Lost and Found

July 2018 - Toronto ON

Wandering Queen St. West I found an outside exhibit at Campbell House.
Click here to go inside this historical home and here for more.

In the postwar era, many of Toronto’s iconic downtown buildings were demolished to make way for modern office towers. Rosa and Spencer Clark, passionate supporters of the Arts and Crafts movement and eager to preserve examples of handcrafted masonry, rescued architectural fragments from some of these buildings and relocated them to their Scarborough home, now known as the Guild Park and Gardens. Some of the salvaged stones were transformed into sculptural installations that can be seen on the grounds of the park today. Other pieces, however, were relegated to long-term storage. For the first time in fifty years, a selection of these salvaged stones has returned to the downtown core for Lost & Found: Rediscovering Fragments of Old Toronto, a year-long exhibition in the Campbell House garden.

Gorgeous gardens in the heart of a busy intersection University and Queen.

Another garden tucked away near the back.

This guy was having his lunch and watching me take photos, but did he move, nope.

Tuesday Treasures

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

May 2018 - Stoney Creek ON

This will be at least a two part post.

We visited the Masonic Lodge during Doors Open Hamilton. A totally new world to us, we had a great tour guide but I'll admit a lot of the pomp and circumstance eluded me, information overload.

The information below is from Wikipedia.

Freemasonry in Canada traces its origins to the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Grand Lodge of Ireland, as a result of Canada's history as a dominion within the British Empire. Freemasonry in the United States, including Prince Hall Freemasonry, also influenced the formation of Freemasonry in Canada. Erasmus James Philipps became a Freemason while working on a commission to resolve boundaries in New England and, in 1739, became provincial grand master for Nova Scotia; Philipps founded the first Masonic lodge in Canada at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

The Freemason’s Apron is representative of the apron worn by Operative Masons, to protect their clothing from the abrasive surface of building materials, particularly stone. After receiving knowledge and instruction in the symbolic form, the new Brother is at last given a tangible symbol of Masonry to wear as his own and eventually to carry away in the form of an Apron.

All Shriners must be Masons and petitioners to Freemasonry must profess a belief in a Supreme Being. To further minimize confusion with religion, the use of the words "temple" and "mosque" to describe Shriners' buildings has been replaced by "Shrine Center", although some individual local chapters are still called Temples.

In many English speaking countries, the Square and Compasses are depicted with the letter "G" in the center. The letter has multiple meanings, representing different words depending on the context in which it is discussed. The most common is that the "G" stands for God, and is to remind Masons that God is at the center of Freemasonry. In this context it can also stand for Great Architect of the Universe (a non-denominational reference to God). In a different context, the letter stands for Geometry, described as being the "noblest of sciences", and "the basis upon which the superstructure of Freemasonry is erected."

The Tall Cedars of Lebanon of North America is a side degree of Freemasonry, open to Master Masons in good standing in a regular Masonic Lodge. Its motto, "Fun, Frolic, & Fellowship," is indicative of this social bent. Its members are distinguished by the pyramid-shaped hats they wear at their functions. The name is derived from the cedars of Lebanon that King Solomon used to build his Temple.

I can't remember and don't plan on researching each and every one of these medals.
The guide was very proud of this one in his collection, found at a flea market.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge

Lens Artists - COOLING

Here are the guidelines:
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Week 1 – Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/
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Week 4 – Tina of https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/

My first time playing so I went to my external hard drive and did a search on "water cool" expecting a photo of kids playing in a fountain or water splashing. But this is the first photo that popped up. 

From 2003 when we had two cats, Porter and Parnell, and we were still working and living in our house. Both cats have crossed the Rainbow Bridge but still make us smile. We no longer work and now live in a condo.

Now to the photos I was originally thinking of, both taken in Mexico, where we often spend the winter months.

Monday Mural

Linking up at Monday Mural

July 2018 - Toronto ON

More in the Dupont/Spadina area.


Source

Nation: Moose Deer Point First Nation First Nations Affiliation: Shawnee, Lakota, Potawatomi, Ojibway and Algonquin.

Philip Cote is a Sundancer, Pipe Carrier and Sweat Ceremony leader recognized by Elder Vern Harper and Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand. Cote received his Indigenous name Noodjmowin (The Healer) in 1979 from Joe Couture and was made a member of the Falseface Society at the Seneca longhouse in 1992.

After I took these photos I went to the Toronto Archives up the street and saw this photo.

The beginning of the Mural depicts an Eagle Dancer representing the ancient Ice Runners also known as the “Oh-kwa-ming-i-nini-wug” of Algonquin lineage who were here in those early days looking towards the future. The Return of The Buffalo is represented here and are part of the story of this land as there were once giant wood buffalo that roamed across this land now called the city of Toronto.

The second Ice-Runner is the man running behind the wolf (The Wolf is the First Brother of Man), and the Black Thunderbird symbol in the Medicine Wheel Circle is the symbol of the Anishinaabe People who were the first to inhabit this territory. Then you will see the Tobacco Plant, which is an important Sacred Medicine offered up in our Ceremonies. Tobacco is in the East on the Medicine Wheel. It is one of the four sacred medicines.

The Crane is part of The Anishinaabe Clan System and Governance. The Crane Clan shares power of Chieftainship with the Loon Clan. Crane Clan takes care of leadership of external relations, external negotiations, speaker of the community, leadership and mediation and expresses of sentiments for the people, but wishes of the group.

The next symbol, the Beaver, is the symbol of The Wendat People who were the next in the order of inhabiting this territory.

Next you will see an Anishinaabe Moccasin. It is a message of the many trails Indigenous peoples traveled across the city over 13,500 years ago. The Moccasin is on Cedar which, a medicine that is put down on the arbor of the Sundance. Cedar is in the South on the Medicine Wheel and is used as usually as a tea and for bathing and cleansing in Cedar Baths.

The next symbol is the Star Symbol of the Cree peoples who came next to the land to live here. And then depicted is the eagle that can travel between the physical world and the spiritual world, and is thus closest to the Creator. The eagle feather and eagle wings are Sacred, they are used in Smudge Ceremonies, and the eagle feather is a symbol of truth, power and freedom. The Beaver is a symbol of advancement and Industry/progress since he is a builder.

  Sage is in the West on the Medicine Wheel and is another medicine used for smudging and cleansing. The canoe is there because it is a symbol of all the paths the Indigenous People created which are still used to this day, like the Humber River trail, and the Don River, etc.

 The Bear is another Clan Animal. Bears are settlement guardians, they patrol the local area; also, they know medicinal plants and are healers, guardians of traditions. The Bear stands on a loop of Sweetgrass. This medicine is in the North, another one of the four sacred medicines used in smudging and Ceremony.
The Bear looks on towards the Giant Buffalo. There were once 60,000,000 Buffalo in North America, only to be slaughter by the settlers so they could take the land from the Indigenous Peoples.

The Buffalo was vital for the survival of Indigenous Peoples of North America. They used all the parts of the animal, the furs for clothing and warmth, the meat for food, the bones for tools, and nothing was wasted. It was a major food source but was taken away by the murder of the Buffalo by the Colonists.


 It is said that one day there will be a Return of the Buffalo to this land and territory so they could roam free as they once did here. This is what we all look forward to. “Nindinawemaaganidok” “All My Relations”, which means We Are All Related.