Hero Tea

  Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

September 2024

Yonge St. Toronto

Saturday's fog didn't break up until 4 PM.

I made apple fritters for Sunday breakfast - epic fail as I used that new flour Arva, I threw it away and will donate the other packs to the food bank. I cleaned up some plants, they are not happy right now. Sorted out my spice drawer and made a list of needed items. 

The usual geniuses were out on the roads on the weekend.

We waited for the plumber on Monday and then he messaged that he had truck problems so the saga continues.

Tuesday I took John to my burger place I tried last week, Cabano's and he was impressed. He had the Cabano, which was two meat patties with deep fried jalapenos and the regular other toppings.

We also had an order of fries that were delicious.

We also found some murals for Monday and click here to see the cute cottages near Cottage Lane for Tuesday Treasures.

We stopped by our old pizza place and found the hoardings had been removed. I wrote about this new condo that was preserving the other building earlier this summer. I also included some photos of what it used to look like.

Then we dropped into a couple of Winner's and he got some golf shorts shirts (thanks, Andrew!). We also checked out the new Winner's in the Eaton Centre.

Wednesday John had his usual golf. I went to College Park intending to get some items at the $ store, but they didn't have any of the things I needed. I will try another one this week.

Thursday we did a quick run to the Market. Along the way we found another Monday mural and didn't find another one I had on my list.

We picked up some steaks and hamburger at our usual place where as seniors, on Thursday, we get a 20% discount!!!

We picked up fruit and vegetables at our usual as well.

Friday John headed out to golf but texted me at 10 that he was coming home as there was a tournament (would have made for a long round) and there weren't any carts and it was a hot humid day. He booked the golf simulator instead.

I headed to Dundas to try the $ store there for the items I wanted. 

FOILED, again, there had been a fire in the $ store!! 

Since I had time to kill I took a walk around TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University formerly known as  Ryerson).  Click here for some more TMU information.

Mural by Lula Lumaj

Click here for further information on both these churches that I wrote about a couple of years ago. There's also more about Ryerson in that post.

 First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Toronto

St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church (formerly Holy Blossom Synagogue)

I dropped into the Atrium for some vegetables and then got off the subway at King (found some new murals), picked up chocolate and poked in the bookstore before coming home.

COOKING

Saturday stuffed flank steak(Metro $14 New Zealand), roast potatoes and mashed cauliflower and carrots.

Sunday last night's leftovers with onion gravy (awful)

Monday honey garlic pork tenderloin (Metro $5) mashed

Tuesday fried (leftover) potatoes and eggs

Wednesday stir fried pineapple pork (leftover) with rice

Thursday burgers and potato chips

Friday steak (market rib eye - delicious) frites and tomatoes. Leftover steak so good for lunch!

WATCHING

The finale of Amazing Race Canada - the girls win!

I'm continuing with Animal Kingdom, I am totally engaged.

Quicksand (Swedish: Störst av allt) is a Swedish psychology-crime drama television series, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Malin Persson Giolito.

A school shooting takes place at Djursholm senior high school. At the age of 18, Maja Norberg is arrested and suspected of murder, while her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian "Sibbe" Fagerman, is dead at the scene. Maja admits the murder at an early stage but denies the crime – the trial is rather about why the murder was committed than whether it was committed.

Industry we were going to watch season 3 but decided we didn't really remember it all so went back to season 1 binge watched.

Industry is a British television drama series that premiered in 2020. Young bankers and traders make their way in the financial world in the aftermath of the 2008 collapse.

READING

Love Me Not I like the Helen Grace murder series. This one takes place over 24 hours so it is a fast paced read, easily predicable but fun.

Two Dead Wives had a surprise twist to it that I enjoyed. I did not like her husband Mark at all and thought that Daan's reaction with the boys was a bit weird.

One for Sorrow (does anyone know the rhyme?) is was having trouble grabbing my attention. UPDATE attention totally grabbed!!!! Even suggested it to John. What an ending!

"One for Sorrow" is a traditional children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies seen tells if one will have bad or good luck.

There is considerable variation in the lyrics used. A common modern version is:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told.

A longer version of the rhyme recorded in Lancashire continues:

Eight for a wish,

Nine for a kiss,

Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,

Eleven for health,

Twelve for wealth,

Thirteen beware it's the devil himself.

Monday Mural

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural

May 2023 - Toronto ON

I went looking for this mural and almost missed it, luckily I stopped walking and did a 360-degree turn and there it was!

