Suspension Upgrade

I started noticing a suspension issue on the right side a while age; There was obviously some worn out parts causing the right hand side to not perform as it should. It was pretty clear that some work was required and parts needed to be replaced. 

Walking with a cane

You might think I was taking about my 1982 Alfa Romeo Spider, but actually I am not, I am taking about my 72 year old hip. The Spider’s suspension is actually pretty good, but my right hip has over the past few years, gotten worse and worse and I was in pain whenever I walked for any distance. 

Now when I first started feeling pain in the hip, I decided I wanted to continue with the OEM parts as long as I could so I started using a cane when I walked outside and if I knew the walk was going to be long, I started taking an Ibuprofen before I left. I walked over 300 km while in France in 2022 and then when we went Toronto I managed to put over 600 km on the worn out suspension bits. I was in some discomfort, but I continued to do my walks and managed walks of over 10 km on occasion. 

However, on a visit to my family doctor when I walked in with my cane, she questioned me about it and told me that if I was needing the cane, then I really should be assessed and get on a list for a replacement. This actually did not take as long as I expected and I got a referral for an Xray of my hips and an appointment to the orthopaedic clinic for an assessment.

On the day of the assessment, the doctor sat me down and showed me my XRay. He pointed out that my left hip was in great shape with a nice layer of white lubricating cartilage supporting the joint, but he then pointed to the right hip and said “This side is completely worn out - You need a new hip. You are a serious candidate for hip replacement surgery. Let me know if you want to go onto a list for the procedure.”

This was before we moved to Toronto for our downsizing experiment, so I did not want to make a decision yet and I said I would hold off for a while and see how I made out. However in Toronto, we did not have our daily driver Toyota Camary, so wherever we went involved walking and public transit. I still managed over 600 km, but I could feel the hip complaining more and more and when it reached the point that is became really painful to walk up stairs and slopes, I decided that the time had arrived for an upgrade. 

Bringing the Alfa Home

A second assessment with the clinic and the doctor got me on a list for a hip replacement and I was told that I should receive a date within a few months. The wait was actually quite short and I got a call to say that my surgery was scheduled for August 29th at the Dartmouth General. We decided to drive the Spider back to Dartmouth as I had lost its parking spot under the condo,  and I started diligently doing the suggested recovery exercises to strengthen the muscles around the hip. I was actually disappointed that no one told me earlier to do these exercises, because they actually gave some relief from the pain as the muscles got stronger. 

Now of course there are always problems. My recovery nurse, Regis, came down with painful bone spurs on her foot and  she was put into a “Boot” which meant she could no longer drive and even walking was painful. So plans were changed and I arranged for a friend to fly to Toronto to help me drive the Spider back and Regis would fly home later.  This added a complication as she was supposed to be my “support” person but she couldn’t walk or drive, so we had to enlist the help of our daughter to do the driving and some of the early recovery care. I am surprised I was still allowed to proceed with the surgery with my recovery nurse hobbling around worse than I was when we attended a last assessment appointment and the pre-surgery orientation class. 

The actual surgery went well, but I woke up feeling pretty groggy and the nurse attending told me that was probably because I was put under extra anesthetic because although I had a spinal injection, the surgeon did not like it when I said “Ouch, that hurts!” when he did his initial incision, so I was given additional enthusiastic to knock me further under so he could work without me complaining. 

In Recovery

I am now into the fifth week of recovery and I feel I am doing great. I have no pain, and I am walking around without a cane inside and although I use a cane when walking outside I do not really need it. So, I am well on my way to nice upgraded replacement components that should allow me to continue my walking without the pain, and I am looking forward to this. 

Finally Outside

Getting back to "normal"

Driving

I have two cars, one a 2014, Toyota Camary Hybrid, the other a classic 1982 Alfa Romeo Spider. The Camary is my daily driver and is the car I use the most. The Spider is a classic and registered as an “Antique Auto”, so is only supposed to be driven for special events. 

