ROY X CONE contest, 1.1.11 - 2.1.12

[Maynard Friedman]

Since the world is going to end tomorrow-

I love you all.

See you in hell or wherever.

I think it's already tomorrow here in NZ and everything's still hunky-dory so far. Or does the date only refer to US West Coast time or whatever it's called?

[Paul T]

I think it's already tomorrow here in NZ and everything's still hunky-dory so far. Or does the date only refer to US West Coast time or whatever it's called?

Goodness me, surely you realise that The Rapture will commence in the United States, first? I suspect it will run by Central Time, that's where the most people will be looking up to the heavens for the angels, flying saucers etc.

[fre-co]

Well it better end. I spent all my savings in readiness.

....and racked up huge debts....

[Maynard Friedman]

You should actually have gone one stage further and racked up huge debts!

[mikecch]

Went to the zoo.

Nearly stepped on this free-range peacock:

[mikecch]

[ranonranonarat]

mike, looking for new animals to make your new leather emulsions?

[mikecch]

^ Would like some bear & emu fat.

Cat & seal fat would be interesting, but too controversial

Not sure if the other animals would be too useful.

[riff]

^Great stuff! Mike, I remember my Melbourne zoo visit - got totally freaked out by an emu that wanted to be friends - something about a bird beig at my eye level...!!!

Robbie - ladderball looks like a hoot - must try it (with alcohol..)

Nice pick-up Farhad!

Paul - nice to know that the important bits weren't demolished!!

So this weekend is Victoria Day weekend in Canada, with Monday off. Our weekend started early yesterday, as our little one had no school . So we headed out with friends to a place called Elora - about an hour & a half west of the GTA.

Beautiful farmland, picturesque little town - Friday was a great day to go, as it becomes very busy & touristy on holidays & weekends.

On the way, quite a few OPP were on the roads - probably in preparation for the long weekend blitz

Elora

Lots of over-priced "antiques"

Small town denim steez!

First we took a walk along the river

Then we went over to the look-out area to get a view of Elora Gorge

The top of the gorge is surrounded by cedar forests - just lovely

I'm always impressed by the hardiness of cedars, and their ability to put down roots almost anywhere!

We hoofed down a long set of stairs to get to the water's edge

[riff]

After all that hiking around, we needed to re-fuel. So we dropped into a little pastry shop to check things out…

Mmmmmm

We bought some of the best baklava I ever had

An eclectic pastry shop - would you like some books or weapons with your pastry?

We found a quiet spot by the river to eat and enjoy the view

The there was the obligatory playground stop

What I was wearing (Alden, RxC, Flathead)

One of the best parts was seeing some of the original buildings, many dating back to the early 1800's

Today my wife went to Canada Wonderland with our daughter & friends, while I'm at home, taking care of some "honey-do" items! More to come, and we still have lots of stuff planned for the rest of the weekend!

[Paul T]

perfect, riff, many thanks... nice post-processing on those pics, too.

[tg76]

as the prophet fore sore it is time for RAPKAYAK

3 layers sprayed on later

spotted these cool scaffolding castors to clean up and turn into something in our future

just like christmas morning get up and rush to open presents

and thats that done

next weekend the varnish

then my lead role as maker of all the soft bits, seats, back rests, skirts etc

these really are our babies as it will have been 9 months when they are done

today we ride bikes

ka kite ano

[robbie]

cool stuff riff & Tg!

[ranonranonarat]

very cool riff, looks like a busy fun weekend planned out.

tg, let me have a ride in your canoe.

edit: kayak i mean. im an idiot.

[tg76]

went for a 30K bike ride to drop some cash off at my dads

wore my ROY boxers

gotta love the winners that drive past and yell HI ROY

ranonranonarat, sure, come to nz and you can paddle my kayak

[Dr_Heech]

My roys and I were cutting greens on friday. Love it when there's just enough dew...

Go up to the green, choose a spot on the horizon, drive on and lower the units and keep a straight line whilst grabbing the flag out of it's cup as you go past. Come off the green and turn around and do the second stripe whilst plonking the flag back in the cup...

Cut one half the green...

..then the other including the clean-up strip..

..and enjoy the views...

.

[riff]

^ Lovely pics Dr Heech. I know you all hate golf, but one of my favorite things is getting that first tee-off of the morning, when the dew is still over the course, and it's all misty & quiet....

The weekend continued...

After Elora, we drove on to St Jacobs.

Typical scenery along the way

We stopped along the way to take some shots of horses in a field. I was so focused on one horse, that I didn't notice another one approaching me until he nuzzled my telephoto!

