Draught-horses have no blankees

Photo by Barry Wallace

As I wander the  back-roads of King at this time year, I notice that the pasturing thoroughbred horses are all wearing horse blankets, while the draught-horses never have a blanket on them.   Are the draught-horses really that much tougher and more durable than their racing cousins? Or do they just not make over-sized blankets for the big horses?   As a non-horse person, I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has an explanation for this.   Please comment if you wish.   The gang above were hanging out a few kilometres south-west of Schomberg.

Barry Wallace 

A cool motif

Photo by Barry Wallace

Many buildings in King Township are embellished with different symbols -- some old, some new.   There is the crowing cock, the galloping horse, the Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign, deer, ducks and dogs, to name a few.   To my knowledge, you rarely see a snowflake, especially since it is limited by a single season.   This one is on Keele Street in Kettleby.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

What can you hunt in King?

Deer at Kettleby  ~  Winter 2011

Photo by Barry Wallace 

A couple of readers of this blog recently wrote to comment about references I had made about hunting in King Township.   Deer were the focus of the discussions.   The readers were definitely anti-hunting.   I stated that I saw no good argument for hunting deer in King Township.   I then realized that I was passing an opinion on something, about which I was not fully knowledgeable.   On Monday of this week, I went to the Township of King offices to inquire about a hunting regulations booklet or for directions to info online.   Adriana in By-law Services was very helpful.   After some searching, I discovered the following.   The 2012 Ontario regulations  state that in Wildlife Management Unit 78C (King Township) you cannot hunt deer.   However, here is what you can hunt in King, under certain provisions: wolf, coyote, turkey, fox, skunk, weasel, opossum, raccoon, rabbit, hare, squirrel,  pheasant, grouse (Ruff and Spruce) and snapping turtle.   Frankly, I don't see the need for sport-hunting any of these creatures in King Township.   I believe the balance of nature in King Township should  be left to the animals, not to people with firearms.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

Jane Street and Highway 9

Photo by Barry Wallace

A stable is a stable.

A horse barn is a horse barn.

A horse is a horse,

all things being equal.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Looking north to Old Sail's winter camp

Photo by Barry Wallace

This is the view north from the North Canal Road in the Holland Marsh, just west of Hwy. 400.   Technically, it's not in King Township at this point, but it does reach into King Township as it meanders south across the Marsh and intersects the Holland River, just inside King's north-western border.   So what, you ask.   Well, imagine if you will, it is the year 1793, and a group of  birch-bark canoes filled with 'Messessagues' (Mississauga) indians and their chief, Old Sail, is paddling north at this very point, after having  greeted and gifting Governor John Graves Simcoe and his party on their way north via the Carrying Place Trail, the Holland River, Lake Simcoe and Lake Huron.   According to Heather Robertson's new book 'Walking into Wilderness", Old sail presented the  Governor with a pair of ducks, some beaver meat and a beaver's tail.   In return, Old sail and his colleagues were given rum and tobacco by Governor Simcoe and they then headed back up-river towards what is now West Gwillimbury.   Paddlers today can put in a canoe at the point pictured above and retrace Old Sail's journey back to his winter camp.   Actually the river does not go very far before it becomes shallow and impassable.   But one easily slips by the bullrushes and trees and shrubs and is transported back 219 years to a spot that probably doesn't look that different now than it did then.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace

Carrot patch...or carrot ranch?

Photo by Barry Wallace

Considering there are thousands of acres of carrots under cultivation in the Holland Marsh, the sign above seems to be bit of an understatement, but hey, if you own the land, I guess you can call it whatever you like.   This carrot patch is on Aileen Avenue, between Strawberry Lane and Woodchoppers Lane.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

Horse-barn country

Photo by Barry Wallace

House-building in the villages of King City and Nobleton is the talk of the township, but one can always be sure that somewhere in the rolling hills of King, a horse barn is under construction.   The one above is on Keele Street, just north of Kettleby.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Condo Apartments near completion

Photo by Barry Wallace

King City's new condominium apartment building is nearing completion, with a few units already occupied and receiving mail delivery.   Meanwhile in Schomberg (picture below) a similar development, on Church Street, is giving a glimpse of how it will look when complete.   The King City building has more units than the Schomberg one, even though the Schomberg condo is two storeys higher.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Marg Black moves into King City

