day 507 - a tree fell

the tree on the side of our apartment building, in front of my living room window, fell on monday afternoon, sans any strong winds. it just fell down, luckily on the parking lot beside the building and broke the newly-built fence. as you can see it was a very healthy tree, but the contractors did a very shabby job that left the tree devoid of its anchor roots. there are just plain idiots in this city, i tell you.

day 506 - clouds

'i look at clouds from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it's cloud's illusions i recall, i really don't know clouds at all' - both sides now, joni mitchell

clouds and blue skies and an airplane; it's nice to just sit back and stare at the blue sky on a hot lazy summer day.

day 505 - oblivious at gate #2

he is constantly on to his iPhone, the earphones continuously play irksome music, and the device beeps every ten seconds and he stops talking to check his messages, without regard to anything else. it's just him and his iPhone.

day 504 - plane over ferry

no, the ferry's not transporting the plane. this porter plane is about to land. it's easy to miss a shot like this because these porter planes are so quiet and if you are waiting you had better pay attention. the sound coming from the cars and the boats would make you miss these planes going down to land.

day 503 - gone dead

at the st. james cemetery...a sign of things to come - i mean project-wise.

day 502 - come alive

the harbour patios are coming alive with the advent of summer.

day 501 - a looney loon

while out on the boardwalk taking pictures of a pair of swans, i espied this loon all by itself scavenging in the water where there was a lot of crap. when it saw me, it swam towards me and seemed to pose. then it jumped out of the water into the board and slowly walked towards me. i backed off as i still wasn't able to get a good angle on it, when it charged at me, quacking angrily (at least i thought it was an angry quacking). gheez! it brought back childhood memories. damn duck!

day 500 - reds and greens

day 500 merits a nice colourful picture, n'est-ce pas? taken on a bright summer day while hunting for photo opportunities.

day 499 - in the urban jungle

this bird sings, incessantly to the point of annoying. but at least he didn't shit on me like the other birds used to do! bleh!

day 498 - la patisserie de cigogne

finally, this patisserie/boulangerie opened after months and months of advertising itself. the chocolates are to die for. but i doubt whether it would last, they're quite expensive in there!

day 497 - slug

this guy just fell off from somewhere while i was walking with the kids at the park.

day 496 - a bridge too...

near?...too little?...bridging the gap between two holes at the mini-golf. grandma kicked the men's assess in mini-golf this morning. hahahahaha!

day 495 - a bridge too far

in this photo, the swan is like a dream, a figment of one's imagination. really, it's not there, you're only imagining it. okay, it's a joke, it's not a swan, it's the lochness monster. no, i'm teasing you.

day 494 - the model

i was shooing him away so i could take a shot of the boat, he did then came back as soon as i pressed my shutter and completely covered my subject. the friggin' so and so.

day 493 - conches

at the chinese grocery store, there was a ton of these. i didn't even know these are edible. but, whatever.

day 492 - there's a bee!

while photographing the CN tower, i got attracted to these flowers. turned out some bee had already made a claim to it.

day 491 - and in the summer they look like this

remember day 385 ? here they are now, all dressed in their leafy greens!

day 490 - a seat with a view

sitting by the shore at cherry beach, a schooner slips into view. and two kayakers.

day 489 - ancient history

found this in the car among the stuff to be discarded by ex-partner. maybe i should keep it, for posterity. although i can't remember having been photographed with one of these.

day 488 - green grow the lilacs

this is a beautiful house in the tony district of mount pleasant; it has a large front garden and the house itself has this large bay window that overlooks the garden and the lush lilac tree in the middle.

day 487 - a rose

by any other name would smell just as sweet - from romeo & juliet, william shakespeare.

day 486 - let the sun shine on you

fancy looking place of worship; you'd think, too, that it is favoured by the almighty by the way the sunlight strikes its facade.

day 485 - under a canopy of red

a canopy of very red japanese maple leaves. and i would like to thank my very first follower (yay! after more than 450 days, i get a follower) DaniG. this photo is dedicated to you.

day 484 - locomotive mural

saw this mural around carlton and ontario streets. really stunning when you see it in person, the colours are so vivid, you'd think the trains coming at you. that "chew chew's diner" kills it for me, but hey, it's chew! chew! that's funny.

