Posts Tagged ‘pumpkins’

from Dupont to St. Clair West

Posted: November 12, 2025 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, public art, stores, transportation
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Enter if you Dare!

halloween decorations, including hand written sign that says enter if you dare, skeletons, fake cobwebs, yellow caution tape, all behind a little white picket fence

 

A late October walk on a sunny day – starting at Dupont station which is just north of Bloor on Line 1 (That’s the University side of the Yonge-University Line for those of you who, like me,  haven’t mastered the TTC numbering system yet!).  We walked a few blocks on Dupont before going under the railway tracks to Bridgman, then took a quick turn on Albany to get to Davenport.  A short block later we were on Bathurst.   Vaughan Road veers left off Bathurst just south of Bloor.  We meandered  a bit north of Bloor before walking back to St. Clair West station.

below: A bright and sparkly flower blooms on the southbound platform of Dupont subway station.   This is one of the mosaics designed by James Sutherland in the series “Spadina Summer Under all Seasons” found around the station.

mosaic flower, very large, on the wall at track level, by platform of Dupont subway station

below: More Dupont station flowers to greet subway travelers, this time on the concourse level.


mural picture seen inside dupont subway station, concourse level, on tiles

below: Taking the escalator up inside the dome at street level.

on escalator up to surface level, dupont subway station, looking towards glass dome roof of station entrance

looking through glass doors of dupont station entrance, a woman is coming in, stores across the street

below: There is a Nick Sweetman mural of birds that wraps around the curve of a bench.

mural by Nick Sweetman, above a curved bench at Dupont station, a blue jay, nuthatch, evening grosbeck, and more

below: The curve matches that of the domed entrance to the station on the southeast corner of Dupont and Spadina.

bikes parked outside Dupont subway station, beside glass dome over entrance, beside bench with Nick Sweetman mural

elevator structure at dupont subway station

below: Casa Loma in the distance, on the hill beyond the tracks. This is the view on Spadina north of Dupont.

railway underpass on Spadina, with casa loma on a hill in the background

looking through railway underpass, traffic including school bus is stopped at a red light at dupont

below: Northeast corner of Dupont and Spadina

stores on northeast corner of spadina and dupont, pedestrians people waiting to cross at traffic light, D and D gift shop, country style, and XC Art Restoration, Subway restaurant

below: Big rounded arches, rooftop terraces in the back, and two turrets, all at the corner of St. George Street and Dupont.

large multi unti old brick residence, three storeys, two turrets

below: Looking north on St. George, towards Dupont, 1904.  Working on the street.  The house with the two turrets is already there.  The duplex on Dupont at the top of the street still exists too.

old black and white photo from 1904 of St. George street looking north to Dupont.

below: The duplex (176-178 Dupont) is difficult to see because like so many other older residences on main streets, an addition has been added to the front to facilitate a store or a restaurant.   At the moment,  176 Dupont is a Mexican restaurant, even though the says Pastrami (close enough!).

the first a in pastrami is missing, in a sign above a restaurant.

vines growing on concrete wall that has street art painting on it, side of railway underpass supports

below: Bruno Men’s Hairsylist and his quaint little sign.

Bruno mens hairstylist sign on building on spadina

below: On Dupont, east of Spadina is this mural by Catherine Cachia

mural on the side of a residential building on Dupont, big circular flowers, by Catherine Cachia

below: Cozy and euphoric.

cozy coffee and euphoria stores

below: Bete Suk, Ethiopian Coffee shop

front window of Bete Suk, Ethiopian store and coffee shop on Dupont

below: Northwest corner of Dupont and Spadina, and another domed subway entrance.

bus shelter and dome of dupont subay station entrance on northwest corner of spadina and dupont,

below: Looking west on Dupont

looking west on dupont from in front of dupont subway station, red and white TTC sign.

below: Another, much clearer, example of the transition of houses to businesses by building additions in front, are these two – Krispy Kreme and the faded Modern Laundry & Dry Cleaners.

peaks of original houses can be seen over the top of the boxy additions to the structure to make space for stores, krispy kreme donuts on one side, a dry cleaners on the other

below: West of Dupont, there are still some garages covered in street art.

