Nico's Second Birthday

Last Saturday Michelle and Adam invited friends and family over to their new condo to help celebrate Nico's 2nd Birthday.

Below is Jennifer (my youngest niece) with her youngest - Caitlyn.

The picture here is just a bunch of people with kids crawling all over them.

There seemed to be a lot of kids wearing pink.

Adam's brother (with the glasses) has his little girl, Penny, who is conversing with Adam. Then there's Nico's back and Jennifer.
This is the very camera-shy Lucy - Michelle and Adam's first and she will be four in August.
Here we have Michelle, who is helping Nico to open her pretty cards and presents.


Missing from my photos is Liam, who preferred to play in the girls' bedroom with all the toys.

Maybe all these women just overwhelmed the little guy.

Cherry Blossom Time

The clocks will be put forward tonight, and Daylight Savings Time begins tomorrow.

The St. Patrick's Day Parade is also on the agenda for tomorrow...so it's beginning to look a lot like spring - with longer days e.g: more sunlight hours.

In Washington, they are gearing up for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

The cherry trees that bloom in this state were a gift from Japan in 1912; and there are about 100 of the original 3,000 still growing.

Vancouver is celebrating its 125th Anniversary this year, and will be marking the occasion with a special Cherry Blossom Festival.
Apparently, the City is giving property owners a chance to purchase a "Birthday Blossom" cherry tree; and even giving them instructions on how to plant and maintain their new little tree.

It's interesting to note here that the number of trees available for purchase is 3,000...the same number of trees that were gifted to the U.S. only 99 years ago.

The "Cherry Blossom" is the flower of the tree known as "Sakura"

In Japan, the Cherry blossom is an omen of good fortune, as well as for love, and affection; but because the flower blooms and then dies so quickly, it is also a metaphor for the fleeting nature of life itself.


Here in Toronto's High Park, we have many Somei-Yoshino cherry trees, with their fluffy white flowers. These were given to the City in 1959 by Japan (again).
The above picture is not in Toronto, but in Newark, New Jersey.
Through the Sakura Project, the Japanese Embassy donated a further 34 trees to be planted in High Park, and in various locations throughout the GTA

Sugar Beach

On August 9, 2010, a new Beach magically appeared in Toronto's East Bayfront neighbourhood.

In 2002, Waterfrontoronto held a competition to design a park in a 2 acre space just west of the new Corus Entertainment building.Where there was once an industrial parking lot with crumbling pavement, there now sits a pure white sandy beach, complete with pink umbrellas and white wooden chairs...
.....add to that a few candy-striped rock outcroppings, and Voila! you have a place for residents and visitors alike to enjoy the sun, the sailboats, and the view.

According to their web site, the park/beach will also have a multi-use pathway cutting through it, that will connect to the Waterfront Trail.


There are 57 trees, 150 chairs and 36 umbrellas in this 8500 metre space that sits alongside the Redpath Sugar Refinery at the foot of Lower Jarvis.

BC Wildlife Watch Area

On our way to Langley, we stopped at a little place called Kilby Park.

It is located near the junction of the Harrison and Fraser Rivers, and is a popular fishing spot for Coho and Spring Salmon.

There is a small sandy beach with a single boat ramp for launching most fishing vessels, as well as a 22 site campground.



It is designated a British Columbia Wildlife Watch Area due to the large number of Bald Eagles, as well as Trumpeter Swans that inhabit the area.



There is a Bald Eagle Festival each year in BC, and last year it was held in the Fraser Valley. These magnificent birds of prey are drawn to the Salmon runs and the milder climate in the region.


The logs you see in the pictures are the remnants of an old Rat Portage Mill that once occupied a piece of the shore along the Harrison River.

The above picture was uploaded from the Wikipedia page about Harrison Mills.

University Theatre

This is the University Theatre, that once sat on Bloor Street West.


The 1300-seat cinema opened in 1949; and the first film to be shown was Joan of Arc with Ingrid Bergman. (The above picture is courtesy of The Archives of Ontario).

I remember lining up in '76 to see the premier of the new George Lucas film "Star Wars - Episode IV - A New Hope".

We were all suitably impressed with the opening scene depicting the Imperial-class Star Destroyer chasing Princess Leia.

It closed in 1986, just after the Toronto Film Festival wrapped up it's tenth year; despite efforts to keep it intact by film buffs, heritage groups and Mayor Art Eggleton.

The building was demolished completely, except for the facade.

The owners were unable to sell the property to any developers because the market was experiencing a bust.

Later, in the nineties, the deteriorating wall needed to be torn down, and with downtown property now at a premium, the owners were able to capitalize on their empty lot.

Originally, the plan was to built a nine screen theatre complex with condos on top, but it ended up being a retail store.

The facade was replicated and the fake facade is now the entranceway for the Pottery Barn.


The above image is from Wikipedia and is used with permission.