I'll Show You Mine If...

This one's for Princess Scooterpie. I promised; since she showed us her magnolias I'd show mine.

All kidding aside ... I think I did notice some slight swelling of the furry little buds despite the mounds of snow behind, beside and all around them.

But Then There Are Other Days ...

Some days, seemingly most days lately, all I’ve had to talk about is the weather, but then there are other days, days like today when all talk turns to motorcycles. Today, just in time to pull me out of the winter greys was another meeting of the somewhat informal Kingston Area Vintage Motorcycle Group.

Yes, it snowed again overnight but that was soon forgotten at the Creekside amidst the discussions of motorcycle parts, riding and racing by all who were there. There was the usual fare of nachos and libations...along with an overwhelming, optimistic feeling that spring might indeed arrive and motorcycles will again emerge from hibernation this year.  Thanks Richard for another great meet ... and thanks Don for letting me know you've been reading along.
PS I heard a rumor today that the Vincent (from the barn) is nearing it's first fire-up and I've been promised exclusive rights to the film.

It’s all relative isn’t it?

Last October if you’d told me to go outside without a coat when the temperature dropped to +4C I’d have said … “Hell no! Get me the heated gear. Get me a Canadian made, goose down, made for the arctic vortex coat!” But today +4 felt positively balmy. The coat was off, the hat was off, the gloves went into the pockets and I said, “Bring on the motorcycle!” Temperature, like everything else ... is relative.

Reality hit hard as I trudged up the snow lined, slush filled drive. Not yet, not yet. Forecast for tomorrow - SNOW. A little time left to get in shape for riding season.

The Last Full Day

The last full day of this mini vacation: the wind picked up and the temperature went down forcing me and my tour guides to move indoors to the "underground city." Not, of course, before having lunch at one of the downtown hotspots topside.

Deville, a crazily pink diner with grotesquely oversized portions that none of us expected or could possibly eat in a single sitting.

Not a lot of opportunity (or vistas) for pictures in an underground shopping concourse but fun and exercise all the same ... all in climate controlled comfort.

Would She Say Yes?

 

He knelt in front of her, his heart lay open to the world on top of Mount Royal today. He held his breath as he clutched the glistening diamond hidden inside the dark velvet box. He didn't flinch. It was her sobs that brought our attention to them. Would she say yes? She didn't answer ... Just another ordinary day as a tourist in Montreal.
The day began at L'Avenue for brunch where we discussed the idea and integrity of the wires holding a motorcycle above the patrons at the next table and, of course, the artistic merit of having a black-lit, mural painted toilet.


Easy Rider just dropped in for brunch (Notice - finally a bit of motorcycle content!)

Very unusual bathroom (so I was warned ahead of time that I might like to have my camera with me in the bathroom!)

 

In the hands of very capable tour guides (a native and an ex-pat) it was off to experience the sights and sounds of Old Montreal.


  Olympic Stadium from another angle today

 Jean-Talon Market

Notre-Dame Basilica 

 Place Jacques Cartier

  Bonsecour Market from the Old Port side

Discrete entrance to 'Garde Manger' (Chuck Hughes, Chuck's Day Off - Food Network.)
And so the day ended ... filled with great company, good food, wonderful sights and only two near misses or rather 'too close for comfort,' close calls involving Montreal traffic.

And by the way ... from across the lawn, I knew she said, "Yes."

True (Love) Story!

 





 



Where's VStarLady?

It's the first day of March Break and most Ontarians have already flown, driven or some how gotten their sorry, winter-tired asses off to a southern destination that promises sunshine and warmth, but where's VStarLady?

 

 

One day into the holiday and I've already travelled from the northern to the southern hemisphere and then ... there was lunch!

 

 

Montreal, PQ.

The Biodome, The Main

and a little Street Art

Signs Of Spring ... Blog Challenge

Dar, aka "Princess Scooterpie," has issued a blog challenge to 'GET YOUR SPRING ON.'  It's a challenge to find signs of spring in the neighborhood...your neighborhood, my neighborhood.

Like grasping at a straw, here it is, a sign of spring in my hood ... reflections in a puddle, and the puddle is the splashy kind not the hard kind.

The days have grown longer but Mother earth has not melted her blanket of snow. There is no dank, smell of spring mud, no blossoms peaking through, too much still lies beneath the frozenness ... but little by little it will melt away, the first puddle - the first sign.