Posts Tagged ‘CN Tower’

spring has sprung

Posted: May 12, 2016 in general Toronto, nature, waterfront
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There is time between winter and spring that is a dreary time of greyness and dullness.  It is a time when the the snow is gone but nature hasn’t come out of hibernation.  It is also a time best forgotten.

between winter and spring, the snow has melted, there are no leaves on the trees, the weather is grey, looking down a path that comes to an end in front of a bench. Behind the bench are trees, dead leaves on the ground, and a grey stone fence. dreary, grey

Luckily we don’t have to wait long.

A man sits on the edge of a large planter with trees and shrubs in it in front of Roy Thomson Hall. There are no leaves on the tree yet.

… just a little longer ….

Two red Muskoka chairs sit on the Wave Deck at the waterfront in Toronto. Boats in the harbour are in the background, some with plastic wrap still on them from winter storage.

or if you can’t wait, there’s always plastic!

a garden full of fake flowers, colourful plastic flowers instead of real flowers.

From the time the first spring flowers start to show

A small white fence with some empty planters in front of it. Old vines are on it (no leaves). There is a frame for plants to cling to in the shape of a lyre that is attached to the fence

until the time they are in full bloom is usually only a matter of days.

A group of bright yellow daffodils in the sunshine in full bloom with the front of Osgoode Hall on a warm sunny spring day. Blue sky.

Trees too soon show their colours.  The yellows of the willow trees usually appear first.

downtown Toronto, the white curved roof of the Rogers Centre with the CN Tower beside it. WIllow trees and grassy park are in front.
Almost daily the trees are greener…

Budding leaves - The light yellowish green new spring growth on a tree that is growing beside a greenish blue tinted window. Some tree reflections in the window too.

… or full of flowers.

looking upwards from below the branches of a magnolia tree in full bloom. Lots of pink and white flowers, no leaves, on the tree. Bright blue sky in the background. A sunny spring day.

And for another year we forget the last grey days of winter

A rack of geraniums in bloom for sale sitting outside a store. The sidewalk by the store is shaded with white, green and red umbrellas.

 

 

community and history, St. Clair West

Posted: April 24, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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There is a railway bridge, just west of Caledonia Rd where the GO line to Aurora passes over St. Clair West.
On the north side of the underpass is a mural in black, white and grey tones.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - the words St. Clair West in large letters

The theme of the mural is “Ontario’s first railway” as this railway line has been in operation since 1853 when the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron railway was built here.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a photo of the mural from across the street, with its three parts, the words St. Clair West on the left, the locomotive in the middle and the railway workers on the right
The first locomotive built in Canada was a steam powered engine built by the Toronto Locomotive Works, a company founded by James Good.  Named “Toronto”, it was finished in April 1853 and in mid-May 1853 it pulled a short (4 cars) train from downtown Toronto 30 miles north to Machells Corners (now Aurora).   Service on the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron line had begun!

below: “From one age to another.  The locomotive was the machine of the future.”
mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a painting of an old locomotive with the words 'Ontario's First Railway' on the top of the mural and the words: "from one age to another. The locomotive was the machine of the future. " at the bottom

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - three railway workers in jackets and caps

The mural was painted in September 2012 by Marcelo Pinero, Aelwynn Swanson, and Pia Ferrari from the Davenport Arts Community.

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There is also a mural on the south side of the underpass; it has a soccer theme.

mural on a railway bridge underpass that has a soccer theme. Flags of different countries, soccer players, words,

It too was painted by Davenport Arts Community.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

below: Silverthorn Sunrise mural painted late in 2012 by Marcelo Pinero and Aelwynn Swanson.  It is painted on the side of Whiteside Pharmacy which is on the NE corner of St. Clair and Silverthorn.   Silverthorn was also the name of this neighbourhood prior to 1998 when it was amalgamated into the City of Toronto.

Silverthorn Sunrise mural by the Davenport Arts Community, with the word Silverthorn, a sun rising over a bridge while a new TTC streetcar passes under the bridge, the words "shop St. Clair". The mural is on the side of a red brick building, beside a pharmacy.

