Nipper

On the way to Cape Cod, we spent a night in Albany. Albany is the capital and oldest city in the State of New York. It was claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch in 1609, and has been a chartered city since 1686.

Lots to see in an old city like that, and a local guide came on the Big Red Bus to take us on a tour of the sights. We travelled the old streets through the city centre, passing the Dutch Reformed Church,  the Dutch Church, the Van Rensselaer Manor House, and the large homes of many of Albany's business leaders.  And there's a crazy theatre shaped like an egg!

But the sight I really wanted to see wasn't on the tour. I wanted to see Nipper!

Photo borrowed from internet.

Nipper stands (or sits) 28 feet (8.54m) tall on the roof of a warehouse in an industrial part of Albany. He weighs in at 4 tons and he's made of steel and fibreglass.  He's the last remaining Nipper of four brothers who were built in Chicago to advertise the RCA phonograph company, and he's been sitting on the roof since 1958.

Nipper's brothers in Chicago and Los Angeles don't exist any more, but he has a little brother in Baltimore who sits with a phonograph so he can listen to "His Master's Voice".

Apparently Nipper can appear with pink bunny ears at Easter, or a Santa hat at Christmas. Our only view of Nipper was from the highway as we left town. A big cheer went up from the riders of the Big Red Bus.

Travel Across the Border

One of my bloggers recently remarked that I must be the only Canadian he knows crossing the border into the USA these days. Well, not quite the only one, there were 26 of us on the Big Red Bus. (Although it seats 48 I believe. There were cancellations.)

We crossed into USA at the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie/Buffalo, no problems at all with the Customs Officers, everything went smoothly in spite of all sorts of stories about people being refused entry. We stopped at the Duty Free, and it was interesting to note we were the only bus in the big parking lot, along with 4 or 5 cars..... usually the place is thronging with shoppers. Nobody is travelling to USA.

When our Big Red Bus drove into the driveway at our hotel on Cape Cod in Eastham, Massachusetts, this is the scene that greeted us.

What a wonderful welcome! The Cape Cod area exists on tourism during the summer months, and although there were loads of Americans enjoying the area, Canadians are sorely missed. In many restaurants we were asked "Where are you folks from" and when we replied Toronto Canada, we heard lots of "Welcome! So glad you are here! Tell all your friends! etc etc" We heard heartbreaking stories about hundreds of hotel cancellations, and loss of income. And all because of one person. Sad.

Whale Watch

Last week I was on a 6 day bus trip to Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Base camp was a hotel in Eastham, and we explored the Cape visiting as many interesting places that we could squeeze into 4 days. The other 2 days were travel days. 

The highlight of the trip was the Whale Watch boat out of Provincetown. I used my little Nikon camera, but it was hard to see what I was photographing, so eventually I gave up, and just watched this group of five magnificent humpback whales as they swam by the boat. I'm convinced these intelligent creatures were just as interested in seeing us, as we were to see them. 

 

The individual whales were identifiable by the markings on their tails, visible as they dived down to lower depths. 

Black Locust

The local Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia) trees are blooming and when I walk near one of these trees, the perfume in the air is very strong.... sort of jasmine and vanilla and honey mixture, lovely.  Bees love these blossoms, and honey from black locusts has a distinctive flavour.  The flowers don't last long, but they are edible, and the trusty internet is full of forager recipes for salads and stir-fries and cookies and muffins. I haven' tried cooking the flowers, but I admit to chomping on a few when I thought nobody was looking. Mmmm nice and sweet!

Homeward Bound

 Driving home from the Blue Jays baseball game.

Oldest grandson Callum has passed his driving test so he was behind the wheel, with his dad riding shotgun.  A new experience to drive in Toronto traffic at night. I was in the back seat, keeping an eye on things. Always good policy to have a competent back seat driver!

Magnolia

It seems to be a bumper year for magnolia blossom around here. There are trees on every street absolutely loaded with the blossoms, all variations of purple and pink and white. They don't last long.

This yellow magnolia grows beside the pond near my house. It had no blossoms last spring as an early ice storm killed the flower buds. But this year it's making up for the loss. 

Note: That heron beside the pond looks intriguing but sorry, it isn't real, it's made of metal. But a real heron arrives most evenings and walks around the water's edge hunting for dinner.

Art Show 2025

Our annual Lemonville Group of Artists 2025 Art Show and Sale is over for another year, and was considered a success, even though the economy isn't flourishing right now.  A total of 23 paintings were sold over the 2.5 days.... actually a good number considering we are 14 people, a mixture of amateur artists, some have been painting for most of their lives, and some are beginners.

Three of mine are shown here, the lone tree with the purple sky in the first photo, and the long grass habitat and the blue reflection in the second pic. 

There's a lot to do to put on a show like this. We use a local Community Centre, and the Town workers  install the lights and the picture hanger wires, and set up the tables for us.  The art works are hung on Friday afternoon, ready for the opening at 7pm. Of course lots of advertising needed, signs to be installed in the neighbourhood, snacks and nibbles and lemonade to be provided to our patrons, wrapping for the sold pictures, soothing music in the background.