A Condo dwelling Alfa

When we moved to Toronto for our downsizing experiment we elected to leave the Camary behind and the Spider was put on a trailer and towed to Toronto behind a U-Haul containing our downsized life. The plan was to use public transit to explore Toronto and if we really needed a car, our son lives close by and his car was available if needed. I joined the Toronto Alfa Romeo car club, and I looked forward to getting together with other Alfa enthusiasts for classic car events. This plan worked exceptionally well; we became experts in getting around the city on subway, streetcars, busses and trains, we used our son’s car for trips out of the city and the Spider was so pleased to go on drives surrounded by other classic Italian automobiles. 

All good things do however eventually come to a conclusion and we will be moving back to Nova Scotia, convinced now that we can downsize to an apartment or condo, so the Spider would have to be taken back to it’s comfortable garage behind our house in Dartmouth. The parking spot under the condo we were renting did not belong to the condo we were in so it was rented from another resident who was not using it, but they informed us that they were selling the condo so would probably need the spot back, and searches for another spot in the parking garage did not get any results, so another solution was needed. 

When I got the good news that I was scheduled to finally get a new right hip at the end of the month the solution for the Spider presented itself. We would drive it back to Nova Scotia rather than flying. The Spider is an old vehicle and I felt it was important to have it checked out by George, a skilled and trusted  Italian mechanic to make sure the car was up to the 1700 km drive, and he gave the little convertible a thumbs up. 

We were concerned about driving the car that distance because it is old and has none of the creature comforts we were used to having for extended journeys; no cruise control, no air conditioning, no power steering and very limited luggage space. On the plus side, the Spider is known for being one of the most comfortable of the 1980 era sports cars, and on the drives we had done, my six foot frame was always comfortable. But I was going home for a hip replacement and one of my knees often objected to long drives. We looked at the route from Toronto and decided to take it slow, breaking the 1700 km drive into five days, stopping to visit friends and visit favourite locations along the way. 

Although the Spider’s trunk contained a basic tool kit of wrenches and socket sets, another wrench was thrown into our plans when my wife developed a painful foot issue and was diagnosed with bone spurs on her achilles, so was warned to stay off the foot and was given a big plastic boot to allow recovery. I had lost my co-driver! Fortunately a phone call to a good friend back in Nova Scotia provided not only a co-driver but also a skilled mechanic, so the plan was back on track. 

A one-way flight to Toronto brought my willing driving companion to the big city and the five day plan was revised to a three day drive. We checked weather and decided on safe dates to leave to get sunny weather, for the Spider convertible does not particularly like driving in the rain. 

Hey, where did the rain come from?

The drive went very well, but the weather did not cooperate and we ended up driving one whole day through heavy rain, and the convertible top only came down for the last hours drive, but the experience got me thinking about the whole driving experience. We drove three days through some miserable rain in a little car with no AC, cruise control, stereo system, or power steering and a leaky convertible top, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We discovered that we could not really carry on a conversation because both of us are slightly hard of hearing and the car is quite noisy, but the drive still went very well. We did not get tired, and my hip or knee did not object and my friend’s sore back actually got better over the drive; we were comfortable and finished up each day with a smile. How is that possible?

A wet rainy drive through Quebec

I decided the answer was that we actually were doing something that new fancy vehicles isolate you from; we were DRIVING, really driving the whole time. We are both “Gear Heads”, so driving a classic sports car was enjoyable and the effortless steering, mind numbing cruise control and surround sound entertainment systems were not there to distract us from the actual driving experience. As you passed the many tractor trailers, you are literally lower than their tires and you could count the lug nuts on the wheels as you went by. You had to shift the gears up and down and as you steered the car through the corners, you could feel the tires and the suspension doing its work. The little two litre dual overhead cam engine and the European exhaust system was as good as an expensive sound system to two aged car guys. I have driven this route many times over the past 20 years and always got lulled into a tired sleepy state after a few hours, but this time the little car kept us alert and happy as we actually enjoyed driving. 

Some "top-down" driving

Finally the sun came out

Dirty with road grime but home safely

More Street Art

The street art here in Toronto really is amazing. Every time I go out I discover more beautiful art on the streets of the city. During my walks, I am often distracted by art down alleyways and side streets. Here are some of the latest examples I have photographed. 

