20090329 Montreal Orchidexpo, pt 2

Burrageara Nelly Isler. Part 2 of my Facebook pics are HERE.

20090329 Montreal Orchidexpo, pt 1

Went to the annual Montreal orchid show called Orchidexpo. Organized by La Société des Orchidophiles de Montréal, http://www.orchidophiles.qc.ca/
First time in years and one thing I noticed is that because of digital everyone is taking LOTS more pictures than before! How can you resist when seeing such beauty!
So I did take hundreds of pics. Sometimes the light was not too bad, sometimes I had to go to flash or high ISO setting. I managed to do some good macro pics but the light was just too low for me to do as many outstanding pics as would have done otherwise. See part one of my Facebook pix HERE.
Above is Doritaenopsis Leopard Prince.

20090327 New Bike Sign

60 km for 59, Brossard to Saint-Catherine. New sign once you enter the St-Lawrence Seaway's dike from Ste-Catherine.

20090327 Old Brossard House

58 km Brossard to Montreal. This is possibly the oldest house in Brossard. "Robert Brossard" is on the mailbox. I know the name of the town is from the big landowner here, so maybe this is the house of his original land. 4240 blvd des Prairies is the adress. More pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=239611&id=739480474&l=ffd4b4e7f1

20090326 Windows XP BSOD

I used to have a lot of BSOD with my old Winows 98 SE system. Since I got XP, things went well. That is until lately. I wonder if it's got anything to do with me installing the new IE8.... Hummmmmm... Difficult to say. One page is useful on the web: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=743

20090325 Saved Cockatiel

57 km for 57 km, SFdL to BdF. This little beauty is very lucky indeed. A friend of mine living in Baie-du-Febvre found it last winter in Nicolet right out in the open outside right on the snow! That is nowhere for a cockatiel to be happy. So he captured it with his bare hands. The bird was probably weak and freezing and so was easy to catch. Now this friendly critter has it easy. The only danger is the cat living there also!

20090324 Bruants des neiges; Snow buntings; BdF

57 km today, counting for my 56 km objective. Saw thousands of snow buntings in Baie-du-Febvre's fields near http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&q=60+rg+de+la+Grande+Plaine,+Baie-du-Febvre&ie=UTF8&ll=46.112486,-72.672071&spn=0.022194,0.055618&z=15&iwloc=addr. These birds are migratory but as most come from the south to our are in spring, these birds fly here in the fall and migrate north from here to the tundra in spring. Winter here is "south" for them!
Used to be people hunted these little birds with nets. Does'nt look like there's much to eat on them!

20090323 Winamp Visualiztions

Downloaded the Winamp music player and found all these really fabulous "Visualizations"! Pure eye candy. Took some macro shots while listening to Pink Floyd's Echoes. Perfect music for this. Here at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=238206&id=739480474&l=b31b5009d8 are the 59 I kept plus a screenshot (the last image). Enjoy!

20090322 Sizerin flammé & Chardonneret jaune

Got two more bird species in my feeder today: The Common Redpoll, the bird with the red dot on it's head on the left, and the American Goldfinch, the molting yellow bird on the right. The other birds are the Pine Siskin seen on previous days.
55 km bike ride today to BdF.

20090321 Geese in Baie-du-Febvre

Went to Baie-du-Febvre and saw thousands of Canada Geese and Snow Geese. That town is a major stopping place for them on their way north.

20090320 Pine Siskin aka Tarin des pins

Got a great surprise today: this bird feeder has been hung here since last summer but I never got any visitors until today. First arrivers in spring look for feeding spots, so that is not surprising that they didn't find my feeder until now. And the surprise was double: while trying to confirm that this is a female Finch or Redpoll, I found that it is actually the Pine Siskin (aka Chardonneret des Pins aka Tarin des Pins aka Carduelis pinus), a specie I had not seen before anywhere! Nice!
I'm seeing many more migratory birds arriving, such as turtledoves, killdeers and even a hawk.
Also: Today and yesterday the hovercraft came on the river to break up the ice right up to just a short distance upriver from the marina. This is much earlier than last year when this was done on the 9th of April. See http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236711&id=739480474&l=6a98a47ed8

54 km bike ride today, while listening to some Prince (did I say I am very eclectic?). One unusual sight: Two young men pulled up beside me while I was riding for a short chat. One had an opened beer bottle in his hands.... not very reassuring but what the hell, even me and my dad used to do this years ago before it was illegal. As long as you don't get drunk doing that. But they did seem like the rowdy type and one later did scream incomprehensively to me as they passed me again. I presume he was only jesting.

