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  1. Downes

    Morning Surprise

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    May 16, 2023. This flower appeared in the tree in our front yard. We were not expecting a flower; the tree is just this scraggly bush we've been allowing to grow because it's too much work to remove it - and then, suddenly, this! It appears our bush i...
  2. Downes

    White Crowned Sparrow

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    This is a white crowned sparrow in our back yard. As you can tell from the sparrow guide birdwatchinghq.com/sparrows-in-canada/ it's just passing on migration to the north. First one stopped and now we have a half dozen. Worked from home today, much l...
  3. Downes

    Ottawa Tulip Festival

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    May 14, 2023. Our walk this week took us to the Ottawa tulip festival, where we spent a cool but sunny afternoon enjoying the spring flowers. Nice win by the Blue Jays too. https://flic.kr/p/2oAzvuN
  4. Downes

    20230511_184823300

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    May 11, 2023. Choir and orchestra in the Byward Market, Ottawa. I took a quick break from the conference to get more hot sauce and pasta from the European foods store at the market. https://flic.kr/p/2oA8Tmj
  5. Downes

    Break Time

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    May 7, 2023. A break station in the cycle for CHEO event in Ottawa. I signed up for the 70 k. ride, forgot my helmet, went and bought one, started two hours late, and rode 25 km. With all of that, still a nice day: the ride, along with a 6 km walk. ht...
  6. Downes

    Bridge Out

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    If you're wondering where my photos are, the link between my photo site and this blog is temporarily broken. Technicians are working on it. Meanwhile, enjoy this:  Better quality video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUAQ6QG...
  7. Downes

    Wet One

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    May 2, 2023. This is a little creek where it crosses the road about a kilometer south of Casselman. I got out for a short 26 km ride today on the gravel bike, It would be unremarkable except for the rainstorm part way through, a hard rain, cold and we...
  8. Downes

    Hungarian Paste

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    May 1, 2023. These are my new favourite flavours, one a paprika paste, and the other a pepper-tomato paste (I think), both from Hungary. I use them with my salmon-pasta soup, and it's out0-of-this-world delicious. Now that my projects have concluded, ...
  9. Downes

    My Skin

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    April 29, 2023. This is the skin on my back, photographed fairly close up. I'm still struggling a lot with itchy skin; the itch sort of migrates, but right now it's on my back. As promised yesterday, today was a work day; I attended to some coding iss...
  10. Downes

    The Ridge

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    April 28, 2023. It was a beautiful day today, sunny and warmish, with a moderate east wind, so I decided to cycle today and work over the weekend. I did a loop out to Riceville along the Ridge Road and then back to Casselman through St. Isadore. This ...
  11. Downes

    Commute

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    April 27, 2023. Just another dreary spring day commute. I spent the morning preparing all my slides for my presentation (I didn't even have time to join the strike over lunch) and then the presentation was postponed for a week. These things happen. ht...
  12. Downes

    Diner

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    April 26, 2023. Lunch at the Thai Express by the Gloucester Costco near work. The scene made me think of those 1950s diner photos. Things haven't changed, except now the restaurants are brightly lit and more varied, and the food costs ten times as muc...
  13. Downes

    Bridge Out

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    April 25, 2023. This is the Touchette Bridge, a key crossing on my usual bike ride to St. Albert. As can be seen, I won't be using it for a while. Today was another day focused on my newsletter and catching up with paperwork. https://flic.kr/p/2owSXs5
  14. Downes

    Char

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    April 24, 2023. Charlemagne watching me as I go down the stairs. There's a spot in the front hall where I can interact with the cats at eye level. This is now the 'petting zone'. The shadow is created by cardboard barriers we installed to prevent them...
  15. Downes

    Trillium

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    April 23, 2023. Evn if they're not quite blooming yet, it's nice to see trilliums all through the forest floor. We went for an 8.7 km walk along the Mer Bleue trail. It was supposed to rain all day, but it didn't, though trail was pretty muddy in plac...
  16. Downes

    Train

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    April 22, 2023. This is a train with two engines and two cars in Finch, Ontario. I thought it was going to rain all day, but instead the rain held off until evening and the result was a beautiful day for cycling (if you don't count the 50 kph wind gus...
  17. Downes

    Picket

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    April 21, 2023. This is the PSAC picket line on Montreal Road outside Mona Fortier's office. I was out on the line again today - lunch hour only, because it is illegal for me to picket with them any other time (I'm in a different union). I'm *very* sy...
  18. Downes

    Goldfinch

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    April 20, 2023. A better shot of the goldfinch in our back yard enjoying the feeder. A quiet day, working from home, and recovering from the cold I got working in the office. https://flic.kr/p/2ovbjmW
  19. Downes

    Squirrel

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    April 19, 2023. This is a squirrel spotted just off Montreal Road as I was headed for lunch at Bobby's table (some delish smoked meat). The restaurant just happens to be across the road from where striking public service workers were picketing a gover...
  20. Downes

    Green Grass

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    April 18, 2023. And just like that, there was green grass. I'd swear it was brown yesterday. I'm always amazed at how suddenly the grass returns. I went to the office to work today, a but tricky since none of my office computers is working properly. O...
  21. Downes

    Goldfinch

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    April 17, 2023. The bottom half of a goldfinch is visible below the rain shield over the feeder. This was a quiet day - also cool and rainy, so I wasn't tempted to go outdoors - a nice break after last week's frenzy. Still it included a long meeting i...
  22. Downes

    Joey Vinegar

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    April 16, 2023. This is Joey Vinegar and guests performing at the Ottawa Farmers market. We drove into the city to check out the Tamal fesitval (and eat some delicious tamales from various countries) and on the way checked the market; both events were...
  23. Downes

    La Bonita

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    April 14, 2023. This is a scene from La Bonita restaurant on Ogilvie Road where Andrea and I had lunch. Today everything came at once and everything went long - Andrea's appointment, three meetings, a trailer hitch installation, trip to the bike shop,...
  24. Downes

    Blowout

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    April 13, 2023. I was only 1.7 km into my ride when the front tire of my bike blew off the rim. I wasn't really prepared, since I was just planning a short ride, so I also took a 1.7 km walk. It shouldn't have blown out; I only had 55 pounds in it (it...
  25. Downes

    Birdwatching

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    April 12, 2023. This is Julia (left) and Emma on the cat shelf in the kitchen right behind my chair watching the birds at the feeders. This is the first of three medical appointments in three days for Andrea, hopefully nothing major, but they're doing...
  26. Downes

    Bike Ride

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    April 10, 2023. This is my bike[packing bike, out on it's first real run, a 45km loop on gravel roads south of town. Here's my recording on RideWithGPS.. ridewithgps.com/trips/117593465 I like the way it pits in the locations of the pictures. But it's...
  27. Downes

    Curling

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    April 8, 2023. Scene from the qualifying rounds at the world men's curling championships. We won free tickets from CAA and it was better than I thought it would be. We were seated in a 'loge', which is basically a private box with nice chairs, a table...

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