Ted's Diner. Grey Road #12 north west of Meaford. mmmmmmm...... 

Great Day Gravel Running

I had a grand day. I woke up in a strange bed at Sass' parents house. They have a lovely spot near the highest point in southern Ontario. They invited me up for a dose of homemade pizza and along with my pal Sass, I greedily accepted. I headed north yesterday morning with a bottle of Burgundy to pay homage and a smile on my face knowing I was going to spend the day with some great people.

Sass' father is a retired engineer who makes pizza now instead of mechanical contrivances for industry. He spent his career making his industry a safer place to work. Now he spends his days making his farmhouse nice and snug and making dinner for his welcome guests. Sass' mum is no slouch in the kitchen herself and she whipped up an amazing lunch as a prelude to the wood oven pizza. It doesn't get much better than this.

After a few wobbly pops to wash down the pizza, I retired early so we could get up in the morning and head to Ted's Range Road Diner. We make an annual trip there to hook up with some friends that we don't see often enough, and enjoy the best breakfast within a 40 mile radius. I recommend Ted's Gastronomical Sandwich if you make it for brunch. Otherwise, split the Bison and Whitefish with your best friend and have surf and turf. The Caribou medallions make a nice appetizer. Sass will vouch for me.

Ted's is an odd looking place, and you would never expect a gourmet meal in such a wacky looking spot. He has set up shop in an old Quonset hut several miles west of Meaford Ontario. He's just outside the gates of the Meaford Tank Range. Folks come from far and wide because Ted's food is so good. Almost as good as Sass' Dad's Pizza.

After brunch Sass and I hit the road in search of the old corduroy road and some springtime touring on the backroads. We were not disappointed. We stopped in the Epping Swamp to take a few pictures (which you can see below, along with a couple I took last month to show you the differences). We made it to the corduroy road, but it was pretty wet. We got some lovely shots, but none of them were much use to PJ for his TV project. We headed off to cruise down the Jungle Road. Anyone who knows me and the rest of my high school era friends knows the Jungle Road. It runs right through several country blocks of Grey County Forest. There aren't many people. Just lots of rocks, trees and critters.

All in all, we had a grand time cruising from Ted's, through the Bighead River valley, over the Beaver River valley and uphill to the Grey Highlands and the Dufferin plateau. Under a bright sun, we opened the convertible top, and our bellies were full of good food shared in the company of some good friends and family. I didn't want it to end.

The Metcalf Rock in scenic Collingwood Township. This picture is for GreenHedonist and Sassinak because they had so much fun climbing here last fall. It's always a pleasure to introduce my friends to this place because I've had so much fun over the years hiking over, under and through this set of rocks.  

Marsh Marigolds ready to bloom. You can see the tiny round bulbs just aching to show their pretty yellow flowers to the world at large. Hooray for pollination.  

Ontario, the land of sparkling water. Here's the Beaver River looking upstream on the Epping Bridge this afternoon. Things are rapidly turning green, and spring is in full swing. Within a week, I am figuring that the bush will be impervious to the human gaze for another summer because of the increased foliage.  

Here's the same view a month and a half ago.  

Looking downstream today. Lots more colour, and a lot less water.  

Looking downstream the Beaver River on March 12. 

Dogwood and Hawthorne are two of my favourite plants. These two are the footsoldiers of the emerging forest. They populate the open fields in preparation for the arrival of the larger softwoods like poplar and eastern cedar, and the eventual population by hardwoods like the maple. It's not much of a forest now, but give it some time. Forests keep coming back if you let them.  

The little fugger is wearing his Habs colours proudly. The Canadiens humiliated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-1 in their playoff opener. Grendel wears Red White and Blue.  

Tiny Grape Hyacinths breaking out of the cold ground in my mum's garden. Spring has come to southern Ontario, and all's well. Despite it being a damp cool day, this is a good sign. 

Knees for the Needy

Damn it all. I'm getting sore from all this physical stuff I'm up to.

I was walking down the street this afternoon, minding my own business when all of a sudden, my left knee did something I've never experienced before. It just started aching like mad for no obvious reason. I had to stop walking at my usual pace (reasonably quick) and adopt a slower one. My knee started buckling as I strolled down the street, and I had no control over it. I felt like an old geezer.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask. I've been working pretty seriously for three years now on getting my sorry butt in some kind of shape. I've been good. I'm working out at least twice a week and usually more. I have tried some new things that are all non impact exercise, and my left knee has to go and do this.

At this rate, I'm going to be in excellent shape, just in time to fall completely to pieces. Fuggit. I think I just have to watch my knee, and keep on going.

Just like Grendel's orchids, some things are missing but the important parts remain.

Groovy Day on the Wall

As you can see from my terse post below, I've just been to Joe Rockheads again with my pals. I couldn't say much because I used a wifi enabled handheld to make the post. Here I am "bouldering" at the entrance to the climbing gym. These walls are all at odd angle, and have a multitude of hand grips and foothods. They're all have different surfaces, as you can see, so some are good handholds and some are a bit more precarious. I ache like mad, but I want to go back with Sass and GH asap.

They said climbing the walls wasn't a good thing. I disagree.