20090318 Maple Sap Harvesting

As you can see, Sugar Maples have begun flowing and is being harvested in Québec. What we need is above freezing temperatures in the day, and below freezing in the night. Those are the perfect conditions. The sap will be boiled and reduced to make the maple syrup. As it happens, when above zero temperatures come around is also the time to take the bike out for the first time in the year usually! Good! Cycling is my first choice of cardio. 53 km today the 19th.

20090318 Canada & Snow Geese

Saw today for the first time this spring many migratory birds, most notably these Canada Geese and Snow Geese. Also saw small birds such as blackbirds. They are amongst the first to arrive.
This morning was rain, this afternoon is warm sunshine! 51km to Saint-David. Carpe Diem!

20090317 50km à Saint-Gérard-Majella

Did my real first bike ride of the year. Went to past the town of Saint-Gérard-Majella to do a nice round number of 50km. It's quite an early first ride this year, this the 18th of March. Last year at this date I was doing some cross-country skiing on the St-Pierre lake. We had a record breaking snow accumulation last winter of 2008, so I was doing cross-country skiing right into the first week of April. But this year of 2009 is quite the contrary: Rain in late winter and warm weather before spring equinox makes for better cycling conditions than cross-country conditions.
Saw 5 deer while listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon masterpiece along the Rg St-Antoine in Yamaska.
The above pic is actually in Saint-David along the 5è Rang looking south.

1925? Embossed "Post Card" Type Print

An scan of Maximilienne Valiquette's half sister, Rolande Charlebois, of her First Communion ceremony. I think it's approximately from 1925.
In those days, pictures were rare and far between, and when one was done it was a special event. Production of the print was special too for poor families.



In the back of most pics of this size 3.5 X 5.5 inches was printed like the photo was a Post Card. This was done commonly in those days.



But the unique thing about this print is the embossing done on the lower right. This one says "A Brien 640 W Notre Dame St Montreal", A defunct photo shop. Creating this image of the embossing was not easy. The scanner would not show it well. I had to take a pic from my digital camera and orient the camera-print so the the light coming from outside would just graze the pint to highlight it's embossed part.

20090315 Logical Bike Paths.

On Raymond street in Ville Lasalle, I saw newly redesigned bike paths like those I saw last winter in Florida: one way single lane paths on both sides of the street. Perfect!

20090314 Bharata Natyam show in Montréal

Bharata Natyam dance show at Salle Jean-Eudes, 3535 blvd Rosemont, Montréal given by the Ginette Dion-Ahmed & the Sattvika Danse school. Dancers: Ginette Dion-Ahmed (dir), Kim Girouard, Sylvie Mayer, Julie Pichette (not in this clip), Manon Tjelios. Musicians: Antoine Ouellette (dir), Shawn Mativetsky, Alexandre Lavoie, Hugues D. Thériault, Geneviève Dugré. Pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234303&id=739480474&l=9099d707fa

20090313 Squash sprouting in the fruit!

Cutting up a squash I harvested from wild growth last fall to make squash soup. Got a surprise: The seeds inside had started sprouting! Really amazing! The sprouts tasted bitter but the soup was very good!

20090312 Parc de la Commune, Varennes

Just a bit of a walk in the park in Varennes. More pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233471&id=739480474&l=5eac254783

1948 Horse & buggy in Montréal

As this picture testifies, horse and buggy as a means of transport was still used in Montreal as late as 1948! A scan of an old print in my dad's albums. Seems to be a friend of his from way back then.

