A new find on Queen St. West - couldn't find an artist name and it seems it was just finished last weekend!!! The only reference I found was on Twitter #QueenWest.
Also found on this outing. I found lots on this one!
An enormous Monarch Butterfly in flight provides an uplifting interruption of colour amidst a wash of urban grey, radiating love for the lands that sustain butterflies and all life. At the south end of the mural, a boldly stylized Oyamel fir tree bursting with Monarchs roosting in its boughs represents the southern part of the Monarch’s annual Migration between Mexico and Canada. The northern part of their vast migratory route is represented at the corresponding northern end of the mural where local reverence for the Monarch is apparent in a striking portrayal of the Monarch’s favoured Ontario Milkweed.
Butterfly Effect Mural is rendered entirely in aerosol by renowned Mural, Graffiti and Gallery artists Paula Gonzalez-Ossa and Nyle “Miigizi” Johnston. Produced by Bureau Of Power And Light Art Collective (BPL), in partnership with StreetArt Toronto (StART) and Centre For Social Innovation(CSI).
I was at the AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, this week to see the Picasso exhibit and came across a new sculpture in the atrium.
Standing 5 metres tall, Moko Jumbie is a new sculpture by British-Trinidadian artist Zak Ové (b. 1966). Inspired by aspects of African masquerade and Trinidadian Carnival, it features a masked figure adorned in antique glass beads, cowbells, and gold Air Jordan sneakers, standing atop towering stilts. A guardian who travelled to the region to protect enslaved peoples from evil, the figure of Moko Jumbie blends African diasporic mythologies: in Central Africa, ‘Moko’ refers to a healer, while ‘Jumbie’ is a Caribbean term for spirits. Since the early 1900s, it has been a key figure at Carnival celebrations in Trinidad and across the Caribbean.
1. Starts with "P" 2. A Favorite 3.PEACEFUL - chosen by Tom
Starts with "P"
Prospect NY is a hamlet. The village was founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1890. Residents voted 91–7 to dissolve to village on July 21, 2015. This was primarily due to a lengthy dispute regarding worker's compensation claims from two firefighters.
Portersville PA
FAVOURITE
Deming New Mexico
PEACEFUL
PEACE garden is PEACEFUL in the middle of the city. Toronto City Hall.
Déjà Brew
A catchall for leftover beer, coffee, food, motels and whatever catches my fancy!
The neighbourhood's name originated in the early 19th-century, when the area was an enclave of Irish immigrants, both Protestant and Catholic, said to be primarily from County Cork.
In the 19th century, most Corktown residents found employment at one of the local breweries or brickyards. Some of the original workers' cottages can still be seen in the area. Examples of late 19th-century British-style row-housing can still be seen lining Corktown side streets such as Bright Street, Trinity Street, Wilkins Avenue, Ashby Place and Gilead Place.
Gilead Place, a tiny one-block thoroughfare that runs south from King St. east of Parliament St. In recent years, it has been transformed by the appearance of a row of townhouses.
Gilead Place in 1912. Houses now cost upwards of $1,000,000.
The first Roman Catholic church in Toronto, St. Paul's Basilica, is found in Corktown. St. Paul's was originally built in 1822. The current St. Paul's (at Queen St. East and Power Street) dates from 1887. St. Paul's Catholic School is the oldest Catholic elementary school in the city, founded in 1842. Beneath its schoolyard and adjacent to St. Paul's Basilica is an unmarked graveyard which served the Catholic community until 1857.
Protestants could not afford the lofty pew rents at nearby St. James Cathedral (Anglican) and this led to the building of their own Little Trinity Anglican Church in 1843 on King Street East. Little Trinity Church is Toronto's oldest surviving church building, its cornerstone laid on July 20, 1843.
Stonecutters' Lane was named after a nearby pub, the Stonecutters' Arms, a defunct Irish pub.
In the early 1960s, a significant amount of Corktown was demolished to make way for several elevated roadways, including the Richmond Street off-ramp from the Don Valley Parkway and the re-routed Eastern Avenue overpass. Among the most significant buildings destroyed was the House of Providence (1857–1962), an institution run by the Sisters of St. Joseph to care for orphans and the elderly poor.
Once one of the city's largest centres of charity, the House of Providence stood nearby for over 100 years. It was initiated by Toronto's Roman Catholic Bishop, Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel, in response to the plight of the desperately poor, including many Irish immigrants. To provide shelter and food for those most in need, de Charbonnel enlisted both the help of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the generosity of the surrounding community. Operated by the Sisters, the House of Providence opened in 1857. Nearly always filled to capacity, the House of Providence would eventually quadruple in size to provide for about 700 residents, including the elderly, the unemployed, orphans, widows, and newcomers to Canada. Some stayed only a few days; others, for years. At its doors, daily meals were given out to the hungry, particularly during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
According to a historical pamphlet about the House of Providence, written by Mabel Pillar for the Sisters of St. Joseph, the early years were a struggle, and the sisters went door to door to collect money and washing, which they were paid to do. She also tells a story of a time the sisters were low on money and couldn’t afford flour.
