This is an update on an earlier post in this spot about the rather special home going up at the the corner of Laird Drive and Broadway Ave.  Our update shot here shows the stonework going onto the Victorian corner bay window which will give the residents of the home a 180 plus degree view of the corner. The belt line of limestone and full stone tower is a throwback to the romantic construction of the 19th century. The builder was there when we went by and spoke with pride about his creation. He says it will be a landmark in the neighborhood and we believe him. 

In Japan, Pepsico will release Pepsi Special a soft drink that contains dextrin, an indigestible fibre known to block fat absorption in the body. According to ABC news, the product is marketed to those who wish to maintain a slender body while having a Pepsi or any kind of fatty food. Although fat-blocking Pepsi is legal in Japan it is not coming to shelves in the U.S. or Canada any time soon. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) makes it illegal to fortify soda and candy with nutrients. Dextrin is considered a nutrient by FDA standards. A similar prohibition applies in Canada. For now, it seems  our obsession with obtaining a svelte body without any of the work will have to wait while the Japanese get a chance to try fat-blocking Pepsi.

1531-1533 Bayview Avenue

They were putting up the Dollarama sign at the soon-to-be-opened store at 1531-1533 Bayview Tuesday  The big green and gold letters certainly herald an early opening for the discount emporium. And from what we hear there will be clear sidewalks on South Bayview this December as Environment Canada says there will be very little snow anywhere this year. They say it’s an occurrence not seen on such a national scale since Environment Canada began measuring snowfall levels 56 years ago. “It’s not going to feel and look like Christmas,” the EC forecaster said. “People are going to have to work hard to create the mood that sometimes weather creates.”   

Over at the corner of Annesley and Roxville Avenues in North Leaside they’re working hard to get the rebuild there all closed in before the snow flies. This montage shows an agile carpenter at work this afternoon with the house itself inset. 

Students at Leaside High School will have to forgo the flexible hours known as delayed/late start. The change is required because of work action taken by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, according to Principal Jeanette Plonka in a letter to parents. Until further notice the school will follow a uniform day beginning at 8.40 am. and ending at 3 pm. Other schools are making similar adjustments as the OSSTF begins what it has called “strike actions” at 20 boards across Ontario including Toronto. For her part, Education Minister Laurel Broten is threatening to prevent  teachers from dropping out of many of their duties. One in particular, the taking of attendance, is seen as an important safety measure. A bargaining bulletin on the OSSTF website says that among other actions, teachers will not attend staff meetings, communicate with parents outside school hours or fill in for absent colleagues The teachers are defending sick day retirement payouts, which the Legislature has voted to eliminate,  by arguing the Ontario government offers a more generous goodbye to government employees. The OSSTF has highlighted the government severance packages in its battle to save “retirement gratuities” which allow most teachers and many education support staff workers to cash out up to 200 unused sick days at retirement. The government says the plan, which pays out a maximum of $47,000 to a retiring teacher, must be scaled back because the cost is too high with $1.7 billion in accumulated sick days now on the taxpayers’ tab.

A rare occurrence in nature may be seen at the Golden Mile Shopping Centre near Eglinton Ave. E and Pharmacy Ave following the appearance there in recent weeks of an Arctic falcon or Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus).  The story in published in the Star today. Inset is a stock photo of the species from the Alberta Department of the Environment. This elegant creature has been circling the parking lot of the centre no doubt looking for its favorite food, pigeons. It is a big bird, some two feet in length with a wingspan wider than that. The Star reports that a member of the Ontario Field Ornithologists has confirmed that the bird is indeed a white gyrfalcon. The story is accompanied by a good picture of the falcon taken by Toronto freelance photographer Manny Rodrigues. It is said that some people reported first seeing the bird a month ago. The Star notes that Mark De Abreu, who works in the Golden Mile area, has been a birder for 40 years and considers the sighting like winning the lottery