I have no idea what these flowers are but I love them! What a vibrant pink that is.
It was the wee chick that attracted my attention in this shop window along Dundas St W and then I realized that the Good Rebel is a 100%vegan grocery store. Apparently they serve great sandwiches and have a large variety of vegan cheeses, meats etc. I have to go back when they are open and try one of their famous sandwiches!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
This is the other side of the utility box visible in yesterday's post. I really like this one. The artist is Vivian Rosas and it was done in 2017.
I spotted this mural made up of wooden cut-outs of trees along Dundas St W and then later found several installations of the same type of cut-outs in the area but these ones seem to work the best. They may have been installed to discourage tagging along the wall of this low rise apartment building. I really liked that utility box on the right side and will show you the other side tomorrow.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
I showed you a back view of St Lawrence Hall a few weeks ago (HERE) and in my ongoing quest to get a good shot of the front I went around to the front on King St but the trees and the shade still have posed a problem. The hall is directly across the road from the park I showed you on Friday so that gives you an idea of the number of trees in the area. I do like this angled shot though and will continue to attempt a better pic - maybe in winter with no leaves on the trees!
I showed you a cute House Finch in winter (HERE) when he was all puffed up to keep warm and thought I'd show how sleek they look on a hot summer day. This guy was having a nice feed below a bird feeder and if you look closely he has a big seed in his beak!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
Right beside St James Cathedral which I showed you yesterday is St James Park which is owned by the church and the city. The park is Victorian inspired with both this lovely formal garden and with more open grassy areas for wandering. It is a welcome spot to relax in the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood.
Rising from the trees in this pic is the spire of St James Cathedral, an Anglican church on King St E which is home to the oldest congregation in the city. The church itself was built in the 1850s but the tower and spire were not completed until 1876. Those are the towers of the Financial district behind it. Tomorrow I will take you down into those trees.
This gas station On Dundas St W certainly gives us a flashback to earlier times with its curved walls. Probably the 50s don't you think?
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
This pic shows part of the exterior of the Summerhill Liquor Store. I had shown the whole building with lots of info back in 2010 (HERE) but this time it is the fountain that I wanted to show. It is interesting in that it has a shallow trough that fills with water and then the structure tilts and dumps the water as it is doing here before repeating the cycle. The pigeons don't seem to pay any attention to it! Our liquor stores are all owned by the government and operated as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).
I have no idea what is in this cute building with the cubed mural covering the front but I love the effect. It looks like it may be a commercial space that has been turned into a residential spot. The space next door looks intriguing but I was there early on a Sunday morning so it wasn't open.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
I was parking down at the end of a dead end street which offers free parking close to Yonge St, Toronto's main street, when I spotted this addition to a row of houses. The red brick row houses were built several years ago on a shallow lot very close to a busy railway line. This stone and wood home has been added to the end of the row and it is even closer to the train tracks which curve out towards the road here. I love the look of the new house but it must get shaky in there when some of the long noisy trains go by!
This little chipmunk's cheeks were full of seeds and he was soon off to hide his supply somewhere and then was back to pick up more from beneath a bird feeder.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
I've shown you this clock before when there were no leaves on the trees (HERE) and thought I'd give a different view. This is the tower found at Upper Canada College which is an exclusive private school for boys found in the Forest Hill area of the city. I ventured through an opening in their fence to catch this leafy shot!
This is the lovely seating area in the small park, Courthouse Square, which I showed you yesterday. The original square had crabapple trees planted in it and in reference to those this area is surrounded by espaliered crabapple trees combined with rose vines which will grow up along those arches. I saw a spring pic of this area and it is well planted with spring bulbs too. I was there early on a Sunday morning so no one was around but it is usually a busy place!
When we come to the end of yesterday's walkway we find ourselves at the entrance to Courthouse Square which is a small park behind the building which had housed the York County Court House in the 1800s. I think it now houses a restaurant. This little square is reported to have been the site of the last public hanging in Toronto back in the late 1800s but now has a fountain, sculpture, a stage, and a lovely seating area which I will show you tomorrow.
