Geeky Cat Miusings

What does one do if it is one week before the last long weekend of the summer and one desperately wants to make summer last longer? Take a day off and turn an ordinary weekend into a long weekend as well! That’s what I did this past weekend and it was wonderful.

On the first day of my long weekend I went to the McMichael Art Gallery to see sculpture by Joe Fafard. He is the artist who created The Pasture in the Toronto Dominion Tower…if you’ve ever seen it you will remember the life sized cows lazing about in the grass in the city. I loved the sculpture and spent a few hours enjoying it. There is a photo of me with one of his bulls. It was cool in the gallery and the bull was toasty warm from the sun’s rays so I couldn’t keep my paws off the bull.

The next day was an early wake up call for me because we were going to Prince Edward County and we were leaving early.

Our first stop was at the Lake on the Mountain which is a natural curiosity: it has a constant flow of clean, fresh water, with no apparent source…..and it is 60 metres above Lake Ontario!!! Mohawks offered gifts to its spirits and settlers thought it was bottomless. I was not courageous enough to dive in and see if it is actually bottomless. It is a perfect place for a picnic.

Next stop was the Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area where we enjoyed the Bird House City created by Doug Harnes. The houses were created by volunteers to look like historical buildings in the area. Apparently there is a McDonald’s drive through, but I didn’t see it. I also didn’t see a single bird in the bird house area, but it maybe it was just too hot at the time.

Check out more photographs of Prince Edward County.

Next we took a nature hike through the area. The terrain was very different from the Niagara region (the last hike I took). The hike was not as well organized as the Bruce Trail Club so the actual hiking part was too short. But fun none-the-less. And very muddy! Oh….and I heard many birds…and one cell phone.

Next we went on the Taste Trail - a delectable way to spend a day tasting all the local foods the region has to offer. The County Cider Company offers cider tastings to the thirsty traveller — and who doesn’t get thirsty when on the road — I had four samples of different types of apple cider including Iced Cider Wine — oh so good! The Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company is a difficult place to leave because they keep serving tasty and unusual artisan cheeses such as nettle cheese. I would have loved to try cave-aged goat milk cheese. But that gives me a reason to go back. And then there is Slickers County Ice Cream, an ice cream lover’s dream come true. Pat and Marie create all natural artisan ice cream that is made fresh daily by hand in small batches. I had Campfire Creme - memory of marshmallows roasted over an open fire!

Picton is such a pretty town and filled with restaurants that sweetly call you to sample their offerings. We could not help ourselves from trying everything. But all good things must come to an end - we returned to Toronto sated and content.

What can you do if it is Sunday and it is hot and muggy and there could potentially be rain? Go to Glow-in-the-Dark mini putt of course! It is fun even when you’re as unskillful as I am. I am still totally amazed that I made a hole in one in one of the most difficult holes. My ball just hit the rocks in all the right places, bouncing back and forth until the ball found itself in its cozy hole! I am thinking that there must have been some Feng Shui influences that helped me score that hole. Maybe it was the 9th hole — since 9 is supposed to be my lucky Feng Shui number.

Sunday was also a day for feasting. The size of cake slices at Dufflet Pastries should be illegal! But the Lemon Parfait cake was so delicious! Next time I am going to share my slice instead of having a whole slice for myself. We compensated for the hefty dessert by going to the Healthy Vegetarian - hoping that some of their healthy veggie options will balance the effects of the lavish dessert we had earlier.

What a gorgeous day it was on Saturday! It was a perfect day to go to Parry Sound. It is a long trip up there so the first stop after securing boat tickets is at the Bay Street Cafe for a delicious lunch while gazing at the beautiful lakeshore and watching our boat arriving at the port.

Here I am on the Island Queen taking a cruise around Parry Island admiring the beautiful cottages on the rugged islands of Georgian Bay:

There are 30,000 islands but I only saw a small portion of them.

Parry Sound has Starbucks!!! Coffee break after tour.

And then down to Midland we go, listening to Tom Waits sing/talk in his rasping drawl.

The murals of Midland are one of Ontario’s largest and most beautiful outdoor galleries.

There are 34 murals in the downtown area. They are all within walking distance and beautiful to see.

