picture my realia

don valley and a mandala

 

I walked Mia's dog around the pretty neighbourhood a couple of times today.  I go over to this lookout over the Don Valley and I find this lovely astrological mandala in the circle, which I don't recall having seen before.

Spring has sprung in the valley.

Looking toward the Bloor Viaduct and the city core beyond.

may day

 

King Street West, Toronto

Suddenly there are leaves! Hello May! Clarence Square, Spadina and Wellington, Toronto

A fire escape behind some new leaves. Spadina Avenue, Toronto

Happy May Day.  Best thing about May?  The trees come alive!

blossoms on a very special day

Blossoms on a tree in Clarence Square, off Spadina Ave., Toronto

Happy birthday Dad.  I love you very much. 

I smelled these blossoms before I saw them. 

day off, harbour

 

The view from under the canopy of a willow tree. HTO Park, Queens Quay, Toronto

The umbrellas at HTO Park, off Queens Quay and Rees Street, Toronto

Fire fighting vessel. Off Queens Quay near Rees Street, Toronto

Weighters - I think. Near the fire station off Queens Quay near Rees Street, Toronto

Queens Quay near Spadina Ave., Toronto

M. R. Kane, Queens Quay at Spadina Ave., Toronto

M. R. Kane, Queens Quay at Spadina Ave., Toronto

Dock, Queens Quay and Spadina Ave., Toronto

I took Easter Monday off.  It was the first solitary day I'd had in quite awhile.  It was nice; included laundry, tidying, finishing outstanding jobs, and an adnormal amount of sleeping.  Sleeping is good.  Oh, and there was a bit of walking in the 'hood.

streetcar and family

 

Waiting for the Queen car in front of Old City Hall. Whenever I look at those gargoyles up there I wish I had a long zoom lens. I read that the city almost tore down this building in the 60s. I will photograph more details of it before this project is finished, and you will agree that they were insane in the 60s.

Taken from the 501 Queen streetcar on my way home from the Beaches.

Fence and grounds at Osgood Hall, taken from the window of the streetcar. Captured the shadows. Did not capture how brilliant that forsythia looked in the sun.

I left work early today to go get my teeth cleaned at my dentist in the Beaches.  I enjoyed the ride on the infamous Queen streetcar.  Infamous for a couple of reasons - one of them is the fact that the cars are always late, always getting tied up with the traffic, as they don't have a dedicated lane on Queen Street; further complicated by it being the longest streetcar route in North America.  When I lived out in the Beaches, I had many a long wait for that car.

Later, Ceri and I met up with brother Scott and sister-in-law Jennifer, who came in from Washington to spend Easter with my family in St. Catharines, and taking a brief, baby-less couple of days in Toronto.  We walked over to Il Fornello on King Street and had dinner with Carly and Kelsey.  Great fun, great visit.  So fun, I forgot to take a picture.

The four of us left Scott and Jen at their hotel and went to Fionn's where we met up with Cathy who had just finished working a Leafs game.

Great night.

sunday: daytime, dinnertime, nighttime

Is anything as beautiful as a bird's nest harbouring eggs?  Mourning Dove nest in my sister's pine tree. Mississauga.

 

Five girls and a boy. Or, the next generation. (Missing the littlest guy.) (F) Carly, Sydney, Elaine, Paige, Kelsey (R) Chris.  Mississauga.  Photo attributed to guest photographer of the day - Catherine Morrison!

Home again home again jiggedy jig. Walking home from Union Station; streetcars and a bike. Queens Quay, Toronto

Family dinner at Cathy's today.  My girls, Ceri and I catch the GO train and Stan picks us up at Port Credit.  Dad, Julie, Jeff and his girls arrive soon after we do.  Wonderful dinner of perch (caught on the Manitoulin by Dad last summer, frozen for a special occasion), cole slaw, baked beans, broccoli salad, green salad and potatoes.  Even more wonderful company.  Arrive back in the city, tired and content.

 

rainy windy snowy windy rainy windy snowy

Steely grey sky with a beautiful tree that posed in front of it.

Windy rainy snowy rainy WINDY snowy icy sleety... no wonder that tower hung its proverbial head in the proverbial sand.

Blue Jays Way looking north at Front Street, Toronto

Path next to the railyway corridor, Blue Jays Way looking toward Spadina Ave.

that swarthy Scot stole my heart with his...

...Morrison plaid.  Why, what did you think I was going to say?

 

St. Andrew's Church, Simcoe Street at King, Toronto

 

Note to self: visit the museum over some lunch hour.

If I'm honest, I noticed the lusty fella's tree before I noticed his kilt.

 

St. Andrew's Church, Simcoe Street at King, Toronto

 

Actually I notice St. Andrew's Church most mornings.  Some of it is hidden now, undergoing renovations.  I expect I will be photographing at this corner again.

 

St. Andrew's Church, Simcoe Street at King, Toronto

first snowstorm

 

 

Woke up today to the first snowstorm of the season.  Everyone's walking a little carefully in the stuff, I think we forgot how!  Front Street, Toronto.

adelaide street, before work

It's still unseasonably mild - especially this morning. What a pleasant day to walk to work!  I just know I'll be crying a frozen river any day now.  

In the meantime, how pretty is that morning sky in that window over the door?  My little journey along Adelaide Street finds a number of buildings with their names over the doors, the stories behind which will vastly outlive the glass and steel condos and offices being constructed behind them.

I love this special tribute to a tree stump.  A tree stump monument.

Charming block of eateries on John Street, just north of Adelaide.