On Tuesdays I take a friend’s dog out for a mid-day walk, and today I thought to head down to the water after the good pup “Oliver” finished his rounds. The last couple of days have been cool and overcast, but given the generally warm … Read More →
Author Archives: admin
A Royal Procession
Some of the old print artifacts I come across in the EEBO (Early English Books Online) archive seem worth sharing. This one’s from An exact description of the manner how His Maiestie and his nobles went to Parliament, on Munday, the thirteenth day of Aprill, … Read More →
Medieval UFO
Here is Bede’s account of an interesting sighting at Bercingum (modern-day Barking) outside the convent built for Ethelburga (ca. 675 AD). From Book IV, Chapter 9, of Ecclesiastical History of the English People (ca. 731): For one night when they had finished singing the morning psalms … Read More →
Hot News: Paper-grabbing and Prorogues
The delivery guy (Andy) leaves the daily paper on top of the heater in the atrium downstairs. As a result it’s pleasantly warm by the time I get down to pick it up. This feels luxurious, somehow, this pre-warmed newspaper. Almost like that pre-warmed shaving … Read More →
Breath of fresh air
Hello again, Sometimes our Ottawa winter starts off coy, like a flirt. These brief overtures — a breath of cold, some faint whiff of windchill — last only a moment before winter beats her hasty (but always temporary) retreat, only returning to stay for good … Read More →
Britannia Baywatch #3
The sun was up and the breeze was down, so I ventured out onto the ice today. I’m certainly not the only one who has done so, either; judging by the great proliferation of tracks, many people are using the ice these days. There’s even … Read More →
Britannia Baywatch #2
As previously, the most active species on the Bay today was the Kiteboarder. Of course, I found a nearby sewer pipe to be somewhat more exciting: That’s just one of the pipes that drain into Britannia Bay. Most times we’ve passed by this particular one … Read More →
Britannia Baywatch #1
Last summer we left Dirleton’s verdant pastures behind and moved into the city. Although this relocation process inconveniently coincided with the final stretch of a certain major project, the move was an altogether good one and has put us even closer to the Ottawa River … Read More →
Spring Runoff
The snow’s mostly gone now. Of course, it has to go somewhere. That’s the creek as it runs through Bishops Mills. Water levels look to be about 50cm higher than they were the last time I posted photos here. Elsewhere, the water’s high too: That’s … Read More →
Monstrous Fish, or “Herring-hag”
Terrifying, isn’t it? This comes (as pictured above) from A description of a strange (and miraculous) Fish, cast upon the sands in the meads, in the Hundred of Worwell, in the County Palatine of Chester, (or Chesshiere. The certainty whereof is here related concerning the … Read More →