Graffiti and plaque

Along the quay at the far end of the Western Gap, there is a tiny piece of graffiti:

This is near the National Yacht Club, where I learned to sail originally, and later took some piloting and celestial navigation courses.  Here's their plaque out front:

Reads: THE NATIONAL YACHT CLUB
A group of enthusiasts from the West End Boating Club (c. 1890) obtained
an act of incorporation for the National Yacht and Skiff Club in 1894.  From
its inception the club was known for competitive sailing, with some members
designing and building their own boats.  Others were particularly successful
competing in 14-foot dinghies under the rules of the Lake Skiff Sailing Association,
of which the National was an early member.  In the late 1920s, the club became the
centre for hyrdroplane racing.  More recently, it became the home of ocean
cruisers and world and Olympic class racing sailors.  First located on the
Queen's Wharf, at the foot of Bathurst Street, the club relocated in 1918 to
Toronto Harbour Commission land created by the reconstruction of the
Western Gap.  The present clubhouse was constructed in 1988.
Heritage Toronto, 1997

Lots of birds, and some allium.

The allium are coming into full bloom along the Garden's gazebo area:

For some reason, their big purple heads make me happy.

Down along Spadina Quay, the cormorants and gulls were flocking and screaming and doing all kinds of birdly things.  A still image doesn't do it justice, but I tried.

Inukshuk

Today the wind was far more cooperative, though I didn't run into many new or interesting flowers to photograph.

I noticed this plaque at the far western end of Coronation Park.  I like the graffiti just above it:

Reads:
G20 Toronto
Canada 2010
These twenty trees were planted by the
Government of Canada to commemorate the
G20 Summit that was held in Toronto on
June 26 and 27, 2010.

This is nearby the Inukshuk:

The basin by the Western Gap has a pretty double-ended craft moored in it right now, named the Archangel.

And closer to Desmond Tutu Blvd, someone has planted this bright lily:

Plums and Lilacs

It was really windy out today — I had a difficult time getting snapshots that weren't pretty blurry.

But this plum tree held still enough for me:

This bush with white blooms did not:

The western side of Little Norway Park has its share of lilacs in bloom:

More spring flowers in the garden.

The Music Garden really is a burst of color this spring — everywhere I turn there's something I haven't noticed before.

These are over by the Spadina Quay Wetland area.

Further west, these were all turning their faces to the morning sun.

And not far beyond those are these interesting flowers:

Along a fence at the western end are some brighter colors:

And back beyond those, deeper in the shade, you can find this brilliant spray of orange:

Nestled among some of the evergreens and ferns are these pretty little flowers:

Nodding flowers open, more cherry blossoms, and a sunny day

It's been a beautiful day here, except for the pollen driving me crazy.  But anyway, it's sunny and still cool enough to enjoy nice long walks.  This up behind the marine police station at what's called "Police Basin" (very original name, that).

The walkway between this area and the Music Garden closer to home is still a total mess.

I kept thinking that surely I would get a nice wedge of cheese
at the end.  I was disappointed.

Up at the Spadina Quay Wetlands, those nodding buds have opened into ... er, this?

Prairie Smoke Flower

Reportedly, these were used to treat tuberculosis in the past.

Nearby are some little white bell flowers:

In the garden proper, the lilacs are in full bloom.

And the cherry trees are starting to shed their blossoms.

In one shady area, there are these pretty white flowers amongst the ferns.

Protests and poutine (and mushrooms, and blossoms, and dog)

It's Victoria Day here in Ontario, which means a public holiday.  It's a beautiful, sunny day, too, so we got out for a long walk over to Coronation Park with the dog.

One of the first things I saw was that some of the protesters for the United Appeals Walk with Israel were still around.

Only one small Palestinian flag visible, but there had been several others until (of course) the shot was clear enough to take.

Across the road was this Canadian thing — that's right, poutine from a food truck.

The park is starting to get its lovely summer shade as the leaves come out.  Up in one tree (out of easy reach) was this bounty of mushrooms:

And over next to the cherry tree that was blooming a few days back is this one (crab apples, I think):

And finally, since it was such a sunny day, we were trying out the dog's new sunglasses (her cataracts are getting bad and I thought they might help her see better in bright light).  She's fine so long as she's being carried, but she doesn't want to walk in them.  Perhaps they're just too uncool.

Muck and decoration

Years ago, when I first moved to this area, the city ran these little boats around the harbour regularly, sucking up the garbage and muck that tends to accumulate in the areas where it gets trapped due to prevailing winds or currents.

Then, at some point, this stopped happening on a regular basis.  The story I heard was that the city workers doing this job had been replaced by a cheaper, outside contractor.

Whatever the reason, most days the southeastern corners of the marinas and quays look like this:

It smells as good as it looks — and do note that the white blob at the top middle is a giant dead fish of some sort.  Usually there are a few dead birds in the mix too, though I didn't seem to capture any in this photo.

Down in Ireland Park, people often leave things for the statues there.  Commonly, it's a few coins in their hands or pockets.  Last week I saw a few 20-something dude-bros arranging sticks on them so they all looked like they had penises.  (Gosh, I should've captured that, no?)  Anyway, today, someone had left something slightly different.

Raccoon update, and bird

The old dead raccoon I photographed back in October is still out on the Western Gap of the harbour.  No better for the time and weather:

Over in Little Norway Park, I spotted some of this year's influx of red-winged blackbird.

Cherry blossoms

Over on the path to Coronation Park, there's a cherry tree in full bloom, at long last.

This means it's really Spring, right?

Anyway — at Coronation itself, they've got signs up around the off-leash area.  But who's supposed to be the one reading this sign, anyway?  And if it's for the dog, shouldn't it a least say "Good dog!" at the end?

Quiet Day

Quiet day today ... I mean, relatively speaking — there's still a lot of heavy machinery about due to the whole "harbourfront revitalization" thing.


Over in Little Norway Park, the little planters have gotten the Spring treatment.

The bench out at the end of one of the marina walkways has a small crack in it, but I thought it might be nice as a new desktop background for me:

And then these are growing along the northern side of the walkway that travels through the "Spadina Quay Wetlands" area.

I really can't tell you what those are, but maybe I'll figure it out when they open.

Yet more spring flowers

A long stroll yesterday through the Music Garden and HTO Park West produced a lot of photos.  Are you ready?

The gardeners at the Music Garden do a truly outstanding job.  The photos here are travelling eastward along the southern edge of the garden:

The photo doesn't do justice to the prettiness of this planter down next to the marina.

Bright pink tulips dominate the eastern edge of the garden.

And there are the obligatory narcissus:

And hyacinths in a broad spectrum of colours:

Bleeding hearts over next to where the digitalis grows:

This riot of blossoms that I can't identify:

And these pretty blue flowers back along the northern edge of the eastern side.

HTO Park isn't as well maintained right now — maybe the construction is making it just too difficult.

Back at my own building, the flowerbeds have gotten their spring pansies: