The Battle Of Culloden 2017

The Three Musketeers...

Seamus describes the battle.

A young fan meets the actors.

Practice shooting at camp.

Donna and Wendy.

Jared and Macey.

We always enjoy a nice walk in the adjacent park trail.

The cliffs are constantly eroding.

The whole park is basically off-limits. Wendy and I hopped the fence.

I suppose they are worried they will be sued if someone goes over the cliff when it collapses.

How sad that one of the provinces most beautiful parks is fenced off from public use.

I suppose that if the fences are easy to climb over, the legal burden is met and the "tress-passers" have fewer chances of winning a lawsuit.

The park at this time of year is spectacularly green!

Here's the ubiquitous fence that keeps tax paying "tress-passers" out.

Back at camp a battle is brewing.

Seamus describes the scene.

The British are booed as they move into place on the battlefield.

The battle begins with the Brittish troops surrounded by the Jacobite rebels.

Exciting fire volley and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

After a charge by the rebels, the British force surrenders.

Bonnie Prince Charlie addresses the defeated British troops and offers them a chance to join with the Jacobite rebels or go back home and never come back.

The British leader succumbs to the Prince.

The prisoners are marched away and the reenactment battle ends in victory for the underdogs. There is another battle tomorrow and unfortunately for our reenactor friends, it doesn't end as well. They will lose the Battle of Culloden and Scotland is part of Britain - for now. The next months and years will tell if Scotland finally separates and becomes independent.

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Home Sweet Home - Even the Birds Are Busy In Spring

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Fixing Winter Damage

In a late winter wind storm Wendy and I were outside on the back deck watching the tempest when we heard a loud crashing sound. It was only later, the next day that I found that the roof fascia had been torn off the side of the garage.

Although slightly bent, the aluminum cladding was still in remarkably good shape with only a slight buckle on one of the two pieces that I found on the ground. With wind gusts up to 80 mile per hour it could have taken them across the street to the neighbour's place.

I found that the 1" x 6" boards under the trim aluminum were rotten which allowed the fastening nails to be easily torn away with the storm.

Fortunately the roof joists look good, with no rot evident.

Tim and I nailed up some replacement wood...

Then, after Wendy scrubbed the trim, we re-installed it.

The job looks pretty good, for amateurs eh? My friend John M. would be proud I think.
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Springtime Delights

Here's two artsy shots that I shot from our dining room window this morning. One is of some dogwood blossoms a few feet from our kitchen and the other is a birdhouse on the pool house.

The light this morning was perfect and yielded a dramatic black background.

Weathered boards of the pool house look great with the lilacs and the birdhouse don't you think? 
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The Port Stanley Fleet and an Old Nash Wagon.

Yesterday we drove down to Port Stanley. I always get some nice photos there:

Click the pic to enlarge it.

You never know what you'll see at the beach! Through the magic of Photoshop I placed the Nash on the beach near the water.

The old Nash's with their enclosed wheels where among the strangest looking cars. 

This "Airflyte" in apparently original condition was from Nebraska according to the dealer tag.

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Mark Your Calendar - Battle of Culloden

The annual event is only two weeks away. Pete and Donna, our favourite reenactors from Orillia will be there so we were hoping to get down either Saturday or Sunday to visit with them and take in the festivities:

Let me know if you'd like to drive with us to the battle. I won't tell you who wins.

CLICK HERE to read more.
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What A Day For A Day Dream

No reason, just summer dreamin'...

Click the pic to enlarge it.

I came across some old pictures I took from Canada of the crowds across the St Clair River of people getting ready to embark on the annual August Port Huron Float down. Here's a compilation from three different pictures rolled into one. Think Summer!
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We've Had A Lot Of Rain Lately

Ontario was hit by a weather system over the last few days that dumped as much as 3 inches of rain in some parts. Whenever we get a lot of precipitation the run-off accumulates in the side yard. We call it Lake Flash because it's there one day and gone the next. In a flash the lake appears and in a flash it's gone. When the water's up, you can paddle nearly out to the 17th fairway rough on the golf course in the distance. If you go too far you really should wear a helmet. No golfers out in the rain today though.

Not a lot of homes right in the city are lucky enough to have a beautiful pond complete with mallard ducks. When the water is gone, we cut the area with the riding lawn mower.