And last, a mural that is actually on the side of business, West York Motors, which is located on St. Clair West between Ford and Osler streets.
It was painted by Splash Murals.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a view of the mural from across the almost empty parking lot.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West near Osler - south end of the mural showing cars parked in front of a garagethe backs of two houses are also in the picture,

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - looking down the length of the mural including the narrow chimney on which the CN TOwer is painted.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - the part of the mural with the words "West York since 1945" also an old convertible with its door open and top down.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a yellow sports car is painted on the wall near the entrance to the building

more information about the Davenport Arts Community

Bloordale to Brockton

Posted: November 29, 2015 in general Toronto, graffiti and street art, locations
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A walk down Brock Ave, well sort of.  I don’t think I’m capable of walking in a straight line.

 

Brock Avenue, just north of Bloor, the Haven Espresso Bar, a tiny little place with good coffee. I don’t usually start my walk with a cup of coffee but I was intrigued by the smallness of the space.

below:  This is the mural on the wall beside the coffee bar.  It’s just the word Haven but there are some interesting details in the letters.

two chairs and a small table in front of a wall with a mural on it. The mural is the word Haven. Each letter is decorated in a different way.

Close up of the letter V in blue on a larger mural that spells haven. Different shapes and colours of jewel stones are painted in the point of the V.
White ducks or geese in silhouette flying on a bright blue sky, a close up of a mural. Amongst the birds are some buttons with the word Joy on them.

 

below: The local park is called Susan Tibaldi Parkette, named for a woman who was active in the community. This cheerful toucan overlooks the park.

street art mural of a toucan on the side of a garage that faces a park

There are a few painted walls and garages in the area around the park.

  below: Including this spud bomb covered garage door.

Garage door covered with spud bombs street art

garage door, half greed and half red, with black letters diagonally across it

mural on a garage door, of two hands reaching for each other, in the style of Michaelangelo, with the word Chase written below on a brown banner.

below: On a wall, ‘Building with the Gods, James Massey R.I.P’

Blue curvy lines on the bottom, a pair of blank white eyes in the middle and a scarab like creature in the middle of the top section.

part of a garage door mural woman in pink walking, green man's head talking

garage door mural of red poppies by bright blue sky.

part of a mural high on a bright wall painted black. An ice cream cone and other sweet things.

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light blue geometric lettering graffiti on a background of two toned pink triangles.
below: I spotted this on a pole just before I headed south.  A little bit of sparkle to brighten the day.

Small graffiti piece of a paper cut out dragonfly with sequins glued onto it's body and a small part of the wing.

The area south of Bloor was once the village of Brockton.  Back in 1812, one hundred acres of land from what is now Queen Street, north to Bloor Street, and west of Dufferin Avenue was granted to James Brock (yes, a relative of Sir Isaac).  After James died, his widow Lucy had a road built that run down the center of the property.  This road was Brock Avenue.  She subdivided the property and sold the lots to smaller land holders.  This settlement became Brockton.  In 1884 it was annexed by the city of Toronto.

below: Colourful cat and mouse games on a wall just south of Dundas.  I couldn’t find any ‘signature’ on the wall and I haven’t been able to find out who painted this.  I’d love to know.

large mural of a cat chasing a mouse done in bright colours.

below: Malabar Ltd.  It looks unkempt and I thought it was abandoned.  The gate to the parking lot was open and there were a couple of cars parked behind the wall.  A quick search online and I discovered that this site is still operational, but only serves the professional opera and theaters industry.

box like brick building with square awnings over the windows, large empty parking lit beside it, white and blue fence behind the parking lot, taller apartment building beyond the fence.

Two stickers on a metal pole beside a railway bridge. The top sticker says Love Skateboards and it has picture of a skateboard on it. The lower sticker says Bunk Bed has a Posse and a black and white drawing of a man's head is also on it.

After passing under one of the greyest, dingiest railway bridges, I came to a street – not sure what it was!

A Toronto street sign in blue and white that is covered with a vine

I checked a map – it’s Cunningham Ave.

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But it afforded me an unobstructed view.
A view of the CN TOwer and the Toronto skyline from north west of downtown. Railway tracks are in the foreground.
I looked around a bit but there wasn’t much of interest on my side of the tracks and I wasn’t about to cross over!  I did notice that there is graffiti on the track side of the wall around the Malabar parking lot.  Something to explore another time… when I don’t have to dodge trains!

Short Union Pearson express train as it passes by

As the leaves fall off the trees, the houses are hidden less.  I like looking for older and/or unique architectural details that are now easier to spot (and take pictures of!)

below: The first time I saw one of these “half houses” I was quite surprised (it’s behind the large tree).  I now realize that there are a number of them in the city but it was still a fun find.

looking up an alley towards a street with some old houses. There is a large tree and behind the tree is a house that looks like it was cut in half vertically

below:  Brick and wood trim details being preserved and restored on an old house.

