Contents
- - First Ski of the Season
- - Matt & Katia Visit
- - Early Snowfall
- - Hiking to Meech Lake
- - The Carleton University Live Butterfly Show
- - Photos from Derek & Wendy's Trip To Scandinavia
- - Hike to Pink Lake
- - - Camping at Sandbanks
- - - Rachael & Sam's August Visit
- - Hike Downtown
- - Our Back Garden in July
- - Urban Bike Trip
- - Climate Change
- - - Rachael & Sam Visit
- - Ruth's Henry Kelsey Roses
- - Hiking the Ottawa River Trail
- - Scenes from the Net Neutrality Rally on Parliament Hill
- - Photos from Derek & Wendy's Garden and Cruise
- - Bicycling to Kars Airport
- - The Main Street Farmers' Market
- - Our Garden in May
- - At the Canadian Tulip Festival
- - Cycling to Rideau Falls
- - Ottawa Farmers' Market
- - Cycling to the Byward Market
- - - Simon's Visit
- - - Nick & Rachael's Easter Visit
- - - Monster Killer Death Snowstorm
- - Lunar Eclipse
- - Winterlude
Click to enlarge photos
First Ski of the Season
It is still late in the fall here, but already we have had a lot of snow. After lots of shovelling we decided to see if we could go XC skiing at the Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland, not because it is an amazing ski area, but because it is only two blocks from where we live. We took our skis and hiked up there this afternoon. The snow was pretty deep and had an ice crust about 3 inches down. We did the entire length of the park and broke trails for a 4.5 km track. It was hard work, but will hopefully be worth it as we can now ski locally.
Matt & Katia Visit
Matt and Katia came to visit in November on a day trip from Montreal. We all went up to Gatineau Park and hiked to the ruins of "Carbide" Wilson's mill on the Meech Creek.
Snowfall on 29 October
On October 29th we had a very early snowfall. Forecasts indicated that we could expect 20-30 cm, but in the end we got 11 cm. This is about six weeks ahead of when we would normally expect this kind of weather in Ottawa.
Hiking to Meech Lake
We took advantage of a great day of autumn weather and the kind offer of a ride to P16 with Jane and Alan to hike to Meech Lake. The falls colours were mostly gone, but the day was bright and clear and the temperatures perfect for walking. We all lingered at the lake enjoying the sunshine.
The Carleton University Live Butterfly Show
Each autumn Carleton University in Ottawa releases 1000 tropical butterflies into the two Nesbitt biology building greenhouses. The butterflies only live for about three weeks, but it gives the public a chance to come and see them flying in a forest of tropical plants!
Photos from Derek & Wendy's Trip To Scandinavia
In September Derek and Wendy took a tour through Denmark, Sweden and Norway. They sent us some photos from the trip.
Hike to Pink Lake
This fall we decided to take the bus up to Gatineau Park and do the hike to Pink Lake, hoping to the see some fall colours. The colours weren't all that much in evidence yet, but we had an enjoyable 13.6 km hike to Pink Lake, including the trail around the lake and a visit to the mica mines. Yes that is poison ivy.
Camping at Sandbanks
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We haven't camped at Sandbanks since 2003. We always had such a great time there that we decided to go back this year. We picked the right week as we had no rain at all! We toured Picton, did a couple of hikes, stargazing with our 80 mm refractor telescope and ate lots of corn. The corn was amazing this year and we brought quite a bit home with us.
Rachael & Sam's August Visit
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Rachael & Sam came back for another visit to Ottawa in August. They had both just turned 18 and so we baked them a cake!
A Hike Downtown
We actually had a rain-free day today and so decided to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures with a hike downtown. We took the bus to Lees station and then walked to the Old Ottawa East Main Street, along the Queen Elisabeth Drive to the Byward Market. After buying some bagels we hiked to the Rideau River and south to Hurdman station to catch the bus home, a total of about 9 km of walking.
Our Back Garden in July
Ruth takes care of our back garden plants and this year she has done quite well. Here in mid-summer we have quite a number of Icelandic Poppies, Nasturtiums and Hostas, along with some other wild flowers all in bloom at the same time. With our Honey Locust tree now big enough to give some shade, it is very pleasant to lie on the swing and read in the afternoons with all the colourful flowers around.
Urban Bike Trip
The hot and humid weather that we have had since July started abated today with the passing of a cold front. We took this opportunity to put our bikes on the O-Train and do a 31 km trip starting from Bayview Station on the Ottawa River. The route took us west along the Ottawa River and down the Pinecrest Creek and then through the Experimental Farm, across Hartwell's Lock, Hog's Back, a picnic lunch at Mooney's Bay and back home. It was a beautiful ride!
