Junction Craft Brewing, Toronto, ON

Junction Craft Brewery was started in 2011 and moved in 2018 to its current home in a former City of Toronto 1930s art-deco incinerator known as "The Destructor" in Toronto’s west end Stockyards neighbourhood.

Rainhard Brewing, Toronto, ON

Rainhard Brewing opened to the public in May 2015.  It is located in Toronto’s west end Stockyards neighbourhood in a former refinery.  It's a cozy spot.

Shacklands Brewing Co., Toronto, ON

Shacklands Brewing Co. is a small batch brewery that was established in 2017 in Toronto’s west end Stockyards neighbourhood.

The place has quite a collection of eclectic things and Dave, our bartender/co-owner, had fun showing them off.

Delta Bingo & Gaming, Toronto, ON

Gord and I went to the 1pm session this afternoon at Delta Bingo (St. Clair Avenue W/Old Westin Road).  I went to bingo for many years, sometimes as often as weekly.  Gord and I used to go fairly often ... now it seems like we only go once a year around this time of year, though we keep saying we want to go more often.

Chris was our caller

I bought a $55 Gold Package, which in addition to paper cards, I got digital cards.  Gord got a three-strip plus whatever games weren't included in it (as did I).

Knitted dishcloth

I knitted a dishcloth this evening using cotton yarn.

Cast on 40 stitches.

Row 1:  Knit
Row 2:  Purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5.
Row 3:  Knit
Row 4:  Purl
Row 5 : Knit
Row 6:  Knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3, knit 5, purl 3.
Row 7:  Knit
Row 8:  Purl

Repeat rows 1 and 8 until piece measures the size you want.. Bind off all stitches in knit. Weave in loose ends.

I would knit a border around it next time to keep it from rolling.

2019 Midnite Run / Party New Year's Eve, Liberty Village, Toronto, ON

Gord and I started the year and decade off by walking the 5km in the 2019 RRR Midnite Run / Party New Year's Eve presented by Longo's around Liberty Village.  It wasn't too chilly ... 0C with a windchill of -2C.

On December 31st at Midnite, you and so many new friends from around the corner, across the City, around the Country and beyond will run/walk/crawl and party afterwards regardless of the weather. Dress appropriately (for the run outside) and wear extra, layered clothing that is breathable. Not sure what that means? TOQUES and GLOVES are a MUST usually and we sell these for your convenience!

It's also just a 5km! You Can Do It. That’s 5000 metres. 16,404 feet and 2.39 inches to be precise.

FREE, WARM, SAFE bag check is available before and after the Run inside

It's our 9th year and we’re always adding new wrinkles to make the event better. Try something different this New Year’s Eve. Ring in the New Year with a 5K run on the stroke of midnight and then celebrate 2020 with a post race party! PLUS all participants (runners and also just partiers) receive a great swag bag, a sponsored beer, and champagne at the Finish Line and the $25 technical long sleeve shirt. Your 2020 running and fitness resolution just became more clear. People who purchase the “run only” option will have their post run hot food in takeaway containers.

Run or walk in the cool King Liberty Village neighbourhood with super views of the Toronto Skyline. Accurate timing, NEW Runner’s Gift this year (long sleeve tech shirt) with every registration, POST RACE FOOD which is a Hot Stew or Soup, of course, fireworks (weather permitting), $25 swag bag, stylish and unique finishers’ medal. The course usually features a small loop and a bigger loop, so friends, family, spectators will see all the runners passing by after the first or second kilometre.

The event started at Stay Gold Gym on Jefferson Avenue.  That's where we checked in and picked up our shirt and goodie bag.  There were also a couple challenges ... like who could do the most push-ups and chin-ups.

Here I am before we started ...

Happy New Year!

I wish you health ... so you may enjoy each day in comfort.

I wish you the love of friends and family ... and peace within your heart.

I wish you the beauty of nature ... that you may enjoy the work of Mother Nature.

I wish you wisdom to choose priorities ... for those things that really matter in life.

I wish you generosity so you may share ... all good things that come to you.

I wish you happiness and joy ... and blessings for the New Year.

I wish you the best of everything ... that you so well deserve.

Moss stitch knitted dishcloth

I finished knitting a dishcloth using a moss stitch this afternoon using cotton yarn.

Cast on 40 stitches.

Row 1:  Repeat knit stitch purl stitch across all stitches to end.
Row 2:  Repeat purl stitch knit stitch across all stitches to end.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until piece measures the size you want ending with row 2. Bind off all stitches in knit. Weave in loose ends.

Woodhouse Brewing Co., Toronto, ON

Gord and I had supper this evening at Woodhouse Brewing Co. (Lansdowne Avenue/College Street) ... they just opened about a month ago.

Basket Weave Dish Cloth

I knitted a dish cloth this afternoon using a basket weave pattern.

