OUR DAYS HERE ARE NUMBERED

The week started at Kemble where the heat/drought was a real turkey. So, indoor work changed 202 handles, screws, and hinges from white to brown. Any better? Then a rare sight out on the bay --- a "rainbowt"...

Back in the city, storm clouds gathered and the rains finally poured, so much that the garage could be a wading a pool for the raccoons. Great to see the monarchs, even though they're on a one-way journey. The historic original 1928 house numbers are going to a museum. Our days here are now numbered at 36!

Just up the street was the biggest free outdoor music festival in North America -- the Beaches Jazz Fest, 30 years and counting. We haven't been here for a couple of years so there's new bands and evolution, such as dozens of food trucks. Churros, samosa, and nasi goreng on Queen Street! Dozens of bands from '30's swing to ZZ Top to Hispanic rap to crooners to brass to pan flutes to Irish spoons, to, to, to. Three nights of closed streets, 3 days of headliners in the park! Real urban fare.

Best In Show? On this corner, the happy thunder of T.Badu drums --- crowds of bobbing heads and tapping feet. On the other corner the exciting raw talents and driving beat of Free Label. These guys have fun from James Brown to Bruno Mars to their own stuff, and the crowds want it all. The Winner? --- Free Label!

This morning the Jazz Fest Run woke up the boardwalk. Hundreds of people who were bopping on the street last night were running it off today. 3 distances, all ages, babes in arms...

What a great 'hood to be back in. But look --- Pat's being shadowed...

WE TOOK A DESK JOB!

The apartment in the city is being furnished from street finds and thrift shops. There was a sideboard and cool retro desk at a Habitat Restore but not much car space left over for a TV stand...

The last major rehab was kitchen floor covering. The old foot-square tiles were grottier than they look. The new vinyl dark cork had to be cut and measured every piece, but the result looks great...

The Cleaner/Painter/Detailer is always in the picture. Cornered in the kitchen or floored in the front, every nook gets a treatment. Remember that desk above? Painted to match the "White Sand" walls.

But the work is winding down so there's time for daily power walks on the boards. The Lifeguard Station is being rocked with numbered jigsaw pieces. There's yoga on board. Photo shoots are common but usually the camera is pointed at the subject.

Sports and rec is the obvious thing here. Ride the surf or volley on the sand?

Quite the contrast in this tail of two cities. At The Beach the community gardens seem to be doing OK. But now we're back at Kemble and the place is parched. Send rain!

RUG RAT AND BAT BOY

The transition to Toronto continues, almost all work and no play ---- yet. Back at Kemble to pick up more stuff, a rug had to be cleaned and a mound of bat shit had to be swept off the greenhouse. The joy of country living?

But most of the week was still setting up in the city. The last time I had a Vietnamese haircut I was in Hanoi! The Gardener thinned out the overgrowth and the junked cabinets promptly disappeared too. The neglected apartment had to be Deep Cleaned, from baseboard wood to window sills (thanks, Murphy!).

But there were breaks and strolls. Ice cream carts are popular in the dog days, or is that vice-versa? White "ghost bikes" are memorials to cyclists struck down in the street. The scrap metal picker took the old electric heaters. Day Camp kids stream by on their way to a beachy Friday the 13th. Free sunscreen to all!

We were floored by the floor refinishing. We thought the 90-year old strips of maple would have to be ripped out and new oak put in. But a light sanding plus 3 coats of urethane and voila --- glowing like new. Here's a before-and-after:

So the place is getting in shape. Two good omens ---- the cook's first try at perogies was a yummy success (and I grew up gorging on the best...). And despite the lack of any showers, a rainbow still appeared. Chive on!