Snowbirds and a Parade

Every Labour Day week-end there is an airshow along Toronto's waterfront, which means 4 days (Friday is included) of various aircraft flying overhead.

I haven't actually gone to the show in many years after having been taken once as a child by some family friends and while it was an appreciated treat to go, it really was a whole lot of sitting around in the blazing sun. For safety purposes it makes sense that there are long pauses between acts, to ensure the airspace is clear, but I do remember lots of waiting. We are talking a show that lasts 3 1/2 hours, which is a long time on a holiday that could be spent doing other fun things. (Note: this is just my opinion and I'm sure there are plenty of people who really enjoy the airshow. Heck, it happens every single year, for 4 days, so clearly there are!)

So although I don't feel strongly about going down to see the show from a close vantage point, it really is interesting and special seeing them flying through the sky as you go about your day though. And each year, if I have my camera when I see an interesting plane, I point it skyward and try to get a picture. Meaning I have many blurred images of what could just as easily be a bird as a plane. Many are jets that move at jet-speed (obviously!), so random picture taking is not really on. In fact, you actually have to be looking at the sky before you hear them since light travels faster than sound, so by the time you've heard the jet, it has already swooped by.

But this Labour Day I was prepared. Bearing my newish camera and telephoto lens, and enjoying a gorgeous afternoon outside on the deck, I was ready. Well, actually I jumped up when I heard the final act thundering by, The Snowbirds. This is an aerobatic team comprised of active members of the Canadian military and the flying tricks they do are really quite stunning. Read about them here - Snowbirds if you are interested.

These are some shots I caught of their show on Monday, taken from my front yard. Are there better pictures of The Snowbirds? Of course there are. But these are mine, and allow me to cross an item off my bucket-list of photos I'd like to take at least once in my life. Snowbirds? Check.

I am particularly happy with this one that includes the whole team, all nine jets.

Cool Old School : Central Tech

I thought I'd mark the first day of school here with pictures of this cool old high-school.It is called Central Tech, located on Bathurst south of Bloor. Situated on what was once a big apple orchard, the building of it began 99 years ago, with the first corner stone being laid on September 3rd, 1913. This was during the industrial revolution when there was much demand for education in fields such as chemistry, math, physics, drafting and mechanical engineering.Enrollment began with about 150 daytime students, with a whopping 1,600 more people attending evening classed. I found it interesting to read that when it opened such a large majority were night school students, older people who had to attend after working during the day. In this part of the city those students who also worked would not have been employed on farms, like children who were kept from school would have been in the rest of the country, but rather probably worked at city jobs and construction, since so much was being built at this time.Unlike most schools back then, this school was co-ed, with the girls have their own entrance and stairwells, in addition to being the only ones taught in the classrooms on the top floor. So while it was co-ed, there was no mingling of the genders at all!Central Tech is the only school in all of Toronto that has the right to bear the crest of the city, because it is the only school that was build with only city funds and no provincial or federal money.Nowadays, enrollment has reached 2,500 day students.

Bits and Pieces : August 2012

Hello and Welcome! It's a holiday here, and we have no concrete plans. Just going to play it by ear. Love those kinds of days, right?!

These are a collection of pictures that I liked but didn't find a spot to post during the month of August. Hope you like them too.

Ed’s Head

Greetings! I hope your week-end is great so far. All is well here.This series of photos of little man Eddie speaks for itself so I shall let it ...

Food Friday : Glayva, Vintage Barware and a Funny Story

I thought I'd change things up a bit for this week's food post. Rather than have a recipe I'd like to talk about a drink.

It's called Glayva and is something that I really enjoy, but very rarely have, the reason being that it is hard to find here. It is a scotch liqueur that I first had in Britain, but haven't had since our last trip there 6 years ago.

Well, that is until Nick found a bottle at a new store that has opened in the neighbourhood. (Here in Ontario we can only buy alcohol at government regulated outlets and licensed bars. And while they are quite standardized in their offerings, they do vary in the products they carry.)

So anyway, after searching the shelves for this elusive liqueur for years, a bottle was finally found! It has been rationed carefully, to be savored when the moment is exactly right. I admit to hiding 'my' bottle in a special place, though, not being one to drink alone, have offered Nick a few drinks of it!

Why the big fuss about this drink? Its appeal for me goes back to an early job, where a group of my colleagues and friends would get together after work in the boardroom once a week, for a scotch tasting. Every week someone would bring a bottle of their choice and they'd each have their little glass of it and go on about the particular attributes of that special liquid. Thing is ... I absolutely dislike the taste of scotch! I like the smell and have tried to acquire a taste and appreciation for it, but no. Not at all tasty to me.

Nick enjoys it, and I buy him a good bottle for his birthday every year, researching my choices and asking the opinion of connoisseurs. To go with his gift I also scan the thrift-store shelves for nice glasses that he can use to drink his scotch. In fact, we even have not one, but two, beautiful small pitchers that are meant to contain the water that some scotch drinkers add to their drink.

So the answer to why I'm so keen on Glayva. Well, it is made of scotch but is sweet and delicious, and can be consumed in that perfectly sized glass that is not really the right size for anything else I like to drink. It is my answer to scotch.