Prairie views

                                                                                                                      Photos by Diane Wallace

My oldest sister, Diane, is currently on a sabbatical-type leave in southern Alberta and has re-embraced her lifelong interest in photography.   Pictured here are a couple of scenes that caught her eye recently.

My recent heart surgery is behind me now and I am able to get out and take pictures again.   I really forward to filling this space with the face of this place we call King.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

New signs at Kettleby Cemetery

Two new signs have appeared at the Kettleby Cemetery recently.   The larger of the two (near the main entrance) warns that the driveway is not maintained January 1 to March 31.   It advises using the driveway at your own risk or parking at the bottom and walking up.   The driveway is uphill from bottom to top.   For the adventurous, or anyone with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, the cemetery driveway can be regarded as one of the better local, winter,  auto hill-climbs in the area, especially when it is ice-covered.   Once starting up, the way is narrow, with no turning around.   Backing down is definitely not for the faint-of-heart.   At the top of the cemetery, the driveway forms a large loop and one heads back down the same way you went up.   In winter, pay your respects at the funeral home and visit the cemetery in the spring.   You have been warned.   Many have learned the hard way.   The second sign, by the way, is about halfway up the hill and concerns much more mundane matters regarding cemetery rules.   If you're on ice, don't stop to read it!

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Spring arrives in 10 days

                                                                                                                                                  Photos by Barry Wallace

Trumpeter Swans herald new season

A pair of Trumpeter Swans has landed on the pond, in the field, on the north-west corner of Weston Road and and the 16th Sideroad.   Will they stay or are they en route further north.   It's only a few years ago that this pond did not exist but slight depressions in the field and ongoing wet conditions combined to create a pond that now flourishes with ducks, geese, herons, songbirds such as Red-winged Blackbirds, and now swans perhaps.   Muskrats are a regular feature now also.

It's been my experience that while Canada Geese can seem quite normal when picking nesting sites, many others seem to decide to set up housekeeping wherever their flights happen to land. It can be in the middle of a busy park (or even a parking lot, for that matter), on a roof-top, atop a muskrat den...wherever.   And once eggs are laid, well forget about ever seeing the nest abandoned.   Just steer clear.   The geese above are on the Love pond, at the 7th Concession and the 16th Sideroad.

Also on the 17th, near The Oak Ridges Trail, is a small pond that has almost thawed, and which by June or July will likely show its ephemerality and disappear, until a wet fall.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Baked goods in the offing

Photo by Barry Wallace

NEW BAKERY TO OPEN SOON

The King City property on the north-west corner of the King Road and William Street, next to Rockford's Bar & Grill, is very close to re-opening as a bakery, according to workers on the site. It was most recently a new home presentation centre and prior to that was a popular coffee shop for several years.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

Summer in the Marsh will come again...

 Photos by Barry Wallace

...and scenes like this will greet the eye

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

Buzzes from the backyard...

                                                                                                                     Photos by Barry Wallace

Here are some shots from the past that will be replicated in the backyard, in 90 days or so.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

4 years ago today...

 Photos by Barry Wallace

On this day...March 6, 2012

My brother Bob visited me today and while commiserating over my post-surgical, limited ability to get out and take pictures, he suggested I go back in the files and find some old pictures that might be interesting to see again.   Good suggestion, I thought, so here goes.   Both shots were taken four years ago today at Cold Creek Conservation Area. The shot above was taken beside the boardwalk, down in the bog. It shows water percolating to the surface, bringing with it the distinctive orange colour of mineral iron.   In this photo, the small pond is fed by a spring that brings very cold water, minerals and sediment to the surface, where a minature atoll formed, topped by a halo of frost.   Meanwhile (below), a short distance away, a full bucket of maple syrup sap  had frozen solid in the icy temperatures.    

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace