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

National Day of Honour 9 May 2014

Today on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, we mark the end of the 12 year campaign in Afghanistan. An impressive military display and 700 men and women of the Armed Forces have gathered for this ceremony. We remember our 158 dead and thousands of injured and the 40,000 who participated in this long war.

Greetings and thanks where sent by our Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II and a Royal Proclamation was made by the Commander in Chief and Governor General the Right Honourable David Johnstone to mark this day.

H.E. The Governor General David Johnston in the Hall of Honour of Parliament.

Though we were told this mission was one of Peace Keeping it quickly became a war, the longest one fought by Canadians in a foreign land. We may well ask for what?  No one knowns what the future holds for Afghanistan and what benefit if any will come of this war. We can only hope for the best.

We can be proud of our soldiers who did their very best in often very difficult circumstances and thank them.

Afghanistan Service Medal worn by Canadian Soldiers

Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan saluting our Flag.

The last Canadian flag to have flown at Canadian HQ in Kabul, Afghanistan was brought back to Canada and a special baton was designed for it. A relay was organized from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to Ottawa. The team of runners were injured and handicap Canadian Armed Forces personnel. There was some political controversy as to whom would be receiving the baton on Parliament Hill. By right the Commander in Chief and Governor General should receive this flag from the veteran runners however the Prime Minister had managed to present himself as the recipient. At the last moment, with mounting protests from various Canadians, protocol was respected and the GG as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces received the flag which will now be displayed in the Hall of Honour of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.   

Handicap and injured Canadian Forces Veterans carrying the Baton containing the last Canadian Flag 

Since it is Spring how about a little trip to Rome

Found this wonderful video of Rome from the skies, probably shot in the early morning which explains why there are so few people. Beautiful really, I should have been now in Rome for a month but my travel plans changed and I am here instead. May and October are the best months to visit weather wise and also just before or just after the hoards of tourists. Just enjoy it.

Un peu de musique de 1976

1976 the year of the Olympic Games in Montreal, the year I entered University, the year I moved to Ottawa.

Gérard Lenorman, a French singer had this enormous song hit which to this day is still very popular because for so many it brings back memories of their youth. Radio-Canada was playing it this morning.

I noticed this morning looking out my window that the Rideau Canal has reached almost its Summer Season water level, meaning that soon pleasure boats will be sailing by our home. Friday the Tulip Festival starts and with it the tourist season.

Here is Les Clés, a song from 1976 by Gérard Lenorman.

A new APP, National Gallery of Canada

I am getting involved at the National Gallery of Canada with promotion and I have ideas on how this wonderful museum can promote itself.

Here is a new app about the NGC, have a look.

Montreal Canadien in 6

I do not follow Hockey until this happens and then I become instantly a Hockey Fan.
We are now in the playoffs and the Montreal Canadien is playing against the Boston Bruins.
As we all know the Bruins are nasty people and underhanded and do not deserve to win the Stanley Cup. So this is why I am predicting the Montreal Canadien will win the Cup in 6 matches.

If you look closely you can see Justin Trudeau our next Prime Minister in the House of Commons sporting a Montreal Canadien jersey. While the evil Harper is suspected of supporting the Bruins.

Farmer's Market must be Spring

In the last 10 years there has been an explosion of Farmer's Market selling organic certified foods in and around the Capital. Once there was the ByWard Market in Lower Town below Parliament Hill and then there was the Parkdale Market but now there are many more venues. It must be Spring because the Farmer's Market calendar is out and so are the names of all the farmers and merchants involved. Ottawa has been for decades very much a town where people want organic and biological meats, cheese and produced, there is a large movement around those issues and heritage varieties have also made a strong comeback.

http://ottawafarmersmarket.ca

We also have a newish program which we discovered through our friend C.P. last summer which is a Harvest Market called Farm Works which runs all Summer and early Fall, all profits go to an organization which helps homeless young adults 16-30 years old to learn a skill about food, farming and agriculture. With this learned trade they can in turn find employment options in agriculture, horticulture or hospitality industry.

www.operationcomehome.ca

Last summer we got a lot of produce from our friend who introduced us to this program. So this year we decided to support Farm Works.

Now when Parks Canada start raising the water level on the Rideau Canal which should happen in the next few days we will know that the bad days of Winter are gone.  The Tulips have started to grow so we are looking forward to the Festival from 9-19 May 2014 which coincides with the first long weekend usually used to cleaning up the Cottage and having a bar-b-q to celebrate Queen Victoria's Birthday, she's 195 years young. Canada is the last place on Earth apparently still celebrating her Anniversary.

http://tulipfestival.ca

Tulip growth in the beds on the Rideau Canal