Houseplant give-away at the Stick Library

Apparently these things cannot be predicted and they're over so fast it's not worth advertising them, but a free plant give-away has just started here at the Stick Library.

Not only has the Stick Librarian potted a variety of plants that she gives to anyone she believes will treat the plant well, she gives them a flyer with a hand-drawn and hand-coloured picture of the plant and care instructions along with warnings if there are any concerns about pets or small overly-curious children.

And... to my personal chagrin, she has added either a coloured marble or polished stone to each pot! When I said "what if I need those marbles?" she just scoffed.

I can't say for certain what is being given away or is still out there, but she asked me to print papers for:

• 5 Peace lilies
• 2 Rosemary
• 2 Pathos
• 2 Tradescantia
• 2 Kalanchoe
• 3 Burros tail
• 4 Thanksgiving cacti

 

We saw a great blue heron!

I am reliably informed by the lovely Manon that the bird we saw on the bank of Dow's Lake this morning was a great blue heron. That seems to be confirmed by checking page 4 of the Bird Identification Guide from Forests Canada.

Manon has kindly been accompanying me to Dow's Lake once or twice a week all summer so that I can have a swim. I'm used to having ducks and geese nearby, even the occasional loon, but seeing the heron was extra special.

If you're interested in going for a swim, I can tell you that I have not come down with any itchy conditions or other problems. Mind you, I only go when there has been no rain for 24 hours before. (Which has been a challenge this summer.) On the other hand, I am heavily immuno-suppressed these days, and you probably have a well functioning immune system. So even though at least one wildlife expert I know is reluctant to swim in Dow's Lake, I think it's fine.

Here's another photo that gives a better idea of how close the heron was. There's a Canada goose at the left of the photo. After I took this photo it started staring at me. Manon believes it was thinking "What's the matter? Do you not want pictures of me and my family?" 

Dave and Manon join Painted Perches

Our Centretown home has joined Painted Perches, which is "a community art project to turn LeBreton St into an open-air walking gallery of hand-painted birdhouses."

The organizer, Jesse Burcsik, delivered flyers describing the project to houses on the street and when I said we were intererested, he gave us two bird houses to paint. 

I painted one yellow and green (I actually blended the green all by myself using yellow and blue paint) and the lovely Manon painted the other house to imitate the colours of our house using colours that she found in our collection and also blended herself.

I mounted the houses this morning and I must say we are very happy with them.

We hope that two avian families will move in and they will get along peacefully with the canine patrons of the Stick Library. 

Jesse has created an excellent page describing the project that includes a map for all the bird houses with links to descriptions of each house. 

• Manon's bird house: The Mini Manonsion
• Dave's bird house: The Yellow Leaf House 

More about Painted Perches

The core Painted Perches trail is along LeBreton St N, but neighbours from all over Ottawa are invited to take part — put up a birdhouse and add it to the map.

The project was started by Ottawa resident Jesse Burcsik, and made possible by neighbours and local artists of all ages.

Painted perches has an excellent web page at paintedperches.ca and is on Instagram @paintedperches

There is an upcoming painting event at the Cambridge Street Seats on July 25 from 1pm to 4pm: all materials provided! 

 

Hot pepper leaves instead of grape leaves

Summary for those who don't want to read this whole article: Super-hot pepper leaves taste good and have caused no ill effects for me.

All the details 

I reported in August last year that I invented a new taste treat: microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp. I am happy to report that I'm still very fond of this treat and it is a daily part of my breakfast. However, once winter started, I lost my source of grape leaves. I only got by for a few weeks with frozen grape leaves. (We have a limited freezer space.) Until a few weeks ago, I was getting by with either spinach or slices of roasted eggplant. Both of which taste fine, but have to be purchased with actual money. 

So I'm very happy that the grape vines are once again bountifully providing new leaves.

Still, I couldn't help noticing that the pepper plants have nice, broad leaves that look very edible.

One thing about having a reputation for liking hot spice is that people tend to give you hot spicy things.

The most remarkable of kindly given hot spicy things I've received have been the potted pepper plants that our across-the-street neighbour has taken to giving me.

This year, he has given me a scorpion pepper, a ghost pepper and a Carolina reaper. Last year, it was a scorpion, a ghost and a habanero. (This goes beyond me living a charmed life, I don't even have to look after the plants. The lovely Manon does everything for them like making sure they get enough water. Even though she doesn't even eat mild peppers like cayennes.)