 

white car parked beside a garage with a street art on the side of it.

below: This is 390 Dupont Street, part of which is now a coffee shop/vintage clothing store.  I am not sure what the history of the building is but when I tried to research it, I discovered that there is a condo development being proposed for the site.

commercial building, coffee shop on ground level

below: This is the neighbouring property, 388 Dupont.   Two years ago when I walked this stretch, there was a blue and white development notice sign in front of the building (Dupont Street Scenes).   When the application for redevelopment was first filed (2020), it was for an 11 storey building involving 374 to 388 Dupont.  By 2023 the plan had evolved to 12 storeys and now included 390 Dupont as well.  Because the site is adjacent to the CP Railway corridor, a train safety derailment wall along the entire back wall is part of the plan.

old car wash on dupont street

below:  Although there is no posted notice of planning applications for this building, it appears to be empty.  The front door is boarded up and there is a No Trespassing sign in the window.

two storey older brick building, boarded up front door, seems to be empty

below: Two years ago this building was in the early stages of construction.

new condo under construction, balconies are white, with curved ends
below: Another theme that occurs over and over again on the streets of Toronto – the jumble of different eras. Very old brick houses and new glass and steel towers mixed together along with ages in between.   The smaller older structures dwarfed by the newer ones that tower over them.

old grey house, old brick building painted bright red, new condo development, in a line along dupont street

below: The Troy Lovegates mural of 10 faces on Howland & Dupont is still there and still looking vibrant.  If you are interested, there are more images of this mural elsewhere in this blog. 

mural by Troy Lovegates at the corner of Howland and Dupont, 10 faces cover the exterior wall of Fat Pasta restaurant

 below: Running parallel to the railway tracks, and just north of them.

parking lot with tall hydro transmission tower and lines running through it

empty parking lot, with row of condos in the background

below:  The north side of the CP Railway corridor shows signs of its more industrial past.   This building with its curved glass sidelights and other small Art Deco finishes, sits empty.   Previously it was home to a plumbing company but they have moved to new quarters elsewhere in the city.

curved glass sidelights around a metal frame door, brick building, number 316, now empty

 below: Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott

Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott
Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott

below: There is also this mural, just around the corner on Albany, “You are not alone”. It was painted by Julia Prajza and Bareket (bkez).  ‘You Are Not Alone Murals’ is a public mural project with over 100 murals completed.  Their goal is to “inspire artists to create murals in their communities–sparking hope, connection, and conversations about mental health.” (quote taken from their website, youarenotalonemurals.com).

mural on the front of a building, wrapped around the front door, in cursive, text says You are not alone

below: An intriguing series of photos in the windows… but I couldn’t get a closer look at them.

private property, no trespassing sign on chain link gate, in front of driveway, beside building with old pictures displayed in boarded up windows

below: A large red heart and an even larger blue spruce tree.

large blue spruce tree growing in the front yard of a house with table and chairs in the front yard, also a bench with a large red heart on it

older house with trees growing in front, front door and enclosed porch have been tagged;

in magenta, stencil graffiti that says you grow girl

below:  The paintings along the concrete wall on the west side of Bathurst have all been defaced.

front end of a white truck in view, driving past a mural painting of an orange car, mural has been tagged in large fat green and white letters

below: Another touch of Art Deco in the neighbourhood

stairs and entrance to an art deco style brick apartment building with curved corners

below: Bathurst Street houses

2 single family homes on Bathurst street

below: Playing in the playground

autumn foilage on tree at edge of playground

below: Store fronts on Bathurst

store fronts on Bathurst

Green Farms store on the corner, Bathurst Street

store fronts on Bathurst, one is empty and for lease, another is knit o matic

below: Looking north up Bathurst where Vaughan Road exits left. Vaughan Road was built in the 1920’s along an older trail that follows a now underground creek.  From here, it runs more or less diagonally north and west to its northern end at Dufferin and Eglinton.

looking north up Bathurst to where Vaughan Road veers left

below: Choice laundry in the old brick building, on Vaughan Road.