day 483 - lilies of the valley

my favourite flower, they're so delicate, so pure, so mysterious. i'd like to say just like me but it's only true on one count. in any case, they are late this year. around here at least.

day 482 - window dressing part 2

this is the other side of the florist's window. the display melds with the reflection of the afternoon sky.

day 481 - window dressing

this is the window display of a florist's shop called "bernard thibault" on broadview avenue. they have wonderful designs on display and i would guess it would be expensive but if they actually do a nice job as they do on their window dressing, it would be worth your every penny (or cent).

day 480 - is the glass half-empty or half-full?

they fill up your glass, that's how they serve your wine at zorba's, a greek resto we love to go to on the danforth. so i'd say it's half empty, because you need wine to enjoy your souvlaki. just order some more.

day 479 - old, abandoned and neglected

when we embraced the technology and convenience of the cellphone and all its amenities, we abandoned the good old payphone that once teemed our streets.

pretty soon they will all be gone. who uses the payphone these days?

day 478 - water for elephant

at the commerce court. there was a lot of people during lunchtime so i had to go back in the early evening to take shots once more. i've seen somewhere in my rounds a promo bill about a film titled "water for elephants" and this view came to mind.

day 477 - fresh as the morning dew

i took this photograph well into noon time and yet the plants still had the morning dews in them. i don't know what this plant is called, but it had pointy ridges and the water condensation just got caught on every point. it's almost like it's been sprayed.

day 476 - little darren and the egg basket

how many eggies can one eat? - here's my first attempt at a picture collage. i used two cameras that's why the sizes aren't all the same. i should be good at it - by next year!

day 475 - orange

going around the downtown area today with my two grandsons, we came upon this bike securely chained. it had however been paint-sprayed orange. the two grandsons had a ball inspecting it and laughing at what the owner might think when he/she finds her bike all...orange!

day 474 - a statue?!?!

i think not! at least not outside a 35th floor office. it's window cleaning time. the guy looks like he's declaiming or emoting.

day 473 - hockey hall of fame

the hall in mid spring. see this tree in the middle of winter here .

day 472 - a tulip: close up

a variagated colour tulip; found in a garden in the CN tower vicinity.

day 471 - a ship-cum-restaurant and a ferry

on a beautiful day in toronto, at the lake. the ship is "captain john's", a seafood restaurant, obviously. it doesn't go anywhere, it's just now a fixture and is used as a novelty restaurant. on the far away right is the ferry boat that takes people to and from the islands.

day 470 - sushi!

we had sushi for lunch, the all you can eat kind. but i got so full right away as i am no longer used to eating a lot of white rice. so, struggling from too much food, i finished my plate. i only want sashimi!

day 469 - magnified

this is one of the rings i bought in manila whilst on vacation there in 2008. the actual size is just a tad bigger than the red stone at the bottom.

day 468 - a bed of yellow tulips

this and other beds of yellow tulips adorn the west side of st. james cathedral and the east side has beds of red tulips. see how there's a lone red tulip in the middle? it's the same as the other beds of yellow tulips. meanwhile in the beds of red tulips there is one or two stray yellow tulips? coincidence? i think not!

day 467 - snow pansies

this and the purple variety are on display lining the sidewalks at the foot of yonge street and they looked so summer-y!

day 466 - daisy

this morning, a paint company was handing out daisies at the subway station. i chose a dark coral one but it turned out this colour in photograph. is the centre of the flower square or round?

day 465 - the gathering place

this is the name of the "street" leading to corpus christi church's front door.

day 464 - danforth in bloom

its trees, that is. and the streetscape is starting to have that green colours. soon it will be summer. well, as soon as the cold leaves.

day 463 - magnolias, up close

or zoomed in, is more like it. been wanting to get a picture of these lovelies for years and finally, by accident, we passed by this tree and voila!

day 462 - i always get caught in the rain

the tulips are bent down from the constant pelting of wind and rain since yesterday. this garden was so colourful it was so lovely!

day 461 - a choo-choo train

an old 'canadian national' train on display at the toronto roundhouse grounds.

day 460 - gadgets

these earbuds are my best friends, especially on a cold windy day, to protect my ears from getting cold. because if i don't take care, my best enemies, ear infection and sinus infection, would pay me a visit and those tend to overstay their visits.

day 459 - masks

the masks used in the play "the lion king" are on display at the lobby of our office building. this are simba and nala, the main characters of the story.