The plants from my neighbour are all varieties of Capsicum chinense and they are ridiculously hot. Even for me. When the peppers are ripe, I make a sambal oelek that I put in little jars. I put about a third of a teaspoon of the sambal oelek every day on my lunch burrito. The burning sensation in my mouth afterwards is not at all pleasant, so I am careful to have a few things to eat afterwards to remove the hot stuff.

Olin Wade who wrote: Can you eat pepper leaves Raw? says:

The most poisonous pepper is the Carolina Reaper, and due to its extreme heat, it is advised not to consume this pepper in any form.

Other peppers that can be poisonous when consumed in large enough quantities include the Habanero, Bengal, Ghost, and Naga peppers. All of these peppers have a heat rating of over 500,000 Scoville Heat Units, and should be consumed by only those who are well-versed in very hot peppers.

Consuming any pepper in large quantities can cause intense side effects, such as stomach discomfort, heartburn, and even dehydration. Consuming peppers that are too hot can cause further complications, including inflammation of the esophagus and an intense burning sensation in the mouth.

It is best to always err on the side of caution when consuming peppers, and to never consume it in large enough quantities to cause any potential harm. 

I don't think I've ever experienced stomach discomfort, heartburn or dehydration from these peppers but I can corroborate that an "intense burning sensation in the mouth" is a distinct possibility.

Why do I eat this stuff? I think it's good for me and good for my mental health. And I like my food better when it's got some hot spice.

Back to the leaves...

The internet was not super-helpful on the question of whether I could safely eat these leaves.

I found articles about the Capsicum chinense peppers, but none addressed whether their leaves are edible or dangerous. 

I did find articles that say various other pepper varieties have edible leaves, like Capsicum annuum [Source: Can You Eat Pepper Leaves?] or the generic "chili pepper" [Source: Chili Pepper Leaves Edible – A Delicious & Nutritious Garden Secret]. 

Olin Wade says: "Jalapeno leaves themselves are not poisonous, but they can contain compounds that might be dangerous if the leaves are ingested in large amounts. The leaves may contain the compound capsaicin, which is responsible for the heat and spicy sensation of jalapenos."

This makes no sense to me. Every other site says that pepper leaves do not contain capsaicin. And I would say that jalapenos are particularly mild. Milder than cayennes. Julie Howell who wrote Can You Eat Pepper Leaves? specifically says that jalapeno leaves are safe.

My conclusion on toxicity: The Capsicum chinense  leaves should be safe. It might be worth being a little cautious by steaming them before microwaving, not eating them every day, and avoiding a "large amount" by only having two to four leaves with my breakfast.  

For preparation, some sites say they must be cooked, others say they can be eaten raw. 

My conclusion on raw versus cooked: I am confident that either way is safe and is a matter of personal or cultural preference.

I'm going with steamed and then microwaved because it suits me. 

Fieldwork

I removed two nice big leaves from the bottom of the scorpion pepper plant with bare hands. I had no burning sensation afterwards on my fingertips even after tearing off a little piece that was less than a square inch in size. 

I chewed the little piece. It tasted okay, not particularly flavourful, sort of what you might expect a raw leaf to taste like.

I steamed the two leaves with a bunch of grape leaves in the Instant Pot one a one-minute steam with "Keep Warm" turned off. Refrigerated them over night and ate them with my breakfast the next morning.

The pepper leaves tasted fine. My breakfast was delicious as always and I have had no problems of any kind.

I decided that with the thousands and thousands of grape leaves currently outside, it didn't make sense to harvest any more of the pepper leaves before the peppers are harvested. 

But guess what? The lovely Manon did some research of her own and determined that some of the lower leaves should be removed to promote growth of the peppers. She picked a bunch of leaves that I've now been eating for several days. Manon reported that she had a bit of a burning or tingling feeling where she had touched the leaves. It could be that I didn't get this because I only picked two leaves and she picked about ten. Or, I have a tolerance where she has a sensitivity. Or maybe she was doing something else in her garden where she should have been wearing gloves. 

With the new leaves, my breakfasts continue to be delicious and I have suffered no ill effects.

Possible follow-up 

If I get really ambitious, I might try making hot pepper leaf dolmades.

