June 1, 2022. Our old coffee machine with all the electronics died a mysterious death by error code. This new machine has minimal electronics and brews a delicious cup of coffee. I spent some time trying to rework my data literacy stuff into a paper, but it wasn’t really working…

May 31, 2022. This is a tractor spotted through a gap in the trees about a mile south of Casselman. I had to vary my usual route since part of my regular route is under (much needed) construction (I hope they repave it, and don’t just leave it as gravel).…

May 30, 2022. This is a little tiny wasp’s nest in our crabapple tree in the back yard. We haven’t seen any actual wasps around it yet. It’s nice to see the tree doing well this spring. Today was a day of puttering and paperwork, trying to get things in…

May 28, 2022. This is just a random bit of forest under water as seen from the road back from Avonmore. I did my standard 50km loop today, but had a much larger lunch than intended at Rock’n Ronda’s restaurant so was a bit slow on the return leg. I…

May 27, 2022. We have new seasons tickets – row 27 on the 50 yard line, pretty much perfect. With my new camera I can get excellent photos (and it’s not a ‘professional’ camera so I can get it into the stadium). Today was the first preseason game so it…

May 26, 2022. These purple flowers – not sure what they are – fill the lawn in the shade of the cedar hedge beside the house. Not quite ready to get back out just yet – especially with a brand new expedition from No Man’s Sky being released. https://flic.kr/p/2noyvAm…

May 25, 2022. This dogwood is taking over the deck (and I like it). Nice neat back yards are for other people. It’s taking me a few days to get back into things after the weekend ride. I took my wheel into the bike shop and will get it back…

May 24, 2022. I was at the dentist this morning for my regular cleaning and polishing. I then rewarded myself with a couple of Mozza Burgers from A&W. Back to work, making the newsletter, and I uploaded my cycling trip video. Here it is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=coS3sCO3dZk https://flic.kr/p/2nnL6JL…

May 23, 2022. This is one last look at the forest at my campsite in Voyageur Provincial Park. After a very cold night freezing in my light sleeping bag, I cycled 75 km back to Casselman, then got in the car, drove back to the park, and picked up all…

May 22, 2022. Scene in Voyageur Provincial park as I cycled today to9 Hawkesbury and back. I was a little surprised at the impact of the storm (it’s not like I had a lot of news while camping) and the continuing power outage. It also got a lot colder while…

May 21, 2022. At camp in the morning after cycling in the day before, ahead of my planned ride to Rigaud. It was an eventful day punctuated by a huge storm that rolled through, knocking down trees and power lines in its path. https://flic.kr/p/2nnAmR1…

May 19, 2022. Disassembled wheel with at least one ball bearing missing. Today was one of those days where anything that could go wrong did go wrong. I tried to repair my broken spoke, couldn’t get it to bend around the disc brake, and ended up wrecking the wheel. All…

May 18, 2022. This is a nice pastoral scene about half way from Casselman to St. Albert. I took the gravel bike on a nice ride before a scheduled bikepacking trip this weekend. And for the first time ever, had a problem with it, as I broke a spoke just…

May 17, 2022. Julia on the shelf looking outside. Every morning starts the same way – I start the coffee, start the oatmeal, weigh myself, and then go over to the shelf where Julia is complaining that I’m too slow. Up she jumps, and then she gets a nice morning…

May 16, 2022. This is the device the optomitrist uses to examine my eyes; there are some 148 lenses inside. Had a couple of meetings this morning, did the newsletter, and caught up on some email. https://flic.kr/p/2nmJv6j…

May 15, 2022. Our next door neighbour is slowly expanding his front lawn into ours.The actual property line (so far as I know) is three or four feet from his driveway. But they routinely mow well on to our side, they’ve trimmed our spruce trees and cut down our daylilies,…

May 14, 2022. This is the distinctive tartan-clad water tower in Maxville., I cycled there and back today, 57km total, with 30 degree heat and a light breeze. The ride was a bit slower because I paused to take video a number of times, creating a YouTube video www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Cz7K3IIQU and…

May 13, 2022. This is just outside Casselman, and is typical of some of the gigantic soybean fields we have around here. It’s changed a lot from when I was young and all of this was divided into fields and 100 acre farms. Today I gave a presentation on educational…

May 12, 2022. Another day out cycling after work, and today I photographed these cows enjoying the sunny weather. Still cleaning up the debris from the data literacy work and arranging for it to be published on NPARC. https://flic.kr/p/2nkvTg2…

May 11, 2022. A farmer near St. Albert tills the soil on a beautiful but breezy spring day. The weather has turned to HOT and I am enjoying being able to get out on the bicycle after work. Today was mostly about cleaning up and doing errands that stacked up…

May 8, 2022. This is a spring azure butterfly, small, flighty, hard to capture. With wings closed, like this, it looks a little brown, but when they’re flying you see the bright purple. We went to Bank Street to pick up some bicycle tubes (and ended up walking a couple…

May 7, 2022. This is my Aunt Marilyn, whose life we celebrated today. She passed away in the middle of the winter after a long and interesting life, and since there’s no rush to inter her urn, the early spring celebration allowed the entire family to get together, including some…

May 6, 2022. Just a small backyard bridge I spotted on my bike ride through St.Albert. Other than the bike ride, my day was spent working on data literacy, which is so close to being done. https://flic.kr/p/2njc1tJ…

May 5, 2022. This is a cow outside the St.Albert cheese factory, which is where I go on my regular 25km bike ride. I took this photo in the context of recording a TikTok video (I’m up to 156 TikTok followers now!). Had a bit of an issue with my…

May 4, 2022. Andrea came rushing into my office saying, “There’s a new kind of bird.” She was quite right; it was a brown thrasher, which we haven’t seen before. Got new slippers today. Tried to start a No Man’s Sky Circumnavigation project that may have failed (there’s zero video).…

May 3, 2022. This is a view of the Nation River along my cycling route (the usual 25km to St. Albert). Still practicing with the camera. Started the day with a couple of meetings, which means I’m not generally very productive thereafter. https://flic.kr/p/2nis7xL…