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) has unveiled a large-scale public artwork to celebrate Indigenous placemaking and further the university’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation. Located on the west-facing wall of Kerr Hall West at Gould Street and Nelson Mandela Walk, Paisajes de Nosotros (Landscapes of Us) is a sprawling mural commissioned by the university.

The 12-by-8-metre mural merges traditions, cultural legacies and insights from the Arctic and Amazon regions through the exploration of Indigenous ways of being, seeing and the shared values that inform each artist’s work. The colour scheme of the mural embodies the ice, northern lights, Inuit cosmologies and symbolism of the North; while the bold graphics of ancient kené designs symbolize woven visualizations of plant songs that serve as a musical score for Shipibo-Konibo peoples of the Amazon.

Photo from University's website.

The mural was a collaboration between Indigenous artists Niap (Nancy Saunders) from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Quebec, and Olinda Reshijabe Silvano from Lima, Peru. Photo by Stef & Ethan

Crank

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

Sunday Post

May 2023 - Toronto ON

Check out the coffee selections - Morning Glory, Fifth Gear, Cranky Pants, Crank It Up and Get Cranked.

Saturday morning started with a Coronation breakfast of rashers, black pudding and fried egg as I skimmed the stories about the coronation. I am not interested in Charles and Camilla, I just like to see the pomp and ceremony and of course, the fashion. Canada was well represented.

Saturday and I thought I was going to do laundry, but we couldn't get the door to the laundry open. John tried everything to no avail. I put a request for help to our handy handyman. UPDATE He is very busy so I decided on Tuesday to get a locksmith. First I asked the office for a recommendation.

Handle off, oiled, took door hinges off, it won't budge.

Sunday was a lazy day as usual. 

Monday Mural was taken last week.

John had golf at noon. 

I was on my laptop when these feet appeared for window cleaning.

I headed out around 12:30 and totally changed my plans and went to Yonge and Dundas to find a new mural.

Found in my wanderings.

Yet another condo, I can't remember what was on this corner.

I found this on Urban Toronto.

And the plan is...

And you have to laugh!

Back on the ground at College Park.

Normally you cannot see the etchings on this bridge at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson).

This historical panorama includes 14 portraits: Margaret Atwood, John Candy, Leonard Cohen, Viola Desmond, Chief Dan George, Wayne Gretzky, Yousuf Karsh, k.d. lang, Marshall McLuhan, Oscar Peterson, Mary Pickford, Buffy Sainte-Marie, David Suzuki, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is the school responsible for continuing education at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The school is named for the late G. Raymond Chang, OC, third Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University (known at the time as Ryerson University) and Director of CI Financial.

The building incorporates the façade of the O'Keefe Building, the administrative headquarters for O’Keefe Breweries, in 1939. O’Keefe House was designed by the architectural firm of Chapman and Oxley, a firm that produced some very fine Beaux-Arts and Moderne buildings in Toronto in the ’20s and ’30s. The construction of O’Keefe House represents a corporate re-investment in the Canadian brewing industry after several decades of prohibition. The site was used for beer brewing since the early days of Toronto. 

Starting May 1, 2023, all vehicle traffic is being diverted off Queen Street from Bay Street to Yonge Street and from Yonge Street to Victoria Street for an estimated four and a half years – an important step forward in the construction of Ontario Line’s future Queen Station.

What a mess! Drivers are not happy. Streetcars are diverting along Dundas St.

I lost an opal out of my Australian bracelet a week ago, I also had two other pieces of jewelry that needed fixing. It used to be that you could find lots of jewelers along Yonge St. but now it is fast food, restaurants and condos. I did find one though and left the three pieces to be mended.

T for Tuesday was from last week's trip to the Gardiner.

John took the car in to have the piece that was making all that noise replaced. While he was at that end of town he went to a new gluten-free bakery. He said the cheese bread is delicious. The loaves and slices are a good size too.

I had a class booked at the AGO, Artistic Dots but I just wasn't feeling it. I headed out anyway, was waiting for the streetcar and one flew right by me! Another one came and I took it to Peter St. and then walked as traffic was heavy.

I saw the class gathering and thought, nope, they look boring! I wandered around by myself instead.

I took in some of the temporary exhibits.

In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer and first non-British artist to receive the Turner Prize, an award given annually by Tate in London. In recent years, Tillmans has been more directly involved in political activism. In tandem with his ongoing Truth Study Center project (begun in 2005), he has created posters for the anti-Brexit campaign in Britain and in response to right-wing populism in Germany. Fragile, a major touring solo exhibition of the artist’s work, opened in 2018 at the Musée d’Art Contemporain et Multimédias in Kinshasa, with the final stop taking place at Art Twenty One and CCA, Lagos in 2022.

