Odds And Ends

 I have some odds and ends from the last few weeks. This is Glebe-St. James United Church in the Glebe in early May, taken from the west side, which I haven't photographed before. I usually photograph the church from the east.

This oddity was in an event I was passing through.

One morning when I was heading over to photograph tulips at Dow's Lake, I noticed this little one on the sidewalk.

During the same visit, I photographed the lake itself.

On another May day, when I was photographing tulips over on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River, one of my stops included the Museum of History. The water feature, which spills over a series of terraces and makes its way to the Ottawa River, was running.

Down below, two Canada geese went for a swim in the pool that contains this work of art by indigenous artist Mary Anne Barkhouse. It is called 'namaxsala (To Travel In A Boat Together) and is based on a story from her grandfather, telling of how he gave a lift to a wolf through treacherous waters.

Heading back across the Ottawa River on the Alexandra Bridge, I paused to photograph the shoreline.

This sticker is on a car near my place, and meets with my approval.

On Victoria Day, coming back from Dow's Lake, I photographed these flags outside the Logan Building, near home. The Union flag is flown with the Canadian flag on such occasions.

Also close to home. This house is relatively new, and an example of infill housing. Oddly, it does work to fit in with the neighbourhood.

Spring blossoms, a short lived sight.

One night passing through Lansdowne Park, I photographed the Aberdeen Pavilion.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Water

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for July, that theme is water. Check out how others are interpreting the theme right here.

Twice a month I come out to the Portage Bridge, which crosses the Ottawa River between Gatineau on the left and Ottawa on the right. This is to document the view downstream through the changing seasons for a series of posts that turn up here twice a year. The river is a big one, more than 1200 kilometres in length from its headwaters in central Quebec to its confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. A good part of its length forms the border between Ontario and Quebec. At this bridge, landmarks include the Alexandra Bridge, Kiweki Point, the National Gallery, Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court, and Victoria Island.

This first shot was taken in the second half of January, on a cold day. The waters here do not freeze up in the winter, due to the currents caused by the Chaudiere Falls upstream.

This was taken on the last day of the month, a cold day with falling snow.

When I returned in early February, it was on a sunny day.

Coming back in the second half of the month, this was the view on a cold, mostly cloudy day.

I returned around mid-month in March. The ice downstream was breaking up.

By late month, most of the ice was going.

When I returned in the second half of April, the water was raging.

By month's end, more of the same. The Chaudiere Falls upstream from here was at full torrent.

The water was still turbulent at mid-month in May when I crossed the bridge over into Gatineau to photograph tulips.

When I returned in the last days of May, it was en route to the War Museum late in the afternoon.

I returned on an afternoon in the second half of June. There had been a downpour an hour or so prior. We've had a lot of this kind of days as of late- rain followed by clearing.

This last shot was taken two days ago to round out the month. I'll next have this series of seasonal shots in early January. Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians.

Upon The Hill

 The tulips continue along Wellington as I entered the Parliamentary precinct.

Crossing the street brings us to the Hill. There are six Parliamentary blocks in all, five of them on the Hill itself. The sixth is seen at right, and houses the offices of the Prime Minister and his staff. At centre is a statue honouring Henry Harper, a journalist and civil servant who died in December 1901 trying to save the life of a woman who fell through the ice on the Ottawa River.

I went onto the Hill, where there were more tulips in planters.

My path led me west of Centre Block, where there is a rise of land and two statues. The first is Queen Victoria, and at the time of this May visit, she was surrounded by tulips.

Beyond is a statue honouring Lester Pearson, who along with Mackenzie King was one of our greatest prime ministers.

Departing, I noticed the lilac blossoms overlooking the Ottawa River.

Colonel By

There are a series of raised flowerbeds in Major's Hill Park where some tulips are to be found, along the railing overlooking the Ottawa River.

The path leads to this statue of Colonel John By, the British military engineer who led the building of the Rideau Canal, and who is therefore the founder of the city. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the start of that project, and the founding of Ottawa. 

The statue has tulips around it, and in a long row behind it.

He looks westward, to Parliament Hill. The Canal is in a low saddle between this park and the Hill.