here I am with the second part of the balconies and porches of the neighborhood.  There are so many beautiful balconies and terraces to look at and I found it difficult to choose the best ones because they are all so lovely.  Here are some examples..

this is a lovely house with a large wrap around balcony

 

one of the older houses with lots of charm

 

a stately home

 

a large entrance balcony  decorated with flowers

 

a beautiful bungalow with a wooden deck in front of the house

 

love the red chairs

 

a balcony of a castle

 

hidden behind trees

 

love the front porch

 

another hidden balcony

 

a small terrace garden.  A little balcony in-between the plants.

 

A balcony decorated with Hibiscus trees.

Nearly 4000 homes are flooded in Quebec.   This is one of the worst floods since 50 years, and with no end in sight.   There will be more considerable rainfall on the weekend.   I fell very sad for all these people who have lost their homes and everything they had.  I hope they will get all the help they need.  There are many volunteers who are helping and people have been very generous with their donations to the Red Cross.     Today I went down to the Rosemere waterfront and this is what I saw.

one of the lovely homes completely under water.  There was nobody there and it was very quiet.

the park under water

 

The playground under water

 

the houses on the other side of Laval are also under water.

 

Last week I was driving along the north shore of Montréal, from Terrebonne to St. Eustache and I saw many interesting houses with beautiful balconies and front porches.  Unfortunately, since we still do not have a spring weather many of these balconies were quite empty but even then they looked lovely and I took many pictures.  Here are a few of them.

an older house with wrap around balcony and stairs

 

a beautiful Quebec style house

 

here the whole view of the house

 

my favorite bungalow in my neighborhood

 

This old bench looks very inviting

 

one of the first flower pots to be seen

 

the first spring flowers

 

love this little terrace in front of the window

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Khalil Gibran

End of April.  Spring is here and we are looking forward to hot summer months.  This is also the time we are thinking about working in the garden, decorating the balcony or just bringing in some plants.  This also calls for some color around the house.   Changing just a few pillows or bringing out a colorful tablecloth will do the trick.   I did a little bit of decorating around my place.  I also moved around the furniture (that does not cost anything) and voilà we have a new look.  Here are some pictures.

I bought this lovely Oxalis plant with its lovely white flowers at my local supermarket.

African Violets so easy to keep

Most plants prefer lots of light near a window

 

A pink tablecloth  on my kitchen table

moved the sofa to the other side in my home office to make it look more inviting

More colorful red pillows to make the room look nice

I mix colors and patterns and somehow it looks just great

Tina relaxing with not a care in the world

Rosemere is a suburb north of Montreal, just across the bridge of Laval.  Rosemere is known for its beautiful gardens (in summer) and for its quaint houses and beautiful little streets.  Of course there are also some new developments with newer bigger houses but I prefer older homes with character, where you feel that you are still in the country.  Here are some of my favorite ones.

on the waterfront

I just love this little bungalow

another one of my favorites

love the front porch

a Buddha sitting in front of the house

going for a walk along the riverside.

Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice.  It demands greater heroism than war.  It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.

Thomas Merton

 

What consumerism really is…….at its worst is getting people to buy things that don’t actually improve their lives.

                                    Jeff Bezos

 

We now have end of March and winter is still here with us.   Looking outside the windows everything is still white.   Because the days are getting longer we feel that Spring is already with us and our indoor plants are looking healthier.

Winter outside and Summer inside

Geraniums are growing near the window

The house looks very green.   We are waiting for Spring !!!

 

If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs  you down.

Buddha

Facts are many, but the truth is one.

Rabindranath Tagore

It is better to be hated for what you are,  than to be loved for what you are not.

André Gide

 

 

My absolute favorite street in Montreal is “Avenue de L’Esplanade” in Plateau Mont Royal, overlooking Parc Jeanne-Mance.  The architecture of the buildings is beautiful with staircases leading up to the front doors and tiny little balconies everywhere.  The view from there is amazing because you can see the mountain and the monument Sir George-Etienne Cartier.  You are not far from Avenue du Parc with all its restaurants and from Outremont, another beautiful area of Montreal.

one of the buildings overlooking the park

Parc Jeanne-Mance with the Sir George-Etienne Cartier Monument in the background

walking along the streets you will see lots of little balconies everywhere

looking at the street from the other side

Soon I will be taking pictures in summer where all these little balconies will be decorated with plants and flowers and the whole street will look different.   HOPE YOU LIKED IT !!!!!

 

Last week I went for  a walk in Plateau Mont Royal, a borough (arrondissement) in the city of Montréal.   The borough is bordered to the west by Park Avenue (Avenue du Parc) and facing Mont Royal, hence its name Plateau Mont Royal.   It is known for its houses with outside stairs and many cafés and funky stores.

here the famous stairs and balconies you see everywhere

a cute little children’s store just next to a café

stairs leading up to apartments

A beautiful door with lace curtains

A street full of stairs

with the end of winter the snow starts to look very dirty

people walking around in the local Jeanne Mance Park facing Mont Royal

St. Hubert Street   (rue Saint Hubert)

and this is Tina and me relaxing at home