I will not be steaming jasmine leaves. The lovely Manon was visibly displeased when I mentioned that her jasmine plant had the broad sort of leaves that I was looking for. But then she was visibly relieved when I reported that in Jasmine Flower Edible: Which Species Are Safe to Eat? we learn that while some jasmine plants have edible flowers, their leaves should not be eaten:  

Are jasmine leaves or stems edible?

No. Leaves and stems of edible jasmine species contain higher concentrations of iridoid glycosides (e.g., aucubin) with potential laxative or hepatotoxic effects at high doses. Only use fully opened, white flowers—never green parts.

I will report any further follow-up on the pepper leaves. 

And apparently, there are some maple tree leaves that can be eaten. I'm not sure that we have any of the right species nearby. In the '90s, I had a Norway maple, but it had to be cut down before it destroyed the house.

Great news! The Stick Library is back!

It's a sure sign of Spring that the Stick Library is back.

We made an all new sign that we hope will stand up better to the elements and at least be easier to replace if it does not.

The QR-code leads to the Google Maps link for the Stick Library. We were very pleased with last year's ratings.

People who have followed this blog for a very long time might recognize the canine pictured on the sign. That is My Cancer Sniffin' Doggie from almost exactly 20 years ago. 

You'll notice that the sticks currently in the lending area are a variety of lengths and some are fairly grody. The Stick Librarian has noted that the patrons often prefer particularly fragrant sticks and some of them seem to prefer a length that lets them take up the whole width of the sidewalk.

These sticks were mostly collected from the north side of Gladstone Avenue between Rochester and Preston two weeks ago. 

You might notice that the Stick Librarian has reopened more than a month before last year's opening date. But several humans who accompany dogs expressed their companions' strong desire to have the library reopen as soon as possible. 

 

Coconut cream pi!

Even though Google Calendar alerted me a month ago that Pi Day was coming up, I forgot about it until this morning when people on Mastodon were showing off their creations. (Pi Day = March 14 — 3.14, get it?)

Imagine how happy I was when I asked the lovely Manon if there was any chance of us making a pie this afternoon, specifically a coconut cream pie, and she said: "Yes." 

All we needed was some milk. I promised that I would help. And I did. For example, I pulled numerous things out of the pantry, measured the instructed quantities of sugar and flour, washed things that had become dirty (including a number of measuring spoons that I found to be higher than I would have expected) and did a bit of stirring. 

However, I must acknowledge that it was the lovely Manon who really made the pie(s).

Here she is with the full-size pie.

 And here is me eating one of the two miniature ones she made for me.

The pie is fantastic!

The basic pie filling recipe came from The Joy of Cooking, Rombauer and Rombauer Becker, 1975.

For the meringue topping, Manon used Better Homes and Gardens: Pies and Cakes, 1966 

An upgrade to the squid jars

Way back in 2008, I filled a big jar with mineral oil for the lovely Manon and put a candelabra light bulb in it with other stuff so it looked like a giant squid. A number of years later, I did a smaller version. 

They both looked pretty cool when well lit, but there was something missing.

Recently it came to me. 

I had some cheap LED lights that didn't work any more, but when I got out my soldering iron and wire strippers, I managed to get them working again with an old transformer (don't let anyone tell you to get rid of those things). 

An old tuna can worked perfectly as the base for the smaller jar and a biscuit tin from Dollarama perfectly fit the larger jar. 

The squids now go very nicely with the lava lamps on top of the piano.

A question about all the compliments on my new glasses

 

Me with a new haircut and the new glasses

Back in October, I decided to take a chance and order a new pair of glasses online. I figured it might save me some money and at least two in-person shopping visits. (I am, let's say, "frugal" and I avoid in-person things because I am somewhat immuno-compromised.)

I went to an online eyeglass store and they offered a wide selection of frames. I picked ones that are blue because they were only $10 (have I mentioned that I'm "frugal"?) Also, they would be obviously different from my red-framed computer glasses.

When I got the glasses, I was shocked to discover that the light blue trim was much more prominent than I'd noticed in the image on the vendor's website. 

Had I realized, I probably would have paid five or ten dollars more for a more discreet pair of glasses. 

But when the lovely Manon saw the new glasses, she sincerely told me that she really liked them.

And it keeps happening. Even my mother complimented them.

What the frames looked like on the vendor site

It's kind of freaking me out. 

