June 30 2023 - Last call for the month of Brides and onto Donkey tales

 

June is the traditional wedding month.  After that is is September and October being considered the most popular months to get married. It has to do with the mild weather.  Maybe also all those roses filling the air with perfume. So we close June and head into July.  This is the month of "summer activities." We have a lot of summer activities compared to winter time.  Dozens of things to do and see.  Caves, hiking, boating, water falls, canoeing, kayaking, carnivals and fairs. It seems endless.  Of all of these what catches my attention? There are two donkey farms listed in Ontario.  The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada and the PrimRose Donkey Sanctuary.  The first is in Puslinch and the second out past Oshawa. Puslinch is very close to me.  Don't you wonder how we got to needing a sanctuary for donkeys when there don't seem to be many or even any around? In North America, donkey work is predator control and guarding animals on farms.  Coyotes and wild dogs would be the main concern in Ontario. While it doesn't say how many animals are at the donkey sanctuary in Puslinch, you can view the page of the donkeys that would like to be sponsored.  They have names like Beans, Big Ben, BlueApollo and Austin. Each has a profile - take a look HERE.    And if we wait for September, the second most popular wedding month, we can take part in the 5K trail run and walk through their nature trails and paddocks.  It is their biggest fundraiser of the year.   Today's picture isn't a donkey, but it came to my mind right away.  I took it in Strasburg as we were taking the train ride.  It seems amazing that a field would be full of flowers like this and to have such a delightful focal point.     Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 16 2022 - Quaint and Cute

 

Is quaint and picturesque the same?  There certainly are lots of picturesque villages in the world.  Which country does one want to go to for cute villages?   And then there's Shanghai China's "One City, Nine Towns".   The One City Nine Towns concept was an economic development plan introduced by the Shanghai Planning Commission in 2001. Each town was planned to be built in the style of a different Western city, incorporating European and North American architectural styles as a method of attracting investors and residents.  They were China, Germany, Ecology, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Spain.  Canada's town plan was abandoned,  others are ghost towns with lots of architecture but no people anywhere.  Thames Town (U.K.) was built and is part of the Garden City. Thames Town reportedly cost £500 million and sits 19 miles outside of Shanghai. But despite being completed in 2006, its mock-Tudor buildings, cobbled streets and English pub remain desolate and many tourists liken it to The Truman Show.  It is now used primarily by middle-class newlyweds, who choose it as the backdrop for their English-themed wedding snaps. On entering the town you could be mistaken for thinking you had strolled into a quaint southern counties settlement.  Except that there are no people in any of the pictures.  Bronze statues of James Bond and Winston Churchill are two of the tourist attractions, while hundreds of homes are designed to imitate Victorian, Georgian and Tudor architecture.    Looking for something that you'd only find in a town?  Here's the tourist ride in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

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June 2 2022 - So you love a parade

I seem to be confident that this Platinum Jubilee Celebration of Queen Elizabeth II is the last one of any Monarch.  Ever.  Monumental that it is here now.   This is something to mark even if you aren't among the thousands and millions who will celebrate. It seems astonishing to have something in the future be assured to be the final one of its kind.  Young people here in Canada have a lukewarm interest, if any at all.  It is the older generations who have some sense of the significance. CNN is covering this live.  Just 14 minutes ago, the official Buckingham Palace account tweeted a picture from the royal rooftop. Prince Charles is inspecting the troops!  Cheering is underwa! There are pictures of people are wearing garish Union Jack outfits (eeks!) and others wearing masks of Queen Elizabeth and her dog. Union Jack hats abound.  Greetings are pouring in - even the Pope sends greetings (ha!). There are pictures of the very young Queen Elizabeth being greeted by a royal salute and inspecting the troops. She has been at every ceremony throughout her reign, except the two years of the pandemic and in 1955 due to a general strike. Did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend? A spokesperson said they would.  Tomorrow?  Thanksgiving service. Saturday? Epsom Downs racecourse. Sunday? street parties will be part of the Big Jubilee Lunch. The finale is the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.  There will be a "River of Hope" with 200 silk flags parading down the Mall like a river, and a who's who of Britain's most famous faces.  Can you imagine a field of flowers like this?  This is near the Strasburg Railway in 2013.  I've not seen a field like this since.  Nor the perfect moment of a horse. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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June 4 2021 - Trufficulture

 

Trufficulture: What does this word signify?   Growers in Ontario will be producing Burgundy truffles, a rare variety that matures in the fall, compared to other truffles that mature in the winter or in the summer.  There are some native truffles in Ontario, and when found in the wild, are very valuable.   Adam Koziol is the owner of EarthGen, a propagation nursery company located in Dunnville/Wainfleet. It uses unique methods to speed the development of trees. They have been able to inoculate hazelnut and oak tree roots with Burgundy truffle spore from Spain.  This is the nursery that supplied the native trees for our Garden Club Earth Day sale.  Truffles grow in several places in Europe, but mainly France, Italy and Spain. France and Italy closely guard their truffle spores and won’t allow their export. Spain, however has allowed some export. It is expected that Niagara is a viable region for truffle production. It can take 6 to 10 years until both the hazelnut trees and the truffles mature.  Hazelnut trees can earn up to $3,000 per acre.  And then there are the truffles.  There are a few years to go yet, as the original coverage of the topic was in 2018. But on the West Coast, truffles have been growing longer.  There, Grant and Betty Duckett have been growing truffles since the 2000s and even have Lagotto Romagnolo dogs for truffle hunting.  They are focused on growing black Periogord truffles.  While their website is a bit out of date, they do say that they have passed the operation on to their family.  Let's hope this endeavour continues. Here in Niagara, Earthgen's website - says they are scheduling tours for interested hazelnut and truffle growers.   Could you have guessed there would be hazelnuts and truffles in Niagara? This picture was taken on a ride on the Strasburg Railway almost 10 years ago - what a field of flowers!

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June 6 2020 - The Crowd Goes Wild

Secretariat is the greatest horse in recorded history.  The website secretariat.com has the byline:  "out of the gate... and into history". The winning of the Triple Crown in 1973 was an astonishing story.  The horse that ran second -Sham -  for the most part of the race, ended last. It was worn out by Secretariat's speed. Secretariat didn't start out outstanding.  His long-time groom Eddie Sweat told Canadian Horseman in 1973, “I didn’t think much of him when we first got him. I thought he was just a big clown. He was real clumsy and a bit on the wild side, you know. And I remember saying to myself I didn’t think he was going to be an outstanding horse.” Secretariat started racing in 1973.  This was during the Watergate and Vietnam War protest era.  He was a relief from the daily news. In fact, here's a quote from George Plimpton:  “the only honest thing in the country at the time…Where the public so often looks for the metaphor of simple, uncomplicated excellence, the big red horse has come along and provided it.” While his records still stand in the first two Triple Crown races, it is the final race that is likely to never be beaten.  He won by 31 lengths.  The worry in a horse race is that a horse may outrun its heart and have a "heart attack".  So the crowd was cheering yet worrying whether he would finish the race.  I heard the calling of the race on CBC a few weeks ago, and the crowd's cheering was electric.  We should listen to crowd cheering on a regular basis to get a sense of our communal social nature, and the oneness that is present.  (You can listen to cheering crows on youtube.) Secretariat died in 1989 - he had an incurable hoof disease.  The autopsy found that his heart was double the normal size of a horse's heart.  This, along with his large size, and that bit of wildness, made for the greatest horse in modern history. This pretty flower picture as taken in 2008 and this little bush is still in my greenhouse and garden today.  It is an amazing bloomer.  I guess powepuff bush is a good name for it - it is a Calliandra.

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