I stuck close to home this weekend. The sun was bright and the temperature around 28 degrees. Too hot to walk too far afield.
I started and ended my weekend with my GoPro camera. The weather was muggy and I was busy with the Kingston Storefront Fringe Festival but I managed to snag some photos of the Kingston core. All within a 10 minute walk of where I live. I am very lucky.
I have compiled these into two short videos. I hope they capture the weekend in Kingston from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. Enjoy.
Saturday morning between 8 and 9 am
Sunday evening between 8 and 9 pm
Cooling off
And here’s a reminder of what it looked like in January!
The flower gardens as I have walked the streets of Kingston have been delightful this year. We had a cool, wet, slow spring and now it is hot and sunny. The flowers seem to have loved it. And so have I.
Here is a collection of flower photos that I have taken on my walks over the past several weeks. I hope they bring cheer to your day.
Even the geranium on my balcony has rewarded me with a plethora of bloom. Right now the one plant has 23 flowers on it.
I have lived downtown for ten years and yet I did not know that there is a Sunday Market at the Memorial Centre (Kingston). In keeping with my goal of learning more about my community through walking every street in the Kingston core, I headed over to the Memorial Centre this morning.
I discovered a busy market with vendors from near and far selling local goods and produce.. I chatted with a baker from Kemptville and bought a bacon butter tart from them before they were all gone (by 10:15 am).
I also picked up some frozen Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls that I will have for dinner from a vendor from Lyn, Ontario. (I didn’t know where that is. It is a hamlet just west of Brockville.) There were also lots of stalls selling fresh local produce and greens, iincluding dandelion leaves in bunches that look like a head of lettuce and bunches of garlic scapes (the green tops with the little flower bud at the top).
If you are a Kingstonian and have not yet checked out this Sunday market, give it a go. I will be back for sure.
And while we were wandering the neighbourhood, Anne-Marie and Dave flagged us down to go for coffee at the nearby Coffee Way. We had lots of theatre chat and I learned about Connor’s little venture selling good condition LEGO sets. If you want some Vintage LEGO, let me know and I will put you in touch with him.
On my way along Montreal Street I encountered this delightful streetside garden, just a few steps from Blakey’s Flower Shop.
All in all it was a great Sunday morning. By noon I had walked 10 km, visited with friends, found a new market and come home with something special that I can warm up for dinner. Ahh, summer.
It’s crazy, really. Why do we think we need to go farther afield to find interesting things to explore. Within a few blocks of where I live are two absolutely beautiful cathedrals. I rarely go into them. But when I travel, if I see a church I always go in, sit for a few moments to soak up the ambience and reflect.
St Mary’s Cathedral on Johnson Street in Kingston is really magnificent inside. The cornerstone for the present building was laid in 1843 and the cathedral, much as it remains today, was constructed over the next five years. Over a few years around 1990, a seven million dollar restoration of the original building was done. The limestone was carefully restored or replaced and one of the walls and buttresses was replaced.
The interior of this building is stunning and inspirational. Guided tours are available throughout the summer on Weekdays (except Wednesday) from 1-5. Check this wonderful building out.
St George’s Cathedral is more familiar to me as I have been to concerts there (the acoustics are wonderful) and even last Christmas Eve I wandered in to just sit in the back pew and absorb the peace. St George’s Cathedral was built in 1862, replacing a smaller wooden St George’s church that, from 1792, was located opposite the Market Square ( about where Morrison’s Restaurant is now) . It was enlarged between 1891 and 1894 but then much of the roof and interior was destroyed by fire in 1899. It was quickly repaired to be as it appears now, 120 years later.
St George’s also has a beautiful interior and throughout the summer the doors are open for visitors to come into the church and witness its grandeur.
I suspect that many visitors to Kingston admire these churches but how often do local residents who are not part of these congregations drop in to spend a few moments of quiet and absorb the grandeur that is part of our community? Both are worth a visit.
To show just how close to home these wonderful churches are to me, I took this photo from the rooftop of my apartment building. The spire of St Mary’s is in the left upper horizon and the dome of St George’s is in the middle right third of this photo.
johnageddes 