Monday Mural and Tuesday Treasures

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural and Tuesday Treasures

April 2026 - Toronto ON 

Found in this laneway, off Dundas West. 

For Tuesday Treasures, an update to my 2024 project. Click here for a history of Toronto lane naming and a list of other lanes. That post is a work in progress, and hasn't been updated in a while.

Rocco Mandalfino (1899 –1979) was born in Italy, the child of Antonio Mandalfino and Caterina Le Castro. He served in the Italian Army during the Great War. He was awarded the 1968 World War I Gold medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Great War, and in 1971 was made a Cavaliere dell’Ordine di Vittorio Venito (Knight of the Order of Vittorio Venito) by the Republic of Italy for his war service.  He sailed from Palermo, aboard the SS DANTE ALIGHIERI, arriving at Ellis Island (New York City, USA) on 18 August 1923, at 24 years of age. Unmarried. A Roman Catholic. Intended occupation, a labourer. In 1928 Rocco appears in the Toronto City Directory for the first time. First residence; 23 Denison Avenue. Over the next few years, he moves twice more (1360 St. Clair Avenue West and 47 McKay Avenue). He was employed as a shoemaker at American Shoe Repair in 1930-31. He resides at 77 Bellwoods Avenue, Toronto, from 1933 until his passing in 1979.  He is listed as working as a baker until 1960 (Canadian Bakery, Woman’s Bakery, as a guard for Security and Investigation Services until 1969.   He was known as The Builder, (see applicant submission.) 

For Monday Mural PART ONE these murals are painted on the garage doors, a common canvas for street art in this area. The garages are located behind the houses, typically at the back of the gardens.

Featuring a black bear and a moose set against a colorful northern lights background, this was painted by Toronto-based artist Nick Sweetman in 2022. 

Nick Sweetman is a recognized Canadian street artist known for detailed animal illustrations.

 Click on SWEETMAN in the tags/labels below this post to see his many murals around town.

 

The artist's signature, "SWEETMAN 22," is visible in the lower right corner of the mural. 

This mural is by artist Rowell Soller. 

It features his signature style, often characterized by complex patterns and anthropomorphic figures.

The artwork is located on a residential garage door, a common canvas for street art in this area.

The mural showcases intricate line work and a specific color palette often found in Soller's Toronto-based projects.

More Soller, 2020, during the pandemic.

Soller on Lake Shore Blvd.

This mural, titled "Hearts on Fire," was created by Toronto-based street artist D. Terra Stencils. 

It depicts a firefighter using a hose to spray a large red heart, symbolizing "burning love" or a firefighter attempting to extinguish a fire.

Toronto-based stencil artist D.Terra emerged during the pandemic, focusing on large-scale works that quickly garnered widespread community support. Despite the ephemeral nature of street art, his pieces, featuring raccoon symbolism and cultural references, persist in sparking meaningful discussions.

Another D. Terra

Morning Reflections

 

Foto Tunes

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme

May 2026 - Toronto ON

LOVE LOVE LOVE Queen and their songs.

"Radio Ga Ga"

Radio.

Radio.

I'd sit alone and watch your light
My only friend through teenage nights
And everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio


Franz Josef New Zealand




You gave them all those old time stars
Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars
You made 'em laugh, you made 'em cry
You made us feel like we could fly.
Radio.


Madrid Spain






So don't become some background noise
A backdrop for the girls and boys
Who just don't know or just don't care
And just complain when you're not there

You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Radio, Radio.




Whitehorse Yukon






All we hear is Radio ga ga
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga
All we hear is Radio ga ga
Radio blah blah
Radio, what's new?
Radio, someone still loves you!




New York City NY





We watch the shows, we watch the stars
On videos for hours and hours
We hardly need to use our ears
How music changes through the years.


Edmonton AB

.


Let's hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around 'cause we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual


Toronto ON






You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Radio, Radio.


Rochester MN

Morning Reflections

 

Funnies

 

Rosier Coffee

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

Weekly Wonders

T Stands for Tuesday

15 May 2026

HANOI VIETNAM

Last week's post

SATURDAY

I was up at 6:45, my mind abuzz with things to do. First off, I baked some frozen scones for breakfast.

I did do laundry during the week, but didn't stick to having it all done before the weekend. DONE AND PUT AWAY!

I wanted to fill all my spice mixtures for BBQ and tacos. NOT DONE I don't buy packaged mixes.

My plants needed some mothering! DONE

SUNDAY

I completed my passport renewal. It wasn't an easy online process. I ended up using John's laptop as mine wouldn't let me fill it out, go figure. Also some lazy programming that could be improved to help the process. Got a friend's address as a reference, and booked coffee with her next week.

I decided to delay processing the renewal as we booked a 5 day golf trip to PEI at the end of May.

Flights, golf and hotel booked.

I chatted with my cousin. Her job hunting is still ongoing, it is tough going out there. No one wants to hire permanent, everything is AI.

John installed the new shower head, we are in love with it!!

MONDAY

Monday Mural

Foto Tunes Forever in Blue Jeans

Once again, I had to tell AI that they were wrong.

I went looking for black pants and got a bargain!! I found a pair listed at $60, tried them on and they were perfect. I tried to find some others, but none in my size. I got to the cash and she says, "final sale", I was surprised but then she said the price $20!! I had $10 in points so I scored them for $11 WOO HOO!

I picked up my items from the tailor.

TUESDAY

Tuesday Treasures Homeless Jesus

We caught the 11:20 bus and walked underground(because it was  so cold and windy) to Joey's, which we like, to meet our financial advisor.

