Glen Park in Williamsville, NY

So it happened again.

I vowed to fully update you and then my life when to pieces again.  On the positive side, I’m now employed as the Acting Conservator at the Textile Museum of Canada. I volunteered at the museum for five years, so I’m very pleased I can finally work there and get paid for my efforts. On the negative side, my Grandma died the same day I started at the museum. Having the two events occur at the same time propelled me to a stress level I would not recommend to anyone.

So let’s have another try at those posts I have notes for but have never gotten around to writing.

Every Victoria Day long weekend in May, my parents and I hop in the car and spend the weekend just over the US border in the Buffalo area. Our prime motivation is shopping for things that aren’t easy to find in Canada or are much cheaper to buy in the States, like books and amazing US craft beer. It has become a tradition that one dinner is spent here:

This is the Original Pancake House in Williamsville, NY located roughly near the intersection of Main St. and S. Cayuga Rd. This restaurant is a local chain serving excellent pancakes, waffles, and other breakfast-based delights. It is not the most exciting restaurant you’ve ever been to and typically the dinner crowd is senior citizens, but there’s no way I would skip a chance to eat their blueberry (or banana) pancakes.

This year we arrived a little early for dinner, so we went for a walk down Main St. This gave me a chance to take a photo of the sign that hangs outside the nearby liquor store that I have been admiring for a number of years (but my photo is from a distance because the door was being guarded by a very grumpy looking clerk):

On our meander we found Glen Park, which is located next to Elliot Creek:

As we followed the path we found a number of old mills next to the park in various stages of dilapidation. The first mill in Williamsville was built in 1811 and mills provided the economic backbone for the area throughout the 19^th century. In their current state you can only see a glimmer of their former power:  

We only made it so far into the park because it was overrun with a wedding party and prom-ready teenagers taking photos. The scene looked something like this:

The land also used to house nightclubs from the 1940’s-1970’s which, over the years, had such diverse acts as Sly and the Family Stone to the Three Stooges. After fires in 1968 and 1973 gutted most of the buildings, the land was converted to Glen Park. It is used as parkland and various temporary summer events, such as an amusement park and a music festival.

Update Part One- Say Hello to Dorothy!

Serious updating is required.

Things have been....hmm... crazy? Beyond crazy? I’m not really too sure what to label it at this point. Not long after my last blog update my Grandpa died and I sort of lost an entire month of my life in the aftermath. As my family has been finding out, the hardest part about losing a loved one isn’t the grief or their lack of presence but all the paperwork and bureaucracy that follows. Also complicating matters in my Grandma’s own declining health, so the family has also been making an effort to keep an eye on her as well (which means every so often I take a bus pretty much all the way to the other side of Mississauga to visit her on a weekday). I’ve also had a couple of job interviews but nothing has panned out to employment so far.

To put it simply, I’ve been pretty busy for someone who is unemployed!

But it hasn’t been all work and gloom, and some of the more enjoyable moments I have been snapping photos and taking notes with the intention of blogging about it whenever I finally have some free time. This, apparently, has taken until mid June. I wasn’t trying for a hockey theme but it appears that I have one.

My friend Barry from Halifax was in town awhile ago, so I got to play tourist for a day. We wandered around downtown Toronto for a bit and ended up at the Hockey Hall of Fame. I of course took photos of the old jerseys, because they are hand knit sweaters and I’m kind of a crazy knitting lady (something I’m sure no one has noticed):

The museum consists of a number of areas. We found ourselves very entertained in the section devoted to international hockey. Who knew that Mongolia and Angola are sanctioned by the IIHF? And some of the jerseys were amusing...

The most spectacular area of the museum is the Great Hall, which is where all of the current NHL trophies live including the Stanley Cup (which you can pay to have your picture taken with). The building was originally a Bank of Montreal branch and much of the decor from the bank has been left, including the vault. This building is stunning both inside....

and out...

It is also the section of the Hall of Fame that is haunted by a ghost named ‘Dorothy’. Back in 1953, when the building was still a bank, a 19 year old bank clerk named Dorothea Mae Elliot committed suicide at work after her love affair with a married co-worker soured. The Toronto Star has a good article on her life:

 http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/718662--hockey-hall-of-fame-ghost-revealed-at-last

While it’s a beautiful place to haunt, let’s hope Dorothy is a hockey fan. And if you ever find yourself at the intersection of Front and Yonge St. feel free to say hello to her.

