't use a crown along with their initials. And, what would  a French cannon be doing there?

Help!!!!

Thinking Out Loud

Not being well-read or very informed in the evolution of  Impressionist Art,

I can't help but wonder if they were at all influenced by scenes like these photos which were shot in a canal

in the Gaspereaux Valley of Nova Scotia. Did they become bored with the 'realist' view of things?

Reflections of these birch trees in this canal are more interesting to me than the 'real' image.

A birch tree is a birch tree is a birch tree. A reflection of a birch tree in moving water

is an entirely different 'animal'.