Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Had a very nice trip to Sarnia for the weekend, with a great drive through spectacular fall colours on Saturday morning, some antiquing success and a delicious thanksgiving dinner. Holiday Monday is providing some lovely fall weather, a slight chill in the air, but beautiful sunny skies above, so I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. Given the work I've been having done on the outside of my house in the last few weeks, it was interesting to take note of other renovations and improvements going on in Mimico. The most notable, whilst not yet officially open to the public, is that Mimico Waterfront Linear Park is nearing completion, with paved surfaces and decked boardwalks now installed. The good folks of Mimico weren't going to let the lack of a little thing like an official public opening stop them from enjoying this addition to the neighbourhood, so I joined the merry throng making use of the pathway. The closest entrance is only about five minutes walk from my house, and I have to say, the trail that has now been more or less completed, linking all the way along the lake to Harbourfront, in the downtown core, is an amazing new asset for this community. There is a curving, smoothly paved pathway, which will be great for cyclists and roller bladers, and then a very nice boardwalk section that is ideal for walkers. Add to that, the really great views of downtown, and across the marina, as well as what look to be some areas reserved for naturalization of marginal plants to create a wildlife habitat, and you have a truly excellent way to help create that "waterfront living" experience that is top of mind for local real estate agents! Now it feels like there is a bit of substance behind those claims! Add to that the fact that work is finally starting on a new building at Superior and Lake Shore (which has been under discussion for nearly the entire decade that I've lived here), and that a very pretty new house a few doors down from me is nearing completion, I started to feel like things are really starting to move up in Mimico. Here are a few pics from my walk:
Autumn colour on Lake Crescent in Mimico
Colourful fall garden on Queen's Avenue, Mimico
The fall colours in Southern Ontario are really intense this year.
View from the newly paved section of the Mimico Waterfront Linear Park
Marina in Mimico, view from Mimico Waterfront Linear Park
View towards Humber Bay
Looking east, from Mimico Waterfront Park, towards Humber Bay
Look at the nice new path for cycling or roller blading....
....and great board walks for strolling....
...or you could just sit down and enjoy watching the boats drift by.
This is the second phase of the park, and it really will add tremendously to the amenities in the area.
And closer to home, my own renovation project is nearing completion. Here you can see the final colour scheme I selected for the timbers and stucco. I'm highly pleased with the results....can't wait to see it all finished!
Everything is primed at the front and ready to be painted.
A new house, just a few doors down from my much more humble Mimico dwelling, is nearing completion. Landscaping went in last week, and the results are starting to look really great. So glad this house is tasteful!
And at the corner of Lake Shore Boulevard and Superior Avenue, it's down with the old....
...and it shouldn't be too long before the new condo arrives.
This heritage property is currently up for re-development. The original estate actually became a post-war low rise apartment complex. The proposals are currently being actively discussed in the neighbourhood, and I'm hoping a good solution for some positive re-development can be found.
Admittedly it's been quite some time since my last post (just a shade more than quarter of a year!), but for 1 whole month of that, I was decamped at the other end of town whilst the singular bathroom in my 90 year old house was gutted and transformed (thanks to the kind hospitality of Mr. Davey, as well as other friends who let me use their showers on occasion). It's been quite a process to get it finished, with a few mishaps along the way that have needed re-work to be done to fix them, but it is now finished and I am most pleased with it! The old bathroom was very much past it's prime. The original clawfoot tub was still there, and it was actually one of things I loved about the house when I came to view it as a prospective buyer, but 8 years, and only 2 or 3 baths later, I had to realize that the bolt-on shower ring was not the most practical option for my daily needs. Add to that the cracks in the walls, the chipped sink, scraped and peeling vinyl flooring and the generally worn out appearance of the whole room, it was clearly time for a change. There were the usual challenges of working on an older house, such as the fact that when the old ceiling vent fan was removed, daylight could be seen coming in through the roof, and the fact that the 90 year main water valve had worn through to the only the thickness of a piece of aluminium foil, which caused the shutdown of the project until the city could turn off the mains and replace it, or that a good chunk of the kitchen ceiling below the bathroom came crashing down and needed to be repaired, but I was relieved that there were no more major problems such as asbestos, or rotten joists to contend with.
