Going out for lunch

I started my current job at the end of August, 2015. At first, I was getting used to my new location, and before too long it started getting colder, so I planned to start exploring the area around my new office in the spring.

And then I broke my leg. Needless to say, I didn't do much exploring last year, so on Friday I decided it was time to get out of the office. I walked over to a local farmer's market, and then I went to a restaurant one of my coworkers recommended for a sandwich.

It was nice to get out of the office.

Spontaneous dinosaurs

As usual, life has been busy.

Last weekend, I spent Saturday helping my cousin take out her lawn. It was about 8 feet by 16 feet, which doesn't seem like it should be a lot of work, but let me tell you .... 9 hours and 2 trips to Home Depot later, it was mostly done. Somewhere in there, we also went to McDonalds for ice cream. We ordered at the automated kiosk and had them bring us our food using their magic coaster system.

I'd intended to go to a movie on Sparks Street afterwards, but I did not.

Here's the final result:

This weekend, I went downtown for Canada Day. I did not go to Parliament Hill - the security line was daunting - but did go to the inspection of the guards (where I saw Prince Charles) and then to Major's Hill Park, where a large screen was broadcasting the show from the Hill. 

I didn't bring my dinosaurs, but there was one there anyway for some reason.

The only downside was the bus home, which was stopped for 45 minutes for a motorcade. Still, a good day.

And, in the midst of all this, I'm having my basement renovated. I'm very much looking forward to it being done.

Where I've been

So I kind of disappeared for a while.

The first week I was sick. I went to the Nepean Old Time Fair, but missed Doors Open Ottawa, which was disappointing.

The second week I went to the Carp Farmer's market and completely forgot to take pictures. I did buy rhubarb and asparagus, since nothing else is ready yet.

And last week I flew to Saskatchewan for a family reunion. While I was ther, I went to Grasslands National Park, then spent the night in an old convent that has been converted to a bed and breakfast.

I loved Grasslands. The prairie dogs were awesome. I was a little disappointed that the bison were hiding, but in general it was a great trip.

Ottawa

Last weekend I headed downtown to see the new giant Ottawa sign.

I went right after work, so it was pretty quiet.

Flood

There has been some flooding in the city. My area is safe, but I've watched the waters rise and fall from the bus on the way to work.

Last week, the dinosaurs and I took a trip to a park along the river to see how bad the flooding was there, a week after the waters peaked.

Note the trees in the water.

You can see how high the water got by the trail of debris.

There are also a lot of trees deposited by the river.

This is a picnic area. There should be no water in this picture at all.



Yesterday, we went to Thousand Islands National Park. I've lived here for 20+ years, but have never made it to the park. Pretty much all of the campsites are on islands, and that always seemed logistically difficult, so I just never made plans to go. But, since the national parks are free this year, I decided this year would be the one. The plan was to hike some of the trails on the mainland, so we packed up and got there around 11. The trails were closed due to flooding.

We went to the information centre and talked with a couple of people there. They filled us in on the camping situation, and routed us to another, open trail. It was nice to be out in the woods.

The concensus is that these are wild grapevines and not some horrible tree creature come to devour us all.

As you can see, there has been some flooding here as well.

Jane's walk

There were a lot of Jane's walks going on this weekend. Unfortunately, we are approximate day 92305 of rain, there is flooding in the city, and I am tired of having wet feet. (My old rain boots don't fit over my healed ankle.)

Long story short, I chose an inside walk at Makerspace North. This is a converted warehouse where they rent space to community groups and people who make things. It was interesting to see how they've divided up the space, as well as some of the projects people have on the go.

Escape room

Last Saturday, the dinosaurs and I went to an escape room - specifically Room Escapes. We did their Stranded room. 

The concept is that you're astronauts stuck in space trying to get home.

It was a lot of fun, and we made it out. I'm looking forward to doing another one.

Movies in the morning

I got free tickets to a special showing of Gifted, so Wanda and I went to see it early Saturday morning. (OK, it started at 9:15, but that is early for a Saturday morning).

It was an enjoyable show, well worth getting out of bed for.

Good at doing stuff, bad at updating

On Good Friday, I went to the Dixie Chicks concert.

I have seen them in concert before - several times, in fact - and always enjoy the show. And amazingly, they are still playing in stadiums, even though they haven't released new music in years.

I'll probably go the next time, too.

Vimy Ridge

On Sunday, Wanda and I went to the War Museum to see the Vimy Ridge exhibit. 

I've only been to the War Museum once, and I only made it through half the museum that time, so it was good to go back.

They were offering a special Vimy Ridge tour to commemorate the 100th anniversary, so we went on that. It was quite interesting. Well worth the trip.

Paint Nite

On Saturday, the dinosaurs and I went to Paint Nite.

It was fun, even though the painting was a pretty complicated one. There wasn't much time for chatting or relaxing.

I was happy with how it turned out.

Schnitzel

Last weekend, I finally made it to Schnitzel Works. The spätzle wasn't exceptional, but the schnitzel was really good.

The dinosaurs had a good time, too.

Falling for spring

Daylight savings time started last weekend, and for most of the week, the sun was shining much later than usual. Friday I decided to check out Hogs Back Falls to see how the river is doing.

The water is definitely running.

A cutting experience

The Ottawa library has laser cutters and 3-D printers. Before you can use them, you need to do a training class where they go over how to use the machines (and what not to do).

On Thursday, I did the training class. I was more interested in the 3D printers, but after doing the class, I think the laser cutter is far more interesting. I will consider giving them a try when I have time.

Crashed Ice

Yesterday, I went to Red Bull Crashed Ice. If you've never heard of it, it is essentially a race on skates over a roller-coaster-like course.

It seems like a terrible idea.

The course was set up between the Parliament buildings and the Chateau Laurier. The events started at 6; we got there around 5:45. We tried a couple of locations but ended up behind the Bytown Museum. There were tons of people there, but it was cold.

The first race didn't start until around 6:15, and then there was a long wait until the next one around 6:30. After that, they were close together, so we watched a few before I got cold enough that I wanted to leave.