Caught an artist at work

The mops were not part of the art, but I felt they added something to it

I like when so many elements are painted over

Dog-sitting Coco

I am a “dog Person”, I like dogs and most dogs like me. I grew up living with dogs, but I early on realized that actually owning a dog tied you down even more than having children, and I have never actually owned a dog. Instead I get my doggie fixes with other people’s dogs. Over the years, I have looked after many different dogs and usually get along fine with them. 

Here in Toronto there is no shortage of dogs and our condo building is very pet friendly with many dogs and cats. I have met many of the canine inhabitants of the building going up and down the elevator, and I often stop to meet dogs while out walking around the city. 

One day my son asked if I would be interested in dog sitting a friends dog while they went away to Spain. They live in the East End of the city, so this would give us a chance to explore another area while we stayed in their condo to look after the dog, so I said I might be interested so long as I met the dog and got along with her. The friends were also keen to ensure that I was actually a “qualified”, dog sitter and also wanted us to visit and see how their pet reacted, as she was not the most friendly individual. She was a “rescue” and was not always comfortable with new people, so a visit was arranged. 

I am not interested in meeting you!

She barked at us when we arrived, but apparently this is quite normal, but unlike most new dogs I meet, she was very shy and did not immediately come to see me with wagging tail. On one of our walks, I was walking by a park and a dog that was running around playing with it’s owner, stopped when he saw me and immediately came across the park to see me to get a greeting and a pat from the “dog person”. The owner came over and exclaimed, “you must be someone special, he has never done that before!”. I explained to Ryan’s friends that I felt comfortable with their Coco, and I felt we would get along fine once she got to know me. 

I’m sure they discussed it once we left, but we were told a few days later that if we were willing they would like us to look after their Coco when they were away. 

Ok, time to go home

On the day they were to leave, I arrived, armed with treats and multi-page instructions on the correct Coco care, and drove them to the Airport. When we returned to the condo, Coco was obviously disappointed to see that it was not her “parents” returning, and she ignored me, taking the offered treat and going to her spot in the living room. 

When her walk time arrived, she allowed me to put on her harness and she took me on a walk that she obviously was used to, but it was her who decided where to go and how long the walk was, and when we came back she again took a treat and went back to her “spot”. 

Then in the middle of the night, we realized that a warm black furry body had snuggled up with us on the bottom the bed. Coco had obviously decided we were Okay, and we are now dealing with a happy friendly dog who likes to be wherever we are. It should be a pleasant week dog sitting.

I guess I have decided you really are a "Dog Person"

Big City Gardening

Back in Nova Scotia, I have a nice garden that I built up over many years. Many of the plants were lovingly transferred from my mom’s gardens and added to with plants from friends or just things I wanted to grow. I had two perennial flower gardens, one out front of the house for everyone to enjoy and one in the back yard for my enjoyment as well as a vegetable garden hidden beside the house with a few perennial plants such as Rhubarb and Horseradish that came up every year which were supplemented with tomatoes, carrots and other edibles grown from seed or seedlings. These gardens were really my doings; Regis never really had much interest in them other than enjoying the blooms or making delicious rhubarb pie. I did try to develop an interest in the hobby for her by designating one small garden as “hers”, but she usually deferred to our “Garden Consultant” for the design and planting of her area. 

Regis's little balcony garden

Moving to Toronto for our downsizing adventure, gardening was one of the hobbies I had give up, as living on the ninth floor in a downtown condo complex, did not give me much area to grow things. A pot of basil was the extent of my gardening here in Toronto.

Then one day I was surprised when while walking through a Dollerama store, Regis found a little inexpensive kit to grow cherry tomatoes, and she expressed an interest in planting the seeds to grow tomatoes. Her transition into the family “gardener” was not smooth however.

The little tomato kit sat on the window ledge beside the balcony for a while, and one day when a friend was visiting here and offered to help, Regis decided to plant the seeds. Opening the “Kit” however revealed that the “inexpensive” kit only included a small plastic pot and the seeds, but not even any actual soil. Obviously a good sales tactic, since it required a second trip to get some garden soil to put the seeds in. 

Once planted the seeds did germinate and tiny tomato plants pushed up out of the soil. But, as she started admiring her successful gardening experiment, she discovered that the retired nun living in the condo under us was also growing tomatoes only hers were 10 times the size of Regis’ little plants. I reassured her that the downstairs tomatoes were probably grown from seedlings so had a head start, or there might have been some divine intervention involved. 

