Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Un Week-end à Montréal

Alas, not Spain, not some city in France, but next door in Montreal.  I was surprised how some of my high school French is still available somewhere in my brain.  All it takes is hearing it spoken or being hungry for crepes.  Darn I didn't get photos of those crepes!

The demonstration on yesterday's post "La Manifestation Etudiants" was unique, though not for Montreal.  Students and others march every evening at 8:00pm to protest the increase in tuition for University.  They pay next to nothing by US standards, but went on strike about three months ago in protest.  The Provincial Government just passed a bill that restricts public demonstrations - making these "spontaneous" events illegal by requiring advance notice with itineraries and other restrictions which are now causing even more protest as people feel their rights are being violated.

The unique "Pots and Pans" marches effectively create a nuisance during dinner time every evening, the din of metal on metal, or wooden spoons on metal can be heard everywhere, although the banging is rhythmical, even musical at times.  Groups usually converge on St Catherine St. or a park, thousands strong.  It's nice to see young people protesting, but too bad it's not for a cause.

Pink Balls
170,000 Pink Balls Over Rue Ste. Catherine Street


Cirque Du Soleil 
Hope Faith and Charity

Where You Can Buy Garden Plants Today
That Will Look Better Than My Garden Plants In August
Queue for the BioDome On Free Museum Sunday 

At The Jardin Botanique
Japanese Gardens



Monday, May 28, 2012

Where In The World Were We Now?

(Forgive my post-title phrasing)
There are some clues here and there as to where we've been of late.  Gosh, sometimes we just can't stay put.

Captions to come later.

Pretty In Pink
Floor Tiles - Underground Mall
Promenades Cathédrale

Rocky
Rue St. Paul
Hotty
Hottie 2
Pretty in Red
Cirque du Soleil

Market

Marche Jean Talon
New And Old
Montreal Mutants
BioDome Trump'doeil
Older Than You
Japan Garden
Drag Queen Nightmare
Hottie 3

Manifestation des Etudiants

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Voice Of Reason

Thanks to Truthspew for this from Nick Hanauer, a wealthy person with sense.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

An Era Is Truly Ending - Donna Summer Died Today

As a late gay bloomer, in 1984 I spent many wonderful, amazing, incredible and exuberant hours at the discos and even then the DJs always played something by Donna Summer. She'll always be on my playlist.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Floors Project Completed

Leon and I obviously spent too much time watching Martha Stewart during our formative gay years.  We have put the house in order for this photo-op.  Within the next eight hours there will be shoes by the door, computers on the coffee table, a Diet Coke can on the arm of the chair, a dog on the couch, wallets, keys, cameras, loose change, papers, mail, unpaid bills, and dirty dishes on the counter.

So before all that, here are some pics of our new floors and bathroom.

We are definitely "design on a dime" kind of guys.  If I had to define our decor, it is a combination of Mission, Deco, Southwestern and Tuscany, plus odds and ends.

Living room has a new area rug.








Benni pointing out the smooth transition from the living room to kitchen.

Kitchen tile is a travertine marble look



We rescued this hutch fifteen years ago when someone was throwing it out.  I always meant to refinish it but stripping it down to the wood just seemed like too much work.  So I finally painted it.  I'm not sure I like my color choice...



Transition from the kitchen to the sunroom is seamless.  There used to be a one and a half inch drop to the sunroom.  Sunroom tiles are 'chocolate'.







The sunroom is our dining room for at least three seasons.

Bathroom got new tile floor, a new sink/vanity, medicine cabinet and light fixture.




We had a bit of difficulty installing the vanity as the baseboard is tile and the cut out was cut about 1/4 inch too short, so the vanity did not slide in against the wall.  Some friends offered a fix - put it flush against the tile on the bottom and shim the top and sides.  We did that and it looks pretty good.

The floor tiles are a matte finish, actually a bit grainy, a non-slip surface.




It's now on to the garden.


LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails