Now that I can put weight on my right leg and can actually walk again, increased exercises have been introduced at physiotherapy. I was on the stationary bicycle this morning, as well as on a wobble-board. As well I started doing half-squats against a wall. Although introducing all the new activity seemed scary, by the time I left I was walking much better than when I went in, and with more confidence. I go back for more on Friday, but meantime, I have plenty of exercises to do at home.
I love the giant hosta. We’ve split this one a few times already and have given away pieces of it. We currently have three of these beauties growing in the front garden.
I was sure our peonies were going to burst a few days ago, and this one can barely contain itself, but not one has opened yet.
The first of our poppies has bloomed. It is such a vivid red in a sea of green, it really pops. The irises will be over soon, but these purple ones are still very showy. These honeysuckles are growing out back, partly on one of the imagination stations. The back garden needs quite a bit of work, and as my leg continues to heal I’ll be out there working on it….but there are a few highlights now.
For more new garden pics, visit my photoblog, 27th Snaps
We encountered a wee problem at the 27th Street Book Box today. I took the photo which accompanies this post this morning on my way out to physio and as you can see the box is good and full with many excellent books.
At some point during the day, somebody came along with several more books and tried to fit them all in. This mission was accomplished (with some fine selections) but unfortunately the door would no longer close properly, the box was so crammed with books. This person left me a note. “Need more room.” Well, maybe, or maybe we need more people to come and take some books home to read. I’ve had to take a couple books out (they’re waiting in the bullpen for a little room) so I could close the door.
You can help me solve this problem. Come by the Twenty Seventh Street Book Box, located in front of 15 Twenty Seventh Street, (you can’t miss it…it says BOOKS ROCK on the door) and take home some books to read. Some other time, drop by and leave a book or two.
Our Twenty Seventh Street Book Box has kept a pretty good equilibrium from the start. It is usually almost full or full and there is a steady turnover of books. I heard the other day that the book boxes up by Humber College could use a few fresh books. If you have some you were going to drop at Twenty Seventh, I suggest this is a good time to fill up those other boxes first.
…wake up sober in the Cumberland Gap. Here’s Bruce Molsky.
I’ve got Bruce Molsky on my mind because he’s coming to town in August. He’ll be playing Hugh’s Room on August 26, and on the weekend before that, he’ll be at Summerfolk up in Owen Sound. Molsky is one of the best fiddle and banjo players I can think of – not to mention an excellent guitar picker and singer as well. I just I reserved tickets for the Hugh’s Room Show for me and my wayward brother the trout, Salvelinas Fontinalis.
Here’s Mr. Molsky performing Sally Ann with David Holt….
Tuffy P and I trundled off to Toronto Western early this morning for an appointment with my surgeon. The news is great. I can start putting weight on my right leg. At first I’m to use the crutches for a little support, then go to one crutch and finally, back to normal walking. Everything is healing as it should.
Good timing for this news, because the muscles in my shoulders in particular have been objecting loudly to the crutches.
It felt strange at first to put weight on my right leg and to actually walk, but all that physio must have paid off because I seemed to be able to handle it ok, very tentatively at first, but ok. I’ll be continuing with the physio, strengthening those disused muscles and once I can abandon the crutches completely I want to start swimming a few times each week.
Recovering from this injury has been quite a trial over the past three months. I can’t thank Tuffy P enough – she was there for me throughout, even when I was in pain and cranky, not-to-mention downright needy.
My head is spinning as I contemplate all the things I want to do, now that I can walk around. There is the June job list of course, and then there is a salad bowl banjo waiting for me to finally stretch the goat skin head, there are the gardens, and there is a whole new set of paintings to start work on. I’m so looking forward to walking the partners again, and taking them out to the forest to find some tasty mushrooms.
We saw Spy this afternoon at our local Cineplex VIP theatre. VIP is perfect for a guy with a messed up leg. Tuffy P dropped me in front and then went to park while I hobbled in. We reserved seats up front (the front row seats recline way back), so I wouldn’t have to negotiate my way up awkward steps in the dark, ordered some food and a cold beer (beer for me….Tuffy prefers water).
Spy is a two hour Melissa McCarthy vehicle that had us both laughing and chuckling throughout. She plays a behind the scenes CIA agent, the one back at the shop who tells the field guy what to do next through his hidden earpiece. She gets her chance to be a field agent when the CIA needs an agent who has not been identified, and of course all kinds of hilarity ensues. What’s it about? Um, a bunch of spy stuff, a nuclear warhead for sale, that kind of thing. This movie was a blast, just loads of fun.
This is the weekend of the Midwest Banjo Camp for 2015, an event down in Michigan I had planned to attend again this year. After messing up my ankle, though, my surgeon advised me that it would be too early for me to make the trip, and so I had to cancel. Although I recognize his advice was sound and foregoing the camp for this year was the right thing to do, still, a big part of me wishes I was there.
I learned so much in this long weekend last year, immersed in classes and jams. I think that learning slowly started to sink in over many months of practice after the camp. As well, I had an opportunity to meet and learn from players who really are my clawhammer banjo heros.
Here’s a video that was shot at one of the faculty concerts at MBC last year, featuring Cathy Barton and Dave Para. Cathy is a fantastic banjo player. I could listen to her play that beautiful old Ode banjo of hers all day, and with her husband Dave, a great guitarist, they are a force of nature. This charges me up every time I listen to it.
The back garden, surrounded as it is with several mature spruce and a huge silver maple, has been at least a little on the wild side since we moved in several years ago. I recall the first time I saw it, thinking the exposed tree routes and the forest-like section at the back, reminded me of a Muskoka cottage garden. I’ve created various gardens back there over the years, and planted a number of new shrubs, and most years it’s a constant battle to beat back the weeds. I have some work to do back there once my leg is strong enough. I want to rework the small checkerboard garden and perhaps even expand it. As well, there is a shade garden back by the first imagination station that is turning into a forest garden and I want to give that some attention.
We usually keep the forested area at the back wild but I’d like to do some work back in there. They have grown straggly with lots of foliage at the sunny end and little back where they started. I think I can do better with that area, organizing it just a little, and adding some strategically placed shade tolerant shrubs. It might be nice to have a little sitting area with a bench back in among the trees.
I find myself excited that the new UP Express – the express train from Union Station in downtown Toronto to Pearson Airport – started rolling today, even though, as someone who lives at the far west side of the amalgamated Toronto, it isn’t a very practical option for me personally.
I recall visiting Chicago a number of years ago, disembarking at O’Hare and hopping on a train that took us right to the Loop, and thinking it would be great to have something like that in Toronto. Back when we were living in our old place in Little Portugal, the route options were a topic of hot debate, and having a connection from downtown to the airport seemed like a dream.
The cost for the 25 minute ride is $27.50 (or $19 with a Presto card). That seemed high to me when I first heard it, but compared to a cab (or Uber) ride that distance, it’s reasonable, particularly since trains run every 15 minutes and the trip is so quick.
The train started running early this morning, but as I write this post in at close to 11:00 AM, various mucky-mucks are preparing for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Union Station. I’ve heard some criticisms of the new train, including that it runs on diesel rather than electric but overall, I think having a link form the airport to downtown is great for Toronto.
27th Street 