Wednesday, July 2, 2025

The Classic Car Show

A big attraction on Canada Day in Meaford is the classic car show held down at the waterfront.  It attracts lots of both vehicles on display and visitors, strolling down the street.  And of course it's totally wheelchair accessible for me.

Here it is, cars and trucks lined up along Bayfield Street, closed for the day, and wonderful weather for strolling.  Apparently they had the best turnout in years, with nearly 100 vehicles.

The very first vehicle caught my eye, an older model Ford pickup in great shape.

It was the older models that I was most interested in, here a 1939 4 door Buick Sedan, and a red 1956 Chevy pick-up.

But there were hotrods too.  I must admit I did admire the paint job on this one.

There were a few vehicles that were obviously projects in progress, this one at an early stage!

I wasn't interested in any of the modern ones like this Corvette, but there were certainly a few there.

This is an interesting one, a 1937 Plymouth with a brilliant blue paint job and the butterfly engine cover.

The information sheet in front of it provided details on the restoration.  Though it's a 1937 Plymouth, it has a Ford rear end and a Mustang front end.  I don't know a thing about cars, so it was all new to me.

I loved this bright orange Bug, with a matching baby bug beside it - a baby that actually moved back and forth!

Across on the other side of the harbour, firefighters were attracting attention as they pumped water out  and sprayed it back in.  There were other attractions over there too, but there was no way for me to get to them, a limitation of being in a wheelchair.


Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Happy Canada Day!

July 1st and it's Canada Day.  I'm interrupting a few posts on our booming garden to celebrate.  Our town celebrates with a classic car show down by the waterfront, so I've just been down to check out the cars and pickups.  But for today it's just Happy Canada Day to all of you.

This year I have a picture of our own flag to share, hung on the front porch by Mrs. F.G.  I think a lot of Canadians are feeling prouder of their country this year!

Even Google got into the act, so I've got to give them credit,  The flag was even waving.  But is this just a giant company pandering to Canadian patriotism?


Monday, June 30, 2025

Back to the Garden

I haven't shared the profusion of flowers growing in our garden for over two weeks, and at this time of year that might be a whole new season!  The back yard is a growing jungle, full of a variety of different interesting plants.  So here's an update, the following all by Mrs. F.G.

The poppies, here in the early morning sun, have added a brilliant flash of orange.

For a week or so the Pinks were in full flower.  I love the colour!

The pink Columbine is looking great.

The Coral Bells are bright, but tiny and hard to photograph.

This is a white Camassia.

And this is Sweet Cicely, both the blooms and the numerous vertical seedpods.

Finally, this is a very feathery flower that stands four feet tall, a Meadowrue.

A close look shows all the very tiny stamens.  And thus we come to the end of June already!  I'm not ready for summer to go by so fast!


Saturday, June 28, 2025

Petrel Point Part III

 After exploring the length of the boardwalk and working our way back to the car, we drove slowly down the road to a beautiful clump of Showy Ladyslipper orchids.  Another visitor actually pointed them out to us, and they were certainly the highlight of the visit for us.

The showiest flower that people come to Petrel Point hoping to see is the Showy Ladyslipper, a beautiful white and pink orchid.  We found a clump not along the boardwalk, but along the road itself.

They were just beginning to bloom, and the clump we found were mostly facing the other direction, but they were still the highlight of the day for us.

I managed a photo of the blooms on the edge of the clump that showed the rich pink colour, so we were pleased.

We drove down the road a short distance only to find cottages and their 'lawns'.  But there was a nice scattering of the red Indian Paintbrush at one point.

Heading back out to the highway we passed the very marshy Sky Lake, where Mrs. F.G. stopped to get a picture of a big Muskrat lodge.

But when we got out to the highway Mrs. F.G. said "Let's go further north" - so we did, all the way to Lion's Head.  Along the way we had a great lunch in Ferndale.  After stopping at a new bakery along the way we drove down to the beach in the village.  We've been here many times before, but not since I became paralyzed.

A close-up shows you the 'lion's head' in the profile of the cliff, and the small marina with its famous lighthouse.  This lighthouse was destroyed completely in the storm of Jan. 12th, 2020 and has been rebuilt by a team of volunteers using the original plans.  It's now the town's landmark!  And thus ended our longest adventure yet!





Thursday, June 26, 2025

Petrel Point - Part II

After we had gone a short distance through the forested swamp, the boardwalk abruptly turned and came out to the open fen.  This is the unique wetland that supports carnivorous plants like Pitcher Plant and Sundew.  A thin film of nutrient-rich water continually flows across these fens, heading toward the shoreline, but creating a very unusual habitat as it goes.

There's a distinct edge to the forested swamp where the open coastal fen begins, but the boardwalk continues.

These are the Pitcher Plant flowers from behind.

And this is the flower from the front.

These are the 'pitchers', hollow plant structures covered in downward-pointing hairs on the inside. so insects landing are quickly captured, providing nutrients for the plant.

And here, surrounding some of those pitchers, is a carpet of Linear-leaved Sundew.  The sticky drops on each leaf catch insects and the hairs hold them there while they get digested.

This is a carnivorous plant not many people recognize as such, Bladderwort.  The 'leaves' are underwater, but they function effectively at trapping and holding aquatic insects.

There are lots of other plants in the fen.  One of the most common is this rush.  I'm not capable of telling you the species; there are many different rush species in Ontario.

The white feathers of Cotton Grass show up as white dots across the fen.  It's not actually a grass, but a sedge, and it's a good indicator of a healthy wetland.

One species we did not see was the Grass Pink, a beautiful little flower in the orchid family, with a stunning colour.  This picture was taken here several years ago.

I was surprised to see this bench was dedicated to Bill Klein and his wife.  I knew him when I was a teenager, and he developed a passion for the Bruce Peninsula and shared his photos at the local naturalists club.

Here and there there were interesting clumps of dead Cedar trees, probably killed by the harsh winters.

And here is yours truly, the wiggly boardwalk extending behind him.




Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Petrel Point Adventure

Last week we set off on what became our longest adventure yet.  Our destination was Petrel Point Nature Reserve, owned by Ontario Nature.  I had been here first as a teenager when the property was first acquired, and I had a small hand in the first expansion when I was chair of the volunteer Nature /Reserves Committee, so I knew the property well.

Petrel Point is a coastal fen, a unique type of wetland I'll tell you about in the next three posts.  Ontario Nature is a non-profit conservation group here in Ontario, now I think operating for over 75 years.

The unique thing that attracted us this time was the wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the forest and fen.  Yes those are my toes and the wheelchair control unit at the bottom of the picture.

Right away Mrs. F.G. started pointing out pictures I should take, starting with the interesting texture of the bark of this Cedar (top) and a Spruce (bottom).

She thought this old bit of stump and the fern made an interesting shot.  The fern is Common Bracken.

And this fern is Royal Fern.

Then we spotted a group of Fringed Polygala, such a gorgeous colour!

The twifs of the young Balsam Fir added a bit of bright green, a shot by Mrs. F.G.

A huge old stump from the early logging, perhaps 16" across.

And finally we spotted one of those Yellow Ladyslippers deep among the vegetation.