Sunday Garden Cent

I took advantage of a warm, partially sunny Sunday to do some gardening. This time of year, this entails raking and pulling and putting some black earth on the flower beds.

A copper seed?

I was thinking I'd like to change around the flowerbed in the front yard (maybe change its shape), so I took the shovel and starting digging, not a lot, just a bit to get an idea as to what my idea would look like.  Stuck in the dirt in my flower bed was a 1991 penny.

Do you think if I planted it in the garden, I'd get a copper tree to grow?

Sunday's total: 1¢

And yes, I will change things around but that entails time, energy and supplies - a project for the next few weekends to come.

Stuck in the Road

Yesterday (Monday), I drove to work (one of those days). I parked my car in the usual parking lot at Peter and Front. I walk along Wellington to get to my office. I spotted a coin on the road (stuck in the crosswalk on the north side of Wellington between the east and west side of Peter Street). I didn't have time to snap a picture of it cause I was running late and cars were coming. But, I did know that the coin would be waiting for me. It wasn't going anywhere. It is permanent road fixture.

A little copper in the road

I snapped a photo of it on my way to car at the end of the day.

There's no way to make out the year or county (although it does appear to be Canadian).

Total find 1¢.

Parking Lot Change

Weekends always go too fast - always to much to do and never enough time to do it. Saturday (yesterday) I had some running around to do. My daughter came with me for some of them. We had to get some info from Peel Public Health. Turns out it's a busy place on Saturday with many people coming and going.

When I was walking from my car to the building, I spotted a dime (2011) on the road between the parking lot and the building. I had to snap the photo fast before I got hit my a car. There was some random person running into the building (cold and blistery day) so just as I snapped, there she was.

Total find 10¢

All Wet

Friday. Don't we all just love Fridays. The last day of the week but the start of a busy weekend. Yesterday was mild and we had a wicked downpour (in Toronto anyway) in the evening. North of here (in Shelbourne and East Gwillimbury), we had confirmed tornados touch down. In Toronto, today started off warm but now it's chilly and very windy.

Enough of the local weather review.

Parking Lot Puddle Nickel

I had a lucky coin day. I take the GO train to work. Here's a somewhat humorous anecdote. I was on the train, standing in my usual spot by the door, reading my book, when the GO Train police guy came down (with his ticket book open) asking if someone just ran past. Didn't see anyone run past (not that they could get far as this was the last car with no place to go and the train was in between stations). Guess this guy thought he could get away without having to pay his fare. Not sure if he was caught or not.

Anyway, on my way from the train station to my office, I cut across this parking lot (behind Joe Badalis).  In a puddle in the parking lot, I found a 2011 nickel.

Manhole surprise

Later, during my lunch time, I went to a book store (BMV). I was looking for something specific. They didn't have the book so I decided to check out Chapters. On my way to Chapters, I headed south along John Street. In the middle of Richmond and John (south west side) I spotted my second find -- a 1999 penny -- in a rain-filled crack around a manhole cover. It's a pretty new looking penny considering how old it is. It was in the middle of the street so I had to scramble to take the picture. Glad I was quick enough to take the photo before the cars started tooting their horns at me. And no, didn't find the book at Chapters either.

Total find 11¢

A Little Green

Scrawny Tree 

I am soooo happy that pennies are not as scarce as I thought they'd be given the fact they are being phased out. Today, I was walking from my office to the GO station. I took a slightly different route today. To get to Front Street and then the train station I usually walk through this courtyard on the east of the CBC building. Today, I walked through this little courtyard on the east side of the Ritz Carlton.

Near this scrawny tree growing there I spotted a 1980 penny. What's interesting about this penny is the side that was facing up was that lovely shade of green that oxidized copper takes. The other side (the side in the dirt) was copper coloured.

Total 1¢

Oxidized penny

For those interesting in the prom dress search, you'll be happy to know that the search is over. We (she) found "the" dress. We went to this dress shop (Nina's Boutique) not far from where I live. This cozy little shop has over 5,000 dresses. They had photos of their dresses on an iPad. All my daughter had to do was browse through the pictures, find a few dresses she liked, and try them on. She found a few she liked but only two she liked enough to try on. The one we thought would like nice on
did not and the one I was iffy on, looked fabulous on her and best of all it was not stupidly priced. She's happy. The search is over and that make me really happy.