Wheee....

wlld day witb joe

l went back to Joes for rock cllmbing. .Good friday indeed.

The post-op puppy. He's none too happy with the big cone around his neck to keep him from nibbling on his stitches. I keep asking him how many channels he can pull in with the satellite dish. If he understood English, I think he'd tell me to get stuffed.  

Spot's dream has come true

I have taken Grendel away to have what is medically called a "canine orchidectomy." Spot has always wanted to have Grendel's nuts removed, and her wish has come true. Unfortunately for Spot, I can pick him up later this evening and bring him home. Just like Mick Jagger says, "you can't always get what you want."

For those of you who have been following Grendel's adventures, he has passed through the surgery with flying colours. He's a bit dozy from the anesthesia, but otherwise he's fine.

I just figured all of you Grendel fans would like to know that his Orchids have been uprooted and all is well.

Off to the Vet

Grendel doesn't know it, but his days of raging hormones and teenage randiness are soon ending. We're off to the vet tonight to have the evil deed performed. He has to spend the night so the good folks at the clinic can perform some tests before his nuts succumb to the dreaded laser scalpel.

It's probably a good thing. Grendel has been a little bugger. He's the canine equivalent of a teenager now. Which means he's testing all of his boundaries. Piss and vinegar is a volatile combination, and it's coursing through his veins along with testosterone and all those other male hormones that make many male teenagers crazy. Male teenagers of any species. At least all the ones I've ever seen. Myself included.

It can't come a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned. The little fugger seems to think that people's forearms make an alluring target for his lewd advances. It's pretty embarrassing to have a chihuahua trying to grapple with your wrist and get jiggy on your elbow. I've got to grab him and throw him in the crate to let him simmer down. I like to have my friends visit, but I'm sure they will be reluctant if they know a wee canine is going to try to hump their forearm. It sounds a little draconian perhaps, but civility dictates that we resort to these measures.

Adieu testicles. Like the old joke, if Grendel can't find his chew toys, he'll have nothing to play with.

Another sunbeam, another reason to relax on the green pad. It's the only thing that Grendel and Spot know how to share.  

carazy puppy make me want to shout

The little fugger did it again.

He ate something he shouldn't have last night. I was happily enjoying a VPP with Sassinak when Grendel did something that puppies do. He guzzled something he shouldn't have. And for the next hour or so, I tapped away at the keyboard to be polite. and watched the six month old eejit in the hopes he would toss his biscuits. Fortunately, he did. It was a welcome and fragrant lump on the couch at the end of the night. PuppyBarf is a good thing sometimes. Especially when you're worried that your particular little fugger has ingested something you'd rather he didn't.

What the hell gets into the mind of a puppy I'd like to know. Don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed eating supposedly toxic substances like alcohol and mushrooms, and you know what? I survived and had a great time trying. As an older homo sapiens, (man the wise) I can say I know to avoid these sorts of things most of the time, and to think fondly of the times that I didn't know better. But puppies don't have the faculties we do. And they will eat all sorts of stuff. Because it's shiny, or because we've already said "No!

jeez... the damn puppy is going to drive me to drink.

P.S.. ask Sassinak what a VPP is. We invented it, but I'm not talking.

Is fun supposed to be this painful?

I know what you're thinking. Othercat has gone and tried some kind of fetish oriented activity and enjoyed a good spanking. All I can say is "Get your minds out of the gutter!"

What really happened was much simpler, and a lot less lewd. Sassinak and the GreenHedonist twisted my arm and made me come to the climbing gym. If you've never tried rock climbing, Joe Rockhead's is the place to be. They have taken an old warehouse and outfitted the place with extra spongy flooring and a number of walls with handholds and footholds. The routes on the walls are arranged by varying degrees of difficulty. One corner of the place has a bunch of routes that are rated 5.3 to 5.7 or so. These are the beginner's walls, and they're also where I started. Sass and GH smiled and patted me on the head like a good little boy, and figured these walls were made for me.

Of course Sass and GH didn't climb these walls. They went onto the more difficult 5.8 to 5.10 walls just to make me feel inadequate. I was content with the beginners routes. Even with the easier routes, I got a pretty good workout. It's pretty hard scampering up the wall using your own strength if you ask me. I found my shoulders were aching pretty quickly after trying a few climbs. To add insult to injury, the shoes that you use for climbing are pretty horrific. The ideal situation is having a very tight fitting, rubber soled shoe that basically turns your lower extremity from an articulated appendage into a claw. It's reminiscent of the foot binding that was practiced in the Chinese court during the 19th century.

Despite all the inherent pain associated with the sport, I can say that it's worth trying. I definitely see how well some people stay in shape after watching a few of the old hands at the gym make short work of routes that even Sass and GH won't go near. These guys (and gals) are in terrific shape, and it's almost like watching a kind of vertical ballet when they hoist themselves aloft with what appears to be a minimum of effort. Where I was hesitant and painstakingly slow on the kiddy routes, these people could race up the walls and even maneuver across the ceilings using only their arms and legs to do so.

It's probably much more fun than being spanked, though if I ever try that, I'll be sure to fill you in.