I do love this piece!

Look at that lace!

Walking to our shuttle bus stop.

I came across another gaping hole. I used to work in a building right behind that skinny white one (TIFF headquarters) that we watched being built. So I walked along here every workday.

Press gobbledygook!

Forma presents unparalleled architecture and interior design to create a world-class condominium masterpiece. Standing 73 and 84 storeys tall at the nexus of the entertainment and financial districts in Toronto, Forma will be Frank Gehry’s tallest residential towers, offering breathtaking views, bespoke suite finishes, elevated lifestyle amenities and services, wellness spaces, entertainment lounges, creative coworking spaces and an outdoor terrace to call home.

From the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, visionary architect Frank Gehry has changed the course of architecture and design on a global scale. Now, he is coming home to Toronto with Forma. Gehry’s tallest creation in the world, devoted to the city where he was born.

Wednesday I left at 10:30 to see tulips!

More than 11,000 tulips have been planted in the heart of Toronto's Financial District in Arnell Plaza at Bay Adelaide Centre. On May 10 and 11, 2023, the vibrant garden will open and you can stroll through the flowers and even pick your own.

Simply grab a pair of scissors and cut your selection, $5 donation to the Daily Food Bank for 6 tulips.

I stopped here for their "spicy" southern chicken. The chicken was good, but not outstanding and there certainly wasn't any spice!

I took a stroll up to City Hall. The Brains are back! Click here to see 2023 Brains and links to previous years' exhibits.

 

Hazy skies and dramatic red sunsets will be a common sight in Ontario this week, thanks to the almost 150 wildfires currently raging across Alberta and B.C. — a disaster that has forced tens of thousands from their homes in Western Canada.

Thursday was more tulips as we drove to Fenwick to see their tulip fields. Fenwick is in the heart of Niagara Wineries.

We had some Dutch pancakes.

On the way home we stopped at a fruit stand and got honey crisp apples ($17), field tomatoes ($4) and asparagus ($6).

We also stopped in Grimsby to see the Painted Ladies. Unfortunately, there wasn't any parking and there were a lot of cars parked in front of the houses.

Since my handyman wasn't available until Tuesday, my cleaning lady suggested her husband could fix my locked laundry door. He came with his nephew and they jimmied it open. YAY!

The soap dispenser drawer wasn't closed completely and the handle had gotten latched under it.

Friday I met my BFF and we headed to lunch at Buster's for lobster rolls (again) and a good chin wag.

COOKING

Saturday - appetizer night - breaded GF shrimp, arancino. Italian sausage. We never buy prepared frozen food AND now I know why we don't. The shrimp were small and the breading was awful. The arancino - was tasteless and I'm not sure where the rice was.

Sunday - Mexican for a late Cinco de Mayo - guacamole, chimichurri, fajitas flank steak

Monday oven-fried chicken quarters, roast potatoes and carrots

Tuesday frozen Libretto pizza

Wednesday hamburger stew

Thursday pork chops and oven-baked balsamic and parmesan asparagus.

Friday steak, broccoli and garlic bread.

WATCHING

I watched a mini-series In the Dark through the Library Hoopla app. I reached my monthly borrowing limit, maybe I'll "borrow" John's account.

We watched the 3 part series Citadel.

We're caught up in the Jeopardy Masters series.

I am watching a series, The Tailor. This Turkish series feels old-school soap.  I am enjoying it.

Terzi, or The Tailor, is a Turkish series that follows a young man named Peyami and his best friend, Dimitri. They have been friends since school and label each other as blood brothers as adults. Peyami has a grand fashion atelier in Istanbul, whereas Dimitri looks like the sort to waste his parents’ money and exploit his privilege. Dimitri has a fiance who curiously disappears one day, so he begins to go mad over finding her. In the meantime, Peyami has his own secrets regarding his family

READING

I gave up on Echoland, just too slow.

I really enjoyed The Lost Girl, although the ending may be a little far-fetched.
The narrative blends fact and fiction, including storylines from the past and the present,
The storyline is based on the unfolding of the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.

I also started Dark Music and am enjoying it.
Inspired by Sherlock Holmes, an exhilarating new thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl in the Spider's Web--a murder investigation in which two unlikely allies race to uncover a shadowy international conspiracy.