I came across this photo of Kendal and Stella sharing one of the dog beds. They do not often do so, Stella tends to be protective of her space while Kendal takes little notice of who may be there and simply flops or throws himself down where the notion strikes him. He is very much a dog, with great dog-ness, in the sense that he lives in the moment.
Taken with my Windows phone.
This morning is quite chilly, about -11. Fog settled in shortly before I left home. It was patchy and very dense in a few areas. At one point the sun peeked out so I stopped to capture the scene.
Taken with the PlayBook.
When a walk is in the offing, you will find Stella here. Not in the laundry room. Not near the door. Her butt is in contact with the door and she moves little if at all until her collar is slipped over her head.
No way the door will be opened without her being aware of it.
I captured this spider clinging to the siding weekend before last. A little black thing (no not a black widow!), leg span no more than about half an inch across. Though I was not particularly inspired to post today it was, is, important to keep the habit going.
We took the scenic route home Saturday after aborting our trip and detoured through the hamlet of Florence.
Faye took a number of photos of this long-vacant school in the hamlet of Florence. The school had apparently been for sale for something like 20 years. A buyer has finally been found, and we suppose that the building will be knocked down.
I bought this 1999 Mazda B2500 new off the lot in January 2000. The shell was added in 2002 and has been removed perhaps three times.
It’s a ’99 model and has been an extraordinarily reliable vehicle. Though it’s almost 14 years old it has around 132,000 miles because for much of its life it’s been the secondary vehicle therefore not driven as much. There are a few scratches yet is virtually no rust, still runs on the original clutch and tranny, probably needs a new power steering pump. Speaking of tranny it has a five speed manual linked to the 2.5 liter engine.
My major (and really only) complaint is that it’s woefully underpowered, which made merging onto IH-35 in downtown Austin an adventure in tooth-grinding as I wound the engine up near the read line simply to approach highway speed as the merge lane came to an all-too-quick end.
Having said that it gets decent mileage (22-25 mpg highway), is fairly comfortable for two people, and the stereo has no blown speakers so it still rocks. I do not permit the dogs to ride in the bed so two dogs fit somewhat comfortably behind the seat, which is where Achilles and Stella rode when I moved to Canada. Three can be stuffed in for short trips.
We hope to get several more years of service from it.
It seems that the first true taste of winter will arrive today. A cold front came through yesterday and will be reinforced today, dropping the temperature throughout the day to a low of -5 tonight. Though we will not see the high side of freezing until sometime Monday or Tuesday, the snow squalls will stay to the east of us. Kendal will not care about any of this as long as the furnace works.
A view of the main drag in our little home town, Dresden Ontario. The northern part of it is called St. George Street, and the southern part is called North Street (why, I have not yet learned).
This photo, taken on a kind of gloomy and quiet Sunday, belies the traffic we see during tomato harvest season, or on any busy weekday. Cars, tractors, transports, can clutter the street then. I like the cool mural, and the clock tower in the middle distance graces the municipal building. the clock chime still works and keeps good time; we can hear it on a calm evening at very close to the time our mantel clock chimes.
Dresden is less busy these days than during its heyday in the 1800s and the early 1900s. Like so many small towns in farming country in Canada and in the States, it’s trying to stay relevant, trying to keep people from migrating to and shopping in larger towns and cities. I think it’s doing perhaps not as well as some towns, better than others. Our grocery store is busy and almost vibrant. There is a good butcher a the edge of town. there are two attorneys, a good photographer, a Tim’s (of course), Bella’s (a very good place for lunch), a marvellous small Carnegie Library with extraordinarily helpful, personable staff, the ConAgra canning plant, the Esso station where brothers Dennis and Francis dispense gasoline and conversation, Burns Restaurant, Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, and much more.
Dresden is a human-scaled town. You can comfortably walk from anywhere to anywhere in town. People walk in the streets and drivers move over, hockey goals are set up in the streets, people wave at one another. We love living in our small town.
Faye found and photographed this growing in our garden. It is much too late in the season to expect anything from it other then the pleasure of seeing it. One of lifes little treasures and enjoyable moments.
Kendal struts in front of the grill. He is more than happy to clean up any spills or drops that may happen, whether his help is needed or not. Kendal is an opportunist.
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