Monroe Landon Woods

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My friend Charles, pictured at left, wanted to go on a guided nature walk in the Monroe Landon Woods in Norfolk County near Simcoe Ontario -- it's a little ways from London where Charles lives. I'm his chauffeur today and we drive the hour and a half or so to join the group.

It's a cool fall day with some sun, lots of color in the woods, and lots to see.

Charles took some pictures on film, I did too on digital.

Mary Gauthier

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We saw Mary Gauthier accompanied by Tania Elizabeth on violin at the Aeolian Hall in London, Ontario. A fine venue for some thoughtful music.

Mary is one of our favorite singer/song writers. She has written some powerful stuff. If it don't move you then check your pulse.

Here's some music by Mary on YouTube that I really like: Mercy Now, I Drink, Christmas in Paradise, Karla Faye and Drag Queens in Limousines. Follow the links, check them out, they are all worth a listen.

Fred Picnic

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The Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic was held again this year at the Springwater Conservation Area just outside of Aylmer. It's about an hour drive south of our home and we usually attend. We've discovered all sorts of great music through Fred and this weekend was no exception.

Some of the singers who were there: Audrey Auld (Australia), Washboard Hank (of course - he does Master of Ceremonies honors), Bill Poss and the Fabulous Ginn Sisters.

Roger Marin had driven home from the Yukon with some friends to attend and play. They told a story how Roger detected an odd noise in their truck driving one night -- it was a wheel bearing and he stopped and replaced it on the road! Apparently Roger was the chief mechanic that the kept the tour bus on the road when he travelled with Fred.

Home County

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It's the annual free Home County Festival in Victoria Park.

Pictured at left is Ron Hynes, the man of a thousand songs, who was there this year. The first time we've ever seen him play. We were introduced to his music through the song "Sonny's Dream" when we first heard it on the Prairie Home Companion sung by Jean Redpath. It's one of those songs you'd swear was written by anonymous -- it's just that classic.

Locals the Rizdales (from London) and Rant Maggie Rant (from Stratford) where there as well.

We like to go to the afternoon workshops/song swaps. There are evening events on the big stage but we prefer the sunny afternoons listening to music under the trees.

Rant Maggie Rant

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Rant Maggie Rant are a Stratford band with a big Celtic influence. We've seen them a few times and have some of their music on CD. They're very good.

The pictures in this album are from an afternoon performance at the St Marys Heritage Festival which is held in downtown St Marys (where we live) every year for a weekend around early July.

We enjoyed their performance.

Lausanne

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Kate's annual KBS conference was in Lausanne Switzerland this year. We flew in and out of Geneva and took a direct train from the airport to Lausanne. The Lausanne train station was just a few short but steep blocks downhill from the conference hotel - the very modern Hotel Alpha Palmiers.

We stayed in the conference hotel and, while Kate was at the conference, I explored the city and surrounds. The picture at left is the Pont Bessieres with the Cathedral behind it. Below you can see the underground tram coming through.

We had some visitors -- my university chum Martin, who lives in Germany, came for a day (he came to the conference dinner and dance) as did our neice Eva who was working a summer job at Vimy Ridge in France. She was able to travel by train through Paris to meet up with us. That's a bit of a struggle as you have to negotiate the city to get from one station to another.

Lausanne is a beautiful old city on Lake Geneva. There's fairly intensive viticulture nearby along the lake shore which I explored by foot and return by boat. Kate, Eva and I took a ferry across the lake one day to Evian (of Evian water fame). Another time we took the train together to Montreux and then a cog train up the mountain side to Rochers de Naye.

There's an Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Martin and I explored that together -- there's some fantastic sculptures in an outdoor garden. We also went to the Cathedral together. It is pretty impressive with lots of carved gargoyles and such. The nearbly old town sprawls with many very old structures still in place. The town is built on a steep hillside so there's lots of interesting lanes and alleys to explore.

It's an interesting city with lots to explore. We had fun and it was really nice to meet up with our neice Eva and old chums like Martin. There are, of course, all of Kate's international chums we see on these travels.

Rock Glen

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My friend Charles Dunham had us do an early spring drive to the west of the city - Lambton Shores and Lake Huron. We visited the pretty water falls on the Ausable River at the Rock Glen Conservation area near Arkona on Lambton Shores, the spring flowers at the nearby Tiedje Woods (Thames Talbot Land Trust), and the beach at Port Franks. 

I had never been to the Tiedje Woods or even heard of the Thames Talbot Land Trust. Charles, as a long time naturalist and hiker, was my guide. He likes to explore the woods.

Charles got to take some pictures and get out of the city.

It was a good day for both of us. I got to play with my old Minolta Dimage A1 (5mp) and my new Canon Rebel XTi (10mp). Hard to tell which takes better pictures. I was experimenting with taking raw images on the Canon but gave up on that soon after.