Leaside Garden Society speaker in May will be Tony Spencer

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Tony Spencer

The Leaside Garden Society has announced that its speaker on Thursday, May 13 will be Tony Spencer, Canadian writer, photographer, speaker and planting designer. His subject will be Designing With Grasses. Mr. Spencer is particularly known for his blog, The New Perennialist. The influential blog focuses on Explorations in Naturalistic Planting Design. His work is recognized internationally with Gold and Silver Awards from GardenComm (formerly Garden Writers of America). As planting designer, Mr. Spencer won the 2020 Landscape Design Honor Award from the Perennial Plant Association in the US.

Puckish ringleader

He has become a puckish ringleader for the naturalistic movement in social media channels like Facebook group ‘Dutch Dreams’ and Instagram. Writer by profession, planting designer by passion, Tony is a self-taught gardener and biophiliac who made a deep study of the visionary work of Piet Oudolf, and later came to know and study with the Master himself at Hummelo. He has traveled extensively to gardens and symposiums internationally to keep up with the cutting edge of planting design, all while experimenting on a new series of wild-ish gardens at his beloved cabin in the rolling hills of Mono, Ontario. To attend the May meeting visit www.leasidegardensociety.org  or email leaside@gardenontario.org

He finds joy during pandemic tapping trees for maple syrup

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You’ve got to love this story of a Toronto businessman who is spending the pandemic tapping his (and neighbors’ trees) in Caledon to make maple syrup.

Users scramble as Facebook apps all down across the world

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Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger were down for a period Friday across the world. The three apps – all of which are part of the Facebook company, and share common technology – stopped working on Friday. Updates here

Conspiracy Pizza says it will open at 856 Eglinton near Laird

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Conspiracy Pizza, the independent restaurant and takeout place caught up in the Adamson BBQ furor, will take the vacant space at 856 Eglinton East near Laird Drive. This address was for many years occupied by Shoeless Joes. Conspiracy Pizza operated in space on Wicksteed Ave. next door to Adamson BBQ but three months ago it declared the space to be “unsafe” after Adamson’s owner Adam Skelly launched a rebellion against C-19 closures. Conspiracy’s owner, Dan Rios, had been purchasing and smoking meats using Adamson smokers since he took full ownership of the pizza firm in 2019.

YRP say seven saved from Simcoe ice-fishing misadventures

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Now down with the fishes/York Regional Police

York Regional Police Marine Unit says it rescued as many as seven people from ice-fishing misadventures on Lake Simcoe early in the week with at least one suffering extreme hypothermia. Other pictures

Girl has broken leg after accident on Cleveland at Cody PS

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Police said late Thursday that the driver of a car in an accident on Cleveland St. outside Cody School stopped and talked briefly to the mother of the child who was hit. But then she left. The late release also said that the driver, a woman, was subsequently identified by police and that the investigation is ongoing. The child, a girl of 7, is recovering from a broken leg.

Self-checkout machinery spotted at 1601 Bayview Shoppers

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1601 Bayview Ave.

It’s a staple at Loblaws and now the retail giant is installing self-checkout machines at its subsidiary, Shoppers Drug Mart. The equipment has been spotted at 1601 Bayview Ave. in the former Bayview Playhouse building.

Input call for Davisville aquatic centre and community hub

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Davisville Aquatic and Community Centre

Davisville resident John Hiddema is reminding area residents that the City’s planning process for the Davisville community hub and aquatic centre has begun. The construction schedule may see the centre, including two swimming pools, built by 2024. Mr. Hiddema and his friends have been tireless advocates on behalf of the Davisville hub.

John Hiddema and son Mark in 2018

Local input sought on new park planned at 100 Broadway

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Residents of Mt. Pleasant West have been invited by the City to offer input on the design of a new park to be created on the northeast corner of Broadway Ave and Redpath Ave. The address is 100 Broadway. The planned park, which is said to be 746 square metres was a donation from the builders of the Pharrell Williams condominium at the same location. Mr. Williams is a well-known US singer, songwriter and producer who for reasons not very clear is associated with the development.

Notable address at 1819 Yonge at Merton is listed for lease

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The large retail space on the northeast corner of Yonge St. and Merton St. has been offered for lease at 45 a square foot. For many years it has been occupied by Ethan Allen Home Decor. Listing

Netflix crackdown, teen hacker to jail and Lotto tears of joy

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Yes, the humongous streaming firm is a bit edgy about just how many non-paying households are riding along on someone else’s password.

Teen Twitter hacker, 18, goes to jail in Florida

A very bright Florida teenager, Graham Clark, is paying a big price for using his intelligence to hack the account of famous people like President Biden and Bill Gates. The scheme netted Clark more than $117,000 in bitcoin. Kind of sad.

Lotto Max tears of joy

Dorothy-Ann and Marc Meilleur cried tears of joy

Dorothy-Ann and Marc Meilleur cried tears of joy when they realized they had won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw. The couple is from Noelville near Sudbury. Good for them. Toronto Sun

Bogoch on rising cases as Ontario works to vaccinate people

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Isaac Bogoch

Epidemiologist and public advisor Isaac Bogoch confirms the general increase in cases of C-19 and its main variant B117 in Ontario. Appearing on Citytv, he also discussed the general effectiveness of vaccines. Like most informed people on the subject, he urgently advises we take the first vaccine available to us.

Bogoch Twitter account