Look down!

Another look at the Harbourfront shopping center. It's very well-designed!

Hope you're enjoying the blog on auto-pilot.

Look up!

The skylights at the Harbourfront Center shopping center. The Museum of Inuit Art is located inside this building. It had really nice architecture.

I am hopefully in Berlin by now. Hope you enjoy the blog on autopilot, I'll be checking in when I can! Until then, take a look at Skywatch.

PS: For those of you who don't already know, The City Daily Photo website has been hacked.  The developers are working to restore it, but it might not be operable by the time of the April 1 theme day. If the main City Daily Photo website is not ready by April 1, and you are a City Daily Photo blogger who wants to post, please go here on April 1.

Mother and child

Another work from the Museum of Inuit Art. I found this mother and child especially sweet. 

Well, the time is here. I'm off to Berlin for ten days. The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in Toronto, so it will be nice to enjoy some springlike temperatures in Germany. I've set up my blog for automatic posting for a few days at least. Hope you enjoy!

Double doorway

Since coming to Canada a year ago, I've dreamed about trying my hand at a real Canadian passtime - curling! It was a lot of fun, but much more difficult than it appears on TV. My husband and I have another lesson scheduled for the end of April. I can't wait!

Red bricks and benches

I found this scene down on the Harbourfront. There are so many things I like about this shot: the red brick, the shadows, the paving stones, the huge windows with their reflections... I don't think there's anything here not to like!

If you like seeing red, take a look at Ruby Tuesday.

Best bakery in town!

I showed you Saint John's bakery last week, now here's a look at a mural on the side of Dimpfelmeier's. It's my favorite bread shop in town and I'm not alone. Both the parking lot and the shop are always packed each time I go. Unfortunately, they don't allow photos inside, but they've got all kinds of German-style breads: kaiser rolls, hearty buns and of course bretzels! They also make a pretty good baguette, but still not as good as a real French one. The search for the perfect baguette continues, but at least I know where to get a good bretzel. 

To see more murals, take a look at Mural Mondays.

Stone bridge

A stone bridge that takes you over this little piece of the Don River just behind the Riverdale Farm. It's a very pretty area to walk around, no matter what the season.

To see more bridges, take a look at Sunday Bridges.

Inuit owlies

Another look at some of the art from the Museum of Inuit Art. I must admit, the bird sculptures were my favorite and I especially like owls.

On the tracks

A look at the subway tracks from a bridge at the Saint Clair station. I find train tracks so fascinating!

To see more monochrome shots from around the world, visit the Weekend in Black and White.

Teeny tiny

I've been doing a tour of various Toronto museums the past few weekends. These beautifully carved animals come to you from the Museum of Inuit Art. It's not a big museum, but it's rich in work! I'll be showing some more of the works in the coming days.

Yummy!

I sampled some of the bread from Saint John's over the past weekend. I still have yet to find a baguette in North America that comes close to a good French one, but their pumpernickel loaf was quite tasty! 

To see more signs from around the world, take a look at Signs, Signs.

Toe the line

I've shown you the old-style subway cars before, now here's a look at the new ones. It's a totally open train, so you can follow this red line from one end to the other. And believe me, there are still many people who find that an entertaining proposition!

For more red from around the world, visit Ruby Tuesday.

Gallery bench

I visited the Nicholas Metivier Gallery last week to take a look at an exhibit by Mexican photographers. There were some good works to see, and you can take a look too by clicking on the link!

The other side

It seems the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" also rings true for our porcine friends!

To see more animals, visit Camera Critters.

Into the unknown

This sculpture is just near the fine foods store and benches I showed you the other day. The work is by Dale Heinzerling and is entitled The Unknown Student. It makes reference to Rochdale, an open-learning type college that once stood on this spot. Unfortunately, like many of the social experiments of the 1960s, it didn't quite work out. But I do like this memorial to the times.

Enjoy Saint Patrick's Day! Drink some green beer and eat some soda bread. I'll always remember five years ago when my husband and I stepped off a plane with our heavy winter coats slung over our shoulders in Jackson, Mississippi. The hot, humid air was a shock after the German winter, but we  have enjoyed every minute since.

First round

The first round of golf in 2012. My game is a bit rusty, but it sure was fun to be out there swinging! Hopefully the coming weekends will be as nice and I can get my golf groove on. 

Hope you have a happy weekend whether it includes golf or not! To see more skies from around the world, visit Skywatch.

