BBQ Guy

 Our restaurants have been closed for indoor dining since last fall and since December were only allowed to do take out, no patio service. This fellow owns a catering company and this restaurant, Rapido which is on Bathurst St. With no catering taking place and only take out happening he set up a barbecue out on the sidewalk and was out there all winter in every kind of weather and only missed a couple of really stormy days. His burgers are great! 

Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.

Tollkeeper's Cottage

 I showed you this cottage in the background of a pic of the blue canoe which is part of the Butterfly Way project. It is located at the corner of Bathurst St & Davenport Rd and served as the home for the tollkeeper who collected fees here from travelers along Davenport in the 1800s. During the 1800s private companies were allowed to collect tolls in return for building and maintaining roads and there were several of these along Davenport Rd. This cottage was built around 1835 and has quite a history if you click HERE. It was discovered a block away after a move years and years ago until finally being returned to its rightful location.

"Secret Garden"

I found the colours in this mural to be unusual compared to most pieces found around the city but I quite like it. Done by artist Emily Kouri and titled Secret Garden it is quite a happy mural with friendly creatures scattered about.  

Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.

A Bit Of A Mystery

 I was walking by an old house and noticed these two little doors in its side wall. I remember seeing milk boxes when I was a kid but I have no idea why this house has two and why the different sizes. Could one have been for milk and the other for bread? Any ideas?

Preening

 I spotted this Robin by the pond in the Wychwood Park neighbourhood. It was very busy preening and getting all of its feathers into perfect position maybe after a long flight home from down south.

Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.

Field Hospital

A few weeks ago a couple of the parking lots at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre were blocked off with fencing and then a few days later these tents started to appear. It turns out that they are fully loaded hospital tents and were being installed just in case the province goes into a 3rd wave. They are still empty and unused thank goodness. The whole scene reminds me of an episode from the TV show Mash. I hope they remain empty! 

Living Along Davenport Rd

Davenport Rd follows part of an old First Nation trail that ran between the Humber River and the Don River. It runs along the foot of an old shoreline of a glacial lake and  this results in a steep climb up to the front door of most of the homes along here. Casa Loma is located at the top of the shoreline and it takes 110 steps to reach the top but these homes are built into the side of the hill so it probably only takes 40 or 50 steps to enter them. It would keep you in good shape!

Happy

People often put things out by the sidewalk which they no longer need in hopes that someone else can use them.  This mirror  was out leaning on a tree and along with a few other things was gone when I came by about 30 minutes later. Be happy!

Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.

A Lovely Surprise

 A wonderful friend had these beautiful flowers delivered to me last week! What a fabulous surprise it was. And the delivery person was riding a bicycle which made it even more of a surprise.

Something Fishy

 I am always pleased when I happen upon a mural by the artist Birdo. The colours he uses are so intense and the subject is always intriguing.

Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.

A 1920s Apartment Building

This low-rise apartment building is found along Davenport Rd and is such a nice scale. Built in 1928 it has only 10 apartments in it and I assume they must be of a nice size compared to some of the tiny condos  being built now.

Giving a Little Help To Our Friends

 I was walking along through the snow in the Humber River valley and happened upon this old tree stump which someone had cleared of snow and had sprinkled some seeds about for the birds. At first I saw a little Junco and then this Song Sparrow settled down for a fast meal.

Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.

Home Address

 I followed the construction of this house last summer and fall and recently found it to be finished. It replaces a tiny house that was on this lot for years. Apparently there is a bit of controversy in the neighbourhood over its design bit I rather like it. Delivery people must love it!

Teddy In The Snow

I have shown you the wonderful Teddy before but not in the snow like I found him a couple of weeks ago. He was done by the artist John McEwen and you can see more shots of Teddy and also some of McEwen's other work if you click the label below. Teddy lives in the garden of a home in the Wychwood Park neighbourhood and as the years go by it is getting harder to get a shot of him as the plantings grow up along the edge of the garden and I hesitate to enter their grounds. 

Driving While Wearing The Green

This pic is from the St Patrick's Day parade of a couple of years ago. Unfortunately this year's parade will not be taking place because of Covid.  Steamwhistle is a local brewery whose green vehicles can be spotted all over the city , many of them are vintage like this 1956 Dodge Fargo van. Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.

Finally Flowers

This patch of Winter Aconite is usually the first bit of flowers that I see each spring and this year was no different. We had some nice warm days last week which resulted in the buds opening in the sunshine. Spring is going to come!

