Road Trip : Downtown to the Countryside – with a Video
Hello! I hope you're all doing ok. (I'd say "well" but I don't think anyone is doing particularly well these days, so I'll settle with a sincere wish for "ok").
Nick and I took a half day little road trip last week, to a place neither of us had been before. We drove about an hour north-east of Toronto, to an area called "Georgina".
There, we visited a cool antique and vintage market called "Antiques on Highway 48". It was two stories tall and packed with all kinds of cool old things.
We also found a charming roadside farm stand selling cobs of corn that had been just picked from the adjacent fields. They had chickens there, too, something we don't get to see very often.
I made a video of the afternoon, that I hope you'll enjoy watching.
(Aside: If you liked the video, it would be helpful to me if you'd go over to YouTube by clicking here, and give it a thumbs up and/or leave a comment. Also, it would be great if you'd subscribe to my new YouTube channel. No pressure, though. Thank you, if you do!)
These two images of us are stills from the video because we forgot to take photos of ourselves ...
Art During the Pandemic : A Look Around the AGO – Early Fall 2020
Update : The AGO reopened on July 21, 2021! I saw myself how careful they are about keeping everyone safe, so go ahead and book your visit without worry. Their site is linked below. The Warhol show that was previously scheduled and then forced to be postponed is now on!
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Follow Up, from their site : “The health and safety of our employees, volunteers, visitors and our extended AGO community is always our top priority. It is for this reason, and on the direction of the Government of Ontario, that the AGO closed temporarily, effective Sunday, November 22 at 5 p.m. We will continue to monitor the situation and look forward to welcoming visitors to the AGO again.”
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Today we look around the AGO in Toronto (aka the Art Gallery of Ontario), as it is during this unusual time.
The many steps they've taken to make visiting the gallery a safe experience are well thought out and reassuring. For the first time in months, I actually forgot we were in the midst of a pandemic, as I lost myself within the beautiful building and wonderful art.
This visit I concentrated on their permanent collection, and within ten minutes of arriving, I'd seen works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Renoir, Modigliani and Warhol, amoung others, confirming once again, that we are very lucky to have the gift of this place in the middle of the city.
Since a picture paints a thousand words, these images will do some of the talking, but, for the first time, I made a short film of my time at the AGO. It's been said that videos are are worth 1.8 million words, so please have a look to see all that I simply can't say here ...
One of the changes they've made is asking everyone to arrive with a pre-arranged ticket or bar-code on your phone, which is scanned as you enter the gallery and again as you leave, so that they may maintain the maximum visitor limit of 80 people at a time.
To learn everything you need to know about going to the gallery, see their site here.
In addition to the extensive permanent collection, there are also two special temporary shows on at the moment, "Illusions: The Art of Magic" and "Diane Arbus Photographs", previously written about in this post. These both began just before coronavirus hit and then the gallery had to close down completely for a period. However, thankfully, these shows were extended and you can still see them until November 8th. They're included with regular admission.
A Very Special Birthday Party
Greetings, friends! I hope you're doing well, all things considered.
One thing I've always enjoyed writing about on these pages is parties, including ideas for how to decorate for all kinds of celebratory occasions, and recipes for food and drinks fit for a crowd. But, of course, given the social distancing that's been required these past months, I haven't had much to contribute on this subject lately.
So, with permission, today I bring you a birthday party planned by someone else -- my cousin Lisa and her darling daughter Delilah.
I'll let the pictures do the talking as far as decor and menu suggestions go, as we take a look at Snowball the Guinea Pig's First Birthday Party.
Happy Birthday, Snowball!
The Mulberry Tree That Wouldn’t Give Up : A Story, a Cake and a Cocktail Recipe (with a YouTube Video)
UPDATE March 3, 2022 : Sadly, after a decade of life, this beautiful healthy tree was cut to the ground today, by a city crew who had no idea what it was. They were in the neighbourhood pruning branches from city owned trees nearby when, all of a sudden, one of the workers veered into our yard, aiming to cut down our precious Mulberry tree. We were watching them work from our upstairs window and so, saw the whole thing. In shock and horror, we tried to get him to stop, with my husband Nick opening the window and shouting down, and me, running to the door to talk to him. Unfortunately, he was yielding a chainsaw and the trunk had been cut too deeply by then. There was no option left but for him to cut the whole thing down. The tree was clearly within the boundaries of our lot and none of the branches reached over the sidewalk or onto city land, so we’re still confused as to why he would have done that. He said he thought it was a weed, which, given how it came to grow there, it was. But, it was a weed we loved and were taking good care of. I’m writing this the evening of the day this happened, and maybe I’m sounding melodramatic, but, right now, I feel like crying over this loss.
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Hello!
Around eight years ago, a weed sprouted in a little patch of earth right beside the walkway to our front door. It grew quickly and, because the branches blocked the path, I regularly and somewhat ruthlessly cut them right back. But, regardless of being so heavily pruned, it kept on growing.
We had no idea what it was, nor did anyone I asked about it, including some pretty seasoned gardeners. I looked it up but had very little to go on, so it remained a mystery.
I made a video on the topic ….
On with the story ... We noticed that it looked beautiful in the autumn, with leaves that turned a stunning golden colour, so, while keeping the branches neatly trimmed to higher-than-people height, we let the top branches grow like an arch over the walkway. It looked lovely.
Then, around five years after it began, we noticed it had berries on it. They dropped to the ground where we had to walk through them, tracking red juice and squashed berries into the house, where they stained the rug. There were discussions about cutting this weed down completely but I was able to convince my husband Nick that it should stay. I swept the pathway every day during berry season and all was fine.
Summer Outdoor Rustic Decorating : Thrifted Finds, Handmade and a YouTube Video!
Hello, hello! I hope you're doing ok.
Back before we knew the virus was on its way to change our lives forever, I'd picked up a few things at the thrift stores, that I could use for an outdoorsy woodland decorating them for a summer get together with friends on our deck.
Then, once we were in lock-down, still believing that things would be back to normal by July 1st, I poked around on ebay and found a couple of other items that would suit the theme.
And, here we are, still social distancing and mask wearing, and the notion of crowding together for a celebration is a no-go. But I still had the stuff, along with a burning desire to see what it would look like, all set out. Which leads us here, all dressed up with nowhere to go, so to speak!
This time, in addition to photos and descriptions of my thrifted and ebay finds, and how they look being used in our decor, I made a YouTube video on the topic, as well.
After blogging here for nearly nine years (1,304 posts, to be exact!) I felt an urge to branch out and learn how to make videos.
With the understanding that I'm brand spanking new at this, please have a look! I plan to make more films about the same types of things I've written about here, so consider subscribing to my Youtube channel and clicking the bell to be notified when I have a new video up. Thank you, if you do!
And, as usual, here are photos of what I picked up, including a couple of children's books about Canada that I ordered from Chapters, for the babies in my life.
