The Swans Are Back

The trumpeter swans seem to come by every winter, but you never know where on the river they will be on any given day. On Tuesday we came across 19 of them swimming off in the distance, but of course, there were all but lost in her phone photo.

On Wednesday, yesterday, I brought my camera and longest lens, but as we approached our lookout point, all was quiet, unlike the day before, so I did not have high hopes.

Along the trail, walking toward the lookout spot

There were only 5 swans way off in the distance: 4 together and one just off by itself a bit.

A long way off where the red arrow is pointing. Oops.Sue says that the swans were even
farther away, left and back more. So now, I am even more impressed with myself. :)

Even if I could get a long shot, they were sleepy and inactive. But the one off my itself, did rouse its head a few times, so I fired off some shots, hoping for the best. Using good software, I was able to crop in and edit the photo well. This is the shot.

It's just a long photo of a swan but knowing what it took to get and process the photo and knowing how to do it, means something to me even though it won't exactly be a National Geographic candidate. Besides, these trumpeter swans don't stay long, so it is nice to get any sort of photo while I can.

And here's the group of nearby sleepyheads being as unaccommodating as possible.

My photos were better last year here when they were by Riverside Park and I managed to get several photos, including this one.

AC the Helper

On Sunday, Sue's prompt was to take a photo of something that helped her: "Who or what is helpful to you?" She chose me for the subject, and to the great outdoors we went.

It was frigid, and while my red coat isn't the warmest of my two coats, it does stand out better in photos. So, upon request, I wore it because I am a good helper. Did I mention that it was very cold? Ah well, off we went.

She does have lots of photos of me, and many in my red coat, but it is always nice to do something fresh, so when we got to the park she directed me toward the new bench by the pond.

Sue said that she wouldn't make me sit on the cold bench for very long. She was true to her word. She asked me to turn and face the camera, but the hood was getting in the way whether it was up or down.

Not thrilled with that, I was directed to the little bridge. I trudged off again.

We were both happy enough with the photo, so this is what she posted to her group.

Would ya look at dem rosy cheeks‽

Following is her blurb that accompanied the photo.

56 years and counting, this guy has always been willing to help me with many things, and now as my POTD* model.

* POTD = Photo of the Day

His 16th

As you know, if you got to yesterday's post, it was JJ's birthday. Shauna had a display put up in front of their house. On a little street with a busy background, I AI-ed in a snow scene backdrop. There was also a #16, but it had blown over in the fierce winds of the day.

Later, Sue got a photo with JJ and with the 16 showing.

As you know, I have been making birthday cards for the family for lo these many years. As the years go on, I have fewer and fewer current photos of the blighters, but I found just enough this year, but I am not sure if I have many more creations left in me.

back and front

Inside: Read from left to right, and then go to the second line,
and don't forget to include the sock message.
I have to tell you this because JJ got confused. 😊

At their house later, we had butter chicken for supper. Jonathan doesn't like cake, so he was proffered a big plate of cookies.

We all had chipped in to purchase a new VR headset. 

Finally: two of Sue's composites to top it off.

I am posting at 4:40 after a sleepless night. It happens form time to time. I have other blogs in the queue, and I might post another later because I am getting a bit of a backlog again. 😊

The Sock and the Dime

I appreciate your supportive comments yesterday. The crazy political situation does get me going sometimes. Now, onto our regularly scheduled programming. 

The pharmacy around the corner is one of those places that is lot more than just a pharmacy. On the weekend, we walked over on icy sidewalks and in bitter wind, our purpose being to purchase milk and Skittles. We'll have to watch that sidewalk ice and pick our times and spots better; the sidewalks hadn't been too bad until now.

The Skittles were for the boy's birthday, which is actually today. We'll meet over there for supper tonight.

The candy is a little extra gift so he has something to open aside from the one gift that we all chipped in on. You do remember the Christmas sock, right? → →

I say all of that to say this.

Upon completing our purchase, the cashier gave us a dime back after we had given him no money at all.

You see, we had a $10 couple from a previous shopping. The purchase came to $9.90, so after handing him the coupon, he handed 10₵ back.

I told him that we should do this every day.

I just thought that I would mention this unusual occurrence to you.

Canadians are in a Mood

I know that Canada does not get a lot of coverage in the US, so here are some items from my side of the border., even though I have already posted today.

The nonsensical tariff war is on. Following is a excerpt from the section of Prime Minister Trudeau's speech that was directed specifically to Americans. 

As President John F. Kennedy said many years ago, "Geography has made us neighbours, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners and necessity has made us allies." That rang true for many decades prior to President Kennedy's time in office and the decades since. From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you during your darkest hours.

During the Iranian hostage crisis, those 444 days, we worked around the clock from our embassy to get your innocent compatriots home. During the summer of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great city of New Orleans, or mere weeks ago, when we sent water bombers to tackle the wildfires in California, during the day the world stood still — Sept. 11, 2001 — when we provided refuge to stranded passengers and planes, we were always there, standing with you, grieving with you, the American people.

Together, we've built the most successful economic, military and security partnership the world has ever seen; a relationship that has been the envy of the world. Yes, we've had our differences in the past, but we've always found a way to get past them.

As I've said before, if President Trump wants to usher in a new golden age for the United States, the better path is to partner with Canada, not to punish us. Canada has critical minerals, reliable and affordable energy, stable democratic institutions, shared values and the natural resources you need. Canada has the ingredients necessary to build a booming and secure partnership for the North American economy, and we stand at the ready to work together.

