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.