Circles and Squares

Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

July 2024 - Toronto ON

Yonge St. Toronto

Another uneventful weekend, just as we like it. Ice cream in the afternoon, a treat for us. We made Aperol spritzers as a cocktail on Saturday.

Sunday morning I made apple cinnamon French toast, I hadn't made French toast in a very, very long time! It used up some apples and bread that was lying around.

I finished our six month recap, January to June, the first time I've done that. It will make it easier to do the annual recap! 

John watched all of the British Open and did not do well in his pool.

They have now done the planting behind the new privacy fence.

Monday we took a quick trip to get my shoes heeled, I had debated whether I would or not, but I do like them. It cost $30!!

Then we picked up some items for dinner. 

We had seen the Luminato display during the festival.Luminato display during the festival. I knew they were then moving some of the bubbles to First Canadian Place so we checked it out. The sunshine made such a difference!

 Evanescent, giant plastic bubbles that glimmer like gasoline on a rain puddle. Created by Atelier Sisu, the installation was up at David Pecaut Square and after Luminato was over, it'll travel to various destinations downtown until July 30.

I remembered reading an article about a new "feature" at 121 King St. John didn't think much of it.

John did a Whisky Drop order.

When we got home I made an apple/cherry/strawberry crumble for breakfasts and cherry mousse for desserts. This used up all the leftover fruit we had.

I planned out our Stratford theatre plans for Friday and Saturday. All our reservations are done and I did our digital hotel check-in.

Wednesday we had planned on going to Harbourfront and lunch, but it began raining and it continued all afternoon.We didn't get much but some areas were hit hard again with flooding.

Thursday I went for a haircut, cutting through Brookfield Place and I found more of the Luminato balloons.

A photo shoot.

Photos as I walked to St. Lawrence Market. 

The new St. Lawrence Market building, on the north side, is coming along. The green roof is already in place.

I picked up halibut for dinner. I also bought the ground steak at $20 for 3 pounds, but he only charged me $16?!? I thought he misunderstood me, but I weighed it when I got home and it was three lbs. I divided it into 6-8oz packets.

The market was packed with tourists lining up for food (Buster's Sea Cove) the line was very long. The fish stands now offer oyster sampling that the tourists love.

The Blue Jays were playing at 3PM so there were a lot of fans making a stop at the market as part of their outing.

The Hockey Hall of Fame is under renovation, after all the building was built in 1885 as a branch of the Bank of Montreal (BMO).

A good spot for selfies with the CN Tower.

The devastating fires in Jasper National Park break my heart. It was such a gorgeous part of Canada. Photo from our trip in 2017.

Friday we packed and headed to Stratford. We enjoy going to Stratford for a couple of plays and staying overnight, it is such a pretty town.

We stopped in Shakespeare for lunch at Annie's Seafood which offers amazing gluten free options. 

John had the light battered haddock and chips and I had battered scallops. It was all good, as always.

We booked at the Stratford Hotel on Erie St. We have yet to stay at the same place as we are still trying to find the perfect place! Everything about booking this hotel has been no contact online. We reserved our parking spot, received the door codes via text, were notified about our breakfast (Go and Roam) location (outside our door at 8AM).

Walking to our first play.

Tir Na Nog gate

This unique, but slightly hidden gate is located on Downie Street across from the end of Albert Street beside the CIBC. You could easily walk right by, unless you were looking for it. It is a whimsical black gate with an archway that allows pedestrians to cross though to Erie Street. The gate itself is lovely to look at and has quite a bit of fairly-like detail, the area behind has a lot of unused potential. There is a wide winding path, with some benches and flower beds, but no flowers when I visited in June. It would be lovely to see this area transformed to try to match the Celtic world the gateway leads one to in the stories.

This is a very pretty town well worth the visit. There are three theatres offering plays from April to October. Tourists flock here from around the world. 

It lies along the Avon River in the heart of dairy-farming country. The settlement was founded during the winter of 1831–32 by William Seargeant (or Sargint), who erected the Shakespeare Hotel near the Avon; both the river and the settlement were originally called Little Thames, but both had received their present names by 1835, probably at the insistence of William Dunlop of the Canada (development) Company, to honour the birthplace of William Shakespeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

The city is best known as the site of the Stratford Festival, held each summer since 1953; the festival’s theatrical performances, particularly of plays by Shakespeare, were originally directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie and are held in the Festival Theatre (built 1957), the Avon Theatre (acquired 1964), and Third Stage (established 1971). Lake Victoria, the centre of Stratford’s park system, was created in the early 20th century by damming the Avon for one of the city’s numerous mills (for lumber, grain, and woolens). Railway repair shops, engineering industries, and light manufacturing combine with the arts and tourism to form the city’s economic base. 