Choice coin laundry and dry cleaning, , with a young man sitting outside

below: Also on Vaughan Road, Zoomiez Doggie Daycare and Vaughan Road Pharmacy.

vaughan road pharmacy, brick building on vaughan road, beside newer building with is home to zoomiez doggie daycare

a face has been added to a hydro pole, plastic face parts nailed to the wood

below: We met a couple of strangers.  They weren’t very talkative though so we kept walking….

two life sized skeletons sitting outside with drinks in their hands

vacant lot behind black chain link fence

large apartment building in background, top of a porta potty in the foreground,

hole in the ground for condo construction, crane,

piles of supplies for construction, building materials, behind an old house

below: The gateposts on Strathearn Road mark the entrance to the former village of Forest Hill.  Forest Hill was incorporated as a village in 1923 and then annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967.

two large stone gate posts for a gate in a boulevard between two lanes of traffic

two large trees in front of a single family home, 2 storeys, both trees full of red leaves for autumn

bungalow single family home, white garage door, brickwork is checkerboard light and dark brown,

older stone house with brown wood addition, ivy covers on of the walls, stone chimney, large blue spruce tree growing beside the house

below: There is a metal plaque at each end of the Glen Cedar pedestrian bridge over the Cedarvale Ravine.  This is the one at the south end.  The text is taken from the lyrics of “Anthem”, a song by Leonard Cohen.  The first bridge here was built by Henry Pellatt (the same man responsible for Casa Loma) in 1912. It became a pedestrian bridge when it was modernized in 1989.

brass plaque embedded in the concrete of a bridge railing

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your prefect offering.
  There is a crack,
a crack in everything
it’s how the light get’s in
[and yes, the plaque has an apostrophe in gets]

glen cedar pedestrian bridge in late october when the trees were in their autumn foilage

red, range, and yelow oak leaves, autumn colours, from Glen Cedar bridge

below:  Home is where our story begins.

graffiti words on dark grey metal railing of bridge, background is path and trees below the bridge, words say "home is where our story begins"

graffiti, black drawing on white, signed, also words toxic city on drawing

large gnarly old tree beside a two storey brick house

path through a ravine with some sunlight coming down through the large trees that are on both sides of the trail,

below: At Bathurst and St. Clair – Da Best Pilipino Bakery and Deli

on Toronto education workers building, a green sign that says Da Best Pilapino Bakery and Deli

cracked concrete sidewalk, metal drain cover

below: Waiting to cross Bathurst Street

looking east on the north side of St. Clair on Bathurst

below: Looking east on the north side of St. Clair, from Bathurst.  St. Clair West subway station is just a few meters away.

looking east on the north side of St. Clair on Bathurst,, fence around a construction site

below: There was once a gas station on the northeast corner of Bathurst and St. Clair West.  Now it is a vacant lot with a few alien creatures like this one lurking about.

large digger on construction site, with glass and steel condos in the background

passenger in a white truck, window down, elbow out, as it drives around a corner

plastic halloween decorations, a flying orange ghostly creature with a black witch's hat on

below: Happy Hallowe’en pumpkins!  The frog’s not so certain though.

two jack o lantern pumpkins for halloween decorations, on a front porch

 

With thanks to Nancy who walked with me that day.

Good morning, Bloor west from Christie

Posted: November 2, 2024 in general Toronto
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On a warmer than usual late October morning….

hear comes the sun poster in a store window on bloor west

… when the early morning sun played with the autumn leaves in Christie Pits park

trees in autumn foliage, reds, golds, and oranges, in christie pits park

painting on a cement box in christie pits park, black bird head, with text, land back to natives is justice

a man walks by a fruit and vegetable store on bloor street

Of course, late October means Halloween with pumpkins and other spooky things.

display of small pumpkins, outside in sun, at a market, orange with green bumpy bits

below: This guy hasn’t had his coffee yet!

halloween decoration in front of coffee shop, inflatable orange pumpkin with scary face, also two green arms,

As I started putting together this post, I learned that Doug Ford wants to tear up Toronto bike lanes starting with those on Bloor, Yonge, and University Ave   He has named them in his latest wannabe Toronto mayor action, namely Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024.

stickers and notes on door of bike shop

Ford claims that bike lanes add to the congestion on our streets (and makes his commute to work difficult).  You will note the traffic chaos here this morning! The vans on the far side are (legally) parked.  I suspect that Ford once sat in a traffic jam on Bloor and noticed that cyclists were moving faster than he was.

a female cyclist rides a bike in a bike lane on bloor street, one car is driving past, some other cars are parked across the street

man in plaid shirt riding a bike in bike lane

But I don’t want to get bogged down with politics and the antics of politicians, so I will leave you with a few scenes for Bloor West (approximately) between Christie and Lansdowne.  There is some Halloween, some stores, some construction, some people, some architecture, some of the usual stuff!  Maybe even a few things that will take your mind off politics!

