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  1. Downes

    White Trillium

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    May 2, 2021. This is a white trillium, Ontario's floral emblem, blossoming alongside the western train in Ottawa's Greenbelt. This is the first time we've walked the trail. I have dozens of beautiful photos from the 13 km route from the Fallowfield rai...
  2. Downes

    Cows

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    May 1, 2021. I was just riding by on a small dirt road and the white cow to the left came trotting up to greet me, followed by the other two, so I had to stop and say hi. It was cold and windy today but I put 40 km on the gravel bike. My back still bot...
  3. Downes

    More Snow

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    April 30, 2021. If you look closely you can see large white flakes of snow. It didn't stay but that's an indication of how awful the weather was. I finished off what was a pretty hard week by recording a video and learning about the HTML canvas element...
  4. Downes

    Floodplain

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    April 29, 2021. I got out for a short bike ride after work today along a stretch of the Nation River that appears to have been flooded in the spring. It's just a short stretch and not far from home, but I've been meaning to cycle along it for ages. Spr...
  5. Downes

    Budding

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    April 27, 2021. These are buds just beginning to form on some shrubs beside the driveway in the front yard. Not sure what they are. My full day was devoted to preparing for my talk on Connectivism this evening, a two hour presentation with almost an ho...
  6. Downes

    Settling In

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    April 28, 2021. This is Charlemagne settling in on the bed beside me this evening. There's something about watching a cat just happily doing its thing oblivious to the world. I took part in an almost two-hour seminar first thing this morning with a tas...
  7. Downes

    Hyacinth

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    April 26, 2021. This small flower has appeared on the front lawn, and is at the moment the only flower on the front lawn. Work day today, starting with an 8:00 a.m. meeting (ugh), evaluations, and reading. I'm getting ready for two talks within 12 hour...
  8. Downes

    Trillium

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    April 25, 2021. This is a trillium growing in the Pine Grove Forest, the same place where we walked last week (and saw them about to bloom). I had to get right down onto the ground to get this shot. Andrea and I managed about 4 km of slow walking today...
  9. Downes

    Maple Sugar Shack

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    April 24, 2021. This is a maple sugar shack on a dirt road maybe 10 km from Casselman. I passed it while cycling very gingerly and very slowly on a 30km loop through St-Albert. The back is still tender but this was good exercise for it, the first time ...
  10. Downes

    Screwdriver

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    April 23, 2021. This is a Robertson screwdriver, also known as an ANSI Type III Square Center screwdriver. It's one of several I keep handy at my work desk and became my photo of the day for lack of anything else to photograph. Had a meeting today, a d...
  11. Downes

    Nooooooooooo

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    April 21, 2021. Yes, that's snow on the lawn. It snowed a good part of the day but by evening it was mostly gone and we were headed in a good direction again. I spent most of the day attending the CNIE online conference, which turned out to be pretty g...
  12. Downes

    Almost Tulips

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    April 20, 2021. The tulips are trying, but it has been cool recently and it's hard to start blooming in the snow, which is what we have predicted for tomorrow. Cool and windy today. Indoors at the CNIE conference all day, including giving a workshop th...
  13. Downes

    Crabapple Tree

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    April 19, 2021. This is the crabapple tree in our back yard. It always seems like it's barely alive but it's trying again for another year. Nice sunny day but I spent it indoors working on my presentation for the CNIE conference while at the same time ...
  14. Downes

    Pine Grove Trail

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    April 18, 2021. Still no cycling but we got out for a short 3km walk along Pine Grove Trail today. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and the forest is coming back to life. Watched the Blue Jays game in the afternoon while editing the photos and th...
  15. Downes

    Still on the Ledge

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    April 17, 2021. You may recall how Charlemagne gets stuck on the ledge; I took a photo back in February. Well, he's still doing it. He goes down there, wails until he is rescued, and enjoys the attention. It has become a game, almost. Still nursing my ...
  16. Downes

    Searching for Nanites

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    April 16, 2021. I've been playing the new Expeditions version of No Man's Sky - it's a new twist on a familiar classic. This is a screenshot from the game. Otherwise, I got a bunch of stuff done today, including recording another video. Also (even bett...
  17. Downes

    Three Kittens

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    April 15, 2021. These are the three kittens. I know, they look like they should be posing for the cover of their latest album. I had a surprisingly productive day today, working on a number of different projects, making a video, and getting a tooth fil...
  18. Downes

    Brown-Headed Cowbird

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    April 14, 2021. This cowbird is a recent arrival in the back yard. We assume she has deposited her egg in one of the local birds' nests (or maybe she's just about to). We've seen her male companion around as well. Today it was back to work, still nowhe...
  19. Downes

    Hyacinth

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    April 13, 2021. I got outside for a very short walk today and saw these hyacinths in our back yard, the first splash of colour in the new year. It was a second sick day for me today, though like yesterday I still managed to do a reasonable amount of wo...
  20. Downes

    Grackle

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    April 12, 2021. The grackles descend on the bird feeder in mobs, scaring away the other birds and sifting through the seeds looking for their favourites. But they're still birds so I still like them. This was an indoor day as I nursed a pulled back mus...
  21. Downes

    Downey Woodpecker

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    April 11, 2021. We went for a walk today along the Mer Bleue Bog trail. It was a beautiful early spring day with a sky half-blue and half cloud. It would have been even better had I not reinjured my back while trying to tie my shoe (of all things!). St...
  22. Downes

    Spring Pond

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    April 10, 2021. This is a pond along the Township road just next to Warwick Forest. It's a temporary pond; it's very full now, but will be completely empty by summer. I viewed it while doing the 50 km loop to Avonmore on the road bike. It feels pretty ...
  23. Downes

    Chrysler Trail

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    April 9, 2021. This is the new part of the Chrysler Trail - it's still coarse gravel - along the Nation River. They've done a really nice job winding it up and down the little river valleys. Since it's so new, it's gravel bike only. I took off an hour ...
  24. Downes

    The 909

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    April 8, 2021. This is the 909 going by on the tracks near my house, with the new subdivision in the background. Today started out with back-to-back meetings, then I did some evaluation work, wrote a bit, and did some dev. It was generally productive. ...
  25. Downes

    Baseball inb the Back Yard

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    April 7, 2021. There's nothing growing in the yard yet, but I did notice this baseball has sprouted at the very back. It's rare to see them come up so early in the year. Anyhow, a moderately productive day spent mostly doing assessments and a little bi...
  26. Downes

    Attitude

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    April 6, 2021. This is Julia giving me attitude for daring to take her picture while she's in her favourite sleeping container. I started the day with back-to-back meetings and did some work on project reviews before turning my attention again to the c...
  27. Downes

    Island in the Stream

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    April 5, 2021. This is a birds-only island in the Ottawa River somewhere west of the Chaudiere Falls. I had to leave my car in the shop in Ottawa all day so I took the opportunity to go for a longish bicycle ride, even though it was a bit early in the ...
  28. Downes

    Birch Bark

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    April 4, 2021. Birch bark peeling away to reveal a fresh spring layer. Andrea and I went for a walk in the Pine Grove forest in the Greenbelt today, a tame 5 km to preserve my strained muscles. I also worked a fair bit with Docker compose, with my effo...
  29. Downes

    Cosmos

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    April 3, 2021. If you're wondering where to find the Cosmos, try this barn just outside Embrun. I cycled the 34.8km to visit family today, and report that they are well and in good spirits. I listened to Laura Ritchie's 'Yes I Can' on the way, covering...

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