CN Tower lights out

Toronto's CN Tower held the record for tallest free-standing structure in the world for 30 years until it was surpassed in 2007. This means you can pretty much see it from anywhere in and around the city. Many people use it as a compass to get their bearings in the city, as it is located toward the south. It was built as a broadcasting tower, and while still in use from some broadcasting, this is no longer it's main function. Now it is more of a tourist attraction, with a nice rotating restaurant, a glass floor and beginning this summer, a platform way up in the sky, on which people can walk around in open air (tethered very securely).This is how it usually looks ..

Aside from continuing to broadcast some radio and television, it is sometimes used to broadcast more. It also delivers a message about how the city feels in the form of its lighting scheme, delivered every night by its energy efficient 'intelligent LED illumination system'. I found that term on their site.This week, on the 10th anniversary of nine-eleven, its message came in the form of its lack of light, when it was turned off (except for security lighting) in recognition of all that was lost on that saddest of days.I got some photos of this by going to the same spot on September 11th and on the following night, September 12th, in order to show the effect.

Cooking with Nick : Smoking Salmon

A nice treat that Nick makes each year is something he calls 'Salmon Candy'. It is smoked salmon with a salty-sweet maple syrup flavouring. It's really good and makes a wonderful alternative to bacon.

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1890" title="close-up" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/close-up1.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="390">Here are some photos of the process but if you're interested in trying this yourself, the method is written out below. It is worth it as it's unlike anything you can buy at the store, and it's really easy to do. All it takes is time and a charcoal burning grill. And the ingredients of course!

Out for Lunch : Politica

Located at Adelaide Street West and Strachan Ave, Politica is a restaurant that is immersed right within a neighbourhood. Housed in one of the original large homes of the area, the interior is a very interesting counterpoint to the 100 year old exterior. It by no means looks vintage inside, with a clean modern look and really nice leather chairs.

Politica has been one of two preferred 'special occasion' restaurants for us in recent years. We have celebrated birthdays and an anniversary there, and also went for New Year's Eve dinner a couple of years ago. So after my mom and dad called to see if we wanted to have lunch with them yesterday, we tossed around a few ideas of where to go. Politica was where we gladly decided upon.

What I wore : Surprise date with the parents!

We were working away at our home office this morning when my parents called to say they'd be in town this afternoon and did we want to go out for lunch with them. Yes please! But they couldn't come over and not come in the house, plus we wanted to show them the new kitchen, so we got busy cleaning up a bit making the place decent. Then I jumped in the shower and had just partially blow-dried (blown-dry?) my hair and was getting ready to use my round brush and make it all nice and smooth, when Nick called up, "They're here!". Eep, half an hour early! So I scrapped the hair-do and put on a bit of make-up.

Thank goodness I'd already thought about what I'd wear (while I was vacuuming!). The outfit would include the bolero sweater and belt that they had gotten me for my birthday. My mother always picks out excellent clothes for me that always get compliments when I wear them. They're not things that I would normally buy for myself, so they add variety to my wardrobe. This particular gift also included a lovely muted floral silk scarf but it is still too warm here to have worn it today.

I see that I am a lame self-portrait taker. But this was only the second time ever that I've used the self-timer on my camera, so I'll get better!

Old School … (s)

It's the first day back to school for children here, so it seemed like a good day to post these photographs of two old schools in our neighbourhood. These two primary schools are only a five minute walk from one another. It seems strange to me that back a hundred years they would have built two fancy buildings so closely together, which shared the same ultimate goal.

Looking a bit deeper I found that the answer lies in one being a Catholic School and the other a Public.

St. Mary's was built in 1918 to accommodate the influx of Catholic Irish Immigrants coming to the city. It's located just west of Bathurst St at Adelaide.