Patio Garden

We have a fantastic patio that lets us grow many plants (as long as they can stand the wind ten floors up!). Here is a sample of what's growing at the moment:

Bell peppers starting to ripen

Cherry tomato plants

Cherry tomatoes ready to eat!

This is a potentilla plant

Scarlet runner bean flowers

Sweet pea flowers

Storms Over Ottawa

This was back on June 7th

Ottawa Catch Up

It's been several months since my last post; and I have been keeping busy - apparently to busy to blog! In September I found a job near Ottawa, and moved to the city a week later. Settled into an apartment downtown, and started to get my feet under the desk at work.

In no particular order, here are a few scenes from Ottawa in the fall:

Parliament and the Ottawa River

Moon over the Supreme Court

The uninspiring building at the bottom of the road is the National Library 

Wooden sculpture in Major's Hill Park: "Twist 1.5"

The War Museum

The Supreme Court

Houses of Parliament

Lester B Pearson - former Prime Minister

The Ottawa River

Museum of Civilization, and Gatineau

The end of the Rideau Canal; drained for winter

Buildings of Kingston

One way or the other, I'll be leaving Kingston in the next few weeks. With summer coming to an end, I've been making an effort to get out and appreciate some of Kingston's attractions and history. So here are the highlights of a walk around Queen's University and the old part of the city.

53 Earl St. Built in 1844 for an engineer; designed by Thomas Rogers

67 Earl St. Built 1847

The British Whig Building

The Prince George Hotel, the centre of which dates to 1817.

161 Earl St. Designed by William Coverdale for the Fraser family in 1847

169 Earl St. Once the Agnes Maule Machar Home for Protestant Women

This row of buildings houses two ice cream shops!

This was the station of the Kingston and Pembroke Railway; now the tourist information office

Kingston City Hall; facing the lake, from where most visitors would have arrived.

218 King St. Built in 1833. This has previously been a store and a medical clinic

The Agnes Etherington Art Gallery at Queen's.

Beamish-Munroe Hall.

The Biosciences Complex

The Queen's University Grad Club is on the left behind the trees

This is the university library, at the corner of Union and University

Finally, the oldest building on campus, Summerhill, built in 1839 by Archdeacon George Okill Stuart

Toronto, Labour Day Weekend

For the last long weekend of the summer, A and I went to Toronto to catch up with some friends, family, and to see some of the sights.

We started out with a look around the John Street Roundhouse Park. This roundhouse was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway around 1930, and now has been partly converted into a brewery, furniture store, and railway museum. As a rail museum, it's still in its early stages, but shows a lot of potential.

'Cabin D', an 'interlocking tower': i.e. controlling signals and switches

Canadian National No 4803

CN 4803

Canadian National 6213

Canadian Pacific 7020

Don Station (moved here from the other side of the city)

Most of the weekend was occupied with walking the down-town streets and eating. Yes, lots of eating!

The Royal York Hotel nestling between skyscrapers

CN Tower

Toronto Harbourfront

Trying a fresh coconut at a fair next to the lake

The Wavedeck; modern art at the waterfront

St Lawrence Market

Butter tarts at the market

CN Tower by night