Sparrows having fun

Here are some sparrows enjoying splashing around in the water. It's an improvised bird bath, they don`t care, they're having fun.

Gardens in this area

Here is someone's garden about a ten minute walk from where I live. This is not a large garden, it's located on the corner of a major street, but garden like this is still a certain amount of work (nothing is free in this life). The owners love their garden, it's one of the nicest gardens around here.

Trees and shadows

These photographs were taken not far from the rear entrance to the golf course grounds, not even up to the construction site where the remains of the St. Pierre River are being buried. What interests me here are the trees and shadows from the trees; the spiritual presence of the trees. In this life we are alone, we stand alone, like the trees. It was May 10th, a beautiful day for a long walk.

Why do birds like bird baths?

A bird bath is a small purchase but it brings years of happiness. Birds love to sit in water, flutter their wings in water, and they'll line up and wait their turn to use a bird bath. The main thing for people to do is to change the water, keep the water fresh and clean in your bird bath and you'll have happy birds visiting your bird bath. But why do birds like to take a bath? I've tried to find out and, from what I've read, science hasn't really answered this question. There is one simple answer, it is that they are having fun, like people they like to cool down on a hot summer day, they like to be in water, it's just a fun thing to do. That's what I think but, of course, I could be wrong.

Here is a robin in our bird bath, May 1st, 2022.

How to make your garden larger

If you like an expanse of grass, no problem. But if you want something different, something that combines a feeling of being unfettered, a bit wild, then a cottage garden is the way to go. But if you also have a small space for your garden then you might want to make the garden larger. Often gardens are an expanse of grass encompassed, or framed, by a garden that is on the periphery of the grass, but the grass dominates the garden, it larger than than the garden, even if your garden is made up of perennials and the border of the garden isn't a straight line but various curving designs and formations. To increase the number of feet of garden space, and to make it more interesting, I suggest islands of flowers, garden plots that are cut from the grass. There is an illusion here, when you stand in front of a specific part of your garden you aren't looking at the garden as a whole, but at the specific place where you are standing. You can increase this "standing view" by increasing the paths in your garden and the easiest way to do this is by cutting islands from the grass, and this will increase the length of the paths. Islands of garden plots create paths through the garden. Here is a way to test this, pace off the length of your garden, the border of flowers and other plants on the periphery of the grass, then (if you've added these islands of flowers), pace off the garden including the paths around the islands. Your garden will be larger, you will have added to the variety and number of plants, and the whole garden will have a feeling of being in nature, not in a city garden. Avoid annuals, go for perennials. Aim for a controlled wild look. Grass is okay if that is what you want, but I like a garden that combines different flowers, different types of plants, perennial flowers, shrubs, rose bushes, a few herbs, a different sensibility, a garden that is inviting and welcoming to all who visit, and so on.

This is my garden as of May 1st, 2022. I work slowly so the "islands" don't look like much in these photographs, it's also spring here in Montreal and the season is slow. Just wait! Also, I work slowly, I like to plan and think out what I'm doing. It's the way I work and since a garden is a work in progress, this is what I've done so far. But you never know, I may never change the garden as it is, it's wait and see.

Those are day lilies on the right; they were growing in different parts of the
garden and I've moved some of them to the space on the left. 

Farewell, Village Shopping Plaza

The sky over the Village Shopping Plaza

The windows are boarded, the doors are locked, electrical wires are disconnected, the water has been turned off, the halls are empty, the stores are closed and littered with junk, the rooms and halls are in darkness, The Knights of Columbus moved years ago, stores have relocated, stores have closed permanently, no children at the daycare, no one buying bread and bagels at the bakery, no antiques being sold, concrete stairs are disintegrating, windows are closed, everything is silent, the parking lot has been sealed off with large concrete blocks, no one is here, no beer or food being consumed at the Robert Burns Pub, what's left to do? Tear it down, tear it down and build some condos say the developers. Tear it down and let us make money say the developers. It`s just an eyesore now, so tear it down! Soon, the Village Shopping Plaza will be demolished.  

BTW, this location would have been a good site for a commuter train station (talk has included a train station behind the Cote-St-Luc Shopping Centre). There is lots of room here for parking, it's close to the train tracks, and it's a very large piece of land with an adjacent piece of land for sale next to it. Just an idea...

 

Books on the Beaver Hall Artists

Back to the Beaver Hall artists. I highly recommend a film, available on YouTube, "By Woman's Hand"; made by the National Film Board of Canada in 1994; the film gives some of the history of Prudence Heward and two other members of the Beaver Hall group who were also Heward's friends, Anne Savage and Sarah Robertson. At 13:51 there is a photograph of William Brymner and a class of art students, some of them are future prominent members of the Beaver Hall group; included in the photograph is Darrell Morrisey, an artist I have researched since 2010.

Books that might interest you.

 

Catalogue for the 1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibit,
published by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2016

The Women of Beaver Hall, Canadian Modernist Painters by Evelyn Walters,
Dundern Press, 2005

The Beaver Hall Group and its Legacy by Evelyn Walters,
Dundurn Press, 2017

Painting Friends, The Beaver Hall Women Painters
by Barbara Meadowcroft, Vehicule Press, 1999

Periodical from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, issue 15, 2016

The day after the snow

 it was back to spring . . .

Snow in late April

Over 19 cm. of snow fell yesterday, a new record for snow falling on April 19; twenty-four hours later most of it has melted. 

And now it's back to life and getting on with spring, turning the world green after a long, cold, white winter.

Food and its decline

The quality of many things we buy has declined, instead of increasing the price of consumer items manufacturers reduce the quality. Even knowing this I was surprised at the quality of bacon, something I haven't cooked in over ten years. And I love bacon, but at local restaurants--two eggs over easy, bacon, coffee, double order of white bread toasted, and jam--my favourite meal. Well, it's Easter and I was feeling in a generous mood instead of my usual self-deprivation and frugality and bought a package of bacon, a pricey $10.00 for what used to cost maybe $6.00; how do young families survive the inflationary cost of food? And then, just yesterday, I decided to cook some of this "bacon"... it was impossible to separate the strips of bacon, it was a greasy mass of stringy meat... And it didn't fry very well. So, if you're going to buy bacon, spend more and get something worth buying. 

No strips of bacon, just a mass of stringy fat and a little meat

A package of bacon ...

It was Easter and I was feeling generous and bought, as a treat, hot cross buns. Good luck finding hot cross buns amid all of the doughnuts, pecan tarts, and macarons, etc., that are in the bread, pastry, and cake department at the IGA. So, here (pictured below) is what they had, manufactured by POM bakery; POM is an acronym for Pride of Montreal and their large bakery, 132 years old, used to be located near the bottom of Landsdowne Avenue on Ste. Catherine Street West in Westmount, that building was converted into condos long ago. And POM is now owned by BIMBO which is a Mexican firm. So, it should be Orgullo de Mexico, ODM, not POM. As for the hot cross buns, a Christian treat sold only at Easter, there is no reference to hot cross buns on the package, it is now brioche aux raisin, raisin buns; and I would never have bought whole wheat hot cross buns, do I want health when I eat two or three hot cross buns every few years? No way. It was more like healthy raisin bread than anything else. Would I be going too far in saying it is another cancellation of Christianity now that they've canceled hot cross buns? You may think I am joking or exaggerating, but why not label hot cross buns as what they are, not delete the symbolism? Bimbo would not be impressed...

Otherwise known as hot cross buns