I was astonished (and very pleased) that I actually sold four pieces. It's very satisfying to think that something I created will be hanging on the wall of someone's house. I hope they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Coltsfoot

The first dash of golden sunshine after the snow has melted. Coltsfoot.  Tussilago farfara.  A flower in the daisy family, flowers appearing before the leaves.  Claims that a tea made from Coltsfoot can treat respiratory infections, sore throats, gout, flu, and fever.  I haven't tried it so far, and probably never will.

The leaf is supposed to be the shape of a colt's foot, hence the name.  Some other names are tash plant, ass's foot, bull's foot, coughwort, farfara, foal's foot, foalswort, and horse foot. 

Sugar High?

I filled the hummingbird feeder with sugar water and hung it up a couple of days ago, probably a bit early, but I see there are already some Ontario sightings of Ruby Throated hummers according to the Hummingbird Migration Map (which suddenly isn't working properly, I don't know why). EDIT UPDATE: now it's working!

But guess who decided to take advantage of a free treat, yes, Billy the tree rat er.... cute fluffy squirrel. I think he's addicted to sugar, I'll have to send him to Sugarholics Anonymous. He deserves a bad tummy ache after draining the feeder dry.  I hope he doesn't tell all his friends. So far he's the only one showing up.

Did you know..... the term to describe the fear of squirrels is Sciurophobia.

Wall Art

The local Art Gallery's current exhibition is one of the most important exhibitions of the year. It's when the students in all the elementary schools in town get a chance to show their talents.  

Just a few of the offerings.... lots of colour and texture and shapes. All kinds of subject matter. And lots of proud children showing their parents the artwork up on the wall.

I love this PositiviTREE with its important messages. Some great stuff on show, thank you to all the art teachers who have the ideas and give so much encouragement to the kids towards their creativity. A successful art exhibition! 

Beware of Dragons

I was at the local supermarket and noticed a young man picking up 4 of these alien looking fruits, so I accosted him (I don't make a habit of addressing strange men in the grocery store but he didn't mind) and asked what they were and what he was going to do with them.

He told me Dragon Fruit...... these were imported from Vietnam according to the label.  Just slice in half and scoop the innards out with a spoon. So of course, I had to buy one, just to experience the taste.

It's supposed to taste like a combination of pear, kiwi and watermelon. I'll let you know.

Absolutely delicious!

Ice . Ice . Baby

Lots of neighbourhood tree damage from the layers of ice, but all OK here. March is going out like a lion this year.... the same way he came in.

Up North

Would you like to live in this little house? The neighborhood looks a bit bleak, probably a long trek to the nearest grocery store for supplies. But lots of fresh air!

Imaginary landscape created from painted papers (yes, I have bins and bins of assorted bits of coloured paper, no piece is too small to keep) and little houses cut from an Arctic Adventure Cruise holiday book that arrives in the mail every year.  The cruises look like loads of fun but are far too expensive for me, and as the cruise company is kind enough to send the brochure, I make use of their nice illustrations. Waste not, want not.

Syrupy Sweet

It's been syrup making time at Younger Son's house country estate, with lots of help from the rest of the family.  Not maple syrup.... it's walnut syrup!   The driveway is lined with mature black walnut trees, so a full tap line was set up back in January with 48 taps, ready for the spring sap run.  It takes 40 litres of sap to boil down to 1 litre of syrup. The home made wood fired evaporator got lots of use!

20 litres of finished walnut syrup this year, I'm hoping one of those jars might have my name on it! 

Older Son also taps his trees in the spring, but his trees are sugar maples, and only 4 or 5 trees, so not so much syrup but enough for a pancake feast.

Congratulations, lots of hard work to do this, a job well done!

School's Out

 One more from the Altered Board Book.

There's always an individual who insists on swimming against the current, isn't there? I'm sure we all know someone like that.

Image created using acrylic paint, potato bag string, home made stencils printed on rice paper using the gelli plate, Japanese washi origami paper, and Goldfish Crackers ad from a magazine.

Mega Mansion

I pass this enormous building site every Thursday as I drive to my artist group meetings.... the house gets bigger and uglier and more ostentatious each week. Domes and turrets and what-not. I think this is just a single dwelling and it's hidden away on a narrow country road. But I suppose it won't be a narrow country road forever, the city is encroaching.

I can't hazard a guess as to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and there's probably an indoor swimming pool in there somewhere. Would you like to live in a house like this?

Listen to the Music

Open House and a free concert at the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. All the familiar orchestral hit parade pieces.... Beethoven's Fifth, excerpts from Swan Lake, some Strauss waltzes, Pomp and Circumstance of course, Offenbach's "Can-Can", lots of foot tapping themes.  Finishing up with a rousing chorus of "O Canada", Elbows Up!