Flip Side

Prom Dress Shopping

My daughter's feet

My daughter will be graduating from high school this year and you know what that means - prom dress shopping. Boys have it so much easier, they can either rent a tux or blow the dust off that suit hanging in the closet or buy another all purpose black or navy blue suit. Girls, on the other hand, need to buy a fancy gown that will be overpriced, worn only once and then sit in the closet where it will collect dust until it is bagged and taken to the local Goodwill. Anyway, it is my motherly duty to ensure my daughter looks stunning at her prom and therefore have to suffer through the dreaded prom dress shopping. By the way, my daughter enjoys prom dress shopping as much as I do.

Heading South

Yesterday (Saturday), we ventured down to Queen and Spadina. We wandered, she tried on and found a couple dressed she liked aspects of but she didn't find "the" dress.

On to the coin collecting. The first find of the day was spotted on Queen Street (east of Spadina, on the south side), in front of some retail clothing shop. It was a 2001 dime.

Later, when the shopping expedition was done and we were heading back to the car, I spotted a penny (2004) on the sidewalk on Clarence Square at Spadina.

Total find on a cloudy Saturday - 11¢

Lucky Mornings

Yesterday (April 10) , I drove to the Kipling GO station with my husband - I take the GO, he takes the TTC. I'm on the platform, waiting for my train to arrive and I spotted a 2013 (sorry, no photo of this find).

I work in an office tower that is adjacent to the one my brother works in. We rarely drive in together - he often works later than I do but the odd time, his schedule changes or he's carless, we'll go in together.

The last couple of weeks we've been driving in together the odd day here and there. Yesterday was once such day. We parked in the underground lot under my brother's work tower. When we left the car, I spotted a 2012 dime near the adjacent car.  Not a bad way to start my day.

Total find 20¢.

The Open House

Weekends roll around and there is always too much to do and never enough time to do it all. I had these grandiose plans of this stuff I was going to do and guess what...I did a fraction of them. Oh well, what ya gonna go? There's always next weekend.

Saturday, I did some running around (shopping and stuff) with my husband. On our way home, we spotted an open house sign in our neighbourhood. I like going to open houses, not that I'm looking to move but you never know. I also like to see how people decorate their homes - give me ideas of what to do (or what not to do).  We popped into the open house and decided to check out the outside before we checked out the inside. On the way to the back yard, I spotted a  dime (2009) in the ground.

In case you're wondering, we're not moving. I didn't care for the house - although they did some updates and it wasn't a bad house, there still much work to be done (more than my house).

Total find 10¢.

Frosty morning

Spring is trying to arrive, it's just taking its time. We get a couple warm days as teasers and then boom, it's cold again. I would so like to ditch my scarf, gloves and earmuffs.

Anyway, enough of my whining about the cold. On my way in to the office this morning, I was walking briskly from Union Station to my office building. I was walking on Front Street, west of University, east of Simcoe. On the north side of the street in front of Joe Badali's I found a 1989 penny - my only find of the day.

Total 1¢

Lucky Lunch

Yesterday (April 3), my friend and I went for a walk during our lunch hour. This turned out to be quite profitable for me as I found two coins.

The first coin, a 1990 penny, was found shortly after started our jaunt. It was found on the north east corner of King and John (on the John Street part of the corner

The second coin, a 1982 penny, was found on our back to the office. We headed south on John Street and were walking on the east side of the street. I spotted the penny on the street in front of the Jack Astors.

Total 2¢

Lucky Tuesday

Tuesday's after the long weekend are always rough, rougher than a Monday after a regular

weekend. I went on morning break with one of work buddies. Seems he needed his Timmies today. While he was placing his order, I spotted a penny (1997) on the ground near the counter, neatly nestled in a cracked tile. 

Total find: 1¢

Easter Weekend

It was nice to have four days off work. Got to sleep in a bit and catch up on stuff around the house. On Saturday, I took my daughter shopping to the mall. I didn't buy anything but she bought herself some stuff. When she was in one of the shops, looking around, I stepped outside and waited in just outside the store. There is a planter near the store and guess what I saw lying on the floor near the planter - a $20 bill. That was a pleasant surprise.

On Easter Monday, had lots of running around to do and since my car was in the shop getting fixed, I had to run around with my husband who had his own errands to run. My dog likes going for car rides so came with us.  First stop was some banking so while he did his banking, I took my dog for a walk. We were in the Royal York and Bloor area. While the dog and I were walking about, I spotted a 1981penny on the road somewhere on north side of Bloor, east of Royal York.

Later, it was my errand to complete. This time we were in the Eglinton and Mount Pleasant area. On Eglinton, west of Mount Pleasant, on the north side, I spotted my second find of the day - a 1986 penny.


Total for the Easter long weekend - $20.02