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"

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"

No Snow

As I work my way through “The 111 Places in Toronto That You Must Not Miss”, I am finding that many of the suggestions really would be nicer to visit in warmer summer weather. I will admit to pushing some of my walks a bit; I did go to see Woodbine Beach which is renowned for it’s impressive volleyball facilities, only I went on a February day to see “Winter Stations”, so I have decided to slow down and save some of the attractions for the nicer weather. 

One of the suggestion is “Christie Pits Tobogganing”, so at least that is a “Winter” activity . . . only problem is that winter never really happened here in Toronto; any snow that fell usually melted the next day, so there was not a lot of Tobogganing happening this winter. So today, we decided to go see this “Place not to be missed” even if it was not to slide down snow covered hills. 

The park is situated on the site of the Christie Sand Pit which was excavated for the sand, gravel and clay found there. It was named for the street it is on, Christie St., which is actually named after the famous “Mr. Christie” of cookie fame. As the sand, gravel and clay was removed, the pit was formed and once it was no longer useful it was turned into a park. Because it is a pit with steep slopes on all sides it has become a popular area to toboggan in winters when Toronto actually gets some winter snow. 

Christie Pits Park

Christie Pits Park is called “a city within a park”, and although this park in the western end of downtown Toronto is only one block square, it really does pack a lot into a small area. The park now contains a full sized regulation baseball diamond and several smaller softball fields. There is a swimming pool complex with water slides and a regulation sized outdoor hockey rink with artificial ice (VERY useful this winter). The park also has a skateboard park, a labyrinth, a picnic area, a playground for little people, basketball courts, and an outdoor wood fired oven. There are trails through the park  to get you to all the handy facilities and lots of comfortable benches. 

The Labyrinth used to be a fountain

We headed out to the park via Subway line two and arrived at the Christie station right beside the park. We walked all the way around the park and then took one of the pathways down into the “pit“ where we wandered around the many pathways and even found our way through the Labyrinth to the very centre. On a cloudy foggy Sunday, the park was well used and it was nice to see the public washrooms were open rather than the usual “Closed for the season” signs we often see in the winter.

Our visit to the park was a pleasant way to pass the day, and we were impressed with the facility; it really is a nice community park and the neighbourhood must be pleased to have a park so well equipped to enjoy even if there was little tobogganing this year.

Winter Stations

A nice February Day at the beach

A sunny February day . . . . a perfect day to spend the day at the beach!

No bikinis, or speedos though, but at least all the Lifeguard stations were occupied and busy. You might think that a February beach day would not be a good idea, but that is exactly what we did today, took a streetcar and a bus down to Woodbine Beach and spent the day there. We were there to explore the annual Toronto “Winter Stations” event. 

Walking the boardwalk

Winter Stations is an International competition where the Arts and Design community is challenged to reimagine the lifeguard stations along Toronto’s East end beaches. The event has been running for 14 years and has seen entries from over 90 countries. The object is to use one of the unused leftguard Stations to create and build an art installation on the beach. I read about it on the internet and decided to go and see what it was all about. A 27 minute, 25 stop  streetcar ride and then a seven stop, seven minute bus ride took us to Woodbine Beach in Toronto’s East end, which runs for almost three kilometres along Lake Ontario. 

The beach was not crowded as it would have been in the summer, but I would call it well used, especially by Toronto’s dog community and as we walked down the beach we met many friendly canine beach goers. Scattered down the beach were the actual Winter Station installations. There was . . . .

We Caught a UFO by Xavier Madden & Katja Banovic from Croatia and Australia

A Kaleidoscopic Odyssey by Adam Brander, Nilesh P, Ingrid Garcia & Mayam Emadzadeh from Canada

Nimbus by David Stein from Canada

Bobbin’ by University of Waterloo School of Architecture

Winteraction by Department of Landscape Architecture & Ashari Architects for Canada & Iran

Nova by Toronto Metropolitan University of Architectural Science from Canada  

Each of these installations was designed and built around one of the beach’s lifeguard stations and the public was encouraged to explore and get involved in the displays. As we walked down the beach, we tried each one, climbing into the UFO, Walking through the Kaleidoscopic Odyssey, and titter-tottering in the Bobber. The rain falling from Nimbus’ cloud did not get us wet, and the fallen star Nova sheltered us from the wind and provided a view along the beach. Unfortunately the Labyrinth in Winteraction required an app that did not want to install on my phone so we could not do it, but the rest were imaginative and interesting. 