John had the steak and crunchy tuna rolls, I had steak and salmon rolls. L had yellowfin tuna salad.

It was all very good.

After lunch, we walked around the corner to Moore's as John wanted some pants. Oh, how I miss The Bay for items like this!! It has been years since we were in Moore's but he found two pairs that he liked. One will arrive later in the week.

We had never been into this store so I was curious about what it had originally been, as it had a very interesting entrance.

It is housed in a building that incorporates the facade of the historic 1919 Fairweather Building. Even more interesting, you can see the name Fairweather's over the entrance. However, I know Fairweather as an average young women's clothing chain.

Founded in 1866 by Scottish immigrant William Fairweather, it initially opened as a dry goods and clothing store in Peterborough, Ontario, before expanding into luxury furs and apparel.

By the early 20th century, the business moved its flagship operations to downtown Toronto. It operated high-profile retail locations on Yonge Street, including a landmark boutique near King Street (the facade now preserved at 100 Yonge Street) and a massive three-storey store near Dundas Street.

For decades, Fairweather was celebrated as a premier destination for high-quality ladies' coats, dresses, and fine furs. In the mid-to-late 20th century, it became iconic for massive, chaotic Boxing Day sales where shoppers lined up for blocks down Yonge Street.

During its peak retail era, the chain was owned by the major Canadian retail conglomerate Dylex Limited

WEDNESDAY

Signs

John had his first Wednesday men's golf league game and it was cold out!

I went out with soft plans for my day that turned out like nothing I planned! I had decided to see about selling some gold we had lying around. 

I came out of the subway at Queen St.

I went to a place on Yonge St. that I had used for jewelry repair in the past. I knew that it had some gold buyers.

I gave her my biggest piece first and I was shocked at what she offered me (in a very good way)! I dragged out my baggie and we went through the pieces, a lot of old watches that weren't worth anything, a few other pieces she suggested taking to an antique buyer. In the end, I was a happy camper. and walked out with double her first offer and a bunch of stuff gone!! 

She paid me in cash, so now I am freaking out, and took it into the Eaton Centre to the branch. 

Due to money laundering rules, you have to go to a bank that you have an account with. This branch had awful service. I walked out and went down to my usual branch and deposited it.

Canstruction Toronto is an annual design competition and exhibition held in the Toronto Financial District where architecture and engineering firms build elaborate, large-scale structures using canned foods. These sculptures are displayed in various locations within the financial district, to raise awareness about food insecurity.

I didn't photo all of them!

Turtle - 5,742 cans

.

THURSDAY

I had a great itinerary for a day out, but it was feeling like 4 C and dull, so that didn't happen.

I did go to Longo's and it was cold out but it meant I didn't have to go tomorrow. 

We don't eat much processed food, especially hot dogs, but every once in a while...half price works for me!

Moving day!

FRIDAY

I went to T&T, an Asian grocery store, as we wanted to try making the Japanese curry that John loved last week.

Some food porn photos.

Dragon fruit - not the most flavourful fruit

Lettuce root

Japanese curry

Samples on Front St.

My cactus in bloom.

I walked back to the bus, stopping to pick up John's other pair of pants at Moore's.

AROUND TOWN

Toronto's Union Station named one of the most luxurious train hubs in the world

I mentioned the demolition of the Planetarium last week and here are some haunting photos.

COOKING

I divided the ham into four pieces. I doubled the colcannon recipe so we would have some on Sunday as well.

We had mushrooms and spinach in the fridge and I came across these great recipes.

                                

Saturday - ham colcannon broccolini

Sunday - meatloaf with spinach and cheese with leftover colcannon. BONUS finished the jar of BBQ sauce, which I will never buy again!

Monday - leftover meatloaf with fresh colcannon and broccolini fried mushrooms

Tuesday - Joey's lunch dumplings 

Wednesday - shrimp fajitas

Thursday - salmon, parmesan roasted potatoes

Friday - bulgogi, rice, snow peas, bean sprouts  - since John was going to be late.

WATCHING

I found a couple of season 21 Hotel Inspector that I hadn't seen.

I now have 15 episodes of MasterChef Australia downloaded.

I had forgotten that I hadn't seen the last episodes of My Kitchen Rules Australia season 15, so I remedied that.

We finally finished Undercover.

Since we saw A Beautiful Noise last week, it was fitting that we watched Song Sung Blue, a 2025 American biographical musical drama film based on the 2008 documentary film of the same name. The film stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder. The film's cast also includes Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, King Princess, and Mustafa Shakir.

Here is the original Lightning and Thunder 1999 performance.

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson LIVE in NYC

We caught up on our recorded shows.

Legends is a 2026 British crime drama television series. In the early 1990s, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise was losing its battle with illegal drug smuggling across Britain's borders. In a top-secret operation, a small team of Customs employees were sent undercover with new identities and told to infiltrate Britain's most dangerous drug gangs.

Tom Burke is the star.

It also stars Alex Jennings as Home Secretary (Prince Charles in The Queen, and Edward VIII in The Crown).

This is our kind of series.

Berlin and The Lady with an Ermine  is a Spanish television series. A prequel to Money Heist, it focuses on the life of Andrés de Fonollosa, aka "Berlin", before the events of the first two seasons of the original series. We loved Money Heist.

Berlin reunites his crew in Seville for an elaborate con targeting a powerful duke and his wife who've made the mistake of trying to blackmail him. Their plan involves faking the theft of a priceless painting as cover.

READING

I finished Strangers by Paul Finch, a new to me author, and I really enjoyed it.

I read a quarter of Perfect Happiness, most seemed to like it, it just didn't work for me.