…thanks to Jez for hosting Water, Water Everywhere https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2021/02/01/melting-water-water-everywhere-62/
On my walks I’m most happiest when I’m near water. Here are some of the lakes, creeks and ponds that I’ve passed in the last couple of weeks. Grenadier Pond, Lake Ontario, Twenty Mile Creek and Black Creek.
…thanks to Dan of No Facilities for hosting Thursday Doors, https://nofacilities.com/2021/02/04/author-author-thursday-doors/
On Wednesday my husband and I got in the car and headed north west to Halton Hills and the Limestone Conservation Area. The conservation area is an extension of the Niagara Escarpment and three trails run through it. One of the trails is the Bruce Trail. The highlight for us were the Lime Kilns that once produced limestone blocks in the 1800s and ceased production in 1917.
This time of year the trails are not maintained and can be somewhat treacherous because of the ice. This was especially true near the stone arch bridge. A new bridge has been built parallel to it but the steps were very icy and it took me quite some time to safely navigate this slippery slope. I thought that the barrel style structures were a different style of kiln but after doing some research I discovered that these building were the powder houses where the explosives, used to blast out the limestone, were stored. Black Creek is the waterway that surges under the bridge and with the snow and ice I found the setting very picturesque.
In the town of Limehouse sits an old church which is now the Limehouse Memorial Centre. Limehouse was first settled in 1820. By the 1840’s limestone quarrying and “burning” of limestone in kilns to make lime, had begun. The Grand Trunk Railway built its line through Limehouse in 1856 which required 200 workers and their families to settle in the area.(from Wikipedia)
Today about 800 people live in Limehouse. There are several farms in the area where racing horses and wild boar are raised.
….I continue to find lost items on my walks
….thanks to Xingfu Mama for hosting Pull Up a Seat and Becky B for January Squares https://xingfumama.blog/2021/01/15/pull-up-a-seat-photo-challenge-2021-week-3/ https://beckybofwinchester.com/2021/01/15/square-up-15/
I rarely combine two challenges into one but this shot in High Park today worked for Pull Up a Seat and January Squares. Day 15.
I’m a little behind so I’m catching up with three squares today. The next two are for days 13 and 14. The first one is Looking Up the Path. The path is almost completely hidden because of the leaves but there is a path there and the following photo is Uprooted. In the naturalized area of High Park the trees fall naturally when they die unless they are a hazard to the walkers and then they are cut down to avoid any accidents.
…thanks to Jez for hosting Water Water Everywhere https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2021/01/04/frozen-lochan-water-water-everywhere-58/
On our daily walk today it was a bit drizzly but mild. Most of the snow has melted leaving lots of icy patches and puddles. Not only were we surrounded by the waters of Lake Ontario but we had to step carefully around and over these wet patches on the path.
….on Christmas Eve
We decided as a family this year to celebrate Christmas in our homes and connect via Zoom. On Christmas Eve, early in the afternoon our kids drove to our house to drop off and pick up gifts. Gaelan ordered special donuts to share with everyone. It was not a particularly nice day but our meeting took place between rain showers so we also managed to get in a walk to to the park at the bottom of our street.
Everyone wore their masks, some more festive than others and some of us wore our special hats and antlers.
I even got Frances to get into the festive spirit for all of 10 seconds. My husband said she’s slowing down in her old age.
Our get together was short because we all had to get back home and do a Zoom Christmas with Brendan and his family in London, England. It was Sevin’s first Christmas and it was fun watching her open her gifts from the family.
…makes for a brisk walk in the park
As winter approaches we still make an effort to go for walks. Putting on my down coat, scarf, mittens and a hat makes the walk bearable and when the sun shines even pleasant. We had another one of those beautiful days on Sunday.
….Nov. 29th proved to be an awesome day for a walk
I’m so happy that my husband and I could enjoy one more mild day in November and get out for our longest walk yet. We were in good company. I think half the neighbourhood decided to take advantage of this good weather.
One pleasant surprise was seeing the para sailors out with their kites on the water. I’m sure the Lake must be very cold but that didn’t deter these hearty souls from enjoying skimming across the water and flipping through the air.
I said earlier that this is the longest walk we’ve done in awhile. My husband managed to make it all the way to the point and back which is approximately 4.6 kilometres. The cyclist, dog walkers and even the fishermen were out on Sunday. It’s a good thing we all took advantage of the good weather because the last day of November turned out to be cold, grey and rainy.
….today’s walk with Kevin
While the weather is still somewhat pleasant and my husband is feeling relatively well, we’ve been taking walks together around the neighbourhood and over to the parks. Today we got as far Col. Sam Smith Park and headed up towards Humber College.
I love the grounds and the old buildings of the south campus. These building used to be part of the old psychiatric hospital that closed down in the the late 70s. The buildings were all restored to their former glory but instead of hospital wards they became classrooms and offices for Humber College. Some of you might even recognize one of the buildings that was used in the Police Academy movies before the restoration took place.
Now that the leaves have all fallen I found it interesting to shoot some of these old buildings through the branches for a slightly different perspective.
Mama Cormier 