Signs

 Joining Tom at Signs2

Wordless Wednesday Wordless Be There 2day

March/April 2024 Road Trip - Oklahoma Road Signs

Monday Mural

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural

March 2024 - Las Vegas NV


Keya Tama is a South African artist based in the United States, between Los Angeles and New York. Inspired by pastel color palettes, pattern, and symbolism, Keya Tama has been a practicing artist and muralist since the age of thirteen. His style can be describe as ancient contemporary minimalism; by processing and refining images into minimalistic forms while maintaining their essence, his works aim to reunite old and new through contrasting yet unified iconography.

MURAL UPDATE

Tama's mural replaced this mural taken in 2015 that I never posted! 

Australian superstar Fintan Magee and his cute rabbits.

March 2024

Italian artist Agostino Iacurci (agostinoiacurci.com) created this lively, bright-colored landscape work for the 2021 Life Is Beautiful festival at the behest of “global creative house” JustKids, which commissions fresh street art for the fest every year. Other artists have painted this wall for past LIB events—a piece by Dead Stockton, aka D*Face, covered it for several years—but Iacurci is the first to regard it as a wall, with painted-on passageways and supporting columns.

MURAL UPDATE

As mentioned above, the D*Face mural was painted over for Iacurci's. Taken in 2015.

BTW I found this in March 2024

THREE

  One Word Sunday

March 2024 - Las Vegas NV

Maddie and Bella Coffee Roasters

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

May 2024 - Toronto ON

April 2024 - Toledo OH

 

Another gloomy Saturday but it doesn't matter we're not going anywhere. 

A lot of chores got done. Paper shredder got emptied! Soup was started, cleaned out the fridge.

But then we went down rabbit holes the rest of the afternoon as I opened one of our travel videos and then John started watching the ones I had on YouTube. And I discovered not all were up on YouTube. We also found some that wouldn't load so I am looking for a solution.

Solution found - Clipchamp. I've fixed them all!!

John had a "senior" moment and shaved half his goatee off, so the rest had to come off!!

Sunday I baked  a blueberry banana loaf. Did laundry. 

Monday John headed out to golf at 8  nope, it was raining. 

So another stay at home day. No worries, there's always something to keep us busy. More laundry.

We spent the afternoon watching MasterChef Australia season 16 - four episodes.

Tuesday cloudy but no rain forecasted until late afternoon. We took the subway to the Eaton Centre to try out their new food hall. I had shown you around in this post.

 John had the Curryocity butter chicken (gluten free) and said it was okay but not very saucy. I tried Eric Chong's Lil' Rebel pop up. Eric was the first winner of MasterChef Canada and has several restaurants around town. I was anxious to try his potsticker dumplings, they were all right.

When we stepped out to walk back, it had poured! We walked back in sunshine and wind. We got on the bus and the skies just emptied all the way home. We only caught a few raindrops, good timing.

I received my Amazon order of a new bathroom wall scrubber, ours was worn. I also ordered a rotary cheese grater as neither of ours did a great job (charity bag).

Wednesday we slept in, not like us!!! John went golfing. I went to Winners, $ store and picked up some things, including siracha since it seems there is a shortage!!

We got our gluten free Amazon order so we are good for baguettes, bread and cookies.

I asked John which sleep mask he would like...

Kelley's Landing on Front St.

They are painting the cement slabs outside Union with the word "WELCOME" in different languages.

I did some administrivia, shredding more paper etc. watering plants. I cleared a whole box of photos, no idea why I kept them, most had been scanned ages ago and there were a lot of duplicates.

Thursday we walked to Kensington Market and bought scallops (1 lb $20), and also picked up some wieners, breakfast sausages, pepperoni, made in house at Sanagan's.

Friday I looked out and saw the streetcars all waiting at the Loop.

John golfed. I went to College Park and got a black jean jacket and picked up some chocolate and some groceries at Metro.

This was a strange sight outside Union Station.

To celebrate the centennial of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the RCAF Foundation is collaborating with Union Station and the RCAF on a special F-18 cockpit installation.

Pedestrians can sit in, take photos, and learn more about the RCAF from serving members.  Nestled in front of the RCAF Centennial banners commissioned by the RCAF Foundation, this free installation is expected to attract thousands of Torontonians and visitors who will learn more about the past, present, and future of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Someone threw out a large Christmas cactus plant (in recycling bin) so I snipped some leaves and will see if they will root in water.

Since John didn't get home until really late we moved our steak dinner to Saturday and had eggs and sausage instead.

Awesome video by a favourite of mine, Simu Liu, for Blue Jays new shirt!

COOKING

Saturday roast pork roast potatoes mashed cauliflower and carrots with sour cream

Sunday cottage pie (ground beef/corn)

Monday chicken fingers and potato salad

Tuesday store bought salads

Wednesday spaghetti and homemade meat sauce/jalapeno soda bread

Thursday lemon garlic scallops and sweet potato fries

Friday steak, baked potato broccolini Horrors! sausages, tomatoes and eggs

WATCHING

The Truth vs, Alex Jones 2024 centres on families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. They take Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist, to court for spreading lies about the event being a hoax. 

