Trip to Toronto: Portugal Village

We just got back from Toronto, where we went because I had never been there and we both have friends there. Plus, I like the way it sounds (Toronto!) -- the same reason I ended up picking paleoanthropology as a major in college.

I don't think we needed to spend a whole week there, but it did give us time to really explore the city. We walked from neighborhood to neighborhood: Leslieville, the Danforth, Dundas Street West, Parkdale, Portugal Village, Queen Street West, Yorkville, Chinatown, Kensington Market, the financial district, St. Lawrence.

We started in Portugal Village, where we met up with some friends and went out to dinner last Sunday.

Their backyard.



Their neighbor's backyard.



And some front yards around the neighborhood, where lots of Portugese people still live.







Down at Queen Street West.



We go to Coca, a little tapas bar that has horse on the menu. But it's not one of the prix fixe items, so I save that treat for a later date.



Our film-biz friends. She's working on the new Hulk movie, and he's working on a dramatization of the life of the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper.



Malivoire is a Niagara wine produced by a special-effects guy that our friends used to work with. It's lovely.



On the walk home, I notice a kitty about to attempt a long jump.



I approach the cat and yell "Kitty!"



Our friends can see the tallest freestanding structure in the world from their porch. I'm impressed!

AG3 Garden Center

On my drive home from Hartstene Island, I stopped at the lovely AG3 Garden Center near Allyn, Washington.





The cats were very friendly.











Apparently Ciscoe likes Epimedium.







Chuck recently taught me how to take closeups of flowers with the Canon Elph. You press the button that shows a closeup of a flower.









I want some spruce trees. But these wouldn't fit in my car.

Hartstene Island

Stayed at my friends Scott and Raleigh's cabin on Hartstene Island yesterday. We took the Bremerton ferry route, and my passengers needed to stop for coffee in Pioneer Square. I waited in the car.

Looks like Rubaiyat isn't the first place around here to make shoes.



On the way to the island, near Shelton, there's a nursery called Heaths and Heathers. They're not open until next month, though.





OK, here we are at the cabin.





Looking out toward Olympia.



And right across the way at Squaxin Island, an uninhabited Indian reservation.



I love all the madronas.



Did I mention they also have a yurt?











I want to plant madrona and spruce in the yard.



We take a walk on the beach before the tide comes in.





Then we have a crab and salmon feast.



With some 2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine Font de Michelle.

Rosedale Gardens

Sunday afternoon we searched for Rosedale Gardens in Gig Harbor. I called them up and made them stay on the phone with me as I navigated my way there from the less interesting Peninsula Gardens.









I decided that I want a gong.