Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Thursday Doors



Linking up at Norm's Thursday Doors.

May 2001 - Adare Ireland





And in 2015!




June Monthly City Theme

This month's theme  Linking up with City Daily Photo.

June - Nature

Mother Nature puts on one (of her many) spectacular show in the spring when all the trees burst into life!
Spring comes at many different times around the world. Here in Toronto, it is April before we are treated to the cherry blossoms bursting with annual hope.

In 1959, the Japanese ambassador to Canada, Toru-Hagiwara, presented 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakura trees to the citizens of Toronto on behalf of the citizens of Tokyo. The trees were planted in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War. Many of these trees were planted on the hillside overlooking Grenadier Pond (southwest of the Grenadier Café) and around the east shore of the pond.
It gets very crowded and there are traffic jams at all entrances to the park.











2017
Dec – Gift
Nov - Rock ‘n’ Roll
Oct - Sensual
Sept - Photographing the Photographer
Aug - Young at Heart
July - Motion
June - Nature
May - Let’s Eat!
Apr - Wet
Mar - Black and white in color (images that look B+W but are really in color)
Feb - Loving life
Jan - Photo of the Year

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Wordless

image-in-ing

Wordless Wednesday and at Wordless and at Be There 2day

May 2017 - Toronto ON

Amusing placement of the banner for Doors Open 2017, an annual weekend event when buildings not normally open to the public provide access.


Monday, May 29, 2017

Tuesday Treasures




Pictorial Tuesday


April 2006 -  Lincoln New Mexico



It was here that such men as Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett left their marks; here, that Indians, Mexican American settlers,gunfighters and corrupt politicians made themselves known; it was in this small settlement that the violent Lincoln County War erupted, which resulted in the deaths of a number of men and made Billy the Kid a legend.



Originally called Las Placitas del Rio Bonito by the Spanish families who settled it in the 1850s, the name of the community was changed to Lincoln when Lincoln County was created in January 16, 1869. Lincoln county was founded by five cultures. First discovered and lived on by Natives, discovered again by Conquistadores, settled by Mexicans, then re-established by Anglo-Americans. It was named after Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was at the center of the Lincoln County War, 1876-1879, and is the historical home of Billy the Kid.

Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty; also known as William H. Bonney (September 17, 1859 – July 14, 1881) was an American Old West gunfighter who participated in New Mexico's Lincoln County War. He is known to have killed eight men.


Lincoln Courthouse


Billy The Kid 1880





His first arrest was for stealing food in late 1875, and within five months he was arrested for stealing clothing and firearms. His escape from jail two days later and flight from New Mexico Territory into Arizona Territory made him both an outlaw and a federal fugitive. After murdering a blacksmith during an altercation in August 1877, Bonney became a wanted man in Arizona Territory and returned to New Mexico, where he joined a group of cattle rustlers. He became a well-known figure in the region when he joined the Regulators and took part in the Lincoln County War. In April 1878, however, the Regulators killed three men, including Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady and one of his deputies. Bonney and two other Regulators were later charged with killing all three men.


Garrett and his posse finally captured Billy the Kid and his gang of "Rustlers" on December 23, 1880. After a trial in Mesilla, New Mexico in April, 1881, Billy was taken to Lincoln, where he was scheduled to be hanged on May 13th. However, Billy escaped on April 28th, killing both of his guards while Garrett was out of town.

It would be his last escape; however, as Garrett tracked him down to Fort Sumner, where he shot and killed the teenage outlaw on July 14, 1881.






Frontier peace officer. J.W. Bell was a deputy sheriff of Lincoln County, NM under Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881. Bell, along with fellow deputy Robert Olinger, was killed in the line of duty by Billy the Kid when he escaped from custody in Lincoln while awaiting hanging for the murder of the previous sheriff, William Brady. The murders of Bell and Olinger have been dramatized in the various Hollywood treatments of Billy the Kid. Deputy Bell is memorialized on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC at Panel 13, W3.




