Snow, Snow and More Snow

…it’s looking more like January than November 12th

Yesterday the snow started to fall and the temperature stayed below freezing so it didn’t melt. It just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. The leaves are still on the trees, my garden furniture isn’t put away and my snow tires are not on my car. Apparently we’ve set a record for the amount of snow that fell and the low temperatures that we experienced for this time of year.

Today my husband got up early and started shovelling the snow in front of our house and the homes of some of the neighbours and later in the day I had to spread de-icer on the stairs and the driveway. More snow on Thursday.

IMG-4362
IMG-4370
IMG-4372
IMG-4373
IMG-4398
IMG-4401

This last photo is of my snow tires waiting to go on the car but I couldn’t get an appointment until Dec. 11 to have them installed. I made the appointment a few days before this storm.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Creepy

…thanks to Leya for hosting this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge

Many of these photos were taken at art galleries in London, England and here in Toronto.   Others are from the Toronto zoo and from the Highgate Cemetery in London. The one of my son-in-law is a selfie he took because he knew he was being followed by that fox. Being followed by a fox is the creepy part for me not my son-in-law.IMG-0331
IMG-0356
IMG-3516
IMG-8265
IMG-8266
IMG-9042

IMG-1338
P1070420

9141cc2f-d2df-45db-9969-4fd18de85bc6
IMG-4106
IMG-4148

Happy Hallowe’en

….a wet night but that didn’t deter the trick or treaters

The weather for Hallowe’en was suppose to be so bad that there were parts of the country that were talking about postponing Hallowe’en night. Here in Toronto it was decided to leave Hallowe’en as is. We all have memories of going out on rainy and sometimes snowy nights to fill our bags with sugary treats. Back in the 50s crepe paper costumes were all the rage and I remember wearing one on a very wet night. Needless to say the costume fell apart and I was covered in dye that bled from the costume.

We never get a lot of children coming to our door. We are at the bottom of the street and many of our neighbours don’t turn on the lights or are purposely out for the evening. There are about five houses that always make an effort to decorate the yard and/or put out a Jack o Lantern. This year was no exception but it rained very heavily for most of the day and well into the evening. There were brief periods of time when the rain subsided but it kept returning and later in the evening the winds really started to kick up.

The surprise this evening was that the children and their parents came out in droves. Many carried umbrellas, some were driven from house to house but most of the children walked. At first it seemed like Hallowe’en night was going to be a bust but at about 6:45 small groups of kids of all ages started to appear at the door.

Normally we only get 15 to 25 visitors on Hallowe’en but tonight we had a record number of 62. I ran out of chips (56 bags) and only had 6 chocolate bars out of 120 left over. The only downside is that there is no candy to munch on for the next few days, especially since we don’t have any young children living at home any more. In hindsight it’s probably a good thing.

Here are a few photos of some of the decorations in the neighbourhood.

IMG-4206
IMG-4210
IMG-4211
IMG-4212
IMG-4214
IMG-4215
IMG-4217

Our pumpkin this year was a happy fellow and some of the kids allowed me take their photos.
IMG-4218
IMG-4219
IMG-4220
IMG-4221

Our granddaughter is posing next to her father’s amazing pumpkin. She was suppose to dress up as Belle and that’s why the pumpkin was carved in the Beast’s likeness. As you can see Winnie had other ideas and wore her Owlette costume from last year. My theory is that because her father dressed up as Spiderman she also had to wear a super hero costume.
7da3762c-bab9-4c4d-9616-0c2ecdb9000f
c2c87027-b161-42db-b5a9-06c00a61f5c1
1a186462-79cb-426e-b2f3-224713a51e13

You can see that it also rained in Hamilton but that didn’t keep Winnie from bringing in this large haul of goodies.
9ab8356a-f162-4c9c-8d70-f5e53d988310

Monday Window – October 21, 2019

….thanks to Monday Window  for hosting this challenge

From the car window

IMG-1827

From my bedroom window in April, in Toronto
IMG-1832

From my son’s window in London, England on the same day as above
aac26047-ecfa-4c54-90b4-79ae81637953

Painting the windows at Montgomery’s Inn
IMG-3812

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Curves, Circles and Arches

….thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

I think I got a little carried away with this one. fullsizeoutput-7138
IMG-8946
IMG-9088
IMG-9155
IMG-9180
fullsizeoutput-73a4
IMG-9204
IMG-9222
IMG-1816
IMG-1846
IMG-2294
IMG-2661
IMG-3392
IMG-3398
IMG-3522
IMG-3527
IMG-3872

Nature Walk

….on the weekend I took a stroll to the naturalized park close to home

It’s not often that our dog, Frances wants to go for long walks anymore. She’s almost 13 and she sleeps most of the day. On occasion, however, when she does want to go for a walk she’s seems to find the energy to make her way to Col. Sam Smith Park. On warm days she likes to go for a swim from one of the three beaches in the park but last weekend the water was a little too green for my liking so I didn’t tempt fate and kept her on her leash.

I love this time of year with the colours changing. Plants are producing berries and seed heads and the grasses are turning brown with lovely seed tops swaying in the wind. The bees are very active these days and the birds are getting ready to migrate. Here are a few of my favourite sightings from my walk last weekend.IMG-3880
IMG-3888
IMG-3889
IMG-3898
IMG-3901
IMG-3904
IMG-3905
IMG-3908
IMG-3912
IMG-3915
IMG-3930