The past week has been filled with catching up with T (after a long two weeks apart - and no, he didn't return to Montreal with a tan), writing lists, sorting out, searching on the internet, writing more lists, oh and eating a few prized English Cadbury's mini eggs on Easter Sunday.
Although I am pretty pleased with myself for throwing out two big bags of clothes and counting...I am sure you don't want a blow by blow account of every top, skirt and dress I said goodbye to.
So instead I will talk about the pervious week - a little bit late; but better late than never...
Of course I took the girls to the top of Mt Royal so they could take in the fantastic view of the city and beyond...
...We walked down by the river but, although the sky was blue, the wind was bitter so it was a fairly brisk walk. Still, the temperatures meant there weren't exactly crowds of people.
The river still contained some pretty large chunks of ice:
We went to 'Beautys,' a popular brunch spot in the Mile end area. A friend recommended it a while ago but T and I had never got around to going. In the spirit of showing my English friends something North American, we went for a brunch of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup.
In the style of an old school diner complete with booths, endless coffee refills, when you first go in you are greeted by the original owner - bearing in mind the place opened in 1942, this is impressive to say the least! It was a great experience, and one which hopefully I will be able to drag T to sometime. Which could be a little tricky. as there are long queue outside at the weekend, even in the most bitter of days, as people line up for heir fill of waffles, omelettes, smoothies and OJ.
Whilst the girls ventured to Toronto for a few days, I went for a walk up the 'mountain' with another friend as we revelled in the delight of warmer days. It turned out to be pretty unsuccessful as, although the pavements were clean and dry, there was still a decent amount of snow on the path up through the trees. Melting, and then frozen in places the snow was slippery and we really had to watch our step. Not only that, but some pretty deep ravines cut through the slush as the water flowed rapidly down the slopes and we had to keep hopping over them, trying not to fall in. We stopped and considered turning back the way we had come, but it was at the point where we would have to slide downhill - which did not appeal to either of us one bit - or make our way up over the top and walk down through the cemetery where the roads would be clear. We persevered to the top, and were rewarded with the sight of this little fella:
There are usually masses of squirrels around, but the area around the racoon was quiet.
My knee objected for the following days to my twisty workout, but it was done.
Despite there being another flutter of snow last Tuesday (following a day when the temperature reached a balmy 25 degrees!), the big melt continued and the parks made their end of winter transition from this:
...to this:
Dare I say it?
I will, seeing as it's been plus figures for over a week, and it is the end part of April...
Good bye winter...!!
I will, seeing as it's been plus figures for over a week, and it is the end part of April...
Good bye winter...!!