The Ballad of Billy the Kid


Sunday, May 28, 2017

Good Random Fun

May 2017 - Toronto


Good - July 1 will be Canada's 150th birthday so Canadiana merchandise is appearing everywhere. Love the red faucet handles as the hooks.





Random - underneath the expressway, a Canadian flag stuck into a crack and an umbrella with a Canadian flag motif. There are lots of homeless living under here.





Fun - at a garden centre on the weekend, wedding season is coming.








Linking up:



The Good The Random The Fun

Foto Tunes Part 2

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

I was cleaning up files on my external hard drive, actually making the files more meaningful to save time looking for sutff!

So it seems in 2009 I did a 365 daily photo challenge. The month of May was song titles. They made me smile so I thought I would use them over here. That would mean 31 songs for Mondays. So I will do 5 a week.

We traveled to China that May.

Part 1 May 1 - 6 2009


7 - Diddle Diddle Dumpling really??? where did I find that?



X'ian Dumplings and Opera


8 - The Altar


X'ian Big Wild Goose Pagoda


9 - Send In The Clowns


X'ian Islamic District


10 - Sea Cruise


Aboard our riverboat on the Yangtze


11 - The Cigar Song



Shanghai


12 - Rooftops


Shanghai Rooftop living




Monday Mural

I'm linking up at Monday Mural hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

May 2017 - Toronto ON

Spotted, while driving, as a passenger, on Keele St.near Jane St. subway station. Incredibly well done.









Saturday, May 27, 2017

inSPIREd Sunday





1981 - Grand Bahama Island Bahamas

In going through my photos for another post, I came across this church photo.



I googled it and learned that it is St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Episcopal Church.

Image result for west end grand bahama map

One Word Sunday

One Word Sunday is hosted by Debbie at Travel With Intent.

28 May: Rush

This sculpture immediately came to mind for the word Rush.




.


“Community” is a spectacular bronze sculpture consisting of 21 life-size figures, standing proudly on the grounds of Manulife Financial’s Head Office in Toronto.
It was completed in 2001 and the sculpture measures 2 metres high and is more than 8 metres in length.









30 April - Cliche

 7 May - Caring

14 May: Spectacle

21 May: Flag (or flagging)

28 May: Rush

4 June: Restless

11 June: Abstract

Cheesy

May 2017 - Toronto ON


HOUSES
Dilapidated yet goes for $1 Million

And since it was a long weekend, Victoria Day here's some $10 million "cottages" so sit back and imagine sitting on the dock with a case of Two Four (that's Canadian for a case of beer).

It's even in the Urban Dictionary!

two-four
(Noun) A case of beer consisting of 24 bottles. Usually enough for one or two Canadians. "Case" or "Box" are seldom used in lieu of two-four. Popularly consumed with a candle light dinner.
Wife: "How's the Kraft Dinner, eh?"
Husband: "Good there. Would ya mind gettin us a couple more Moosehead outta the two-four? It's in the snowbank on the left, eh?"


Since we are celebrating Canada's 150th birthday this year here is some more expressions you'll need if you come to visit.



John captured this last week on the golf course! Always thinking of me LOL.



Saturday saw some serious cooking being done after a run to the Bulk Barn for semi-sweet chocolate and Lanzarotta's for fruit and vegetables.

Caught some murals on the drive.



I made a mango banana loaf because I had both wasting away. EPIC FAIL not sure if I didn't leave it in long enough even though a knife came out clean. The mango was stringy. Not going into my recipe box!

It's not Canadian beer but it is Canadian cider!



I made lamb curry even though I couldn't find some of the items like curry leaves or galangal. I will go to Little India or one of our Chinatowns to source these.

Spice mixture being sauteed.



I added onions, potatoes, and carrots. Mixture before the coconut milk was added and the whole dish cooked and the sauce simmered down.



