a cooler evening on the waterfront
below: Simcoe Wave Deck
below: Joseph Landau, accordion player
below: Queens Quay traffic – take care! Cyclists (and pedestrians) don’t always see or obey their traffic signals!
Posts Tagged ‘Lake Ontario’
after a hot summer day
Posted: July 3, 2021 in people, waterfrontTags: evening, harbour, Joseph Landau, Lake Ontario, people, Queens Quay West, Simcoe Wave Deck, summer, waterfront
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Mimico and Colonel Sam
Posted: February 7, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations, nature, waterfrontTags: Alexa Hatanaka, alley, Canada geese, cookies, covid, covid signs, cow, housses, Jim Bravo, Jimmys Coffee, Lake Ontario, Lakeshore Arts Projects, laneway, mallard ducks, Mimico, murals, Patrick Thompson, Paula McDines, ROyal York Rd., signs, snow, stairs, stores, tibetan prayer flags, winter
A mild January turned into a frigid February but that shouldn’t slow us down should it? So I bundled up and drove to Mimico to meet a friend – what? we haven’t seen each other for over a year? 2020 has taken its toll. At least it’s easier wearing masks in cold weather!
below: Two murals by Jim Bravo. On the right, “Down Creek Way” 2012. On the left, “Morning Ice Harvest” 2014. Both are part of the Lakeshore Arts Project
below: A watery mural with a large duck bottom as it paddles by on the side of Birds and Beans Coffee Shop. Another Lakeshore Arts Project; it was designed by Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson and painted with the help of a crew of youth & community members coordinated by Paula McDines.
below: Mural on the side of Calibreze Pizza on Lakeshore Blvd.
The northern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway. Here, stairs from the street running parallel to the Gardiner up to Royal York Road before it becomes a bridge over the expressway.
below: Signs on the outside
below: … and old photos on the inside. Jimmys Coffee, Royal York Road. Hanging out inside was verboten but a few minutes of warmth was appreciated.
below: Who can resist a unicorn poop cookie?
below: Signs of Covid. Prior to the most recent lockdown there was talk about “big box stores” being allowed to stay open while smaller businesses had to close. At the moment, even “big box stores” are closed.
below: Bag full of work.
below: Moooooove me…. I’m tired of getting splattered with slush when cars get too close!
below: A cold and wet seat.
below: Just out of the picture, and making a lot of noise, was the same dog that’s in this picture.
below: Tibetan prayer flags adorn the fence. Each colour represents an element; white symbolizes air, red is fire., green is water, yellow is earth, and blue is wind. They also represent directions – North, South, East, West and Center. As the flags flutter in the wind, they emit positive spiritual vibrations enabling the wind to carry away the prayers and wishes. As the prayers drift away, the colours fade.
below: Mimico is home to a large GO facility, the Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility. It didn’t look too inviting! It might be worth some research so that on a warmer, sunnier day we could go exploring.
below: It’s difficult to see, but the door on the left has a “women” sign on it. His and hers.
What had started as a sunny morning, turned into a grey low-light so we headed to the lake to see if we could find more sun, or at least better light.
below: Part of Humber College Lakeshore Campus. These buildings were built in the late 1880s as “cottages”, part of the Mimico Asylum (later known as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital). Almost a hundred years later the site was shut down. At that time, there were 280 patients, down from a peak of 1,390 in 1950.
below: The site was leased to Humber in 1991 and since then these four buildings have been completely renovated to suit Humber’s needs.
below: Humber College is surrounded on three sides by Colonel Sam Smith park and one of the features of the park is an outdoor skating loop. This year, online registration is needed for a time slot at all rinks – unless you’re lucky enough to arrive when others have cancelled or have been unable to show up. (As an aside – they have a washroom for weary walkers in need!)
Another feature of the park are the waterfront trails along the shores of Lake Ontario.
below: Comfy sofa at the ready?
We never did find more light that morning. But if you’re in the mood for hot chocolate bombs or other sweet goodies we might have found the place for you!
below: As I was driving home after the walk, I came across this scene:
history in pieces of stone
Posted: October 1, 2020 in history, locations, nature, old buildingsTags: autumn, berries, cliff, colours, columns, crab apple, crabapple, Dr. Healey Willan, flowers, garden, Guild Inn, history, Jacobine Jones, Lake Ontario, leaves, marble, monuments, mountain ash, Musidora, park, peacock, people, plants, sculpture, Sir Ernest MacMillan, statue, stone, Thomas Bowie
Another path through the woods. This time there was a hint of yellow in the leaves because it was late September and even in 2020, some things are the same as ever.
