Welcome to the Anniversary Par-tay

We married 10 years this past June 8th.
The same day my grandparents married, but 62 years earlier than us.

So we hopped in the car

 ...headed down the QEW.

and over the Burlington Skyway.

saw a bit of Lake Ontario

Love the signs that mean so much more in summer.

A splash of wine country.

 We made our first vineyard stop and were questioned by our 8 year old chaperone if we'd be stopping at every vineyard to buy "boring old wine".

and then we stopped at Jackson Triggs.

and fast forward to Niagara-On-The Lake

 Where *mila* had this idea that we should go for a carriage ride.

 and it was a great idea.

 a few vantage points later....

We met with General Brock

He saved Upper Canada....as did Laura Secord and all those who fought for this country.  It was well worth the efforts.

Let's pack that Brock monument up and ...

 One tourist at the Falls?

There they all are.

 I know the next ten years will be just as wonderful.  I love you *Steve*

signed, the willow

A Hermitage Kind of Day

We never pass up the chance to have a hike in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area.  No hike around the loop would be complete without a stop at the Hermitage.  Supposedly haunted, it never leaves us with a bad feeling.  Rather, there's a sense of welcome and comfort there.  A woman lost her home to fire and remained in a tent on the site because she too felt the same as I do.  There is a stillness there and rarely do you hear a bird chirp, or a chipmunk chew through a nut.  In fact, it can give you a sense of unease if you pay attention to the silence.  The history associated with the ruins runs deep and tragedy surrounds it.   Not for us sassy babes.

Yesterday, there was evidence of some rituals or just kids doing random coincidental decaying wood monstrosities.  We found odd displays of decayed wood - split apart and formed into small mounds.

See?

And oddly, every photo I took of this "window" had a prismatic effect in the upper right corner.  No matter the angle, no matter the setting on my camera.  It was there.  This one seems to have an orb-like circle below it.  It is so distinct in some of the photos that I had to carefully inspect them to see if it had been painted on the stones.

Enjoy your day, whatever you choose to do, or not do.

signed, the willow

Abandoned Places

source:  mining markets

Lately I've noticed a lot of the posting and re-posting of the 100 abandoned houses of Detroit.

Which makes me think of this site, Ontario Abandoned Places.  It has long been one of my favourite sites to get a spine chill.  One of my favourites is an old mine in Ear Falls.  Primarily because I grew up not too far away.  But also because we used to visit old mining spots as a bit of a hobby with my family.

One of our faves was a stop along the Hudson highway (Hwy 664), where the concentration of iron in the lake (or man made puddle of trailings) was reddish brown.  There were so many old artifacts there, it was like stepping back in time.  The buildings were falling down (or had fallen down) and terribly dangerous.  I'm sure it's all but disappeared into the shadows of the scrubby brush along the highway and been barricaded by nature.

I'd love some more history on that mine.  Who worked there?  Where did those people disappear to?  I have an image of a society of people that vanished in some fashion like that of a M. Night Shyamalan movie.

signed, the willow