Pat & Walter

Georgetown Car Show

Every Father's Day in Georgetown, a car show called Classics Against Cancer is held to benefit cancer research. They always luck out and have perfect weather. This year was no different. Must have something to do with karma.

There seemed to be many more cars this year than last. They varied from Lamborghinis to VW Beetles. Pat really liked the Cobra replica cars so I took her picture beside one of them. Turns out one of the guys who used to be in our volleyball league executive built one a couple of years ago. We had a good chat with him. Apparently he built a garage first to make space to build the car in. His Cobra was appraised at $57,000. Very cool.

There was also a mean looking, heavily modified flat black car. Even the engine bay was modified and painted flat black. The builder had made sure that there were no wires visible in the engine bay, so it had a very clean but strange look. Tough to keep a flat black car clean... Everytime someone touched it, they left a finger print mark.

I also talked with a guy who restores Triumph TR6s. I had always wanted one, but didn't think I would be able to fit (I don't fit in a Miata). This guy was 6 foot 4. So if I ever get enough cash to buy one (he was selling his for $27,000) at least I'll be able to fit in it.

The last picture is of a wild Pontiac GTX. This had the biggest set of superchargers I had ever seen. Plus he had a Nitrous Oxide kit installed. The exhaust pipes (which came out in front of the rear wheels) were rectangular, and at least 2 inches by 6 inches! Incredible.

-Walter

Toronto Zoo

As well as going to Riverfest last weekend, Pat and I went to the Toronto Zoo. It was a great day made even better since Pat's company GlaxoSmithKline basically paid for our entire day. Not only did they shell out free parking and admission to the zoo, but also free ice cream and $16 worth of food vouchers. Way cool.

This was the first time to the zoo since Pat got me my new camera and I had my new lens. I thought I'd try my best at some "postcard" quality photographs.

Enjoy (and comment).

The first good picture was of the Siberian Tigers. Apparently these guys are doing quite well at the zoo. They have been able to breed them successfully.

This is a nice closeup of one of the three (four?) African Elephants. I thought this picture was good, but there was another elephant with larger tusks that I could not get a closeup of.

This is one of Pat's favourite photos. It's a Caracal Lynx. One was having a little snooze in the sun, while the other was pacing nervously around the pen.

Grizzlies. Here's an example of the type of Grizzly sculpture we'd like to have in our backyard. I'm thinking the one we get might have to be a wee bit smaller though.

Yeah! Every time we have been here in the past, the Arctic Wolves have been hiding in some part of the exhibit or not available. This time we saw a pack of a dozen or more wolves just sleeping in the shade. This one decided to take a walk around for a bit before going back to sleep. (I think the wires add a poignant touch).

The Spotted Hyenia was striking a good pose and the light was hitting him well. Bit of background clutter again.

I like the Gorillas at the zoo. This big silverback didn't want to go into his pen at the end of the day.

And finally we came upon this huge tank of Cichlids! Only a very small portion of the tank is shown here. We thought it was cool that we have pets that could be in a zoo. I think we need to get more though... we have much fewer fish per gallon than their tank has.

Riverfest in Norval

Last weekend was the Riverfest in Norval. We decide to go to try to find a guy that makes chainsaw carvings of bears. Thought it would look good in our backyard amongst the pines. Apparently he has been at this show in past years. Well, he was nowhere to be seen this year, and I don't blame him since the show is fairly lame. I guess maybe it picks up after dark.

We did see these cool birds though. This couple raises them from a few days old. They brought their four birds to the Riverfest. The first was a Red Tailed Hawk . Apparently it's the most common bird of prey around here. The second was a very cool Peregrine Falcon. The guy mentioned they can get up to 130km/h in a dive. The third was a very cute, young Barn Owl. It was only 8 months old and very pretty. The last was a huge European Eagle Owl. Apparently they are the largest owl, but are not native to North America. They made the trip to Norval worthwhile (it's actually right outside Georgetown).

Enjoy,
Walter

Red Tailed Hawk	Peregrine Falcon	Bawn Owl	European Eagle Owl

Finished landscaping

The landscapers finished everything by Friday afternoon on May 14th. So the work took a full week (including 2 Fridays). We are extremely happy with their work and everything seems to be surviving. In fact I mowed the lawn for the first time on the weekend, and I burned out the lawnmower half way through the job since the grass was so long. But I did get it fixed and finished the lawn.

Of course we should have installed a sprinker system when the grass was all torn up, but live and learn. We've got a quote for installing it, so I'm learning how to install one myself.

Enjoy the pictures.

-Walter

Looking along the side of the house with our new arbour.	The limestone walkway between the garage and the house.	Garden around the hottub with Japanese Maple and Wunderwolf Pine.
Back of the lawn with the shed and small walkway.	Looking over the hottub towards the pines in the back.