Potting Season

Every year, about halfway through May, Bill decides it is safe to plant on our balcony.

He favours two small nurseries on Dundas Street.

We had a spell of summer weather last week. For the first time this year I was able to sit on the balcony with a book. Bliss.

But I was happy to clear the table and let Bill get some planting done.

He plants. I clean up. That's our deal. Later I spread my books out again.

I think Bill's recycling looks like contemporary sculpture.

I also love the look of his "drainage" bits.

His broken pottery shards look like artifacts on "Digging in Britain".

Pottery shards cover drainage holes.

So the water doesn't collect in the bottom of the pot. 

On the weekend we bought some lobelia

Bill planted them around the zinnias in the long pots.

Then I settled in with a new crop of books.

I had a look at the zinnias. They look happy.

April in Toronto

April in Toronto has been wet and cool.

We even had one last snowfall which was very pretty before it politely disappeared.

But Bill and I are always pleased to see the return of the sun.

We have set aside a half hour per day to walk around Toronto taking pictures with our phones

so interesting sights have begun to put themselves in our path.

This is Bill's picture of a domestic front yard. I love the surprise depths he found.

Bill and I often pass by this house -- once a home to Felecian Sisters. He told me that he always wanted to buy it and if he had bought it he would have let the Sisters stay.

Looks like they are keeping only the facade of this building on Queen West. 

We know the pâtisserie Aux Merveilleux from Paris. Pleased to see a branch open in Toronto.

This little guy must be disappointed to be approached by a random photographer off the sidewalk rather than his beloved master.

The Sanko store at Queen and Clairmont sets a high standard for murals in this town. Bill's pic.

Bill has also had luck with graphic details on our photo walks.

We've walked past this ghost in Kensington Market many times. Bill finally got the picture.

My eye always gets caught by what I think of as "texture".

The sun raking across brick -- texture!

Waiting for Bill to do his banking in Chinatown I was looking for something to look at. A scene coalesced around this hand-painted barber sign. Then Bill joined me and we walked on.