Decorating for the holidays?

Lift off

At any time of day, week, or season, Riverdale Park hosts a variety of solo and group activities.

Soccer matches coincide with baseball games, boot camp cardio lessons, swimming, individual fitness coaching, tennis, stick hockey, kids on swings and slides, Montcrest School recess activities, dog walkers, bird watchers, guitar players and runners.

All activities take place in the open air and are spectacularly visible from the crest of the hill on Broadview Avenue in front of one of the best views of the Toronto skyline.

Twentieth anniversary of the Toronto Police Dog Services Unit

Thirty-two canine officers and their twenty-nine human handlers recently put on an interesting show for the public as they celebrated their twenty years in business. The Toronto Police Dog Servies Unit started in 1989 and is the largest of its kind in Canada. Canine officers (yes, they are officers of the law, each dog has a numbered badge, and they are true partners to the human men and women to whom they are attached. Police dogs are used to sniff out drugs and explosives, human scents, contraband of various kinds, and firearms. They search for missing people and cadavers, and they are invaluable in apprehending and holding suspects during criminal apprehensions. Mostly German Shepherds are used, but a good nose is a good nose, and the Toronto force has a Golden Retriever, a Lab Cross, a Spaniel cross and several other mixes. These are great dogs and this unit is a great service to our community.

A shopper driving this vehicle stopped by the organic market in Withrow Park this summer. Shades of the 1960s.

Art installation on Doris McCarthy Trail, Scarborough

Scarborough Bluff swallow nesting grounds

Swallows have burrowed thousands of these holes into the bluffs to nest and lay their eggs. Their only predators are red tailed hawks who circle above but are often chased away by swooping swallow vigilantes.

In the world of nature, housing and shelter come in so many different forms, often hidden from human eyes.

The juxtaposition of these signs and the two images on the right are what I find so wonderful about living in Toronto. They reflect the complexity and harmony of our shared cultures and beliefs.

Jenny Appleseed

Canada Day and Pride Week: glorious summer in the city

Undressing a brick house

What's going on here? This house was built circa 1900-1920s. Like many homes built in that era, it's made of double brick construction. What you see is the exposed front inside brick wall. The outer brick layer has been temporarily removed. Houses of this vintage often incorporated construction methods that have since been improved upon. Ingenuity and new materials are now applied by improvising and adapting state-of- the-art retrofit knowledge and tools to beautiful heritage homes. These improvements result in increased energy efficiency, increased comfort, and decreased utility expenses.

On the right you can see the gaps in the rows of exposed bricks and the missing mortar. When a home inspector tells you there is no insulation in your walls, this is what he means. Imagine how much air and moisture gets through if there is any missing mortar in the outer brick too. (Inexpensive re-pointing can take care of that.) Some time ago, likely during the 1970s, the outer bricks of this house were sandblasted. This method was used to lighten to clean the brick. Sandblasting isn't used any more because, while it brightens the brick colour, it also leaves the bricks more porous and therefore more vulnerable to deterioration. Using modern energy conservation methods, the inside walls of this house will be coated with spray insulation before new drywall is installed. A brand new outer brick wall will cover the original. This is an interesting look at what's often behind the facade and behind the decorative features of a home that make for first impressions.

Don Valley Evergreen Brick Works

The Brick Works' organic food market is open again every Saturday morning. The Brick Works has great historical significance for Toronto. After two massive fires, one in 1849, the other in 1904, wood was banned as an exterior construction material in Toronto. Fireproof bricks made from the Don Valley Brickworks were in easy supply as the Brickworks sat on top of the biggest load of high-grade clay in Ontario. Charles Dickens, on a visit to Toronto, apparently gave the city mixed reviews, but he praised the red brick buildings.

Goose family at the Toronto Real Estate Board

This mother goose chose a flower bed by the parking lot entrance to 1400 Don Mills, home of the Toronto Real Estate Board, to start her family this year. Father Goose did his job and was ever watchful for weeks as hundreds of realtors and staff streamed into the building to attend classes and meetings. A yellow security ribbon roped off the nesting area and realtors were given notice not to disturb Mom. Seven goslings were hatched on May 1 and the family has left their TREB "starter home" and moved on.

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Ontario College of Art and Design

Last week the Ontario College of Art and Design held its annual exhibition of the work of the college's 2009 graduate students. Over an intense eight month period, nearly 70 Industrial Design students present their "theses" which are the culmination of their previous 3 years of study. These cover the fundamentals that give students their development tools such as design research, stakeholder analysis, persona and experience development, refinement and production of a prototype ,and presentation of a product, service or system that can be put to market. Impressive to me was how many of the students' projects were dedicated to energy conservation projects, greening our cityscape, and eco-sustainability. Our future is good hands.

It ain't easy being green

Below you can see clearly where the hot air in summer and cold air in winter gets inside this tree house. The window is wide open to the environment and one can almost see the cracks between the wooden planks. The homes we live in aren't quite so obvious in revealing how air that we pay to heat escapes through cracks and holes that we can't quite see but when these apertures are added up by volume it's surprising how large a "hole" is created. Reducing air leakage is usually the most cost-effective measure a home owner can undertake. The leakier the home, the greater the energy savings when the leaks are stopped. It's not unusual for air leakage to account for 35% of the heat loss in a home.

When an energy auditor/advisor comes to your home, one of the tasks performed is a blower door test. A variable-speed fan is mounted on an adjustable panel that fits into any exterior door opening. When the fan is turned on, the pressure inside your home is gradually reduced to allow outside air to flow into the house through unsealed openings or cracks in the house's structure. Pressure gauges connected to the fan measure the rate of air flow reaured to keep your home at a constant pressure so that the energy auditor/advisor can calculate your home's resistance to air infiltration. The results are incorporated into your home's energy efficiency rating.

It's elemental, dear Watson. Drafty and cold in winter, hot in summer

Coon at noon

One of the fundamentals of owning property is taking care of basics. This photo shows how unwanted creatures can take over, finding gaps in the human-made terrain and settling into cubby holes. Raccoon poop carries unfriendly bacteria and smells foul because coons eat garbage. These cute babies will grow up and multiply. Best not to give them too many advantages. Spring is a great time to put unwanted tenants on notice and make minor and major repairs.

Happy Passover and Easter

GARAGE ART

Clocks go back one hour tonight