Waterblogged

We’d just gotten home this morning from some errands when I heard a clanging sound down the street. It was coming closer. I wondered if maybe it was an ice cream wagon but it didn’t sound all cheerful like you’d expect. My wife looked out the window and told me it was a knife sharpener.
Well, it just happens that we have 2 really nice knives that have gotten a little worse for the wear. I darted out the door, flagged the truck down and waited as he reversed over to my driveway. Later I saw another neighbour getting his lawnmower blade sharpened. I’d heard of this traveling sharpener trucks before but had no idea they still operated. The only drawback is he only takes cash. We had to scramble to find enough as, like most, tend to use debit or credit most of the time.

Yesterday, my wife was at the kitchen sink looking out into the backyard when she saw a falcon in our spruce tree. She tried to point it out to me but, by the time I actually aimed my eyes in the right direction, it was gone.

Now, one of the first things that struck us about Crystal Beach when we were considering moving here last summer was how it felt like being in cottage country. Well, the last time I saw a falcon I was at a cottage and it was flying way out in the distance. And I’ve never seen one up close (still haven’t!).

So let’s see here…turkeys, deer, falcons. I wonder what other creatures also call this area home!

With gardening season approaching, I’m wondering if our (maybe) resident falcon can do something about the squirrels that seem interested in eating the seeds and leaves that are about to spring up.

Do you have any cool wildlife sightings in Crystal Beach? Let me know.

A few weeks ago we went for dinner at a famous pizza restaurant in Kanata. We asked if they delivered and were told they did, to Kanata, Bells Corners, etc. “How about Crystal Beach?” I asked. No came the reply. “But it’s practically Bells Corners do you have a problem with Crystal Beach?” The answer came as a bit of a surprise: “They don’t tip well.”

Originally posted November 1, 2009

Turkey Lurkey reported alive and well. I learned a few facts from my neighbour across the way. He spotted the turkey on Corkstown Road the other day. So it seems to have made it through Thanksgiving unharmed. He figures the turkey has quite a range. He also told me it’s a “she.” Turns out we’ve also had deer walk right down Cleadon Drive. I hope my camera is nearby if we have a deer sighting in our front yard.

Have a boo at this link to a CBC news article called “Nortel’s fall shatters Crystal Beach.” The Chicken Little style headline and the story angle are a little off but that’s not the reason I included this piece. The article prompted scores of people to write comments and there are some nice little nuggets I’d like to follow-up on. For instance, one person claims that Anwar’s Kitchen has the best pizza in the area.

Originally posted in October ’09
I mentioned in my first posting that Crystal Beach has a bit of a “cottage country” feel to it. It’s actually quite surprising when one considers that the community’s bounderies are the Queensway, Carling Avenue and Moodie Drive. But the place has much more than just a country feel. Since moving here in September, we’ve had plenty of wildlife sigthings, including spotting deer on the Abbott Laboratories property about a month ago. I did a little Interweb sleuthing and can confirm that these deer are not overgrown lab rats. They have everything to do with the fact that Stillwater Creek runs through the neighbourhood.

During the last week of September, my wife and my father-in-law were out running errands when they mentioned seeing a wild turkey in the neighbourhood. Then, a few days later, a contractor giving us a quote on new windows mentioned he’d seen a turkey just down the street. I was starting to feel left out when a couple of days later, on my way to work, I spotted the turkey on the front doorstep of a house at the corner of Corkstown Road and Crystal Beach Drive. It looked like he’d just rung the bell.

If you’ve been keeping track of the dates, you’ll know where this blog posting is going. We saw the bird for the last time just before Thanksgiving weekend. Coincidence?

Originally posted in September 2009
In May 2009, our son Grey was born. By June we had decided that our three-storey place in Overbrook just wasn’t going to cut it: no yard, loads of stairs, odd passersby in the park behind our house, and uninspired walks. By June we’d decided to sell and by September found a new home, here in Crystal Beach in Ottawa’s west end.

Crystal Beach was by no means our first choice. I’d never even heard of it. My wife had but had initially dismissed it, knowing I wasn’t a big fan of commuting. You see, Crystal Beach is as far west as you can go and still be within the greenbelt and get to say that you live in Ottawa and “not Kanata.”

A number of things first struck me about Crystal beach:

proximity to the water

abundance of trees

its cottage country feel

loads of walking and biking trails

a strong sense of community

When I searched for “Crystal Beach” during our house hunting, all that would come up were real estate listings. I thought it would be fun, as a newcomer, to chronicle the adventures of a family settling into a new community.

Over time, I hope to list all the essentials on this site: grocery store, beer store, best local restaurants, closest librabry, etc. But more than that, the plan is to write about my adventures and the cool things I’ll discover about this hidden little neighbourhood.

Why “waterblogged?” The river is not even a 10-minute walk from out doorstep. Enough said.

If you’d like to share your favourite Crystal Beach places, people or events, feel free to post a comment or drop me a line.
Ciao!
Kyle