The path led me uphill to the newly renovated Guild Inn. It’s been five years since I have wandered around their gardens and surrounding park. In that time, the building has been renovated and expanded. I didn’t take very many pictures the other day because I knew that I had a lot from my previous visit. I was going to link to the blog post from that time but I discovered that I never actually got around to posting anything! So, I have found the old photos and have included some of them here.
below: For instance, this is the front of the inn in July 2015 with its windows covered.
below: And the back, five years ago.
below: Five years later – the back of the Guild Inn with the path leading to the gardens.
below: A statue of Saint Francis Assisi with a wolf, carved by Thomas Bowie (b.1905)
below: A stone wall with statues and carvings provides a backdrop for a garden full of black-eyed susans. Because of the efforts of a few people to salvage some of Toronto’s architectural and creative history, the gardens of the Guild Inn have become the final resting place of a number of pieces of older buildings that have been demolished to make way for modern skyscrapers.
below: Stone wall with features from the Bank of Nova Scotia building (1903)
below: The bird nest is long gone. … but it would have been a nice quiet spot to raise a family.
below: From the Royal Conservatory of Music. There are two bas-relief bronzes of men associated with the Royal Conservatory. On the right is Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973), an organist, composer, and conductor who was knighted in 1935 by King George V. On the left is Dr. Healey Willan (1880-1968) another organist and composer who was associated with the Toronto Conservatory for 30 years (1920-1950).
below: Looking through one stone arch to another, the square arch from the Imperial Bank of Canada Building (1928) and underneath sits Musidora. Many artists have lent their interpretations of this woman (in sculpture and paint), the subject of a poem titled “Summer” by Scottish poet James Thomson written in 1727. The beautiful Musidora strips naked to cool down by bathing in the stream, not knowing that she is being watched by Damon. Damon is torn between watching and turning away but chooses the latter.
In 1887, a Bank of Montreal building was built at the northwest corner of King and Bay; a site now occupied by First Canadian Place. The building featured a series of sculptures representing the Canadian provinces that were created by a number of artists. When the building was demolished in 1968, these panels were brought to the Guild Inn. Not all of them are on view today possibly because some were not in good shape (held together with metal straps). Maybe they are being fixed up?
below: This is the Alberta panel in 2015; the artist was Jacobine Jones (1897-1976)
below: It has since been cleaned up.
below: One of two stone angel panels from the North American Life Assurance Company Building (1932).
below: The brick and stone entranceway from the Granite Club (1926)
below: This cabin was named for William Osterhout, a United Empire Loyalist who in 1805 was given the first Crown land grant from King George III as reward for his service with the Butler’s Rangers. Although Osterhoust briefly owned the property, he never settled in Scarborough Township. The structure was more likely built around 1850 to 1860…. that may be a contentious “fact” as some believe that it is at least 50 years older than that.
The gardens have several different types of trees all in their autumn plummage.
below: Orange berries on a mountain ash tree…
below: … and many little crabapples on a crabapple tree.
below: At the south, the property ends at the Scarborough bluffs and there are many warning signs along the paths that run near the edge.
below: Looking out over Lake Ontario
And then, when driving north on Morningside on my home, I encountered this…. The peacocks have arrived.
For more of the history of the Guild Inn, see their website.
Saturday at the beach
Posted: September 29, 2020 in people, waterfrontTags: bikes, boardwalk, boat, car, family, kids, Lake Ontario, Leuty, Mclaren, paddle, picnic, reading, sand, swim, volleyball, walk, water, Woodbine Beach
… even though it was the end of September!
below: Up, up, and away… not! The woman in the middle doesn’t seem to interested. Perhaps she’s too busy taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity to sun bathe on the beach one more time.
below: Walking past Leuty Lifeguard Station.
below: He decided to stay and relax a little while people watching.
below: … and (almost) last, a wedding party in the park… finding ways to have celebrations in the summer of Covid-19.
below: That’s one way of getting to the beach!
wandering away from the beach
Posted: September 10, 2020 in construction, locationsTags: beach, bike, construction, hoardings, Humipan's, inflatable unicorn, Lake Ontario, metal bars, old buildings, people, photography, pictures, Port Lands, rust, signs, stage, T 'N T, windows
Along came September and right away we’re into fall weather. I offer this post as reminder of warmer days not so long ago…..
below: Cherry Beach on a sunny August afternoon – keeping our distances
The unicorn days of summer
below: Apples. I like finding apple trees in unexpected places like behind Cherry Beach.
below: One of the many little boat and sailing clubs east of Cherry Beach.
below: An older building on Polson Street that remains.
below: A temporary stage was set up on Polson Street across the street from The Rebel nightclub and concert venue.
below: Every time I walk in the Port Lands, it’s a little different. One constant is the many acres that remain behind barriers.
below: A fire breathing monster?
below: Cherry Street sidewalk is blocked (at T ‘N T)
below: All that remains of the T ‘N T Supermarket is the front entrance. The rest of the store has been demolished. A river will flow here one day.
below: Rowing down Cherry Street
below: On Villiers Street
below: Most of the storage tanks are gone and all the gates are locked.
below: A quiet place to sit, outside Humipan’s
below: Accepted? Shouldn’t it be bikes excepted?
