RURAL

 One Word Sunday

Elora ON

Espresso and Gelato

 Linking up at Marg at The Intrepid Reader 

Sunday Salon

Hearth and Soul Link Party

Weekend Coffee Share

Sherry's Pickings

What's On Your Plate (Monthly)

June 2021 - Toronto ON

May 2021 - Lansdowne Ave Toronto

Last Saturday's sculpture is right downtown behind City Hall.

Monday Mural takes us to Yorkville and more views of a brand new piece of street art.

Tuesday's lanes are in Cabbagetown.

Finally we can dine outdoors! Four to a table.

Outdoor dining on the Danforth near Woodbine published in the Toronto Star October 22nd 1934

We had planned on going out on Saturday but John's ankle was bothering him so we stayed in for the weekend. He should have golfed on Monday but it was a rainy day that we turned into Afternoon at the Movies.

Tuesday we took our first Day Trippin' adventure to Niagara Falls. As mentioned in the post we decided it was a good opportunity to avoid crowds as the borders are still closed as are indoor activities/museums but patios are open for lunch.

Sculpture Saturday was also at the Falls.

Good cider but only one brand/flavour available...we have many, many local ciders available.

Even live entertainment on the patio. 

Meat and cheese board - their definition not mine. Menu was stereotypical, burgers and wings. This was a shame as it is the Niagara Brewing Company set in the middle of average American chain restaurants. They have had 15 months to come up with a sterling menu featuring local Ontario produce, cheeses and meats.

We had fun walking up Clifton Hill minus the hordes of kids tourists.

Mini golf.

Wednesday John golfed and I went downtown early before my second shot.

Construction is just nuts downtown. John St. from King to Richmond is closed off.

Then on Widmer these old beauties are being saved as a front for yet another condo. Widmer is a short two block street running from King to Richmond which is totally under construction. Further up the block will the  Theatre District Residence and Riu Plaza Hotel.

Facadism, façadism, or façadomy is the architectural and construction practice where the facade of a building is designed or constructed separately from the rest of a building, or when only the facade of a building is preserved with new buildings erected behind or around it.

I am adding this word to my labels/tags as this is the second time I have used it.

8-20 Widmer Street Condos will be a 56 storey tower with mixed condo units. The street level will be preserved historic townhouses. The estimated completion date for 8-20 Widmer Street Condos is still unknown.

Artist rendering.

My lunch spot. Champs has added a food truck.

Can you see Champs Hot Dogs dwarfed beside the towering condo, it is surrounded but he is still holding out.

King St. oddness.

Got my second shot in record time in and out before my scheduled appointment.

Along the Gardner snapped from the bus.

Thursday arm was a little sore but was fine other than that. John had an achy knee as we headed out for his shot while I grabbed some groceries. Same thing he didn't wait at all.

This doesn't mean no more masks. The Toronto medical health officer, Dr. Eileen DeVilla, has extended the COVID 19 bylaws until the end September. This means residents will need to keep physically distancing in city parks or public squares and will be required to continue wearing masks or face coverings in common areas of businesses, apartments and condominiums. Which is fine with us.

Friday was a real rainy day so no golf for John and I didn't bother going out. We treated it like a Saturday.

SOPHISTICATED SHAKERS

Blue Diablo - delicious!

1 1/4 oz. Jose Cuervo Classico

1/4 oz. blue curaçao
Juice of half lime
1 tsp. lemon juice
Club soda

Mix tequila, blue curaçao, lime juice, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake. Pour into a short glass and top with club soda.

COCKTAIL CIRCUIT - TO DATE

Mai Tai with orgeat which is new to us

Tequila Sunrise

Rob Roy required bitters which we had never bought

New York Sours 

Gin Fizz

Rusty Nail

Vodka Sidecar

Vodka Cosmopolitan

Negroni

The Perfect Storm

Boulevardier

Side Car

Jalapeno Margarita

The Godfather

Peach Cosmo - FAIL

The Barista

COOKING

Saturday Spanakopita Greek spinach pie, Greek salad and tzatziki that I bought at St. Lawrence Market and we loved it. I wanted a recipe for fresh spinach, most use frozen. This recipe called for the spinach to be sprinkled with salt to sweat out the water. This made the spinach very salty. Some recipes lightly sauté the spinach with the garlic which I might do next time.

Sunday cauliflower and potato pakoras (gluten free and air fryer) and breaded calamari (gluten free and air fryer). I had bought frozen squid rings at the market.

The calamari didn't get as brown as we would have liked but were tasty. I think it used too much flour AND arrowroot flour. I have since found recipes that use less flour and an egg. Perhaps bread crumbs?

I made a couple of dips, an aioli for the calamari (mayo, lemon juice, paprika, garlic and Old Bay seasoning) and a cilantro dip for the pakoras (cilantro, mint, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, sour cream, cumin, garam masala, ginger).

Monday since I wanted to finish the box of phyllo pastry I made Greek meat (lamb) pies.

Tuesday I decided on hamburger patties, mushroom gravy and mashed cauliflower and potatoes.

Wednesday I made fish chowder.

Thursday I had good intentions but got lazy (shot?) as the day rolled on so we ordered Swiss Chalet.

