Refrew Fire Hall

I went to Renfrew to photograph memorials there. Most of them are on the northeast corner of Raglan Street South and Railway Avenue outside the Renfrew Town Hall. Across the street from there stands the Renfrew Fire Hall, home of the Renfrew Fire Department. Built in 1921, the hall now wears a plaque that has made it a heritage building.

TOWN OF RENFREW
LET IT FLOURISH
HERITAGE BUILDING
ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT 1974

Here's what the City of Renfrew has to say about its Fire Department.

"It was the winter of 1873 when fire raged through the village of Renfrew, killing four people and destroying over a block of businesses and buildings. That spring the Renfrew Fire Department was born with the first volunteer fire brigade and a single hand pump "fire engine."

"Today, the Renfrew Fire Department has 11 full-time firefighters including the Chief, and 12 volunteers who respond to an average 225 calls a year.

"Built in 1921, the Fire Hall is a beautiful historic building with a tower still used to dry the hoses and a classic brass pole, although the stairs are more popular. Located at 152 Plaunt Street South, the Hall is approximately 8,000 square feet and is home to two pumpers, a 75-foot ladder truck, a heavy rescue unit and an antique 1951 pumper for parades and display.

"Renfrew’s firefighters don’t just fight fires. They run fire prevention programs, do safety inspections, aid in missing people searches, assist fellow neighbouring fire departments and are always there to use their Jaws of Life Equipment when needed.

"Ready to respond 24-hours a day, Renfrew firefighters dedicate their lives to saving others."

LeBreton Flats Park Construction Nearing Completion

On the south side of Wellington between Lett Street and Preston Street construction of a park nears completion. This includes Booth Street, closed for over a year now. There may be a memorial going in just west of Booth Street though no sign in the area says that.

Holocaust Monument Under Construction in Ottawa

I went to photograph the Canadian Firefighters Memorial and I saw that the Holocaust Monument is now under construction and well on its way, though I have a feeling it may be late 2017 or even some time in 2018 before its dedication. We'll see.

The site is surrounded with chain link fence covered in black cloth. There are gaps and holes here and there in the cloth and some of the structure can be seen rising above it. I photographed what I could. Here are the results.

NATIONAL
Holocaust
MONUMENT

The National Holocaust Monument
will honour the victims and Canadian
survivors of the Holocaust and ensure
that the Holocaust continues to have
a permanent place in our nation's
consciousness and memory.


MONUMENT
NATIONAL de
l'Holocauste

Le Monument national de l'Holocauste
rendra hommage aux victimes et aux
survivants canadiens de l'Holocauste, et
veillera à ce que l'Holocauste reste gravé
à jamais dans la conscience et la mémoire
collective de notre pays.

New Resident in the Garden

When I recently trimmed back one of the bushes in my little garden it turned out I made room for a resident to move in.

I had never seen a spider like this one before. I assume this one is female. She has built a web that I cannot photograph well enough to do it justice. Her web is quite complex and rigged with many lines in all different directions to give it stability.

I went between the bushes and the front of the house and squeezed in to try and get a better picture of her. She knew I was there. There is no sneaking up on her. She made her web vibrate rapidly and she didn't like the lens of my camera being close to her.

Thanks to questions from friends on Facebook I have identified her as one of several species of  golden orb weavers. I used a 75 mm - 300 mm lens, set to the longest focal length and stood on a stool about fifteen feet away from her to get this, and the remaining photographs.

I took the best picture of her and enlarged it and cropped it in an image editor, amazed at the detail I had captured from such a distance away. She's about 7 cm (3¾") from rear leg tip to front leg tip. The yellow on her back is iridescent, something the photograph does not capture.

Update
The following pictures were taken a few days later. She moved to the other side of her web and I took photographs of her underside, and another from the side.

Hosatas in Bloom

The larges of my hostas plants is in bloom right now. When I moved here the plant was in really bad shape. I haven't really done much for it. I have fed it some fertilizer and kept it wet when we had dry spells. From the way it looks now you would think I knew what I was doing.