Our Garden --- August 2019

Summer in Canada has a way of slipping by all too quickly. Of course if doesn't, it's just our perception of time... or whatever. In any case, here are a few pics from our garden. 

The other day, as we walked 'our' path, Jane was saying how umpteen months of winter are not far away. True. As everyone says, where does the time go? It just goes.

Jane has a touch for presenting things. This is on our garden gate.

One of our garden clocks... can't rely on it now. It's the time in some other universe maybe. :-)

Some websites that collect images say, "No more images of flowers please." :-) But they're so beautiful. :-)

Catch you later,
Bob
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RJ's 10th Birthday PartyAugust 10th, 2019

Jane and I went to RJ's birthday party today. He was officially 10 last week. We've been to most of his birthday parties. Maybe all. Jane would know. :-)

The main reason I'm posting this is that I'd like to hear from you... about your grandkids' birthday parties these days. How things have changed since my day... 150 years or so ago. :-)

RJ is our our only grandchild, so I do often post about him. But it's their parties these days. Wow.

No more simply at a friend's house, simple presents and cake. Now parties are at 'high-tech'  places. I'm not saying this new way is good or bad. Things change with time. Big changes sometimes. This isn't our first high-tech party with RJ and I'm sure it won't be the last. Is it happening at your end too?

This time it was at a Virtual Reality venue in our local shopping mall. Here's the overall scene. RJ in the foreground in a blue top.

Ready to go... In case you're curious... the T-shirt is "Canada's Wonderland 1981" when it started.

Lost in a virtual world... 

Always lots of food to eat. Time for the cake.

There's a place for posed shots, but in most cases they're on the boring side... my humble opinion only. 

RJ... on the right... knees up, deeply immersed in Virtual Reality. He kept screaming... who knows what he was seeing? These 'pods' are 9-dimensional. Yah, right. The manager encouraged me to try it. I thanked him of course, but...

My episode was inside the human body. Boring as hell. Crappy graphics. Sure as hell didn't look like the human body to me, or any resemblance thereto. Lol. But heh, the kids seemed to love it. That's the important thing.

Shots like the following 2 are why I find posed shots so boring. These last two are genuine 'moments in time' of family. They were oblivious to the camera. They had no idea I was shooting them. No 'camera faces'... just capturing a moment.

RJ... and the rest of us, were enjoying a 'joke book' gift from someone.

So please let me know. Some of you are in 'far off' countries. But I'd love to hear from you all. Is this the 'new' birthday party style? I'm guessing yes but I need you to confirm it for me. From near and far. Please do.

Bob

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RJ at Oshawa Zoo

Oshawa Zoo doesn't pretend to compete with the Toronto Zoo, but it's a quiet alternative, and close by, for locals. It's more of an advanced petting zoo than a zoo, but it's cool. :-)

We enjoyed it. Me, because I shared it with RJ.  RJ because he was 9 years old, and could feed pretty much all of the animals. BTW, he's now 10... as of a few days ago. :-)

It's been a bit of bummer summer for RJ. He broke his wrist so no baseball for most of the summer... no hockey skills training... hockey never stops. :-)

Though it looks like RJ is feeding the goats orange juice, it's just the angle. :-)

You could buy popcorn to feed most of the animals... the lemurs required raisins. You're given a small number of raisins if you buy the popcorn. 

A slide in the goat's enclosure. They said they used it the first day... only once in a while since.

Baby pigs... so cute. But baby anythings are cute aren't they?


A pygmy donkey in a large enclosure. Isolated for some reason? I forgot to ask.

 

Chicks. 

RJ got a real kick out of the fact that the goats put their head right in the pail of popcorn.

This brought even more of a laugh for RJ... the pail handle got caught on the goat's horns. It took him a bit of juggling to get the pail off the horns. Yet another case of small things adding to the day. :-)

If I'd gone to the zoo on my own, I would have enjoyed it, but only to a point. Of course having your child, or in this case my grandson along, is the difference between night and day.

He's discovering the world at a frenetic pace. All too soon, he'll be spending his time with his friends, rather than with parents & grandparents. Tempis fugit. Life goes all too quickly. No earth shattering news there... but it does catch me off guard now & then.

Hope things are going well for you all.

Bob

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