Downtown

I've been riding around town a fair bit, though the weather has remained cool, often with a strong breeze either off the bay or offshore, so I'm still looking forward to weather that's actually warm.  Never-the-less, I've been downtown for coffee every week, to the library, to the harbour and to the drugstore.  This post is an amalgam of odd pictures from those trips, over several weeks, as I drive down or home again.

This magnificent Magnolia is just around a couple of corners, incredibly beautiful but only for a very short time.

There's another Magnolia I can get closer to, so here is a bit of a closer view.  Some of these petals started to turn brown almost as soon as they opened.

Across the street is a very large Canadian flag flying at a front door.  With Canada Day coming up, after our 'Freedom Convoy', it's hard to know who's being patriotic and who's protesting!  I'll give this gentleman the benefit of the doubt and assume he's being patriotic.

Over the crest of the hill and down we go, the blue water of the bay in the distance, arena on the right and curling club and fairgrounds on the left.

At the bottom of the hill is Bobi's Daycare, a local landmark, and the place where two of my caregivers sent their children in their younger years.

Recently I've favoured a route downtown on Trowbridge Street, past some magnificent historic homes.  This is the biggest of them, perhaps the biggest in Meaford.  It sold just last year, listed for $1.4 million.  The new owners are improving the outdoor landscaping a bit I think.

And did you notice this interesting upstairs door and tiny porch set into the roofline?  Quite a unique bit of architecture.

Eventually I make it to my destination, McGinty's Cafe.  Of course I have to make my way to the back and navigate an uneven bit of gravel parking lot to go up the ramp to their deck and back entrance.  Still it works, and the hospitality is amazing!

Headed home I find this front-end loader working in the parking lot of the arena.  It seemed to be moving gravel from one pile to another, a good way to keep busy if nothing else!

Around one more corner and we come to the little wishing well, built by a home handy-man.  In a breeze the sawyer on top actually draws his saw back and forth.

Not far from that is a ditch filled with tiny Forget-me-nots.

And back onto our own street, these flowers are growing on the sides of the bank leading down to a small stream.  You might think they're wild phlox, but you'd be wrong.  These are Dame's Rocket, an invasive spreading widely and easily told apart because it has four petals; Wild Phlox has five.