Sweet Shop

May 2018 - Yonge St. Toronto ON

Saturday

We headed out to Doors Open Toronto around 11:30. We've really enjoyed this events over the last few years. 

Click on Doors Open in the tags at the bottom of this post and you can look at other years.

We didn't really do a lot of homework this year as we've been to a lot of the locations previously and some places are open year round for an entrance fee that we would be willing to pay and avoid the large crowd.

Our planned first stop was the Lower Bay subway station  which we were really looking forward to seeing, but the lineups were ridiculous. We didn't even bother to wait.

We (and many others) headed to Masonic Temple on Yonge St, but when we got there it was only open on Sunday.

Construction began November 2, 1916, when the contract was signed and approved by the Board of The Masonic Temple Company for the tearing down of an existing church and excavation. The Masonic ceremony of laying the cornerstone occurring November 17, 1917, with the first Lodge meeting taking place on New Year's Day, 1918.At its peak, the Masonic Temple was home to 38 different Masonic bodies: 27 Craft Lodges, six Chapters (York Rite), two Preceptories (Knights Templar), two Scottish Rite Bodies and Adoniram Council.

The hall functioned as a ballroom in the 1930s and began to host rock acts in the late 1960s.

This Elicser painted utility box was across the street.

The Toronto Reference Library was on the agenda. Tickets were sold out for some of the exhibits which was fine with us. We wanted to see  the lower level  for a glimpse behind staff doors into the Preservation & Digitization Department to learn about their role in digitization, conservation, bookbinding, and get a peek into Toronto Public Library's Conservation Lab. 

They use this machine to digitize books, there are two digital cameras mounted at the top. There is an attachment to turn the pages but it often lifts two at a time.
So they just turn by hand instead.
The librarian then takes the copies and has to crop each page.

The Digital Archive includes rare historical pictures, maps, manuscripts, ephemera and digitized books from the Special Collections and other library collections for research, study and discovery.

I've had a look at their site and there are fascinating items to see.

We also checked out the Alter Ego display.

From here we took the subway to Osgoode and picked up lunch.

Then we went into City Hall for their Doors Open. John enjoyed the costumes display that I had seen last week.

The lineup to see the mayor's office was too long to wait and I've seen it before.

Back outside.

Over to Osgoode Hall and it is wedding season.

Into Osgoode Hall but it is crowded and we've been here for lunch so hightailed it out of there. We will come back for one of their summer lunch time free tours.

Bus Terminal on Dundas West mural.

Opened in 1931 as the Gray Coach Terminal, the Art Deco style terminal was home base for Gray Coach, an interurban bus service then owned by the TTC.

Showed John the CONTACT photography exhibit at Ryerson University.

This post of CONTACT is a work in progress as I come upon other displays as they are scattered around the city.

Over to Dundas Square and there is a poutine food truck event happening.

Down into the subway at Dundas Square.

Titled Cross Section by William McElcheran -Terracotta tile murals, located by the northwest entrance and along the under-platform crosswalk, depicting a vibrant urban scene of pets, shoppers, businessmen and other commuters.

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Thoughts on Doors Open this year? It was the most crowded we've seen. Some locations should offer timed tickets. I also think a city the size of Toronto should run this for a couple of weekends.

I made spaghetti sauce for dinner.


Sunday
Inspired Sunday Bloor St. West
One Word Sunday
Past Meets Present
Shadow Shot Sunday

A bright sunny day but this fog rolled in early morning, it only hung around for a bit.

We started the day at the Gluten Free Garage pop up market. Read about it here.
Wychwood Barns is a community centre and park in the Bracondale Hill area of Toronto. The converted heritage building was built as a streetcar maintenance facility in 1913. It now contains artist housing and studios, public green space, a greenhouse, a farmer's market, a beach volleyball court, a theatre, a dog run, and office space for many local community groups. The site is a total of 5,574 square metres (60,000 square feet), but no parking!

Some sights along St. Clair.

Got home and put the stuff away. Some of our gluten free purchases!

We had planned to go back to Doors Open for a couple of Sunday only locations, but after lunch we decided we'd had enough of the crowds and wanted a lazy afternoon instead.