Jean Charlebois & Anna Deslauriers #56

A Montréal couple: Jean Charlebois & Anna Deslauriers, date undetermined, probably sometime in the '30s. Under the print is samped the numer "56". JC was AD's second husband.

1948? Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin School Class

A class of the demolished École Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin school for girls. Located on the rue Du Couvent street in the St-Henri district of Montréal. Aka St. Thomas Aquina school. Demolishid about 1972 (cf. http://www.archipel.uqam.ca/1190/01/M10520.pdf). This pic was taken about 1948. The only identified person is the one circled on the left in pink: Micheline Bilodeau. Can anyone else be identified? Was this a francophone or anglophone school? Was it a girls only school (probably)? There's not much information on it on the web. Notice the black girl above left. That was very rare sight in those days. It is no longer the case today, but in those days people in Montréal were almost 100% white.

19250715 Joseph Cusson RIP

Following up on http://aildoux2009.blogspot.com/2009/02/19300802-mathilde-lefebvre-rip.html of necrology bookmarks, this one is of Joseph Cusson who died on the 15th of July 1925 in Montreal at the age of 71 years old. He was the husband of the widow Antoine Daoust, certainly not her maiden name as Antoine is a man's surname so that would be 100% her husband's name.
One good page I found is http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=charlebois47&id=I020691 and it says:

35.
Adrien Daoust (Antoine Pascal Daoust7, Jacques Daoust6, Pascal Daoust-Daut5, Augustin Daoust-Daut4, Guillaume DAOUST-DAUT3, Guillaume DAOUST-DAUT2, Nicolas DAOUST1) was born ABT 1883, and died ABT 1971. He was buried ABT 1971. He married Heloise Liliose Mercier 28 MAY 1906 in St-Cesaire, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Beauharnois, QC, Canada, daughter of Aurelien Mercier and Angelique Pare. She was born ABT 1885, and died ABT 1963. She was buried ABT 1963.
Children of Adrien Daoust and Heloise Liliose Mercier are:
52
i.
Albert Daoust was born ABT 1906. He married Denise Tardif 14 OCT 1939 in St-Jeanne, Montreal, QC, Canada, daughter of Elliot Tardif and Lea Pilotte. She was born ABT 1918.
53
ii.
Adrienne Daoust was born ABT 1907, and died ABT 1989. She married Albert Guertin 21 JUL 1928 in Montreal, QC, Canada, son of Narcisse Guertin and Jose Boudreau. He was born ABT 1906, and died ABT 1985.

So Adrienne married a man of the same name as her brother
Adrien Daoust's parents were:

Father: Antoine Pascal Daoust b: 18 JAN 1847 in Les Cedres, Soulanges, QC, Canada
Mother: Virginie St-Denis b: ABT 1850

So I presume that the "Dame Vve. Antoine Daoust" mentioned is actually Virginie St-Denis and that she married Joseph Cusson in a second marriage, but that is not mentioned on this genealogy web site. We can still presume of the correctness of my reasoning since there are lots of omissions on these web sites.

So Joseph Cusson would be Adrienne Daoust's paternal step-grandfather.

20090307 Pont Victoria Bridge

Facebook pics of a short slide show of the crossing of the Pont Victoria bridge from Montreal to Saint-Lambert can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=231403&id=739480474&l=31123

19720517 Tanger, Maroc

A pic of mom in typical 70s fashion from a trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 1972. One of the prints they brought back of pics taken by tourist people there. They take the pic and you pay for them if you want them. She's carrying in her hand the Super 8 camera bag used to create home movies in those days. Still have them. And the camera too. She's accompanied by a camel (or dromadary) and a "blue" man, i.e. a man of a tribe of Berber.




