Jack’s Walk

September Daisies, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Pink, ©voyager, all rights reserved

I’ve been waiting for these little daisies to bloom for almost 2 weeks and I’d about given up on them. Every day I’d see one or two small flowers open here or there, but not really together and no big show. Imagine my surprise then this morning finding the whole patch blooming at once with their shiny pink faces cheerfully aimed at the sun. Ha! I say to Autumn…not yet, not yet.

Monday Mercurial: Medusa

During our holiday we took a boat trip around the harbour, with many jellyfish swimming around.

I can tell you, taking pictures was a “treat”. If they were close to us the boat would move fast and they’d be gone quickly, if the were further away the light broke too much on the surface for my angle.

Still, there were some nice ones.

Jellyfish in water

©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

 

Jack’s Walk

Jack with Mr. voyager, ©voyager, all rights reserved

That handsome fellow with Jack is Mr. Voyager and the photo was taken on the boardwalk in Perce about a month ago on the occasion of our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We’re not the type of people who make a big fuss about things like that so we didn’t have a party or go out for a fancy meal and we didn’t exchange gifts. Instead, we went down to the beach and set off fireworks just like we do every year. We did talk about giving each other gifts, but in the end we decided that we’d rather save up for a trip. During that discussion Mr. V mentioned that I haven’t yet posted a picture of him on this blog. I got the definite feeling that he’d enjoy it if I did, but I wanted it to be a surprise so I waited a month. I hope he’s pleasantly pleased.

Jack’s Walk

Turkey Tail fungus, ©voyager, all rights reserved

©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I found this beautiful turkey tail fungus today. We often find this at home in Trillium Woods, but I seldom see it here in Pointe Claire. I love the way the fungus looks like the wood shavings left behind after sharpening a pencil. This specimen also collectively looks like a head of curly hair. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way I think it’s lovely, even though it did leave me feeling a bit homesick.

Jack’s Walk

As usual, I’m late to the party. I know that Spider Week at Affinity is over, but Jack and I went to Terracotta Park for our walk today and we came across a lovely big web that I wanted to share. If you want to see the long legged beauty who did all the intricate work it’s under the fold.

©voyager, all rights reserved

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Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

It was raining this morning so Jack and I went to Terracotta Park, hoping the canopy would help keep us dry. It did, more or less, but we still came home with wet hair and feet. Oh well, it was a good excuse to make hot chocolate, curl up together on the sofa and share a few maple cookies.

Jack’s Walk

Sumac flower, ©voyager, all rights reserved

This is sumac and it grows wild just about everywhere in this part of the world. It fills the ditches lining our highways and roads and it’s a nuisance plant in gardens. It’s very hardy and once it gets growing it’s hard to stop. We had one park itself right next to the foundation of our house a few years ago and we just can’t get rid of it. Every year we cut it down only to find it sprouting again in a few weeks. We tried to dig it out once, but the roots were too plentiful and too deep and the next year it popped up again. I poured bleach on it one year and watched it die back and then watched it grow back the following year. As I said, very hardy. Despite my dislike for the sumac living at my house, I do think it’s a pretty plant and enjoy seeing them when driving. In the fall the leaves turn beautiful bright colours, mostly red, but with touches of yellow and orange. It’s one of the first plants to get its autumn colour on and it’s a sure sign that the big trees will be changing colour soon.

Jack’s Walk

Terracotta Park, Pointe Claire, Quebec ©voyager, all rights reserved

This photo was taken in a place called Terracotta Natural Park and it’s right in the heart of Pointe Claire. It’s a huge park (almost 100 acres) with lots of connecting and well maintained trails. It’s one of Jack’s favorite places to go, but unlike our woods at home I won’t allow my boy off-leash here because of the threat of coyotes. We’ve never seen one ourselves, but there are signs posted at every entrance to the park advising extreme caution and noting that they’ve been spotted in the area. My husband grew up near the park and we’ve been taking our dogs to it for about 15 years and this is the first time we’ve seen such warnings. That probably means there’s an established population of coyotes. And why not? The park is exactly like their natural environment and it’s filled with their natural prey plus it has the added bonus of human leavings. As their environments shrink or die all animals, including large predators, will move ever closer to populated areas just trying to eke out a life and avoid extinction. I think they have as much right to the land as we do. Maybe more. At least they’re not destroying the planet.

Jack’s Walk

Milkweed, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I are having a better day today. It’s still humid, but the temp plummeted overnight and today it’s a reasonable 22 º.  We actually went for a real walk around the neighbourhood this morning and just down the street we found a front garden full of milkweed. When I was young I used to love pulling the pods apart and playing with the silk and it was awfully tempting to pluck one today. Instead, I took this photo, but the desire is strong and I cannot guarantee that I won’t pick one later.

Fancy Bats

Joseph Zowghi has sent us another of his fancy bat portraits. This time it’s a group of Ectophylla albas, otherwise known as Honduran white bats, gathering under a leaf. I was happy to find this submission because I’m fond of Joseph’s drawings. The rounded, repetitive lines draw me in and the artist has a talent for making bats look appealing. Thanks so much for sharing, Joseph.