April showers bring wet sockings...
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UncleMac
Posts: 12,920 Member
A buddy of mine sent a news article claiming the authorities who are responsible for the Cabot Trail, a popular roadway on Canada's east coast, were barring the roadway to motorcycles after complaints by RV owners about being passed and locals about loud mufflers. The joy of April Fools Day...
http://canadamotoguide.com/2019/04/01/motorcyclists-banned-from-the-cabot-trail-after-protests-from-rvers-and-locals/
It's been a long cold winter in my part of Canada. I'm looking forward to getting back to my daily walks in my neighbourhood.
How about the rest of y'all?
http://canadamotoguide.com/2019/04/01/motorcyclists-banned-from-the-cabot-trail-after-protests-from-rvers-and-locals/
It's been a long cold winter in my part of Canada. I'm looking forward to getting back to my daily walks in my neighbourhood.
How about the rest of y'all?
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The CB Trail is a great, twisty peg scraping ride. I did it a couple years ago, and hope to do it again this summer.1
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Daily walks at work have started back for me, weather permitting. My Tuesday and Thursday night group bike rides are also in full swing!2
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I’m back at the gym. Trying to build up my fitness again. Looking forward to some nice evening walks too
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It's a good one... I did it a few years ago.. counterclockwise so we were always on the outside lane for the frequent stops for pictures.
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I was never a fan of scraping pegs when I had a bike. Lolo Pass (from Montana back to Idaho) was probably my favorite day on a bike. Until I ran out of gas in Grangeville.... Long story.2
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I was never a fan of scraping pegs when I had a bike. Lolo Pass (from Montana back to Idaho) was probably my favorite day on a bike. Until I ran out of gas in Grangeville.... Long story.
I traded my Harley Sportster 1200 for my current Yamaha FZ6R because I was tired of dragging pegs. If I drag pegs on the Yamaha, I am in trouble!
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When I sold my last bike, I said if I ever had anything else it would be a BMW. Comfortable all day in the saddle, and can lean it over without dragging parts.
Riding season is short here, and I don’t have a covered place to park it (my raft lives on a trailer, and that takes the whole carport). So probably just human powered bikes for me.1 -
When I sold my last bike, I said if I ever had anything else it would be a BMW. Comfortable all day in the saddle, and can lean it over without dragging parts.
Riding season is short here, and I don’t have a covered place to park it (my raft lives on a trailer, and that takes the whole carport). So probably just human powered bikes for me.
When I rode the Cabot Trail, I was with a group of four others. I was the only one on a Harley. The others were on BMWs... three of the big GS1100 adventure bikes and one R1100RT and my police edition Road King. At the end of each day, I was the one with the least sore butt as my bike has a pneumatic seat... so very comfy!!
And yes, I dragged the pegs a couple of times but nothing I couldn't handle...0 -
I used to be a fan of K bikes. Never really caught the Harley bug. My last bikes were both Japanese touring bikes. Old chain drive KZ, and a rare 1983 750 Shadow. They only made them one year and then made the 700 for a long time after to get under the added tariff for bikes over 749cc.
I find myself thinking about maybe a KLR these days. Cheaper, even new, and can go places around here that are harder on other bikes. I think there's a state law here that every intersection has to have at least one pile of strategically placed gravel to keep bikers paying attention. I figure a KLR could help with that, too.1 -
Although some of the die-hards have dug their bikes out here in Ottawa, I'm waiting for a good rain or two. The streets are covered with a fine slurry of salt & sand. Aside from being awful for two-wheeled traction, it gets everywhere on the bike. I don't mind washing/polishing but not after every ride.1
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I’m hoping to get mine out of storage and home this weekend.2
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The next series of native plants is blooming.
I've been encouraging a stand of Great Camas (Camassia leichtlinii) out in my orchard. They are doing well finally and spreading. I save the seeds and spread them late winter. Each plant takes several years before it will flower. The plants grow and form a bulb. The bulb sends down rootlets that somehow pull the bulb down into the soil to the proper depth. Very pretty. When Lewis and Clark first saw fields of this plant in bloom and swaying in the breeze, they thought they were looking at an inland sea. Native peoples used the root as a major food source. It would be dug, dried and ground.