Two weeks ago, as part of my ongoing health journey, I was at an Ottawa Hospital appointment. The reception desk attendant who was clearly one of those hard-bitten no-nonsense types, looked up at me and said "I really like your blue glasses!" We proceeded to have a very friendly conversation about eyeglass frames in which I told her that I wasn't at all bothered by her saying that the frames went well with my gray hair because, let's face it, my hair is indeed gray. (Okay, she could also have mentioned my dreamy blue eyes, but I wasn't going to push it.)

Then on Monday, a friend who has been living out of town dropped by to borrow my car. Her first words were: "I really like your new glasses!"

"You know what?" I told her: "I've received more compliments on these glasses than on any pair of glasses in my entire life and I do not see many people these days."

The next day, I had one of my rare outings where I picked up some reserved books at the Rosemount Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. A young man was waiting at the bottom of the staircase as I was leaving. He looked up at me and smiled. "I really like your blue glasses!"

"Thank you," I replied.

So here is my question, my barber, the lovely Manon, says she would be happy to add a blue colouring to my hair. She says it will really go with my eyes and the new glasses. Should I have her do it? 

 

 

  

Kitchen Test: Christmas tree devilled eggs

I don't know if doing a single trial counts as doing our own research, but for our New Year's Eve supper, the lovely Manon agreed to my request that we try making four Christmas tree devilled eggs.

Manon had spotted someone making them on Instagram without any information on ingredients.

So I figured that a ripe avocado would be good for getting the green colour and adding enough volume to get tree height, bits of a yellow pepper would work for the star on top and hot pepper flakes would make the tree decorations.

Here is Manon with our four prototypes.

She did well with the piping, but it would have gone better if I'd done a better job of smashing the avocado.

Ingredients:

• 2 boiled eggs
• 1 small avocado
• 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise
• a few bit of yellow sweet pepper
• a bunch of hot pepper flakes

Outcome:

You know what? They were fine. However, regular devilled eggs don't look so fancy, but they taste better. Let's face it. Devilled eggs are awesome. 

This appears to be another lesson that confirms you shouldn't mess with perfection.  

I'm using a nasal spray and a nasal rinse - you might want to also

I don't do my own research, but I like to do a good literature review now and then.¹ 

Back in the fall, an old friend who is now a retired physician, told us that she has started using nasal sprays and nasal rinses to prevent COVID-19 and other respiratory infections like flu and RSV.

The idea of spraying or rinsing my nose made me shudder but I thought I should check it out and now I am a convert.

Literature Review

There are more papers on this topic than you or I can keep track of. But all of the ones I've seen conclude that nasal sprays and nasal rinses can dramatically lower the chance of someone getting COVID-19 and other infections and that nasal rinses can also reduce the severity of an infection that has started. Furthermore, there are no apparent harms caused by the sprays or rinses they are testing.

Nasal spray with Iota-Carageenan (I-C):  A 2021 pilot study concluded "a nasal spray with I-C showed significant efficacy in preventing COVID-19 in health care workers managing patients with COVID-19 disease."

Nasal spray with azelastine: An 8-week trial in Germany concluded that "SARS-CoV-2 [or COVID-19] infections was significantly lower with application of azelastine nasal spray compared with placebo treatment."

Nasal spray with other ingredients: An article from OneDayMD titled 8 Best Anti-COVID Nasal Sprays (2024) lists Povidone Iodine Nasal Spray as their #1 choice.²

Nasal rinse (or irrigation): A 2024 paper from China recommends "that saline nasal irrigation is an effective, safe and convenient strategy to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 [or COVID-19] and alleviate the symptoms of URTI [upper respiratory tract infections] across various age groups."  

To spray or to rinse

I follow the lead of my doctor friend. Before I am encountering other people, I use my nasal spray. It's one quick spritz in each nostril and a quick wipe with my handkerchief. When the encounter is over, I spritz again.

The nasal spray is fast and easy and not at all uncomfortable. In fact, with the dry winter air, it kind of feels good.

If I have a big day with lots of in-person encounters, I also do a nasal rinse in the evening. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and it does feel like it was a good thing to do, but I have to acknowledge that it is kind of unpleasant and requires more fussing around. 

To rinse, you squeeze the bottle of saline solution so that half of it goes up one nostril and drains through the other one. Then you switch nostrils for the second half of the bottle. Yes. It is kind of gross. But you do it all alone, over the sink in the bathroom with the door closed. And it's really not so bad. Not like that time you snorted cream soda up your nose because someone made you laugh.  

For more information on this topic, you might want to read Nasal Rinse vs. Nasal Spray: What’s the Difference? at allergyxrinse.com. 