Not having visited this beach previously, we continued on down the boardwalk along the lakes edge visiting other beaches and enjoying a pleasant afternoon walk before taking a different streetcar and bus route back to the condo. 

Back on the Beltline

Back on October 2, 2018, I wrote a post about walking the Beltline Trail, where we started at Yonge St. and walked north on this trail which is on an old railway bed. Today we walked another section of the Beltline trail, this time from the same start location but walking south to explore a section of the trail that was really a vastly different experience from the previous walk. 

A unique grave marker

Back in 2018, we were staying in our son’s condo in Midtown,  just a short walk from the trail, but our current condo is downtown so we took the subway up Yonge St. to Midtown and walked the trail back down towards our new location. 

The first part of the walk was obviously on the old rail-bed, but then the trail turns and detours through the large Mount Pleasant Cemetery and then down into the Moore park Ravine, so I do not think this section of the trail continues to directly follow the route of the old railway. Those old locomotives would have struggled to get up and down from the deep ravine. 

Down under the city

The trail itself is really pleasant, as you drop down into the ravine and the ever present skyscrapers of the big city disappear into nature. I recall back in the 70’s when I was here on a training course being amazed at these beautiful forested trails running through the city and they continue to provide a serene walking experience within Canada’s largest, busiest city. Walking in the winter means that the trees are mostly leafless, so we do see some huge houses  of wealthy Torontonians bordering the ravines but in other seasons the city is mostly blocked out. 

This section of the trail follows the path of the stream that carved out the ravine and eventually joins the Don River which flows into Lake Ontario. On the way it passes the Evergreen Brickworks where I suspect the bricks that were used to construct so many of the beautiful old houses in Toronto were made. This derelict factory is now a multi-purpose community site featuring a museum, a park and a community market. 

The Brickworks

You can continue walking trails all the way down along the Don river to Lake Ontario but we have already done that hike, so after we passed the Brickworks we climbed up out of the ravine on a trail we had to share with a city racoon, in time to, as experienced Toronto Transit commuters we confidently caught a bus that dropped us off a block from the condo. A bit more of Toronto explored.

A well maintained Trail (and "No Winter Maintenance")

Trailside Art

One of the bridges spanning the ravine

Walking the Waterfront

A lovely day exploring the waterfront

The day I visited the StacktMarket I discovered I was down close to the Toronto waterfront, so I enjoyed a walk along the lake before going back to the condo. Yesterday we went back down to the water to explore more of the Toronto lakeshore. Our friend Angela (remember the post about “Cooking with Angela”) was visiting so we took her on a tour of the area. 

Toronto has done an admirable job of controlling development on the shore of Lake Ontario to allow almost complete public access to the actual lakeshore. There are lots of tall condos built down there with wonderful views (and large mortgages) out over the lake to Toronto Island, but there are also nice walkways and parks along the shore so the public can walk beside the lake and enjoy the views as well. We took the subway down to Union Station and then walked down to the water where we were able to walk along the waterfront all the way to the CN tower. 

We will explore the rest of the waterfront at another time, but here are some pictures of the day.

Tour Boats on the Waterfront

Brass fish in the sidewalks

Oops, I think a piece of the bridge is missing . . .

Waves in the lake . . . waves in the boardwalk

Must have been a hard docking

One of the waterfront parks

A lonely "Love Lock"

Of course the CN Tower is always in sight

She is hoping we don't follow the rules

A "private" boat moored on the lake.

Lovely trees and a waterfall

This was some sort of sundial . . . I couldn't tell time by it though

Seriously . . . you think?

An awkward swing, but interesting . . .