Happy Halloween

Mushroom Hunting

Why is that man up a tree?











Oh, looking for a better shot of a mushroom.











First try at a close up was better as an art shot than a mushroom photo.











Second try at a close up was better as a mushroom close up.











Églantine chose to use the camera from the ground.

Hamilton, Ontario, Reflections

The view that many people have of Hamilton as they drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls or from Niagara Falls to Toronto is of the steel mills and the pollution they spew into the sky. Just for the record, there is less pollution than there was a few years ago but steel making is not pollution free. Anyway, the reflection in Hamilton Harbour looks like this:



What the people in cars don't ever see is the beauty of the Hamilton area away from the steel mills. The photo below was taken less than 500 metres away from the steel mill photo.



And another few kilometres away in the Dundas Valley I found this reflection in a puddle...



and this reflection in a woodland pool.

More Fall Colour

Here are a few more photos from our dog walks around the property.





And one of Ontario Wanderer's close-up leaf shots.

October - Grey & Gold

For much of the past two weeks, the sky has looked like this.



That being said, under the sky it's much brighter.



Some of the brightness is subdued at times.



Raindrops collecting on pines add their own bit of light.



In addition to enjoying the colours of the Sugar Maple in the 2nd photo, I also liked the Butter-and-eggs wild flowers dotted about the field. In spite of the late season and cool temperatures, we found 115 species of wild flowers in bloom last week. Have a look here for the list and some other photos.

Pumpkinfest

Once upon a time, in a small town, not far away from Ontario Wanderer's stopping place, there was a Pumpkinfest. Even though it was a cold, windy, rainy day pumpkins came from all around.



Some came by tractor.



Some came by car.



Some caught rides on passing bagpipes.



Some came spinning on the fingers of young, would-be, basketball players.



Some had private trailers...



pulled by very big trucks.



But all of them settled into large pumpkin trees to watch all the people from all around come to town.

(OK, I may have played with the first 4 photos but it was an interesting pumpkinfest day!)

Oct. 21 Fall Colours

In spite of two frosts now, we do still have lots of wild flowers in bloom. Here is one of the larger, more beautiful flowers that I found today.



It's called "Apple of Peru" or Nicandra physalodes. No, it's not native to Ontario.

Many tree leaves are starting to turn colour. Below are some leaves from the Sassafras tree Sassafras albidum.



For another bit of colour in our day, have a look at the following photo montage. It's made up of 12 photos that I took at sunrise this morning. I put it on my Flicker site but thought that some of you Bloggers might like to see it too.

First Frost

Although the "normal" low temperature at this time of year is about + 4 (39 F), we did have our first frost last night. Temperatures below freezing have happened as early as September 20 but this year the temperatures were much higher. Be that as it may, we did finally have a frost last night and below are two frost photos:



This is frost on Goldenrod leaves.



This is the frost on a Chicory blossom.

Dogwood Leaves

Just a quick post to share some Red Osier Dogwood leaf photos.

Quick Observations

The sunrise this morning was moody, a bit dark, and wonderful as usual. I do love it when the sun comes up to show me I am in a new day.



I found this Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) on the shores of the Hamilton harbour yesterday and took several photos.



When I placed the camera on the ground and pointed it up I got this green glow. I suspect that it is a colour reflection from the grass.



Here is one of the strangest mushrooms that I have seen. It, and several like it, is growing on our lawn near an old stump.



One last photo just to show how beautiful the poison ivy is at this time of year. It's no wonder that some unlucky people pick it for table decorations.

Sale Over

Well, we made it thorough the art show/sale. It was more show than sale. It's a good thing that I am not relying on art sales for grocery money.

Following are a few more general photos of the art sale set up in our barn.



After painting the inside barn boards white, I added gravel to the dirt floor to lighten up the area even more.



Rather than move the fireplace wood, we just placed paintings in front of it.



I was pleased that my daughter, Danielle, brought some of her excellent photos for the art show.



Although the photo is small, you can see some of my mobiles, paintings and photos as well as larger paintings by Églantine. They are on, and hanging from, my "new" table.



We were lucky to be visited and entertained by Jean St.Pierre, his guitar, and Quebec maple syrup during the second day of our sale. (OK, the maple syrup was not particularly entertaining but it is an excellent product.)

More From Art Show/Sale

The barn is filling with art.



Works by Églantine & Lis.



Monoprint and Mobile Sculpture by Ontario Wanderer.



Acrylic Paintings & Photos by Ontario Wanderer and Églantine.

Hanging Art

Trying to clean a barn is an unending project even without animals in the barn. There is so much "stuff" in the barn and the loft that dust and dirt seem to always be collecting in corners and on the floor. In spite of that, art is now showing up on the walls. Of course when one hammers a nail into the barn boards, dust springs out and dirt falls down so one can always clean some more. Anyway, below are three photos of the results of the art hanging progress.


Diane's wall of art is above.





These are the stall corners in which Rashné's art was hung.

More photos will follow tomorrow...

Busy, Busy, Busy

Having gone through my little emotional rollercoaster ride on the weekend, I am now in the middle of getting ready to help host and participate in my annual art show. My partner, Églantine (aka Fleur-Ange) is my co-host and also a participant. I have been working in the barn all week, and a good deal of past weeks too actually, at cleaning and painting. The barn is turning into a white studio space inside. I have repaired walls, built shelves, and constructed a "new" rustic table from old boards that were outside and weathered. Today we are starting to hang the works up on the walls. I will post some photos from the barn tomorrow, or at least that is the present plan. You can see, if you are interested, our web ad here. Meanwhile, here are three photos of small watercolours that I am putting in the show.



I painted this Red Trillium in the woodlands of Dundas Valley in early spring.



I painted this Common Dandelion in a field during midsummer.



This stump was painted in the early fall and I played with fall colours in the design.

More tomorrow...