Aug 10/12

Well this day turned out different than we anticipated.  We planned to go through the 3 locks prior to the 4 Kingston locks which would let us into the St. Lawrence River and the 1000 Islands.  But we soon discovered that the 4 locks in Kingston were closed for repairs, so we stopped at the bottom of Lower Brewers where there was still space and power.  There is an old mill here which is now an art studio, but it was closed.  We walked on the road in both directions, but it is miles from anywhere.

We left early to be ahead of this guy, but it didn't work.  Apparently, they put him through at Kingston Mills to keep him on schedule.

What big eyes you have!

I spent part of the day wandering around with my camera, even though it rained most of the day.

Robin on the barby!  But only one drumstick.  The robins sure are enjoying all this rain - I don't know how they found worms when it was so dry and the ground so hard.

One of the several old wooden bridges on the system which are swung by hand.

We have been told that they are working on the lock throughout the night - nice - right now it's pouring rain! - and that it will be open in the morning, but we're going to stay here with power until we know for sure.  There will be quite a back-log to get through I'm sure.  We were supposed to meet Donald and Nancy, Dan and Amy and the kids on an island today, but it didn't happen - maybe tomorrow.

Aug. 9/12

You know what they say about red skies at night being a sailor's delight?  Well,  last night we had the reddest sunset I ever remember seeing, and today it rained most of the day.  :-(

This blacksmith shop was built at Jones Falls to provide the hardware necessary for all the locks on the Rideau.  At some point it was deemed unnecessary, and it was used as a chicken coop.  Then many years later, it was refurbished to its original condition, and is used to give demonstrations. 

This young lady was the blacksmith of the day, and she made me a nail.

Again, we were behind the Kawartha Voyager, and spent considerable time waiting at Jones Falls, hence my chance to visit the blacksmith shop.

 This is a diagram of the 4 locks at Jones Falls.

We learned last night that the 2 year old daughter of friends of ours from the church had died tragically, and this has been heavy on our hearts.  Please pray for the Walker family, parents and 4 siblings, who all loved little Emily Rose dearly, and are devastated by her passing.

Smiths Falls Aug.8/12

Left Merrickville this morning about 8 a.m., off to the Kilmarnock lock.  Sound familliar Jeff and Kerry?  Passed this heron having a bath on our way out of the basin.

What a rare treat we had on the way to the first lock - 9 loons together in a group - very unusual!  And they hung around as we floated closer and closer.

I just liked the look of this barn and silo.

After an otherwise uneventful few locks, we arrived back in Smiths Falls.  This is a picture of the 3 old, unused locks from the bottom.             We stopped here again mainly so that we could do laundry and get groceries, fill up with water, and get a pump-out before heading to the 1000 Islands on Friday.  Just one more stop along this system for this year.

Aug. 7,8/12

Before we left Ottawa yesterday morning, I went to the market to buy fresh veggies.  I love just walking up and down the rows.  This is just one of the many booths - I tend to buy too many things because they all look so good.  Fortunately we have our plug in cooler with us to keep them fresh, since the fridge just isn't big enough!    We stayed again last night at Burritts Rapids, but the Bell stick just wasn't doin' it, so I had to wait til today when we are in Merrickville - a nice little town on the Rideau - to do the blog.

This is an incredible dam, which is about 180 years old and still holding.  It curves and is made of stone - what a job that must have been back then!

A while back I told you about meeting the Kawartha Voyager, and I think I said about how the front goes up so they can fit in the locks.  Well this is what that looks like.  They stayed at the same lock as we did last night.

As they exit the lock, the crew brings it back down to normal.

Since we followed the Voyager up the system, we did a lot of waiting, as we did with these 2 boats.  The lock at Merrickville doesn't have much space for tie-ups, so some of us ended up floating, fighting the wind to wait our turn.  When we finally got into the first of 3 locks, there were 7 boats crammed in.  But we did get a spot with power, for which I am very thankful.

Kind of a nice touch in the Merrickville lock washroom.

Ottawa Aug 5/12

We went to the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church this morning.  The original church was built by Col. By's stone masons, who had been brought over from Scotland, in 1928.  There was a delay in deciding where the Rideau was going, and they had time on their hands, so decided to build a church for the many Scots who were there at that time.  There have been additions, and it was replaced in 1872, so it is still pretty old.  And VERY beautiful!  The picture shows again how the old and new come together in this city.  The glass building is actually attached to and owned by the church.

We left church for our prearranged FREE tour of the centre block of the Parliament Buildings.  In the many times we have been in Ottawa, we have NEVER toured them.  Just before we arrived, the heaven's let loose with a huge downpour.  By the time we had lined up outside to go through security (like at the airport!), we were soaked to the skin - even with an umbrella!  The wind was blowing the rain all around!            The inside of this place is absolutely incredible!  Stone like this was quarried in Manitoba - there must have been TONS of it!  It is full of fossils from "millions" of years ago, and is carved like this everywhere!  The ammount of time it must have taken boggles my mind!  Of course, this building was built after the old wooden one burned down in 1916.

The House of Commons.

Again, the House of Commons - the big seat in the middle is for the Speaker of the House, a sort of referee.  Abovr is the gallerie, where anyone can go to listen.

This is a chandelier in the "Reading Room", which I think doesn't get used much any more.  The MPs read newspapers from all across Canada and around the world, but now they do it on line.

The statue is of Queen Victoria, who was queen when Canada was born.  She was the one who decided where Canada's capital would be.   This is in the library, which I have always thought was the most beautiful from the outside.  It is the only part of the building which was saved from the fire in 1916. 

This light is in the dome of the circular building which is the library.

There are millions of books here, only for use of the MPs and Senators.  Some are in French, some English, some in both languages.

And this is one of the 2 iron doors (they're painted to look like wood) that saved the library in the fire - someone thought to shut them.

In the Senators Chambers there are 3 chairs at the front.  One is for the reigning monarch, whose spouse sits to his/her left, and in front of them is the speaker of the senate - again, a kind of referee.  If the king/queen is not present, the Governor General can sit in his/her chair and give "the nod".

The main entrance - rotunda - is very elaborate.

.....as is everything else.

I was amazed that we even got to go up in the Peace Tower!   What a view!  The round building below is the library, then there's one of the bridges to Gatineau (was Hull) on the other side of the Ottawa River.

These buildings by the river are the Museum of Civilization - a great place that we have visited a couple of times.  It has an IMAX theater as well.

This is the west block, the green roofs behind it are on the Confederation Building.  I think that's where parliament was held after the centre block burned.

This building is across from the Parliament Buildings - the Langevin Building - is where Stephen Harper has his office.

And there is Dawg Daze - the little one on the canal wall.

This is the east block, with the Chateau Laurier across the canal from it.

We also got to see the Memorial Chamber - a room with memorials to all the people who have died fighting for our country since WW1.

That's me by the main entrance.

The Peace Tower - there is a row of windows just under all four faces of the clock.  That's where we were looking out from.

We went over to the Byward Market to eat a late lunch, and these guys were playing ball hockey right on the street.

I have never drank so much coke in such a short time (I hardly EVER drink coke!) as I have this weekend - it has been so hot, and the coke was ice cold!  They were everywhere we went, handing out free bottles or cans (small ones), and they had lots of stuff going on by the market today.

Well, I promise that the rest of my blogs will be much shorter than they have been this weekend - it's just that there is so much to do and see here!  And I am thankful to say that after quite a bit of rain today, it has cooled off nicely.  Guess I should be careful what I wish for!