There are currently two fine houses at 301 and 303 LeBreton: Directly across the street is the government office complex for Natural Resources Canada: The owner of the two houses proposes to demolish the homes and replace them with a 29 unit rental apartment building. There will be 15 two-bedroom units; and 14 one-bedroom plus den. The building will be three floors high. The site plan shows that the rear lane truncated to allow for development of the lot (the large vehicle on an angle is the garbage truck picking up the dumpster): The elevation of the building shows as: I am not sure … Continue reading 303 LeBreton apartment infill

Whilst checking through my spam filters I discovered an email from Muammar Gadaffi who is anxious to leave his African country due to turmoil there but needs my bank account number to transfer a sum out. I get to keep a share of it. Could this be true? Gadaffi reads me? He is interested in Dalhousie neighborhood and wants to maybe buy a condo here? I wonder if he will bring those unusually proportioned “nurses” with him. I wonder if he reads Ken Grey too? Continue reading Muammar Gaddafi reads WestSideAction !

With the whatever awards in Ottawa last night, hosted by Wm Shatner, I thought of this kitchen I saw in a Toronto showroom. No doubt Lt. Uhura  does the actual cooking  by sliding a long manicured fingernail along a control panel while Scotty fires up the nuclear oven and Snape Spock recites the recipe. Not seen: Captain Kirk’s armchair. Continue reading Captain Kirk’s Kitchen

It is amazing what one can find on utility poles furnishing our sidewalks. ( I say furnishing, because city planners call sign posts and telephone poles and newspaper boxes sitting on our pedestrian sidewalks “sidewalk furniture”. Truly.) Aside from huge collections of staples, these posts protect peds from cars, and inform us of what is important in the neighborhood: Continue reading Pedestrian art

Sometimes renovations can be almost instant, although they come at a price. I have this kitchen door to the side yard which I never liked very much: I saw an advert for a firm that puts new windows in existing doors. I called them to drop by to look at the old door, and give me an estimate: “Structurally sound, lot’s of life left in the door, easy to replace … $350. And it we will do it right now, be done in forty minutes.” They popped the old door out, cut out the panel, inserted the glass: Zowee, lots of … Continue reading Instant renovations

Note the semi-detached house in the centre of the picture. The near half, with the square skylight, has a totally bare roof. No snow cover. It melted away. From heat loss. Note the second half of the house, covered in snow. Better insulation, possibly better attic ventilation too. Here is a view of the warehouse roof outside my third floor windows. First built as the Champagne streetcar barns, then called Vimy House, now it’s a secure document storage facility (know to us plebes as a mini-warehouse). The roof structure on the original building is 2×4’s or 2×6’s set on edge and packed together. Some sections … Continue reading Insulation tells a tale …

Baby, it’s cold outside. But this painted concrete pillar is decorated to heat you up. Then, come summer, there’s a pillar to cool you off. Continue reading Flamin’ Cold