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Forecasters say we will get a messy mix of rain and possibly freezing ran Sunday night. It is not unexpected at this time of year but neither is a spirit-lifting thaw, however brief. Well forget that. By the measure of temperatures predicted for the second month of 2015 it would appear February is on its own private descent into hell. We will be well under freezing until the end of the month it appears, with the mercury plunging to 14 below next Sunday, February 15, 2015. 

Gary Wise

Wisey’s Pies and Bakehouse has plans to open a second location in the Roncesvalles neighborhood this Spring. The dynamic young company run by New Zealander Gary Wise and his Canadian wife Karen has become part of the lives of many Leasiders since the first shop opened in June 2014 at Eglinton Ave E and Laird Drive. You read about it first in the South Bayview Bulldog. Now the couple has teamed up with friends Anthony Spinley (another Kiwi) and his partner Jen Orenstein. This good news is transmitted from the Hawkes Bay area of New Zealand where Gary and Karen are catching some rays and conducting baking R&D on new products and varieties of pies at the Wiseys NZ bakery in Napier. That business is managed by Gary’s brother. Gary says that the perfected items will also be made at Wiseys in Toronto when he returns in March. Particularly, Gary notes a new scone recipe. So you heard it here first. The new scone is called the DOC — an acronym that stands for Date, Orange, Cinnamon. We are told it is divine.  Gary also has an imaginative idea for a “bakers’ exchange” program by which well-known NZ bakers could work in Toronto and a Canadian baker would work at a Hawkes Bay Bakery in exchange. Wisey’s Pies and Bakehouse is up and running everyday even though the boss is away. Today’s output was right up to standard. (Saturday, February 7, 2015).

COBS Bread Leaside will have its traditional Hot Cross Bun Giveaway on Saturday (February 7, 2015) as it re-opens after a three-week renovation. Much excitement attends a look at the new shop. The Hot Cross Bun is yummy of course but history tells us it was also a way to ensure friendship throughout the coming year. Friends were solemnly told to recite this incantation as they broke bread to ensure their friendship: “Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be”. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. There are many other enjoyable tales told about Hot Cross Buns at Wikipedia.

Shoppers filled the aisles at Target’s East York store on Overlea Blvd. (above) Thursday to snap up bargains on such things as cosmetics and housewares. Lipstick, nail polish and similar essentials with typically high markups found lots of takers at 20 and 30 percent off. All Target stores across Ontario opened at 8 a.m. with liquidation and store closing signs in place. Household articles such as paper diapers and toilet paper were moving quickly. Sun News said some shoppers grumbled that the prices weren’t low enough. But a closing is a bit like an auction. You may not find the prices low enough but do you want to risk finding things gone a day or two later. The parking lot to the north and west of the the East York Town Centre store was full by 8.30 a.m. although crowds were controllable.  Store security told The South Bayview Bulldog that only about a dozen people waited in the bitter cold for the doors to be unlocked. Many others were waiting in their cars. By 9.30 a.m. the Overlea store was comfortably full with business at the 12 checkouts quite brisk. Target has said it hopes to close its Canadian stores by the middle of May.  (February 5, 2015)  CTV tests public opinion 

The Leaside Barber Shop at 423 Sutherland Drive (behind the Domino’s Pizza) has closed. The long-time business of owner Lui Lavecchia has fallen to the LRT construction.  Mr. Lavecchia spoke to the East York Mirror and complained that his landlord seemed to think that a new wave of prosperity had swept the street even as crews dig holes all over the landscape as part of the LRT construction. In fact, the Leaside shop has been hidden from Eglinton for months by an enormous underground access facility that blocks Sutherland north of Eglinton. “It makes me cry but I’ll be OK, my customers will support me,” Lavecchia said. “Local people always did support me. I was a barber to them, they were customers to me, but we were more like friends.” The Mirror  records that the Leaside Barber Shop first opened in 1944. Mr. Lavecchia has owned it since 1979. Lavecchia has accepted a job with a neighbouring barber shop, Mister Barber Lounge at 814 Eglinton Ave. E. in the middle of the block between Sutherland and Laird Drive. He hopes to bring his customers over to the that shop.