Terra Greenhouse

     As a diversion, CC and I drove down to Terra Greenhouses to get a hit of spring.  They had a wonderful selection of Orchids, all of which I would have liked to bring home, but we do already have quite a few, and the ones I particularly liked were quite expensive.

     It was very warm inside and the sun was shining, so you could almost imagine that it was spring.  The smell of the lemon trees was also quite refreshing, and even though there wasn't a lot of merchandise at the moment, it was something of a mini-holiday!

Bromeliad

     CC bought some potted bulbs - tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.  They will stay down in the cool greenhouse and then he'll bring them up once they are about to flower and we can enjoy some of the colour and fragrance that is so lacking in the garden at this time of year.

Fun with Darcy

Zombie dog

     It has been a lot of fun having Darcy around for the past two weeks, even if he loves to get his nose into everything and constantly follows us around the house.  I have been taking lots of pictures of him, and as you can see, he is very photogenic.

     He LOVES fetching the tennis ball, and CC had the great idea of throwing the ball down a hill, so that Darcy has to run up the hill to bring it back to us, so he gets more exercise.  Today, he was quite tuckered out afterwards and was panting, then had a good nap.

Toronto Book Club

Chinatown

     Stayed in Toronto this past Thursday for my book club.  After work, I walked downtown, bought a new winter coat from MEC, had dinner at Banh Mi Boys on Queen Street near Spadina (delicious!) and walked up Spadina then along College at sunset (golden hour!).

U of T

College and University

     It was incredibly cold out and my hands froze every time I took off my gloves to take a picture.  I went back to work to escape the cold and have some warming mint tea, then took the subway over to the book club host's place.
     It was nearly a full house and we had some lively discussion about the book.  I had never read anything by P.D. James before and was amazed that she was in her 90s when she wrote it!  It is a continuation of Pride and Prejudice (it's 200 year anniversary is this Monday by the way) and has a murder mystery thrown in.  It was entertaining but the actual solving of the mystery was a bit of a letdown.  Our lovely host, BJ, had some good food for us and we enjoyed playing with her 7 month old cat, Edwin.  I suggested a book by Sebastian Barry for the next book club, as I immensely enjoyed "On Canaan's Side" by him for my Guelph book club.

New Additions

Fetch!

     We have a few new additions to the household.  First off, CC's brother has gone away on business, so we are dog-sitting Darcy for a month.  He is a 2-3 year old Flat-coated Retriever who LOVES to retrieve!  He's still a puppy in many ways but knows command like sit, down and roll over.  He gets his snout into everything and loves all of the attention he gets.  He is also a LOT of work, so I think it will be some time before we decide to get our own dog.

Foot stool

     Years ago, when I was at University, my mother bought an old Victorian chair and foot stool (not a set).  She later had them recovered in a small, beige floral print, something which wasn't particularly attractive and which showed the dirt very easily.  I ended up getting both pieces and for years wanted to have them recovered.  Well, it has finally happened!  The foot stool is square chain broad cloth and is very lovely.

Victorian Armchair

     The chair is something I am particularly happy with.  It's blue with a lighter blue, oriental, chenille motif.  It goes well with all of our asian bits and bobs and the colour is masculine and goes with some of the blue in the rugs.  My mother would be proud!

Where's the paper?

Changes for the New Year

     No picture this time around, just an announcement.  You can probably see that I am slowly removing the pictures from the side bar and putting them into the main text.  I like the look and the size of the pictures better that way.  What do you think?  Once I have moved them all, which will take some time knowing me, I will get my friend, the beautiful and talented Mrs. DaniBP, to help me remove the side bar feature from the blog.  Stay tuned for more pictures...

Walk Home from the Gym

New U of G Building

     Today was a busy organizational day at work that involved lots of physical activity - mostly lifting and moving pieces of equipment.  I managed to get out of work early and stopped off at the gym after work.  I did my usual 80 lengths and was impresses by an older man in the lane next to me who was a very fast swimmer, which helped me have a better workout!  I walked home and passed by the University and took some pictures as the sun set.  The picture above is of Alexander Hall (formerly the Axelrod building) which was recently finished.  I like the colours and the geometry contrasted with the branches of the trees in front of it.

War Memorial Hall

     By the time I reached the War Memorial Building, the sun was on a quick descent and I managed to get some light reflecting off the windows.  Down the Gordon hill, I passed the Royal City Park and the Speed River and got some good pictures of the tree silhouettes and the sun and river.

Royal City Park

The Speed River

Church Walk

Speed River Pedestrian Bridge

     Another cold but sunny day that had a glorious blue sky, perfect for taking pictures.  First off, I had a brisk 30-40 minute walk to the Athletic Centre and swam for the first time this year (60 lengths!), and the first time in a couple of weeks due to that nasty chest cold that has been making the rounds.  I normally do more but didn't want to overdo it.  CC slept in later than me, so he drove and did his workout, then gave me a lift home.  After a quick lunch, I went out for another walk to take some pictures around town.  Guelph has a lot of beautiful, old churches made out of Guelph limestone that look stunning with the sun on them, so I thought I would share some...

St. George's Anglican Church

     All the churches are within a few blocks of one another, so it was a quick walk to capture them all.  I didn't include any of Church of Our Lady Immaculate because the sun was behind it.  It is a catholic church based on Notre Dame and dominates the Guelph landscape as it sits up high on a hill, overlooking the rest of Guelph.  See my Christmas Day post for an image of it (right behind Mary!).

The Old Chalmers United Church

Knox Presbyterian Church

Norfolk United Church

St.Andrew's Presbyterian Church

Dublin Street United Church

     I stopped in at a friend's studio and had some herbal tea and a chat with her and by the time I headed back out, it had clouded over, so I headed home.  CC was in the thick of New Year's cleaning (how Scottish of him!).  He had pulled the bedroom apart so I couldn't possibly have a nap - we went through our clothes and made a nice pile for Value Village.  Now I have some room for new clothes!  I also tossed out some old Food and Drink magazines (they have a website with all of their recipes) and went through my recipe books and got rid of unopened, unused or underused ones.  It feels great to clear things out and start the New Year afresh!

Happy New Year!

Sunny New Year's walk

     CC and I started the New Year off by sleeping in because we both have been fighting colds.  We then packed away all of the Christmas decorations and took all of the Christmas boughs and Christmas tree outside - they were quite dry and we use them for compost and for acidifying the soil for certain plants.  It was very cold but sunny so we went for a long, pleasant walk to get the blood flowing.  The rest of the week is going to be relaxing and we're going to try and get to the gym to start working off some of that extra holiday weight!

Blue, blue Sky!