below: Bloorcourt

bloorcourt sidewalk art, heart shapes around the letters, in front of a convenience store, painted by Victor

bloorcourt banner on a utility pole at dovercourt and bloor, with crane in the background, for construction on the northwest corner of that intersection

below: A little bit of history…. small tiles in the doorway of number876

floor, exterior, outside of doorway of store on bloor west, covered with small multi coloured tiles, plus green tiles making the number 876

below: Banjara parking lot payphone with its own Heritage Plaque thanks to the Toronto Sign Reimagination Unit, aka Jode Roberts.

empty small telephone booth with a plaque on top

In the summer of 2015, a coin-operated telephone was installed here, replacing three long-standing Bell payphones.  This payphone served hundreds of residents, offering a vital communication link.  To make a call, users had to insert metal coins through a slot.  However, the phone mysteriously disappeared sometime in the past year. 
The coin-operated payphone was patented by American inventor William Gray in 1891.  Its use peaked around 2005, with nearly half of Canadians reporting regular use and over 150,000 payphones across the country.  By 2015, more than two-thirds of these payphones had been removed. As of 2021, only a few hundred functioning payphones remained in Toronto.   This plaque commemorates the payphones in this parking lot and their gradual disappearance from the urban landscape. 
Heritage Plaque courtesy of the Toronto Sign Reimagination Unit, 2024

 

a woman sitting on a bench, outside, beside a small store, leaning on grey fence with sign on it saying pizza, as well as an arrow pointing right

looking in a store window, mannequin hand in front of a design on a t shirt that is a raccoon popping its head out of a garbage can, trash panda

chairs stacked in corner of patio, outside, some leaves have fallen on the chairs

below: Bloor and Brock

Pizza Pizza on the southwest corner of Bloor and Brock, also stores on the north side of Bloor,

bloor west, north side, at brock, blue collar bakery, bar neon, old laundromat, man walking past on sidewalk,

below: Part of a mural by Jimmy Chiale

part of a mural by Jimmy chiale, many shapes and colours, abstract, mostly blues, some faces,

man standing outside a door of a store

jumble of signs outside of a store

window of a business on bloor street, massage, neck and shoulder etc., red words on the glass that are starting to peel off, plant in window,

bloody no trespassing banner, as halloween decoration, in a store window display, with reflections of the street

hoardings beside construction site, along with scaffolding and protection that covers the sidewalk

below: Amazing!  He’s a cumin being! Good things!

decorations in a window display, store, paper hearts in different colours, each with one or two words like amazing, good things, , also note saying he's a cumin being.

below: Angel Mary

white statue of angel mary, praying, in a store selling beauty and hair products

below: Very large Italian flag by Vito Vesia Upholstery

large italian flag hanging against exterior wall of a building

envelope sticking out of the top of a rusty mailbox that is mounted on a blue metal gate

below: By Dufferin station

people waiting outside subway station, both women on phones, one standing beside a large suitcase

below: Bloor & Lansdowne

looking west along bloor at Lansdowne, front of TTC bus, people waiting to cross street, discount store on the northwest corner,

below: Scrawl on a TTC bus stop pole.  At first I thought that it was a biblical reference, but when I checked, I found that Daniel 5:5 is “Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote”.  I doubt that has anything to do with gullible Christian hippies, right?

graffiti writing on TTC bus stop pole that says Daniel 5.5 gullible Christian hippie

big orange cartoon face, with white cap, mural on a garage in an alley
an alley in bloorcourt, murals on garage, staircases, brick buildngs,

close up of a painting on exterior of garage in an alley, blue star with a man's face in it, front end of car with licence plate 007

mural of lighthouse on a red brick wall, bottom part has been tagged over with a lot of yellow paint

below: “Remember to Love! Go call your mom, say I love you and thanks!”

sticker graffiti on a Canada Post mailbox

graffiti stickers on the back of street signs

With thanks to Bill, Jeff, Paul, and Barry who walked with me that morning – and a shout out to the woman who said, “That’s so cute” when she learned that we were walking together.  Cute?

pedestrians crossing street, man on bicycle waiting for green light, bus stop pole, lowrise brick apartment in background

walking on sidewalk, west on bloor,

Roncy old and new

Posted: October 21, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Walking an old favorite, the upper section of Roncesvalles.

below: The old Roncesvalles Village mural with the 504 streetcar is still looking good….  Jac’s Milk convenience store at Wright.

Jac's Milk convenience store on Roncesvalles, with a large mural on the side wall, a TTC streetcar, text that says Roncesvalles village, people waiting for the streetcar

below: There is now a bright new mural for Roncesvalles. It was painted by Philip Cote and Jim Thierry Bravo. It’s title is: “The Original People Leading to the Eighth Fire”.

new indigenous theme mural for roncesvalles village, a large brown bear looks down at the text in the mural, a lone of fish and birds under the text, a row of rental bikes in front of the mural, an orange sun in a yellow sky

There are many symbols that have been incorporated into the mural.  The large brown animal at the top (over the window) is a wolf who was the companion of the first humans.  There is an article on the Roncesvalles BIA website that provides more information and insights into the mural’s stories and symbols.    Also, what used to be a pharmacy is now Early Bird & Worm – but the painting of the interior of an old pharmacy is still there, under the new black and white sign.

left hand side of new Roncesvalles mural with a large green fish, a blue bird, and a bear, on the side of a brick building

below: On the far right is a thunderbird, a co-creator of the world.

right hand side of mural painted by Philip Cote and Jim Thierry Bravo, indigenous symbols, thunderbird

below: It’s pumpkin season!

Roncesvalles fruit market store with produce on display outside, pumpkins and sunflowers

view in a store window, gold and black and white pumpkins, picture of a woman in a frame

looking in the window of Good Neighbour store on Roncesvalles

old black sign with red peeling letters that say we scoop kawartha dairy ice cream, some letters missing

a man anad a woman talking and looking at a phone while standing on sidewalk by bicycles parked there, across street from White Corner Variety Store, new condos behind the store, Roncy, Roncesvalles

3 store fronts on Roncesvalles, Thai restaurant, Amma Roti place, and

below: Relax and Recover

two garages in a lane, ivy covering a lot of the nearest one, the word relax painted on the door, on the second garage, two large eyes above the door, and a white heart on the door with the word recover written in the middle of it

below: An oldie – a grominator on a concrete wall in an alley

street art on a cement block garage in an alley, a black and white grominator on one side and an abstract of swirls and wavy shapes in multi colours on the other

below: Bike parked in front of a painted door.

a black goccia bike parked in front of a door with multi color painting, abstract, on it

below: A defaced 33wallflower33 slap on the back of the traffic sign.

33 wallflower slap on back of traffic sign, two children in period clothing, sidewalk scene beside the sign

below: Opossums eat about 5000 ticks per season – now you know!

metal sidewalk box that has been painted with a picture of a possum along with some facts about the animal

samples of store merchandise on a door, a mat that says everyone welcome, a canvas bag with an image of an old TTC streetcar, a pink bag with a black stenciled womans face on it

turquoise and gold sign in the window of a door along with a lace curtain, sign says closed

parts of an old green sofa discarded and left by a bus shelter

Bloordale

Posted: August 19, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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looking down at the sidewalk, the words walk here are pressed into a grey stone brick.

below: ‘Greetings from Bloordale’, a painted Bell box by Faussy

painted bell box near east entrance to Dufferin station, Greetings from Bloordale, yellow background with pink and blue images on it

below: A mural on the exterior of the Russett Ave entrance to Dufferin subway station painted in 2017 by Ted Hamer and a group of students from the Toronto School of Arts ( Sonja Clarke, Stephanie Steele, and Maryam Sadeghpour).

 

mural on the exterior of west exit from Dufferin station by Ted Hamer, of a country scene, a fox, and some people walking

below: Another Bloordale mural, this one on the side of TL Variety on the northwest corner of Bloor and Emerson

intersection of Bloor and Margueretta looking towards corner of Bloor and Emerson with Bloodale mural on the side of a building on the northwest corner

TJ Variety store on Bloor, northwest corner of Emerson, a cyclist passing by

below: Mr. Sundown

little white graffiti ghost character with stick arms, Mr. Sundown

below: Weathered sign at Bloor Christian Fellowship

weathered sign beside Baptist church

below: Torn awning at Five Star Variety

torn blue awning above Five Star Variety

below: Walking past a vacant lot on Bloor (once was a used car lot)

a man walks by a vacant lot on Bloor street

below: On the east wall of the Bee Shop

bee mural on the east exterior wall of the Bee Shop on Bloor

below: The beehive of qualities and virtues

close up of part of the bee mural on the side wall of the bee shop. green woman, trees, bees, honeycomb, words, the beehive of qualities and virtues

below: mural in an alley

mural on a red brick building in a lane

below: Bloor & St. Helens, construction fence around the parking lot of Value Village

construction fence around Value Village parking lot on Bloor, with apartment building at Bloor and Dundas in the background

below: Vito’s Barbershop in bright yellow

vitos barbershop and other two storey buildings on Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Bloor and Lansdowne