Actually, I've posted the preceding print just to show this, a detail of the reverse side. From a collector's POV, this is the most interesting: the stamped authentication of the print. I'll just type in whaterver's written for keyword purposes:
REPORTER R'BATI TANGER Bd. PASTEUR Immeuble BESTOPOL Tel. 21505 17 MAI 1972

20090305 La Grande Commune, NDdP, section est

Third day in a row of cross-country skiing to explore this area of the Rivière Saint-François river delta in Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville. Above is a rough tracing of where I went. First from across the river in Saint-François-du-Lac to the Île Du Fort island and then a straight line to the Anse Du Fort bay's midpoint and then east to the tip of the eastern penisula of La Grande Commune and then back on and along the Chenal Tardif and the Chemin De La Coulée road with a slight detour on my way back to see if the porcupine I saw yesterday was still there. It was'nt.
My Facebook pics are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230573&id=739480474&l=02c11

20090304 La Grande Commune, Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville

Another few hours of cross-country skiing in Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville, this time from a point where I was yesterday to farther north, that is from the Pointe Au Moulin to the Pointe De La Grande Commune on the western side of the peninsula and coming back on it's eastern side.
Those who have Google Earth can see the location at cl-09-19-08-675586162.kmz
Facebook pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230207&id=739480474&l=780e2

20090303 île Saint-Joseph island, Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville

Went to Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville to do some cross-country skiing. I had planned to do a one around the Île du Fort island but the conditions on the water was too icy. Finally I did some in and aroud the Île Saint-Joseph island. It was a nice sunny day. Unseasonably cold but not too much so. The Saint-Joseph island is mostly cultivated tilled land. See my Facebook pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=229863&id=739480474&l=9b14f

20080303 New Cross-country Skiing Poles

Last year I had such problems finding suitable backcountry cross-country skiing poles. They just do'nt have them at regular or even specialized retailers. What's needed is poles with large ringed baskets below like they used to have in the '70s when sross-country skiing started getting to be known instead of the tiny baskets they all have nowadays.
The first poles I had, the red and black one second from left on the pics, were the ones I got with the skis, boots, harnasses, as part of the package deal at the retailer's. I quickly saw that following snowmobiles in deep snow they dug too easly in the snow. Soon thereafter, I broke one of them because I was hitting on a branch with it like an idiot. Fiberglass poles are not indistructable. Old bamboo poles are probably more resistant. And the new poles with the very short tips do not stand up by themselves when you need to ajust something or other. You have to just let them drop to the ground. Inconvenient.
The second poles I used last year was a pair I got from a used materials shop in Sorel. They had lost of old cross-coutry skiing poles but I was limited by choice since I'm over 6 feet tall and poles that fit my hight are not that much in the shop. Anyway, I got the blue and white poles third from left on the pics. Looked like something out of the '80s. Cheap: the baskets broke off on short notice.
Next I got my uncle Jean's old poles, the bamboo poles on the right. They must be from the '70s. He was just as tall as I am, yet these poles are too short for me. Why is it that in those days retailers and specialists advised shorter poles than they do today, I have no idea. Anyway, they are too short to my liking, to modern standards, and too short for backcountry cross-country skiing. But they do have the large ringed baskets.
One evening as I was watching TV, I browsed the web to continue my quest for a pair of backcountry cross-country skiing poles. I did give many chances to the local retailers but to no avail. So on the web at one time I did a chat with one on-line retailer from the states. Nice way of doing business. He proposed a type of poles like I wanted but not of the right length. So I continued to search this model from other retailers and found at http://www.rei.com/product/743066 just what I needed. I ordered those.
More pic of the unwrapping of the box they came in at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=739480474&aid=97950
These, the black ones first on left on the pics, are still available from the same shop but for half the price, $20US instead of the $40US I got them for, and they look improved also! The Alpina ASC Backcountry 160cm Ski Poles were a charm to use and I still use them today one year later. No reservations to them. They are perfectly what I needed. Maybe I'll get another pair for this half price!

20090228 Sainte-Adèle's Church

Sainte-Adèle's church has some simple but nice stained-glass windows. See them at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228444&id=739480474&l=9afa2

20090228 Sainte-Adèle's Skating Rink

Sainte-Adèle's Lac Rond lake has a skating ring on it. More of that at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228444&id=739480474&l=9afa2