City Hall

I should explain that the photos used in this post were taken a few weeks ago, before winter weather disappeared (or what passed for winter weather in Southern Ontario this year, which was rather wimpy for Canadian standards) and was replaced with seriously mild weather. While it is overcast and chilly today, it’s not cold enough to do this:

I’m skating on the outdoor rink outside Mississauga city hall (which features satellite radio playing 80’s music over the P.A. system):

The rink is a fountain during the rest of the year and until a few years ago was significantly smaller. However, a few years ago city council recognized that the area outside of city hall was kind of a dead-zone and rebuilt it to be more use to the community. The result is Celebration Square:

It is significantly more user friendly. It has a big permanent stage, instead of the small one that was periodically erected for events. The road between the square and city hall has been closed, which means you don’t have to worry about getting run over by traffic when going from one side to the other. Which could be a problem if you’re busy looking at the unusual style of city hall, or Mississauga Civic Centre to use its formal name (which I wasn’t aware of until I started doing research for this blog post):

It was opened in 1987 and is, according to Wikipedia, is a fine example of post-modern architecture in Canada. But what exactly is it supposed to look like, you might ask?

It’s based on a barn. Yep. Not making this up.

The area that is now known as the city of Mississauga was once a number of small farming villages. Until about ten or fifteen years ago, it was not uncommon to see the odd farmhouse on the outskirts of town. Now it’s all been replaces with development, which is why Mississauga is often cited when talking out urban sprawl in Canada (usually as an example of what not to do, since it's mainly low density single dwelling homes). What exactly the city is going to do now that it’s out of farmland to develop is anyone’s guess, but I have a feeling that it will define the city in the post-Hazel McCallion era (our mayor since 1978 who has said she will retire once this term is up). But I’m getting way off-course. Mississauga’s city hall is designed to look like a barn. Now you know.

Kentucky Fried... Hospital?

It’s about time I upheld my promise of continuing the blog.

The idea for this post came about because of the family drama that has been keeping me ‘occupied’ since I came back. Both my Grandparents in Mississauga have been in and out of hospital recently, four hospital stays between them so far, so I’ve been to Trillium Mississauga a number of times the past two months. The building is a built as series of large square-ish wings have been added on through the decades, which you can see for yourself:

There are two entrances on the face of the building that faces the main road. One is for the emergency department and the other is this:

Did you catch the name? Look a bit closer:

Colonel Sanders? As in Kentucky Fried Chicken’s man in the white suit? Yep. After selling off his stake in the KFC franchises in the States, Sanders moved to Mississauga in the mid 1960’s to keep an eye on his Canadian franchises. He liked it enough that he continued to live here for part of the year until his death in 1980 (although he actually died in Louisville and is buried in Kentucky).

Sanders used his wealth to start up charitable organizations, which made a substantial donation that allowed the hospital to build the Family Care Centre. It opened in the fall of 2000 to look after the healthcare needs of children, teenagers, and expectant parents. 

So, the sales of generally unhealthy fried food to the masses helped build part of a hospital. I can't really decide if that's ironic or really socially responsible. Perhaps a bit of both.

One Final Thought....

I have one final photo to share with you. I'm not sure why I find this so amusing... well, that's not true. I'm easily entertained by shiny things and I know a lot of my friends are too. In Halifax Stanfield Airport, there is a giant shiny lobster statue:

Now you know. Because someone might ask?

Car Trip in NS!

So I left Halifax a month ago but events in my life have kept me rather occupied (more on that later) so I’m only getting the last of my Maritime photos posted now. I’ll be brief, since it was a month ago.

My last Saturday in Nova Scotia was spent on an adventure with my buddy Barry. We had a vague plan but one very simple mission: drive out of Halifax and go look at some touristy stuff. We both found this enjoyable for different reasons: I got to go see some old, famous places and he got to see what those places looked like when they’re not swarmed with tourists. And there is definitely a  good reason why busloads of tourists don’t flock to Peggy’s Cove in late January/ early February:

It is very, very windy there and, when combined with winter weather, makes you very cold. However, as you can see from the photos it is very beautiful there.

But I can’t overemphasis how incredibly windy it was. It’s the kind of wind that tries to knock you over every 30 seconds. I was very happy that I had reconsidered my outfit and was wearing pants instead of a skirt.

While I didn’t get a shot of the famous lighthouse itself (because that would involve standing out in the open with nothing to hold onto and I didn’t want to faceplant on the rocks) I did get this lovely snap of the warning on the side of the lighthouse, which politely explains to you that if you are dumb enough to stand out at the edge of the sea in high winds there is a good chance you will end up in the water:

There were a lot of those warnings, for very good reason once I saw the surf:

We then got back in the car and drove to Lunenburg. Most of the stores and restaurants are closed in the winter, so for the most part we walked around town and looked at buildings. Given that the entire town is a national historic site, there was plenty to look at:

I can't decide if it's the style of the buildings themselves or the beautiful paint work that appeals to me so much:

We also encountered this pet store on one of the main streets:

So if you ever find yourself in need of elephant feed in Nova Scotia, you know where to go.