My nasal spray choice: Salinex Protect

I've gone with Salinex Protect. It has Iota-Carageenan, it's not too expensive and it's carried at the ubiquitous Shoppers Drug Mart. (It's probably carried at other places like IDA and Rexall drugstores, but they have really bad search engines on their websites.) 

I would really like to use a nasal spray with azelastine. It's got strong research behind it and there have been articles saying that it's an approved over-the-counter thing in Canada, but I cannot find it anywhere. It's not just a really-bad-search-engine problem, I've gone to various pharmacies and checked the ingredients on all their nasal sprays.³

I have a hunch that just about any saline nasal spray would be a good idea, but I'm not ready to start using one of the allergy-relief ones that have cortico-steroids.

My nasal rinse choice: Life Brand Nasal Rinse & Squeeze Bottle System

A lot of people use a neti pot for nasal irrigation. The lovely Manon suggested to me that the fuss of cleaning a Neti Pot made it not worth its reusability and this made a lot of sense to me.

I have invested in the Life Brand Nasal Rinse & Squeeze Bottle System from Shoppers. As mentioned, it requires a bit of fussing around, but not much really. And it's a little unpleasant to do, but not very. I bet I'll get used to it.

Conclusion

It's December 2025, I haven't had COVID-19 and I will continue to make efforts to keep it that way.

Halloween Preparation

I'm happy to say that we managed to complete the Halloween display for our porch yesterday afternoon. Although it did not go so well for the garden gnomes.

The lovely Manon likes to go traditional and used a knife, but I found that my oscillating mult-crafter tool made cutting a pumpkin extremely easy! 

Late October Stick Library News

Closing for the season...

With the end of October on its way, the Stick Librarian has decided that today is the last day of 2025 for the Stick Library.

It was a terrific year for the library.

Stick Library 2025 

Borrowed: >232 sticks + 4 tennis balls

Returned (or donated): too many for us to count!

The stick library is closing until Spring 2026

Thank you for your patronage!

XOXOX 💗! 

{with a QR code that links to the Google Maps page} 

 

A successful plant re-homing

On October 1, the Stick Librarian decided it was a good time to have a plant give-away to find new homes for some excess house plants. In only a few hours, new homes were found for:

• 5 peace lilies,
• 2 Thanksgiving cacti,
• a Rosemary,
• a lucky heart hoya,
• a kalenchoe,
• an aloe vera,
• a lace aloe,  and
• a chenille. 

Is this Siberian elm tree really okay?

Back in July, a City of Ottawa Forestry inspector came at my request and checked out the Siberian elms next to our house. I was particularly concerned about this one because it had a big brown streak on the trunk and the leaves did not seem to be doing well. 

The inspector assured me that both elms looked great to him and were doing fine.

But yesterday, we got an indication that this Siberian elm is not happy. It is definitely more threatening if you ask me.

My new marble shelf

I have a new marble shelf in the window of my studio.

I've been wanting to make a lot of things in the past while and when I opened a box that had lots of old jam jars with marbles in them, I decided it was time to act on this project.

So I cut some old wood scraps to the right size, got out more jars and marbles from my jar and marble hordes, painted things, drilled holes, and stuck everything together.

Now we just have to figure out what will go on top of the new shelf.

 

Microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp

I believe that I have invented a new food treat: microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp. 

I tried Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing and did not find anything that described this treat. (Of course, someone else might have already invented it and posted it to the internet, but search engines have become so bad that it is not findable. Anyway...) 

Ingredients:

• 2 steamed grape leaves
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of chili crisp

Instructions:

1. Put one of the steamed grape leaves on the bottom of a small bowl. (In advance, you will have picked a bunch of young, intact grape leaves from the grapevine outside your porch, removed the stems, rinsed the leaves, steamed them for a few minutes and then put them in a container in your fridge.)
2. Dollop a teaspoon of chili crisp on the grape leaf. You can smear it around a bit, but you don't have to.  (Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp will be fine if you don't have a jar you made yourself or one of the really exquisite brands.)
3. Crack an egg and drop everything except the shell on top of the grape leaf and chili crisp.
4. Either leave the yolk intact, or break it with a piece of egg shell. Your choice. 
5. Cover the egg with a second grape leaf.
6. Cover the small bowl with a small plate. (Coverage is important, the egg will splatter even with the top grape leaf.)
7. Put the covered bowl in your microwave oven, set the timer and turn it on. (45 seconds is just right for me, but you might want to experiment to get the result that is perfect for you.)