24 hour hasty mart on an intersection of Bloor

below: On the fence, north side of Bloordale Collegiate a shared map project by Shel Kahn and DMG+.  Choose a ribbon and pin it on the map to show where you would like to be.

an interactive art installation involving maps, on a fence outside Bloordale Collegiate

below: Also on the fence at Bloordale Collegiate, empty milk bottles.  “The milk from these bottles fed my daughter.   What wisdom to nourish a child you love?  How to make this country sweeter to First Nations children?”

empty white milk bottles arranged on the fence beside Bloordale Collegiate

below: hearts and flowers in a laneway

blue spray paint heart on a wood utility pole in an alley, by a wooden fence with a flowering shrub

yellow flowers growing in the laneway, in front of a yellow and green garage and fence

below:  Pumpkins growing on a trellis over the frontyard.

pumpkins growing on a trellis above a front yard

below: Julie Dzerowicz is the Liberal MP (federal) for the Davenport riding. I am not sure of the meaning of this window except as a protest of some sort?

protest in window, Freedom is slavery, ignorance is

top of two storefronts, Economy fruit, and a pizza place

below:The kitten mural has been partially painted over and the store is now empty.

empty store on the corner, mural of cats has been tagged

below: It looks like its got a face of an apple, shrimp legs, and a pickle on its forehead.

big red faced, apple?, character, street art on a garage door

below: Butterfly mural

butterfly mural in an alley

graffiti on a white garage door of a character's head with bowtie and one hand waving, words that say lookin' sharp

below: Lakes, mountains, and trees in a somewhat Group of Seven looking mural.  It is difficult to see in this photo but written in blue in the bottom right corner is a poem, ‘Blasphemy’, by Lawren Harris that appears in his book, “In the Ward: His Urban Poetry and Paintings.  I have included the poem under this image.

ivy on a wall of a building, a mural on the other wall, facing an alley. lake and mountains and trees in the mural

“It is blasphemy
To be merely mortal
To wilt under the weight of the ages
To succumb to second hand living
To mumble of catch phrases
To praise far off ways things
And sneer at your neighbour’s clumsiness
To say nay, nay, and smile at aspirations, dreams, and visions.”

*****

More poetry, this time on a door.

Top:

When I remember a boat
it yaws at the mouth of an inlet
And that’s all
From my bedroom window
You could make out the gull-white trim
And from the shore
listen to its restless guests
No water splashes against the prow it splits calmly to both sides
One sail booms and dies down
No wildlife
No sense of my mother’s voice, far away
the supper prepared
Much too much time
#whenirememberaboat #mine

a white door on a concrete block wall in an alley with poetry written on it

Bottom:

The sad instability and inscrutability
Of this impossible universe
Felt more deeply in the skin with each passing maritime hour
Our souls’ absurd sobbing
Over unfamiliar ocean expanses with islands in the distance
Over distant coastlines of land not visited
Over the ports that grow clearer with their houses and people
As the ship approaches
#maritimeode #alvarodecampos #fernandopessoa

Alvaro de Campos (1895-1935) was a Portuguese poet who also wrote under the name Fernando Pessoa.

 

*****

More Bloordale doors

below: Pale green (seafoam green?) leaves and flower rising upwards at 1195. “Floral Impressions”, painted by Julia Prajza.

painted doorway at number 1190. Pale green leaves rising upwards on a pink and greenish blue background painted by Julia Prajza

below: A happy musical gate, “Joy in Little Things” by anastatica.art aka Anastasia Tarkhanova

a gate painted in orange, maroon, sand white by anastatica art

below: “Portals” was part of BIG on Bloor Festival at the end of July. Some residential doorways (six?) were painted like the two above as well as this one: “Shoals” by Andre Castro.

a door on Bloor Street painted in pink, blue, and white dabs

below: Martin Luther King surrounded by stained glass patterns and tiny beige tiles at 1179A

door alcove with small beige tiles, a black mailbox with number 11 on it, and an image of Martin Luther King and stained glass patterns on the door