The chocolate cheesecake, however, was perfect. The only thing I did differently was that I made my own gluten free pie crust so my pan was a lot bigger than their 6 oz, therefore my dark chocolate layer (1 cup) barely covered the bottom. So I added four more ounces of the semi-sweet chocolate to the remaining batter and ended up with an all chocolate cake.


I served it with fresh raspberry coulis that didn't require any cooking. Some fresh raspberries and whipped cream completed the dish.


We watched a movie with Donald Sutherland Citizen X.


Sunday dictates a lazy day and we had roast pork with mashed parsnips and potatoes with mushy peas for dinner.

John playing around with his camera!



Monday was a holiday and John golfed with a friend while I visited with my BFF. Since the stores were closed (horrors!!) we had to make do with a visit to a garden centre.




It was cool and cloudy so we were happy that this centre carries a huge selection of home decor inside.

I had been using my "real" large colander as a fruit bowl. I bought a cute white one to use and free up the real one.


 And there is lots of Canadiana stuff for sale.


Once the guys got back we went to dinner. Wings and fries for John and I, goat cheese pasta for my BFF and butter chicken for her husband.

Tuesday I set out on a mission to get a black sweater. It was one of those days when I could have bought everything in the place, to the point that I even messaged my BFF saying that.
I restrained myself to three sweaters for summer dresses.

Then I went to Bed Bath and Beyond as they were supposed to have the Spicy Shelf. They were out of them, so she ordered two for me with free shipping (she asked if I wanted to pick them up or have them shipped, duh!) since they didn't have them. Works for me. I received an e-mail that they were shipped so more when I get them.

While waiting, forever, at the cash I spotted a door mat I liked, not as big as my original one. But it would work.


I could have kept shopping but had to meet John for the 11:40 shuttle. After a lunch of warmed up chicken wings, we headed out.


John and his creative camera setting.





I arranged a place for my new plant.



Wednesday we headed out of town for a funeral. My BFF's sister had passed away after a valiant fight with leukemia. RIP Janice Hearns-Gordon.


It was a lovely day and we hadn't been to this part of Ontario, about two hours away. We had given ourselves plenty of time so we sat by the river.




What should have been a two-hour drive home turned out to be much longer when we suddenly heard this horrible noise coming from our car so we turned onto a side street. We were literally within a stone's throw of home.

It turned out to be a totally flat tire! We waited about thirty minutes for our 24-hour roadside assistance to arrive.
BTW that is NOT a scratch, not sure what that white line is!


We decided to order dinner, Swiss Chalet after all that.


Thursday was a gloomy horrible rainy day. I took this at 7AM and the traffic didn't get better and the rain got a lot worse as we headed downtown for various errands.


John was going to take the car into the dealer so he could golf on Friday but it was so awful out that he forfeited golf and would take the car on Friday morning.

Spotted while shopping.




I made a VERY spicy tomato soup with canned tomatoes, chicken stock, rice and I threw in the rinds from a Parmesan cheese as suggested by numerous blogers.

I baked the same orange yogurt loaf again.

For dinner I wanted to use up the leftover mashed parsnips and potatoes along with the mushy peas so I had picked up some pork chops. I used this mustard and rosemary recipe and John grilled them.


Friday I was up early and printed off the Doors Open buildings to decide which ones we wanted to visit over the two days. I think one day will be public transit and another driving.

John took the tire to be replaced, there was a 2 inch gash in it.

I cleaned like a whirling dervish!

Photo taken 2007 in Cairo!


We have an old friend from Montreal coming to visit and he is bringing friends of his. We went to the restaurant in our building. John had a steak and I had the veal marsala.



We'll be heading out to Doors Open this weekend.

DECLUTTERING

Going slowly this week.
A couple of scarves
Soap dispenser


BOOKS
Finished Love May Fail meh, was ok.

Started The Widow and loving it even though I think I know where the story is going.

SHARING WITH:

Friday Photo Journal

Weekend Cooking hosted by www.BethFishReads.com
Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Amanda’s Books and More
 Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy

Weekend Snapshots