An old square two storey brick house undergoing restoration.

details of the carved wooden trim on a brick house being restored.

below: There are a number of old square houses in the neighbourhood.

an older square brick house on a corner of a residential street in Toronto.

below: A house with an old second storey wooden structure.  I don’t think it can be called an oriel window but I don’t know any other architectural term to describe it.

second storey wood structure protruding from house, almost the width of the house, with three vertical windows in it. A small balcony is above it.

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below: Although it’s not as easy to see in this picture, this house also has an old window and wood structure.  The fence around the neighbour’s yard is probably not as old as the porch, but it to is from a bygone era.  Is it from the 1960’s?  I suspect that they were very trendy at one time although I have seen this sort of design more as balcony railings than as fences.

a large brick semi-detached house with trees around it in fall foilage. The side of the house closest to the camera has a glassed in porch. To the left is a small house with a black metal fence around the front yeard. The fence has diamond shaped black metal pieces joined together in squares.

below:  Symmetrical but not symmetrical

A group of row houses. In the middle are two semis that share a peaked roof but the semis are totally different. One has a pink roof the other has a brown roof. One is white and the other is green. One has a front porch but the other doesn't

below: The back of Bike Pirates, a DIY bike workshop on Queen West, has a mural by Jonny Cakes.

In a laneway, painted by Jonny Cakes @thehalfdecent, the wall of a workshop, shed or garage, is painted with a big skull wearing a red bike hat. Two white cats, one on a unicycle and one on a bicycle, and the words BIKE PIRATE written over the door.

below: Someone’s got a leg up!

A fake leg, bent at the knee, with fake blood along the top of the thigh, attached to a wall over a door, the leg protrudes from the wall.
Up over a door that is…. this door in fact.

A red door with some items attached to it - a squished ping pong ball, an old dirty grey glove with a clip attached to the end of one finger

 

below:  And there were a few other little amusements along the way.

Someone hsa taken a red marker to a no dumping sign so now it reads grnoom dumping. The sign is nailed onto a post and there is an old blue truck parked behind the post.
scrawled in cursive writing with black spray paint on a white garage door are the words love yourself

close up of two stickers on a blue and white bike route sign. One sticker is a brown one with the words Vote Spud and a picture of skull wearing a floppy hat. The other is a red cartoon character

part of an old wood door, plywood wall beside the door with a black line drawing of a worm like creature with a big head with four eyes and a smiling mouth

small paper taped to a hydro pole on a residential street. On the paper are typed the words: WHy doesn't Harper want a parliamentary oversight of his security and police forces? Could it be because Hitler didn't want it either? Why do young people run away from Canada to join ISIS?

A car with a Virginia state licence plate that says Chil Out

return to Lawrence West

Posted: November 22, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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As promised a few blog posts ago, I went back to take more photos of the now complete mural on the underpass on Lawrence Avenue just west of Caledonia.  It was painted by Essencia Art Collective (Shalak Attack, Fiyabruxa and Brunosmoky).

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - a larger than life sized head of a tiger, an elephant, and a bird with a colourful beak

mural by Essencia Art Collective of golden pyraminds with elephants walking amongst them and eagles and macaws flying above them.

street art picture of a red and blue macaw flying over pyramids, its painted beside a set of stairs so it looks like the bird is flying up the staircase

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - looking at an angle back at the mural, Egyptian pyramids painted beside the stairs that go from the sidewalk to the houses above. Also a painted camel with a bright patterned blanket on its back.

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - a creature with a deer skull and antlers as head with a vulture sitting on its shoulder. Background scenery is dead land with an oil derrick on it.

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - dead animals, dead oil fields, dead trees, over exploitation of the Earth

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - dead forest, dead city

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - a black and crumbling city with the CN Tower looking like it's about to fall down

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - a person covered in a grey suit and wearing a gas mask in front of a decaying and falling down city

mural of a person praying, hands together, eyes closed, wearing a purple shawl over their head

mural with people, city life and comment on mistreatment of the environment

car driving under a bridge and past a mural painted on the walls of the underpass, two large green women's faces tilted upwards with eyes closed

street art mural of a turtle swimming by some lily pads in the water, as seen from below

a man cycles past a large mural, two very large green faces are in the foreground

part of a mural on an underpass, under the bridge, large cobs of corn and a bright dragonfly

close up of big eyes on an insect, part of a mural

looking eastward along a long horizontal mural painted beside a city street

close up of part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective of a woman with a flower in her hair and a leaf shaped ear ring, mother nature like, beside a large fox.