Since the room is quite tiny, I went with very simple and classic fixtures and finishes, with more traditional styling. Lots of polished nickle, white subway tile and basket weave marble flooring. The accessories are all from Restoration Hardware, the toilet and sink are American Standard Town Square, and the shower & tap fixtures are Hexis by Canadian firm, Rubinet. It feels like the height of luxury to have a shower under the lovely rainhead. I picked up the classical bust at Of Things Past a couple of weekends ago, and it seems to fit in nicely. I think the only thing that is still missing is a window covering, for which I have in mind a roman blind, but that will need to wait until the New Year - no time left before Christmas!
Here's a video of the transformation - the pain & inconvenience was more than worth it.
Recital tomorrow - I'm part of the Dvorak bagatelles, and then the others will be joined by a talented clarinetist for Mozart's clarinet quintet, which is heavenly. The talented clarinetist is apparently also a talented double-bass player (go figure!), and so next year, we have decided to tackle the Trout Quintet. I played it about 20 years ago, when a student, although I think we only performed a couple of movements at a college music evening. Anyway, I'll need to start practicing already for next year.....this clip, featuring Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus Quartet, filmed at Aldeburgh, captures the energy of the piece. It also alternately makes me quiver with excitement, and feel sick with terror at having try to get that level of agility! I think I need to practice scales with velocity for the next 12 months. Maybe I need to start piano lessons again too!
The anenomes have just opened, and delicately float in the breeze
The last week has seen more torrential rain, and the garden has been quite battered. Despite the weather, I've had quite a good showing in the front garden, and given that Mimico is "an up and coming" neighbourhood, and thus still a little rough around the edges, I've been pleased to see lots of people stopping by to take a look, and lots of folks snapping photos of the garden as they go past on their stroll. I have to say, I get quite a bit of satisfaction from thinking that my efforts help to beautify the neighbourhood, and hopefully bring some enjoyment to others.
The tulips have come up trumps again, after 6 years. Every year I anxiously await to see if this is the year where they get too tired and overcrowded to bloom well, and each year they continue to look lovely. I am on the verge of digging them up to make sure I don't reach the stage of overcrowding, but can't quite bring myself to disturb what seems to be a good thing. Maybe I'll wait for just one more year. In the meantime, I'll stick to my regimen of plenty of bonemeal and keeping the water away from them in the summertime.
The tulips are just starting to go past their prime, but have looked magnificent
One thing I have done in the last couple of years is try to find ways to not let the predominance of tulips in the garden become such an aesthetic problem after blooming. Some strategically placed companion plantings, such as aquilegia and lilies have now matured to the size where I think they will do the job of hiding the retreat of the tulips, whilst still allowing them a full opportunity for the leaves to die back naturally, allowing the bulbs to store up all that vital energy needed for perfect blooming next year. The extra light afforded by the absence of the locust tree should also help.
This tall lily will draw the eye after the
tulips start to decline
Here, peonies and hostas will be the focus
once the tulips go past
Change is definitely in the air though, and whilst today is still damp and grey, and a little on the cool side, the forecast for next week includes lots of lovely sunshine and much nicer temperatures. The next wave of early summer flowers, such as peonies, alliums and clematis are all on the verge of bursting out, and they should enjoy and change in the forecast, and they'll certainly have been well hydrated until now. No gardening today though - I have started on an arrangement of the Bach Italian Concerto for piano quartet, which at the rate I go, will see me through the rest of this year! There just aren't enough hours in the day!
In the meantime, here are some pictures of the state of the union in the garden, and although it's sad to see some things going past already, there's much excitement about what is to come over the coming months.
This area had become increasingly shady and will need a re-arrangment shortly. I plan to wait until the anemones are done flowering.
Although it's not raining today, there has been quite a heavy fog, which has left lots of droplets on the Lady's Mantle
This clear white clematis only blooms in early summer, but it does so before the New Dawn rose opens up, so it makes a good companion plant. It's also not too vigorous in terms of foliage, so it doesn't crowd the rose.
These dark aquilegias are just opening as the tulips go over, and the frondy foliage will hide the declining tulip foliage from the street view
These Alliums will be fully open in a couple of days. The peonies are already hiding my homemade woven dogwood stakes
My crocs were decorated with fallen forget-me-nots when I took these photos in the drenched garden
