Holiday Monday walk

From my front door I can go either North or South and walk in a park at all times. The Rideau Canal which 214 Km long, provides in the heart of the City this great green park. It was built in 1832 and cost a fortune, it was to be used for military purposes but never was.

I went South today towards the renovated Lansdowne Park. A quiet leafy residential area of great houses which is part of the Glebe neighbourhood. The area is so quiet that you think that you are in the countryside and forget that you are in the middle of a City of 1 million people.

 Canadian Winter Olympic Monument at Lansdowne Park

This funny little island in the middle of the Canal is a protected area and I do not know why, it is simply a tuft of green surrounded by water. The other side of the Canal is called Old Ottawa South, it was the southern limit of the city until 1960. There was only fields beyond that point, the area is like a finger between the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal, with lots of very nice houses built in the 1940's and 1950's.

The National Capital Commission is responsible to keep the area clean and plants the numerous flower beds. The flower beds are planted with tulips in April and then in June with more Summer flowers.

This small inlet was once part of the canal and now stands cut from it by a road. When the canal was built this inlet was a staging area for the engineers and workers.

 We are just North of Dow's Lake a former large swamp flooded by the Corps of Royal Engineers to make a lake below Hog's Back Falls. 

View from our apartment looking North towards the Campus of University of Ottawa.

 This area is still not finished the barricades will be removed and it is to become a skating rink in winter and a water plaza in summer. The lowest building in this photo in red brick is the renovated Horticultural building which was moved on rails from Bank street to the East Side of the park a distance of about 350 meters. The modern buildings are part of the shopping complex and the tower at the back is a new condo building, unfortunately a lot of this architecture is in a brutalist modern style.

The old Aberdeen Cattle Palace, c.1898 at Landsdowne Park, originally the park was on the outskirts of the City and was used as a horse race track and for agricultural fairs annually. Farmers from the Valley would come to Ottawa to exhibit all manner of farm products and animals. The Governor General would give out prizes. Later a Football Stadium was built, it was demolished 2 years ago and a new stadium built for football and for soccer. The Aberdeen Cattle Palace is now used for all kinds of events. The large green space in front is new, it was a parking lot until very recently. There is now only a very small parking lot underground for permit holders only. If you wish to come to the Stadium for a game you can walk or take the free shuttle buses. It is not possible to park your car anywhere. The New Lansdowne Park opens 16 August and the shopping retail area will open in November. I still want to visit the grounds once it is open to the public to have a good look around.

Tulips and gardens

This is the first weekend of the Tulip Festival in Ottawa a tradition which was started many decades ago when the Queen of the Netherlands, Juliana in recognition for the protection given to her and the Royal Family during the Second World War gave a generous gift of Tulip bulbs to the Capital.

HRH Alexander Lord Athlone, Governor General of Canada

Her family lived in Ottawa at Stornoway in Rockcliffe Park. They arrived by boat at Montreal and then took the train to Montebello where HRH the Governor General Sir Alexander Frederick Augustus Prince of Teck, Lord Athlone met them to escort them to Ottawa. Princess Magriet of the Netherlands was born in Ottawa in 1943 at the Civic Hospital. So this Tulip Festival is forever tied to Holland and Canada and the Royal Dutch Family.

HRH Princess Magriet of the Netherlands, she is known as Canada's Princess.

The tulip displays around the Capital are impressive, Dow's Lake, the gardens behind the Chateau Laurier,  along the Rideau Canal on Queen Elizabeth Drive and along commercial streets like Bank street, all very colourful. 

 This year we have these miniature Turkish Sultan Tulips by the thousands on the banks of the Rideau Canal in front of our house.

 They are quite small, about the size of an index finger 

 Other beds of tulips along the Canal by our house.

A riot of colours.

Now more photos but from Dow's Lake, an artificial lake created 180 years ago when the Royal engineers flooded what was a gigantic swamp below Hog's back Falls.

 The park around the lake is quite beautiful in all Seasons

 The real Estate is also beautiful, stately homes with prices to match, there is a whole neighbourhood around Dow's Lake which stretches down for kilometres on the Queen Elizabeth Drive.

On the other side of the Lake is the Arboretum which rare trees, it is part of the larger Experimental Farm which is an enormous area in the centre of the city.

 There are several giant topiary at Dow's Lake

 Daffodil's compliment the grounds

 Also dozens of papier maché tulips hand painted by various artists on a theme of their choosing

Well worth a visit to see so many beautiful flowers 

So today it was our turn to do our little garden, on our balcony. We went to Ritchie Feed and Seed a venerable company in Ottawa for I do not know how many decades with a solid reputation for all things garden, plants, flowers and seeds on Windmill Road at Cyrville Road.

