This summer, CBC Ottawa tracked down some of the unique characters living and working in this city, to learn their stories. Click here to meet the Sax Man of Highway 416, the Slipper Man, the Henna Lady and the ByWard Market's Horse Man.
The following interview has been edited for style and clarity.
My name is Debbie Lawes. Welcome to my garden of oddities.
This started about four years ago. My son-in-law built a terraced garden for me and I noticed the lower level was at the same level as children. I put out a few shells and small children stopped to look.
I had a few other little oddities in the house — some bones mostly found by my dog. So I started putting them out and more kids came. Then, it just got a little out of hand over the years.
A lot of things I find down at the river. When I was going down walking the dog I'd intentionally make sure I had a few plastic bags with me in case I found something.
For example, the deer bones here I found off Corkstown Road in the Greenbelt. I'd seen the dead deer about a year and a half ago, so I was monitoring it as it was decaying. Then, when it was just down to fur and bones, I went in with a garbage bag as discreetly as possible, gathered up the bones and really hoped that nobody was going to stop me on the way back to the car.
That's always a hard thing to explain: “What's in the bag? You know — dead bones.”
A few of her favourite things
One of my favourites is the electrified mouse.
Now he used to be attached to an electrical cord, when he was sent to me. You might have guessed he chewed on an electrical cord when he shouldn't have, and that was the end of him.
My brother-in-law found him and sent him, cord and all.
Trick or treat
I put out a lot of the things for Halloween, and I get a lot of kids coming by.
I bring out the coyote paw, too. The rule is, before you get treats you have to shake a paw.
All the kids are really good with it. Except for the two young girls, probably about 12 or 13. They couldn't shake the paw because they're vegetarian.
Thieves in the night?
People will touch the bones, that's the whole idea. It's meant to be you can open up any jar you want.
A few things have gone missing, but I'm inclined to think that it was mostly animals that have taken it for the calcium the bones.
Show and tell
It's just amazement and discovery. Kids will come, and it's all about showing their parents or their friends.
Now some kids get very grossed out. You’ll get a bunch of kids here and someone will go, “Oh my God, that's disgusting! It's a raccoon foot.”
And I have to admit, it could be considered a little gross. But he's got his nails and everything. He was a great find. He's mummified.
The nature of things
Everything is labelled, to make sure people understand where things came from. The idea is to try to teach people a little bit about the natural world around them.
With the jars, you have to make sure they don't leak. I experimented with a lot of jars from the dollar store. But when it rains I actually bring the jars in.
Kids don't get out in nature anymore. I make a point of always walking in the woods, and I'm never afraid to pick up things that I find in the woods. You can wash your hands afterwards. It's fine.
A little bit of Bailey
My dog Bailey died last year. He was 12 and a half years old. So now I'm going to have to look more for volunteers to donate things if I want to replenish the collection — or get another dog.
No, I did not put my dead dog out here. There are the lines you’ve got to be careful about crossing.
But he lost a tooth once, so there’s a little bit of him here. It's kind of nice that he’s part of it because he found so much of it. Give him a little credit.
Christine Maki is a producer for CBC Ottawa. She can be reached at christine.maki@cbc.ca.