Stay you!
on the old Leslie Street Spit
Posted: May 18, 2020 in nature, people, waterfrontTags: bikes, cyclists, Lake Ontario, people, rocks, spring, Tommy Thompson Park, trees, walking, waterfront
A long weekend in May (Two Four Weekend) + the first sunny warm day in a while + two months of “shelter in place” = people out enjoying Tommy Thompson Park’s trails and waterfront.
below: Flow Like a River
below: Keep ur distance
below: Three people, three positions – up tall and straight, flailing legs middle, and collapsing feet at the end. Also notable are the mounds of tangled rebar that dot the shoreline.
below: She’s sitting on some very rounded rocks that have been shaped by the waves and water. Are they chunks of man-made concrete and not the more solid rocks formed by nature?
The park has come a long way since construction of the Leslie Street Spit started in 1959. In the beginning, it was to be an area for “port related activities”. In the early 1970s, it was decided that Toronto didn’t need an expanded port. Since 1973, the focus has been on developing the area as a park but keeping as much “wilderness” as possible. If you are interested in the history of Tommy Thompson Park, they have an excellent website with aerial pictures that show how the park has grown.
below: Nature slowly takes over, and the piles of rubble and construction waste that were used to help build the foundations of the park become grown over and buried.
below: Late afternoon fishermen on their way in.
below: If you look closely, you might see that one of the bikes has a bell in the shape of a skull with red eyes.
below: There were lots of noisy redwing blackbirds as well as many other kinds of birds – orioles, grosbeaks, goldfinches, robins, warblers, swallows, and sparrows. During spring migration, up to 300 different species can be seen here.
below: Construction on the east side of the park. This is the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant Landform Project scheduled to be finished in 2025. Three shore connected breakwaters and a headland/beach system are being constructed.
below the bluffs
Posted: March 22, 2020 in locations, natureTags: beach, bluffs, cliffs, dogwood, grasses, icicles, Lake Ontario, nature, outdoors, park, people, rocks, Scarborough, Scarborough Bluffs, spring, surfers, trees, walking, water, waves
Scarborough Bluffs Park on sunny but windy Sunday afternoon in March.
The red twig dogwood is looking redder and the trees are barely starting to bud.
The water and air are still cold enough that icicles form on the overhanging branches that get hit by waves.
Winter Stations 2020
Posted: February 28, 2020 in events, locations, public art, waterfrontTags: bells, boxes, chair, Charlie Sutherland, climbing, Cristina Vega, drums, iheartblob, jumping, Kaleidoscope of the Senses, Lake Ontario, lifeguard station, mirage, Noodle Feed, Pablo Losa Fontangordo, people, public art, sand, snow, water, waterfront, winter, winter stations, Woodbine Beach
This is the 6th annual Winter Stations art installation event at Woodbine Beach. It was officially opened on Family Day, February17th.
below: Tying yellow ribbons on the yellow metal frame in “Mirage”, designed by Cristina Vega and Pablo Losa Fontangordo. The orange frame is parallel to the lake and the yellow sections are perpendicular. Depending on where you are standing, you see either a red transparent sun setting or a light and bright rising sun laying on the horizon.
below: “The Beach’s Percussion Ensemble” by Centennial College while under construction.
below: The end product. There is now graffiti on the boxes
below: and cowbells hung from the underside of boxes in a couple of places.
below: “Kaleidoscope of the Senses” is a strong piece designed by Charlie Sutherland of SUHUHA (An architecture studio in Edinburgh). People were lining up to take turns sitting on the lifegusard chair.
below: “Noodle Feed” by iheartblob was very popular on the Sunday before Family Day (the official opening of ‘Winter Stations’). It wasn’t designed to have a jumping feature but that’s what all the kids were doing that day. The fabric tubes are filled with straw.
below: When I returned to the beach a few days later, the installation was gone.
Information about the installations can be found at winterstations.com
January once again.