I thought it would be fun to add Wendy in Erin's kayak to the Lake Flash scene. Although the inclusion of the kayak in this picture is just a figment of my imagination, it could have been real except I was too lazy to get the boat out of the garage and inflate it for the shots. Ha ha. Photoshop was much easier.
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Di-Di-Di-Dah-Di-Dah Means - End of Transmission

My two artsy works for today are railway related and show some of the last telegraph wires you will ever see, as well as a ghost train from my imagination.  I stopped before the old Michigan Central railway tracks just north of Yarmouth Center and snapped the pictures as a feeling of nostalgia came over me..

Wendy wondered what I was doing. Why would anyone want to photograph some old wires on telephone poles. My first composite picture today describes the fading memories of a bygone era. The invention of the steam engine and the advent of railways shaped the history of the world during the Industrial Revolution. The railways owned the telegraph lines. Before the telephone, it was the only way that information and messages got quickly dispersed, using Morse Code and a series of dots and dashes. CLICK HERE to read an excellent collection of reasons why I stopped to take a few pictures of the last of these wires. Most of the wire has gone for scrap copper either via thieves or the railways themselves. Of course without a purpose, the poles and heads too have mostly disappeared too.

I am lucky enough to have lived long enough to remember when huge steam locomotives (heavier by far than modern diesels) chuffed and pounded their massive energy into the surroundings as they lugged and sweated their incredibly heavy loads over the steel rails. Here's another composite showing what I remember these huge machines looked like. Of course a picture cannot describe the impressive cacophony of sound; the haunting and throaty steam whistle, the thunderous sub-audible concussion, the bell, and the rushing steam with the feeling of the ground actually moving beneath your feet as the behemoth seemed to shake and vibrate the whole planet Earth. As a young boy watching, there was nothing more impressive! I'm sure this is why toy electric trains were so popular in the last century.

No news is good news, as telegrams often brought terrible messages. Above, a cold and dispassionate form message sent to a dead soldier's mother or wife, as telephoned to maybe the young man's sister or daughter. What a way to find out about the death of a beloved family member! War is hell!

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Dreaming of The Pequod - Nearly Bought A Boat!

Here is the first paragraph from the classic novel Moby Dick or the Whale by Herman Melville:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

The ship in the novel was called the Pequod. I must confess I've never read the book, but maybe before my next cruise I'll  get started on it.

Pequod was also the name of a now defunct yacht manufacturer in New Hampshire. They started off building some of the finest lapstrake wooden-hulled vessels on the East Coast, and successfully transitioned to fiberglass (using the old wooden hulls as "plugs" for their GRP offerings) after briefly becoming Calypso Yachts.

When I saw the "Boat For Sale" listing for this 1974, 34 foot classic on Kijiji, and finding out it was located in Port Bruce, only a 45 minute drive away, I couldn't resist the urge to see more. The present owner (third owner) bought the boat from the grandson of the original owner and brought it down from Port Severn via the Trent Canal and the Welland Canal. Having never been in salt water the boat was in pristine condition for its age.

Powered by a pair of 220 hp Crusaders (GM 307's) the boat would likely not have much of a cruising speed but it was likely used at trawler speeds throughout its lifetime. This may explain the apparent freshness of the engines in spite of having 1700 hours on them. (not a lot per year considering the boat is well over 40 years old)

The boat is built solidly in the days when fiberglass was a new technology. Boatbuilders used far more than they do now "just to be sure". The boat weighs in at over 20,000 lb. empty as evidenced by this block that was holding a lot of weight born by the keel.

The boat was obviously well taken care of and the hull gelcoat was shiny and scar free.

Larry, retired quality control executive from Jones Box and Label, is the proud owner (boat purchased in 2013) and was very accommodating as we interrupted the launch ritual. His wife Gloria explained many of the intricacies of the boat.

The boat is being sold due to health reasons. The asking price of only $18,500 ($13,500 USD) is a real gift for the right buyer.

There is no evidence of any leaks around windows and hatches and the boat is basically as good as new, with a little touch up.

Alas, the reality is I'm not getting any younger, combined with the fact that the boat is substantially smaller than our old Phoenix. As Wendy pointed out, it will cost just about the same to store and maintain as a bigger boat so why not look for one that better suits us if we are going to do it at all?

Maybe cruise ships are a better alternative for me these days. As my friend David said: "You don't even have to pull up the anchor. They do it for you."
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Old Eggs - New Eggs.

A simple, quick and easy test:

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