….thank you Dan for helping Norm host Thursday Doors
Today my family and I took a quick trip to Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. We spent most of our day in the military museum, the park and the gardens but we passed by the castle where I took a few pictures of this beautiful building.
…..thanks to Norm for hosting Thursday Doors
My neighbourhood seems to change daily. My house was built in the 1940s as were many of the homes on my street. Some I dare say are even older. Thirty years ago we had to make a decision. Our tiny two bedroom bungalow was too small for a family of five. The kids had the bedrooms and my husband and I tried to set up a bedroom in different locations of the house. We set up our queen size bed in the living room and the tiny dining room became the living room. We also tried sleeping in the partially finished basement for awhile.
So we had to choose between moving to a larger house, probably in Mississauga or staying and building up. We chose the latter. Not many people were putting additions on their homes back then but now when homes in this neighbourhood sell they either come down and a new house is built in its place or a major addition is added. Many people have opted to go for a very modern look. A lot of the old timers don’t approve of this look but both my husband and I quite like it. Unfortunately some of the new owners are taking some liberties and building homes that are considerably taller than the average two story home of 30 years ago. Too often the committee of adjustment turns a blind eye to the changes made to the approved variances. The most serious consequence for not following the approved plans is that construction is halted for a short time but it eventually resumes. The days of tearing down the offending building are long gone.
Here are some of my favourite modern additions and the doors that go with them.
….thanks to Norm 2.0 for hosting Thursday Doors
Walking through the neighbourhood today in South Etobicoke I came across some beautiful doors, some new and some old.
……thanks to Norm for hosting Thursday Doors
Walking through the James St. North neighbourhood in Hamilton.
……great doors in the neighbourhood
It’s amazing how many people still have their Christmas decorations up.
Thanks to Norm for hosting Thursday Doors.
…thanks to Norm from Norm 2.0 for hosting Thursday Doors
Last weekend my husband and I took a drive to Niagara Falls to meet up with our daughter and granddaughter. It was a cold and grey day, not the nicest for taking pictures of the Falls. When we arrived at our daughter’s hotel room we decided to get in the car and drive along the Niagara Parkway towards Niagara on the Lake.
We stopped at the Old Winery Restaurant and enjoyed a very nice lunch. Winnie enjoyed her bread and some of her mommy’s soup and her own macaroni and cheese.
After lunch we decided to drive around and take in some of the sights from the car. We were hoping that Winnie would nap and luckily she did. My husband grew up in the area and he decided to take a stroll with the car down memory lane. We headed towards St. Catharines, where he was born and he pointed out to our daughter the first place he lived in as a young child before moving to Niagara Falls. Not too far away was Rodman Hall which is now an art gallery.
The Thomas Rodman Merritt House was built over 150 years ago on a beautiful hillside property and is the perfect venue for special events, parties and weddings. The mansion features stained glass windows, 11 Italian marble fireplaces, patterned inlaid hardwood floors and ornate plaster mouldings. Today it is part of the University of Brock and hosts the visual arts students from the Honours Studio course.
The Rodman Hall Art Centre features the work of artists from Niagara, Ontario, Canada and the world. It houses a permanent collection of over 1000 objects, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and drawings. While I was there they were featuring a special show called A Sublime Vernacular: The Landscape Paintings of Levine Flexhaug. I could also hear the sounds of workshops going on down the hall from the entrance. Throughout the year the hall hosts a variety of studio programs for children and adults, art camps and thematic family programs.
I would love to go back in the summer when I could enjoy the gardens and the interesting sculptures that are scattered throughout the property.
