Washing Up

Today's sinkhole search brought up an ABC news report that hadn't shown up before.  It listed stories about sinkholes and the latest story is a sinkhole being discovered on top of a US nuclear site where a tunnel collapsed exposing railroad cars full of waste. The site has day-by-day stories of sinkholes in the news feed. For example, earlier in the week a water main break in New Jersey created a sinkhole that swallowed a SUV.   You can watch the video of them pulling it out.  There are other videos - one from Jan 17, 2017 with a 55,000 pound excavation truck partially swallowed by a sinkhole in Georgia.  My initial interest today is the invention of the dishwasher. I was listening to its gentle swooshing and wondered how it came about. Invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1887, it was intended to do the dishes faster than her servants, without any breakage.  Daughter of steamboat inventor John Fitch, she was wealthy and entertained often.  Like her father, she was 'inventive' - she registered her patent and trademarks and showed her dishwasher at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.  She founded a company to manufacture her dishwashers, which eventually became KitchenAid.  The UK Independent has a picture of her here along with the story of the invention. If you would like to see pictures of dishwashers from the 1940's and 1950's, then the website automaticwasher.org is the site for you. It covers topics relating to vintage, classic and antique automatic washers and dryers.   With the 1960's economic growth, all manner of appliances became common and affordable, relegating dishwashers to the invisible cupboards of the kitchen. Today's picture is of a Grimsby Beach cottage.  On a house tour last year, I found out that many of these homes' interiors are kept close to their origins and are missing this modern appliance.

Exit Ice from Niagara

It seems that we are having an early start to Spring. The ice at Grimsby Beach was hanging on a few days ago, but is melted now with exceptionally warm weather this week. Snow drops are blooming, along with Christmas Roses (Hellebores) and the Snow Crocuses are blooming too.  Of course, Pussy Willows and Witch Hazel are in bloom.  Pansies and spring flowers are for sale in our garden centres. People are more interested in what was eaten at the White House last night.  It seems that poutine was on the menu:  "White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford will have a “more formal take on the fast food,”  served up as a single bite canapé, featuring “shavings of smoked duck and cheese curds finished with red wine gravy and served on delicate wafer fries.” I found the dinner menu "here".   View this email in your browser

Winter's Infinity Pool

A return visit to Grimsby Beach yesterday revealed a winter landscape of ice on rocks.  The waves of the day before have frozen and formed icicles. The old Grimsby pier still stretches out into the water even though it is much smaller than the days when the steamer Turbinia docked there.  I've included an historical postcard so you can see what it was like then. Yesterday's sunny scene was a remarkable one - with the pier covered in ice.  It had the appearance of an infinity pool with the blue ice floating over the blue water.  The gulls standing at the end of the pier make a wonderful focal point.

What Colour is Your House?

If you owned a Painted Lady, what colour would you paint it?  There's a newly renovated and added to house in Grimsby Beach, and we saw the owners on Saturday as we toured the gardens in the Blooms for Africa Garden Tour.  We asked the owner: "What colours are you going to paint the house?".  He is a young man and replied that some of the houses in the area were a bit bright and he was going to stay with something more subdued.  So, we'll see what happens on the house colours. What would you choose for your painted lady? What theme would your fence and free work have?

Open Doors Grimsby - A Look Into Grimsby Beach

Grimsby had its Open Doors Day yesterday and I went down to Grimsby Beach to see the Painted Ladies interiors and back gardens.  It was worth the trip - lots of fun with interpretive actors standing at corners, telling tales of Grimsby Beach.  And of course, the houses, so beloved by their owners. 

Here are a few images of living on the beach in Grimsby.