Throwback Thursday -April Showers

Hi Everyone. 

Today is Throwback Thursday. Here is a post from April 3rd, 2012. 

A. New words: 

1. Showers - rain   There are April showers. 

2. Unpredictable winter  - unsure weather    The  temperatures were unpredictable.

3. Unusual - different   The weather was unusual. It wasn't cold. It was mild.

4. Prediction - future maybe   We make weather predictions. I predict a warm spring.

5. Offer - give   "Speaking: The Weather " offers you weather words.

6. Get you down - feel sad   Bad weather can get you down



B. Instructions: 

1. Read the old story about the weather. Then press comments. Write your prediction for spring weather.

2.  Go to "Speaking:  The Weather" and learn the weather words and expressions.



April showers bring May flowers.  Canada and parts of the world have had an unpredictable winter. Canada had an unusually mild winter while some places in Europe were unusually cold. Now spring is here. What is your weather prediction for the spring? Go to comments and write your prediction.

I was looking at some older posts. I thought you might like to see, Speaking: The Weather. Yes, it offers some common words and expressions for talking about weather. Also, it includes a video and on April 9, 2009, Toronto had snow! So enjoy those beautiful spring days because the temperatures can be up or down. And if too many rainy days get you down...... remember, April showers bring May flowers.

Here is a second post or page. Press the purple writing. Read April 2009, Speaking: The Weather 

Where's the Snow?

www.nataliedee.com

It's the middle of January and the temperatures are above zero.  What season is it in Toronto?  Winter?  Where is the snow?  Where are the blizzards? Hmmmm.........


Today it rained all day, yet we usually have snow by now. Most years, the first snowfall is in November but it melts. Sometimes, we have fresh white snow for the Christmas holidays. Usually, the snow starts to cover the ground in December or January. We can have snowstorms into March, and there are even blizzards in April some years. Canadian weather is difficult to predict!


Winter 2009, there was lots of snow. Take a look at January, 2009.  Press the two titles below.

Winter in Toronto 2
Winter in Toronto

How to Make a Jack-o-lantern

     Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en are the two celebrations in the fall. Hallowe'en is always the last day of October or October 31st. Before Hallowe'en, there are many orange pumpkins in the groceries stores. Many people like to buy them to decorate their homes on Hallowe'en night. But first, you must carve them into a face or cut out a picture on the pumpkin. After, you put a candle inside and it becomes a lantern to place outside the front door. How do you make a jack-o-lantern? Today, we have a guest writer, Munirah. She will explain step by step.

It is easy to make a jack-o-lantern. First, pick up a pumpkin and cut the stem like a lid. Then clean the pumpkin and take out the seeds. Next, carve the eyes, nose and mouth. After that, take one candle and light it and melt the wax into the the pumpkin. Finally, put the candle on the wax in the pumpkin and cover the pumpkin with the lid. Lastly, put the pumpkin in the window. Also, don't forget to use the broom and dust pan to clean up.

Happy Hallowe'en!

     

Fall in Ottawa

It's fall or autumn. Can you answer these questions about fall?


1.  When is the first day of fall?


2.  What month do you think I took these photos?


3.  Last fall, I was in Ottawa for a Canadian holiday. Do you know what holiday?


4.  Do you know any good places to visit in Ontario during the fall season? Where?


5.  Can you think of any areas in Toronto that will be pretty in the fall? Where?


6.  What is the name of the leaf on the Canadian flag?


7.   Do you know the name of 2 kinds of popular trees?


8.   Do you know the name of a tree that doesn't change colours?


9.   Do you like the fall? Why or why not?


10. What does "autumn years" mean? What do you want to do in the autumn years of your life?

Ontario:Trivia and Facts

Yes, it's spring and I am a gardener, but these are wild flowers. In fact, this is Ontario's official flower, the trillium. It grows at the edge of the woodlands in May. These photos are from High Park near Grenadine Pond. If you are in any big parks or in the Ontario countryside, look into the forest. You will see these small white flowers scattered under the trees. If you are really lucky, you will see a dark red trillium which is rare. One warning! Please don't pick the trilliums. It is illegal to pick our provincial flower.

To celebrate this Ontario flower, here is a trivia quiz about the province. Are you an Ontarian? Then you should know the answers to most of these questions.

Remember, if you do not understand a word, double click the word. Then you will get the meaning and more information.

