Lilian Nattel's Blog, page 34
July 20, 2011
A Hike to the Secret Passage
Last Friday and Saturday morning, before higher temperatures required me to do nothing but lie on the couch and read, A and I got up at 6:00 am to hike. We walked eastward along the railroad tracks to Carruthers' Woods, from there to an abandoned railway track, down to the Brick Works, and along the belt-line to Bloor Street. Walking at a leisurely pace took us close to 5 hours. The first day, I took my camera but had forgot that I needed to replace the drained battery. The second day I took pictures, which didn't turn out very well because I'm still getting the hang of my new camera. But nonetheless, here's the tour. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)
Escaped roses growing alongside the tracks:
You can see why A called this the secret passage. It was so quiet there, the air was fragrant, and we were blessed with shade.
The Brick Works was, in the 1880′s, a brick factory that used the surrounding clay for its manufacturing process. (The bricks won prizes at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.) Now the quarry is a park with ponds and wetland habitat. On Saturday, A and I took the most direct route to the Brick Works, descending a steep clay slope. I went crab-wise, backside to the ground, supporting myself by leaning back on hands and feet as I crawled.
Toronto Brick Works
A sculpture someone made from found pieces near the end of the belt-line:
Filed under: Beautiful, Fun Tagged: ramble
how Boarders blew it
Good summary of the marketing and financial decisions that led to Boarder's bankruptcy http://ow.ly/5Jds3
Filed under: Miscellany
counting calories? stop! there's new info on food and exercise
And despite conventional advice to eat less fat, weight loss was greatest among people who ate more yogurt and nuts, including peanut butter, over each four-year period.
via nytimes.com
An extensive study of over 100,000 men and women over 20 years has had some interesting results about weight gain in midlife.
Reducing the fat in your diet and counting calories, surprisingly, had no positive impact. Another surprise was that, contrary to conventional wisdom, eating everything in moderation isn't all that healthy: there are good and bad foods. French fries, chips, colas, white bread and fruit juices will fatten you up while yoghurt and nuts will make you lean, as will eating more fruit and veggies. For all the details click on the link above.
Really the researchers could have saved a lot of time and effort if they'd just consulted my kids, who for years have been singing the ditty:
"French fries, French fries
Greasy greasy
Make you fat
Easy, easy."
Filed under: Miscellany
July 18, 2011
not Beiber but beavers
Sightings near Lake Ontario, much more exciting than Justin! http://ow.ly/5Hn3Z
Filed under: Miscellany
July 17, 2011
villagers prevent felling of 800-year-old oak tree
Villagers and environmentalists in the Aegean province of Denizli have successfully prevented the felling of an 800-year-old oak tree standing in the way of road construction by having it declared a "monumental tree.
via hurriyetdailynews.com
Filed under: Miscellany
July 14, 2011
Today at the Beach
Rare and perfect summer weather–sunny and 26 (79)–lured me to the beach with M & H. We waded in the water; we collected rocks, just a handful of small ones for me, a lot of medium size ones for H, and M dragged home a bag full of heavy stones. She had a vision: a series of inuksuks on her bureau. (It's now in process–pictures to follow.)
We waded in Lake Ontario.
Kew Beach by John Vetterli
The girls collected "sea glass": shards of polished glass in the lake bottom. H put hers in a green plastic tube she found. There were 119 of them. We had ice cream cones. It was peaceful there on a weekday. I didn't feel any need to hurry up the girls, not even when the last ice cream cone lasted a very long time while I sat and waited in Baskin Robbins. Bags of lake stones rested on the table; I felt the patience that had rounded and smoothed them. Or maybe just sitting by the lake, even for an afternoon, could smooth my edges, too.
Filed under: Personal Tagged: an afternoon at Kew Beach
July 11, 2011
Heat and Books
A high today of 33 (91.4F) with humidex that will be in the 40′s (100′s). So although I thought that I would be blogging up a storm after I handed in my draft, I've been slow off the mark. It's much easier to lie around reading when it's this hot. Today not even that–I'm taking kids to a mall. I'm bringing my Kobo, and while kids browse at Indigo Books, I'll sit and read.
Speaking of reading, I'm behind (of course!) in my review posts again. I read The Enchanted April, which was enchanting light reading, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which was enjoyable light reading. I'm nearly finished Terra Incognita, which is not as literary as the first in the series, but highly enjoyable as a mystery.
Anther reason for my dearth of posts: I fell on Tuesday while ice skating. Ironic, given that it's summer, to injure myself that way. I mysteriously tripped, finding myself going down almost in slow motion but at an awkward slant, twisting over my left shoulder. While sitting, legs sprawled in front of me, shoulder in agony, I saw my left skate lace trailing on the ice. Before I skate again, I'll be putting in new laces and double knotting them. At first I could barely move my arm an inch forward. It's vastly improved, i can raise my arm to within 5 inches of my ear, but I don't have full mobility yet. Poor me, I have to spend more time lying around reading! Cry some croc tears for me, won't you?
Filed under: Literary, Personal Tagged: books for hot days
July 10, 2011
At 7 a.m. I Saw
On the path along the railroad tracks this morning, I saw a baby bunny. It had lost some of its roundness already, and looked like a miniature hare standing quite still. I had to shade my eyes to see. Even with sunglasses, the sun was too bright otherwise. There it stood, a silhouette in the sun, waiting for me and A to make a move. We didn't and finally it hopped into the bush.
Filed under: Beautiful Tagged: ramble
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