by the riverside

we live about 12 minutes away from the river. the first time i tried to go, with my mother-in-law, everything was covered in ice and snow. the second time was better. (still no leaves lol. still april.)

so we have a small park in a straight line from us and right on the side of the river. there is a foot path and a bike park going alongside the river and into the nature park reserve ile de la visitation. so basically you can walk by the river for more than an hour westward and it only gets more and more picturesque...theoretically. so far, still grayish but the sunlight makes a big difference.

the river is empowered from recent snow melting and the rains and whatnot. these days there have been floods going on in various other suburbs of montreal...even in laval, across this very river. 

last remnants of ice melting...first buds on trees

and the first spring flowers were observed on that walk (just past mid-april). i always go crazy and take pictures of the very first ones - then i usually neglect the tree blooms and magnolias and lilacs and roses and whatever. but maybe this year i won't because the wait has been even longer than usual.

parenthetically: i keep discovering new plants in our new garden/yard. there are some young trees at the back (still unidentified), a hydrangea bush, a wild rose bush in a corner...one neighbour has a huge lilac tree that i hope will make the whole yard smell nice. and we have 5 tulips (five!) in the rows out front: so far one yellow and the rest seem to be red. 

this is a residence for retired people. actually, there are about 3 of them lining this walk, from right next to us to the actual entrance to the parc-nature. they look very decent, i'm joking about trying to sell my parents on this option (though i think realistically it's not easy to get in)

ok, so this neighbourhood has a touristic route going by the oldest houses built here (i think they include between 1800-1900?), particularly in traditional settler styles etc. this house (at the end of my street) was made in 1800. very small and cute. (B. says our house can be a strong candidate for inclusion if it lasts 100 more years : built in 1931. of course it's not made of stone (i wish) but it has distinctive elements: a certain fake window shutter thing, a porch thing  - i can see it!:)). until then, i admire the official sights, especially those on gouin , coming up

sunday stroller walk. the footpath was still muddy (still IS muddy!) so sometimes it's either you lift and carry the stroller, or default to the bike path and be sworn at by bicyclists (in quebecoise)

a view of the old people residences, from the bridge crossing the parc-nature

what is a park without leaves? mostly just a bunch of noisy people enjoying the sun

we clearly have to come back for another complete tour in more summery weather. things i have learned thus far: there are a lot of species of fish reproducing in this river, and: there are a lot of birds living in these trees. and i know from visiting 2 years ago (though we never went that far in) that it looks like a pretty lush forest. i may be more interested in bird watching now than 2 years ago: i keep pointing to red cardinals and robins (the one with the orange belly) to Rada from our window. Back in Villeray all we ever saw was sparrows.

at least there are trails

another one of the charming old houses

at the end of the park, we stopped for a picnic (picnic! with store-bought sandwiches! and ice tea!) and, of course, more photos. 

and back walking, this time along gouin boulevard. right off the park, this good place for a rewarding hot chocolate to go

best small house spotted on the trip! (the door and window frames are actually deep purple/ and mustard)

i didn't read the plaque, but looks pretty legit

for sale! you too can now own an early-20th century wooden house on the riverside! (and with a bay window too!)