Thursday, July 16, 2026

Pressed flowers



I don't know how these came into my possession - they are pressed plants with notes in Danish from 1946 and 1950 - they were in a folder with a dedication in English that said they were given by a mother to her daughter, both with typical Danish names, in 1979, and another note, probably in the daughter's handwriting, saying how she wanted to mount them for display, but which obviously never happened. They tell a story of a childhood hobby, migration to another country, a gift to a daughter born there, and what else? They had to have gone to a book sale or something for me to have found them, I think in a second hand comics emporium that was on Macdonell Street in Guelph in the 90s. There is a retirement home started by Danes south of Guelph in Puslinch called Sunset Villa, which also has a campground and a restaurant.
 

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Bumper crop of cherries


Lots of cherries from dwarf tree - I only had a few last year, but this year another tree near it bloomed, so it got pollenated by another variety, which it needed. Sour cherries. Not a lot of Japanese beetles this year.
 

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Colourful sailboat, Toronto, 1990s




Colourful sailboat that was moored at the foot of Yonge Street, Toronto, in the 1990s.

 

Friday, July 10, 2026

Wellesley Restaurant, 464 Sherbourne St, Toronto, Ontario, c. 1995


It's probably a Sunday. The saying, maybe by Leacock, was that you could shoot a cannon down Yonge Street on Sunday without hurting anyone, since the Lord's Day Act and provincial laws kept most things closed then unless it was a designated tourist area like Chinatown. Although those laws had been overturned, it still was dead downtown even in the early 90s. The next photos are of my friend, artist and musician Cheryl Jonah, and myself - I'm not sure if they were taken in the Wellesley, but they were on the same roll of film and it looks like the type of restaurant the place was:



Yes kids, in my day you could smoke in restaurants!


I liked this one!





 

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), Texas, 1993


Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), Texas, 1993. Named after Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, a German prince and naturalist who travelled in North America in the 19th Century and catalogued many plants, and recorded the lives of native peoples.