1. The capital of Ontario is

a) Toronto b) Ottawa c) Kingston

2. Ontario is between

a) Alberta and Quebec

b) Nunavut and Manitoba

c) Quebec and Manitoba

3. Ontario is beautiful, but is does not have

a) Niagara Falls b) Rocky Mountains c) Algonquin Park

4. Toronto is the biggest city. Tourists will not find

a) CN Tower b) Casa Loma c) Banff

5. The premier of Ontario is

a) Dalton McGuinty b) Stephen Harper c) Jack Layton

6. The large body of water to the south is Lake Ontario and to the north is

a) Atlantic Ocean b) Lake Erie c) Hudson Bay

7. Which Canadian singer was not born in Ontario

a) Shania Twain b) Celine Dion c) Justin Bieber

8. This Canadian actor or actress was not born in Ontario

a) Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber)

b) Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, Stuart Little)

c) Ellen Page (Juno, Inception)

9. The official bird of Ontario is the

a) Canadian Goose b) Loon c) Blue Jay

I have lived most of my life in Ontario, so the first questions are easy for me to pull from my head. The next questions are Ontario statistics and I got some help from "Ontario Travel". Try these questions. Then check your answers below.

10. Ontario has 250,000 lakes or

a) 20% of the world's fresh water

b) 1/3 of the world's fresh water

c) 1/10 of the world's fresh water

11. The population of Ontario is 12 million or

a) 1 in 5 Canadians

b) 1 in 10 Canadians

c) 1 in 3 Canadians

12. Spring is from March to May. The average spring temperature is 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) to

a) 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit)

b) 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit)

c) 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit)

Would you like to learn more about Ontario? Try these sites.

• About Ontario
• Ontario Travel
• Government of Ontario

Answers: 1a, 2c, 3b, 4c, 5a, 6c, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10b, 11c, 12a

Spring in Toronto:High Park

Picnic season is starting. One of the best places for a picnic is under a cherry tree in High Park,Toronto. Better yet, if you go at the end of the cherry blossom season, the pink flowers will fall of the tree and float down around you. Cherry blossoms fall off rather than fade away.

This photo is from the weeping cherry tree in my backyard. For a spectacular show, see the rows of mature cherry trees in bloom at High Park right now.

Where are the blossoms?

High Park Blossom Map

What's at High Park?

High Park is a huge park in the west end of Toronto. I've taken a bike on the subway to the High Park stop. You can bike in the park. There's a children's playground, a free zoo, a swimming pool, a dog park and a restaurant. In the summer, there's an outdoor theatre. Watching a play under the stars is a lot of fun. For more information, check out the official High Park site.

High Park Toronto

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April Buds Open

April showers bring May flowers.

Yeh! The flowers are blooming. The last photo (below) shows the buds in rainy April. Now look at the colour in May! It's just starting.

Expressions of Spring

April showers

Bring May flowers

This year, we got a lot of rain:( When you look around the world, I think our weather isn't that bad. The cloudy days affect us all, but we live in safe dry homes.

In a few days, the flowers will blossom on this bush. Maybe, I will be able to photograph this plant in bloom. It usually blooms around Mother's Day which is the second Sunday in May.

I was walking the dog in the rain and thinking of the many English expressions that use weather vocabulary. Here are ten sayings or expressions. Most of these use words from spring weather. Can you guess the meaning of these expressions?

1. I feel under the weather:(

2. Don't rain on my parade.

3. Get your head out of the clouds!

4. It's raining cats and dogs.

5. I'm going to my friend's bridal shower.

6. He showered me with gifts:)

7. He is no spring chicken.

8. It never rains but it pours.

9. Could I take a rain check?

10. The calm after the storm.

Related Post:

• Spring in Toronto 2
• Speaking: The Weather

Spring in Toronto 4/14/11

• The first flowers are blooming.
• The grass is turning green.
• The buds are on the trees.

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Winter in Toronto, 2011

Last week, Toronto had some storms. A walk at Lake Ontario shows the trees and bushes covered in ice. The last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February are usually the coldest part of the winter. This is early February and it was cold! My camera got so cold, it stopped working.

I look at these winter photos, but I know the February thaw will follow. The ice will begin to melt by the end of February. March is always unpredictable. We could get some snow storms in March. We have had a lot of snow this winter and it looks like it will be here for some time.

Check out the weather in Toronto here.

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Toronto in December, 2010

Where are we? Downtown TO

Well, this is Ashbridges Bay. It's quiet in December, but the parks along Lake Ontario are still open.