July 2022 visit includes the town of St. Marys.

July 2019 visit, that post includes lots of links of things to see in the area. John, we ate at the Old Man's Diner.

Sep 2018 visit includes Millbank and more 2018 photos.more 2018 photos.

We went twice in 2018.We went twice in 2018.

Avon Theatre for the 2PM performance of La Cage Au Folles.

In the theatre store before the show, we're sure what these t-shirts meant. All would be revealed when we went to the 8PM show.

"WE FACE LIFE WITH A LITTLE GUTS AND LOTS OF GLITTER…"

Georges, the manager of a drag club in St. Tropez, decides to "play it straight" when his son arrives with his fiancé and her ultra-conservative parents. Albin, the club's star performer and romantic partner to Georges, is dubious about the plan. The ensuing clash unravels truth and consequences with heartwarming grace. Gorgeous and funny, La Cage aux Folles has been delighting audiences since its Broadway première in 1983, when it won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Fans of the Oscar-nominated film The Bird Cage (inspired by the French play the musical takes its name and inspiration from) will rejoice in seeing familiar characters on the stage!

Click here for a preview.

The show finished at 5PM and we hustled to put our bags in our room before heading to dinner at Fellini's. We had white sangria as it was so hot out. I had a chef's salad (no olives!) with salmon that was good. John ordered the arriabiata with gluten free spaghetti. He was disappointed that it was a little oily and not very spicy.

We decided to take the car and were happy we did, as it got quite cool after the show.

Shakespeare was awaiting us.

Something's Rotten was outstanding!

The Bottom brothers, two struggling playwrights in Renaissance London, need a hit. That’s easier said than done when your chief competition is local rock star William Shakespeare. The Bottom brothers’ plan: write the world’s first musical! This rollicking song-and-dance extravaganza, nominated for ten Tony Awards during its smash Broadway run, sends up the Bard and Broadway and everything in between. Best of all, it can be enjoyed without CliffsNotes!

Click here for the official trailer.

It was wonderful to see Celine Dion perform at the Paris Olympics opening ceremonyCeline Dion perform at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony!

COOKING

Saturday ribs with baked potato

Sunday ham, mashed potatoes mashed turnips and carrots. We can have ham salad for lunch this week. It also cleaned out those languishing vegetables.

Monday corn on the cob with fresh bread

Tuesday Sunday's leftovers 

Wednesday pork chops with mustard sauce, mashed potatoes and beans

Thursday potato chip halibut (yikes $48/lb) and broccolini

Friday Stratford Fellini's

WATCHING

I forgot to mention we watched The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.  a 2023 American legal drama film. It is based on Herman Wouk's 1953 play of the same name, itself based on Wouk's 1952 novel The Caine Mutiny. It stars Kiefer Sutherland!

The series A Man in Full, based on the book by Tom Wolfe. Business and political interests collide when Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker defends his empire from those wanting to capitalize on his sudden bankruptcy and fall from grace.

Project Power When a pill that gives its users unpredictable superpowers for five minutes hits the streets of New Orleans, a teenage dealer and a local cop must team with an ex-soldier to take down the group responsible for its creation.

We are still watching Gordon Ramsay Food Stars Season 2. Episode 7 was particularly painful as the American contestants had to do a breakfast service at the tony 5 star Savoy Hotel in London. They had no idea what the standards are in a upscale restaurant. The service was appalling, as Lisa Vanderpump  said "this ain't no burger bar"! 

Loudermilk Sam Loudermilk, a former music critic and a recovering alcoholic, is a substance abuse support group leader living in Seattle, who regularly doles out clever but acid-tongued critiques to his clients, his friends, and any random person he interacts with. Loudermilk, who does not have his life together in the way one might expect of a counselor, is somewhat nicer to the few people close to him, including his best friend and (usually) sober sponsor, Ben Burns, and his sponsee and unplanned roommate, Claire Wilkes. We enjoyed season one but decided that was enough of the same old, same old.

The Commandant's Shadow 2024 documentary, follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the son of Rudolf Höss, the Camp Commandant of Auschwitz when he confronts his father's involvement in the murder of over a million Jews during the Holocaust.

READING

Girl, 11  I wanted to get vested into this story but I just didn't like the main character. Then the last third of the book became convoluted and the characters illogical behaviours were too frustrating for me to be able to get much enjoyment from the ending.