Self Portraits

Art Camp Kids created their own self portraits.... on display in a Main Street window.

I'm in there too, just a vague reflection.

This Blog Is Coming To You From ...

... my computer room.

The filing cabinets on the left are where I keep all the important stuff... car insurance, house insurance, income tax returns etc. Over there on shelf on the right are all my Family History binders. The cabinets on the right hold yarn, knitting needles, glue gun, ink, pens, paints, all the crafty stuff. On the wall... clock in the shape of a gas meter... Retirement present!

Okay, I know it's messy, but I know where everything is. Honest!

The photos on the desk are of my parents wedding. The computer was inherited from YoungerSon when he decided to build his own. There's Spot hanging into the lamp, and there's The Space Cadet watching over me from his frame on top of the monitor, accompanied by a little silver wombat from Australia.
OOOPS there's also a used lunch plate that didn't make it as far as the dishwasher!

Pocket Pals

See the resemblance?

For more Chinese Lantern posts - Parts 1 and 2, please scroll down.

Chinese Lantern Festival - Part 2

As promised, the animals. This is a very small sample of the animals represented in these fantastic lanterns. Animals from all corners of the world.
Below, a platypus emerging from an egg.

A peacock in full display.

A whole herd of elephants were grazing on the shore of Lake Ontario.... this is the baby of the family......

.... but I hope he's watching out for the leopards and the tigers. They look hungry.

To the Arctic where the polar bears live....

........ and of course, the Antarctic to see the penguins.

Not only are these lanterns spectacular at night, they also MOVE!

For those of you who like numbers:

68 days to transport the materials from Zigong, China, and to construct the sets.

64 Master Craftsmen to build them.

280,000 metres of silk.

Over 95 tons of steel for the frames.

120,000 lights.

150 12 litre containers of weather resistant glue.

Over 16 km of electrical wire.

6 generators providing 1,215,000 watts of electricity.

32 lantern installations total including 300 animal lanterns.

When this show is over in October, all the lanterns will be destroyed, and work begins on a new set for 2009.

For Chinese Lanterns Part 1 - scroll down.

Chinese Lantern Festival - Part 1

This is the third year for the Chinese Lantern Festival. I've been wanting to go every year, and last week we finally made it!

The 32 elaborate, enormous lantern installations are constructed by 64 Master Craftsmen and women in Zigong, China, and are shipped to Canada, and assmbled at Ontario Place. This year's lanterns feature animals, dinosaurs, and marine life, as well as some of the world’s architectural wonders.

The Houses of Parliament, London, England, with the huge clock tower that is affectionately known as Big Ben. The white spots are raindrops on the camera lens... we went on the rainiest night of the year I think!

And of course, you can't visit London without riding on a red Double Decker bus!

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, was commissioned by the fifth Mughal Emporer as a tribute to his second wife in 1631. It doesn't say what happened to his first wife.

The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood is one of the main Orthodox Cathedrals of St Petersburg, Russia, named for Tsar Alexander II who was killed on this site in 1881.

Egypt... the Pyramids, the Temples, the Sphinx. Pharaoh Ramses would have been proud!

The Parthenon was built on the Athens Acropolis in the 5th century BC. You can see the scale of these lanterns by the silhouettes of the people at bottom right.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the USA in 1886. The 151' tall statue stands on Liberty Island, New York. Her crown represents the Seven Seas and the Seven Continents, her torch represents enlightenment, and her tablet signifies knowledge.

Incredible to think that some of these huge installations are 50' high and 300' long, and are constructed of steel wire frames with coloured silk fabric stretched over them, and lit from inside.

Next post.... some of the animal lanterns.

Silver Medal

There was a noisy parade along Main Street to honour a Very Important Celebrity this weekend. Important enough to be led by the Fire Trucks with their lights flashing and the sirens wailing, and followed by a posse of police cars.

Who was it? Visiting Royalty? The Prime Minister? Paris Hilton? No, someone far more important. The children of the Stouffville Christian School had prepared a very special welcome banner.

You noticed the Olympic Rings? Our Celebrity is Karen Cockburn, 2008 Silver Medallist in Women's Trampoline in Beijing.

Karen lives right here, in our small town. The Mayor declared September 13th as "Karen Cockburn Day".

Karen and her husband Mathieu Turgeon are both Olympic Medallists in Trampoline. Karen won Bronze in 2000, and Silver in both 2004 and 2008, and she has plans to compete in 2012 in London. Matt won Bronze in 2000.

Karen was presented with awards from our Mayor, and from both levels of Govenment, Provincial and Federal.

Karen and Matt spent some time signing autographs for a huge crowd of fans, here signing a Certificate for Lui Temelkovski, Member of Parliament.

Way to go, Karen, Congratulations!

And way to go Stouffville, for putting on a party to honour our own Olympic Champion!

Pear Tree Bonanza!

The back yard pear tree has surpassed all expectations this year. But poor old tree, he's about 40 years old and he's hollow right up the middle. He was so loaded with pears that three large branches have broken off and come crashing down, scattering pears everywhere.

The squirrels have been having a field day, and last week the tree was invaded by a huge flock of quarrelling starlings looking for dinner.
We picked two big buckets full of pears from the lower branches, but there's loads of fruit higher up. The fruit was peeled, cut, cooked, layered overnight with sugar, cooked again in the syrup (with a little bit of ginger to add that spicy tang), then sealed in jars.

Twelve pounds of pears made eight jars.

Some summer sunshine to be enjoyed on a winter day.

Luckily we only have one crummy back alley street in this small town, and this is it. This old door is around the corner from here.

The metal plaque on the door is designed to keep the bad guys away.

Perhaps it's not really needed any more.

There's probably nothing left to steal.

Mr C Finds a Friend

Callum says "It's taken me six months to get myself a friend....

.... and now I find he's been here all along!"

Mystery Door

I wonder what happened here... (click to enlarge)

Any suggestions? Give me your version of the story.

You say TomAYto and I say TomAHto...

I planted three tomato plants in the spring... one red, one yellow and one Tiny Tom... the little sweet ones.

So now, it's tomAHtoes with everything!

Or should that be tomAYtoes?

Oh, let's call the whole thing off!

Short Back and Sides, Please!

The only way to get all the mud and spiky little green seeds out of Tessa's coat after last week's mudbath was a complete luxurious (and expensive) makeover at the doggy spa...

.... and now look how pretty she is!

September

In spite of having just enjoyed the warmest weekend of the summer.............

................there's a hint of Autumn in the air.