OMG they actually grew!

The little tomatoes did seem to enjoy the sunshine and warmth out on our balcony and they did their best to catch up to the neighbours plants. As they started to outgrow their little pot, I informed Regis that they needed to be repotted to give them room to grow into serious tomato plants. She was not expecting this, and said she was just expecting them to grow in the supplied container, so when I explained that each little plant wanted their own pot if they were going to actually produce tomatoes. Regis was not expecting to have to go back to the store for six big pots and two big bags of soil. But since she was having up upsize the garden, she decided to also plant some lettuce, and we have been enjoying fresh lettuce for our burgers and fresh salads from her garden.

The tomato plants were however quite happy with the new homes and they rapidly grew taller, and the one little pot was now six large pots filling one entire side of the balcony. As they grew Regis had to water them more and more and another trip to the store was required to get a proper watering can, and she discovered that when we left the condo for more than a few days, she had to convince Ryan and Ben to please walk over and water her garden while we were away. 

Look . . . Tomatoes

The plants grew and grew and flowers developed, but as they grew taller, they started to fall over so I explained that they needed to be supported with stakes or tomato cages. 

“I had no idea that one cute little tomato kit could be so much work.” Regis exclaimed with some frustration . . . .

The tomatoes got “staked” and supported and the flowers developed into little green tomatoes. 

Let me see there are about 10 little cherry tomatoes out there trying their best to turn red . . . . a little inexpensive Dollerama kit,  . . . . .a little bag of potting soil . . . . six large garden pots . . . . . two big bags of gardening soil . . . . . a watering can . . . . . . tomato supports . . . . . . hours of work . . . . she had discovered that it is probably best not to do the math on balcony gardening economy.

I am  not sure if Regis has actually developed into a gardener, but she is quite proud that those little seeds have actually grown into real tomato plants and the lettuce continues to provide fresh greens for our kitchen. Now hopefully those tomatoes turn red when we are actually in Toronto to be able to enjoy the fruits of her gardening skills.

A Graveyard for Architecture

Back in 2014 while visiting Budapest, Hungary, we visited Memento Park, where statues from the Communist era were preserved, and I wrote about it in a post called “Stalin’s Boots”  . I discovered that Toronto has a very similar park, not preserving Communist Statues, but instead preserving pieces of significant buildings that were torn down to be replaced with Toronto’s  modern skyscrapers. 

In the 1050’s, many of the old stone buildings in downtown Toronto were being torn down to be replaced with modern office towers, and although many of these building were historically significant, laws preserving some of the beautiful old architecture of Toronto was not enacted until the 1970’s, so these buildings were just being demolished. 

Fortunately, Rosa and Spencer Clark, who owned the Guild Inn on the outskirts of Toronto in Scarborough, started taking away remnants of these historic building and preserving them on the grounds of their estate. They hired an architect and a stone mason who found ways to keep some of these pieces of history scattered around the Guild estate. In most cases it is simply columns, or sculptures standing alone, but they also designed and built a Greek outdoor theatre from remnants of the demolished Bank of Toronto building. 

I found that this park was listed in my 111 places book, and although it was a ways out of the downtown, I did want to go visit, so a walk, a subway ride and a 21 stop bus trip took us to Guild Park and Gardens in Scarborough. The old Guild Inn is a beautiful building, although not open to the public and no longer operated as an inn, it provides a backdrop to the gardens and the preserved architecture. There is a large open lawn in front where some pieces stand and behind, paths wander through the gardens and trees allow you to see some of the preserved building pieces. It is a bit odd to see these stone columns, arches and gateways standing alone among trees and flowers in the garden, it is a peaceful and beautiful setting and it was interesting to see these bits and pieces of the old buildings. 

In writing this post, I did a little research, as there are no plaques and guides to what the building bits are, so Wikipedia provided information on the many building which contributed to the collection amassed by the Clarks on the estate. Over 30 old buildings have bits of their history saved in the Guild Park and Gardens. 

And one more place checked off in the 111 Places in Toronto That You Must Not Miss.

The Greek outdoor theatre

One of only pieces that had a sign