SundayStills - landscapes

It is a long holiday weekend here, and of course, it is raining.

But, last week we had an all time high of 33C on Thursday. I didn't realize it was going to be quite that hot when I set out on my hike.

The day start started out like this, calm and understated.


I headed up the escarpment to walk some trails


and look back from whence I came


until I eventually reached my goal

Tew's Falls - 135' ribbon of water. The first time I visited these waterfalls (there is also a lower falls of 10') I found out that this one often dries up in the summer. So, I thought I'd get an earlier start.
See more landscapes at SundayStills

swoop -de- do

For three days last week they came.
Dozens of them. At least 50-60

It was cold and windy and I was inside reading when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the birds flying. I realized I had actually seen them for awhile (maybe an hour?) before it really registered that something was odd. My first thought was that a storm was brewing.

But they were so quiet. Eerily silent.
They swooped and soared. Taking up the whole sky in their acrobatic dance.
Swallows.

Not the synchronized swarming they are known to do. This was the individual dance portion of their program. The whole back lot was their arena. For about 2 hours they played until, at a predetermined ingrained signal, one by one they silently soared into the sky and were gone.

On the fourth day, I made my tea and settled on the balcony to watch.
They didn't come.

Now, the show outside is all the dancing puff balls.
Some as large a pingpong ball, others barely perceptible, they float in the gentle air like bits of cloud that have broken free.
Hundreds of dozens of them.

Equally as mesmerizing as the swallows.
Though not nearly as elegant.

Nor as mysterious.

Except, it is a mystery to me what tree these came from.

Monday AMuse

Bush Art Gardens

the hill - part deux

There was a devastating fire on a cold winter's night in February 1916 in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings.

Original Centre Block
Imagine what went through everyones mind, with the young (barely 50 years) country embroiled in the first world war. But it turned out it was not part of anything as sinister as enemy sabotage. It is believed the fire was most likely the cause of careless smoking in the Senate Reading Room.
Firemen Spray Water
The only part of the building to survive was the Library of Parliament (designed by Thomas Fuller) at the back of the building due to someone taking the time to close the big iron doors as he was fleeing.

Library After Fire

Library Windows after Re-opening 2006
In spite of the war, rebuilding took place almost immediately. As you can see from the top archival photo, the new building was built in a more modern Gothic Revival while the original was a High Victorian Gothic Revival (and as such much more ornate). There are 25 different types of stone and marble used in the construction with much of the exterior done in sandstone from a local quarry.

Parliament Fresh Start

Time and the weather has not been kind and a massive renovation project has been underway since 2002 on all three buildings which is expected to take until 2025.

The stone from the gates are slowly being cleaned and restored to their original glory.

this bell was taken from the ruins

of the clock tower destroyed by fire

February 3, 1916
"The fire raced fiercely for hours. the main tower was not touched until about 11pm, and one of the most pathetic incidents of the night, which moved the spectators, was the striking of the midnight hour by the old tower clock. There seemed almost a human touch as its familiar tones boomed out from the mass of flames"

archival photos from CanadaOnline
then
now

the Hill - part un

Going for a walk - or a drive - with someone who loves to take pictures can be a bit annoying, I know. I try to curtail my snapping habits when I am with other people but it is difficult and sometimes I just have to lag behind, or pull a u-turn. It doesn't help that I have interests that may not mesh with my companions interests. Sometimes they smile indulgently.

One of my interests is architecture.

So how can one interested in architecture not be awed by the sight of the Parliament Buildings?

I won't bore you with details. Basically there are three buildings high up on a hill on a piece of land that overlooks the Ottawa River. They are conveniently and simply called the Centre Block (the one that has the Peace Tower), East Block and West Block.

They were built after Queen Victoria stuck a pin on a map and thus made her decision to have Ottawa the capital of the new "Province of Canada". High Victorian Gothic Revival was the design of choice. Unfortunately, the Centre Block burned down in 1916 and was rebuilt not quite in the same style, but still distinctively in a sympathetic Gothic.

Each of the buildings is overloaded with pointed arches, spires with crockets, lancet windows, and, as a whole, are considered to be one of the most important examples of Gothic Revival style anywhere in the world.

There is also a requisite gargoyle, or two.

and then it snowed

Of course, it wasn't Ottawa's fault that the temperature plummeted from 27C (80F) to 4C (39F) overnight and just in time for the world renowned Tulip Festival. Or that the driest winter and spring we've ever had suddenly decided to turn wet and windy and miserable. Or that I came prepared for the weather people to be wrong about the cold. My sandals were ditched and I was awfully pleased with my gifted scarf from Paris and I knew that if I dug around in the trunk of my car I'd find a pair of dollar store one size fits all gloves.
Because by Sunday, the rain turned to snow.

