Posted on May 23, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…Col. Sam Smith Park is mostly made from landfill

This beautiful naturalized park in Toronto (south Etobicoke) is a gem in the neighbourhood. I remember years ago in the 1980s when dump trucks were lined up to unload their bins of landfill into Lake Ontario to expand the park. As a result an artificial harbour (now home to the Lakeshore Yacht Club) was created. It is skirted by grasslands punctuated by trees and set within the rocky shoreline. The lake-fill area also contains a wetlands habitat with wildlife-viewing platforms, while elsewhere among the tree-lined paths and lawns are playgrounds, pavilions, and a sport field.

This is one of the parks the Trish and I go to pick up litter. When you walk along the pathways you’d think the park is pretty clean but when you walk along the rocks you can see where people have partied and where the waves have deposited waste (mostly plastic) from the belly of the lake.

Here are some shots from the surface of the rocks and then what we’ve found between them.

New Flower (May 23, 2020) – Doronicum Orientale

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New Flower (May 22, 2020) – Frilly Yellow Tulip

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Instant Colour

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….after a forced trip to Costco

I needed my winter tires taken off my car. I haven’t driven very much since this isolation started back in March. In fact I filled up just before this started and I was down to a quarter of a tank when I filled up again two days ago. That was 8 weeks between fill-ups.

Anyway I digress. I got an appointment at the Tire Centre at Costco very easily. I booked on-line and took the first appointment available. So on the 13th of May I drove to Costco at 9:30 in the morning. I walked straight into the warehouse past a huge line-up of people waiting to get into the store to shop.

After I dropped off the car I had an hour and a half wait so I decided I might as well join the line and pick up some flowers for the yard. It took about 30 minutes to get inside. Once inside I felt completely safe. There were very few people in the building and the check out was very organized.

An hour is a long time so I ended up buying more than I had planned to but I did only purchase things that I needed or would need shortly.

When I got home I arranged the flowers in the front and back of the house. That blast of instant colour made my trip to Costco all the more worthwhile.

New Flower (May 21, 2020) – Orange Tulip

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Wordless Wednesday – May 20, 2020

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New Flower (May 20, 2020) – Grape Hyacinth

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New Flower (May 19, 2020) – Purple Tulips

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A Cool and Blustery Day

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….but the fight against litter continues

Originally we had decided that it would be too wet today to go trash hunting but there was a pause in the rain this morning so Trish and I decided to go and collect a few more bags of litter before the rain started up again. We went back to the park on Third Street where we’ve already been twice to clean up.

One thing that we’ve discovered is that a lot of garbage comes directly from the cars that are parked along the street. Instead of opening the door and walking 20 steps to the closest garbage can they simple toss their garbage next to the curb. We also noticed that someone who likes high end beer simple left six empty bottles among the rocks. Luckily none of them were broken but it would only have been a matter of time.