Things That Go Bump In The Night

Happy Hallowe'en!

The Glebe neighbourhood particularly puts a lot of energy into decorating for the occasion.  

This very large skeleton in front of a house here warranted two shots.

I liked what this house was doing.

On another day, I passed by this house, decorated for the occasion. I noticed the cat sitting in the basement window. I've photographed them before- they are one of two cats living inside this house.

Shops get into decorating for Hallowe'en too.

Another house, very well done.

One bright day I was in the Byward Market, where this very large skeleton was outside the main market building.

I finish in the front yard of a house in the Glebe with these decorations.

A Legacy Left For The Country

 Some final shots from around the Abbey Ruins.

It was time to head back.

Near the main house, some more items Mackenzie King acquired from various locations, and might have incorporated into follys, but which lay here on their own.

This is the garage at Moorside, today serving in multiple capacities.

I headed for the parking lot. Mackenzie King left political life in 1948 to retire to The Farm, a house here at the estate which is closed to the public. His successor, Louis St. Laurent, would follow him as prime minister.

King's remarks about the highest joy in life is found in some kind of public service speaks volumes. "Instead of the state being indebted to the one who gives of his time and means to the country's affairs and the betterment of human conditions, the obligation is the other way round." Very wise indeed.

He was the dominant voice in Canadian politics for the first half of the 20th century. He developed Canada's place in the world and kept the country united. He led the country through a good part of the Depression and the calamity of the Second World War. And he left his estate to the people of Canada as thanks for the opportunities of public service. There are many who could learn from that.

Retirement was not long; he died two years after leaving political office behind.

Gatineau Park is one of his other legacies- the creation of a federal park, administered by the National Capital Commission, preserving a beautiful region.

And he made Ottawa itself very much looking like a national capital ought to look.

One last look at the estate, looking into the woods beside the parking lot. I will return to the autumn series after the theme day, and back over on the Ottawa side of the Ottawa River.

If These Rocks Could Talk

The path to the Abbey Ruins is particularly photogenic in fall.

King would incorporate elements from buildings in Ottawa and beyond, everything with specific meaning, into a design that evoked something ancient for this folly.

This section consists of stones from the former Center Block, which was destroyed by fire in 1916. A tablet set into the wall includes the arms of England.

This section includes a mantel from the original Canadian House of Commons, beneath the crest of a former Speaker of the House of Commons at Westminster in Britain. The hearth includes stones from the printing offices of King's grandfather, William Lyon Mackenzie.

Another section of the Abbey was taken from the Batson House, which was being torn down in Ottawa. King knew it had once been home to a former Premier of Quebec, and for that reason included it into his design as appreciation of the support from French-Canadiens.

This section, once a bay window, comes from the same house, and completes the structures making up the Abbey. A group of women were present in fantasy costumes- this one looking like an elf of Tolkien.

Window On The Forest

A look back up through the English and French gardens towards the main house at Moorside.

Beyond the English garden is this folly, called The Window On The Forest. Mackenzie King was a man of contradictions- a staunch Scots Presbyterian with an interest in spiritualism, and a deeply sentimental streak. I've always thought that if he were to walk into the room, I'd like him a whole lot. He took elements of a building being torn down in Ottawa, and refashioned them here.

The Rock Garden lies beyond, where plants grow hardy between the natural rocks of the Canadian Shield in this clearing, with the forest beyond.

The estate is a popular place.

Another folly- the Arc de Triomphe, also taken from a building being demolished and repurposed here.

I was heading to the last of the follys.