I spotted this walkway running off King St E in the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood on an early Sunday morning and set off to explore down to the other end. We will see what's there tomorrow.
Who could resist this bit of a mural with the camera included up on the left? These letters are actually legible so the artists for this one are Dying Breed although there seems to be a little "un" painted in the middle of the top row. The bears & bees that I showed you last week are on one of the walls of this auto service place.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
Walking through the Annex neighbourhood I spotted this ivy-covered house with its great porch and that wonderful third floor balcony. Either place would be a great location for watching the world pass by!
On a pleasant Sunday afternoon this couple were enjoying a nice meal in a restaurant while their faithful companion sat out on the chairs watching through the open window. He was very friendly and posed nicely for me!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
The Seaton Village neighbourhood has been the site of Porch Dances for the last several years. People gather on the street outside of the first house on the event and are entertained by a family dancing on the porch and are then led onto the next location by that man visible in the pic with the tall hat & megaphone. There are usually a couple of detours on the way such as this one where he led us down a laneway to the lot of the local food co-op where 2 women danced for us. This pic was taken on the first of the 5 nights the event was held. Lots of people came out to enjoy it!
I'm back at Grange Park behind the Art Gallery of Ontario for another pic. This shot was taken from the playground in the park looking towards the Financial District visible under the great stilted overhang of the Ontario College of Art and Design. I love this view!
Those Coca Cola signs are almost ghost signs with the red so faded and just little bits of the bright colour hanging on there. It looks like someone was a big winner in this neighbourhood though!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
This is one of the new benches found in the newly renovated Grange Park and there are a lot of them sprinkled around the park. They are comfortable to sit on!
This mural is found at the beginning of the laneway that I have been showing for the last several weeks. The artist for this one is Nick Sweetman and it turns out that he worked with community members to paint all of the other garage doors along the laneway. This one is wonderful with the bees and the bears into the honey. I particularly like the honey dripping from the 'window' he has painted around the A/C unit!
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals fro around the world.
One of the main features of the newly renovated Grange Park is this wonderful Henry Moore sculpture called Two Large Forms. It has been located at the corner of Dundas and McCaul Streets at the entrance to the AGO since 1973 and was relocated to this prime spot in the park. The setting is wonderful for it with the blue wall of the art gallery behind it!
A large part of the newly renovated Grange Park is taken up by the children's play area which has a splash pad, lots of the usual pieces of playground equipment and also several structures such as this one that are built to be crawled over and through. I would have loved these when I was a kid!
Hidden behind the trees in yesterday's post was this fine building known as the Grange. It was built in 1817 as a manor house and what is now Grange Park was the front lawn of the home. The home and property were bequeathed to the Art Museum of Toronto (now called the Art Gallery of Ontario) in 1910 and the Grange is part of the art gallery now. There is quite a contrast with Frank Gehry's wall and stairs!
This is Grange Park which is found at the back of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) whose wonderful blue titanium wall and Frank Gehry stairs are visible above the trees. The 1.8 hectare park has just been reopened after being closed for 15 months for a $15 million renovation which included planting 80 new trees, a new fountain, newly designed playgrounds, off-leash dog area, new benches, lighting, and more to come. I'll show you a few more shots over the next few days including a pic of what is hidden behind those trees.
The annual Salsa On St Clair festival took place in July. It is a celebration of Latin culture that takes place along several blocks of St Clair Ave W and features food, performances, and lots of Salsa dancing. These two ladies were wandering around posing for pics in their great outfits. The road is totally closed so they are posing here between the tracks for the streetcars.
The August theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is "Young At Heart" and I chose this pic because I loved how this older man with a walker was rushing along a path with a bundle of balloons to deliver them to the kids. The pic was taken through a slightly dirty window so isn't the sharpest image ever.
Taking part in the Theme Day. Click HERE to see more youngsters from around the world.
