A Summer Long-Weekend with a Friend

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/canada-day-in-high-park.jpg" alt="canada-day-in-high-park" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29067 blk-brdr">Canada Day was last Wednesday which meant a holiday in the middle of the week. Here is how I celebrated the 148th Anniversary of our country, in the fine company of my friend Andrea. We took Tuesday afternoon off so got started with the celebrating early.The forecast called for rain on and off throughout both Tuesday and Wednesday, so we put aside plans for a barbecue or picnic. We decided to go to a matinee movie on Tuesday, meeting at the theatre at Richmond and John Street for the 3:00 showing of "Jurassic World" in 3D. We both loved it!

Beautiful Art, a Secret Bar and Some Rock and Roll Music

Here's a post about a fun lady-date I had with my friend Meghan, a week ago Friday.

As you might already know, she has a membership for the art gallery, which means that she is offered a sneak peek at all the special exhibits they put on. This is a chance to see the art before everyone else does, without the crowds that such special shows draw. Lucky for me, she lets me tag along as her guest.

The show we went to see recently is called Picturing the Americas, described as a breakthrough exhibit that takes viewers on an artistic journey through the Americas, from Canada's North to the southern tip of Argentina and Chile. The paintings were created during the mid 1800s through to the early 1900s. The show will hang at the AGO in Toronto until September 20th, after which it will travel to other cities.

This is the first time that this collection of paintings has ever been shown together, and the reason the show began in Toronto is because we are hosting the Pan Am Games here, beginning on Tuesday.

I'll admit that when Meghan flipped me the invitation some time ago, neither of us really had a firm understanding of what the show was about. That didn't matter -- we wanted to go because we love our visits to the gallery together.

What we ended up seeing was a spectacular collection of paintings, mostly landscapes, by artists we weren't familiar with. We liked the beautiful works so much that as soon as we finished our first walk through, we went right back to the beginning and looked at them all again.

I was happy to hear that photography was allowed for this show, so I got some shots to show you.

Featured Shop : Blue Banana in Kensington Market

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/blue-banana-market-augusta-street-kensington-market-toronto.jpg" alt="blue-banana-market-augusta-street-kensington-market-toronto" width="640" height="457" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28930 blk-brdr">In my previous post (here) I wrote about a nice afternoon spent shopping and eating in Kensington Market with my old friend Stella.I showed her one shop that I especially like called Blue Banana Market, located at 250 Augusta Avenue (just south of College on the west side).I can't think of another place that is quite like this store. Basically, it is a huge hall divided into many small booths, and each booth is set up like its own little shop. You're welcome to just go from booth to booth and chose what you want. Then you pay for everything at one central check-out desk. I have been to a similar type of place before, but only for vintage/secondhand things, but in this case the things for sale are new.

Hanging Out in Kensington Market with Stella from the ‘hood

I recently got to spend some time with my oldest friend, Stella. She and I go back a long way, having grown up in the same neighbourhood, (in a Toronto suburb). Aside from Nick and my parents, she is probably the person who knows me the best. And what I always see in her eyes is warmth and love. I feel the same way about her.Over the years, we have had many adventures together, including a trip on a lifetime travelling throughout Greece and to Amsterdam. Until about three years ago, when she and her husband moved out of the city, we used to see each other all the time. We often went to the movies together, and her moving away is probably the main reason I've only been to the cinema a few times in recent years.I've certainly missed having her an easy subway trip away, and was happy for the chance to get together with her when she was in town on Tuesday last week.At her request we went to Kensington Market. Regular readers will know that I spend a lot of time in this area since Nick and I do much of our fresh food shopping there, but that didn't stop me from wanting to go there with Stella. There is so much more to do in the market than shop for food!We walked the many small colourful streets, popping in and out of the clothing and gift shops and talking all the while.

Birds, Butterflies and Bees!

Evidently it is time for us to have the vent that leads from the stove exhaust fan to the outside of our home replaced, because a clever male sparrow figured out how to lift the metal flap and went ahead and built a nest in the opening for his family.

We aren't annoyed by the home invasion though because watching the whole cycle was interesting, not to mention impressive.

It has been pretty chirpy around these parts though! You should've heard the cacaphony of excitement every time one of the parents came near with some food for the three babies, who were safely tucked up inside.