Photo by Barry Wallace

Former King Township mayor, Margaret Black, has moved her law office to King City.   After her unsuccessful run for mayor in the last municipal election, Marg moved her law office to Kleinburg.   Now, two years later, she has moved her legal practice, her staff and herself into what many King City oldtimers call the 'Wedding Cake House', a landmark building on the south-east corner of the King Road and Fisher Street.   When I stopped to take photo above, I stuck my head in the door and saw Marg's whole gang enjoying a pizza lunch around a boardroom table.   They were still in the throes of moving in but everyone was in high spirits and the former mayor had a huge smile on her face.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace   

November respite

Photo by Barry Wallace

The summer that never seemed to end did eventually end and a bit abruptly I thought.   We suddenly got some cold temperatures and a few flurries of light snow.   But now, well into the fall, we have had several days of pleasant temperatures recently, as November lulls us into a false sense of well-being.   Cattle up and down the sideroads seem as relaxed, comfortable and content these last few days as they were in July.   I wish to be sent gently into the inevitable whiteness of winter but let me keep counting the pleasant days a little longer.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

.     

The bees are abed

Photos by Barry Wallace

These beehives on Jane Street, just north of the hamlet of Kinghorn, are ready for winter.   A cluster of bees will form inside the hive as temperatures drop.   As temperatures drop, the cluster of bees becomes tighter and more compact.   Cluster temperatures usually are steady and stable, between 94.1 to 98.0F (34.5 - 36.7C) and their existence is thus guaranteed until spring.   The picture below was taken on the 19th Sideroad, near Schomberg.

And this little verse by Mary Collier (c.1690-c.1762), an English washerwoman and poet, shows that not everyone sided with the beekeeper...

See the industrious bees do hourly strive

To bring their loads of honey to the hive;

Their sordid owners always reap the gains,

And poorly recompense their toils and pains.

                                        The Woman's Labour (1739)

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Baby Irene warmed by wood stove oven

Photos by Barry Wallace

This small charming King City house on the north side of the King Road, two doors west of the Shoppers Drug Mart, is one of many buildings currently for sale or rent in the centre of the village.   The imminent doubling of the house count in King City is causing substantial speculation about commercial properties.   The house pictured here (or cottage as many still refer to it) has had many tenants over the last couple of decades.   I'm old enough to remember when an elderly Irene Kelly lived here.   Irene was a sister of of one-time King City fire chief, Pete Glass.   Pete was the man who oversaw the pouring of a zillion tons of concrete into what became the CN Tower in downtown Toronto.   Irene was a dear little lady and loved to tell the story of her birth in the early 1900s.   The story wasn't about her birth so much as it was about how she spent the first several days of her life in this little yellow cottage.   Irene was a premature baby -- very tiny at birth.   A shoe box was lined with a small blanket and Irene was placed in the box and covered with another small sheet.   Irene and the box were placed on the open oven door of the kitchen wood stove and there she spent many an hour, for several days, cozy and warm.   The story needed no embellishment.   Hearing Irene tell the story, and I was lucky enough to her it from her lips, was a magical moment.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace  

Christmas trees at Temperanceville

Photo by Barry Wallace

One of the most popular spots to buy a Christmas tree in King is at the north-west corner of the King Road and Bathurst Street.   They are already selling trees and other Christmas decorations and Christmas is still more than five weeks away.   If you promised yourself to get your tree early this year, then you no longer have an excuse for not doing so.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

New King bowl lures Toronto boarders

Photos by Barry Wallace

Several mature boarders from Toronto were at the new King City Skateboard Park on Saturday.   These experts ranged in age from mid-20s to 40.   They restricted their activities to the main bowl while local King youths were content to ride everything else.   The Toronto riders said one of the main facilities in Toronto was closed for repairs, leaving users to search elsewhere.   The adults riders in King said they had also tried a brand new facility in Uxbridge also.   One of the Toronto guys looked around at the King kids and said: "They'll be in the bowl in no time".

Two of the Toronto boarders were being interviewed by a radio reporter.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Museum update

Photo by Barry Wallace

The King Township Museum addition and other upgrades are now quickly showing how they will look when complete...at least on the outside.   In conjunction with Genview Homes, the museum has undertaken to create a sales centre for the housing development occurring adjacent to the museum property in Kinghorn.   The joint venture has created 749 square feet of additional program space at the museum property for use once the lease agreement with Genview expires.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace

'camera on King' is one year old

The one year mark has just passed for this blog and I have thoroughly enjoyed each day producing it.   When I started it I said it would be mainly photographic and I think that is how it has worked out.   I enjoy writing about the pictures as much as I like taking the pictures.   Doing it ever day, as well as writing a daily birding blog, has not be as daunting as I once thought.   One year later, and 13,173 page-views later, I am satisfied with the effort and the feedback and look forward to the next 12 months.

