Strawberry Summer Pt. II

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Okay, so this post is somewhat improperly named as it does also involve raspberries, but I decided to run with it regardless.

Last weekend I got the lovely opportunity to go berry picking on Saturday morning with a friend who was just as eager to get some berries before the season ended. Turns out we were both in the same boat in that every time Strawberry season rolls around we've been wanting to go, but somehow life happens and next thing you know it - it's the end of July! Typically though - I'm a big advocate for picking local. Not just for the support-local movement, or the childhood memories it brings, but because fresh, Ontario strawberries just taste WAY better than those ginormous California ones.

We are not quite so homemaker-esque as some people who fill baskets upon baskets of berries in order to stock up on jam and pies, but what can you expect for young couples with tiny freezers?

We also got a small basket each of raspberries while we were there. Maybe it's because I spend too much time in a candy store, but doesn't the bottom picture look exactly like the Dutch raspberry candies? 

-Katriina 

Oh Canada

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We took these photos July 1st but due to our busy lives they have been sitting in magnetic space on my hard drive for a couple weeks and only now are they in photon form on your screen.  After a nice day in Pak-ing-ham (read Pakenham) we headed back to Ottawa to watch the fireworks with a couple friends/neighbors. Parliament hill is usually packed with people on Canada day and to avoid that mess we decided to go to a local island with a long bridge and view of the fireworks. The bridge was also packed so we made our way to an old abandoned train bridge nearby. We weren't the only ones with the idea of watching from the bridge. There were all kinds of people making their way all over this abandoned structure. Some older people on lawn chairs and photographers with tripods to people who probably shouldn't have been there stumbling around old wooden structures in the dark.

After the fireworks we set the camera on a cinder block we found and had some fun with long exposure shots and sparklers.

Wrap the Ham

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First off, we haven't made a blog post for a while - and for that - sorry. That of course, doesn't mean we haven't been taking pictures - in fact, it means quite the opposite of it. We recently did Jon's sister's wedding (to be posted up on the blog soon), so we've been focusing on getting those edited and out to her before editing all the nick-knack photos we take.

Secondly, we've got really corny friends. On the Canada Day long weekend we decided to escape the crowds that come to Ottawa and retreat into the countryside to enjoy a nice day off. This brought us to Pakenham (or as one of our friends called it when he forgot the name of the town, Wrap the Ham). We decided to climb up Mount Pakenham - and it ended up being quite the gem. We found wild blueberries, a porcupine in a tree, a pond on top of the summit... all in all quite beautiful. Except for the deer flies.

The picture with the old train bridge supports is on the Madawaska River in Burnstown. We plan on going back this summer to see if they would be any good for swimming / climbing  / jumping off. And then the last picture is from an old, abandoned train bridge crossing the Mississippi River (the Lanark county one), in Pakenham.