Ghost Town Tour. Stop #4: The Old Hastings Road and The Underground River

On our second round of ghost town hunting, we decided to head up to The Old Hastings Road. I found a good quote about this area while searching around for some info, "While described in 1925 as 'one long trail of abandoned farms, adversity, blasted hopes, broken hearts and exhausted ambition', the Old Hastings Road continues to attract interest as a winding, rugged monument to the early pioneers who tried to settle this difficult but beautiful country." That pretty much sums it up...other than the fact that it's now something right out of the Beverley Hillbillies. It's a dirt road and is pretty rough and narrow with plenty of large, jagged boulders protruding from the road. At times, I was kinda creeped out being there because once you're down far enough on the road, it's a long way to get to the other side and get out. It definitely felt claustrophobic and all I could think of was getting stuck and being stranded...or worse, I'd have to knock on the door of Bobbi-Jo and Edgar Diddler's scrap metal shack and ask for assistance. I could hear the Deliverance banjo tuning up in the distance the whole time we were there.

We had no cellphone service and there weren't many people around. There are a lot of hunting camps on this road now that would only see action in the late fall (poor deer, run!) and that seems to be the road's primary use anymore. Other than the odd house you see here and there, this is one desolate road. As were were looking for one of the ghost towns called Glanmire, we came along to the Glanmire bridge.

The bridge itself is nothing special, although it's wonderfully old and crusty looking. What lies beneath the bridge is what amazed us. We later learned, when we stopped at a place called Murphy Corners and spoke to some strange locals on ATVs, that what we saw was known as The Underground River.

Apparently, this river mostly runs from a stream that flows under the rocks and is only above ground in the spring except for a few spots where the water pools in crevices.

 When we headed off to see the cemetery up the road (all that is left of Glanmire), a gaggle of wild turkeys came by to say, "Please don't shoot us."

Next up will be a bleak tour of a totally trashed gas station in Murphy Corners that was turned into a house and now looks like a crack den. Also in the mix will be the most depressing graveyard ever. Chin up!

Before & After. The Carpal Tunnel Diaries: Rotten Metal Chair Edition

A few months ago I went to a charity yard sale and found a great pair of chairs with the matching table. Well, the chairs were great in my head...after I had envisioned myself sanding, scraping and painting them with about 10 coats of professional enamel. It's not as though I don't have enough jobs happening around this place as it is, adding a refinishing job to the mix is just dumb. And who's more dumber than me? No one! So I asked how much the set was and they said 'Whatever you want to pay, it's all for charity.' So then I really had to think about it. What kind of hell are these chairs worth? Is it worth me paying $25 to grind my hands further down into stumps for these things? $15 maybe? $5? Walking away was not an option since I have OCD when it comes to stuff like this. So, I offered them $10 for the set as I asked myself what the hell I was doing. Well, they were shocked at the high amount of money someone would pay for these pieces of crap (in their minds) and were more than happy with that amount. So, I crammed them into my little car and made my way home. Here's what the beauties looked like when I found them:

These chairs were pretty dead. They had been coated with a super thick, almost plastic-like enamel when they were manufactured and it was like scraping off glass when I got started. As I scraped, sanded and wire-brushed these bastards, I was reminded of the hell of window restoration. My hands cramped and turned into the usual claw formation that they know and love but I suffered through. Once they were all prepped, I went and bought a few large cans of Tremclad Professional Enamel (not saving the environment with this stuff but hey, I rescued the chairs from the dump at least). It is awesome paint and I highly recommend it for any job (and no I don't work for Tremclad). I decided on black of course, because most of the exterior trim of the house is black. So, here's how they turned out:

I think they look pretty swell. Wonderfully mid century and industrial all at the same time. Now I need to sew some black cushions for them and get a piece of glass for the table top and this job is finished. The next job? Finishing my office makeover and then painting the entire exterior of the house including the porch floors and tweaking the inside of the barn. All before the winter. Anyone want to trade for a bachelor condo? I'll throw in some Canadian Tire money to sweeten the deal...

Ghost Town Tour. Stop #3: Foymount

Okay, where do I start with this place? I don't want to go on and on about it but if you like rickety old places where creeps hang out then you'll love it here! Well, when I say creeps, I mean people like me. This place was once a base of the Canadian Military and housed the RCAF Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (that's geek talk for 'some sort of radar mission control type thingy'). It functioned from the early 50s to the mid 60s and then it was closed down once the computer nerds came and took over.

Foymount is considered 'the highest populated place in Ontario' because it's located on top of a baby mountain...sounds like it's grasping at straws for some sort of last ditch claim to fame now that 2/3rds of the place is in ruins. I feel sorry for the people who are still living around the base. It must be pretty damn depressing there, especially in the winter. Anyway, enough of this crap. This place is super cool and desolate and I'd highly recommend a visit there if you're not too far from the area.

 When you approach Foymount from the Opeongo Road, it looks like some sort of creepy mental institution.

If you don't stop at this stop sign, a skeleton man in a rusty old cop car will come and arrest you. 

Just so you know.

Stairway to heaven?

You can read all about Foymount here and if you're interested in checking out ghost towns in Canada, Ghost Town Pix is a fantastic site that gives you all the info you need to plan your road trips. 

Practical(ly) Collections.

I'm not one to get caught up in collections, or at least when I do I don't need to hold onto them for any real length of time. Lately, however, I've realized that I do have a few items that I hoard with compulsion. I buy them for the sole reason that I must have as many of these things as possible so they will last me for the rest of my life. When I see these things, I buy them - every time. I don't ever want to be without these practical everyday items, especially as they are becoming harder to find for next to nothing. Here are the 3 things that I just can't get enough of:

1. Ceramic Melitta Coffee Brewers

I use one of these almost every day and just can't imagine my life without it. When you need just one cup of coffee, this is the best option there is (other than an espresso machine I guess). Melitta still makes these, but now they're all plastic and who wants to pour hot water through plastic into their mug? Not me!
 As you can see, I even use them if the handle has been smashed off and the sides are all chipped. That could be a sign that I'm dangerously close to being a rotten pumpkin, cat poop and car parts collecting hoarder.

2. 1950s Starburst Cutlery

I must admit that my love for the starburst design/pattern goes beyond knives and forks, especially when it comes to Franciscan Starburst and Salem North Star dishes. But - this may come as a shock to most of you -  I'm not rich enough to hoard high-end Franciscan dishes. Besides, I would stress out every time they were used for fear that a $75 serving bowl or $200 butter dish would get broken or chipped.

With my 5 cent cutlery obsession, it's all about the thrill of the hunt. I'd much prefer sifting through a drawer with 65,000 knives in it to find just one with a starburst pattern on it than to scour eBay and pay through the nose for a plate.

3. Old Wooden Hangers

New wooden hangers are shit. They break if you put even a crappy H&M disintegrating shirt on it. The middle piece falls out or the metal hook comes off. Also, they're expensive! In thrift store world (at least where I live), you can get 10 old hangers for a dollar. Even if you managed to get one hanger for a dollar, I think they're worth it. They are heavy, solid and will last for ages. I especially love any old hangers with advertising or text on them of any kind.

So what do you hoard? 

Do you have anything that you just have to buy each and every time you see it...

even though you already have 47 of them at home?