Purple Bunny

 I spotted this bunny by the artist Poser and was able to decipher his name on the garage door because the bunny itself had painted it. It seems so difficult to figure out the writing most of the time.  

Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.

Urban Chickens

I spotted these cute cut-outs of a chicken & rooster while out for a recent walk. There is a program in the city allowing households to have a few chickens as long as certain  provisions are made for their care. These ones will need little care!

Sleepy Time

 Our raccoons are nocturnal creatures and this guy was spotted up in a tree in the local park during the afternoon catching up on his sleep. Even the noise of kids and dogs below him had no effect on him. I like how you can see one of his feet hanging down over towards the bottom right.

Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.

Along The Side

This is the side of yesterday's garage and as you can see it is a masterpiece of shells and small stones. There are even a couple of decorated frying pans up along the top. I'll go back for a new pic of the front of the house soon.

Garage Decor

 I showed you this garage door last May (HERE) and as you can see it is an ongoing project with more details being added and changes made. It belongs to a house which is totally covered with bits and pieces of things. I'll have to go by for a new shot of the house but tomorrow I will show you the side of the garage.

More ButterflyWay

I have shown you  a few of these blue canoes which are part of the ButterflyWay project of the David Suzuki Foundation movement to encourage neighbourhood across Canada to establish suitable habitats for bees and butterflies. This one is located on Davenport Rd where it crosses Bathurst St and that little building behind it is one of the original tollkeeper cottages that once were used to house the families of tollkeepers who collected tolls along the roadway. It has been dated back to 1835 and is now a museum about the toll roads of the 1800s but because of covid it is closed. I will go back for a picture in the spring when the flowers come out.  

Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.

Through The Trees

 It is only during winter that one can look through the trees from Davenport Rd and get a view of Casa Loma. Most of the year the trees along the roadway and in the gardens of the Casa form a grand curtain of leaves.

A Flock Of Butterflies

I spotted this lovely garage door a while ago and though the bright colours were perfect for a post at this dull time of year. I love the flock (?) of butterflies floating across the surface. The artist for this one is Roshni Wijayasinha who has done a lot of pieces around town.  

Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.

At The Treetops

 I showed you the hidden balcony on Friday and this is the deck up by the bell tower that was my location for the shot. You can tell this is from the archives since we are not allowed to gather with friends at the moment. It was a lovely spot for a summer meal - right up at the level of the tree tops with a great view all around.

Feeding The Flock

Some kind person had come by the pond at James Gardens and had spread a nice supply of grains around for the ducks who live there. Some had already had their fill but others kept flying in for a bit of a snack.   

Taking part in Saturday's Critters. Click HERE to see more creatures from around the world.

A Hidden Balcony

This one is from the archives and is a couple of years old. Friends had a loft in a converted church and had a deck up in the bell tower. I was there for dinner one evening and you could look down onto this cute little balcony that was cut into the roofline of the church and wasn't visible from ground level. It was their balcony too so no privacy issues existed. It was a great spot to sit.

11th Blog Birthday

Today marks 11 years since I first started this blog and I've only missed a couple of days during the first couple of months of posting. I have enjoyed it so much and enjoy all the blogger friends I have made. It makes the world seem like a smaller place when you feel like you know people all over it. I have saved this pic of this butterfly mural to use today. Done by artists Nick Sweetman and Christina Mazzula, it always seemed to have a big truck in front of it. Finally one day this blue SUV seemed like a good match for the colours.

Massey Hall

Massey Hall is a venerable old performing arts theatre in downtown Toronto. It was built in 1894 and has been the site of many wonderful concerts and events through the years. It has heritage protection and has been closed for a couple of years to undergo needed renovations which will also include the removal of those fire stairs that ruin the look of the front of it. It seats only about 3,000 people so is a great place to go to hear your favourites.  

Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.

Watching

I spotted this great door out along the Danforth. It leads up to a space above the ground floor stores and certainly lets you know that you are home. Too bad someone tagged it.   

Taking part in Monday Murals today since the theme was yesterday. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.

March Theme: Mirrors

The March theme for the City Daily Photo blog community is 'Mirrors' which I found to be a difficult one until I remembered this shot I had taken in a gallery/shop. I liked the green pedestal mirror and then noticed how it had picked up the reflection of a steel plane and that the plane itself was being mirrored by its shadow. I had found my theme pic! 

Taking part in the theme Mirrors. Click HERE to see more mirrors from around the world.