The Yarn Store!

Well, don't act surprised. Me blogging about my favourite yarn store in Halifax was bound to happen. But I also saw some interesting urban art on my way to the yarn store yesterday.

I think this may be my new favourite utility box:

And if that wasn't enough, just down the street on the side of the store 'Bikes by Dave' was this:

Here's a detail shot. It is individual posters, large and small, all collaged together. Even if you don't agree with the point it's trying to make, you have to admit they are interesting knock-offs of vintage advertising:

So, the yarn store or LYS (local yarn store in knitter nerd-speak). L.K. Yarns is located on 5545 Young St. and it has a wide variety of yarns to suit whatever yarn craving you have. It also has a window full of sheep and alpaca in full frolic:

Yes, I said frolic. I wish I had a better photo but that would have involved me standing in the street. And I've had enough to do this week, so I didn't feel like adding 'being hit by a car' to my dayplanner.

The reason of my trip? Fleece Artist. It is a wonderful line of hand dyed yarns and fibres from Nova Scotia. So, it really was not possible for me to be in Nova Scotia for a few months and leave without buying any Fleece Artist (or at least that's what we'll tell my father when he finds out I bought more yarn). And now, I have some:

Aren't the colours pretty? I also fell in love with this sock yarn from Dye-Version:

Yarn hand dyed in Mississauga. Yep, I managed to find yarn from my hometown that I didn't know existed until I laid eyes in Nova Scotia. Which means that I can go buy some more once I fly home.... hmm. Maybe I do have a yarn hoarding problem after all. I guess I better stop blogging and spend the rest of my night knitting!

Frozen Lake

I looked out my window this morning and could see that Chocolate Lake was frozen. How did I know this? The neighbours who back on to the lake had started shovelling out rinks over the frozen ice. One group even had the family dog out on a leash, pulling the kids on their skates around the ice. 

I skates are back home, so instead of skating I went for a walk to the park and walked on a frozen lake. It looked something like this:

I used my foot to clear off a little tiny patch of snow and checked out the ice. It was good ice, very smooth. I kind of wished I had my skates:

It was perfect skating weather too- sunny and cold. Lovely. Too bad it's going to warm up and rain on Tuesday.

Little Bits of Downtown Halifax

I had last Friday off work, so I spent part of the day in downtown Halifax running errands. I saw a few interesting things on my travels, so I thought I’d share them with you.

This is the Old Burying Grounds, located at the corner of Spring Garden Rd. and Barrington St. According to the plaque on the outside of the gates it was in use from 1749-1844. It’s closed for the winter but you can still peek through the elaborate iron fence. At the entrance is a rather striking monument errected to honour those who fought in the Crimean War:

But what interested me was the preventive conservation in action with little Tyvex tents over some of the headstones:

For non-conservator readers of the blog, preventive conservation are all of the things you can do to help prevent something old from falling apart. Protect a headstone from the winter elements and that will hopefully slow down any cracking and crumbling (at least that’s my assumption why they are there since I couldn’t find any more information on the internet). The cemetery is cared for by the Old Burying Ground Foundation, who has overseen a number of restoration projects on the grounds since the 1980’s.

It later started to snow, so here’s a better shot of the cemetery with St. Mary’s Basilica in the background:

I also thought you should see the statue of Sir Winston Churchill outside the public library just down the street from the Basilica:

And like every proper statue of Churchill, it’s surrounded by a small heard of pigeons. But, from the looks of it this statue doesn't have a heated head to prevent the birds from landing and pooping on his head:

I really liked the pattern in the snow from all the bird feet.

The beginning of the snow storm was big, fluffy flakes that make you feel like you’re standing in a snow globe. Never mind that it made the roads crazy slippy and it took me forever to get home on the bus... the snow, just for a while, made everything look very pretty:

Update

I got so focused on my ranting that I forget to talk about my Christmas in my post, or really anything I've done in the past month.

I have been working. A lot. With some odd hours and doing a lot of tedious work, so it when I get home I have no brain left to blog. Or only have enough brain power left to get me to the laundry-mat or the grocery store. The banner project finally has a firm deadline- the first week in February. So I only have a few weeks left in Halifax before I head back to Mississauga. Which means that the next few weeks will be filled with.... yet more tedious work. But I will try harder to keep you updated and find more things to blog about.