The one blog entry that created the most comments was the one about the opening of the Paper Crane Sushi Bar & Bistro.   A reader of that blog had dined at the Paper Crane on its opening day in July -- Friday the 13th!   The patron had what he or she described as a less than satisfying dining experience.   18 readers, who have since dined at the Paper Crane, have praised it unanimously.   My wife and I have eaten there twice and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.   If there were opening day jitters last July, then they are certainly a thing of the past now.   Best wishes for much success are extended to the folks at the Paper Crane.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace   

Northern tip of King

Photo by Barry Wallace

Northern terminus of Bathurst Street

on the west branch of the Holland River 

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Expectant sheep

Photo by Barry Wallace

A small group of pregnant ewes keep each other company in a holding pen at a sheep farm, on the Graham Sideroad, in north-east King Township.   It was a balmy day, that broke a temperature record for Nov.12th, and these girls seemed to be very comfortable and content away from the other hundreds of sheep in other fields.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

2012 Remembrance Day

At Schomberg...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Master 
of 
Ceremonies
LCdr.
Bob 
Gwalchmai

Presenter

"In Flanders  

Field"

Lt. Col.

Susan 

Beharriell

At Kettleby...

Margaret Britnell

Former King Township Mayor Margaret Britnell shares a Remembrance Day 

moment with current King Township Mayor

Steve Pelligrini and his daughter Emma.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

New Nobleton Retail Development

Photo by Barry Wallace

This is the latest multi-unit, multi-storey retail development going up in Nobleton on Highway 27, just south of the CIBC Bank.   Nobleton seems to have had an over-supply of retail space for a number of years and this development will add to that situation.   On the other hand, there is substantial new housing development underway in north-east Nobleton.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

Lloydtown rebel

Sculpture by Brett Davis

Photographs by Barry Wallace

Detail of Jesse Lloyd statue by sculptor Brett Davis

November and December of 2012 mark the 175th anniversary of the events that took place and were known as the Lloydtown Rebellion.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Tamarack time

Photo by Barry Wallace

It's that time of year, when Tamarack trees (a.k.a.  Eastern Larch) get to show off their annual colour change.   The Tamarack is a deciduous conifer that is green most of the year before turning yellow in the fall and then losing its fine needles.   The trees pictured above are located at Cold Creek Conservation Area on the 11th Concession of King Township.   The Tamarack is a native Canadian Tree and grows from coast to coast.   It usually prefers moist soils.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace

Kettleby landmark

Photos by Barry Wallace

It is the time of year when the leaves are off the trees and we get much better views of visual treats like the stone masonry of Christ Church, the Anglican church in Kettleby.   The Norman style fieldstone church, with the square bell tower was built 121 years ago in 1891 and has remained virtually unchanged since that time.   

Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace

Horse of a different colour

Photo by Barry Wallace

Pottageville panache

Most horse blankets are dull and drab, but there is an exception to every rule, right?   This horse  is definitely making a fashion statement on a farm on the 18th Sideroad of King, between the 7th and 8th Concessions, just south of Pottageville.   Shocking pink is definitely not a typical fall colour.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace

Hunting in King...necessary?

A reader of this blog wrote to me yesterday to tell me that someone, on a neighbouring property, had built a hunting tower.   The reader was dismayed that deer are likely to be killed almost in their backyard.   The reader's house is located in a part of King that many people consider an unofficial natural heritage and environmentally-sensitive area.   The reader thinks that the killing of deer near to one's back door is brutal and totally insensitive to the feelings of nearby folks who object to hunting.   Hunting may be legal in King but that does not mean it is appropriate in situations with mitigating circumstances.   Deer stands can be found in a number places on private property in King Township.   The one in the picture on the right is located on the edge of King City.   I am not a hunter.   I can understand subsistence hunting by native people in remote areas of this country, but beyond that I see no need for sport hunting, especially near inhabited areas, in King Township.   I cannot think of any good reason for this type of hunting adjacent to one's next-door neighbour.   Hopefully these instances will be few and far between and that the killing of animals around us in King will soon become a thing of the past.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB