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.
This was a really long mural that was found along Butterfly Lane in the summer and it seemed like a good time for some bright colour as we head into winter. The artist for this one is Anya Mielniczek and unfortunately I couldn't get back far enough to get a head-on pic.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
This is the City of Toronto Archives building which is located just down the hill from Casa Loma on Spadina Rd (just in behind the trees I showed you on Sunday). It was built in 1992 and holds government & non government records as well as over 1 million pics of the city. The building has climate controlled records, an atrium & exhibit space, a theatre, and a research hall. You can look up info on every building in the city. That is the City of Toronto flag flying on the pole.
We have had a lot of rain lately and just after a recent shower I spotted this black squirrel having a snack up in a pine tree. You can see that the poor thing is a bit wet judging by all of the water droplets on its tail. He was keeping an eye on me but didn't stop eating!
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
I caught this Oak tree with lovely colours just before a big wind storm that we had last week. The wind really stripped a lot of leaves from our trees just when they were at the peak of their colour change.
Behind all of the decorations in this pic is a house that has every inch of its surface covered with little decorations of cut wood or stones. The man who lives here has been working on it for years and has even decorated his whole garage in the laneway. For various holidays such as Christmas, seasonal decorations are added to the display. There is also a fountain somewhere in there in the front garden. This is a semidetached house but I'm not sure what the attached neighbours think of it!
I thought Cam's Little Library was quite elegant with its wonderful doors and the nice addition of a small chalkboard down beneath it. I didn't pick up anything that day but will be back to check it out again.
Taking part in Signs2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
The last couple of weeks have brought us some really beautiful autumn colours as the Maple trees finally started to turn. It feels like it has been late to happen this year. I spotted these two in the Casa Loma neighbourhood.
I like this colourful garage door and the green lines and words seem to really add something positive to it. I couldn't decipher the artist name at all. It is an interesting garage with its galvanized metal cladding.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
I took this pic about a week ago from half way up the stairs at Casa Loma looking down over the Annex neighbourhood towards Lake Ontario. The CN Tower is about 6 miles away from where I was at the time.
I was standing talking to a friend in a small parking lot and noticed over his shoulder these two House Sparrows sunbathing up against the curb. It was a cool day but the sun was really strong so they were quite toasty. They looked at us and thought "We aren't moving"! When we left they were still there.
Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.
The November theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is brown which made me realize that I don't shoot many pics of brown things. I had taken a pic of the lovely wooden phone at Spadina House during the Doors Open event. The phone was in a tiny space like a closet with just the one light, a stool and a phone book. My, how phones have changed!
Taking part in the theme Brown. Click HERE to see more examples of brown from around the world.
