Red Carpet and Velvet Ropes

The Toronto International Film Festival is on and there are lots of celebrities in the city right now. But on Sunday afternoon when I suggested we walk a bit further south and take a different street to get from Bathurst to Spadina, to go to the liquor store, I didn't really think about (or realize, actually) that we would be passing right through star territory.

The street is called Wellington and it's one that has changed so much in the past 13, almost 14 years. Why am I being so precise with the date? That's because Nick and I were married and had our reception in a building on this street.

Back then it was very quiet, almost eerily so, and lined with warehouses and empty lots.

Recent Thrift Store Finds

Hi. Nick dropped me off at Value Village the other day and then went off to do his own thing, picking me up again an hour and a half later.

Here's what I found ...

First up is this funny large sized mug, which is either real vintage or a good fake. It is chip-free and has the extra flourish of a gilded gold drawing on the back. It was such an odd piece that for $1 I had to have it. I might put a potted plant in it for fun.

A Day Trip to a Place That Was Once Nearly Home

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/pot-of-flowers-cobourg.jpg" alt="pot-of-flowers-cobourg" width="640" height="426" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-19277">Last Thursday morning we decided it was a perfect time to head out of town for the day. We've been talking about taking a random road-trip somewhere since we got our car two years ago and so far have never done it.Not really caring where we went Nick left the destination up to me. I picked a town 1 1/2 hours east of Toronto, called Cobourg.The reason I wanted to check it out that particular place was that I very nearly moved there once, when the man I was seeing at the time was offered a good job in that small town. We had both just finished university (where we had met) and still hadn't settled in on a definitive life plan. We had gone back and forth trying to figure out the pros and cons of making the change, and in the end decided that moving there was not really for us.But as with all significant life decisions, you think about the choices made and how our lives are changed this way and that as we go along. Over the years I have wondered what my life would have been like if I had traded in big city living for a more quiet life. Would I still be there now, a totally different person than I am today?I have had no reason to return to Cobourg in the years since then, and kind of forgot what it was like except that it had nice old buildings and was located right on the edge of the water (Lake Ontario, which also borders Toronto). So I was keen to see it again, armed with the gift of hindsight and able to evaluate exactly what I had passed on.On our way we first stopped at the town right next-door called Port Hope, where we couldn't find easy parking in town, so just took a quick stop at beach.

Caturday Goes to Les Chiens

Eddie the Cat is moving aside for this week's pet related post, making room for a couple of cute dog guests.

I met up with these two French Bulldogs within half an hour of one another last week.

First this handsome fellow kindly stopped to be photographed on King Street West. I didn't catch his name as I had to move quickly because his person was holding two cups of coffee that he had just picked up at a coffee shop.

Fast Planes and Salad Plates

A week ago Thursday, I was sitting outside in my favourite chair when from out of nowhere I heard the ominous thundering sound of an old plane making its way towards me from the south. I looked up just in time to see it fly by overhead, seeming only to clear the trees by a few metres (though it must have been higher than that, but it was really close).

It was a Avro Lancaster, a British-made plane that had been built in the early 1940s and that had seen action in the second world war.

Now, I'm not some plane buff who just saw it and said 'Hey look, it's a Lancaster Bomber.' No, it was Nick who quickly identified it, based on the sound alone which is the only part of the plane experience he got as he was inside when it flew by. I went in to tell him about it and without missing a beat he told me what it was. I was skeptical that he was right based on the sound alone so I looked it up, and sure enough, that is what I had seen. His bits and pieces of obscure knowledge often freak me out. The man should have become a history teacher.

At the time of the sighting, I had completely forgotten that it was the time of year for the annual airshow over Toronto's waterfront. But following that, there was no forgetting it since our skies were filled with the roaring of planes and a flash of wing here and there, for the whole three day weekend.

On Labour Day Monday, as we ate our lunch outside we were serenaded by the sound of aircraft. It was interesting but not so romantic.