Too Close For Comfort

Last evening I was out in the garden picking blackberries.  There were clouds starting to form to the west, but they didn't look bad.  I know we get sudden storms at this time of year, especially when the temperatures get as high as they did yesterday, so I was keeping an eye on them.  Nothing to worry about.  But then the wind started to pick up.  My garden is under poplar trees, so I'm always nervous about the wind.  My hubby opened the window to suggest I come in, and I told him I'm on the way. I left the garden immediately and headed for the house. The wind was getting stronger, even before I was indoors, so I went immediately to my bedroom window to look out.  I wanted to see how the trees were moving.  What I got was a shock. In the length of time it took me to get indoors and go to a window, Mother Nature had rearranged my back yard.

I had a brand new tree growing there.  From the angle I first saw it, I thought a branch had split my apple tree in half, but in reality, it was the top off of one of the poplars, which had embedded itself into the ground with such force, it now stood upright, taller than my apple tree.

The broken top off the tree had dug into the ground so well, it actually looks like it grew there.

So, now it looks like I have two trees growing in my back yard.

Notice that the new one, on the left,  is not only taller than my very mature apple tree, but also equally as big around at the base.

And notice that there are other upright spears that were also thrown down from above.  Nothing in this picture belongs there except that sliver of apple tree visible on the far left.

Of course there were a jumble of other branches too, some of which broke off the new tree.

And some of them are even fell through the flower garden.

The wind left a clear trail between the houses, indicating a straight line of destruction.  My blackberries are on the west side of the yard and only a few twigs are evident there.  I'm just lucky as it happened so fast and to a tree just two over from where I was standing. Too close for comfort. 

These old poplars are the tallest trees in my village. They don't belong to me or they would be gone by now.  From left to right, the first one is the only one that still has it's original top.  That's the one I was under, and the one we worry about most, as it could damage the house if it fell.  The top off the second one is lodged in the top of the fourth one, and has been since a previous major storm. The top off the fourth and fifth were lost in the Ice Storm of 1997. I'm hoping our neighbours will be convinced that it's finally time to do something about these trees.  They were beautiful in their day, but now they are just plain dangerous.

Ahoy Matey

We attended this year's Pirate Festival in Gananoque last weekend.

There was a small ship

A dashing ship's Captain

Skeletons

Parrots

and of course, treasure.

Actually there was even an area where kids could dig for treaure.  There were lots of things for kids to do:

Games to play

Musical activities to take part in

Sword fighting

Over all, it was good family fun.  People were encouraged to dress in pirate garb, but not everyone did.

There was entertainment for adults too, including music

and dancing wenches

Here are some of my favorite Pirates of the day


The sword master

A fellow with a friend (this particular parrot wasn't real, but was animated)

The Newfie pirate, complete with Salt Water Sally

And of course, the star of the whole event, Capt N Tor











It wasn't huge, but it did make for an enjoyable afternoon and I'm glad we went. 

Horses on Parade

Lombardy Fair is celebrating it's 150th anniversary this year. One of the ways they have chosen to celebrate was to hold a parade of 150 horses, right though the center of Smiths Falls, Ontario.


The weatherman was warning of thunderstorms, which would have ruined the whole thing, but luckily the rain held off until just after the event ended, and any thunder happened well before it even started.

I've been asked if there were really 150 horses in the parade. Well, I didn't count them, but even though I know of two that were supposed to be there and were not, I'm sure the count was close.

 There were all kinds of horses, both big and small, some being lead, others ridden either English or Western style, some pulling wagons and some pulling other things. There was even a race horse in the mix with the driver in the sulky behind. While most of the riders were dressed in their regular clothes, but there was a couple in period costume, and of course, the cowboys. A few of the horses were also decked out for the occasion. I especially like the one painted up like a zebra. The parade was well worth watching and I'm glad I didn't let the idea of stormy weather keep me from attending.

 I'll just share a few photos with you.

 

Artfest Kingston - How I Spent Canada Day

This is the season when all the art shows, studio tours and fairs seem to take place. We like to go exploring, and things like this make for interesting stops along the way.

This past weekend it was time for the the Kingston Artfest.  This is more than your usual outdoor art show.  While it had about 150 assorted artists displaying their work, it also had much more than that.  This is a very interactive event.

One could learn various kinds of drumming, for instance, as there was a different type of drum seminar each hour, all three days.  There was everything from a Beginners Rhythm Workshop, to Taiko Drumming between the hours of 10:30am and 3:00pm.  After that an open community drum circle was held each day of the festival.  I was really interested, but we ran out of time and the sky started to promise rain.  Okay, so I chickened out.

Nearby there was an opportunity to learn to sculpt in rock. That also looked interesting, but I'd want all day to work on something like that and we were only there for a couple of hours.

At one on of the booths, I saw a little girl getting a lesson in how to work a spinning wheel.











 There were also an assortment of art classes available, for both adults and children.  I always seem to miss the timing for the ones I'd be most interested in.  Perhaps I need to get my hands on a schedule ahead of time somehow.

I spotted one of our local artists, Larry Thompson from Greyweathers Press,

and was fascinated by some interesting crafts, like these ukuleles made out of tin cans.

I see a bright future for this young fellow.  I've seen designs cut into metal objects with a plasma cutter before, but he turned some old junk into amazing works of art.

Over in another corner there was the opportunity to paint on a mural.  I remember I was there a lot later during last year's event and it was getting pretty colourful by then.

I understand there were 20 picnic tables that entire families could paint on too. At the end of the weekend there was a silent auction to determine who got to keep them.

Habitat for Humanity was ready to teach you skills while helping to build a playhouse on site too. That was also to be auctioned off at the end of the event.

At the Easel Invasion, one could paint a picture of your own. An artist was on hand to help guide you, if needed.


Nearby was a poetry tent, if that is your sort of thing.  There was also music stage, and a beer tent.

The giant puppets were back too.  Last year I saw them being operated, as they walked through the crowd, towering over us. It's hard enough to work a regular sized puppet. These ones need more than one person each to operate them.

Then there were the stilt walkers.  Some people obviously have been doing this for a long time, but what they were doing there this weekend was teaching others to do it.  I saw kids with their feet tied to the stilts and wondered what would happen if they fell.  The instructors were there to catch, I suppose, but later I saw a group of three kids on stilts walking down one of the pathways toward the food area.  They might as well have been on their own two feet, they seemed so comfortable.

If you have never been to Artfest, you should go at least once.  There truly is something for everyone.  Best of all, it's all free.  It was a great way to spend Canada Day this year.