So the Sisters of St. Joseph prayed and they prayed. Meanwhile, a farmer was returning from a mill where he had brought his wheat to be ground into flour. When his team of horses approached the gate of the House of Providence, they slowed down and refused to pass the gate. The good farmer then let them turn in. Needless to add, the farmer was welcomed with a refreshing cup of tea… and the Sisters got their flour!
The House of Providence in 1855. Picture from the Baldwin Collection at the Toronto Public Library, call number JRR 308 Cab III.
We spent the weekend in Montreal visiting family, the first time since the pandemic. Lots of catching up and laughs, good food.
It was a rainy drive both ways.
We take the 401 highway so I had a chance to photo the bridge.
The Pickering Pedestrian Bridge, which runs over Highway 401 in Pickering, Ont., is now the official record holder for longest enclosed pedestrian bridge in the world.
Monday raining again, but not complaining. John caught up on his football games. I cleaned the fridge and baked.
I'm not sure where the rest of the week went. We went out to lunch on Wednesday at Burger's Priest for burgers and fries and then made a stop at Homesense on the Queensway. I usually shop downtown and this store was a zoo, which I did not enjoy at all. But I did find some bath sheets for $15 each and another basket, but not big enough for my plant but it found a home.
John golfed on Thursday and I did a needed vegetable shopping and John picked up a turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend.
Our condo recently bought a HD multi sport golf simulator and set it up in its own room downstairs.
John tried it out on Friday and was totally thrilled with it.
COOKING
Saturday - family dinner
Sunday - family big breakfast and cheeses for dinner.
Monday I cleaned out my fridge which led me to bake because we had old apples and two open containers of cream cheese. Cream cheese apple cake turned out really well and is a keeper. In fact it is already in My Recipe Box!
I did a beef short ribs and lamb kidney stew.
Tuesday
Ham, potato cauliflower Brussels sprouts au gratin - the vegetables needed to be used up.
Thursday chicken a la orange, haven't had this in ages it is a 1980s family recipe.
Friday steak with baby bok choy, onions, bean sprouts in a honey siracha sauce.
I spent some time updating my recipe box. It has become a mishmash of recipes I have posted and links to other recipes that I made. For example, I had a clam chowder from 2018, a smoky bacon chowder from 2020 and a fish chowder from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute cookbook. In reality I use all three in some form to make a fish chowder so I combined them into one recipe.
I also started cleaning out paper copies of recipes that we like and posted them in my blog. I even had several copies of the same recipe printed out!
Basically if we find something we really like I will post it and use that one going forward.
We got caught up on our recorded series - Blue Bloods, Dr. Death, Billions, American Rust.
We started watching Squid Game a South Korean survival drama series. We have seen five episodes so far and we will finish it. My biggest problem is the voice over actors are so bad!! But it is definitely binge worthy.
Tuesday at the Movies
Kate 2021 American action thriller - fun, entertaining.
Knock Knock 2015 Eli Roth'sintention, he says in the film’s press notes, was to demonstrate how much more quickly we experience everything in the social media age—both the delights and the torments—and how the rules of civilized society no longer seem to apply. This was my kind of horror movie! Fun and cringy. WARNING lots of sex!
READING
Not much reading this week, not sure why as we didn't really go anywhere.
I have also made this in the air fryer at 350 degrees.
Ingredients
1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 cup white granulated sugar 2 large eggs substitute 1/4 cup applesauce for 1 egg 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas about 3 medium bananas 1 lemon (juice and zest) 2 cups all purpose flour gluten free 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen
Glaze: I don't usually make 1 cup powdered sugar 2 - 3 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat eggs in a small bowl and add them to the butter mixture, beat until combined.
Add mashed bananas, lemon zest and lemon juice, whisk until fully combined. If needed, use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Sift all dry ingredients into a medium bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt.
Slowly add sifted dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix just until combined, careful not to over-mix, this is very important.
Using a spatula, fold in the blueberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, with no raw batter onto it. Start checking on the bread at the 50-minute mark, and if you still need to bake more, check on it every 5 minutes.
Let cool completely before in the loaf pan, run a knife over the edges and gently remove the bread from the pan.
Glaze:
Add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl, add two tablespoons of milk and the vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined with no lumps. If the mixture is too thick add one more tablespoon of milk. I like the glaze on the thicker side, yet pourable, so it will look white and shiny, not transparent.
After the bread has cooled, use a fork or spoon to drizzle the icing over it.
1. Starts with "O" 2. A Favorite 3.ORNATE - chosen by Tom
Starts with "O"
OCHLOCKONEE River Ochlockonee River State Park is a Florida State Park located in Wakulla County, Florida, south of the town of Sopchoppy in the Florida Panhandle.
The name is from the Hitchiti language words for yellow river.
FAVOURITE OBELISK
The Luxor Obelisks (French: Obélisque de Louxor) are a pair of Ancient Egyptian obelisks carved to stand either side of the portal of the Luxor Temple in the reign of Ramesses II. The left-hand obelisk remains in its location in Egypt.
But the right-hand stone, 23 metres (75 ft) high, is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France.
ORNATE
Right outside our door you can walk along Lake ONTARIO there are various paths. One path has a retaining wall stamped with words like JOY, FLUTTER, GRACE, DANCE ETC.
Déjà Brew
A catchall for leftover beer, coffee, food, motels and whatever catches my fancy!
