From the summer too

A friend's cat also had kittens. Little more needs to be said I think, except maybe awwwwwwwwwww......

More from Toronto in 2016 summer!...The ROM

Goodness, I used to know the ROM inside out and backwards....I could find my way to any exhibit anywhere.  Then they did a gigantic renovation and I am so lost.  It is sad, cause it's like coming back to your home and finding it all rearranged and you can't find anything, but also exciting cause I keep coming across old friends, and also new treasures. 

Here's some old friends and new treasures:

We spent a LOT of time with the dinosaurs......they are marvelous, this one was one of the absolute favourites. Parasaurolophus. 

New friend!  Dino poo!  Is that not cool!!! OMG!!!

Old friend...love this ceiling.

Pretty sure this is from Troy...feeling very ignorant. Mask of Agamemnon ....yes!  I was right...I imagine this is not the original as it was just hanging on the wall in the museum in TO....still very cool.  Old and new friend.

New friend, amazing....

We also saw an exhibit, glass work. So amazing to see it made, so mediocre once it's done.  I just cannot get into glass.  A shame.

It was very popular, but, meh.

More random bits from this summer, maybe I won't repeat myself this time!

I went to Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishene while I was in Canada....they had the remains of the Tecumseth, the remains of this ship are on display here and it had been scuttled, we think.

We also tried to get tickets to a Jays game, and that was a wash out, so we went to this game instead!  It was great!  Except that your undies tend to ride up as you slowly slide down the slope while watching the game....

Is this not the coolest handrail holder????

I swam at Cherry Beach a lot.....

And there were blackberries everywhere.  I have to admit, that they aren't the best berry every, but they are mighty good.

Bits of TO are pretty...I'd never been here before till I took a ride on the lower Don train one day, after abandoning the triathlon group who wanted to go for a ride along Kingston Rd (??!?!?!?!???)  You have to know TO for that, but it is ugly and filled with lots of traffic and trucks.  Not a beautiful or safe place to ride.

Bunnies, 2016 was the year of the bunnies....so many bunnies, I swear to you, I must have seen one nearly every day, and often more.

There was a lot of water too......couldn't cross the river this day.  Normally it's more of a creek.

I also went for a bike ride on the islands, this is the old lighthouse, now well inshore. 

And this was my steed, possibly the most uncomfortable bike I've ever had to ride. 

A friend's kid gave me a temporary tattoo, that lasted for a few weeks!  Better quality than when I was a kid.

Random early Toronto, 2016

Some random things I did from the summer! 

One of the things we have to do, is go for Pho....think I went the second day.  Mmmmmmm.

The middle house is where we lived when Eldest was born.  Looks just the same.

I went running here, both of the two following pictures.  It runs along a creek, with woods at the top and meadows at the bottom.  Lovely changing scenery.

I also went to the Brickworks one day, the buildings were cool.  The event, well, it was alright.

Then there is a burger place, near where we keep the boats.  Man, they are good burgers.  Just good, straight up burgers, a shake and poutine.  Oh my.

Went walking today, Puigsacalm

I love that area so much, I've a couple of friends who really like it and we've gone there several times.  It was so nice to go back......I've got to go again with them.  Time to send a whatsapp and get that organized.

Here's a couple of photos:

We went up through the gap on the right, pulling ourselves up iron rods and metal steps it was so vertical, tremendous fun!

View from the top.....

The barn has seen better days, but the cows still use it.

The mountain there, at the top, is dominated by a beech forest.  It was kinda pretty.

I love how the clouds are echoing the shape of the mountains.

At one point also, there was an updraft, and the sky was filled with glittering, floating dipping and diving leaves.  Really high, up at least 100 feet.  It was amazing.  I stood in awe and didn't take a photo.

Sorry.

Holes in the hills

I've been wandering the hills here for quite a few years now, but I still continue to find new things....so here's a feature of photos of holes in hills!  People used to build shelters in the hills, ostensibly for tools, but probably used for any number of other options! 

There's a photo of one that's been unearthed a few posts ago, here's some more:

This one's a little decrepit, but you can see the remains of a fireplace and chimney, as well as a niche on either side. On the left you can make out the remains of the vaulted ceiling.

Someone closed this one up, it more likely was a font, a natural spring.

This last one looked intriguing!  However clambering into old caves when dressed in lycra running clothes alone in the mountains when everyone else is at lunch, is not smart....so this is as good as it got.  It just looked like a small hole an animal dug, till you got closer.  Gonna have to go back to this one.



The hills are absolutely filled with these...I find them fascinating.

Triathlon

This summer, as I was in TO on my own, I decided to give triathlon a go, I had wondered about it for a while, and I had the time free, and no real obligations, so what the heck.  I even entered a mini-tri!  (Came third in my age group no less!!!)

There was swim training three days a week, one in open water and two in the pool, this I loved.  I didn't expect to like it so much, but goodness it was marvelous.  I am still debating whether I can realistically keep up the swimming now. The answer is no, but next summer maybe I'll have a go again.

The running was really intense, and I wasn't into it and didn't want to hurt myself, a lot of intervals and hill sprints.  Instead I decided to run a mile every day.  This I also loved. It isn't a big commitment, but I kept it up all summer.  I haven't been successful with this now I'm back in Spain.

The bicycle training was the most disappointing, I like biking, and they like going around and around and around in circles or riding on the most dreadful roads.  Did one session - stopped part way through to pick mulberries - and baled on the second.  Meh. 

The mini-tri was a lot of fun, a time trial start with a swim in a river, the bike ride along a beautiful cottage country road and the run, which was honestly pretty ugly, but done and it was great. 

Tried a tri here.  MAN the ugliest bit of world I've seen.  They held it is a beautiful town up the coast, and the swim was along the beach, which was lovely.  I had a big group of men starting right after me, so I swam hard to the first mark so I didn't get swum over, then took my time from there.  The bike ride was on the highway, laps....ugh.  I do not like laps, nor riding on highways.  Ugly.  The run was worse.  Through parking lots, around the parking lot of an ugly municiple building, and along a long dead straight go nowhere hot sunny ditch of a path. 

Horrible.

I am not tri material, mostly cause I do not like going around and around and around while looking at my power meter. 

I may keep up the training a bit though and do the same one I did last year in Canada, it was lovely.

We'll see.  Still debating the swimming.  Should do it.

Cactus disease

Over the summer, though probably before, but over the summer we found out about a fungus that is attacking some species of cactus here in the Barcelona area.  These are the prickly pear cacti (?), which bear a fruit that you can eat.  I have picked them, but as the family won't eat them and it is a bit of a hassle - prickles galore - I don't normally bother.

We have them all over the mountain near us, and they are quite the architectural marvels. Though I think that in a years time, we won't have any at all.  The generalitat has decided to not try to do anything about it, they are not native, and the cost of attempting to save them would be very high, I am assuming.  So, they are dying all over the mountain.  It is a little sad to see.  It's good they don't know what's coming anyway, cause they cannot escape it.

On a brighter note, the moon these days has been utterly spectacular!!!!  Have you had a look?

Happy fall!