Posts Tagged ‘grass’

Colonel Danforth colours

Posted: October 24, 2022 in locations, nature
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october scene, leaves on trees in different shadesof greens, yellows, and oranges, with blue water of highland creek, as well as reflections of leaves in the water

Colonel Danforth Park is located where Kingston Road and Old Kingston Road pass over the Highland Creek in Scarborough.

people walking by highland creek in october with lots of red leaves on the trees

This past weekend we had some amazing warm and sunny days – great days to spend some time meandering through a park, especially this year when the autumn colours seem so much brighter and plentiful than in past years.  Is it just my imagination or have the colours have also lingered longer?

large deciduous trees with lots of orange and red leaves, october

The north part of the park merges with the grounds of U of T Scarborough campus.

bright orange and red leaves on mid si

people at univerity of toronto scarborough campus tennis courts on lower playing fields, october, trees in bright autumn colours

large group of autumn trees, with lots of leaves on the ground

birch trees in autumn, lots of blue sky too

late afternoon sun low in sky, long shadows, light through tree trunks, with lots of october leaves on the ground

october afternoon in the woods, large mature trees with lots of colourful leaves

afternoon sunlight shining through forest

three tall straight pine trees beside a path

a path through the woods in October, different coloured leaves on the trees, leaves fallen on the path

trees in the woods at Colonel Danforth park, one is dead, the others have colourful leaves, october scene

below:  Seed pods of ‘dog-strangling vine’ (or swallowwort) starting to burst.  This plant is an invasive species.  It is quite pretty at this time of year as the seeds are released and the leaves of the plant turn a silvery colour.  Unfortunately, it is a fast growing vine that quickly climbs other plants such as this young sumac tree.  It will kill that plant.

dog strangling vine growing on young sumac or sumach with red leaves

the remains of a very old tree, a broken stump, very large, beside another tree

below: A wasp nest high up in a tree

large globe shaped wasp nest up in a tree

big fat pine cones growing on a pine tree

large reddish hued pine tree with gnarled trunk in the foreground, benches in the park in the background

below:  Ooops!  “Off roading” taken a bit too far.

a small plastic toy ride on truck stuck on the rocks in a creek

below: Under Kingston Road

three faces, graffiti on concrete supports for a bridge. each face has black hair, one has glasses and their skin is various shades of brown

graffiti on bridge concrete support

tall concrete supports holding up bridge, Kingston Road, over Highland creek and Colonel Danforth park

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historical society plaque for Highland Creek Mills

“Highland Creek Mills
The early settlers of Scarborough used the waters of Highland Creek to provide power for their many saw and grist mills in this valley. The first mill in the township was built here in 1804 by William Cornell who hauled his mill stone from Kingston on his sled. In 1847 William Hellewell built the first of his four mills on this site. Downstream there were saw mills operated by Jordan Post, Stephen Closson, and others. …”

 

There have been discussions recently about the lack of washroom facilities in Toronto parks especially once the city deems summer to be over. There were no facilities that I saw on my walk but I was thankful for the porta-potty that was provided. Not the best but I have seen worse!

Moccasin Trail to the rainbow

Posted: March 18, 2019 in locations, nature
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Moccasin Trail is a street in Don Mills that provides access to the East Don Trail. Starting a walk there looked like a good idea when I checked the map.

yellow metal barrier prevents cars from entering a road that is covered with snow, trees on both sides of the road

I decided that it was worth a try. Going downhill is harder than going uphill on snow and ice so I figured that if I got stuck all I had to do was turn around and go back to my car. In the summer you can drive down to the parking lot.

snow covered road with small trees growing on either side of it, winter, no leaves on the trees

With a little slipping, a little sliding, and a lot of care, I made it. At the bottom of the hill is Moccasin Trail Park.

a picnic bench ina park in winter with snow on the ground

below: The path goes under the DVP to join the East Don Trail (where there was not as much ice!). Except for the constant rumble of traffic in the background, it was very quiet down here today. I only saw two other people (and one dog).

park in winter with a path that leads to a bridge under a road

below: Wild grasses grow in the ditch alongside the Don Valley Parkway along with sumach trees and other shrubs.