part of a mural painted on an underpass - the nose of a very large fox plus two tiny houses on stilts above turbulent water, night sky

part of a larger mural, a boy is sitting at the back of a large wood boat, he is fishing, the boat is in a large bubble

part of a large mural on an underpass in Toronto painted be Essencia Art Collective, an old man with white hair, beard and mustache and wearing a wool hat is holding a paper cup that has fire and steam coming out of it. A bird is sitting on his shoulder

part of a street art mural - three animals, a warthog with spikey back, a deer, and another animal with antlers and a roundish face

a large warthog animal in a street art mural

a large owl in a mural

looking along a sidewalk where there is alarge mural, a very large owl is looking at you, other animals in the background.

street art mural, metaphorical heart of the Earth is being ripped out of the water

part of a large mural with an environmental theme - a brown bear stands beside a small waterfall in the midst of a lush green place

part of a mural with an environment theme, a polar bear is standing beside a red and white ship that is frozen in the arctic ice.

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - polar bears walking on ice, with an iceberg behind them.

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - a person in a purple parka holding a little tree, standing in ice between two polar bears

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - a man in a parka with a fur lined hood looks down the road towards the rest of the mural

part of a street art mural, three people bundled up in fur lined parkas in a winter scene

a little teaser

Posted: November 10, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There’s a new mural being painted.  It’s not quite finished

looking down a sidewalk. A wall on the left has been painted with gold orange and brown pyramids, a lift is in the middle of the sidewalk, a busy street, Lawrence Ave, is to the right.

but it is looking impressive!

view of a mural that runs beside a sidewalk, taken from across the street

It is the work of Essenciartcollective, namely brunosmoky, shalakattack and fiyabruxa.

It started to rain quite heavily while I was there so I didn’t linger.
I’ll return soon – and by then it should be finished!  A few photos in the meantime:

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, two woman's faces in green, eyes closed, heads slightly uplifted. long green grass around them, some orange and blue plants that look like water lily pads seen from below.

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, a large owl in purples and reds with a yellow eyes. He dominated the picture. There is also a warthog and an elk (reindeer?) behind him
Parts of the mural are very apocalyptic

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, an apocalyptic view of Toronto with the CN Tower and downtown skyscrapers crumbling in a lifeless city

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, a close up of an old bearded man's face.

Pictures of the completed mural are now available!

it’s become a game

Posted: September 10, 2015 in landmarks
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And the point of the game is this:

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How many views of the CN Tower do you think there are?
I suspect the answer is something like “bazillions” but I am willing to try to see how many I can find.

below: From far away. Looking eastward across Lake Ontario from Humber Bay park.

looking across a hazy Lake Ontario to the TOronto skyline

Some of these views you have probably seen before…  and perhaps many times before.
But, I  hope that some of these views are new to you.

below: Zipline at Canada Square, part of EpicIsOn event

blog_CN_Tower_zipline

below: From the east, across Sherbourne Common, late afternoon

Sherbourne Common looking towards downtown and the CN tower. Splash pad with fountains in the foreground with late afternoon sun shining on the water

below:  And from the west

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  below: Behind a busy intersection, King and Spadina

the intersection of King and Spadina in Toronto with a wide angle lens. People are crossing the street, there is a streetcar and lots of streetcar wires. THe LCBO and Winners are in the background as well as the CN Tower
The CN tower between two skyscrapers

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below: behind Queen St. West

Looking towards shops on Queen Street West with the CN Tower behind.

Musicians play on the rood of the Fairland grocery store in Kensington. The CN Tower is a bit hazy but it is visible in the background.

below: The CN Tower peaks out from between the pencil supports at OCAD

Looking through the pencil like supports to the black and white upper lever addition to OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design). The CN TOwer and other tall toronto buildings are in the background.

This post is a continuation of another CN Tower post, Always in the way, from last year.

city under siege

Posted: January 2, 2015 in general Toronto
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Construction, it’s everywhere.
I’m not sure if it’s my imagination but 2014 seemed to be the year that the city was torn apart in the name of changes, development and/or improvements.

