Lots and lots of laundry was the order of the weekend.
John bottled his wine. Then we settled in for an afternoon of popcorn and a movie.
A Montreal cousin interrupted our afternoon with a call asking advice about a trip to Ireland.
Sunday I made French toast for breakfast. We wrestled the new duvet cover over the duvet and found that our pillows were too small for the pillow shams so I ordered the right size pillows which came later in the week.
Yes, these are the pillows, they are taking a while to fluff up!!
Sad news.
Monday was a federal holiday, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
The governments of British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon added September 30th to their relevant legislations as a holiday to some extent.
John golfed as it was a gorgeous day and "caught" a big one on the golf course.
I went for a hair cut and then dropped a couple of things off at Stitch It, an alterations place. Normally I go to Bay-Bloor location but discovered there is one in TD, avoiding a subway ride.
I took John's golf jacket to get the sleeves shortened and his jeans (favourite) for a patch $48. Reasonable.
Always something going on in Brookfield Place.
The fall arrangements are nice.
Royal York.
I came home and did a bunch of little things - tried printing a photo but the ink wasn't right, so I'll have to try again. Rearranged some wall photos (has John noticed?), decluttered two fry pans (bought new ones), another plant pot, shortened sleeves on my black jacket, fixed seam on hoodie, scrubbed kitchen mats, tidied up my sweater shelves. I also move some seldomly used serving dishes from the kitchen cupboards to storage and moved some coffee supplies to their spot, freeing up some space in the corner cupboard.
I was going to use the end of the prime rib to make a stirfry but it was too fatty so we ordered chicken (last time we ordered was April).
I rearranged the dishtowels (again!) under the sink, nothing seems to work. I put the new ($ store) sink racks in the sink and the black ones into the charity bag.
Tuesday John did a Costco run.
I made chicken stock out of the bones.
Wednesday John golfed, I went to Longo's and the Scotiabank arena was a hub of activity as Billie Eilish two-night shows were setting up. There were two of the blue trucks and I counted 11 of the silver trailers.
On the way home I got off the bus at our other building Palace Place to check these out before walking home. Not my photo.
Palace Pier-left, Palace Place-right
In that undated photo above the green area has been replaced by the new plaza mentioned below.
Just unveiled - Campfire
The City of Toronto’s Public Art Collection is pleased to announce ‘Campfire,’ a permanent public artwork by Michael Belmore and Herman Mejia. The artwork was installed near the new plaza along the Humber Bay recreational trail. An Indigenous-led project, the finished public artwork will be a waterfront landmark and gathering place.
Image: A sculpture resembling the outline of a flame sits in a grassy area with a cityscape in the background.
These driftwood animal sculptures have started appearing near the sculpture.
That plastic dish has money donations. Someone on Facebook mentioned the artist is Damian.
My favourite.
UPDATE the city bulldozed his creations because he didn't have an "artist license".
John's new battery operated golf cart arrived to his great excitement. Another toy...
Thursday we headed to Cookstown, about an hour north-east of Toronto. I had read about a Pumpkin Patch. We've done a lavender farm and tulips in the past. This was by far the best farm visit, pumpkins, corn, all sorts of autumn flowers, apples.
More kinds of pumpkins than we've ever seen.
We did enter the maze but it said it took thirty minutes to complete so we took the easy way out.
Corn as high as an elephant's eye!
Lots of photo ops! The yummy mummies were so annoying with their Cadillac strollers and selfies!
A stereotypical yummy mummy was described by Nirpal Dhaliwal in The Times as having an existence "bankrolled by a husband working himself to death in the City, [dressing] in designer outfits... carries the latest must-have bag [and] whose hair and nails are perfectly groomed".
I had spotted a plane when we went by the airport, on the way back I realized that it was THE Russian plane that I had read about!
A massive Russian-registered cargo plane was ordered parked at Toronto Pearson International Airport after the invasion of Ukraine, but there still isn’t a timeframe for it to be removed.
Since its arrival on Feb. 27, 2022, it has been parked near Terminal 1 at the northeastern edge of airport. The airplane can be seen from Highway 427 and has been parked there for so long that it can also be seen on Google Maps satellite imagery.
Not my photo.
Thursday - The ultimate decluttering ! I came across this in the Toronto Library newsletter.
This is Toronto’s Coin Show, and you are sure to find one–of–a–kind treasures. The Toronto Coin Expo is the best venue in Toronto and Canada to Buy, Trade, Sell your old unwanted Gold & Silver Coins, Bank Notes, Gold Jewelry, Diamond Rings at the highest prices. With multiple vendors in attendance, you are sure to get the best price. Appraisals are also done on site are included with your admission.