Burgers for dinner.

Monday
Cee's Fun Foto Challenge Flags or Banners
Foto Tunes
Wordless
Monday Mural

Was a mundane errands and chores day.

We had fried chicken and potato salad for dinner. John was not happy with the potato salad because I had added some Italian lime zest dressing to it. He made me promise not to mess with my original recipe.

Tuesday
Tuesday Treasures

I met up with a friend to test her new coffee pot for the coffee club, I used to run it with her.

We went to lunch at Craft Beer Market  as they carry gluten free beer and also have a gluten free friendly menu.

I had the ahi poke, rather flat, the tuna was good and plentiful but the only addition was lots of cucumber. The Museum Tavern's poke is much better.

Craft Beer Market Appetizer $16.50 
Chopped sashimi grade tuna, cucumber, fresh ginger, garlic and sesame soya vinaigrette served with crispy wontons. At least add some red onion. Avocado extra. Too many wontons.

Museum Tavern Appetizer $17

Spicy Tuna & Nori
avocado, chili pepper, ponzu, sesame, ginger, scallion

Much bigger serving, spicier and tastier, nori is an expensive item unlike wontons. 

John thought his bun was the best gluten free so far. I asked the server and it was from O'Dough's. He said the meat was good but at $17.50 he expected more. The tomato was almost nil, the onion stringy, no condiments offered, no pickle. Burger's Priest is a better burger for much less.

Looking around the restaurant. It's a great looking place but really need to step up their food.

Love the Grow a Pear name!

Since it was such a nice day we strolled along King St. West. I've mentioned the King St. Transit Pilot several times and showed photos.

The King Street Transit Pilot between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street is about putting people and transit first by improving transit reliability, speed, and capacity. King Street is the busiest surface transit route in the city, moving more than 65,000 riders on an average weekday. The pilot is changing how King Street works, by not allowing through movement at most intersections for private vehicles and providing priority to streetcars. Local access for vehicles will be maintained on a block by block basis.

I love it. It makes a quieter walk, easier to cross the street. The city has been decorating the street adding plants and seating arrangements.
Every time I walk along here something new has been added.

After a stop at the Bulk Barn and Starbucks we went home. I made a strawberry ice cream.

We had salad for dinner.

Wednesday

I hired a cleaning company to come and do a one time cleaning. I am planning on getting a woman who cleans for others in the building on an ongoing basis.

John then headed out to his weekly golf game after lunch. I went downtown, a little undecided about what to do. I finally settled on going shopping at the Bay and then went to Bed and Bathworks at the Eaton Centre.

The Bay is gearing up for tourist season

Cool mannequins.

Clam chowder for dinner with cheddar biscuits which were a fail this time. Realized I didn't add the baking powder...

Thursday
Thursday Doors Lansdowne and Bloor St. West


Tiny little lilac trees outside our building.

Met up with a friend for lunch at the Assembly Hall food court, my fourth visit in a month. I had the lobster roll and ML had the Thai green curry.

We browsed the stores and I bought these cute ice cream dishes.

Poetry on Front St.?

Curious sign outside Starbucks. I love a flat white.

I baked a strawberry yogurt cake using this recipe since I had fresh strawberries and yogurt to use up.


Friday
June Monthly Theme ME
PRIDE June 1 kicks off PRIDE month
Weekend Roundup
Weekend Reflections

Met up with my BFF and we settled on Spadina for our ramble today.

A detour down Simcoe St. to see the progress made on this mural. Click here to see it in October 2017.

More street art on King St. West.

Back at Union I notice that the concourse roof is almost installed woo hoo!

BOOKS

May 2018 - Indigo Book Store Royal Bank Building

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb is a long sobering look at many issues afflicting the world these days. School shootings, addiction, prison, global warming, troubled teens, complicated relationships, all making for a great read.

A Stranger in the House started out rather typical but the plot really thickened towards the end!

The Expats seems I read this back in 2013 but I had no recollection of it at all and enjoyed it this second time!

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

Travel Photo Thursday