A white hard hat sits on the end of a large wooden spool. Blue gas cylinders are behind it.

on break

How many cranes are in the sky?

downtown cityscape with tall buildings as well as the CN Tower. Lots of construction cranes in the picture.

looking towards the CN Tower from Soho St., just north of Queen West.

Men on a crane working above a hole in the ground where a new condo is being built.

Yet another crane at work, on Adelaide West.

How many kilometres of road have been dug up or blocked off?

Yonge street is closed by a large crane that is parked in the middle of the street.

Yonge north of Davisville one summer day.  Removing a crane that was used in condo construction.

Near Eglinton West subway station. Construction of the Eglinton LRT impacts traffic on Eglinton Ave.

Near Eglinton West subway station. Construction of the Eglinton LRT affects traffic on Eglinton Ave.

Cars trying to merge from three lanes to one. Large sign with arrow pointing left. Tall buildings on either side of the street. Yellow leaves on the trees because it is October.

Adelaide St. West

a section of city street is being renovated. The pavement has been removed, construction equipment and vehicles are in the picture. There is a 'road closed' sign.

Another street under repair.  York St., looking south towards Queen St. and Richmond St.

How many holes have been dug?

A construction site, hole in the ground, large yellow crane, red dump trunk and a large fence around the site. A church is in the background.

Dufferin and Adelaide

How many orange and black cones adorn our streets?

Black and orange traffic cones along with a yellow fence block traffic from entering a construction site at an intersection where new street car tracks are being laid.

New streetcar tracks at King and Sumach.

How many kilometres of fencing have been erected?

construction site surrounded by both metal fence and blue mesh fence

double fenced

How many years will it take to finish Union Station?

looking west on Front St. towards Union Station. Construction equipment is in the foreground of the photo. The CN tower is in the background.

Looking west on Front St.  The renovation and upgrade of Union Station and it’s impact on Front Street has been ongoing for a long time now. Maybe one day it will be finished!

What construction will 2015 bring? 

by kids

Posted: December 7, 2014 in locations
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On a fence at Adam Beck Junior Public school in Scarborough is a wonderful “mural” composed of pictures painted by some of the students.  Kudos to all involved in the project!

a large number of colourful paintings by students at a junior public school. Some are scenes of Toronto, others are of animals or plants or buildings.

A “Danger due to construction” sign, the CN Tower and a Toronto police car.
Ladybugs, flowers and trees.
On the very right is a picture that looks like a sunset or sunrise.  What you probably can’t read are the words written on the blue stripe.  They say, “the story of my life”.

Close up of the fence at a school. About twenty paintings done by the students.

 Buses, soccer balls and a hat left on the fence.
Another CN Tower, an arena, and ice cream.
Stop bullying too.

close up of the left part of the fence with paintings by students at the school.

A Canadian flag and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

more of the collection of paintings by elementary school students that are hanging on a fence around the school.

murals in the park

Posted: November 26, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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David Crombie Park runs along the south side of the Esplanade between Lower Jarvis and Berkeley Street.

At the east end is a basketball court and playground.   One of the back walls of the basketball court has been repainted with a mural by Shalak, Smoky and J. Periquet.

 

mural on the back wall of a basketball court
mural on the back wall of a basketball court

one end of the wall

mural on the back wall of a basketball court

the other side of the wall

the west side of the wall has been painted with a mural that looks like a train train going towards the sunset at the horizon. Three tall condos are in the distance

close up of the west side of the wall has been painted with a mural that looks like a train train going towards the sunset at the horizon

blue October skies

Posted: November 2, 2014 in general Toronto
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Since most of the city woke up to snow flurries this morning, I thought I would take a quick look back over the past month.  October was a beautiful month with many clear sunny days.  The leaves on the trees turned wonderful colours this autumn and the colours lingered for a few weeks.

Blue skies, autumn colours

A man is suspended from the roof of a tall building by a rope. He has a bucket and he is washing windows. The CN Tower is close by and seems to loom in the background.

Washing windows in the shadow of the CN Tower.

Two tall condo buildings. Sun is reflecting off the balconies of the condo in background. In the foreground is a balcony with a large plant. Sun is shining directly on the plant so it looks like it is in a spotlight.

Afternoon on the balcony. Condos on Blue Jays Way.

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older row houses in the background along with a tree covered in yellow and gold leaves. A large tree that has already lost its leaves is in the foreground.

Clarence Square

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Tall light grey brick apartment building with cirved bluish balconies. On one wall is the large shadow of another building with balconies.

Shadows of building on building, Roehampton Ave.

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