See more photos from the day trip.

Two lovers sitting in a photo booth … an everyday scene? Not today because those two lovers were a pair of pigeons and they were in the Bathurst subway, one level down from the street level. It must be true love.

Here are some pictures from Jungle Cat World in Orono. I loved seeing the animals there, especially this baby tiger:

The llamas roamed freely:

While the monkeys swung around their cage like only they can:

Does anyone know if this is a black panther or a jaguar? Is there a specific animal that is refered to as panther or is it a genus?

Another question I have….do big cats cough up fur balls? I saw the cats in Jungle Cat World chowing down entire chickens…feathers, beaks, legs and all. Do they cough up feather balls?

In the middle of last night while I was asleep I heard a big BOOM that startled me awake. I thought it must be thunder, but it was immediately followed by more booms in quick succession and I knew it couldn’t be thunder. I looked out my window and saw that the sky was pretty clear but there were explosions on the northern horizon — big balls of light, deep booming sounds, and clounds of smoke. I had no idea what was going on so I turned on the radio and television for news updates but there was no mention of the explosions. I heard fire trucks — lots of fire trucks so I knew the city knew something was up. I paced around for an anxious hour, looking out windows trying to see if anyone else was awake. I wanted to share the moment because I was frightened but I didn’t want to waken anyone. My mind raced through various possible scenarios and some of them very dark. It was a very stressful night for me, waiting to find out what was happening and I wondered why there was no mention of it in the news that night. When I woke up in the morning I found out there was a large explosion of propane tanks at Keele and Wilson and people were evacuated from the area. It really bothers me that there wasn’t a news flash on any channels within minutes of emergency crew arriving on the disaster scene to let people know what is happening. Where is the news when you need it?

I take the TTC almost every day and spend a substantial amount of time on it so you would think I should know a fair amount about it, but surprise….I don’t. I have used the TTC website more than a few times and wondered why it is so poorly organized and can’t provide commuters with instructions for getting from point A to point B. Apparently, they realize that this is necessary and are working on the system but it won’t be ready until next year. Too long. Do it now!

There is an unofficial site created by some volunteers that does just that with mixed results. If you are looking for the best method to get to your destination, check out myttc and enter your start and end address and click on Plan it. It gave me the correct buses, but it didn’t give me the closest bus stops to my start and end points. It seems to not recognize that there are closer bus stops than ones at major intersections, but a little walking is good for everyone. Nice job! I think the TTC should give these fellows free metropasses for the year

After some many years of wanting to take a hike, I have finally experienced a 13km hike in all its glories and a few of its hardships. I convinced a friend to join me in my trek with the Toronto Bruce Trail Club members…someone who is willing to wake up early on a Saturday morning and take a jaunty ride on a school bus from Toronto to Grimsby.

When we got off the bus we had a pit spot (yes, using the woods to relieve ourselves…which is a bit dangerous since I can’t identify poison ivy) and covered ourselves with bug spray. My first hike started off with a steep climb and the trail had a fair amount of hills to be climbed, slippery paths to slide down, boulders to be negotiated, as well as fallen trees and mischievous tree roots to be dealt with.

The scenery was gorgeous. Every once in a while you could see a neat orchard below the escarpment. We came across Ball’s Falls which is 2/3 the height of Niagara Falls.

At one point I came out of the woods and I found myself in a soya field and started to sing “The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music”. La la la la.

For about ten minutes the skies were very gray and we heard the roar of thunder. I know that it is very adviseable to head for shelter, but if you are in the woods where can you find shelter?

Then we came across this cute white church surrounded by the sound of bagpipes…and the wedding guests were entering the church in their beautiful attire while I stood there in my muddy clothes.

Then we went to a peach and apricot farm for a little insight into the growing, harvesting, and shipping of peaches. I always wondered why the peaches of my childhood were so fuzzy. It seems that peaches are now defuzzed with jets of water. I bought a basketfull of peaches and ate a whole yummy bunch as I chillaxed after that intense workout.

I felt so good about doing it. Proud of myself really, even though I did not find it very hard to do and I was not sore the next day. Just a sense of achievement and the lasting memories of the beautifully lush landscape.