Boston Strangler is a 2023 American historical crime drama film written and directed by Matt Ruskin. It is based 

on the true story of the Boston Strangler, who, in 1960s Boston, killed 13 women. As a fan of The Gilded Age I was pleased to see Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector!!

I really enjoyed the 1960s fashion and sets. The rampant sexism endured by women in the workplace and society is very evident.

There are four movies made and this is interesting article ranking all the Boston Strangler movies. This version ranks second after the 1968 Tony Curtis production.

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel is mind boggling.

A 2020 Canadian documentary film directed by Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott. A sequel to the influential 2003 film The Corporation, the film profiles new developments in the political and social power of corporations in the seventeen years since the release of the original.

Began Eric (TV mini serries 2024) is a six-part British psychological thriller television miniseries created for the streaming service Netflix, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Vincent is a puppeteer in 1980s New York whose nine-year-old son, Edgar, has gone missing. Vincent’s increasingly volatile behavior alienates him from his friends and family. After issues with substance abuse, Vincent becomes convinced that he can reunite with Edgar with the help of his seven-foot-tall puppet, Eric.

READING

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed reading William Shaw's The Kings of London. It really gave me the feeling of the times, the 60s. I will be reading more of his books.

On the other hand, For Better and Worse, was a big letdown. This intro had me hoping for some exciting reading.

It was back in law school, 15 years earlier, that Natalie and Will found themselves caught up in the thrill of their first date. Flirty and sarcastic banter turning to talk of their abilities to pull off the perfect murder together.

Instead, I got a boring married couple, bored with their relationship, always busy, busy, busy.

She plans "the perfect murder" that has so many holes in it, that the overconfident wife has to ask her whiny husband for help. Entertaining but forgettable. 

I started William Shaw's She's Leaving Home.

Weekend Roundup

 Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveller

1. Starts with "V"
2. A Favorite
3.VARIOUS - chosen by Tom

Starts with V

FAVOURITE

VETERANS Las VEGAS 

VARIOUS

Las VEGAS 

Signs

 Joining Tom at Signs2

Wordless Wednesday Wordless Be There 2day

I found these beauties in my archives. They were taken in 2008 in Buffalo NY.

There's not many of these iconic signs around anymore, I wonder if this one is still there?

Tuesday Treasures

  Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

May 2024 - Toronto ON

For many years, a row of historic storefronts along Yonge running south from Yorkville Avenue have been kept under wraps as this towering 1 Yorkville condo was being built. 

As part of the development projects the storefronts were restored. 

Frogley's Bakery

Taken in 2018

Taken in 2016.

Taken from the Reference Library in 2011. The building on the right end, white with red awning, is the Frogley building, then the Cookbook Store (now gone).

This story comes from the Cookbook Store websiteCookbook Store website, mentioned above.

Quite of the blue a package came to the store in 2011 from the great granddaughter of Charles J. Frogley. If you are walking by the store and look way up to the top of our building you will see the name Frogley in the apex. It was explained in the letter that her father had recently died at the age of 94 in Texas and with no relatives other than her brother and herself, who in turn had no children, she wanted to pass on this photo so that it would remain with the building. We are thankful to her for her thoughtfulness.

Charles J. Frogley took possession of the building in 1885 and operated  a confectionery and bakery, where a young 12 year old George Weston was rumoured to have worked for a few years, learning bread making along the way; so lo these centuries later it is only fitting we are here selling cookbooks.

In 2002 a Cookbook Store staff member was doing a research project for her university course and decided to research the building, we use her findings in telling an anecdotal history of our store, there may be some discrepancies and omissions which are unknown to us and for which we apologize.

Of course no one actually knows how old the building is, but Yorkville Ave was originally called William St situated in the Village of Yorkville. Once the village was amalgamation with the City of Toronto in the 1880's, (and you thought amalgamation was a current issue!) numbering of the buildings changed but since 1890 the building has been listed as 850 Yonge St.

Prior to 1860 George Bostwick, a general grocer with a store at 3 King St. is listed as having a house on William St on the corner in the Town of Yorkville. He lived in the house until 1875 and became a Justice of the Peace and served as treasurer for the Town of Yorkville.

In 1875 a young doctor from England moved in and set up his practice on the main floor as well as living in the building until 1884. But it was the next owner Charles J Frogley who would have the biggest influence on the building. The Frogley's wrought iron sign is still at the top of the building. Rooms and apartments were established above the ground floor store and the Frogley family moved in above as did three of his bakers. Charles Frogley continued to occupy the building until 1909.

Over the next few years the building was listed as being a confectioner and also The Eclipse Bakery. In 1923 it was operated as a grocery store for two years. Subsequent business have ranged from antique furniture dealer to book dealer and picture framer. One of the more successful enterprises was a restaurant called The Milk Bar which operated from 1938 to 1948. "Milk bars" were all the rage at this time.

After this period a range of businesses occupied the building from a fur company to a hearing aid services and a fabric store. In 1980 our predecessor was an upstart store called Books for Cooks. Who knew their ground breaking idea for a single genre bookstore would be slightly ahead of their time.

We are grateful for their idea (and the bookshelves) and when the owners decided to close their business in early 1983, well you know what happens next!