Saturday, June 30, 2018

#RoofSquares

Becky at The Life of B June's theme is Roofs. Tag your post #RoofSquares and link to Becky’s post each day and remember your image must be square.

I'm not sure I will post every day but will try. I plan to only use Toronto roofs.
It's the last day of June, so the end of #RoofSquares which I have really enjoyed.




The No. 8 Hose Station is a small fire hall that is a Toronto landmark. It is located on College Street at Bellevue and marks the northern end of Kensington Market and serves the Chinatown area at Spadina and Dundas.

The hall was built in 1878 as part of the transformation of the Toronto Fire Department that saw it move from a volunteer to a professional organization. The station was home to horse drawn hose cars. The clock tower, that quickly became a symbol of the neighbourhood, was added in 1899. From the top of the tower a lookout would watch for fires. It was also useful for hanging hoses to dry. In 1911 it received the city's first motorized fire engine.



Over the last few weeks, demolition has been clearing the site of a planned 38-storey condominium tower on Yonge Street, north of College, in Downtown Toronto. The condo will come with a noteworthy restoration of the heritage 1871-built Fire Hall No.3’s clock tower, most recently associated with the St Charles Tavern.



Station 312
Built: 1878 for Yorkville Fire Department, became TFD 10 upon annexation in 1883.
it is one of the city's oldest active fire halls. The two-storey structure has a five-storey clock tower with three bays (additional bay added later). It has a coat of arms from the old Yorkville Town Hall. It was restored in 1974.




Cee's Odd Ball Challenge

Cee's Odd Ball Challenge


The rules are - no rules.
Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category. We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them. If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you.
Oddball: noun a person or thing that is atypical, bizarre, eccentric, or nonconforming
adjective whimsically free-spirited; eccentric; atypical


June 2018 - Toronto ON

Spotted on College St. this week.




Snakes and Lattes

June 2018 - College St.


Saturday
Cee's Odd Ball Challenge

Full day filled with shopping and chores plus we each binge watched our current series. John is working his way Kingdom and I'm in season 5 of Big Love.

Dinner - hamburgers.


Sunday
One Word Sunday
Past Meets Present
Inspired Sunday


A dull rainy morning but my peonies opened.




I made black bean brownies  for our afternoon tea.




Monday
Cee's Fun Foto Challenge


Some shots when I was out on Yonge St. while John hit golf balls.


Shoppers' Drug Mart moving into the former Hard Rock Cafe premises.




Burgers and homemade potato salad for dinner.




Tuesday


Decided to explore the Liberty Village neighbourhood as we hadn't been there.
We took the car as we weren't sure about the location but in future would do transit or shuttle and walk.

Click here to see around the area. We will be back for more visits as there is a lot to see.

A hidden fox on King St. West.





Lunch at the Brazen Head Pub. Do you see any pickled beets on my plate, no, neither did I. Since our server was useless I asked another about it and he brought me a bowl of beets.



One of the Bell Canada painted boxes, this one by Michael Cavanaugh.


Found an Elicser mural inside this gallery!



Billboard looking over the Gardiner Expressway as we looked for some murals, check back Monday!


Giant Bud Light cans.




Wednesday

A rainy humid day as I went to the Eaton Centre (shudder) to use up a $10 coupon I had for Bath and BodyWorks along with their 75% sale.

The canopy, one of two, is coming along at Union, still a piece missing.


The shops and restaurants are also opening up.



The Bay had some fun displays.

Department location map.



Love this display of cutting boards.


Amazing looking pastries and cakes.





It's been a while since I made Spanish chicken thighs, great way to use up vegetables.

Thursday
Thursday Doors - Liberty Village

We headed to Lansdowne subway station and walked over to Sterling, an area we explored a few weeks ago, to the highly anticipated Banksy exhibit.
We were early so we went to the Drake Commissary for coffee.

This turns out to be quite a long walk as we did 17,404 steps or 7.26 miles.



John Tong (+tongtong) has Draked up the old condiment factory. The exposed beams and brick remain, but the walls are now clad with heaps of art like a 35-foot mural of a fantasy landscape created by local artist Alex McLeod using 3D-modelling software. The room is divided into three main spaces: a sit-down dining room, a living room-inspired area perfect for enjoying a drink with a snack, and a to-go counter with 40-foot-long marble display counter piled high with pizzas, scones, pies and salads. The patio seats 40.



Click here for a long post on the exhibit.







What was meant to be Banksy and lunch took us all afternoon as we meandered along Bloor with a stop for lunch.

We stopped for lunch at La Tortilleria.




We shared the Los Campechanos, the guacamole was very good, the tacos are the only gluten free option, tortillas are flour. The taco was good but not sure where the chorizo, cilantro and onions were.


Cute sign, blurry photos.


We decided to walk back downtown to the shuttle stop. Rather than staying on Bloor we walked down Dupont to College until Spadina and then along King.
Nicely tired we enjoyed our ride home.




Friday

A long weekend - CANADA DAY

And a hot one forecasted with a heat warning!

I popped out to stock up for the weekend.

We headed out to dinner and stopped at City Hall for a pop-up TTC store in a vintage bus, but it wasn't there, just a stand selling t-shirts and bags.

We did notice that the Toronto sign which I posted last week for Indigenous Day had symbols within the letters.


We had dinner reservations at Hendrick's a new spot replacing Baton Rouge in the Eaton Centre.

Not impressed, small serving and mediocre food served cold, even after having it replaced. Big on service but no follow through.
But really busy on the busiest tourist street with three theatres and Massey Hall close by. Mussels with tequila lime sauce (maybe two tablespoons), Once again if you want mussels go to the Museum Tavern on Bloor St, West.


Then to Massey Hall for the sold out Gordon Lightfoot show, the last three performances at Massey Hall as it closes Monday for a two-year renovation.
Check back on Tuesday for more photos at Tuesday Treasures.

Lightfoot is 79 years old and an international icon.






On crowded Queen St. although this photo looks oddly deserted. Three theatres, Massey Hall and a Blue Jays game had just ended and the Eaton Centre had just closed. We were looking for a taxi with none in sight.


Still looking for a cab, a new sight, advertising on City Hall, Drake;s new album, Scorpion.




BOOKS


June 2018 - Monkey's Paw Bookstore Bloor St. West


I just wanted to mention I finished The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye and it was the worst of the series, not a bad story line, but definitely needed more developing.

Started Ink and Bone but not really in a reading mood at the moment.


SHARING WITH:

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy.
Sundays in my City
Seasons
Monday Walks
Monday Morning Blog Club
Through My Lens Monday
Our World Tuesday
Wanderful Wednesday #wanderfulwednesday
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global