A Port Bruce Collection (2)

No One About?

On a side road heading toward Aylmer.

Roads were quiet on Sunday. Temperature was low, so I imagined everybody staying indoors, leaving the countryside and Port Bruce barren.

The beach was quiet too. Thank goodness I wore extra layers, snowmobile gloves, a scarf around my neck, and long johns. The wind at the pier had bite, and brought tears to my eyes.

Looking east toward Port Burwell from Port Bruce.

Surroundings livened up a bit after I parked my bike near the boat channel. Geese and gulls and a few people joined me while I visited the north shore of Lake Erie and dealt with the NW wind.

I hope it is warmer, as predicted, on Wednesday.

Brought to you by Yamaha 1100, 1994.

Please link to A Port Bruce Collection (1)

Photos GH

More Photos From Along the Way

From a Wet Week and Dry Archive.

 On a WALKN path, entering the land of EOA.

 EOR (Richmond St.).

 EOR (Ridout St.)

 EOW (Wellington St.)

 Near Wonderland Gardens

 Nearing the end of a six-miler on Terry Fox Pathway

Ahead: Promising Weather? (Two sunny shots from yesterday):

This week started off well, with sunny droplets upon an ESB.

Sweet week ahead.... maybe.

Please link to A Wet, Cool, Damp and Drizzly Week

Photos GH

A Port Bruce Collection (1)

I Park My Bike. I Walk Around.

What a mess today is. I'd like to ride, my bike is under a tarp and the weather is cool and wet. Even going for coffee seems a pain.

So, time to focus and pick a pleasant indoor job, maybe inside the workshop.

Maybe even post some photos of better times in Port Bruce:

Port Bruce is a small port on the north shore of Lake Erie, west of more popular beachside communities like Port Dover, Long Point and Port Burwell.

It's a small, humble yet cozy spot, where parents are held responsible for their children and the walk to the beach looks a little scrubbier than old postcards.

Go for a walk on the wilder side, stay for the BLTs*.

Please link to Port Bruce: Colour vs Black and White.

Photos GH

*BLTs at The Corner View Cafe

Port Bruce: Colour vs Black and White.

Motorcycle Miles on Thursday.

Heading south on Old Vic to Scotland Road.

I like April mornings that are dry, with a light breeze, about 20 degrees C, with blue, sunny skies and a few clouds overhead. In other words, motorcycling weather.

By 10:30 a.m. I was heading east on Commissioners toward Old 'Vic' (Victoria) Sideroad on my way to Port Bruce. I stopped once on the way to the lake, i.e., at a short bridge on Hunter-Crossley Line, a few miles southeast of Belmont, to see if swallows had started building mud houses underneath it.

 Swallows make mud nests under this quiet bridge

I was too early. Mud nests will appear in upper right corner soon

I saw one pair of swallows on a wire, then in the sky, so I felt I will have more to show interested viewers in another week or so. Evidence proves this is a popular spot for mud nest builders. The mud is readily available from the creek bed, and except for the odd photographer, no one bothers the nest builders. (More photos soon to follow, I hope).

Once in Port Bruce I chatted briefly with John Hesch from London (he was busy catching minnows), then checked the skies to see if predicted rain was on the horizon ("2PM", said local weather casts). See for yourself.

 The skies overhead and over Port Burwell (east) looked untroubled.

Skies southeast of the pier were darker. I left before any storm brewed.

The Corner View Cafe was closed, so I took my thermos of coffee to the beach and enjoyed peace and quiet under warm skies. I left by 12:45 in order to be home by two, and the predicted rain storm hit London at about 3 PM. 

(I was well off the bike but got drenched while planting a post for a birdhouse in a neighbourhood front garden. Fortunately, it was a warm rain).

More to follow.

Please link to A Man's Port is His Castle.

Photos GH

Cool and Comfortable.

The Benefits of Walking After Supper.

I have been taking more evening walks lately because my mornings and afternoons are busier, full. My motorcycle and workshop always lure me away from walking routes and running shoes during spring and summer.

In the early evening the day's temperature cools down and I feel like I can walk farther and faster than during the heat of the day. Other people skate, walk, bike or run past me. Surely some of them feel that the evening is the best time of day for their activity as well.

NP17 means.... walk 17 out of 120 in a set of walks entitled "No Pressure" 

 I aim to bring my weekly mileage to 26.5 miles (marathon distance)

8 PM. Nice time of day

See you out there after supper?

Please link to Terry Fox Pathway and Beyond

Photos GH

Birdhouse Hunting

If I Had a Hammer

On Sunday, during a 'sunny day, blue skies' motorcycle ride to my chief childhood hometown, I stopped to peek inside five of my birdhouses - scattered around a quiet cemetery one and a half miles outside Norwich.

While checking their condition - one needed a well-placed nail to hold it steady - the noise from birds in nearby trees could be described as an unrelenting racket. Redwing blackbirds, swallows, sparrows, finches and more filled the air in flight and with their calls and squawks.

The birdhouse - under the blackbird - is almost invisible

I shall return, with hammer and nails and earplugs!

Please link to Motorcycle Miles - Pt. Bruce, April 10, 2017.

Photos GH

Birdhouses: Checking on Their Condition.

Norwich - April 23, 2017.

Good motorcycle ride to Norwich yesterday, under very blue skies.

After checking the condition of my parent's gravesite, I walked the perimeter of the cemetery to see if a few sturdy birdhouses were surviving.

Two were active, nests being used; two require a clean out; one needs another nail to support it properly. So, I shall return.

Please link to The Workshop in Review 2016 (6).

Photos GH