You can read the whole speech here or listen here. The part addressed specifically to Americans is near the beginning and is a few minutes long.

It's not just our prime minister. This is what the premier of Ontario has posted.

“Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion-worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore,” said Ford in a Feb. 2 post on X (formerly Twitter).

“Starting Tuesday, we’re removing American products from LCBO shelves. As the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, LCBO will also remove American products from its catalogue so other Ontario-based restaurants and retailers can’t order or restock U.S. products.

Removal of American liquor is happening in provinces across Canada, targeting mostly whiskey and bourbon from the red sates as far as I understand. Canada is the biggest customer of these American products. 

This just in from Premier Ford.

That contract with Starlink was
$100 million.

Meanwhile I can tell you that ordinary Canadians are perusing the shelves in order to avoid American products as much as possible. Many are opting out of American vacations.  The stock market is down, and we are even booing the American anthem at hockey games. All because the orange buffoon thinks he can annex Canada, not to mention Greenland and Panama. What have you Americans wrought? (I know, not necessarily you, personally.)

The news go on apace this morning.

I never imagined that the great democracy was so fragile. It appears to be hanging from a thread with a madman in charge and few with the intestinal fortitude to stand up and be counted.

Note: At 1pm, nothing has changed for Canada, but Mexico has a detente of sorts. Trump isn't very fond of Trudeau, so we shall see.

Overlooking

I'm getting  bit behind due to the fabulously exciting life I live. You know what I mean — those walks in the snow that leave folks breathless with wonder. Ah well . . .  these photos are from Friday.

Both Sue and I wanted to go back to the bridge trail where we had been on Thursday. I had seen some ice formations in the river looking down from the bridge, but I hadn't taken my camera that day because I am turning chicken in the cold. But Friday was warmer, all the way up to just freezing if you can believe it, so I could stand to take my glorious, heated mitts off while I shot — but not for too very long.

Meanwhile Sue had a challenge to photograph something that she had previously overlooked. Well, she had never photographed Hackberry Park looking down from the bridge, so she would literally be overlooking (as in looking over) something that she had overlooked (as in neglected). I volunteered to pose in my red coat for a point if interest because we all know that I am pretty interesting. Eh?

I wish my toque were also red, but this is one toque that actually fits me and stays where it should.

When I got up to the bridge, the pretty ice agglomerations that I had seen on the previous day were mostly washed away. It didn't surprise me, but it didn't thrill me either. However, when we walked around to the little bridge on our usual loop, I found some icy edges against the water, and I snapped some photos. Probably at least one of the photos below was taken in this ↓ moment.

Below, are three results that I like. Although they were almost b&w to begin with, I did convert them in order to eliminate any possible colour. I edited these first two to accentuate the detail in the water action adjacent to the ice.

The final one did not have much wave action, so I processed the water to be almost uniformly dark in order to emphasize the interesting edge of the ice.

My three photos, particularly the first and third, look pretty good large on the full screen. I don't know what you will see if you click on them here, for I can't see the result on Blogger until I actually hit the publish button, which I am about to do. Fingers crossed.

Going Western

I write of the comestible sort of Western, but I can't find an image that matches my variety of a Western sandwich, and I forgot to take a picture, so here is a western image of a different sort for you pleasure. Perhaps I would have remembered to take a picture had I not almost overflowed the sink.

In the distant past, before we were married, Sue once or thrice cooked me a Western sandwich when I visited her. I was already in love with her, but I also fell for this simple, tasty dish. I am not sure if I had ever eaten eggs other than boiled* until then, and bacon** was never served at our house.

A Western, in our corner of the world anyway, is simply an omelette consisting of eggs, bacon, onion and cheese. I make it into a sandwich by stuffing it between two pieces of toast after topping the eggs with a bit of ketchup. I am not much of a ketchup person and only use it in a few sandwiches: Western, grilled cheese, meat loaf. I think Sue used to also put the omelette into a sandwich, but she now prefers the toast on the side.

So, that is what I call a Western sandwich. I know other parts of Canada call a similar creation a Denver, but I don't know what Americans might call it, assuming that they even have a name for it.

The price of eggs is a great concern down south, but the free run brown dozen that I just purchased were $7. That is CDN currency, the US equivalent would be about 60₵, given the conversion rate. #kidding 😎

By the way, eggs were plentiful in the grocery store in various grades, sizes and prices. I am somewhat aware of the difficulties south of the border, but I don't know the cause of the scarcity and resulting expense.

* Soft-boiled eggs were the only form of eggs in my childhood, but I don't think that I have eaten a boiled egg since then, preferring fried or scrambled. I possibly could eat them soft-boiled in the shell if necessary, but I can barely look at someone munching on a hard-boiled egg although I can endure an egg salad sandwich.

 ** Mom didn't serve bacon at our house, and, frankly, I am not sure if I had ever eaten even a strip of bacon back then. I do recall one Sunday morning at university when, as an atypical student, I got up early to go to church. The large cafeteria was almost empty; I may even have been the solitary diner, but I don't remember precisely. Since there was no one else to consume food, they heaped my plate with bacon, so it was almost like I was in heaven, even before I went to church, where, if I recall correctly, there was a hell of a good sermon. (Sorry, I can't help myself, sometimes.)

Finally, here's a little something to send you on your way.