Block dyed with layers of yellow and brown, red and maroon stain.  Hung on brass hooks.

They look like fire in your hair. Heading into the shop (which I think is going to get a big, fat overhaul in the next seven days) over the weekend.

So much so that by the end of the day, a beer felt deserved.

Where better than the back patio at Bike Hounds?

These are the evenings where I can admit that yeah, ok, cities have their upsides.

(Also available? A trio of candy-coloured Bobbins)

It started with Art Crawl and Dreaming of Dresses, then spilled over in to the Leander Boat Club for a Dinner Belles show. I don’t have photos of any of that, but I do have Saturday shots of the best-attended group ride we’ve ever pedalled.

When we were all standing around, it didn’t feel like a super huge crew, but when we were biking, it was a little like a parade.

We started by heading northeast to 270 Sherman for the closing of the TH&B show. Have you been? Even if it had been just an empty room, it would have been worth the ride. That building is incredible. So were all the sculptures and installations.

In spite of how amazing EVERYTHING was, I mostly only got shots of the chickens. I’m still unclear as to who owned them/how/why they were there, sitting under heat lamps in one of the works, but I am not going to question it because oooohhh eemmmmm geeeee, you could pick them up.

Hollie loves roosters and Regine loves chicks…

Sean loves grouse…

Roosters hate Kieran. But congratulations to him for picking one up!

Once we’d all gotten our fill of fowl, we took Beach Boulevard towards the bayfront…

And camped out near the tug boat for a bit.

We tried to end the evening at The Ship, but since Augusta is turning into Hess and we are turning into cane-waving, dagnabbit-screaming intolerables, we went one street over and assumed control of the Undermount’s massive and empty patio.

Where, because the kicthen was closed, they allowed us to run to Double Double Pizza Piza Chicken Chicken and Hasty Market to buy pies, chips, samosas, Pirate cookies and all manner of junk foods. Eaten in elementary school party style. Great success. Maybe there IS something to all this zodiac hoo-ha after all.

Ummmm…by which I mean, you can ask me for them. There’s no physical rack. They were supposed to be at Tourism Hamilton in time for Art Crawl, but I’ve encountered some technical difficulties so they’ll be staying in tonight.

You better not be because of this and this and this.

You can check it out in the above issue. But lock up your imagination first. I cannot look through this magazine without spazzing out about fixing up the trailer YESTERDAY, buying a shack in the woods, moving to the Yukon and wearing a suit made of Pendleton blankets every. Dang. Day. It’s a real danger if you have an ounce of love for the outdoors.

You can find out here.

I feel like I used to see music three or four nights a week because there was always something on and they had the sweetest patio in the city. It didn’t matter if you didn’t recognize the band playing – it was pretty much guaranteed to be good. You could go sit around with a pint on a Tuesday night and discover someone new and incredible for only $5, but you could also find huge bands including much goodness from Daptone.

Oh, how it felt like the old days last night when Lee Fields played at Hollywood! My oh my…what an evening. And to think I wasn’t originally feeling a Sunday night show. Sooooooo glad I stuck with it.