window feeder

Just a few shots of our front window Hummingbird feeder along with one small, rather confused female Oriole. she was trying to eat but couldn't figure out how to reach the nectar from her perch on top of the feeder. This happens more often than we had expected. We do have a feeder for the Orioles in the backyard, which is well used. Deb was trying to get a shot of a hummingbird with the long tongue stuck out. They extend their tongues in order to suck up the nectar and often we they finish eating they stay sitting there and quickly stick the tongue in and out. Unfortunately that action is too fast for our camera.

Dale, Julie, Harrison

Here are the pictures I stole from Julie's Facebook pages. Shown are Dale, his wife, Julie, and their little son, Harrison. It appears he was born around the beginning of March 2009.

Mom's gardens

These are pictures of Mom's flowerbed and planter boxes now that the flowers have grown. This much better shows the effect of our labour back in the spring. The mulch is working to help keep the weeds under control and mom is very happy with the appearance of her apartment.

Road Trip 2009

First picture is a cool tree growing(or dying depending on how you look at it) on top of a large boulder beside a beaver pond. Next is the dam made by beavers which created the pond. After that we have Deb hiking on a trail in Algonquin park. The final picture is an old power station we came across in a town along the way. There was a suspension bridge over the waterway where we wandered out to snap the shot and check out the sight while taking a break from driving. I never realized how difficult it is to walk on a suspension bridge...sure hurts the old knee joints! Overall it was a great trip but not too sure how many nights of icing my knee and ankle before I get rid of all the swelling. I sure can't handle car rides the way I used to be able to.

Deb was hoping to see a moose while driving through Algonquin. The only wildlife we encountered was a little gopher having a dinner of tender grass beside the roadway just as we were entering Base Borden. The gatekeeper, after noticing us take a picture, explained that the rodent was her watchdog and often spends early evenings in the area.

Deb's grandkids

Some pictures of Deb, Natalie, Ron and their kids; Zoe and Sammy taken during our trip to Ottawa August 1, 2009. Zoe was thrilled to see us and sad to see us leave. Sammy was shy at first but quickly decided we must be friends since we threw Nerf balls and made him laugh. Both kids love to play at their neighbourhood park. Zoe showed us that she can easily write her own name. Back at the house Zoe also showed us how well she can count and do puzzles. She also loves to draw and colour. Sammy loved the over sized ball we brought for him. He enjoys climbing and throwing things...even if the ball lands behind him. Nat and Ron are both showing the great effects of having daily workouts at their gym as well as their healthier eating lifestyle change. Ron is in training for another half marathon. It is great to see them all working at staying healthy. We left after a great dinner. The kids were showing signs of getting tired and cranky and Nana was in need of her bed too.

Staff Cadet Sergent Beroud

We visited with Chris at Blackdown over the weekend and took these shots of him sporting his orange T-shirt with his combats(a sign that he is staff). This year he is working a staff cadet Sergent. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to leave base when we were there on Friday evening. We did make arrangements to meet him again on Sunday afternoon. He said he was working until around 3:30 so we asked him to stay in the area near the gates where he was working doing intake of new cadets. I did tell him that if we ran into road problems and weren't there by 5pm he should go ahead and leave to get his dinner since it could mean we were not going to make it there for visit. When we did arrive on Sunday close to 4pm, Chris was nowhere to be found. He must have gotten a better offer for his free time because he was definitely not on duty. We were told that when support staff is working anywhere on base, the support staff headquarters is manned. We went there only to find locked doors. After another check of the area where we were supposed to met Chris, we gave up and went for Chinese food without him.

New generation of Twinlies

Congrats to April and Keith on the safe and long awaited arrival of their baby boys. Jack Roland Bourie, is the "big brother". He is the one on the left in the "Boys on a Boppie" photo(below). He was born at 12:44 p.m. on July 22, weighing 6 pounds, 1.1 ounces at 17.5" long. Zane Paul Bourie was born at 12:45 p.m., weighing 5 pounds, 9.6 ounces, at 18.25" long. The boys were born by C section on Wednesday July 22, 2009.