BATCHING IT

As in, "solo" or "unsupervised" or "me and my shadow". With Pat away all week, I've been solitary in the city. That combined with wet chilly weather means things are quiet around here. But the daily walks through the neighbourhood always reveal something old and something new. The Parks & Rec planters are putting in the annuals. Tulips around the landmark Gardener's House are already 6" high. Also in the "old" category is the usual lineup of strollers outside the library --- apparently the programs for kids are a big help for the moms and nannies.

The development at the million-dollar corner Beach lot is both old AND new. To get around the rules and permits and approvals about building a new structure, they're leaving up some original walls and calling it a renovation!

The bright spot of the week was attending a retirement party for a distinguished and much-accomplished friend and former colleague at Seneca College. Pat and Jennifer had some memorable international experiences together. Otherwise, the other bright spot was the first sighting of a Falcon at Scarborough Bluffs. It's on its way north any day now...

NORTH-er to EASTER

At the start of the week it seemed like spring had finally sprung --- the pond ice was thinning, warm air caused ground fog, and the crocus dared to emerge. A Great Lakes freighter that had been trapped in thick ice managed to find a clear channel for its first voyage of 2014. But then BAM!  another northern storm brought more snow and deep cold.Will it ever end?

Yup. Within 2 days spring returned and we cleared off the steep lane, driving up instead of backpacking up. The crocus shrugged off the snowcoat, the pond fish showed proof of life after months of solid deep freeze, and the bufflehead ducks flocked happily in open water, like apples waiting to be bobbed for. Hairy woodpeckers snacked on their first bugs of the season. The shovels have been stored.

(April 17 was the 50th anniversary of the Ford Mustang. I went to the 1964 World's Fair where it caused such a sensation. As a teenager, I perved them--- envious of my classmate, the son of the local CKLW disk-jockey who drove a free one for publicity. So far I have had a '69 Grande, a 2002 Base, and the jewel of the crown '64 1/2. All ragtops, of course. Any bets on the next one??)

Canada's longest-running Easter Parade was held today, a block away from our place. Thousands of kids screaming for chocolate eggs as the spectacle glided by. Past, present, and future streetcars. High school, steel, and rock bands. Old fire trucks and new beauty queens. But the real star was the Easter Bunny, oddly riding a steel boat instead of hopping.

We had our egg hunt a day early this year ---- a REAL Easter Bunny left treats for all!

BIFOLD TO BUNNY

(We picked up the Falcon from the auction hall and I drove it surreptitiously to the garage in Toronto. Still no ownership papers, though, so that bird has to stay in the nest for a while yet...)

One of the last bits in the Toronto reno was putting bifold doors on the main clothes closet. I should have done this when the hardwood floor was put in last summer, because now the nice new baseboard trim had to be ripped off where the doors would fold. Other glitches were an opening that was not a standard size, and a city-wide search for a size that could be persuaded to fit. It's now a much more finished look and you never know who is going to come out of the closet. Next job --- trying to level chair legs!

 It's time to open up and restock The View, but the snow is still so deep we have to trudge up like pack animals. The first flowers have appeared in the warm zones, and the pond is daring me to try walking on thin ice. Up on the roof, the extreme cold of the winter has damaged the chimney seal, but you get an awesome eagle-eye view of the bush.

Speaking of birds --- there have been brown creepers, juncos, hawks, jays and the notorious wild turkeys. Where did they spend the winter?? Squirrels, raccoons, and deer have also come by --- as curious about us as vice-versa. Sunrise is as magnificent as ever and what's unusual is how far north the sun is already, when there's still so much snow on the ground.

Maybe that's why we have seen  both white and brown rabbits--- which one will get the big gig next Sunday?

SPRING PLAYS POSSUM! BAD COFFEE BUT NICE CARS (FIRST OF 2 TODAY)

Spring is having a hard time deciding whether to arrive. There is new snow on the roof, yet new snowdrops in the lawn! Robins have been raiding bird feeders because the ground is too cold for their usual diet of worms to emerge.

Two major First-Time-In-My-Life sightings this week. The bad one was opening a can of coffee and finding nothing but ripped-up papers and debris in it! (Call the Product Liability lawyers??) Very creepy tampering  and what if it had been poison gas?? The store (WM) and the manufacturer (GF) are now negotiating for its return. My moral compass (Ms. PD, now Mrs. PW) says do the right thing ---- just report it. What would you do??

The good one was seeing a Virginia possum on our street, in the daytime!!  Wobbling around with no fear or notice of traffic. This is a nocturnal animal native to the southern states. The local newspaper confirms it is the first sighting ever of a possum in our region.  The Possum Pix have caused quite a stir.

 

  

But nothing says Spring like spotting old cars, so off we went to Canada’s biggest Classic Car Auction.  400 rides bidding for new owners, or is it the other way around? The Auctioneers were funny, the Spotters looked like Bill Murray and Kevin Costner. How about a flamed resto-rod? A mile-long ’56 Fairlane ragtop? Ranchero, floral ModTop, a Bug with skirts, or a pickup box so pretty it will never carry anything heavier than kitty litter? Put on your sunglasses --- the ’57 Oldsmobile had the most chrome of any car ever built. Wow, wow, and wow all around the hall.  And which is the real Short & Nasty??  

But the show took a wild unexpected turn when Lot #SP98 came up the ramp. Crazy stuff happened --- check out today’s other posting….