It's an easy pattern and I used cotton yarn.

 Cast on 36 stitches.

Knit three rows in garter stitch.

Rows 4-10: Knit 3, *knit 5, purl 5*, repeat 2 more times, knit 3
Rows 11-17: Knit 3, *purl 5, knit 5*, repeat 2 more times, knit 3

Repeat pattern two more times.

Knit three rows in garter stitch.

Bind off.

Book ~ "Big Lies in a Small Town" (2019) Diane Chamberlain

From Goodreads ~ North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. 

Her dream of a career in art is put on hold - until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies? 

North Carolina, 1940
Anna Dale's mother has just passed away when she wins a national contest to paint a mural for a post office in Edenton, a small town in North Carolina.  She moves temporarily from New Jersey to Edenton to get to know the town and do the mural justice.  A couple high school students help her out for credits and experience.  One is black and the small town's prejudices don't approve.  Plus a local artist had entered the contest and Anna was chosen over him, so there is some resentment.

North Carolina, 2018
Morgan has just spent a year in a woman's prison when she is made an offer she can't refuse.  She has been chosen by one of her favourite painters to restore a mural for the gallery his estate is opening.  Not know anything about restoration or why she was chosen as the late painter's latest project, she agrees so she can be released early from prison.  As she starts cleaning up the mural, which Anna Dale had painted, Morgan discovers some disturbing things that have been painted on it and wants to know what happened to Anna.

I've read many books by this author and liked this one.  I liked the writing style and found the story interesting.  It bounces around in the two different time periods and voices but the chapters are marked as to what the time period is and whose voice it is. It is written in first person perspective from Morgan's point of view and third person when it's Anna's point of view.  I liked the characters.  As a head's up, there is some swearing and violence.

Elephant & Castle, Toronto, ON

Gord and I had supper at Elephant & Castle (King Street W/Simcoe Street) this evening with Mary and Malcolm, Angela and Sox, and Lee and Rick.

I was in the mood for a burger so ordered The Standard (minus the lettuce, onion and cheese) with fries.  It was a good burger.  The bun was small and soft.  I don't know what the burger sauce was as it didn't have a lot of taste ... maybe mayo?  I'd get it again.

Book ~ "Keeping My Sisters' Secrets" (2017) Beezy Marsh

From Goodreads ~ Eva, Peggy and Kathleen were sisters born into a close-knit working class family, living in a tiny terraced house in a London street so rough the police would only walk down it in pairs. As they grew up between the wars, they dreamed of escaping their father's anger and the struggle of daily life in Waterloo.

Peggy was a studious and principled girl so appalled by conditions in the factories that she became a Communist. Beautiful Kathleen, with a voice like silk, experienced tragedy too young and was destined to have her heart broken time and time again. Feisty Eva became a child thief so she could help their mother put food on the table and never lost her rebellious streak, or her desire to protect her family by whatever means necessary.

Over the years the sisters stayed together, sharing each other's lives and supporting each other through hard times. "Keeping My Sisters' Secrets" is a rich, moving story of their fight to survive through decades of social upheaval, their love for each other the one constant in a changing world.

Peggy, Kathleen and Eva are sisters (they also have two brothers) living in London between WWI and WWII.  They are poor and barely getting by.  Their father takes his frustration out on their mother by beating her.  When Peggy is old enough, her family makes her leave school to get a job with the post office.  The same with Kathleen ... she gets a job in a jam factory when she is old enough.  Eva, though, became a thief at an early age and provides a lot for the family.  The girls eventually fall in love, get married and start families of their own.

I found the book interesting at first ... but I found the characters unlikable.  Kathleen was the beautiful one but, despite claiming she wouldn't make the same mistake her mother made, is desperate enough to marry an abusive man.  Eva started stealing when she was about ten.  Her mother knew but didn't do anything about it because she was benefiting from it.

The editing could have been tighter.  There were typos.  For example, it should have been " ... a friend of her brother, Frankie's" not "... a friend of her brother Frankies".  And at one point, Kathleen leaves Albert's house where they have been living after they got married because she "did not want to die next to Albert's miserable mother-in-law".  Albert's mother-in-law would have been her mother who she loves not HER mother-in-law who is a hag.  There were many expressions I've never heard of before ... like cozzer, hoisting and whip-round.

What were the sisters' secrets anyway?  I still don't know.  Whatever they were, they couldn't have been that big of a deal.

Knitted dishcloth

I finished knitting a dishcloth tonight using cotton yarn.

It's an easy pattern.

Cast on 46 stitches.

Rows 1 and 2: Knit across all stitches.

Rows 3 and 4: K 2, *K 1, P 1, repeat from * across to last 2 stitches, K 2.

Repeat rows 1 - 4 for pattern until piece measures approximately 9" ending with pattern row 2. Bind off all stitches in knit. Weave in loose ends.