St Jacobs and neighbouring areas are home to many Mennonites - we knew we were getting closer when we started seeing more & more buggies on the street!

Our first stop was at an old mill/silo, which has been converted into 4 levels of shops, coffeehouses & historical/crafts displays

The quilts were really stunning

Then we walked along the main street & took in the sights

Mural depicting a Mennonite scene

[riff]

Lots of buggies about

Further down the street, we stopped for an ice-cream, and a Mennonite family pulled up in their buggy. There were 4 children (2 boys, 2 girls), maybe between 3-6 years of age. Cute as buttons! Their dad bought ice cream for them, and I walked over to complement the parents on their beautiful family.

The 4 kids were sitting with legs dangling over the edge of the buggy, happily eating ice cream. The little girls wore long dresses, with apron & bonnet, while the lads had on dark coloured pants with suspenders, hats, and checked shirts.

I asked their parents if they would mind if I took some photos, and I was delighted when they told me to go ahead! I figured "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so when I finished with the shots, I asked if they would sign a model release for me. I was even more happy when they agreed! I promised to let them know if the photos get published, and yesterday I matted 4-5 really nice shots, and mailed the package off to them!

We noticed lots of really cool weathervanes

Further down the street, we found the shop that sells them. Very cool, funky place - they even had a model railroad that was suspended in the air, and the tracks weaved in & out of the store.

The pups, enjoying a quiet moment.

By the time we got back to the car, they were ready to sleep all the way home!

We knew we had left farm country far behind when I spotted this…. Look closely - the whole car is wrapped in carbon fibre. SMH.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

[DocBlue]

always nice pics Riff.

DrHeech too!

[Dr_Heech]

Thanks Docblue and Riff. Great travel photos as always!

.

[Happy Hooligan]

I miss the Old Order Amish....

[dkatz]

fried grashoppers?a friend from Sierra Leone told me how delicious they are.i still have my doubts.

Yes sir. They're not bad - crunchy, salty and rich - but I'm not a huge fan. Homegirl on the other hand...

Thanks dkatz, it's nice to be working again, I will put my Roy's to good use, next month. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE EBOLA VIRUS!!!!!

Hahhahaha, doing my best. Fortunately it's only been confirmed in one place, a couple hours away from Kampala an in a district I never visit.

I asked their parents if they would mind if I took some photos, and I was delighted when they told me to go ahead! I figured "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so when I finished with the shots, I asked if they would sign a model release for me. I was even more happy when they agreed! I promised to let them know if the photos get published, and yesterday I matted 4-5 really nice shots, and mailed the package off to them!

That's great! I look forward to seeing the shots. Not surprised they were fine with such an upstanding and well-clad gentleman as yourself photograph their family though. And you really didn't see any carbon fiber horse-drawn buggies out there? There must be one racing buggy in that town...

TG - beautiful kayak!

Three weeks left of work, and counting...

.

[robbie]

So I was reading through my RSS feed and stumbled onto a recent post by Cone. I don't particularly care, but wasn't the cone blog going to be a part of this contest ? Just curious, could be that I'm remembering wrong.

-rF

[Dr_Heech]

Unfortunately my Roy replacements arrived at work today (35% cotton,65% polyester...mmm). Awfull.

So took an opportunity to take some pix before they're washed and finally given their new part-time wear status -

Will try and stretch it out another week hopefully.

.

[eltopo]

Dam Heech!!!! They look amazing!!!!!

[Paul T]

They do look beautiful, Charlie.

Making you wear polyester? That infringes your human rights! Maybe you could commission a copy in duck or cotton drill?

[Dr_Heech]

Dam Heech!!!! They look amazing!!!!!

Thanks Cory, although I think it's the ground-in sand and rootzone which makes them look good.

They do look beautiful, Charlie.

Making you wear polyester? That infringes your human rights! Maybe you could commission a copy in duck or cotton drill?

Yeah, they feel horrible to wear, and look indestructable to boot.

Although I'm sure it's not anything that a close shave with a tractor PTO cant cure.

.

[entertainment!]

35% cotton,65% polyester

That's just effed up.

[mikecch]

Unfortunately my Roy replacements arrived at work today (35% cotton,65% polyester...mmm). Awfull.

.

Boo

At least your jeans are well on track! Nice evo so far.

[Farhad]

Shot mike again for the Inventory and went on a hike after words with him and his lovely wife charla.

lots of horses in the neighborhood

and chickens

but let's not forget about the jeans he has. These are all from the late 1800's including the oldest pair of levi's from 1873 to the far right

which I'm holding here

We were of course both wearing our Roys the whole day.

cheers!!!