The Scriptorium

This year, I was looking for a fun Halloween activity -- a ghost walk if possible, though I knew I had gone on most of them already. As luck would have it, I found a list of Toronto Halloween activities online, which is how I learned about the Necropolis Cemetery tour taking place on Sunday. It immediately appealed to me because I had never been to the Necropolis Cemetery before or seen much of Cabbagetown at all, really. As you'll see by my photos (which probably don't do the place justice), the Necropolis Cemetery is a beautiful, fascinating place and the tour was excellent. It was conducted by staff from Mackenzie House, so much of what we saw and heard had some link to Toronto's first mayor and his tumultuous life.

I'm going to provide a very quick history of the Necropolis Cemetery and share some pretty pictures. Then I'm going to share more pictures that I took during the tour, along with some interesting facts and Victorian trivia I learned along the way. I'll even tell you how to be sure not to bring a ghost home with you when visiting a cemetery.

( How can you possibly resist the City of the Dead? )

Last week, I spent a few days at my parents' place, a little getaway that included two excursions -- and photos, of course. ( Beautiful animals, country scenes, sculptures! )

Despite the issues I've recently had with a couple of my neighbours, working from home seems like a really good option today. This morning around 6:30 am the subway system had to close down. And I'm not talking one line or two lines. It was ALL four lines. The TTC had to close the subway because their subway communication systems completely shut down. People had to be evacuated from all the stations and left to take shuttle buses -- shuttle buses that weren't arriving because there was no way to contact them. However, even if the TTC had been able to send out some shuttle buses, it wouldn't have been enough. Half a million people travel on the subway during rush hour, so it would have been impossible to transport everyone. Fortunately, around 7:30, all of the lines were back up again, but I know everything must have still been chaos. I've seen the aftermath of delays affecting just one line and it's not pretty. Of course, a lot of people do have a Plan B, but not everyone can have one that's entirely reliant on buses and/or streetcars. Did I also mention that it's been raining? The timing really couldn't have been much worse.

I really feel sorry for everyone who's had to commute on the TTC this morning. Yikes! What a mess!

Because I'm now home-based, I've been taking morning walks before starting work each day. This ensures that I get exercise and fresh air, especially on days when I'm not going anywhere after work. In any case, given the time of year, I've been seeing some fantastic Halloween displays in my neighbourhood, especially on Hillsdale Avenue and Manor Road. In fact, they're so good that I ended up taking some pictures that I thought I'd share with you. Happy Halloween! ( Check them out! They’re spooktacular! )

Just wrapped up another annual EX weekend with my mom. For those who aren't in the know, my mom comes to stay for the weekend every August so that we can take in the Canadian National Exhibition, though we always do other things as well. For example, on Friday, we paid a visit to my mom's favourite shop, Adornments on Queen and went to see The Hundred-Foot Journey. As usual, we both spent more money than we'd planned. I hadn't intended to spend any money in Adornments on Queen and came out with a beautiful wooden box and a tiny stone figurine of two cats. I had hoped not to buy a lot at the EX and came away with a piece of blue calcite, some fudge, two DVDs, two CDs and two large and heavy books, though Supernatural was a real find and, as my mom pointed out, the CNE only comes around once a year. I can also take some comfort in the fact that the later purchases were all discount items...Anywaaaaaaaay, we both had a lot of fun, and I know my mom appreciated the break.

Of course, no trip to the EX would be complete without some photos... ( Beware of fluffy felines and geeks in dresses. )

On Sunday, my mom, sister and I decided to visit some of the buildings being featured in this year's Doors Open Toronto. Given the popularity of the Old Don Jail last year, I suggested that we hit the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre first as it was the place we all wanted to see most. ( It won't just be me droning on. There are pretty pictures as well. )

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, though my family had its main celebration on Sunday night. Thinking of Christmas cards and letters, I took a number of pictures. My sister helped as well. I thought I'd share some of the best blackmail photos here. ( Yes, it’s one of those entries. )

This past weekend was the annual EX pilgrimage. As usual, my mom came to stay, and we had a WONDERFUL time. ( And by 'wonderful' I mean that we spent a lot of money, pigged out, etc. )

One of my wishes came true today! Thanks to Doors Open Toronto, I was able to take a tour of the Old Don Jail. ( Yes, this is one of the many strange ways I pass time on the weekend. )

As a number of people enjoyed my Gibraltar Point Lighthouse post, I thought I'd share this Creepy Canada vid I found on YouTube. We can thank my sister for this. After reading my report, she said the story seemed really familiar and thought it might have been featured on Creepy Canada. As it turns out, she was right! :-)

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Whoops! Sorry about that! This is what I get for posting a vid before watching all of it! The last 45 seconds of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse story (*rolls eyes*) can be found at the beginning of this vid:

"" (Watch on YouTube)

BTW, I would take the Creepy Canada version of the story with a huge grain of salt. There are several inaccuracies, such as the murder conviction that took place 80 years later (WTF?), so it's pretty obvious that the producers took a number of artistic liberties.