Monday, December 24, 2018

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone who surfs by.  Cheers ! Les

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Leonard Cohen again

Wow a couple of months since last post............so for the sake of posting
here is another Leonard Cohen  post...........

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Verdun Mountain BC (news to me)

Wow over 40 years here in BC and I had never heard of Verdun Mountain .........? I cannot believe I hadn't noticed the name at least. Well right now we have over 600 wildfires throughout the province,and Verdun Mtn is one of them.
From my deck I usually enjoy a fantastic view right across the strait of Juan de Fuca,and see the Olympic Mtns with their year round snow caps,and te lights of Port Angeles Washington  each night,but today the valley in front of me is smoky and the sky from here across to the USA is obscured by a hazy smokey white out sky. This smoke is coming from all over the coast and interior BC . Mother nature letting everyone know who is Boss. The following pics are as of 5minutes ago from my deck towards the ocean down the valley and across the strait.......on a clear day I will post what you should see normally.



Saturday, July 14, 2018

Tour of Verdun Early 1970's ps: (Click on Photos to Enlarge)

                           

Well it;s been quite sometime since I at least posted something,so today I picked a few Archive of Montreal photos from the Ling collection. She walked around Verdun and just took a bunch of photos , so I want to share them here with you and whoever surfs by. Cheers ! Les

























cheers ! for now ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,HV&RV

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

A great Belmont Park video

This is a well detailed and filmed video of our favourite old amusement park.
Hopefully this version posted has the original background sounds (sights & sounds ) of Belmont Park,,,,,,a later posting of the same video has some somber background music and it just doesn't fit. (hit mute & just watch) in anycase kudos to 'Hush Angel'who posted this on youtube to share with everyone.  

Video titled MONTREAL IN THE SIXTIES

A cool old video of Montreal back in our day, plays to the old Petula Clark song 'Downtown'


Sunday, April 1, 2018

45 Parks in Verdun........................Really !! Is this the Verdun we remember

I never thought we had that many parks, but ??? Here from a Montreal site that refers to our old hometown as just a borrough of Montreal (amalgamation would not have had my vote however,.......such is life)


VERDUN

I think it’s a family environment. There are several parks, activities and the waterfront is close by.
Share
The Borough of Verdun borough is a very convenient place to live if you work downtown. It’s the perfect location for a young urban family that doesn’t want to waste time commuting.

Map of the borough

Discover our neighbourhoods and browse the map to learn more about the quality of nearby services.

and New Residential Projects

In our boroughs, the real estate supply is varied. There are a number of new residential projects of all sizes, and with so many existing homes for sale, there's so much to choose from!

The borough Verdun at a glance

Some facts and figures

Living environment

The Borough of Verdun borough is a very convenient place to live if you work downtown. It’s the perfect location for a young urban family that doesn’t want to waste time commuting. It offers a peaceful environment with neighbourhoods filled with green spaces and brimming with cultural amenities. All services are minutes away. Both the central sector, bisected by Wellington Street, and Nuns’ Island attract home-buyers. Verdun is well-known for its active community life. The bicycle paths and playgrounds are places where residents socialize. On Wellington Street, charming cafés, bakeries, butcher shops and boutiques reflect the borough’s ongoing revitalization.

Neighbourhoods in this borough

  • Wellington-de-l'Église (heart of the borough)
  • Verdun-Ouest
  • ÃŽle-des-SÅ“urs (Nuns’ Island)
  • Crawford-Park

Things to do

Major Employers

A few words about the area

“I think it’s a family environment. There are several parks, activities and the waterfront is close by.” (Résidents en amour avec leur quartier, CIBL, 101.5 Montréal)
You want to do your shopping, you just need to go on Wellington Street, and everything is there! You’re close to downtown, public transportation (…) Also good schools, very good schools.” (Résidants en amour avec leur quartier, CIBL, 101.5 Montré

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

At least this Montreal Landmark will be Preserved

Another familiar sight for most of our lives were the magical window displays of all the big retailers of the day. Now many years and decades later as many of the familiar old big name stores of Montreal have disappeared,one of the last mohicans (are we allowed to say that.......lol) has decide to gift their iconic Christmas window display to the McCord Museum.....a good choice ,rather than just getting rid of it to no where's land. However it is another exapmle of Montreal landmarks and history just disappearing......Ahhh! Nostalgia Really Isn't What it Used to Be.


The Enchanted Village: Mechanical display has graced the window of the Ogilvy store in downtown Montreal during the Christmas season each year from 1947 onward.


Montreal’s McCord Museum will inherit Ogilvy’s much-loved mechanical holiday window displays of small stuffed animals interacting in an imaginary setting, the museum announced on Wednesday.
The windows, which have delighted families since 1947, have been transferred to the downtown social history museum. They will be accessible to visitors, free of charge, from mid-November to early January.
The end of the Christmas window display tradition comes only months after the demise of another long-standing tradition at Ogilvy’s: For 72 years, until last September, a kilted bagpiper wandered through the store at lunchtime, skirling. Reaction to the decision to silence the pipes was swift and angry.
The Selfridges Group, which includes Holt Renfrew & Co. Ltd., acquired Ogilvy in 2011. Now a department store housing numerous boutiques, the store was founded in 1866 by James A. Ogilvy as a linen shop; it has been at its current location since 1896. 
A multimillion-dollar phased renovation and expansion of the Ste-Catherine St. building to merge the Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy stores is set to be complete in 2020. The store is being rebranded Holt Renfrew Ogilvy.
“We are focused on getting the best of both stores under one roof and one banner, while honouring traditions and events that celebrate Montreal’s rich fashion heritage,” the store said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are honoured to update and preserve the landmark Ogilvy building in Montreal — including, for example, the preservation of Tudor Hall — and its important heritage in the community.”
Tudor Hall, on the store’s fifth floor, was once a music hall and it had a concert pipe organ.

The Mill in the Forest: Mechanical display has graced the window of the Ogilvy store in downtown Montreal during the Christmas season each year from 1947 onward.
The Mill in the Forest: Mechanical display has graced the window of the Ogilvy store in downtown Montreal during the Christmas season each year from 1947 onward. PHOTO COURTESY HOLT RENFREW OGILVY

A statement from Holt Renfrew Ogilvy explained its decision to end the Christmas window display tradition as a move intended “to protect, preserve and ensure their continuity as a landmark of Montreal’s Christmas atmosphere … They have become heritage pieces that we feel need to be managed by the museum’s restoration experts in order to ensure their preservation and continuity over the long term.”
The donation is being accompanied by a gift of $50,000 to the museum’s foundation toward the maintenance of the mechanical displays. 
Custom-made by the German plush-toy company Steiff, the displays feature two environments: the Enchanted Village and the Mill in the Forest.
Said Suzanne Sauvage, the McCord’s president and CEO: “We are delighted that Holt Renfrew Ogilvy chose the McCord Museum for this important legacy.”