{"id":141,"date":"2009-05-27T08:39:43","date_gmt":"2009-05-26T22:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/?p=141"},"modified":"2009-05-27T08:39:43","modified_gmt":"2009-05-26T22:39:43","slug":"birthday-trip-to-the-royal-botanical-gardens-of-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/2009\/05\/birthday-trip-to-the-royal-botanical-gardens-of-ontario\/","title":{"rendered":"Birthday Trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the Thursday before we left Canada Tamara, Pippa, Audrey, Jan and I went to the <a title=\"Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rbg.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario<\/a>.  This was Jan&#8217;s birthday present from the Hans and the family.  When we are together we try to have a birthday day because Jan and I can&#8217;t be there for every birthday.  This year we were not there for anyone&#8217;s actual birthday but did attend Hans&#8217; birthday party.<\/p>\n<p>These gardens are quite large and there were only parts that had spring flowers growing.  We spent most of our time in the Rock Garden.  The tulips were beautiful even though many of them were beginning to fade.<\/p>\n<p>The Rock Garden is terraced with a waterfall.  At the bottom of the waterfalls there is a pool.  There is a very old tree in which a &#8220;Mama&#8221; raccoon had built her nest.  I was able to get a picture of her peering out at us.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_148\" style=\"width: 347px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/water_falls_rock_garden_rbg-img_0124.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148\" class=\"size-large wp-image-148\" title=\"Waterfall at Rock Garden\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/water_falls_rock_garden_rbg-img_0124-337x450.jpg\" alt=\"Waterfall at Rock Garden\" width=\"337\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/water_falls_rock_garden_rbg-img_0124-337x450.jpg 337w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/water_falls_rock_garden_rbg-img_0124-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/water_falls_rock_garden_rbg-img_0124.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waterfall at Rock Garden<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_145\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/raccoon_rock_garden_rbg-img_0132.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145\" class=\"size-large wp-image-145\" title=\"Mother Raccoon in the Rock Garden\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/raccoon_rock_garden_rbg-img_0132-450x366.jpg\" alt=\"Mother Raccoon in the Rock Garden\" width=\"450\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/raccoon_rock_garden_rbg-img_0132-450x366.jpg 450w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/raccoon_rock_garden_rbg-img_0132-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/raccoon_rock_garden_rbg-img_0132.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-145\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mother Raccoon in the Rock Garden<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Our granddaughter Pippa enjoyed taking pictures.  Audrey, our youngest granddaughter, always enjoys roaming and finding new and interesting things.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_144\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/pippa_and_audrey_rock_garden_rbg-img_0130.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-144\" class=\"size-large wp-image-144\" title=\"Pippa and Audrey at the Pool\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/pippa_and_audrey_rock_garden_rbg-img_0130-450x366.jpg\" alt=\"Pippa and Audrey at the Pool\" width=\"450\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/pippa_and_audrey_rock_garden_rbg-img_0130-450x366.jpg 450w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/pippa_and_audrey_rock_garden_rbg-img_0130-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/pippa_and_audrey_rock_garden_rbg-img_0130.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-144\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pippa and Audrey at the Pool<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_146\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/three_a_-rock_garden_rbg-img_0141.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146\" class=\"size-large wp-image-146\" title=\"Tree in Bloom\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/three_a_-rock_garden_rbg-img_0141-450x337.jpg\" alt=\"Tree in Bloom\" width=\"450\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/three_a_-rock_garden_rbg-img_0141-450x337.jpg 450w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/three_a_-rock_garden_rbg-img_0141-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/three_a_-rock_garden_rbg-img_0141.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-146\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree in Bloom<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Cherry Trees were in full bloom and some of the flowers were ready to fall.  Our daughter-in-law Tamara helped the girls shake the tree to see the petals fall like snow.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_147\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/tramara_pippa_audrey_shake_cherry_tree_rbg-img_0146.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-147\" class=\"size-large wp-image-147\" title=\"Shaking the Cherry Tree\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/tramara_pippa_audrey_shake_cherry_tree_rbg-img_0146-450x396.jpg\" alt=\"Shaking the Cherry Tree\" width=\"450\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/tramara_pippa_audrey_shake_cherry_tree_rbg-img_0146-450x396.jpg 450w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/tramara_pippa_audrey_shake_cherry_tree_rbg-img_0146-300x264.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/tramara_pippa_audrey_shake_cherry_tree_rbg-img_0146.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-147\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shaking the Cherry Tree<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We walked and smelled our way through the many different kinds and colors of Lilacs in the Lilac Dell.  The Lilacs are arranged to tell the story of how the Lilacs were developed from wild plants to the beautiful bushes we see in people&#8217;s gardens today.<\/p>\n<p>In the woods up the hill from the Lilac Dell there is a place to feed the squirrels and chipmunks.  If you are lucky a bird or two will land on your arm or hand to get some of the food.  Here is the family settling in to wait for the chipmunks or birds to come.  They fed the squirrels by throwing the food to them as they can and may bite your hand.  I think everyone but me got the feel the chipmunks running up their hand to get the peanuts and pumpkin seeds Tamara had brought along.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_143\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/family_at_rbg-img_0154.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143\" class=\"size-large wp-image-143\" title=\"Serving the Chipmunks\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/family_at_rbg-img_0154-450x201.jpg\" alt=\"Serving the Chipmunks\" width=\"450\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/family_at_rbg-img_0154-450x201.jpg 450w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/family_at_rbg-img_0154-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/family_at_rbg-img_0154.jpg 1174w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serving the Chipmunks<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_142\" style=\"width: 439px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/arny_at_rbg-img_016.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142\" class=\"size-large wp-image-142\" title=\"Jan and his Friend\" src=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/arny_at_rbg-img_016-429x450.jpg\" alt=\"Jan and his Friend\" width=\"429\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/arny_at_rbg-img_016-429x450.jpg 429w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/arny_at_rbg-img_016-286x300.jpg 286w, https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/arny_at_rbg-img_016.jpg 1160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-142\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan and his Friend<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We felt very blessed to see this garden with our family on this beautiful Spring day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A day at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario with our family. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[42,33,43,44,41],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eunies-interests","tag-chipmunk","tag-hamilton","tag-ontario","tag-royal-botanical-gardens","tag-squirrel","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messersmith.name\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}