I took this pic a while ago and never used it although I really like it and especially the way the reflections of the buildings across the road have managed to cut off part of the display of this high end store along Bloor St. And there is a bit of a selfie there!
Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve!
This Bluebird painted on a fence along a laneway near U of Toronto gives a nice bright lift to the spirits on a cold day. As the days get longer we can start to think of the flowers to come. The artist is Frannie Potts.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
I have gone by this blow-up of Kevin the Minion several times and the conditions or Kevin himself were not right for a pic until I finally caught him on a sunny day with no wind blowing him around. I couldn't let the season go by without having him appear!
There are few things as nice as a warm bath on a cool day and this House Sparrow knows that. I watched him for a while as he went in and out of the water really getting a good soaking in the heated bird bath. Then he came out and sat on a branch to dry off in the cold!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
One nice thing about winter is that you can really see the structure of the trees especially when there are a few highlights of snow on the branches. This was the scene in part of the gardens at Spadina House a week ago.
This was the entrance to Spadina House a week ago just after a snowfall. Its subtle decorations worked well in the snow. We have no snow left now.
The snow in this pic was from a week ago but it makes for a nice Christmas pic. The tree is out front of Casa Loma. I wish all who celebrate it a Merry Christmas!
The entrance to Casa Loma provides us with a nice scene for Christmas Eve. I imagine these are all lit up at night but I haven't been by after dark.
The gardens at the Veterans Centre at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre looked very Christmasy a couple of weeks ago when we had nice fluffy snow. This is the area where the waterfalls and ponds are but it would be hard to find water now.
I spotted these funky reindeer at the Veterans Centre at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. They look ready for any type of weather that may hit us at Christmas.
I haven't seen too many birds lately but did spot this Goldfinch in winter garb attempting to get some lunch after a morning snowfall. It's amazing the colour change that these guys go through - it is always nice to see the bright yellow feathers return in spring.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
When you get to the top of the stairs in yesterday's post and look to the left this is your first view of Casa Loma. It is always a nice one no matter what the weather but the snow makes it especially fine.
This is the stairway leading up to Casa Loma from Davenport Rd and just after a snowfall you can really see the stairs. There are 110 of them so tourists heading up to the Casa and to Spadina House get a bit of exercise on their way.
I had to stop and get a pic of this SUV when I passed by even though it was really cold out. "Strong Girl Co, helping women discover their inner strength" sounds good to me! The headlight even have luscious eyelashes on this truck.
Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
This was taken a couple of weeks ago in the afternoon about an hour after the snow stopped. Snow can certainly lift your spirits when it gives you such a scene. Those townhouses are just south of Casa Loma and sell for a couple of million $ each.
I spotted this door along a laneway and it seems to be the rear door of a laundramat. What a nice greeter that cat would be to anyone coming in this way. The artist is Mairen Doyle. There is no Monday Murals this week but I have so many mural pics that I am posting one anyway.
These old oak trees on the grounds of Spadina House always remind me of the Ents from Tolkien's books. It is especially evident now that the leaves are gone. And you can see the wonderful stone wall around the gardens.
This male Cardinal seemed to know exactly where to pose for this winter scene captured in the gardens of the Veterans Centre at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. We are well above our average snowfall for November & December and are only 1/2 way through December. The gardens at the centre have been decorated with these deer that are interspersed with all of the bird feeders making for some fun scenes.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
I caught these trees behind the wall at Casa Loma late one afternoon last week. I love the tracery of the branches.
This is the Ukrainian Catholic Church that has yesterday's sign out front. The golden domes certainly stood out against that blue sky on a cold Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. I've never been by when it is open but apparently there are a few murals inside that were done by the same artist who did the one over the front door.
This quite distinctive sign was found in front of a lovely church which I will show you tomorrow. The lovely illustration makes this a special sign.
Taking part in Signs2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
I thought I would show you a close-up of the left hand section of yesterday's mural so that you could see all of the detail that Shalak & Smoky put into their work. There is always something going on in the background in the scenes. And what a lovely bird that is!
I spotted this mural on the wall of a bicycle shop on Harbord St. It is by Shalak & Smoky who have done some of my favourite murals in the city. Click on the labels below to see more of their work. This one is so suitable for a bike shop!
Taking past in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
On a cold but sunny Sunday 2 weeks ago I took this pic of two of the baseball diamonds at Christie Pits Park. The diamond on the left is used by our Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team which plays in the Intercounty Baseball league. There are also other facilities like a rink, swimming pool, basketball court, soccer field, playground and just relaxing areas too. You can see the CN Tower photo-bombing on the right. The hills all around the perimeter of the park will be busy with toboggans until spring.
This is just part of the large flock of Mallard Ducks who spend their winter in the small pond in James Gardens in the Etobicoke neighbourhood. There is always a patch of open water here even during the coldest part of winter due to a small stream that runs into the pond and despite all of the signs asking people not to feed the wildlife many come by and toss them bread every day. In the past I have seen some Wood Ducks with them in the summer but never during winter.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
This cool handrail was spotted on Spadina just south of Casa Loma. I love its style!
I showed you this walkway beside Casa Loma back in the summer and thought I had better show it in autumn before I start showing deep snowy pics. People walking along here have just climbed the 110 steps up from Davenport Rd and are often a wee bit winded. You can see the walkway in summer and spring HERE.