Posted: January 25, 2020 in waterfrontTags: art, boats, bus shelter, city, CN Tower, construction, danger, fire rescue boat, Future Retrospectives, H T O beach, Hannah Claus, ice, Lake Ontario, Loop, Power Plant Contemporary Art, public art, Queens Quay, Scotiabank Arena, sea gulls, snow, streetcar, tug boat, Union station, walkway, waterfront, winter stations
It’s been a while since I posted here mostly because I’ve been away. But I’m back in Toronto and back to walking. The other day didn’t start as planned! A locked gate stood in my way.
Shortly after, I saw a sign …. I’m not sure that it references locked gates specifically, but at the minimum it’s a reminder to remain flexible.
As anyone Canadian city dweller knows, winter in the city rarely means white snow – the brown slush quickly takes over. Here, at Spadina and Queens Quay, the road has been painted red to alert drivers to the fact that this is a streetcar lane.
Lake Ontario has only begun to freeze, and only in quiet protected places. The first part of January was warmer than usual. Even as I type this it is raining and all the snow is melting. There probably isn’t much of this ice left this afternoon.
below: A “Danger due to” sign that has blown in from somewhere else but is just as relevant here as it is at any construction site.
below: The Music Garden hibernating for the winter.
below: Kayaks at Harbourfront resting for the winter months.
below: The fire rescue boat was out and about the other afternoon.
Now on at the Harbourfront Centre is “Future Retrospectives” which is a group exhibition of works by artists and designers who use the past as a lens to look at the future (until 29th March).
below: The coloured shapes with the words, are the work of Hannah Claus. They hang on a clear background so the installation on the wall behind shows through (also the work of Hannah Claus). In fact, the two go together. At first I thought the coloured shapes represented tombstones but in fact they are a replica of the plaque on Hochelaga Rock. This rock commemorates the village and people encountered by Jacques Cartier in 1535; it is on the McGill campus in Montreal. It is also featured in the photos on the far wall. The English words (bottom half) start with “Near here was the…”. More information.
below: Will we be able to understand a future time? Also part of Future Retrospectives.
below: Timeless. Eternity. Waiting for the bus.
below: This is ‘Loop’ an interactive “Winter Station” public art installation. In past years, there have been 5 or 6 different art installations along Queens Quay as part of the Winter Station project. This year, there is just this one which is located at York Street Park. The circles are large enough for two people to sit face to face. There is a metal bar which can then be moved back and forth between the pair. This movement makes an inner circle spin and activates some lights. It is the creation of Olivier Girouard ; it is scheduled to remain here until the 9th of February.
below: Harbour Street, looking east towards Yonge Street from the elevated walkway that runs north from WaterPark Place, over the Lakeshore and under the Gardiner.
below: Reflections on the walkway.
below: After passing under the Gardiner, the walkway wraps around the west side of the second floor of the Scotiabank Arena (originally the ACC).
below: The south entrance to Union Station, from the walkway. This is also a good view of the new glass platform over Union Station (train shed roof?) – this is something that I need to check out in more detail.
below: Also under renovation is the Bay Street exit of the Scotiabank Arena. A new walkway between it and the building being constructed across the street is almost complete. It is on the same level as, and immediately beside, the railway tracks. This walkway will connect to the new Union Station bus terminal
below: Exit onto Bay Street and look up! Upward. And to the future…. wherever that leads us.
as the lights come on
Posted: December 8, 2019 in events, locations, waterfrontTags: beach, boardwalk, Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, Christmas ornaments, dogs, evening, fence, Kew Beach, Lake Ontario, Leuty lifeguard station, Light up the Beach, lights, path, sand, snow, snow fence, trees, waterfront, Woodbine Beach
I’d heard that there were some Christmas lights brightening up the sky at Kew Beach. What I didn’t know then was that this is now an annual tradition; it was started by DeClute Real Estate in 2007. Since there was still some daylight left, I started my walk at Woodbine Beach, a bit west of Kew.
below: Small waves crash over the rocks at the shore.
below: Leuty Lifeguard Station closed up for the winter.
below: Ready to run
below: Once I got to the Kew Beach boardwalk I discovered that there are other reminders that it is now December. And what could be more appropriate than some Christmas decorations to add some cheer ? Pine and poinsettias on a bench.
below: Bright red ribbons tied around a small tree.
below: Shiny Christmas ornaments hanging from branches and a wreath on a tree trunk.
below: More signs that Christmas is soon – Some of the trees along the bike path and boardwalk at Kew Beach have been decorated with Christmas lights. As the daylight begins to fade, the Christmas lights become more noticeable.
below: Looking back towards the city as the sun goes down.
below: The mood and atmosphere of the beach changes as it gets dark outside. The light shining on the Muskoka chairs highlights the pink and green colours and almost makes the chairs look translucent.
The lights remain until well into the New Year. More information can be found on the Light Up the Beach website.
as I walk Toronto 