Odds And Ends In The Capital

 I have some odds and ends from recent weeks today. In the second half of August, I was coming home late in the day, and these moody skies caught my eye.

St. Matthew's Anglican Church is in the Glebe, and regularly features here.

The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank, a government Crown corporation, and lies across from Parliament Hill. The older building is partially wrapped up in the modern new building, an interesting visual mix.

Sunflowers grow well here in the later summer; these are found in the Glebe, where early in the morning I found bees at work.

I attended a CFL game at the end of August at Lansdowne Park, with the Redblacks hosting. The team has had an abysmal year, to say the least. I took this shot while walking about before the game, from the east staircase of the South Stands. The moody skies didn't end up in rain.

Down a flight of stairs and turning to the northeast gives us a view of the work in progress. The North Stands will get torn down in the second stage of this project and rebuilt. The arena, which is currently beneath the North Stands and still hosting hockey, basketball, and concerts, is being rebuilt here at the east side of the stadium. Things are coming along, with the rink taking shape, and the main concourse starting to form. There will be another level added over this, and the new building is expected to be done in the late fall of 2028. At that point the North Stands will be demolished, replaced by a tiered structure taking up less of a footprint. That's expected to go into 2030, with two condo towers going up behind the new stands.

Elsewhere in the Glebe, this relatively new mural caught my eye one evening.

On another night, close to Lansdowne, I was passing by on the pathway beside Queen Elizabeth Drive. I noticed a skunk busily digging in the grass between me and the construction perimeter on the property.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Soft

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and this month the theme is Soft. Check out how other are interpreting the theme right here.

I start with these shots taken in April inside the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne during a visit to the farmers market. It is typical to see dogs with their people here.

In early May upon leaving my place one morning, I came across this absolute sweetheart of a cat outside her home. She's often out front when the weather warms up, but never more than a couple of houses away from home.

A little further along the street, this kitty was watching me from the front window. This is one of a couple of cats in the house- the other is in my final shot below.

Rabbits are commonly seen in warmer weather in the north part of the Glebe, but particularly early or late in the day, or in the night. This one was in a front yard during the Tulip Festival.

I went to Dow's Lake during the Festival specifically for a few shots for a theme day later in the year. This dog drew my attention, and will appear in that future theme day post.

Spring tree blossoms are another soft thing. This is close to home.

And even closer to home- there's a lot beside my building that I suspect will never be developed. Two rabbits were having lunch when I passed by.

One day late in May I was heading to the War Museum to attend an exhibit opening. Several families of Canada geese were having supper on the wide expanse of grass here. Many babies were there, looking very soft and fluffy. It doesn't take long for them to grow out of that phase.

And I close with this cat, taken at the end of May. This cutie pie lives with another cat, as noted above, not far from home. I've never seen either of them outside.

Royal Canadian Navy Monument

 Richmond Landing is older than the city itself. After the War of 1812, veterans of that war, with their families, landed here on the shores of the Ottawa River and made a trail inland to found the village of Richmond, which today is within the city boundaries of Ottawa. Here on the other side of an artificial channel of the river that serves to be a home for white water kayaking is another monument, this one to the Royal Canadian Navy.

There is a naval yardarm here, with a low wall of names of ships and navy stations from the long history of the Navy.

Many of them were named after cities and towns across the country. If they've been used repeatedly, the number is listed after the name. I wasn't sure about the markings on the stone, but this spot is relatively low in relation to the river, and I've seen the aftermath of high spring waters get in here.

The other portion of the monument is this large stone wall.

Inscribed on it are theatres of war and military operations the Navy has served in- many of them from the Second World War. The only one without a date refers to the Persian Gulf. Canadian ships were part of Desert Storm, and have been on duty there on a regular basis ever since.

I went down to the river itself. Quite a view downstream.

One last shot. The dark shape before the monument is that of a dog, patiently waiting for its human to stop doing what I was doing- taking photos.

Within The Healing Circle

 More today from Thunderhead, the new monument at Richmond Landing.

Governments for a long time made it policy to discriminate against the LGBT community by removing them from positions in public service. This was called the LGBT Purge.

The monument is very effectively done, particularly these panels. 

The heart of the monument is this. The openings into this column resemble storm clouds, and the column features many small mirrors inlaid inside. 

Nearby, a series of rocks from across the country have been placed into a healing circle- a testament to the Indigenous influence in this monument.

One more look. From here I was heading over to another section of Richmond Landing.