Last Sunday, Richard and I headed to Vankleek Hill for their annual horse parade that takes place the first Sunday in July.
I especially loved the horse in red stockings!
There were teeny horses...
...and huge ones.
Elegant critters...
...and strong beasts.
These blonde guys...
...were just gorgeous.
And this crazy gal was doing acrobatics on the back of a horse. Wowza!
Richard saved Barney (tabby and white cat) from my barn four years ago. Percy (along with his sister Milly) showed up as tiny kittens in Richard's garden... 
...and the two boys have become fast friends.
They spend much of their day hanging about...
...watching the day go by.
Until it's bath time. Then it's serious business.
Barney turned out to be a most lovable boy.
Percy is just plain silly and reminds me of a jaguar. I love them both to bits!
In a small town like St. Eugene, Ontario, everything with wheels can make it into a parade. A bicycle is a good start...
...and a school bus all decked out for Canada Day.
Balloons strung together can make an impressive float.
Or a mini-truck with bales of hay, sporting large Canadian flags.
Antique cars look fabulous!
So do funky John Deer tractors.
Best of all were these remote control tractors. Very cool!
I was driving by this festive porch in Alexandria, Ontario and had to stop and take a photo. Montreal Canadien's logos (thinking hockey in July?), Canadian flags, a cat and dog living in peace side-by-side. How Canadian is that, eh?
I can't believe that today is already the last day of June! The blooms of this month have come and gone so quickly, I haven't had time to blog about them. My mother's gorgeous Japanese flowering crab is at its greatest beauty for three or four days at the end of May/beginning of June.
The peonies bloomed and died so quickly this year I barely had a chance to enjoy them.
These tiger lilies are somewhere between a red and dark orange. The great thing about these blooms is that they last quite a while...unless it gets too hot for too long.
Speaking of lilies, I shot these waterlilies at Mill Pond in Alexandria during a drizzle. I did a project on waterlilies once in elementary school because I loved the fact they bloomed on water. It's not often that I've noticed two different kinds blooming side-by-side.
These amazing, crepe paper-like poppies only last a day or two. I especially love this variety that is a pale salmon pink. Very unusual.
You can always count on these dependable pansies. I planted them at the beginning of May and they'll still be flowering into the fall.
I spied this piece of Inuit art in a second hand shop. His face is a little dented and believe it or not, when I found it, his head was painted bright red!
But with a little bit of paint stripper and a good rub, this seal is almost as good as new and has a happy home with me. Not bad for $3.99, eh?
Over the weekend, Richard and I went strawberry picking to a place that's about 10 minutes down the road.
It was a lovely day and the berries were plentiful.
In no time at all...
...Richard and I had picked our two baskets.
Pretty nice, eh?
Best of all was this particular barn cat, who looked like a minature version of Barney. She was very sweet and liked her head being scratched.
Speaking of sweet, so were the strawberry desserts I made with a quickly whipped up angel food cake, ice cream and fresh berries. Bring on summer!
For last Saturday's artist trading card swap, I did a quick set of kitty cat doodles. Kinda fun.
I made this cake for a dinner meeting for the Stewardship Council of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry. The goal of the Council is to work with private landowners to promote "sustainable resource management," through education and partnership. 
Walking down the sidewalks of Alexandria, Ontario the other day, on my way to work, I noticed these wild morning glories in bloom growing in the cracks.
There are many articles on the web about how to get rid of these invasive plants. But a weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place, right? In this case, I think they look lovely.
I don't suppose that the person who found the cat would consider giving it to the person with the missing pet? A cat swap? Hmmm...
What to do with those oversized satellite dishes that no one uses anymore? How about using it as a sign, in this case in a farmer's yard advertising eggs for sale. Pretty clever.
