Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Walk in Sunnybrook park by the West Don River June 2018




June 15th 2018...walk near west Don River in Toronto. Below are photos I took. 





 Some green patches. Some not green patches why? Water runs down the slope and so not enough water for plants to grow in slope? Water settles at bottom of slope and so more green there? Or not enough sun on slope for plants to grow but enough sunlight at bottom of slope for growth?



Below...Half green . and half not


The snap above is underwhelming ..but it's a pretty tall tree, uprooted by the recent storm and fallen across the Don river ...looking like a-difficult-to-walk-on-bridge. It's  huge roots are  at one end with the rest-of-the-tree spanning the river and the top of the tree at the other bank. This tree was several meters tall.



Why this need to photograph fenced paths? I simply cant resist it!



A green eco-friendly prison?


Above...the cutest, tiniest wild flowers growing by the side of the West Don river, in the trail near the stables. I finally figured out how to take photos of small things without getting them blurred.(Reduce the light in the phone camera)




Above...Give you  the green light?



Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The cat who came back home

I heard this true story from my neighbour.
M  is a cat lover who has had cats all her life. Her dad, however was not one who cared much for animals as pets. 
M, in her teen years, had a cat, Gumby, a tough outdoor cat, with dog-eared-ears... from his street-fights & adventures I presume.
Gumby went missing once for three days....but came back. M was worried until he returned, searched the neighbourhood and so on.
A few months later, Gumby went missing again. Again M was perturbed, waited for him to come back, searched the neighbourhood and was delighted when he turned up again.

The next time Gumby went missing was for three weeks! M slowly lost her initial, "Oh. he's going to come back. He always comes back' calmness and searched the neighbourhood. M cried, searched, cried again and finally gave up, believing Gumby to be dead.
One day, M's dad called, "Gumby's back'. M rushed home joyfully and was greeted by the sight of Gumby, thin with matted dirty fur, but Gumby never-the-less!  Delighted, M, with tears streaming down, bathed and fed Gumby  wondering where the hell he had been for so long? And how did he survive?

Then her dad confessed. He said he never had liked the cat and three weeks ago, he had put Gumby in the back of his truck, driven over 30 miles away to the next town and let him out there. Today, when he stepped out, something grabbed his leg and looking down saw Gumby!
M was furious and gave her dad a piece of her mind...for months. Since, Gumby's return, M's dad and her Gumby have become best buddies. 

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Flowers in my garden and nearby...the dates they first appeared

I am putting the dates when I first saw the flowers in my garden in this article. 
In warm countries one can see an entire garden of flowers at one time. Here in my garden, the plants  have blooms at different times. These blooms last for a few days and then disappear until next year. I never seem to have a garden with all blooms at the same time.  At any time, during summer there is  green in 90% of the garden with  some colourful flowers in different parts of the garden at different times. Never 100% color at the same time!


Above a delicate transparent mushroom in garden(June 23 2018)
Below, mulberries from mulberry tree in garden(June 23 2018)



Above is unripe and below is ripe mulberry (June 23 2018)


Below is a purple flower first blooms seem to have appeared on June 26th 




Above and below...roses from my backyard!(June 2018)
Below is a photo taken two days earlier...lesser blooms. At the back is the early morning sunlight



Below is some wild flowers I think....but growing in my backyard!(June 2018)


Below are purple  flowers from front of my home(May-June 2018. By mid June, the flowers have disappeared)

Rain drops on this lovely purple beauty!




Above is a lovely flowering bush from my backyard.(May 2018) By mid June, the bush is bare of flowers...only leaves and brown dead flowers.



Above is a dark colored tulips from backyard...next to garage(May 2018) By mid June---no more tulips




 above is a flower whose name I dont know..bloomed at end of May and was there till June. I love this flower. My neighbour gave me the plants which I planted in my backyard. But I dont believe this photo is of my garden's. Mine did not have this many flowers and so close together!
 Above -Oleander which bloomed after many barren years at home(potted plant) May 2018


One evening,  walked on a  path behind my backyard...it's a woody ravine with wild life and wild flowers.  I spotted this, 'bleeding heart' plant, which seems to have escaped from someone's garden into the wild.  Could not resist taking many photos of this unique flower.











Above purple flowers taken on June 29th and below hydrangea taken on June 29th 2018.

 These hydrangea are greenish when they are 'young';  turn white with time and then dried and brown when dead

The hydrangea flowers were bigger about 10 years ago. Now the flowers have become smaller. Should I put more manure to improve the size of the flowers?

Below is the yellow flowers growing wild in my garden...taken on September 3rd 2018, October 10th and it's still blooming!



 Above is a butterfly and below is an insect whose name I don't know...both in my garden on september 17th 2018
Below are flowers, I discovered blooming in Fall! The four photos below are of a wild flower which grows in the parks and ravines of Toronto. I dont know it's name but I love it! The two pots are about two inches long, made by a Rajasthani potter and I bought it in Chitrakala Parishad of Bangalore during one of the art melas. I love these cuties!






Googled for button shaped yellow flower and found that this is called the common Tansy  or Tanacetum vulgare. Apparently this cute aromatic flower is an unwanted weed which grows aggressively and once it has spread, difficult to get rid off. I feel sad about this. I have dried some flowers and hoped to grown it in a pot at home. Now wondering if I should go ahead and plant the seeds next spring or destroy the seeds as it's a weed that  spreads aggressively. 


Below is a flower which blooms ONLY in fall and winter...grows in my backyard. I like this tiny closed petal flowers, hanging upside downish...should find it's name




I spent over one hour trying to get this plant's name on google and failed. I wish there was a way such that I upload this flower's photo on google and google finds the name for me!











crime fiction from Sri Lanka/Ceylon

I heard these books are great but as they are not available in the Toronto Public Library, I am waiting to get them from somewhere to read them!

Harriet Steel (author)

Trouble in Nuala (pub Aug 2016)
Dark clouds in Nuala May 2017
Off stage in Nuala Oct 2017

Friday, June 15, 2018

WHY DESIGN? From exhibition of students of OCAD, Toronto, Canada


















I had visited the exhibition of work of the students of OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design) university a few years ago. I fell in love with these inspiring quotes from the students of the university. 









































































I will never go to Bombey Bhel at Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada ever again! It's an expensive rip off, serving sub-par tasting food!

 Today, October 14, 2023 I got chicken vindaloo paying 22$...All I got was 2 small pieces of chicken, 3 pieces of potato....and. very averag...