A Toronto vegan blabs on about crafting, food, and her life in general.


Monday, May 21, 2007

Hiking in our own urban backyard

This Victoria Day long weekend kinda caught us by surprise. Queen Victoria was born on May 24, and the holiday is unofficially referred to here in Canada as "The May Two-Four", as in the large case of beer. This year, however, the weekend started on the 19th and felt way too early for May 2-4, so we didn't think to make plans. Sometimes, being able to wake up on Saturday morning and ask yourself "What do I want to do today?" is exactly what you need.

This weekend has been a mix of extreme sadness and much needed quiet. The sadness came in the form of the death of a great friend's mother. That's all I will mention about it here. The rest of the weekend was a mix of activities that got our minds off the bustle of last week.

Saturday, we had a nice brunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant down the road, where we fed sparrows some chips and bread on the back patio. After brunch, we walked towards Castle Frank Road, entered an urban park system and hiked for a few hours. I'd never been through these parks before, and was really surprised at how far removed from the city they felt, though they were just tucked in behind some of the city's busiest roads. You can see on the map below the green space where we walked – we walked the ravine to the west, came back and went slightly north to the Don Valley Brick Works, and back south to Bloor-Danforth.


And of course we brought our cameras!

Blossoms

Blossoms in the sun

Dandelion

Dandelion, close up. I've always loved dandelions and never understood what people had against them.

Mushrooms

Some huge mushrooms growing on a tree stump

me and boy

Happy hikers!

Don Valley Brick Works

Don Valley Brick Works


On Sunday, it was a day of spring cleaning – laundry, sweeping, washing, cleaning. We removed the slip cover from the damaged couch (which I complained about here) and beat the cushions to release the settled dust. After taking a good long look at the couch sans cover, we made a decision to leave the cover off and temporarily cover up the arms. I ripped apart the small side cushions that came with the couch (which we never use) and figured out a way to attach the fabric to the arms. But, needing a curved sewing needle, I had to pop out to Fabricland to find a needle and some fabric to make new side cushions that we'll actually use. A little digging in the remnants bin produced not only some beautiful silver-grey fabric for cushions, but 2 rolls of dark blue fabric that matched the colour of the couch perfectly and that was longer and wider than the repurposed fabric I'd ripped apart earlier! For less than $10!

The fabric covered beautifully (it looks less lumpy in person than it does in this photo). So far, we've only completed 1 arm, but I plan to do the next one some time this week.


Today, we had a great lazy day, watching Of Mice and Men, doing a little clothes shopping at the Eaton Centre, filling our tummies with Indian Food, and some more movie-watching. I expect even more lazing about, ending with the season finale of 24!

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7 Comments:

Blogger jen said...

sounds like a great long weekend! i'm jealous about the indian food.

i hope the finale of 24 doesn't suck.

good job on the couch.

i love dandelions too. i'm getting one tattooed on me in july in fact.

i feel like the title of this comment should be "random things i have to say in response to your post."

9:26 PM, May 21, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yup, Toronto is great for finding hidden treasures within the city. I stumbled upon the Guild Park in Scarborough last summer when I was taking part in a craft show there. Let me tell you - that park is beautiful! It reminded me of an enchanted forest. It runs along the Scarborough Bluffs. You should check it out sometime.

12:39 AM, May 22, 2007

 
Blogger vania said...

Sounds like a great weekend - and similar to mine (fun times mixed in with errands). J goes mountain biking at the brick works and raves about it.

Your couch is going to look awesome with that fabric!

8:07 AM, May 23, 2007

 
Blogger mishka said...

random jen – 24 finale - meh. I can't wait to see your dandelion tattoo!

sophie – I'll make sure to check that out! I've actually never been to the Scarborough Bluffs but it is on my list if things this summer!

vania – I wonder if J and David have bumped into each other before :) David goes mountain biking down that way as well!

8:16 AM, May 23, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

FYI - The recent edition of ReadyMade magazine has a section on do-it-yourself upholstery and includes some useful websites to get you started. Cheers!

2:49 PM, May 25, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I meant to mention this earlier, but I was shy.
There is this cool company called Bemz
( http://www.bemz.com/ )
that makes slipcovers specifically for old Ikea couches, and they're quite pretty. So if you ever feel like spending a bit of money, but saving yourself a bit of work, they are a very good option.

11:21 AM, May 26, 2007

 
Blogger mishka said...

sophie - you know, I picked up ReadyMade, flipped through it, then put it back down. I somehow missed the reupholstery DYIs. I went to Book City last night, and it's all gone. Sheesh.

beth - thanks for coming out of hiding! I had no idea about Bemz, and frantically scoured their website for my particular couch! Sadly, no couch. I can't remember the name of it, but I emailed the company to find out if they can help! Thank you so much for the link!
(holy exclamation marks...)

11:48 AM, May 26, 2007

 

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