Trews in Kingston

I was working in Kingston for several days this week....and as luck would have it, so were The Trews! My sister's keen eye caught the fact that they were playing again at the Ale House, a mere few blocks to walk from my downtown hotel.

We saw them play the same venue back in 2015, and returned to the scene of the crime for another great show. Opening band Hermitage Green was visiting from Ireland, and still adjusting to winter, but they were quite good.

Apparently The Trews had toured Ireland with them, so they were returning the favour. Being from the same town as The Cranberries, they did a cover of "Dreams" as a tribute to Dolores. They also featured another song with a didgeridoo....the end of which was pretty resting on the head of the audience!

The Trews rocked the place as usual, with Colin cavorting below the airplane suspended above the stage. John-Angus took a guitar solo up the stairs, across the balcony, and back down the other side.....all without missing a note!

And of course, it's Kingston.....so it wasn't altogether surprising when Tragically Hip bass player Gord Sinclair showed up and joined them on stage for rousing covers of "Courage" and "Grace Too", much to the delight of the gathering.

After scraping the freezing rain off my sister's car, she even offered me a ride back to the hotel to spare me the icy trek!

In line outside the Ale House

Hermitage Green

John-Angus solos from high above

Band of Brothers...and cousins...and friends....

Jack and JA on backing vocals

Trew-ly magical evening

Gord Sinclair with the "Courage" to take up the guitar....

....and back to his usual bass with "Grace", too

Hold Phone, In Your Arms (those are my arms in the crowd)

Yer not the Ocean

You are just a Lake.

We took a few moments to visit nearby Lake Erie in all it's icy splendor, and even managed to catch a wayward fox loping warily off the entrance to Wheatley harbour.

We later met up with Jane's parents for a birthday dinner at The Pogue, then visited with them at their airbnb cottage down along the Pulley Road shoreline.

Fox on the ice!

Beached!

Ice Ice Baby

Channel to Wheatley Harbour

View from the cottage

Ice Storm!

They were calling for a crazy 12 hours of precipitation overnight - snow, then ice pellets, then freezing rain, then just plain rain. We didn't get any snow in the end.....just lots of ice, coating everything. Good day to reschedule that planned trip to London and work from home instead.

Not sure how we managed not to lose power.....or break any ice-laden trees, bent low under the weight of winter's chilly embrace.

As the temperature crept upward, the melt was on and chunks of ice fell throughout the day, clattering off the steel roof, thunking onto the back deck, and jingling off the willow in a glacial cacophony. We even kept the cats inside all day, much to their collective feline chagrin, to avoid any injuries from falling ice!

The Juke's glaze was minimal, hiding from the east wind as it was, in the lee of a tree. The work car, however.....completely coated with a thick layer of ice. Even the tires were covered....every lug nut and air valve had it's own new cover!

Absolutely beautiful.....especially when you have the option to avoid driving in it. Jane did eventually make a run to the Superstore, to gather our previously ordered Click and Collect.....though she waited until afternoon when the roads were markedly improved.

A glazed expression of winter

Beautiful and dangerous!

No laundry today

The willow continues to shed it's ice to the ground below

Spiky grass!

That's ALL ice!

The windows facing east offered a particularly scenic vantage