******

Other graffiti and street art

below: Bell box painted by Gosia Komorski

bell box painted by gosia komorski, woman with teal face in profile, hair is black with circles of flowers and eyes

below: Truck with a pink blossom tree on the back and an orange bird on the side

truck with street art painted on it, a tree with pink blossoms on the back and a bird with large wings on the side

paste ups and paint on a wall, skulls, zonr,

below: Purple man

purple drawing of a man wearing a hat, on a yellow wall

below: Garfield trying to be incognito

graffiti slap, garfield the cat in a green costume

below: Vandalized words on a phone box

poster on a blue phone box that is torn and tagged, a woman on a bicycle is riding by

Halloween doors

Posted: November 1, 2018 in doors, events
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Enter if you dare!

small fence with skull, lock and chain, and yellow caution tape in the front of house just before Halloweeen

To houses guarded by skulls

a skull sits on the porch at the top of the stairs.

and ghosts.  Where skeletons rise out of the ground

ghost made of fabric tacked to a tree in front of a house with porch and front yard all decorated for Halloween

skeleton and tombstone in the front yard of a house, porch has pumpkins on it

Where spider webs cling to everything – is that spider nearby too?

railing on front porch with orange webbing and large fuzzy black spiders, also orange skulls in the bushes beside the porch

front porch and front yard of a house decorated with halloween, web, spiders, aliens, red lights, blue lights,

glow in the dark spider (very large) and webbing all over front porch of a house, pink and blue lights

three small houses, each with front porches lit up and yards decorated for Halloween, Halloween night and trick or treaters are out with their parents

Halloween night, early evening, not quite dark, a street scene where one house has a lot of inflatable characters on the lawn as decorations

Halloween night, trick or treaters at the door of a house with lots of tombstones and skulls, also the porch is lit by an eerie green light.

ghost made of white fabric waving in the breeze in front of a house, night time, window lights on

Happy Halloween everyone!

two carved pumpkins on front door steps, one carved with a witch and the other with a cat, also a sign that says Happy Halloween

This is a “Thursday door” post.  If you are interested in doors and want to see other people’s blog posts about doors, start with Norm 2.0’s blog post.  At the the bottom of that post you will find a link to many more!

Halloween ’17

Posted: November 1, 2017 in events, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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candle in a pumpkin carved into a spider jack o'lantern

Another year of jack o’lanterns and giant spiders

a giant spider halloween decoration in front of a house

and other creative spooky and creepy decorations.  Clowns and pumpkin heads.

life sized skeleton in a front yard, one with a creepy clown face and one with a pumpkin head

And even bunnies can be fearsome.   Bunny with baseball bat.

three life sized skeletons in a front yard, a rabbit mask on one which is also holding a baseball bat, a pumpkin head, and one with a bear mask that is half brown and half black

It’s a time for dressing up in costumes and having fun….  for kids

kids in Halloween costumes laughing together

…. and for adults (night time photos taken on Church street)

below: What’s scarier than Donald Trump?  Three Trumps! Thrice the thrills.

three men in suits and ties with large cardboard Donald Trump faces

a group dressed up for Halloween, night time, street party, 2 women, 2 men, toy guns, gangsters and burlesque.

woman in black with large black antlers stand against a wall, an older man is looking at her

a large inflatable dinosaur costume, a death ghoul costume, and many people standing around them posing for photos at a night time halloween party on Church St., toronto

posing for photos in Halloween costumes

Not everyone was scary – look at these cute and cuddly animals!

a group in full animal costumes pose for a photo, a walrus, a shark, a cat, a leopard,

a man wearing a cowboy hat with a sheriff's bagde, and a skull mask checks his phone while standing outside pizza pizza, window lit up and people inside including a man making pizza

two men in gruesome halloween masks and baseball caps

Smurfs!

two people dressed as smurfs for Halloween, a large smurfette and a smaller male smurf with a red hat

Even Marilyn stopped for a picture.

a man dressed in drag as Marilyn Munro with blond wig and white dress, posing with an Asian woman

 

a young man in purple jacket and white face with the word damaged written across his forehead

a young woman poses as a black faced zombie between two men with creepy clown masks on

an Asian woman with black cat ears poses with a man in white boa and very large day of the dead head hat

close up of a person in a furry, hairy monstrous mask with bloody fangs

a boy with his arm made up to look like his hand is fallen off