wild grasses, brown in winter, grow alongside the Don Valley Parkway

below: A Red-tailed Hawk circles overhead. There were two of them flying above me today. They were magnificent to watch as they circled in the sky – and as I wished that they would come closer, or perhaps even find something to catch. No luck today.

a red tailed hawk flies overhead, blue sky with some light clouds

below: Ducks in the water and traffic on the Don Valley Parkway

two ducks swimming in the Don River, with cars passing by on the Don Valley Parkway

water flows over a low concrete dam on the Don River, winter time, but no snow or ice, no leaves on the trees,

below: Someone has tied this bright and cheerful bird house to the trunk of a tree.

a bright red bird house in a tree, no leaves,

below: One of the biggest reasons why I chose to walk this path today – the rainbow bridge. It’s easily visible from the northbound Don Valley Parkway. Although I don’t drive the DVP on a regular basis, every time I am reminded that I haven’t walked there yet. It was originally painted in the 1970’s by B.C. Johnson, a teenager from Norway. Every time the city painted over it, the rainbow was repainted.

East Don Trail winds towards the bridge that is painted with a rainbow, some traces of the Don Valley Parkway like a green exit sign for Lawrence Avenue, and a couple of tall light stands.

below: In 2013 the arch was repainted with the help of Mural Routes. The interior was also painted in the same rainbow colours.

arched bridge under a railway, over a walking path, that has been painted with a rainbow

These are some of the scenes that are painted inside.

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - on red background, with orange and purple trees, a man walks his dog and a woman pushes a stroller

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - blue and purple children build a white snowman with white trees in the background

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - a cyclist on a bike rides along a yellow and orange path past yellow and orange trees

I didn’t explore much beyond the rainbow bridge. That adventure is for another day!

 

UPDATE:  The rest of the trail that can be access from the Moccasin Trail is now covered in a blog post, From Charles Sauriol southward

mural across the doors – Port Union

Posted: July 13, 2017 in doors, graffiti and street art, history, locations
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Across the back of a row of stores in Port Union there are some doors that have been painted over with a mural.  These are some of them:

a maural painted on a wall and door, historic scene, women in period costume (early 1900s?) sitting on the grass with some baskets, old fashioned car behind them.

door at back of store covered with mural, grass, people on bikes, looks like bikes are headed to the door

swan swimming in the lake, a mural on the back door of a KFC restaurant

They are all part of the same mural.  The mural is so big that I couldn’t get a picture of the whole thing unless I made a very long skinny panorama – which I decided against.   I think that you should get a good idea of what the whole mural looks like from the following set of photos.

below: The mural tells the story of Port Union starting with a First Nations settlement in the area.

part of a larger mural showing the story of Port Union - First Nations people in canoes on the river with teepees and people on the shore

part of a larger mural showing the story of Port Union - two brick buildings, houses, a group of women sitting outside with baskets on the ground, a vintage car

part of a larger mural showing the story of Port Union -

below: North end of the Port Union mural.  The mural faces the parking lot of a complex consisting of the Port Union Community Centre plus a library and Charlottetown park.

left side of a large mural showing the history of Port Union, first nations, first white settlers, up to the early 1900s

below: The railway comes to town.

part of a larger mural showing the story of Port Union - a steam engine pulls a train into the station

a woman pushing a stroller with a toddler in it, with 2 dogs on leashes walking in the park, a group is having a picnic in the background

part of a larger mural showing the story of Port Union - this time, the Port Union waterfront park is featured, cyclists on the bike path, a skateboarder, people enjoying the park, 3 entrances to the backs of stores, including Audreys flowers and Councillor Ron Moeser's office. a

below: And that brings us back to the swan and KFC at the south end of the mural.

two doors at the back of a KFC restaurant, lake side scene, a large white swan on one of the doors

two doors at the back of a KFC restaurant, lake side scene, a large white swan on one of the doors

This mural was painted by Blinc Studios and was part of Mural Routes.  Artists are: Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Azadeh Pirazimian, Jesse McCuaig, Chris Brown, Frances Potts, and Melissa Bessey.

Other blogs that feature doors can be found at Thursday Doors, courtesy of Norm 2.0.  (see the little blue link between the end of the blog post and the comments section).