Our state flower is Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium). It can be used medicinally, and some folks make jam from the fruit. There is a smaller plant called Dwarf Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa). I have some of both in my yard. This flower is from the aquifolium.
Several years ago I planted a tiny Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) seedling in my yard. They either die quickly or can survive. I avoid getting water on mine in the summer, and it's done quite well. It has a mycorrhizal symbiont that it needs to survive. A botanist friend suggested one way to inoculate was to get some soil from near one in the woods and add it. I never did; it must have colonized on its own. It's grown well over 20' by now. It has very interesting bark.
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Lovely bright colours on the local flowers!!
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I'm just starting to get to enjoy the weather here in Tucson. That's the main reason we moved from Cincinnati -- way too much rain. The forecast for the next 10 days is highs between 75 and 85 and lows around 50.
I went from terrible weather to some of the best in the US. Though the next few months will be hotter, we don't get nearly the heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas because we're at 4000 ft elevation.
I haven't biked in years (I would kill myself on a motorcycle!) but might take up biking here. Cincinnati was terrible for bikes -- they would run you over there, one of the least bike friendly places in the US. This is very bike friendly with some of the nicest trails I've seen. A lot of Olympic bikers train here because the mountains and Winter weather. My first choice was Colorado Springs but it's very expensive. This weather (and landscape) is very similar but without the expensive price tag.1 -
All about the early bulbs (and a few early-flowering perennials) out in my yard (some photos below), and finally getting back on the water to row/scull after a long Winter and after a flare-up of knee issues.
There are dozens of things starting to flower . . . such an encouraging part of Spring, for me.
A nearly black Helleborus orientalis hybrid (I think it's 'Dark & Handsome' from the Wedding Party series . . . don't blame me, I don't name them
), with some Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty' out of focus behind.
Checkered lily, Frittilaria meleagris.
Twinleaf, Jeffersonia diphylla (discovered by Lewis & Clark, named for Thomas Jefferson) with a friendly pollinator.
Some very happy Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, in an unusual double form. This one makes me smile extra much because it was sourced from the garden of Fred Case, a notable figure in Michigan botany circles, who (with his wife) wrote the definitive book on Trillium.
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Very nice @AnnPT77! I love hellebores. I should plant some. But where? I'm pretty full up. Someone gave me a few Corsican Helleobres. I like the one that lived (in a pot), but it's just not the same. That's a very nice one.
If there's a Citizen Science project in your area tracking bees, send them the picture with the bee. Maybe my eyes aren't working, but it doesn't look like a honeybee to me. There's a local project here to track native bees, and they ask folks to get pictures. Yeah. Like either of us needs another hobby.....
If I had the right habitat, I'd love to get some of our native lilies established. When the cherry and pear trees die, if I'm still here, maybe I'll convert more of the space to native species. The native forest that once stood where I live would support some really interesting plants. I've stuffed some of 'em back.
The lilacs are about to bloom here, and that's always wonderful. The flowering cherry out front was also quite fragrant this year. I saw some irises open in the neighborhood, but not the native ones. Mine need to be thinned, so they don't bloom as much as when they have enough room. Blueberries are blooming good, and the fruit trees are done. Grapes have leaves sprouting, and there are actual artichoke flowers visible (about tennis ball to baseball size) in the centers of the plants. Looks like the raspberries I planted last year are healthy.
A stone's throw (well, I think I might have to use a slingshot and it might take five to 20 shots) from the Grass Seed Capital of the World, the lawn needs to be mowed more than weekly right now, and I don't fertilize in the spring.
And then April will be over, and we'll see what happens in the month with the shortest name.1 -
Got back to the limo garage at 05:00 and had to wait for the windows to defrost on my truck. Still cold nights here. The struggle is real.2
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These are our beautiful blossom trees in our neighbourhood4
