Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

April 20, 2024. Ducks in the swamp in Monaghan Forest, in south-west Ottawa near Fallowfield. We went there for our hike today. It was nice, still very early spring conditions. A lot of it was still flooded. https://flic.kr/p/2qYScGg

March 2, 2025. Larose forest in the March afternoon sun on a chilly cold day. Hopefully the last cold cold day of the year. I'm beginning the feel the possibilities of cycling. https://flic.kr/p/2qPGKKd

November 24, 2024. This is an impressive pitcher plant at Garry Fen, near Alexandria, Ontario. We could see a lot of them all along the shore of the fen, bright red in their fall colours. https://flic.kr/p/2qw9s9T

September 1, 2024. We went for our weekly hike to South March highlands in Ottawa's west end today. It was a bit cool and a bit breezy, but nice after the earlier rains. Here's the full album https://flic.kr/p/2qdFdgZ

July 7, 2024. Pine Grove Forest south, in Ottawa's greenbelt (trail 45). Lots of bugs. Medium dense forest, in lush green with blue sky showing through the leaves. A large tree trunk to the left, and white and orange flowers in the foreground. Forest is mostly pine with a mix of birch and maple. https://flic.kr/p/2q2QuAc

June 23, 2024. No biking yesterday because of the weather. This photo is from our walk through the Mer Bleue forest. My left foot is still hurting quite a lot. https://flic.kr/p/2q1gLDt

June 21, 2024. Another day working in the office, working on a project called 'CList'. Over lunch I cycled downtown to get some Hungarian paprika paste. This is from the little forested area just alongside the NRC campus; I notice that there's a bit of standing water. NRC keeps eating into this bit of forest to build new buildings, and I imagine they'll eventually wipe it out. https://flic.kr/p/2q1euar

April 3, 2024. Squirrel at Mer Bleue forest. Worked from the office today, got 8 years of tax returns off the table, and stopped by at the forest in the wind and the cold cold rain to take a few photos. https://flic.kr/p/2pH8TCh

March 3, 2024. Our walk today took us to Pine Grove forest. It's still showing the effects of the derecho a couple years ago, and it looks like they removed a lot of the downed trees over the winter. We listened to the Blue Jays lose another spring training game. Relaxed day overall, with an evening spent playing video games. https://flic.kr/p/2pBG6xR

February 18 2024. It was snowing in the forest today where we went snowshoeing, a bit more than 4 km. Not too cold but snowy and blowy. https://flic.kr/p/2pyWwk4

December 3, 2023. A walk through the forest just before the snow. We went out earlier in the morning than usual. https://flic.kr/p/2pjTSXn

November 19, 2023. This is a scene from the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary. We followed the newly restored Heron Train, itself still under construction, but with the boardwalks and one of the loops finished. I also did some work on my European project. https://flic.kr/p/2phik3A

November 12, 2023. We finally got out for a walk today; this is a blue jay we spotted in Mer Bleue. Lots of birds today. It was a clear blue day, not too cool, a perfect day for a walk. In the morning we went to the RedBlacks locker room sale and while Andrea got some shirts I got a game-worn CFL helmet, which I'll feature in a future post. https://flic.kr/p/2pgzSZB

October 24, 2023. This is the view from a little restaurant I ate at after hiking along a 'Levada' trail in Madeirs. The trail winds along the ends of a steep mountain slop along a water irrigation channel. I had the whole day to explore today so I was several hours on the trail. I also explored some old-growth forest a bit further north, the famous Madeira 'laurel forest'. Then I went down to the black sand beach of Seixal on the north coast just as the day was waning. Can't express how much I've been enjoying Madeira. (Many many more photos in the Madeira photo set) https://flic.kr/p/2peKxc8

October 5, 2023. This is one last look at the Mont Tremblant forest, at the top of the mountain, before we had to leave today and drive back home. The weather- which had been beautiful all week - finally turned to rain. https://flic.kr/p/2p8w5mN

October 4, 2023. This is a scene along the Caps trail as we climbed Mont Tremblant today. It's my second time climbing it, and I've lost count of how many times Andrea has done it. I fell a few times, and in one fall I smashed the glass on my phone. But it was still a brilliant walk up the mountain, and as before, I wasn't sore or bruised after. Also, as you can see, we hit peak foliage on this trip. https://flic.kr/p/2p8AtZa

August 10, 2023. This is today, Day 12 on my ride to La Verendrye via Véloroute des Draveurs (out) and Petit Train du Nord (back). I saw exactly one other bikepacker out there. View progress here: ridewithgps.com/users/5664109 https://flic.kr/p/2oUWsaR

June 25, 2023. This is the trail through Parc du Lac-Beauchamp, at the eastern edge of Gatineau. It was an easy 5 km walk, though it was warm and the smoke from the firest fires filled the air. https://flic.kr/p/2oKxfYr

April 23, 2023. Evn if they're not quite blooming yet, it's nice to see trilliums all through the forest floor. We went for an 8.7 km walk along the Mer Bleue trail. It was supposed to rain all day, but it didn't, though trail was pretty muddy in places. Otherwise a quiet day of rest. https://flic.kr/p/2ovoBeP

March 19, 2023. This squirrel greeted us near the beginning of the Old Quarry Trail in west Ottawa. We did a roughly 6 km loop around the trail. Our timing was good; it was -6 so everything was frozen. Next week, this trail will be too soggy to walk (there were already 'rail closed' markers out. We also web to Cabela in the west end to pick up a bug jacket, some bear spray, an air horn, and other doo-dads for my summer bikepacking trip. https://flic.kr/p/2oocLDr