A Place Of Peace And Quiet

 More today inside the main cottage at Kingswood on the Mackenzie King Estate.

This is the living room, complete with a desk and plenty of books to be found.

I always appreciate a good fireplace. This room would have been the social centre on the estate in the early years.

Mackenzie King's own bedroom is simple but fitting, adjacent to the main entrance of the cottage.

I stepped back outside.

This looks back towards the guest cottage and the carriage house.

The lake, downslope from here, was one of the elements that drew Mackenzie King to make a home here. We'll go down there tomorrow.

In A State Of Deep Melancholy

 More today inside the guest cottage at Kingswood on the Mackenzie King Estate.

Mackenzie King entertained family, friends, and guests here for years, developing the main cottage over time.

And here it is.

This is the main kitchen.

This was the room of his mother, Isabel Mackenzie King, when she would visit. 

Between the years 1915-22, Mackenzie King sustained several deaths- his parents, a brother, and a sister. It left him in a state of melancholy that would reflect through the rest of his life. He would never marry, his life too occupied by politics and public service, but this estate became his place of sanctuary and healing.

Part Of The Vocabulary Of Heaven

I realized yesterday that I had passed four thousand published posts in this blog more than a month ago without noticing it. Time flies, doesn't it?

Returning today to my series. My next stop was a visit to the Mackenzie King Estate. The country retreat for five decades for one of our greatest prime ministers, William Lyon Mackenzie King, it was willed to the people of Canada upon his death. Two of the three homes on the estate are open for visits by the public. Stepping through this introductory area, the path beyond to the right takes us to the first of those homes, Kingswood.

The path crosses a road. The third of the homes, called the Farm, today is the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons, and is off limits. Mackenzie King was a young lawyer who made money working for the Rockefellers, and then a politician, who first came here at the dawn of the 20th century, drawn by names already present- King Mountain, which lies nearby, and Kingsmere Lake, which the estate is on. He would, over time, build homes and develop his own ideas of landscaping among nature that left behind a marvelously appealing place to visit.

He was an avid diarist. Quotes from his diary can be found in physical form like this, or as part of a display board.

Here we arrive at Kingswood, where the carriage house is in the foreground, with the guest cottage in the background.

This is the first time I can recall seeing the carriage house open. I stepped inside.

The fall colours were lovely.

A look at the guest cottage, which came after he had built the main cottage.

I went inside. The place feels very comfortable, like a real home- a common element to the property as a whole. I think that if Mackenzie King were to walk into the room, that pretty much right off, I'd like him a lot.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Cooking

 The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For November, that theme is Cooking. Take a look at how others are interpreting this theme right here.

I am starting today with a shot from the archives, taken in 2017. This is Munross House in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood, taken during Doors Open. The house dates to 1874. Today it houses Signatures, a restaurant, and Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary school.

I should probably admit straight out that I don't cook. So this one I was finding a challenge. Until I thought of the main farmers' market, held at Lansdowne Park. Plenty of things to be found here for cooking.

If one comes to the market, one can expect to see dogs.

One of the vendors makes something called an arepa, first made among South American indigenous peoples. It's a cornmeal dough, fried into a patty, and filled with a variety of ingredients. I've had it before and like it.

My selection- ham and feta cheese, with some garlic sauce. It is quite filling.

Another treat. Centretown Halifax Donair and Pizza is a shop near my place, my go to for pizza. It is very much East Coast in design and hospitality, and this is a donair, a classic from the Atlantic provinces, particularly in Nova Scotia. The roots of the donair are in the doner, which has Greek and Turk origins. A Greek immigrant in Nova Scotia made the donair a distinctly Canadian institution- seasoned strips of grilled beef, onion, and tomato in a sweet sauce and wrapped in pita bread. It looks a mess, but my, is it delicious.

And another Canadian institution. I had dinner in the second half of October with a couple of friends at Great Canadian Poutinerie. The classic poutine- fries topped with gravy and cheese curds- also has a variety of different choices at this restaurant for additional toppings. On this occasion, I had one with ground beef, onion, pickles, barbecue sauce, and melted cheese.

One of the other guys had Buffalo chicken on top of his. I took a shot of the third choice- topped with bacon and grilled cheese bites. Good eating.