Pssst!  It's almost 2020 isn't it?

Fan Expo Christmas Market!

(not to be confused with Comicom [April] or Fan Expo [August] - this 

is a completely different event.  Honest!  It is!)

… my first customer at this winter's chickadee sunflower buffet!

… y'all remember my snapping turtle friend from last spring? 

 Well, the Riverwood conservation officers surmised "she" was a female, 

out of the water, looking for someplace to lay eggs.

… well, for three days running, I've spotted this little guy hiding 

in the mud along the banks of the Credit River!  I have no idea 

if he (or she) is a snapping turtle(back of the shell looks a little spikey 

and the head is short and "snub-nosed).  

But what the heck, I say he's a snapping turtle!  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

… with my and Linda's two-day jaunt to Charlottetown, I can now say I have with set foot in, or ridden a train through, almost every Canadian province!  (exceptions being Newfoundland/Labrador and the Territories.)  

I'd say that's an almost bucket-list feat!

… marina, Charlottetown waterfront

… Ferry Terminal, Wood Island, PEI

… the famous red PEI soil!...

Do you know what the best thing about downtown Charlottetown, PEI is?

Four, count 'em, 4 bookstores on the main street!!!!  

(There is apparently a second comic book store, "over there", but I didn't have time to track down.)  

I swear, Linda and I, combined, spent more on books than we did on lunch.  

(And if you knew exactly what we had for lunch, you would be impressed!)

"Memory Lane" … is a working 1940's village in Lake Charlotte, Nova Scotia.

The Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society has been relocating historic buildings from all along the Eastern Shore into a "working village."  It was actually a hoot to see what the Heritage Society has done!

Though Linda and I had a troubling epiphany on the way home - to millennials, a 1940's "historical" village is their pioneer village ...

Do we all feel a little older now?

Dorian and Umberto have left some decent 

weather in their collective wakes ......

… even the seals are chill!  

(Spotted him off the Dartmouth Harbourwalk Trail 

- almost right on Linda's front step!)

(P.S.  The Halifax International Tuna Tournament - winning tuna - 772 lbs.)

The crane that came down during Hurricane Dorian is still draped 

over the condo construction site.   Roads around the site are closed, 

families have been evacuated and according to the Halifax media, 

there is still no timetable in place for removal.

Linda and I were lunching, on the boardwalk, at the Bicycle Thief on Saturday when we heard an uproar from the nearby dock - "they're hauling one up!"  

Turns out, the restaurant was next door to the weigh-in station for the "Halifax Nova Scotia International Tuna Tournament" - and they were indeed, "hauling one up!"

A huge, yellowfin tuna!

I'm sure the waitress thought I was skipping out on the bill when I grabbed my camera, hopped over the rope-railing and ran down to the dock!

… this is the first tuna "hauled up" ...

… and an hour or so later, a second boat came in with this tuna ...

I have no idea what either of these tuna weighed, but according to the official weigh-in board, as of Friday, the largest tuna caught so far, weighed in at 362 lbs.

(*a qualifying event for the Offshore World Championship (OWC) billfishing Tournament to be held in April '20 in Costa Rica.)

The HMS Queen Elizabeth (an aircraft carrier), the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, is in Halifax Harbour until Monday! We can almost see her from Linda's front porch!

If you are a fan of horror and sci-fi moves, especially those with really 

bad CGI effects - you need to check out "It's Alive" at the Royal Ontario Museum 

- a fabulous collection of horror and sci-fi movie posters from the 1920's to the 1970's ...

The posters are all part of Kirk Hammett's collection of horror and 

sci-fi memorabilia ...yes, that Kirk Hammett - lead guitarist of "Metallica"!!!

Friends, Romans, countrymen … 

it was Fan Expo last weekend!!

(you weren't the one waving at me, were you?)

STIHL

Timbersports

2019 Canadian Championship

Celebration Square, Mississauga

(plus I tried my hand at knife throwing!)

"Retro Futures"
until July 28th, TD Gallery, Toronto Reference Library

"A nostalgic trip back to futures-that-might-have-been, as seen from the starry eyes of early science fiction writers and illustrators."
(I highly recommend this exhibit to any sci-fi geek that grew up in the 50's and 60's!)

Toronto Outdoor Art Festival, July 12 - 14
1-litre milk carton acrylic forms
$ 325.00 each

                          Happy Canada Day!
                          Riverwood Conservancy