Friday being Friday, steak and salad.

WATCHING

Monday became afternoon movies as it was raining.

Supremacy 2014 The film chronicles the real life events of March 29–30, 1995, perpetrated by Aryan Brotherhood members Robert Walter Scully Jr. and Brenda Kay Moore. After fatally shooting a police officer, white supremacist Garrett Tully, along with his companion, Doreen Lesser, breaks into a house and takes an African-American family hostage.

A hard movie to watch.

Hustlers 2019  based on New York magazine's 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores" by Jessica Pressler. It follows a crew of New York City strippers who begin to steal money by drugging stock traders and CEOs who visit their club, then running up their credit cards.

The Fall of the American Empire (French: La chute de l'empire américain) is a 2018 Canadian crime thriller film written and directed by Denys Arcand. It is about a man who, after an armed robbery in Montreal, discovers two bags of money and is unsure what to do with them. It is in French with English subtitles.

READING

2021 Trillium Book Awards Finalists

A Good Neighborhood has to be one of the saddest books I've read in a long time, white privilege and the burden of being a young black man in today's society. I SO hated Brad!

I was so disappointed with Tana French's latest book The Searcher, I normally love her books. Its main saving grace was her impeccable Irish accents. My favourite saying when the men are talking about a certain redhead "I don't think curtains match the carpet" totally new expression to me!

It was so boring and dragged out. Nothing about a retired cop from Chicago moving to a small Irish village rang true.

Ask Again, Yes is my kind of book., a good family drama.

Sculpture Saturday

 Sculpture Saturday

June 2021 - NIagara Falls ON 

From a day trip to Niagara Falls this week.

Nikola Tesla designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, New York which started producing electrical power in 1895. This was the beginning of the electrification of the United States and the rest of the world. Today, Tesla's AC (alternating current) electricity is lighting and powering the globe. Nikola Tesla along with George Westinghouse lit the world.

 Now, the inventor of alternating current has a permanent tribute overlooking the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, Canadian side.

Les Drysdale was the sculptor. Drysdale has done many works around Ontario, click on his name in the labels/tags below this post to see more. 

As a boy, Tesla saw a picture of Niagara Falls and told his uncle in Lika, Croatia, that he wanted to put a wheel under the falls to harness the power of the moving water.

Tesla is standing atop an AC motor, one of the 700 inventions he patented.

Click on this link and this one to see murals in Hamilton commemorating Tesla.

Weekend Roundup

 Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler

My last rounds were coffee and beer. So it's time for some food and sleep!

1. Starts with "Y"
2. A Favorite
3. YELLOW - chosen by Tom


Starts with "Y"

YERMO is in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California. Its name is derived from one of the Spanish words for "wilderness". It is 13 miles (21 km) east of Barstow on Interstate 15, just south of the Calico Mountains. Its population was an estimated 1,750 in 2009.

FAVOURITE

YARN 

Mahone Bay Nova Scotia

YELLOW

Wolfville Nova Scotia

Déjà Brew
A catchall for leftover beer, coffee, food, motels and whatever catches my fancy!

YELAPA Mexico

Day Trippin'

 June 2021 - Niagara Falls ON

First Day Tripping post of 2021, although we have had other outings. This was the first leaving early (10 AM) and having lunch out. The reason we chose Niagara Falls was the US/Canada borders are still closed (pandemic) but the patios are open but no inside amusements or museums are yet open.

It was very quiet at the Falls on a gorgeous day. Parking was easy but not cheap. If you are going you would be wise to pick a spot that you can keep all day as all parking was a flat day fee. Our first spot was $20 by the Queen Victoria restaurant (closed).

The last time we were at the Falls was the dead of winter!

American Falls

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

As per the plaque below:

On February 24th 1925, the Niagara Falls Illumination Board was formed. The board had an initial budget of $28,000 to ensure the management, operation and maintenance of the illumination lights. The power to supply the illumination lights were being provided for free by the Ontario Power Company.

Twenty-four new lights were mounted in a row on the Ontario Power Company water surge tank, located next to the Refractory (Victoria Park) Restaurant on the Canadian side allowing both the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls to be lit from the same location. Each light used 4,500 watts and produced 54 million candela, while the series of lights produced 1.3 billion candela. These lights were originally built to search the sky for enemy aircraft over Britain during World War II.

The official ceremony took place on June 8th 1925. It included a light parade in Niagara Falls, New York followed by an International ceremony in the middle of the Upper Steel Arch Bridge before the lights were turned on to illuminate the Falls with many spectators looking on.

We had to walk on this side of the street as the area along the Falls were blocked off for some reason, some kind of repairs? although no one was working.

Nikola Tesla. There are several Tesla murals in Hamilton, click on Tesla in the labels/tags below this post.
Nikola Tesla designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, New York which started producing electrical power in 1895. This was the beginning of the electrification of the United States and the rest of the world. Today, Tesla's AC electricity is lighting and powering the globe. Nikola Tesla is the genius who lit the world.

The contrast in colour was striking.

Lunch at the Niagara Brewing Company, disappointing, considering it is the first week of reopening. They could have a more inspired local menu featuring Ontario produce.

A fun mini golf.