Totally interesting willow tree on the river path in Stratford. Spike can be seen trying to have duck for lunch.
These are close-ups of the bark from the afore mentioned tree.
Bark!!

Meet Norm and Pauline Sweetride. They came from South Bend Indiana with their dog "Shirley" to take in the theatre at Stratford on Avon...Ontario....Canada. They have no children...or so they say, and this old girl is their surrogate daughter...pampered beyond belief!!

Here's another one of my crappy hummingbird shots. When will I ever learn to choose the right shutter speed?

Mikes!

You know how some times you see some life form that has obviously had a hard life....and you wonder " what the heck happened here ". That windswept, group of sevenesque, hard scarred tree line of lake Nippissing, anywhere near Sudbury kind of botanical misery, it's eerie. I wish I was this tree's literary agent. Such an obviously abusive childhood should not go unexplained. If anyone has even the remotest idea as to how this might have happened....please.... let me know!!

Hey everybody......It's Howdy Doody Time!!!!

The powers that be, here in Kitchener, finally decided that we could have small open fires in our back yards. Taking inspiration from my many northern friends, I got one of those high end fire pits that we all know and love. After reading the instructions it was pretty easy to put together. A tip of the hat goes to Orphan Boy Walpole for his excellent last minute suggestions!!

They even had docking bays for babies....yikes!!
Kathy, who claims to hate old cars, really liked this old T-bird....mmmm!!

Here are some examples of the good ones.
Kathy and I went to the St. George apple festival today and baby...what a snooze fest. It seems every small town in the world is trying to cash in on some local anomaly. The first thing you notice as you drive into town are the incredibly well preserved homes, beautifully maintained. Just kidding, this piece of crap stood out for it's innate crapiness, it's actually a pretty little place.

It's car quiz time again kids. What is it....a Lotus super7 or a Caterham. In this case, I really don't know, they all look the same to me!

The front gardens are so happy this year. It's amazing what a little weeding will do.

One more interesting house from Cabbage Town. Subtle architectural changes really enhance some of these older homes.

A friend and I went to Leamington on the weekend for a Fkia family reunion. I could not resist taking this picture of an old motel with modern amenities....right out of the 70's. In the background one of the original Heinz factories can be seen, including the giant smoke stack. Most of my family have worked here at one time or another and it is also the sole source of the famous Heinz catsup!! ( original spelling )

Nuff said!!

Okay, this is the last of the Cabbagetown shots. This original Picasso was going for a very reasonable $80.00.....with the cat thrown in for free!!

Some more cuteness from Cabbagetown. The top house is a stylish retrofit while the bottom house has that fake river rock on it. They both look great in their own way.

One of the vendors at the Cabbagetown Festival....he seems slightly pissed off at me for taking his picture. I told him that digital cameras take a much smaller portion of the soul that do film cameras. He was not impressed!!

I'm from Toronto. I haven't live there in 20 plus years and I have not been to Cabbagetown in 30 plus years. O...my....god, what a transformation. Instead of rental slums it is now chock a block with million dollar homes. I swear I saw every rich hippie in the city, Saab's and BMW's safely ensconced in their driveways, on Saturday, during what turns out to be the Cabbagetown Festival. There was a craft show that was so costly that they had 4 portable ATM's. Anyway, if you get a chance, go and see this amazing section of the city where you can pick up a fixer upper for 6 or 7 hundred thousand dollars. Incredible!!!

Spike and I are off to Toronto for the weekend. We are especially looking forward to the cabbage roll festival. Spike will be farty all weekend, but it's worth it!

The view from the hammock.....there's nothing like it after a hard day of smashing rocks with my bare hands, just to make a little aquarium gravel!!

A herd of Menonites getting ready to jump off the wall and into the Elora Gorge......like lemmings!!

Mr Fkia and Spike taking a well deserved rest after a hard day of putting out fires. The hammock is a great way to efficiently pass wind undetected.

A friend and I went to the Elora Gorge yesterday. We took full advantage of the hiking trails and came across quit a few nooks and crannies along the way. I had not been there in years ....what a fabulous resource to have so close to home!!