 

sunlight and shadows on a winter morning

Posted: March 6, 2017 in abstract, reflections, shadows, windows and walls
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Early Saturday morning was cold but beautiful –
brilliant blue overhead with the sun still low in the sky.

below: Striped grass

low sun rays shining through a fence made of vertical metal bars, so that the shadows on the grass make the grass looked striped

below:  This is the Bell building from the Simcoe Street side.  The blue glass, vertical lines in the concrete, blue sky and strong tree shapes made for an interesting few minutes while I experimented with different angles and views.

looking up a building with strong vertical lines made by concrete shapes on theglass is reflecting strong blue colour exterior of the building,

looking up a building with strong vertical lines made by concrete shapes on theglass is reflecting strong blue colour

below: The ghostly look of reflected light

light reflecting off a glass building and landing on a black wall on the building beside it

looking up a tall building that is black on the exterior and has light reflected from a glass building beside it.

below: A single pole and its shadow, alone on a wall.

sun shining on a wall, one post with a sign on it is in the picture, along with its shadow

sun shining on a wall, one post with a sign on it is in the picture, along with its shadow

below: Three reflected windows reserved for the president.

beige wall with greenish covering over a window, light reflected from the building beside it makes it look like a row of windows along the wall

below: A half house, a fun find.  Once this was a semi-divided house where the shared wall created the peak at the front of the house.  With its partner gone, the remaining house looks incomplete.

a semi divided house, where the house on one side has been demolished leaving half a peaked roof.

below:  A tree in silhouette seems to dance in front of the other buildings.

tree in silhouette in the foreground, buildings in light in the background,also blue sky

below: Phantom balconies, mirages on the concrete.

light reflecting from balconies along with shadows make phantom balconies on the building beside it

falling all over

Posted: November 6, 2016 in nature
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I was going to go looking for autumn but, silly me, I soon realized that I didn’t need to look for it.   It’s all around us.  All you have to do is look out the window, or better yet, step out the door and you’re in the middle of it.  It’s falling in front of you, swirling in the breezes and crunching under your feet.

street scene, large trees with yellow and orange leaves, with a park in the center

a pot of purple flowers with a yellow tree in the background

a stone fence with a metal gate, large trees, autumn leaves
a branch of yellow leaves, autumn tree with blue sky and the turret of Casa Loma in the background

two storey brick house with large tree in front, smaller trees with yellow leaves in the background.
park in the fall, leaves on the ground, trees still with some leaves in oranges, rusts, and yellows, playground in the distance

a metal bench in front of a large tree in a cemetery, tree has yellow leaves, autumn colours, change of season, fallen leaves on the ground around the bench

trees in autumn, red leaves and yellow leaves

Sonya’s Park

Posted: May 21, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Sonya’s Park, a small green space on Oxford Street.

On the east side of the park there is a brick wall that had a number of scenes painted on it.   The pictures depicted a trip to Kensington market, circa 1885.  Some of the murals remain intact while others have been defaced.

A play structure with slide is on the left of the picture, a woman is sitting on a bench on the right side. Row houses on the opposite side of the street can also be seen. There are some large trees too.

Oxford St., from the park.

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Spring plants are growing in front of the wall on which there is a mural on a brick wall depicting a scene from a visit to Kensington Market circa 1885. A small girl is standing beside a cart.

Trip to Kensington market, circa 1885.  The first of the murals on the brick wall on the east side of the park.

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Large white tags obscure part of a mural depicting Kensington market in the past

Once upon a time there was a mural there. Sadly, taggers have made their presence known.

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mural on a brick wall depicting a scene from a visit to Kensington Market , people buying fruit and vegetables from a street vendor. Spring plants are growing in front of the wall.

buying fruit and vegetables, circa 1885

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a large tag over another mural. Someone has then written large red letters that say Stop not taggin art

stop not taggin art & watch yourself

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A brick wall that runs across the back of the park. It is covered with graffiti. There is a metal gate in the center and you can see that there is more graffiti on the walls of the alley behind.

at the back of the park

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A chain link fence in front of a piece of graffiti in oranges, yellows and purple

diamonds of colour

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A city of Toronto sign that has had four stickers attached to it.

Plea no the, Elder abuse, and Don’t worry CAMH is only a block away, all on one sign

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