Water and Ice Under the Bridge

Water and Ice Under the Bridge, originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors.

In the Don Valley, this image is a photomerge of 2 shots.

With the warmer weather upon us, hopefully scenes like this will retreat until next winter.

Toronto Skyline at Night

Toronto Skyline at Night, originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors.

Taken at Humber Bay Park East in Toronto early in the morning March 8th, 2009.

Dockside with the Model Railroad Club of Toronto

Dockside, originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors.

After seeing a clip on CityTV last week, I took the kids down to the Model Railroad Club of Toronto on Family Day (Feb 16th, 2009) to check out the Central Ontario Railway they have in O-scale.

The detail was outstanding around the entire layout.

The day did not start out too good, however. After about 5 minutes of being there, some kid pulled the fire alarm while his father was paying for admission. Even though he informed staff of his kid's deed, we still had to evacuate the building until the Fire Department arrived and inspected the premises before giving the all clear for patrons to return.

The rest of the afternoon was awe-inspiring to say the least. It is amazing how much detail has been captured. All the work and dedication by club members really shows. Their passion for capturing life by rail is outstanding and is a real inspiration. The few images I have posted on my Flickr account (just click the photo) certainly do not do the work justice.

I Am Published

Photo © Tony Bursey - All rights reserved.
I am Published
Originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors

Granted, it is not the Toronto Star or Globe and Mail, but this little paper is dedicated to the Marmora SnoFest. Located about an hour north of Belville, I was there for the 4-dog 4 mile and 6-dog 6 mile races on February 1st. 2009. The article was written about the Jamaican Dogsled Team founder, Danny Melville and contains a photo I took at the Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby in 2008.

Christmas Tree

Photo © Tony Bursey - All rights reserved.
Christmas Tree, originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors.

We picked up our FREE* tree the other night from IKEA. I must say that I was surprised by the selection. They had lots of trees ranging in height from about 5 feet to as tall as about 9 feet.

* Of course there is a catch. You did not actually think someone would just give you a nice 8- or 9-foot tree for free! The tree cost $20. The catch is that they also give you a $20-off coupon redeemable at the store in January as long as you spend at least $70 (hence a free tree).

Role Model

Photo © Tony Bursey - All rights reserved.
Role Model, originally uploaded by Tony's Outdoors.

Some renovations are being done at the cottage so we let the kids draw on one of the walls that are coming down.

My youngest daughter (had just turned 6 years old at the time) drew this of me photographing hummingbirds at the cottage.

Morning Cap

After having MUCH trouble with the Via Venezia Espresso machine that I bought from Starbucks, I finally decided to return it. The machine did work great, and produced what I thought was good espresso, but I just could not take the constant leaking from the brew head. After many visits to the retailer, and both the store manager and myself on the phone with not only Starbucks customer service, but also the Saeco customer service, I was advised by Saeco that it would be better to return it because in order to have it fixed would require shipping to the U.S. since they do not service these in Canada which would mean Customs and brokerage fees.

I returned it to Starbucks for a full refund and went straight over to the Green Beanery in Toronto and picked up a Rancilio Silvia. Although a more expensive machine, the resulting espresso and cappucino from the same ground coffee is like night and day; much better! Now I understand all the reviews of the Via Venezia saying the first thing to do was to get a non-pressurized portafilter.

I now agree with the guys on Chowhound about the portafilter and the quality of the coffee having made and tasted both from the exact same ground coffee. Even though the Rancilio was 2.5 times the price, it is more than 3 times the machine. And the fact that it has a 3 year warranty and after that parts at 50% if required and that it is serviced in Toronto if needed were the deciding factors.

It also helped quite a bit that a few people I know have this machine already and that it comes so highly recommended, not only from them, but also from places like Chowhound. So if you are in the market for a machine and are willing to spend almost $300 for the Via Venezia, spend the extra $300 and get the REAL thing. You absolutely will not regret it. You will, however, regret not getting the REAL thing.