As well as the familiar classical music, North Atlantic Drift played some Celtic selections. Dan Macdonald on fiddle, Brian Taheny on guitar and banjo, Ross Griffiths on Uilleann pipes. The concert hall was full, I was there with Older Son and 17 year old grandson.

It was a Petting Zoo for instruments! Grandson tried out the drum kit, I investigated lots of different percussion rhythm instruments, and we both had a go on the trombone, it sounded pretty awful! I'm sure the trombone player's ears were hurting. There were lots of instruments to try; violin, cello, clarinet, trumpet, oboe, French horn.  This all took place at the Chinese Canadian Cultural Centre so some Chinese instruments were available too.

An enjoyable afternoon. Thank you CBSO.

My Furry Neighbour

Meet Billy the Squilly... sunning himself on my deck railings on one of the first above freezing sunny mornings for a long time. He's enjoying the warmth of the sun through his furry coat and through the wooden railing.

The cheeky chap's hoping for a yummy handout, better luck next time, Billy, nothing to spare today.

Traffic Jam

 Another one from the Altered Board Book.

A map of.... where? Looks like a busy place with all those vehicles heading across town.  Streets printed on rice paper using string from paper potato bags. The cars were cut from the CAA magazine that comes in my mailbox. Sort of like the AAA but further north.  

Creatures of the Forest

 Another page from the Altered Board Book.

Beware the wild creatures of the deep dark forest. The noble stags arrived from Scotland on a paper napkin from a Rabbie Burns dinner, and the Swedish Dala Horse was lurking on a sheet of Japanese tissue paper.

And now they are living together in a forest of Canadian maple leaves printed on Chinese rice paper. Quite international.

Wind Sculpture

The snow was snowing...
The wind was blowing...
And in the morning
Sunshine was showing.

(I'll never win the Nobel Prize for Poetry!)

Tea for Two?

 Another image from the Altered Board Book.  

My collection of fancy paper napkins is far too large, but so useful when looking for images to use. The zebras and the lizards are napkin animals released from their paper jungle.... did you know that all paper napkins (or serviettes if you prefer) consist of three layers of very thin paper that have to be separated before using the image in a collage?

I'm not sure where the teapot came from, but the background is a print of maple leaves on rice paper.  The zebras look quite puzzled, they are wondering where the teapot came from too.

Snowfall

 Around 40cm of white fluffy snow arrived from the sky between Saturday and Sunday... that's just about 16" deep.  And that was added to more snow that fell earlier in the week, the total being more like 63cm. Definitely a Winter Wonderland.... but not everyone appreciates it. Driving was horrible, nobody slows down to accommodate the weather conditions, and there were loads of fender benders and cars getting stuck in the snow.  Toronto police issued 2,393 tickets to vehicles parked on snow routes.

I was visiting Younger Son and family for a couple of days, so I just stayed where I was for an extra night and avoided the chaos, driving home on relatively clear highways in the morning.

The big arse snowblower!

There's a car under there somewhere.

The deck behind my house when I got home.

Bloomin'

 I'd like to introduce Phyllis the Amaryllis.

She came to live with me back in December when she was just a dried up bulb in a box er.... I mean cute fat little baby with lots of growth potential. 

Liberal applications of encouraging words, TLC and H2O and look what happened.

Phyllis certainly warms up a cold snowy day with her bright smile. And it's Saint Valentine's Day soon.... the perfect day to wear red, Phyllis's favourite colour.

Scary?

She was a gelli print transfer from a fashion magazine, acrylic on rice paper.  A bargain packet of assorted Japanese origami papers found at the local thrift shop provided the floral arrangement, with some black tissue paper.  

I put my scissors and glue stick to work and this was the result, I never really plan, I just let it happen.

Scary? Possibly. What do you think?

Fantasy Streetscape.

I've heard of a watchdog but this is definitely a watchcat.  

The girl came from a fashion magazine, Vogue or perhaps Elle, and the moggie was advertising cat food.  The streetscape is a page from one of those European River Cruise brochures that mysteriously arrive in the mail, even though I have never actually ordered one.   The sky is gelli print on rice paper. 

Suggestions for a title, anyone?

Flower Power.

Another page from the Altered Baby Board Book. 

Background is acrylic gelli print created with a home made stencil. Flowers were cut from homestyle magazines... Chatelaine and Style At Home.... and the balustrade came from Vogue, minus the model who was leaning on it, somewhere in Paris I think.

Altered Baby Book

 No I didn't alter a Baby, just some Baby Books.

You know the ones I mean... those colourful story books with board pages, about 6 inches (15.25cm) square, meant for little people to enjoy,  almost non-destructible. I like to remove the images (medium sandpaper does a thorough job) and add my own artwork.

So I'll post some of my refangled pages. I use all sorts of media and collage, lino prints, gelli prints, pages from magazines, origami paper, tissue paper, grocery flyers, whatever I can find.

This one uses origami paper, gelli print background, the sun is hand made wrapping paper from India, the lady arrived from a gardening magazine. Anyone got a title for this?