Do you notice Toronto's landmarks?

The CN Tower can be seen from many directions including the lake.

Check out the CN Tower here.

Spring in Toronto: Pillow Fight 2010

It's time for the annual pillow fight! International Pillow Fight Day is April 3rd, but the Toronto pillow fight takes place on the second Saturday in May. It's at Yonge-Eglinton Square on Saturday, May 8th. You can start swinging your pillow at 3:00 p.m. Bring a soft, feather free pillow and remember to take off your glasses.




The pillow fight is free for all ages. For more details, go to last year's pillow fight. Press here.

Happy Easter!

To learn more about the history of Easter and how Canadians celelbrate Good Friday and Easter, press here.

Winter in Toronto 6

My feet are cold.
By Grant MacDonald

A picture is worth a thousand words. Winter has hit in Toronto. It's one of those Sundays, it's best to cuddle up with a good book or a laptop and wrap yourself in a warm blanket. Just looking outside makes me feel cold. The newsman says the cold weather is going to be around for a few days.

However, there is no snow yet in Toronto. Further north like in Ottawa, it's very white and beautiful. Right now, it's too cold to snow, but the snow storms will come. Soon enough, the snow ploughs will be humming up and down the streets and the homeowners will be shovelling heavy snow. There is actually a law in Toronto that requires all sidewalks to be cleared after a snow fall. Luckily, senior citizens can have their sidewalks cleared by the city. So right now, is the calm before the storm. Lots of snow brings chaos to the city!

Feel like venturing out this winter, check out the winter activities organized by the city. Toronto's WinterCity Festival starts end of January. Press here.

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Spring in Toronto 2

Tulips in Bloom
Originally uploaded by szuberi

May means spring flowers and trees. Enjoy the tulips and cherry trees at High Park. Edwards Garden and Osgoode Hall, York University also have those beautiful pink cherry blossoms.

Netherlands' Gift of Spring Flowers

It was the love for the Dutch's royal mother that started the annual gift of tulips to Ottawa. During World War 2, Princess Juliana and her two children fled the violence in the Netherlands and took refuge in Canada. Then came the birth of the royal family's third child, Margriet which means daisy. There was one problem. How could the royal child be an official citizen of the Netherlands? The baby was born in Canada, but a room at the Ottawa Civic Hospital was declared 'Dutch soil'. Margriet was born January 19,1943, and the royal mother and her children continued life in Canada.

In 1945 the government became more stable, so the princess and her children were able to return to the Netherlands. In thanks, the Dutch people sent a gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The following year, Princess Juliana sent 10,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa.

Each year, the Netherlands continued to give thousands of tulips to the capital of Canada. About five years ago, Queen Juliana died at the age of 94, but the Dutch Royal family decided to continue the tradition in memory of the late queen.

The Ottawa Tulip Festival begins every May in Ottawa. It is Canada's biggest tulip festival. For more information about the Tulip Festival and the gift of the tulips, visit the Ottawa tourism site. Ottawa is a fun place to visit in the spring or summer. Be sure to rent a bike and enjoy the many parks and gardens along the canal.



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Speaking: The Weather

Canadians are always talking about the weather? Why?

• We have four seasons about three months each. March 20th was the first day of spring!
• The change from one season to the next can be gradual or abrupt. It's never the same each year. This spring, we had a few warm days, but now its cooler again.
  
• We have a lot of extreme conditions. Too hot. Too cold. Too much snow....
• The precipitation changes year to year. This year, we shovelled a lot of snow! Last summer, it rained a lot.
  
• The weather can change from morning to afternoon, day to day and week to week.
  

Small talk: Weather is a great opener for small talk or short two or three minute conversations. Here's some common questions to ask about the weather.

• What's the weather like? or What's it like out?
• Is it hot/cold enough for you?
• Is it going to rain/snow today?
• Is it going to warm up today/ this week?
• What's the forecast for this week/ the next few days?
• What's the temperature?
• Isn't it beautiful?

Now it's April, and it's colder than usual for April. Yet, it's not unusual to see snow in late March or early April. Take a look at April 7th in Toronto.




So, when will spring arrive in Toronto? I hope earlier than in 2008. That year, it seemed like it was never going to stop snowing and I remember skiing in late March. Follow the change from winter to spring in 2008. At least, spring started a bit earlier this year.



One thing for certain. Spring means rain. Here's some vocabulary and expressions for rainy conditions.

