Wha'???????

When Tucker and I go for walks, I always take my digital camera in hope that we will see something beautiful, interesting or maybe even something exciting like a moose or a bear. Well, while walking into the Gorge trail today my eye caught the sight of an unusual shape. Is it a critter? Or perhaps a strange person lurking on the side of the trail?

Can it be?? No way! How would it get here? Why would it be here?

Yes I was right. It's an office chair. A perfectly good office chair in the middle of nowhere. A chair that was tired of being cooped up in an office, day and night and night and day...day after day. And, at the first opportunity escaped.....into the wilds to be free......forever.

Tucker, perhaps sensing that this once tame beast was cautious, lest it be captured and returned to captivity, approaches with care. The chair, remains perfectly still, possibly playing possum until we are safely passed.

Autumn Colour

Corner Brook is beautiful, particularly at this time of the year. Here are some pictures to remind you guys what you are missing.

Tucker, enjoying some freedom in the Participark...


More of the Participark trail.......

A view of Margaret Bowater Park from the participark trail....

Another section of the same trail.....

And yet more Participark......

A small trail following the stream in Margaret Bowater Park....

A section of road following the pipeline from 3 Mile Dam...


Not to be upstaged by the autumn splendor, Tucker comes out of the woods adorned with leaves and pine needles . Very dashing, don't you think?

Herdman Revisited

You may or may not know that Herdman Collegiate is no more. Its been undergoing major renovations over the past few years and will reopen as the High School for the entire Corner Brook area and I think its new name will be Corner Brook High. Anyway I think during the renovations the spirits of the class of '72 must have been disturbed because over the past few weeks I have heard from and about several of my old friends that I haven't seen for years. Then, right out of the blue this week I had a phone call from an old friend (Doreen) saying that another old friend (Joan) was in town and perhaps we could round up a bunch of other old friends ( I'm overusing the word "old" aren't I)....so thanks to Dorreen we had a real blast from our past. A lot can happen in 36 years.



For the sake of easy recall I am using maiden names. In the back: Sharon Penny and Doreen Belbin. The others from left to right: Nancy Oxford, Sigrid Lundrigan, Moi, Joan White, Sue Kennedy, Barb Hicks.

Wild Mushroom Hunting

When I was in Algonquin park this summer I took this very cool picture of a very pretty mushroom. I think it looks like something from outerspace. I have no idea how to identify mushrooms. I assume you have to look at size and colour.

So I decided to take a walk through the woods in Corner Brook to see if I could find some more pretty 'shrooms and was very surprised at the variety. There was this one which was growing out of a mossy bank and has a crinkely top like a meringue cookie.

I found lots of these little wee orange mushrooms. This one was roundish but some were more flat topped.

I found some that were a delicate brown.

And others that were a deep rich brown.

And more that were larger, and very white.

From the October issue of Harrowsmith: "of the world's 12,000 species [of mushrooms] only about 20 are edible. Some can do you real harm, if not kill you." Needless to say I shall stick to taking pictures of them. I wouldn't eat one unless it was picked by a certified expert and prepared by an experienced chef...and then I would be asking the chef to take the first bite.

Tucker says that searching for mushrooms is very tiring work!

A dog's Life

I spent Labour Day weekend at my brother's cabin at Bonne Bay Pond. In all we were 3 adults, 2 children, 4 dogs. We all worked and played and had lots of fun. The dogs in particular took relaxing to a new level.


Cali and Jesse cuddled up together on the sofa.

Tucker prefers to nap alone.



And last but certainly not least...Mikki...You may recall from an earlier post that she is little, but can snore like a lumberjack!

Picture of the Day

This picture was taken a few days ago up along the pipeline. I'd never noticed yellow snails before. Like flowers, they hold still nicely to have their picture taken.

Week two - Ontario

Finally I am getting to week two of my great Ontario Adventure.

After I left Paula and her family in New Market, I set off for Toronto. There I met up with Cousin Elaine and we spent the day chatting and poking around downtown Toronto. We visited 3 churches. My favorite was The Church of the Holy Trinity. As you can see from this picture...the pews are not very comfortable. But the church itself has a very strong feeling of community.

Later in the day Elaine and I set off for Sara and Kelly's. We had a delicious meal with them and then spent the evening looking at family pictures and sharing stories. Thanks Kelly for putting up with us.

Sara and Elaine in front of Sara and Kelly's house. I didn't get any picutres of Kelly...sheesh!

Sara is making coffee for our breakfast. I just love, love their wonderful house. There is just so much to look at.

Including their two beautiful cats. This is Harry (a.k.a. little orange guy).

And this is Daisy. Daisy and I had an immediate bond.

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk to the Beaches. Part of our walk was through a ravine, where I took this picture of Sara taking a picture of Elaine taking a picture of some flowers.....

We had a great walk along the beach, where we saw some interesting sights, including this ghostly ship....

......and a very cool, goggle-wearing dog. City folks! What will they think of next???

After our stay in Toronto, Elaine and I headed to Woodstock. We had a great week that included attending a folk festival in Ingersol.

These children were making and wearing flower wreaths.

We went to Stratford to see The Music Man, which we really enjoyed. It was an extremely hot day so we spent as little time outside as possible, and we consoled ourselves with icecream at Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory. My new friend here was dressed in honor of the musical.

Gray decided he might like to go home with me. Elaine and Geoff said no! I'll bring a bigger suitcase next time Gray.