So we packed up our jewelry that we wanted to get rid of along with the very heavy coin collection, made up mostly of coin leftover from our travels and some Canadian coin collected over the years and headed there.
It turned out to mainly be coins, we only saw one gold desk and they were selling, not buying. We approached a guy who was very nice and he took the Canadian silver coins (6) and gave us $70. He then took the paper international bills for $10 and suggested we take the other coins to Scott (good guy, across from him). Scott suggested Mike near the door, for the rest of the foreign coin, or holiday money as he called it (true), who bought it as bulk mixed metal, $15. Good for us, it's now out of our life.
We picked up lunch on Union, John tried Venezolano, gluten free arepas, second try, he still doesn't like them, it didn't help that they heated them up in a microwave. Same problems as last time, no spices, greasy and terrible dipping sauce.
I picked up a croissant sandwich from Hakikudo, good as always.
Then we did a quick run to Longo's for weekend supplies and home. We then ran out for mani-pedis. John used the golf simulator for a couple of hours. Busy day!
COOKING
Saturday prime rib, roast potatoes, broccolini, balsamic tomatoes and mushrooms.
Sunday beef stew from leftover prime rib. Remainder went into soup bag.
Wanted Man Follows a police officer who must retrieve an eyewitness and escort her after a cartel shooting leaves several DEA agents dead, but then he must decide who to trust when they discover that the attack was executed by American forces.
Still Alice A linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist 22024 mini-series. Following his return to boxing after dodging the draft, Ali beats Jerry Quarry. Later that night, hundreds are robbed at his after-party in a massive armed robbery.
Page Eight Johnny works for MI5. His neighbor Nancy approaches him. When his best friend and boss suddenly dies, Johnny's left to sort out things about the PM, MI5 and US.
Started the sports documentary series Mr. McMahon. WWE experienced record-breaking highs and crushing lows under Vince McMahon's leadership and the mogul's controversial reign.
Asphalt City Ollie Cross is a young paramedic assigned to the NYC night shift with an uncompromising and seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky. Each 911 call is often dangerous and uncertain, putting their lives on the line every day to help others.
I watched His Three Daughters. A tense, touching and funny portrait of family dynamics follows three estranged sisters as they converge in a New York apartment to care for their ailing father and try to mend their own broken relationship with one another.
READING
Perfect Kill I am reading this Helen Sarah Fields series out of order, but it doesn't bother me. This is a delightfully twisty plot that is, in places quite horrific and gruesome.... just what I love.
The Last Girl to Die, by the same author, although this is a standalone that I didn't enjoy as much.
Some of the story didn't make sense and the actions of the main character just baffled me.
The Search Party by Hannah Richell, a new to me author. My kind of read, long and satisfying.
A reunion thriller that not only includes a group who met at University some twenty years ago, but also their children, who it has to be said play quite a prominent part in the storyline. There are new partners trying to fit in, crabby neighbour, crumbling friendships and failing marriages along with the plot twists.
my father grew a field of corn one year and it was tall, but nowhere near as tall as that crop. As always, an interesting collection of photos and detail.
Looks like you had a wonderful and playful time at the pumpkin farm.. I love the driftwood figures, I love when I can get rid of things I don't want and get money for it to boot! Did they buy your jewelry? We go to Costco about once a week in Florida (it's close by) and about o once a month in Pennsylvania bc it's about 25 minutes away. Great stuff there.
What a great header you made from your visit to the pumpkin patch! I hope you will include one from the sunflower area in the future. Love these photos.
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my father grew a field of corn one year and it was tall, but nowhere near as tall as that crop.
ReplyDeleteAs always, an interesting collection of photos and detail.
I loved Hannah Richell's book The Peacock Summer!
ReplyDeleteYour visit to the farm looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Looks like you had a wonderful and playful time at the pumpkin farm.. I love the driftwood figures, I love when I can get rid of things I don't want and get money for it to boot! Did they buy your jewelry? We go to Costco about once a week in Florida (it's close by) and about o once a month in Pennsylvania bc it's about 25 minutes away. Great stuff there.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great header you made from your visit to the pumpkin patch! I hope you will include one from the sunflower area in the future. Love these photos.
ReplyDeleteThe art inspired by Camfire is delightful!
Helen Fields writes some great books. I have read a few of hers.
ReplyDeleteThe farm you visited looks fantastic. Good job clearing out the coins and jewelry you no longer want to keep. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your jam-packed busy and fun weeks!!!
ReplyDelete