• There is a light drizzle: very light rain
• There are showers: light rain
• It's pouring: heavy rain
• It's raining cats and dogs: heavy rain
• There is thunder and lightening: usually during a storm, you see light and hear noises in the sky

But remember, April showers bring May flowers!




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Wanna be Wednesday 4/8

www.superpoop.com


I want to be a small furry animal with long ears and short fluffy tail. That's right a rabbit, but not just any rabbit. I want to be the Easter Bunny, so I can deliver chocolates and candy eggs to all the young children all over the world. In Canada, the Easter Bunny hides these sweets during the night and the children search for them on Easter morning. Some children find their goodies in a basket and others discover one or two chocolate presents often in the shape of spring symbol like a bunny or an egg.

What is Easter?

Easter is important to Christians because it is a religious date. Here is an introduction to Easter.

Easter

View more presentations from indezine_powerpoint.

Why is Friday a holiday?

It was started by the many Christians in Canada. Good Friday is the day Jesus, the son of God, died. People buy white lilies which represent the flower of hope and life. On Easter Sunday, some also have hot cross buns which are small round bread with a cross on the top representing the cross Jesus died on.

Why is Easter considered a spring holiday too?

It's roots go back to pagan times when people celebrated the goddess of dawn and fertility called Eostur. Spring and fertility is represented in popular Easter images such as chicks, bunnies, lambs and eggs. Also, people decorate with spring flowers like crocuses, tulips, and yellow daffodils.

Another tradition is decorating eggs. I have decorated eggs with my children. First, we would prepare the egg by removing the raw egg. You can make a small whole at each end and then blow hard into the top hole. This pushes the raw egg out the bottom hole and the liquid can be collected in a bowl. We'd save the raw egg for the next meal. Some people hard boil the eggs. Then the eggs are dyed with food colouring in glasses of water. The pastel eggs are often displayed in baskets or hung on a branch.

Easter is Sunday. Happy Easter!



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Toronto Pillow Fight by Reza Vaziri


March 21, 2009, Torontonians met downtown for some fun at Dundas Square near the Eatons Centre. Everyone brought a pillow for a massive pillow fight! There were lots of young people and parents arrived with their children. Some of the participants wore silly costumes to celebrate the free cultural event. At 3:00 p.m., the signal was given and the annual Toronto Pillow Fight began.

The participants had to follow some simple guidelines. Newmindspace helped organize the annual event and here's their suggested rules.

Rules: Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and fun pillow fight for everybody!

+ Soft pillows only!
+ Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.
+ Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.
+ Remove glasses beforehand!
+ Wait until the 3:00 to begin.
+ Pillow fight ends when the sun sets.
+ Do not abandon your pillow at the location.

Cleanup: Please limit your use of feathers. As the pillow fight grows in size, so does the mess. By participating, you are pledging to clean up twice the mess you made :)

Good news for those outside of Toronto: Tomorrow is World Pillow Fight Day!

In Canada, Quebec City and Vancouver have signed up for Saturday, April 4th. Many cities all over the world from New York City, US to Paris, France to Cape Town, Africa will hold massive pillow fights.




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Places Along Lake Ontario

Ready for a walk? Sure you are if your dressed like this.



Maybe, a bit early for the beach? You will still need your sunglasses.


East of Toronto, there are many little towns and a few small cities along Lake Ontario. They were originally started when ports were important. The first mode of transportation was ships, and then the national railroad and the highway followed. Depending on the success of the commerce in the area, some towns have grown a lot and are full of modern subdivisions. In some of the smaller towns, less has changed and older houses surrounded by native trees create a charming view for both residents and visitors.

There is always an older area in most towns where people first started to settle usually with a church to complete the town setting. Canada has rural beginnings and many towns are still surrounded by farms that are many generations old. Unfortunately, most of the farms are gone that were in the Toronto area. The city has pushed the farming out and some of our homes and buildings sit on very fertile soil.

The homes close to the lake sit on sandy soil. Some of the homes closest to Lake Ontario started as cottages. An area in Toronto, the Beaches, started as an area for summer homes. People vacationed in this area and other areas along Lake Ontario. Middle class families enjoyed summer weeks and weekends near the sandy beach. Now people visit the parks in all the seasons.

The winter pictures were taken near Picton. Here's a map of Lake Ontario. How long do you think it takes to get from Toronto to Picton? About 2 1/2 hours.

For more history about the Beaches, check out these short stories



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