While I didn't do anything spectacular while I was home, I had a good time. I got to visit lots of friends and family. The first thing I did when I got back to Mississauga was hug my Dad's car. I think I missed it more than my sewing machine (and that's saying a lot). My first full day back I went and got a haircut. My hair stylist is located near Port Credit Harbour which is where the Credit River meets Lake Ontario. It was beautiful and crisp, although the water wasn't frozen over:

And then I went to Square One. Yep, I went into one of Canada's biggest malls right before Christmas. A mall I have worked in during the holidays. And swore I would never enter during that busy season ever again. I must be certifiably insane. Or love my Mom that much (but I left as soon as I had her present before I got overwhelmed).

I also did some holiday knitting. My cousin Sarah has an adorable daughter Lilly. This kid steals my heart because she loves colours and likes to 'help' me knit. So when I saw a ball of rainbow-coloured yarn I knew I had to make something for Lilly. One ball of yarn created this mitt and scarf combo:

Three mitts? Yep. It's a known fact that snowbanks have magnets in them that attract little-kid mitts. That's why they lose them so easily. So I knitted a spare, so when one gets lost she still has a pair. I didn't get to see Sarah and Lilly this Christmas, but I have been assured that the present went over well.

I wish I had lots of photos to share, but the truth is I spent so much time talking and visiting and cooking and cleaning and doing laundry that I kind of forgot to take them. I will make up for it by making a effort to show you Mississauga once I get back home. I'm going to avoid having the blog go dormant like it did last summer.

Rant of an Artistic Bent

During a recent Facebook conversation with a friend currently living in New Zealand I said I would update my blog if she updated her own blog as well. So Kendrie posted about all of the adventures she got up to over Christmas... which is way more interesting than anything that I could write about. Seriously, I can’t compete with minor earthquakes and jumping out of planes. If you’d rather read her post:

http://flipflopflotsam.wordpress.com/

But I’m holding up my end of the deal.

This was just going to start out as another post of urban art in Halifax. Then I heard the news from back home that city council had a long, interesting debate on graffiti in Mississauga. While I didn’t hear the entire debate and I’m sure both sides of the spectrum were expressed, the negative camp got all the press. Headlines screaming graffiti is on the rise and that it needs to be eradicated. Ideas such as installing security cameras all over the city so that (young) people will be afraid to commit such horrible crimes as tagging a piece of concrete with paint or a marker. Restricting sale of spray paint to adults 18 or older.

And then my own councillor, Katie Mahoney, who I have voted for and has represented my ward for years, had to stand up and say something profoundly ridiculous.  Images on TV of graffiti are a bad influence, so Rick Mercer’s rants in Graffiti Alley in Toronto are part of the problem.

Umm.... what? If you don’t believe me:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/12/rick-mercers-rants-damaging-anti-graffiti-cause-mississauga-councillor/

Sure, that must be part of the problem... seriously? I understand council being concerned about people defacing public monuments and private property. The idiots who recently ran around a park in Mississauga and destroyed it (setting fire to burlap tree covers, smashing stuff, etc)- that is clearly not okay. But every kind of visual public display is being lumped in the same category here. Destructive, hateful messages crudely tagged to a bench are not the same things as an image that has been artfully, carefully applied. Such as this example on the side of a closed parking garage near me in Halifax:

Peaking out of the weeds, it makes me smile every time.

I grew up an artsy kid in Mississauga and I can say that the suburbs are not exactly a nurturing environment for my kind. The arts are being seriously underfunded and taken out of the school curriculum piece by piece, particularly in the higher grade levels.

I’ve never done anything that could conventionally be called graffiti, but with the broad brush the City of Mississauga is using I’ve done a number of things that would make me guilty. I can remember in elementary school we painted on the sidewalk in the schoolyard to celebrate the school’s carnival. A few weeks later my mermaid was completely gone, because the city had come along and painted over her with black paint. One of my favourite memories of high school was when I got to help paint a mural on one wall in a history classroom. We did it while the school was closed (between exams and final grades being released) and the teacher who paid for the supplies only told the school about it when we were half done. Thank you again Mr. Malik! Last time I checked it’s still there.

The suburbs also features a lot of ugly, plain concrete structures- underpasses, waterways, bridges, and so on. Even diehard minimalists would find it hard to find beauty in them. I've also never heard anyone wax poetically about the beauty of metal utility boxes. So, in an environment where art is de-emphasized as something useless and you are surrounded by lots of concrete, council is surprised that there is a graffiti problem! How about funding community arts programs? How about starting a project something like the painted utility boxes in Halifax?

I think there is a place for thoughtful, well-executed graffiti in the urban environment. It brings colour and surprise to what can sometimes be a monotonous environment. So take a few steps back city council from blanketing the city with cameras and consider some more joyful alternatives please.  

Thank you. Rant over.