We looked around and found some Regal Geranium a type of geranium I had never seen before quite different. We also got German Ivy and Colius and a hanging basket but I cannot remember the name of the plant though the flower is a lovely red. There is also another type of ivy with a beautiful small white flower. 

The regal geranium some are a dark blood red and the other plants are a white pink and violet colour. The leaf is large and flat. 

We also put up a white trellis, so we are ready to entertain.

Regal geranium 

On one of the first warm days of the Spring-Summer 2014

7 January 2014 Christmas Season is Officially over!!!

So it is over, we had some fierce weather from 23 December onwards. We took down the decorations today house is back to normal.  It also means we now enter the dark period of winter, no festive lights, it's winter and the reality of icy sidewalks and difficult driving conditions, cold unpleasant weather and dark days with little sunlight is our lot.

            The tree waiting to be put away, puppies taking the morning sun. 

In Ottawa we will have a kind of, sort of bureaucratically nice Festival called Winterlude Jan. 31 to Feb. 17.
Last year the weather cooperated and the ice sculptures at Confederation Park where interesting. Skating on the Rideau Canal was good. Hopefully this year the weather will stay sufficiently cold for all the outdoor activities, if not it can be a watery mess. Winterlude is really a weekend carnival of sorts, all activities are concentrated on the weekends of the festival with nothing much happening during the week. The activities are mostly about skating on the canal with activities for children.
Though it is 30 years old it seems that the organizers have not much thought about what else they could do to make this festival more interesting to visiting tourists from abroad and for the population in general.

Until the May Tulip Festival that is pretty much all there is in Ottawa, meaning this is the worst of time in the Capital. Lucky those who can escape to Florida or warmer climes wherever they may be.

For me it will be a return to my volunteer activities, reading and being a pillow to my dogs.
I am reading the new biography of Johnny Cash by Robert Hilbrun, a fascinating book, I can see why it got such good reviews.  I am not a Cash fan but he was a popular music figure while I grew up and remember him from the 1970's.

As for being a pillow for my dogs, well the hounds have decided that they can just sleep on us whenever they feel like it. Just climb on top and make themselves comfortable. They go into a deep sleep and weigh more than elephants. After a while you have to move them, to which they do not take kindly, giving you sleepy eyes dirty looks, uncomprehending.

Of course Nicky can be bought off for the price of a cookie, just say the word ''Biscuit'' and he stares at you the way wolves do before the kill. Biscuit is an important word not to be fooled with. Nora is the same though not so obvious. She also will make herself comfortable on you but you won't be, it is very one sided. Hounds will be hounds I suppose.

Sunday in Autumn

Today was a beautiful sunny Autumn day. The air was crisp and the colours bright in the sunlight. The Rideau Canal has been emptied over the Thanksgiving Weekend another boating season has come and gone. It is now full of ducks and Canada geese who just sun themselves and pick at the fish in shallow waters.

Took a few pictures of the Canal now drained for winter, ready to be turned into a skating rink. Hopefully the weather this coming winter will be cold enough for skaters. Last year we had good weather for skating, one of the best season in 20 years.

In the meantime we can enjoy a beautiful day. I looked at the weather for Rome and it appears that 20 to 22 C is the norm at this time of year. Warmer in Spain up to 25 C. easy to take, but still at night around 14 C so a sweater is in order. I got my European Nokia phone out today and charged it. I bought it in Italy 2 years ago for a fraction of what it would cost here in Canada. This way I have a local cel phone with a Roman number so I can call friends easily in town. I also bought a chip for the UK which I can use in the same phone. The phone and chip cost next to nothing when compared to what you have to pay in Canada.

 A rose bouquet brought to us by our friend J.H. the other night, beautiful

 The water in the Rideau Canal is very clear and you can see the fish swimming about.

 One of the many old and beautiful trees along the Canal

 The George Patterson inlet branching off from the Rideau Canal

Looking South towards Lansdowne Park

L'Action de Grâce, Dimanche 13 Octobre 2013

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday in Canada a celebration which comes to us from the end of the First World War in 1918. The Nation was thankful for Peace after a devastating war where 10% of the Canadian population of 8 million had gone to war in Europe. It gradually with the years became by the 1950's a Thanksgiving for the Harvest and the bounty that is Canada.

We went with our friends from Britain, J, G, and E to Merrickville on the Rideau Canal which is about 30 minutes away from Ottawa on Hwy 416 South.  A delightful little village of 9,000 people and a former site of great 18th century industries. The town was founded by Mr. Merrick an American turned Loyalist for the King George III in 1790. He was apparently dissastified with taxation in the New US Republic and the so-called Representation. So he migrated North and the King rewarded him with a generous land grant as he did with thousands of Americans who recanted their evil ideas of Republicanism.

