The Archive Within The Library

The Ottawa Room is an archive room (two rooms, actually- one of them partially open to the other) in the main branch of our public library. It's staffed by a rotating group of librarians, and filled with documents, genealogical records, and reference copies of books related to the national capital and the Ottawa Valley. This is the first section as you come in.

And this is the second section. Everything in the Ottawa Room is neatly organized, and the staff are quite helpful. One of them, who I believe is now retired, as I haven't seen him here in a number of months, was quite insightful in terms of research directions for writing.

Surely That Must Hurt The Back

'Joie De Vivre' is the title of this sculpture by an American, and it won first place among solo carvers.

Thus ends my collection from Winterlude 2015, and this series. It has been a blast presenting this year's event to you. 

Keep An Eye On Tonya Harding

This sculpture of a figure skater was done by a Japanese carver. Among the solo carvings, it took second place.

Tomorrow I will be showing you the first place winner for the solo carvers, and I will be bringing my Winterlude series to a close. By the way: it's not just Tonya you have to worry about, it's her baton wielding confederates.

Running Off To Join The Jugglers

Third place among the solo carvings at Winterlude went to this French sculpture, given the peculiar name 'Crazy Juggler'.

Do You Believe In Fairies Or Not?

Returning to Winterlude today, we carry on with the remaining sculptures. This solo work has such intricate work done on the fairy wings.

Clap your hands, as they would say in Peter Pan, or Tinkerbell might die! Captain Hook would say that's a good thing.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Aging

The first of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For the first of March, the theme this time out is Aging, or Ageing, depending on which version of the word you use (this is one of those few occasions where we Canadians use the American version of the spelling). Julie from Sydney came up with the theme this time out. You can find other interpretations of the theme at this link.

I had decided on this house for the theme early on- though this is in fact an unpublished shot from late November 2013. Abbotsford House dates back to the 1870s, located in the Glebe. At that time, it was a home for the elderly poor (who were dubiously referred to as inmates). Today the Gothic Revival house serves as a senior's community centre with a variety of programs throughout the week for people from the age of 55 and up. A retirement home building  is on one side, and a nursing home on the other, so there is plenty of activity to be found inside. For the public, it is open for a Christmas bazaar in the fall, and it has participated in Ottawa's Doors Open program on a regular basis. Abbotsford is a beautiful place, both inside and outside. 

Seahorses At Play Beneath The Sea

This sculpture of seahorses certainly caught my eye among the work of the solo carvers.

Tomorrow is a Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers, namely on Aging, so I'll be taking a break from this, but we'll be back to finish Winterlude off with several more sculptures after the theme day. And have a peek at my writer's blog today, where I'm paying tribute to Leonard Nimoy.

How Could Anyone Not Love Winter?

A portion of yesterday's sculpture turns up with this sculpture; I think this was a Canadian carver's work, playing around with the notion of winter outside the window. Yes, I know, for many of you, you've had quite enough of that word. For some peculiar reason I can't understand, not everyone loves the winter. Such people must be daft.

Or maybe I'm the one who's daft.

Pay Attention To The Finest Details

This is another one of the solo carvings, something of a more impressionist look to it. I didn't note the nationalities of each solo carver, but whoever did this one had an elaborate concept in mind.

Ice Sculpture In Flagrante Delicto

Today I'm moving into the solo ice sculptures at Confederation Park, starting with this work by a Malaysian sculptor. The Sisters Of Little Or No Mercy would be shocked- shocked, I say- by this one. Every single time I saw this one during Winterlude, I saw the same thing: the mermaid having her way with the fish. And from comments of others nearby, I wasn't the only one seeing it that way.

 These two need to get a room.