Pirate Ethan

 "I had a Mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.

~ Strickland Gillian, "The Reading Mother"
Photos:  Day of 1000 Canoes, 2013 lbw

York Park The Grand River



Pirates Aiden & Emma


Thank you Emma, Aiden, Mom Lisa, Dad Owen for supplying Pirates & Swords ~ Love you Guys ~ The Neat L'l Bookshop

Pirate Emma

"...You may have tangible wealth untold,
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold
Richer than I, you can never be.
I had a Mother who read to me." ~ Strickland Gillian




  "Scurvy dogs, people called them ~ murderers and thieves who plundered ships for treasure."

~ Step Inside Pirates" Paul John, Sterling Publishing Co., 2006.

Stoney Creek Battlehouse Park

The Battle of Stoney Creek took place on June 6, 1813

Fort George had been assaulted and "taken by the Americans.  At Stoney Creek, a British force captures two America generals who mistake them for friends in the darkness."

~ The Invasion of Canada 1812 ~ 1813,  Pierrie Berton, 1980 McClland and Stewart Limited.

PICTURES IN GLASS by Harold Robertson

When he retired, Harold Robertson took a year and a half to decide what he was going to do with his time.  After working seven days a week, sitting around with his coffee and playing with the cats was not going to do it for him.
The art of stained glass takes skill, an artist's eye for colour and design, definitely patience and perseverance and most important a love of the work.  He has never looked back.
Thank you, Harold for sharing your techniques, your craftsmanship with us today.
Photographs cannot do justice to Harold's stained-glass art;  as the morning sun changes to afternoon and evening a stunning new picture appears.  Depending on glass carefully chosen for its qualities from the wide selection available, an artist's work becomes unique.  To view some of this artist's work visit www.haroldrobertson.blogspot.com 

Smile for Today ~

Mark Twain said, "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."

~ letter to Mrs. Foote, 2 December 1887, in B. DeCasseres When Huck Finn Went Highbrow (1934)



Chandelier from Mark Twain's home

 [Correction:  Walt Witman may have been a man of contradiction but the only contradiction here is our error in identifying the chandelier.  It belonged to Mark Twain, not Whitman.  Our thanks to Jeremy Henatyzen who made the correction.]

Mark Twain said, "Man is the Only Animal that Blushes.  Or needs to."


Mark Twain's chandelier hanging in The Powerhouse, Stoney Creek, Ontario, is one of many items collected by the restaurant's original owner.

"Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
~ Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) American poet, 'Song of Myself' (written 1855) pt. 51.
www.thepowerhouse.ca  Photo: lbw

Thought for Today ~

"If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours."

~ Ray Kroc (1905 - 1984) American Businessman, best known for establishing McDonald's Corp.

Dustin Vallier & Josh Cannon

For Josh and Dustin a few additions to the village skate-board pad is foremost in their minds today.  We found them in a serious discussion sitting side-by-side on the concrete ~ discussing fund-raising.  A lofty goal for a seventeen and eighteen year old.  It seems that if they could rebuild the Plexiglas ramps that some thoughtless individual or individuals burned and replace the missing wooden ramps with steel, they would be able to do the regular jumps and grinds.  Ideally, they would like to be able to do "peg stalls ~ turn back into the quarter."  [I think we have that right.  Josh tries to demonstrate but without a rail . . .]

For now they ride around in a few circles and sit down again.  The village doesn't have a lot for an eighteen year old to do.