Being spat on and other harbingers of Good Luck!!

Riding home from a doctors appointment Monday, a nasty little latino man spat on me. Yes spat right in the middle of my back!! Our paths crossed at a busy intersection. I'd hopped off the road and onto the pavement and he walked up behind me and let rip! Obviously he has an aversion to well dressed middle aged white women riding bicycles!!! Needless to say I was horrified dumbstruck by the grossness of his act. By the time I'd gathered my wits he'd scuttled off into the traffic.

This nasty little incident was the beginning of my good luck for the week. Not only did the doctors results turn out to be peachy keen but good old Uncle Sam let me back into his good books and I was awarded a ten year visitors visa for the US of A!! After stressing about going through another interrogation at the hands of Homeland security I waited nearly two hours for a 4.5 minute interview in which my visa application was approved! I now wonder why 4 Border officers at LAX wasted 6 hours traumatising me last year!!!! Apart from the adventure of it all I really could have done without the stress...and... I missed out on visiting the J Paul Getty art museum that day, the reason I was stopping in LAX, because of the drama.

I did a little happy dance when I got home, suitable portions are pictured above!

Pip and I celebrated with a night off our diet. We bbqued ribs, going the whole hog and slow roasting them doused in a spicy rub then bbqued to sticky perfection mopped with a chipotle and honey mopping sauce then served with a chipotle and yogurt dipping sauce. Apple coleslaw and Leffe Brun completed the ensemble!

The weather here is being really kind, we're into gorgeous sunny days hovering between C22-30 degrees. Eating outside each day on our little balcony is such a joy after the cloistered summers of 07, 08, 09 where we had no access to the outside world from our cheerless abode. Mcgregor is a pig in it, sunbathing to his hearts content then waddling back inside to cool off. He and I walked this morning just after 7am while it was still cool, I enjoyed the gardens in full spring glory with peonies blooming fat and gorgeous, the air full of scent from this funny little bouvardia like plant, it was hard to believe we were in gritty old downtown Toronto!

Another fine weekend passed and we spent all day saturday on our Bikes, leaving home at 8am to ride downtown to the waterfront then along the newly upgraded path along the lakefront. You can pretty much ride to Niagara along these paths.

After a couple of hours in the saddle we hoved into a lakeside cafe at the Summerside Pool for brunch. Later we trolled an art fair happening in the old deco building that houses the care and pool complex.

Riding home we took the route up Spadina to Chinatown, bustling and full of fruit and vege stalls along the pavement. We hoved to at our fav pork place where I bought my ribs. The chinese community is huge in Toronto and this area is full of color and noise and great smells from the char sui (bbq pork) joints.

Friday night we'd been invited to Fondue Chinoise at our neighbours house. This is a Quebec favorite and is a fondue of broth, wine, mushrooms and bay leaves to cook paper thin slices of bison, red deer, beef, shrimp and chicken. Joined by the girls Egyptian friend they all enjoyed smoking sheesha, (hookah pipe using water to cool the fruit or spice flavoured tobacco) on their patio. I've tried it before and thought it was lovely but declined as I'm never inhaling smoke by choice again. EVER!

Sunday night I took control of the leftover meat unused in the fondue and created thai tapas. The hits of the evening were the bison and peach meatballs with chilli peach and kaffir lime leaf dipping sauce and the thai beef and mango salad.

Earlier in the week I walked through Yorkville taking some snaps of spring in the village.