Heading for the Ottawa Valley

Sunset on the Ottawa River, seen from Mom's home

It's Art Fayre time in Dunvegan, Ontario this weekend. (If you haven't checked out the Art Fayre blog or Facebook site please drop by and take a look.) Some very talented local artists will have their works on display at this annual exhibition and Sarah and I are really looking forward to being there. Today we're on the road, heading up to Sarah's mom's home in Lefaivre, near Hawkesbury. We haven't been up there since last August; we used to go a little more frequently but the addition of Addie to our family has made us, by necessity, less spontaneous. It requires some planning on our part if we're going to be away even overnight; this weekend my son, Tim, will be staying in our apartment and cat-sitting for us.

The two intrepid pond warriors

The last time we were "chez Maman F" Sarah helped her remove the blue lining from around her pond, as it was in a poor state of repair. Not being nearly as much of a "handyperson" as those two, I chose to document the proceedings - when I wasn't playing with the froggies, that is. There are a lot of froggies in this pond. There were a couple of muskrats, too, some years back...but we don't like to talk about that. Suffice it to say they are gone now, along with (it seems) a snake that dropped by one summer looking for a quick lunch. It seemed to me that the snake left hungry, but I couldn't be sure.


Sarah and her mom sliced, carved and pulled at that liner all the way around the pond:

Sarah putting everything into her work

Mom concentrating fiercely

Until finally only scant fragments of the "Blue Menace" remained and the froggies returned to a life of tranquility:

Nature reclaims the pond

It's a frog's life

Catching a few rays

Peek-a-boo!

I'm looking forward to checking out the pond to see if it's flourished this year after the maintenance of last summer. Will all the froggies be back? Here's "hopping"!

Yeah. I know. Sorry about that.

Have a great weekend. I have a couple of pieces scheduled to post in my absence.