This sign was found by the pond that I showed you a couple of weeks ago in the Wychwood Park neighbourhood where the baby goose door was. They take care of the wildlife there!
Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
This was a candidate for the rainbow theme post and is typical of the faded rainbows I found that were remaining from Pride week in the summer. It still brightens the neighbourhood though.There are a lot of faded flags around too!
I spotted this lovely little Bluebird along the same laneway as last week's Siberian Tiger mural. Even though we have already had some snow there are a few trees like the one in the pic which are still green. This one frames the bird so well! The artist for this one is Christina Mazzulla.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
The December theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is Rainbow. We don't seem to get a lot of rainbows here and I did find a lot of faded pride flags but came up with nothing until walking along Harbord St and spotting the bicycle parking lot of a cafe. The rainbow coloured bikes along with the brick wall give almost the whole range of colours except for yellow.
Taking part in the theme Rainbow. Click HERE to see more rainbows from around the world.
We had some cold days a week ago with some strong winds when I spotted this black squirrel huddled on a branch of a tree. The wind was at his back from the north and was blowing his tail right up over his head which must have helped him to stay warm!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
The lone holdout property owner in the city block that was Honest Ed's is now totally surrounded by a very deep pit except for the small frontage along Bathurst St. These are the supports that have been put in place on the other 3 sides to keep the building from falling into the hole. I for one would be a bit nervous in there!
This is the former site of the Honest Ed's store at Bathurst and Bloor where a complete city block is being redeveloped except for one hold-out building on Bathurst St which is visible in the centre right of the pic. The project includes 5 rental apartment buildings of various sizes and styles as well as a park, market and community centre. More cranes in our skyline! I'll show you a pic of the hold-out tomorrow.
When I first saw this sign I thought it was for a quaint little cafe near a park which has off-leash hours so a lot of dog people are around the area. It turns out that the Barkside Bistro is a pet food store specializing in raw and organic food for dogs and cats. Probably a good area for it!
Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
While I was walking through the Wychwood Park neighbourhood I realized that I hadn't shown Teddy in a long time and was surprised to discover that it has been since April 2012 the last time he appeared here. A lot of bushes and trees have gown up around the border of the property where he lives so it was hard to get a clear shot and as you can see the focus was more on the branch than on Teddy. He still looks cool though. You can see him in spring HERE. His artist is John McEwen and you can see more of his work if you click the label below.
This mural bringing attention to the plight of Siberian Tigers was found just off Harbord St near U of Toronto. The artist is Ted Hamer and let's hope that something is done to help these creatures.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
Glass seems to be the material of choice for a lot of balconies on condo buildings and apartments. I assume it must be cheaper than metal and faster to install. I spotted these blue balconies from a couple of blocks away and thought they looked great in the sunshine.
This cat is a fixture in the window of a local antique shop and is usually sitting up watching the world go by but on this day with the shop closed it was time for some sleep.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
Twice a year there is The Old Paper Show which takes place at the Wychwood Barns. They feature vintage books and paper of all kinds. Thousands of old postcards - who knew there were so many people who collect old postcards! It was great fun to wander about looking at old magazines, etc. You can read more info HERE.
On Remembrance Day, November 11, there is a tradition at the Veterans Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to plant 100 flags for each resident of the centre during the night before. This year 47,000 flags were placed into the ground throughout the gardens and lawns. Unfortunately it started to snow in the morning and by evening all of the flags were buried and it remained cold for several days so it wasn't until a week later that the flags started to appear again.
The pond in yesterday's post was the summer home for a family of Canada Geese who had 6 babies. The family liked to exit the pond to graze on the grass along Davenport Rd but a fence protects that area of the pond. Some thoughtful people carefully cut away a section of the chain link fence to allow the geese a door. I love that they added the sign!
Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
I wandered through the Wychwood Park neighbourhood a week ago just the day before we got our big dump of snow. Here you see the pond half covered with fallen leaves and that is the home where philosopher Marshall Mcluhan lived that is peeking through the trees. The resident turtles must be safely burrowed away till next spring.
Our weather has been terribly cold and snowy for the last week so I thought a nice colourful mural from Butterfly Lane was perfect for the day! The artist for this one is Leyland Adams. I have a lot more pics of murals from along this lane which I will post throughout the winter to give us a wee lift.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
This is the view in the opposite direction from Friday's post. Here we are looking west from the bridge and the far end of this pic is only about 100 metres from a busy highway but it feels far away when looking at all of the trees.
This hungry Hairy Woodpecker is one of only a few birds I have seen at the bird feeders lately at the Veterans Centre at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. I'm hoping they have disappeared because of the Peregrine Falcon who took up residence in the area and not because of population decline!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
This is the view from the bridge which was in Tuesday's post. This is Black Creek which runs through northwest Toronto and empties into the Humber River which in turn empties into Lake Ontario. When I was a kid we spent many hours in this creek hunting for frogs and turtles to keep as pets for a few days before taking them back to the water!
We got a bit of a surprise snowfall one night last week which certainly caught these Cosmos flowers off guard. They didn't survive the cold and were dead the next day but I still have some Geraniums hanging in for a bit longer.
While wandering down a laneway looking for murals I spotted this sign attached right in the middle of a mural. There seems to be cameras everywhere these days!
Taking part in Signs2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
Some trees seem to be hanging onto their leaves while all of the others around them have given in to the autumn winds. This maple is one of the stubborn ones.