Climate Change
Today was Canada Day and that means things are a bit nutty downtown on Parliament Hill. We decided to do something else and go for a hike instead. So we took the bus to the western part of town to hike trail 28 in the greenbelt there. It was a short hike. Usually at this time of year the trails are dry and the bugs mostly gone. Due to climate change we have had a lot of rain in the past two months, however and so the mosquitoes were thick. We had to wear our bug shirts, which we had the foresight to bring along. Then we discovered that the trails were flooded and impassable. We settled for an "urban 10 km hike" instead.
Rachael & Sam Visit
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In the end of June, after high school graduation was done, Rachael and her friend Sam came up to Ottawa for a visit.
Ruth's Henry Kelsey Roses
Historically Ruth has had a hard time growing roses. Last year she decided to try the ultra-hardy explorer series and got a Henry Kelsey rose bush. It did pretty well last year and sat under the mountains of snow this past winter. Ruth was worried if it would bloom again. Just this week it exploded into dozens of blooms. Ruth is amazed!
Hiking the Ottawa River Trail
This past weekend it rained - more than 2 inches fell. Today we had a break from the rain and a really nice sunny day, so we decided to do the 12.2 km hike from the Aviation Museum at Rockcliffe, along the Ottawa River Trail to Place d'Orleans.
Scenes from the Net Neutrality Rally on Parliament Hill
There was a very successful rally for internet neutrality held on . Adam was there along with about 500 other people, including NDP MP Charlie Angus and Liberal MP The Honourable Mauril Bélanger, who both spoke in support. The Conservatives were noticeably absent, although CBC covered the event.
Photos from Derek & Wendy's Garden and Cruise
Adam's father and his wife, Wendy, sent us some photos from their recent cruise and also from their garden. The garden looks pretty green and lush.
Bicycling to Kars Airport
Finally, after a week of rain and wind, we had a beautiful weekend. We decided to make a bike trip to the airport at Kars, south of Ottawa to watch the gliders at the Rideau Valley Soaring Club fly. So we packed a picnic lunch and biked down there. The whole trip was 71.7 km on the GPS, but it was good exercise! The bikes performed well until Adam got a flat tire just 100m from home!
The Main Street Farmers' Market
This Saturday we went out to a new farmer's market on Old Ottawa East's Main Street at St. Paul University. This one just started up last year and is fairly small. The variety of goods was pretty good, but some of the prices were outrageous. We priced bags of salad greens against the grocery store prices and the farmers are ten to twenty times the price per unit volume. It worked out to $44.00 per kg compared to $5.49 at the grocery store! It seems to me that with low transportation costs and almost no overhead that Farmer's Markets should be cheaper than the grocery store. They seem to think that they are "boutiques".
Our Garden in May
This past winter lasted a little longer than most around here do. As a result our garden has been a little slower growing than other years. Here are a few photos of how it looks so far.
At the Canadian Tulip Festival
Ruth's birthday always falls in the middle of the Tulip Festival here in Ottawa. We decided to celebrate with a trip to go and see the masses of tulips at Commissioner's Park near Dows Lake. We went a day ahead of Ruth's birthday because today was so warm and sunny, whereas her actual birthday is forecast to be rainy.
Cycling to Rideau Falls
Since the Colonel By Drive closings to motorized traffic don't start until next weekend, for a Sunday out we decided to go biking to Rideau Falls, in downtown Ottawa. The day was beautiful and 20C. We brought a picnic lunch and covered the 36 km in about three hours. Aside from the falls, one of the highlights was seeing the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial, honouring Canadian volunteers who fought with the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War
Ottawa Farmers' Market
Sunday May the 4th was a bit cool and rainy, but we hiked the 14 km to Landsdowne Park and back to see the first version of the Ottawa Farmers' Market for . There wasn't much in the way of fruits or vegetables at this time of year, of course, but there was lots of maple syrup, honey and bread on sale there.
Cycling to the Byward Market
Sunday April 27th was a brilliantly sunny day, so we decided to bicycle north along the Rideau Canal to the Byward Market downtown for lunch. It is a distance of 32 km, so it took most of the middle part of the day. The canal itself is still in a "drained" state, not yet ready for the boating season.
Simon's Visit
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Simon came to Ottawa for a meeting and stayed with us. We did lots of fun things like going to the Canada Aviation Museum and Quebec, too.
Simon's photos:
Nick & Rachael's Easter Visit
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Long story short...Rachael and Nick made it here for Easter.
Monster Killer Death Snowstorm
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They said we would get a 36 hour snowstorm. They were right! We officially got 56 centimetres of the stuff.
Lunar Eclipse
On 20 February we had clear skies for a beautiful lunar eclipse.
Winterlude
Since we took a day off skiing on 17 February we decided to go downtown and check out the ice sculptures, Beavertails and the Rideau Canal at Winterlude, Ottawa's annual winter festival.
