Halloween Around the Neighbourhood

I took these pictures while out on a walk on Sunday afternoon. Since there aren't that many children in our area, it seems that most of the decorating was done for the benefit of adults.

I used to have a scarecrow but Nick tossed it when he was cleaning the garage a couple of years ago. I just asked him about it and he said it was a dumb thing to have to store all year long just for a few days. But then he said that it was broken so he threw it out.

It was pretty big and unwieldy and in hindsight, perhaps a tad ugly, so I really don't miss it much.

And since we have been dimming our lights on Halloween night for the past few years, after several years of waiting around for the few kids who did make an appearance on our doorstep, it doesn't really make much sense to have a scarecrow out in your yard, does it? Well, of course, unless you have some crows that need scaring.

At the Garden Centre and a Talk about Planting Bulbs

Last fall (seen here) we planted an assortment of bulbs in the garden and it was such a joy to have them bloom in the spring, that we wanted to plant more this fall.

We got them at a cute place called The East End Garden Centre (located at 1395 Queen Street East.) We first found out about it two autumns ago from a woman working at Canadian Tire. I have a good memory of this friendly and funny woman ... one of those strangers you randomly meet who you have a laugh with. Anyway, they didn't carry bulbs so she told us about a place that had good ones.

It's on the east end of town so we took the car. (There is parking with meters across the street.)

Last Barbeque of the Year : Having our own Little Oktoberfest

Although this happened a couple of weeks ago now, I can't let the last barbeque of the year slip by without documenting it here.

At the beginning of the summer we told ourselves that this would be the year that we headed west of the city for an hour or so drive over to a town called Kitchener, where we have heard they hold an Oktoberfest celebration that is really something to behold. It is touted as 'Canada's Greatest Bavarian Festival' on their website, and I have been hearing about it pretty well my whole life, but have never been.

When it rolled around in mid-October we talked about our plans. Did we still want to go? We weighed the pros and cons. Sure it would be fun but (a) it would require spending money on a hotel room because there would be drinking involved, (b) it was bound to be very crowded, (c) it looked to be a family type of affair.

On the plus side, I would get a chance to see men doing the German slap dance while wearing lederhosen. (The Schuhplattler < 15 second video)

And there would be beer, but it's not necessary to travel for that as we have some of the best brewed right here in Toronto.

Then there was the food. I grew up going camping with my family every summer, and this involved barbequed dinners. One particular thing that left a lasting impression was a perfectly cooked Bratwurst Sausage on a bun. I hadn't had one since I was a kid and had a hankering. I was curious to know if my memory was playing games with me, or if those things are really as delicious as I remembered.

So instead of going all the way to Kitchener we decided that most of our plus-side reasons for going to Oktoberfest could be enjoyed right here at home.

The rendition of the Slap Dance that Nick performed for me was better than anything I could have seen there. He lived in Germany when he was a child and it turns out that he is quite familiar with this dance, so he did his version for me.

While there were no lederhosen, it did come with the added bonus of giving me that little tidbit stored in my memory bank to conger up whenever I choose. As they say, 'Things cannot be unseen' and that hilarious little jig is with me for good.

The fulfillment of our own Oktoberfest did involve getting in the car though, but only to go so far as the nearby suburb of Etobicoke, to a place called European Quality Meats and Sausages.

This traditional style shop was a mainstay in the market we regularly go to (Kensington) for more than 50 years until it closed down last year. It was a bustling old-fashioned place where you had to take a number when you entered and placed your order with the ladies behind the counter.

When they closed shop there was a sign in the window that said their outlet in Etobicoke would remain open so we went there for our sausage. Strangely located in an industrial park full of twisting roads and low-rise warehouses, I'm happy to say that this location is equally as charming as was the one in Kensington.

They had a wide choice of homemade sausages but of course we were there for Bratwurst, so we got four of those, along with some brown mustard, sauerkraut, and pickles. As an afterthought we grabbed a bag of shrimp from their freezer section.

And so it was that we had Bratwurst on a Bun for the last barbeque of this year.

Nightclubbing : Out to See Some Bands

There's an annual music festival in Toronto called Indieweek that was happening on Saturday night so Nick and I went out for some live rock and roll.

Not only did we have a good time listening to really good original music in an interesting environment, I also got a good dose of my favourite colour. The club Cherry Cola is a very red place.

It’s Count Catula : Eddie the Cat in a Costume

What can I say ... we have an extremely cooperative cat who lets us put things on him and hardly seems to notice. So, I couldn't resist whipping up a simple Dracula cape with felt and ribbon, for a quick Halloween photo shoot.What a guy. He professionally gave me all the poses I needed and then settled down for a nap, still wearing the cape (which I took off for his safely).