Cupcakes

OlderSon had a significant birthday recently, so we had a party to mark the occasion. And what's a birthday party without cupcakes?

Callum: I want a lellow one, please.
Daddy: Say YES.
Callum: Yes
Daddy: Say Yellow.
Callum: Lellow.
Daddy: Say YES.
Callum: Yes.
Daddy: Say YELLOW.
Callum: LELLOW.
Daddy: say Y.... oh well... Have a cupcake.
 

 Meanwhile Isaac made short work of his multicoloured choice.

Fantasyland

Continuing from the previous two posts, Tinkl's property is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. There's no place like it. Wherever you look, there's more to see.
Rainwater is channelled from his roof to circular concrete tanks. This one looks like it's been taken over by baby Triffids.... or what I imagine baby Triffids to look like.

And these naughty cats... get a room! I love the expressions on their faces.

 

This elegant bird's wings are made of glass dessert plates.

The creations of a fertile mind. If there's a wall or a shed or a roof available, it gets decorated. Click on the images to enlarge the naughty bits er... um... the details.

 Nothing goes to waste.... perhaps this is a portrait of the artist in the bath.

Send for the Army!

Continuing from my previous post, in another corner of his back yard, Viktor Tinkl has created his personal military force.

They march over the hill in two rows, wearing their steel helmets and their wooden rifles by their sides, determined looks on their faces, battle ready. Or are they in a purely defensive role? Each one is different. They have concrete faces and corrugated steel bodies.

But Tinkl's army never gets further than the crest of the hill. I'm sure they'd love to march down the slope, through the gate and on down the country road, an unstoppable invasion.

But there they stay, protecting their creator until the harsh Canadian winter weather will eventually reduce them to their basic components of wood, steel and concrete.

Concrete Evidence

The Aliens have landed.

They've been here for a while.

 

It's Artist's Studio Tour time in Ontario. And the first stop on my Uxbridge area tour every year has to be Viktor Tinkl's converted school house. It's not your everyday artist's studio. The tour brochure says "In 1965 Tinkl moved in and the concrete came out. Now the property is a fantasy of aqua-ducts and riots of figures."  

It certainly is!

It was an overcast dull morning when I visited, and many of my photos could be better, but you can see more pictures of his work taken on a sunnier day here.

 

Just wandering through his property takes me to another world. A world he has created for his own amusement. An extraordinary world of fantasy and imagination and horror and dedication and creativity and just plain weirdness.

 The artist in his garden, contemplating his next concrete creation. There are paths through the foliage and seats everywhere. Unique indeed. More pictures soon.

Ferrari Enzo goes for a Swim

The tenth anniversary of Targa Newfoundland has been happening on the island of Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada all this week.

You've never heard of Targa Newfoundland?

Targa Newfoundland is the only motorsport event of its kind to be held in North America. A 2200 kilometre rally course through stunning scenery covering a large part of the island. 'Targa' (or competitive) sections are held on roads closed to the general public and comprise 20% of the total course. The rest of the race is on public roads.

Drivers bring their cars and ther co-drivers and their support teams from far and wide.
There are classes for professional rally cars, and classes for your home grown fix-em-uppers.

And some people bring their Very Expensive Cars to take part.
This Ferrari Enzo is worth $1.5 million.... Uhoh! I don't think it's unscheduled dip in the ocean will do it much good. But I'll bet they'll be back racing in no time.

Read more about it here.

Daddy Long Legs

Maybe it's the time of year, or the weather conditions, or perhaps the current phase of the moon, but these creepy crane flies are everywhere!

Right now, there are three of them on the window screen, another five basking in the sun on my deck and lots more flying around my front door, waiting to come in as soon as I open it. I don't like them.

Where were you on 9/11?

With the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy in New York City coming up in a few days, I wonder where you were and what you were doing on that morning.

I searched the internet looking for a suitable photo to illustrate that awful day, but the pictures of the planes and the fires and the rubble are still too upsetting, so I found a picture of the World Trade Centre towers before life changed for the world, and the USA in particular.

I was driving to work listening to CBC Radio when the news announcer broke in with a bulletin saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Centre. My minds eye saw a small 2 or 4 seater plane getting lost above Manhattan, and taking a wrong turn, but when I got to work, I found I could not have been more wrong.

I tried to access the internet but nothing was working and I couldn't find out any more news, and then someone in the office said a second airliner had hit the other tower. I couldn't believe it. And then I realised.... it was deliberate! And then news of a third plane, and a fourth. Nobody got much work done that morning. A TV was set up in one of the conference rooms, and people spent most of the day in shock, listening to the news reports and viewing horrifying footage of the story that was unfolding in New York City and Washington.

That evening, most television programs were cancelled in favour of coverage of the news from NYC and DC. I watched for a while, then turned it off. I just couldn't watch any more, too horrible. But within a few minutes, I was compelled to turn it on again.... too horrible to ignore, I suppose. I couldn't comprehend how such a monstrous thing could happen, but it did.... and it could again. Let's hope and pray that it doesn't.

Where were you on 9/11?

September

A pinch and a punch, the first of the month.
And No Returns! Of Any Kind!

Does that take you back to your school days? The first of the month was always a good excuse to pinch and punch and otherwise abuse your friends (and enemies) and if you said it before they did, they couldn't legally get you back until next month. The law of the school playground.

September's here. Labour Day is the last long weekend of the summer and school resumes on Tuesday. Bye bye summer. I'm always sad to see the summer go, but September is beautiful. The leaves start to turn to red and gold, and the evenings have that chilly bite that makes me dig out those sweaters I packed away in the spring.

This is the sky yesterday morning at 6:00.a.m. when the sun came up.... stunning!

This weekend I spent an afternoon at Sharon Temple. If you're interested in this elegant building's history, I blogged about it here.

It's open to the public all summer, and is the venue for a variety of open air concerts, recitals and arts and crafts shows. There's a penny carnival in July when all the games activities and competitions cost just a penny. (Note to self.... must remember that for next year!)

Last weekend, it was home to a 3 day quilt show held by the local Gwillimbury Quilt Guild.

The inside of the Temple was transformed into a colourful display of hand made quilts, beautifully lit by the sun streaming in the huge windows. I wandered round with my camera, recording the colour combinations and patterns, hoping to take home some inspiration for future projects.

When I had enough of quilt admiration, I got myself a coffee and a yummy lemon cranberry muffin from the coffee shop across the road, and relaxed on a shady bench under a huge 100 year old maple tree in the Temple grounds..... a lovely end to a sunny afternoon.