There's no disguising 18K gold!

There are certain phenomena which are oftentimes peculiar to advancing age - for example, creaking knees, arthritis and occasionally some hard-won wisdom. What however I hadn't anticipated is an awakening to the finer bakeries in the area.  For some reason we've lately bumped into one superb bakery after another.  It was an arousal which was both unintended and unexpected.  Take Equator Café in Almonte - they carry a mouthwatering collection of butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, muffins and sticky buns.  Another similar rendition (which they justifiably call "gourmet") is the display case at Grace in the Kitchen in Stittsville.  What sparked my inquiry today was the request for a homemade blueberry pie.  Knowing as I did that the Maberly Bakery (in Tay Valley near Perth) makes what I consider the best apple pie in the world, I landed there this afternoon fraught with ambition.

The Maberly Bakery is an unlikely venue for first class baked goods.  But it succeeds far beyond expectation. In keeping with its strict homemade agenda, one must however be prepared to accept the random insinuation of collateral realities.  The middle-aged woman who manned the store today informed me that while they do indeed sell homemade apple and blueberry pies, it was conventional to order one's choice two or three days in advance.  They were also out of pizza boxes - completely.  So even my alternative attraction to the vegetarian or pepperoni pizzas didn't pan out.  But I came away with their business card and the intention to place an order at some future date.  If the truth be told, I was dissuaded from the pies in any event because moments earlier I had been told that we had been called to the Heart Institute tomorrow morning for a perfusion test (a circulatory system analysis to ensure delivery of blood to a capillary bed in tissue). The instinct was that pie might not be the preferred consumption.  Nonetheless the intelligence about the products available was not entirely abandoned.

"Poor perfusion causes health problems as seen in cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease and many other conditions."

Accordingly the intelligence about the products - though not entirely ignored - was for the time being put on the back burner.  I therefore contented myself to enjoy the country roads back home - winding my way through Tay Valley and Lanark Highlands.  This meant a glimpse at Elphin, Snow Road Station, McDonald's Corners, Playfair Village, Balderson and the Village of Lanark.

Frankly I much prefer driving along these remote country roads if for no other reason than that I can largely avoid being tailgated by anxious drivers (though there are still those who insist on beating everyone to the next stop sign).  The scenery at this time of year - especially after what has been a hot and relatively rainy period - is exceptional.  The trees and bushes have bloomed to their full advantage.

As with so many of the rural highways the level of maintenance and improvement is astonishing!  One has to wonder whose influence is affecting the over-riding political will!  It all contributes to the sense of a "best kept secret".  It was a euphoria which rang particularly clearly with me today. We have endured months of demands which only now we are beginning to bridle.  I concede that I am hopelessly addicted to so-called linear activity (notwithstanding its one-domensional connotation).