Today beautiful stone buildings grace this small town and there are quite a few good restaurants.
It was another beautiful hot sunny day, very summer like for mid-October. We had a great traditional turkey lunch with all the trimmings including spicy squash soup and pumpkin pie at the Baldachin Inn on Saint-Laurent street a former 19th century department store turned Hotel. We then went shopping in the numerous boutiques on this main street. Bought some very nice mustards from Mrs. McGarrigle, home made jams, a jar of Fig Compote and Natural Soy wax candles made in Perth the next village in the valley which give scents of Mystic wood, Ginger Lime, Cinnamon. We also bought cheese, a St-Elizabeth Blue from Quebec which is truly wonderful and a Yorkshire Wesleydale and a sharp cheddar Cheese.

They have a lot of music festivals in Merrickville and a very nice outdoor Christmas Market on December 7.  www.christmasinmerrickville.ca It is also cottage country and very peaceful area. Just the perfect spot for lunch or an afternoon in the Ottawa valley.

 Stone buildings along St-Lawrence street, Merrickville, Ontario

 Rapids on the Rideau River at Merrickville.

 United Church and Baldachin Inn in Merrickville

Rideau Canal locks next to the Rideau River, the canal was built in 1827 to 1832 by the Royal Engineers. It starts in Ottawa and goes south towards Kingston on Lake Ontario, a distance of 200 Km.

Summer and Fer'Agosto

We have now entered into high summer vacation season in Europe and here in North America.

It has become one of my favourite times of the year. The city becomes more quiet and the gardens are in full bloom. The fruits are coming in for harvest. It is a time of relaxation.

Walking around the block, here are some views of the gardens and flower beds. It is also a season of renovations, it looks like every second neighbour is having his roof redone or some other improvement to the property. We live in a condo building, but here too a lot of repair and maintenance work has gone on. We are getting two new hardwood floors installed which will be very nice and also upgraded  bathrooms. So it gives us a new look for our third year in Ottawa.

Crab Apple trees

 Flowerbeds along the Rideau Canal, Ottawa

Boats on the Rideau Canal at McLeod Street

One of my favourite films for this time of the year was made 3 years ago by Gianni Di Gregorio, titled Pranzo di Ferragosto, filmed on location in Rome in the Trastevere neighbourhood. He employed his mother and her friends for this touching film of a luncheon on 15 August Ferragosto. Back then Romans still went away for a few weeks to the countryside or seaside. Now with the political and economic crisis fewer people can afford it and many stay in the Città. Though lunch with friends and family remains important.



Buon Ferragosto a tutti!

Poulenc for Lupercalia

This week we have Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Valentine's Day (Lupercalia) and Friday 15 February is Canadian Flag Day Proclamation (1965) so much celebration.

All ancient celebrations, Lupercalia is probably the oldest coming to us from Antiquity with a cosmetic change into Valentine's Day a few centuries ago by those Christian people. It is essentially a fertility rite. It is believed that it started with the founding of Rome in 753 BCE. It tells the story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by the She Wolf in a Cave below the Palatine Hill. It was announced in 2007 that the cave at been found and is located below the House of Emperor Augustus. It is under going restoration.

Mardi Gras is related to Lent and a Feast Day ending Carnivals celebrations. In Ottawa we had an excellent Winterlude this year, the weather was cold and the ice sculptures around Confederation Park where shining in the bright winter sunshine. Thousands of people skated on the 7.8 Km lenght of the Rideau Canal. At City Hall we had free figure skating shows by young skating champions accompanied by beautiful music. The City also re-used the Christmas trees it collects every year after the Holiday Season to create hedges of greenery which topped with fresh snow and coloured lights has a magical effect amongst the Ice sculptures in the park.

Winterlude old Canada treats

Ice Skating show at Ottawa City Hall

Skating on the UNESCO Rideau Canal

Ash Wednesday in the Christian Calendar 13 February 2013, not much mentioned nowadays in the age of ME First. I always liked it as a day of reflection. But then reflection nowadays is not much in fashion. We are 46 days prior to Easter and it is a time for Christians to reflect on life and death, life's choices and direction.

Friday is the birthday of the Canadian Flag (1965), 48 years ago the new red maple leaf was proclaimed on Parliament Hill by Queen Elizabeth II in the presence of the then Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1956) the Rt Hon. Lester B. Pearson. The original flag which flew that day from the Peace Tower of Parliament is now kept at the National Archives in Ottawa.

Finally why Poulenc for Lupercalia, well I wish to dedicate this piece of music to Will for Valentine's Day. Les Chemins de l'amour by Francis Poulenc, one of my favourite French music composer. Sung here by the great Yvonne Printemps.