Arbitrary Pictures 6: The Countryside

Another set of beautiful pics by Miroslav Pospisil. This time, photos of the countryside (and parks) around the city of Vyskov, Czech Republic.

Arbitrary Pics 5: White Point, Nova Scotia in February

This may seem a trifle unseasonal, but, I figured, as you sit in the blustering heat of summer, a few beautiful winter pics may be particularly welcome.

All pics are courtesy of Kari Hunt

Arbitrary Pictures 4: Maplelawn Garden

The only Keg that I’ve been to is the Keg Manor, which I like because it’s a beautiful, heritage  stone building and I love things that are old and durable….and beautiful. (Plus, if you like steak, some have said it’s the best in town. I don’t know, I’m not a big steak eater.)

This post is about the garden located right beside the building, which, until recently, I believed was private. It’s not and it’s lovely. Both the building and the garden have been declared a national historic site, which is great because, as previously mentioned, I like old stuff. It’s also an opportunity to visit a nice, secluded place where you can just relax, breathe and take it all in.

Here are a few pics from Maplelawn Garden:

Arbitrary Pictures 3: Flowers

These gorgeous photos were taken by my friend, Miroslav Pospisil….are they not beautiful enough to put on greeting cards?

Arbitrary pics 2: Butterfly Gardens, British Columbia

A few pics from the Butterfly Gardens in Victoria, B.C.

All pics are courtesy of John Hunt

Arbitrary Pictures 1: The Tulip Festival

It’s spring-time in Ottawa and everywhere you go, you will see tulips. It’s all part of the Tulip Festival, which is celebrating it’s 60th anniversary this year. Every year, the Netherlands sends tulips to Ottawa as a thank you to the Canadian people for allowing the Dutch Royal Family to stay here during the Second World War. During the royal family’s stay, princess Margriet was born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, whose maternity ward was temporarily declared to be officially part of international territory so that Margriet would only inherit Dutch citizenship from her mother.

This year, there are 3,000,000 tulips throughout the National Capital Region.

Here is just a handful of  pics:

Tulips with National Art Gallery as backdrop

Statue of Colonel By (supervisor of the construction of the Rideau Canal and founder of Bytown, later to become Ottawa) surrounded by tulips.

Tulips by the War Memorial.

Tulips in front of the Parliament Buildings.

Tulips in front of the gates of the Parliament Buildings.

Just tulips

Artist’s interpretation of tulip

Wherever you went, you’d see people photographing, posing in front of, walking by, cycling by or just stopping to smell the tulips.

The Thing About Photos…

As I’ve observed other blogs, it has occurred to me that this blog is destined to suffer from a lack of super-awesome photos:

1. it’s a book blog
2. I hardly ever have an opportunity to get out

So, I’ve decided to commit myself to, once in a blue moon, when I get my hands on some original, super-awesome (or even just moderately awesome or somewhat cool) photos, posting them here for no apparent reason at all. THAT should spruce things up. 🙂

In the meantime, here are pictures of a goose and a squirrel (aaaawsommme!) that I took with my wimpy camera during a walk down the block.