Outcome - A delicious treat

I love having one of these with my breakfast savoury oatmeal mélange. I am confident that this treat would also be a great addition to toast, fried rice, hash browns and many other foods suitable for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a mid-meal snack.

Please let me know if you try this and what you ate it with! 

Edit note - June 26, 2026: This post originally said "grape leafs" instead of "grape leaves". I believe I was unduly influenced by the name of the famous but poorly performing hockey team from Toronto even though I am in no way a sports fan. But if "grape leaves" is what Wikipedia goes with, that is the way I will use it and I have made the appropriate changes on this page. 

It's time to hang out the laundry...

With the unrelenting heat, it seemed like a good idea to put my wet laundry outside instead of running the drier.

It occurred to me that this is the first time since June 1986 when I left Ghana that my laundry has been hung outside to dry.

1984 - My housemate Ampofu's laundry hanging in the courtyard of our staff bungalow at Okuapemman Secondary School in Ghana, West Africa.

2025 - My laundry hung on the patio of my home in Ottawa, Ontario.

You might notice that in neither set of outside laundry are there any socks. 

The Stick Library is now on Google Maps

Did you know that it is really easy to put your organization on Google Maps?

I am eager to see any feedback the library patrons or their companions have for us.

Feel free to follow this Google Maps Link if you need directions to the library. (I really enjoy choosing "avoid highways" on road trips). 

The link also lets you check the opening hours or ask a question and confirms that the Stick Library is a safe space. 

Two lesser known waterfalls of Ottawa - Princess Louise and Wateridge

The lovely Manon has been very indulgent with my affection for waterfalls and has been willing to accompany me to Hog's Back Falls, the Chaudière Falls and even the Rideau Falls.

And this past month, she agreed to visit two waterfalls that I only learned of very recently.

I must be clear that neither of these falls appear on lists with titles like Canada’s Most Breathtaking Waterfalls or The 14 Most Amazing Waterfalls in the World. However, the first one I will mention does appear on both the 15+ Waterfalls to Visit in and Around Ottawa and 8 Breathtaking Waterfalls You Need to See near Ottawa.

The Princess Louise Falls

The Princess Louise Falls might not actually be breathtaking, but they are pretty and are conveniently right next to St. Joseph Boulevard in Orleans. 

What to do there: You can get really close to the falls to enjoy them. It is a nice spot to go to have a snack or to do some thinking. There's also a path through the woods that would likely reward a little hiking. 

Parking: We parked on Taylor Creek Drive and walked about 400 metres to get to the base of the falls, but it looks like you could park across the street at the Ottawa Uyghur Center and basically be right there.

More information: 

• Lots of history from Linda Seccaspina at The Mysterious Princess Louise Falls
• Google Maps 

Wateridge Waterfall

The Wateridge Waterfall (also known as the Aviation Museum Waterfall) is across the Promenade Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier from the Aviation Museum.

It might be a dramatic waterfall in the spring, but it is definitely not dramatic in the middle of July. Especially because there is a big fence that prevents you from getting close.

I'm having trouble finding historical details about this waterfall, but it looks like it's part of municipal drainage from about a hundred years ago.  

What to do there: There are some unshaded benches along the pathway to the waterfall, so I suppose you could sit on one and read your new Louise Penny novel or jot your thoughts in your diary. 

Otherwise, it's take in the local wildlife (which in mid-July included lots of wild flowers, dragonflies and pretty yellow birds) and verify that water really is trickling down. 

Also you can pat yourself on the back for having seen Ottawa's fifth and most obscure waterfall.

Parking: The nearest unpaid and legal parking requires you to walk a kilometre each way. It is on C.H. Airport Marina Road by the entrance to a path that appears to be popular with dogs. The walk is probably very pleasant when you are not taking it in the middle of a heat wave.

The paid parking at the museum is about 300 metres closer but you have to walk next to the Promenade to get to the falls.

Google Maps 

It also looks like you can stop on the Promenade at the blocked off pathway entrance so you only have a short walk, but it might not be legal parking and doesn't look safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Stick Library is open!

 

Happy news for the Stick Library

A confidential source has informed me that because it is May 5 "Cinco de
Mayo", the Stick Library will be reopening today for the season.

As you can see, the stacks are in good shape.