Workday Wednesday Happenings and Other Things

Workday Wednesday Happenings and Other Things

With me putting my back out I was unable to attend the WDWD session today.

With Bernie overseas and Pat still out of commission, it was up to a few hardy souls to get the work done in preparation for this coming Saturday's session.

Fred tells me that Chris, Henk & Doug did yeoman's service today for our railroad and we thank them greatly!

Here we see Fred and Chris making the cut of the pole that will hold the umbrella destined once again for the eastern end of Ironwood.

Fred's battery ran out on his saw so he resorted to the "tried and true" handsaw!

Chris gets the pole well seated in the ground.

And...there is 'just' room for the expanded umbrella which offers shade to those working the Ironwood Brick end of town.

Doug spent the morning working on the station for Bell.

Doug had built the station many years ago and it now is undergoing refurbishment.

We must thank Henk for sending along these six images and thanks to Henk - the grass has been cut and the lawn looks well-prepared for Saturday's session!

Pat Brennan sent along this picture of the Erinsville Station along the old Bay of Quinte railway when he visited the region recently. 

Pat also included this image of Beaver Lake in Erinsville.  Such a gorgeous setting, Pat!

Yesterday, my daughters, Karen & Alison, kayaked the Rideau system near Manotick where they found this gorgeous "tree house" down by the river side!

That's Alison up front and Karen in back with the old relic; the S.S. Pumper.

Speaking of kayaks and canoes, I met this couple at a "rest stop" along the highway in New Brunswick last week while traveling to Wolfville, Nova Scotia!

These lads were close behind!

Hey Fred, there's a red umbrella for our railroad!

The goal for our trip was to celebrate Lisa's mom's 98th birthday which we did heartily.  

Her mother, Marion, lived on the same street as renowned Canadian war artist Alex Colville.  

Sadly, Alex is now gone but he is remembered with replicas of some of his famous non-war paintings adorning the Wolfville Gallery.

Many of his wartime art can be found at the National War Museum here in Ottawa.

I've always enjoyed this particular painting entitled "To Prince Edward Island" which Alex completed in 1976.

I have the album cover of Bruce Cockburn's music which showcases this Alex Colville painting called "Horse and Train" painted in 1954.

For our railroad buffs out there here is another 'by the tracks' scene in a painting known as "Dog and Bridge" also painted in 1976.

I found this photograph framed at Marion's nursing home.

It is a picture of the Kentville train station.

Speaking of train stations, in Wolfville I am heading there now!

Here is the Wolfville train station which now houses the town's public library.  

Note the tent encampment by the tracks...in all there were some dozen or so tents with folks camped out in and around the station.

Summer camp is in!

Aha!  Love this old relic.  

Lisa's cousin, Peter, tells me that the town plans to convert it into a stage where live bands and entertainers can perform.  

I imagine they will cut away a rather large portion of the side panels to do so.

Just across the street from the station is the remaining chimney from an old factory that was never razed when the factory was.

The reason being...the chimney swifts nested here in the summer evenings.  

While their numbers are dwindling like most species on the planet, I have witnessed the grand event when thousands of the birds form a dense black cloud and then one by one they funnel down just like a tornado and make their way into the chimney for the night.

To see a cool video of chimney swifts entering another chimney in New Brunswick, copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=534743833227360

For those bike enthusiasts, I spotted this pair in the parking lot of a fill-up station somewhere en route.

At our motel in Grand Falls, NB I spotted this interesting truck.

Beautiful!

Cool!

I've always taken photos of interesting wall murals whenever I come across them.

This one in downtown Wolfville is a beauty!

Lovely!

Of birds and trains!

Love it!

A side view.

Another passion of mine is gardening.  These hydrangea outside the nursing home are spectacular.  The chemicals in the soil give them their blue hue.

Echinacea anyone!

Interesting!

I'll leave you with this image of the Blomidon Inn in Wolfville.

And...with an image of this scenario which plays out at our home pretty much once a day...as my wife Lisa reminds me that I have some hearing loss from playing loud "rock and roll" music over the years.

I knew I should've worn earplugs all those years!

Thanks for checking in on our happenings from today and in the last couple of weeks from my trip to Wolfville, Nova Scotia!

And...as we revisit this picture of Fred and Chris...thanks to all of our hard-working maintenance folks who keep the railroad in top notch shape each week!

We are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada