Wonderful Whimsy

You never know what you'll find in London & Southwestern Ontario, especially when you're not even looking for it. It's just a matter of keeping one's eyes open ...

 

Do NOT step onto this London balcony.

The middle of nowhere.

London's best architecture.

One of many stone monkeys climbs Oxford County Courthouse. Satire on local politicians?

Where else but St. Marys would you find Ye Olde Limestone Drinking Fountain?

Next time you have a rough day, remember Mr. Shea.

These guys, Hensall.

Decorative eyebrow window or Attic Alcatraz? London.

Memorial to a War of 1812 veteran, Elgin County.

A bandshell porch in Old North London, a lovely place on a summer day.

In Seaforth, even the garbage bins have civic pride.

Abandoned railway lines are everywhere.

Stone pineapple, London. A sign of wealth, likely because of their rarity and the difficulty of obtaining them. Also a sign of hospitality and friendship throughout the Western world.

Duh!

Ring in curb on Prospect Avenue, London, once used for hitching horses.

A sorting hat, straight from Hogwarts.

Preserved wooden grave marker, Birr Cemetery.

Folding seat in choir, St. John's, Arva.

Photos of the old days on St. Marys shop front.

Staircase to the underground Vansittart family mausoleum, Old St. Paul's, Woodstock.

Ghost sign for Green Valley Motel, Elginfield. Motel torn down years ago.

Gatepost on a wealthy family's home, Mitchell. Clustered grapes symbolize abundance, wealth and good fortune. They also represent fertility, possibly in the sense of production and growth.

Mural commemorating local veterans, Melbourne Legion Hall.

When you're investigating a rural cemetery and the neighbours come to help.

Apparently this hamlet is dangerous.

Damaged grave photo, Elgin County.

Axe marks on an old timber, Arva Flour Mill.

Another visitor at the Arva Mill, not welcome inside, waddled in a huff to Medway Creek.

These old general stores, once found everywhere, are now a rarity. If you find one, don't pass by.
Drop in and BUY SOMETHING.

Old wooden windows are becoming rare too.

Souvenir hunters still chip pieces off the Donnelly monument in Lucan.

Carving on London's Old Central Library, Queens Avenue.

@#%&* metal thieves. Monument at Burwell's Corners, Elgin County.

Gravestone in German Gothic script. No, not Kitchener area. Churchville, Elgin County.

"Dogs" guard a home in London.

Magnificent entrance porch, Thornton Avenue, London.

And you thought false fronts were only in the Wild West. Nope. Alvinston.

Nature gradually takes over the former No. 4 Bomber and Gunnery School, Fingal.

Preserved mill stone, Napier.

When carriageways led to stables in the rear. London.

Clock on the empty store at Morpeth's main intersection. Still right twice a day.