The earlier warm weather of March and April brought out many of the blooms two weeks earlier than anticipated.

Then again, tulips only bloom for about a week to ten days, so there's always different varieties of early and late bloomers planted to keep the gardens full.

The raindrops made for nice photos (if you could keep the horizontal rain off the camera lens).

Too bad about the wind and rain that battered a few of the blooms ... and the spectators.

I have wanted to go to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa for several years and I thought, with this year marking the 65th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland, that this should be the year to visit. The tulips were a gift from Princess Juliana of The Netherlands for helping out her family by giving them refuge in Canada during the occupation and then liberating her country. Over 120,000 bulbs were given the first year after 1945 and they have been continuing to arrive every year since. Now there are about 3 million of them decorating the city. I didn't count them all, but that seems to be the accepted number, although maybe only 1 to 2 million were blooming at one time.

So XUP and Jazz and I ventured out into the rain and dodged the many, many Japanese tourists taking pictures of themselves tiptoeing through the tulips.

A few umbrellas got in the way of the photos.


I'm not exactly sure what I expected the tulip festival to be like. Maybe a little more festival-ish.
Though, to be fair, we missed the street party on Friday where Ottawa planned to hold its 'first-ever liberation street party ... to recreate the spontaneous party that broke out when the news of the end of World War II first hit the streets on May 7, 1945'. And there was a parade of 'vintage jeeps and vehicles and costumes' and a fly past of WWII aircraft which we didn't quite manage to see. As I recall, we were eating during those events. And we missed the vintage wine auction to be held next weekend. We didn't find the beer tent with the special brew created just for this anniversary. Considering the festival runs from May 7th to May 24, a surprising amount of preparations were still to be done.

Displays and tents were still to be put up for events held only later in the week. (why not when the festival opened?) The lacklustre food tents and crafts tent just left us wanting for a warm, dry marketplace. And with so much construction, it was difficult to get near the war memorial and the display of archival photos about the history of the tulips and Ottawa.

After a while of wandering in the cold after Jazz went home and XUP was being feted by XUP Jr for Mother's Day, I sought refuge in the National Art Gallery just in time for a Bach Choir to perform in the Rideau Chapel (click on link to see pictures the restored and reconstructed chapel, because I followed the rules and did not take any illegal photographs).

But the weekend wasn't only about tulips.

Jazz and I had the opportunity to break burnt toast bread with some of the many bloggers in Ottawa. There are an awful lot of people in Ottawa who just can't keep their thoughts to themselves and they are an organized, fun bunch who get together every couple of months for breakfast and even for an annual Blog Out Loud.

And XUP puts on a great wine and cheese spread.

And that Bazel cat is most entertaining.

Now, go read XUP's version of the weekend.

...and now Jazz has hers up.

SundayStills - 'B'

I am not here this weekend.

off on a car trip to visit friends

where we hope to see lots of this

where we will partake of some of these

and perhaps imbibe some of this

with a visit to here

but not likely here

no matter what they want.

I'll be back to visit you all later.

This post was brought to you by the letter 'B'. See more at SundayStills

frescoes

One day, as I was driving down a street I had driven along many times before, the light from the late afternoon glinted off a church cross and I noticed a certain glow from the front. So, of course, I had to go around the block and take some pictures.



I was vaguely aware of this church, but I really hadn't paid much attention to it until I saw the sun glinting off the mosaic.

I wrote down the name.
St Nicholas Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church.

A little research and I have been excitedly awaiting an opportunity to see inside.

That chance came this past weekend with Doors Open (where public buildings, and often many churches, open their doors for a free look and wander and a bit of history sharing).

An icon altar. An elaborate wall of icons separates the nave from the sanctuary.


The church walls and ceiling have been richly painted with frescoes.
These include images of biblical stories, the great feasts of the church and the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints. Many, many saints.

All of this work was painstakingly painted, layer upon layer, by one man. It took him over three years to complete. Services were still held during this period, and the young woman I talked to spoke of the shock and awe each week as the previously unadorned white walled church was transformed.


No pews were moved out of the way, as the congregants stand for the entire service, which lasts from 90 minutes to 2 hours. And is all in Serbian - not the modern day Serbian, either. There is also no organ and all singing is a capella (and sometimes, in English).
I'd be almost tempted to return ... but my Serbian is non existent. And I'm not great at standing. And I know, I'd end up dizzy from looking up at that ceiling.

Monday AMuse

a few decals to individualize your iPad