Fine foods and benches

You'll find these benches on Bloor Street not far from the Bata Shoe Museum. I actually stopped for a snack at GS Fine Foods and it was pretty fine. If the weather had been nicer, I could have enjoyed it on one of the benches. Maybe next time.

It's all about the shoes!

 

Another treat from the Bata shoe museum. They really do a good job curating the exhibits, there are loads of colorful and informative signs everywhere. This sign welcomes visitors into the first room of the exhibit. Enjoy!

If you like signs, take a look at Signs, Signs.

Mackenzie's bedroom

Here's a look at the master bedroom of the Mackenzie House. It's  quite simple, but that bed does look comfortable. I've got a more royal bedroom up on my travel blog today. Stop by for a look!

Family vault

The Durand family tomb. I wonder if there are any members of the family still alive and kicking? And I wonder how many people are in there? There were no separate headstones indicating who is in the vault with Charles, perhaps he was not a kind man and the rest of his kin decided not to spend eternity with him? 

This grave is from the Toronto Necropolis. If you'd like to see more cemetery shots, take a look at Tadophile Tragics.

Looking out

Looking up and out one of the giant picture windows at the Bata Museum. Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend and didn't mind losing one hour today! I'm going to try to get a round of golf in.

Hee haw!

I was back at the Riverdale Farm recently and caught this beautiful donkey with his lovely winter fur. I've shown some of the other farmyard friends before on this blog. But I can assure you, the piggies look different with their winter coats on, so it was worth another visit in the winter.

If you're an animal lover, visit Camera Critters.

Tiny blossom

I have a key lime tree that I brought with me when I moved here from Jackson. Last year it made a lot of leaves, but no blooms. It looks like my friend is well-acclimated this year and we might even get some limes! 

For more flowers, visit Floral Friday.

Gimme twenty!

It's back to the Bata where a selection of footwear of the 1920s was on display as one of their changing exhibits. The 20s are one of my favourite eras and the shoe styles were quite glamourous. It was certainly a liberating decade for women.

Reflective doorway and bench

I met a friend for lunch last week at one of the more upscale shopping areas in Toronto. We nibbled a little and did some window shopping. I love this ornate bench I found outside one of the stores and its doorway with the big windows and bold geometrical lines isn't bad either.

Wallpaper

I'm on a wallpaper kick today! This is a specimen from the Mackenzie House which I've transformed into black and white. 

Perhaps you like the color version better? I've also got some wallpaper on Halcyon Travels today!

Early edition

Modern newspapers have almost become a thing of the past, but on a recent tour of the Mackenzie House, I got to see a demonstration of old-timey printing. It was a long and laborious process, but very interesting to see and learn about. For example, this scene with the animals would be used to illustrate stories, but it had to be molded in the negative. You can see the mold right above it. I'm not sure I'd be able to think backwards like that and I'm impressed that those artisans could!

The Dalai Lama wears flip flops

I hope you enjoyed my little side track on bushings and transformers. It's funny, but I sort of miss them! Now we're back to the Bata museum to see the Dalai Lama's shoes. He has apparently visited Toronto a number of times and on one of his visits, he donated this simple pair of Bata brand flip flops to the museum. He really is a man of simplicity, but I'm not sure these are good for his arches!

Big brothers

I promise I won't subject you to any more bushing shots (for awhile) after today. These are some of the bigger models that are produced at my husband's factory. The rods and the oil are inside and you can see the expansion tanks on the top. All these guys need is a run in the test facility and they'll be ready to go!

Bushing reflections

If you enjoyed yesterday's post, I hope you'll like this one too! Here's a look inside a larger cousin of yesterday's bushing. The liquid you see here is oil and those rods are the conductors. The oil helps to insulate from overheating and once the papers around the conductors are fully permeated, the big tube will be closed into a porcelain housing and ready to work!

If you'd like to see more reflections, check out Weekend Reflections.

March theme day: Electricity

I was really excited for this month's theme day, as I finally get a chance to show how wonderful large power transformers can be! My husband works in a factory that produces equipment for these transformers which are essential to utility companies. In fact, I used to sell this stuff when we were back in Jackson and I find a kind of beauty in it.

I won't bore you with more details on what these porcelain friends do, but suffice to say they are important for the proper functioning of a utility's transformer. If you'd like to see more interpretations of electricity from around the world, take a look at the CDP theme day page.