Exit, Pursued by a Bear

In today’s Star:

A profile of none other than Uncle Corrado, one of the previous owners of our house. Corrado and his brother, who introduced himself as ‘brother of Corrado,’ and has never told us his actual name – we refer to him as Brother of Corrado – both lived in the house at some point, followed by their nephews. Now they live just up the street. I had the idea that they had grown up there, but he came to Canada at 17, so that can’t be right.

Anyway, Corrado and BoC got to watch as we ripped out more or less everything they had done in and/or to the house in the last 40 years, filling three dumpsters, and they made their disapproval known on many, many occasions. About this time last year, BoC began a rant at a jackhammer-wielding contractor which began “This is my house!” Jackhammer guy decided that was enough, put his earmuffs back on and ended the conversation in the obvious way.

The previous summer, we were talking to our very nice Salvadoran floor refinisher when we saw BoC storming up our front path. “This man has come to bother you now,” he muttered, which turned out to be exactly true. BoC poured the concrete that sat on top of the maple floor in our front hallway, and pounded the nails into the hardwood, so I think he resented the floor refinishing. He pointed out that that had been a lot of work, which I’m sure is true, but sort of beside the point.

They were less of a nuisance than they might have been because their sense of Sicilian etiquette didn’t allow them to approach C. directly. Since she was home last summer and I wasn’t, this spared us a certain amount of invective, though I have the impression that the hapless nephews who sold us the house came in for a great deal of abuse.

Having said that, he does sound like a barber after my own heart:

“Some places on Queen Street charge 80 bucks. And they don't know how to do a brush cut, taper the back, shave your neck.”

I’d even try getting a haircut there, except a) it’s kind of out of my way and b) I don’t really want to discuss the house with Corrado (again), and certainly not when he’s holding a straight razor.

In other news

I had no idea that Amazon sold plants. When did this start?

Product Description
We have this great lemon variety planted in a terra cotta clay pot ready to ship. Excellent for gift giving! Fragrant flowers produce thin skinned, juicy lemons year round. Different than conventional lemons in that the taste is more sweeter, and less acid. Rind is thinner and more orangish in color than typical lemons. Evergreen. Full sun. Growing to about 8 to 10 feet tall, or pruned shorter. Makes great tub plant. Indoors the blossoms will make your house smell good.

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Wuzzles!

Found on the Web

Wonderful 1874 shots of Toronto's downtown taken from the steeple of St. James' Cathedral.

#3 shows the waterfront just below Front St.

Back in the saddle

The boy is now over his bug (chicken pox shot reaction turned into some kind of tummy ailment, we think) and is ready to roister again.

Wuzzles!

House research. redux

Had some time this morning to look at city directories, and added some detail to things we already knew -

1921 Frank M. Cochrane,
Percy M. Byam

1922 Mrs. Mary E. Cochrane
Percy M. Byam
(so Frank dies in 1921-22?)

1949 Mrs. Mary E. Cochrane

1951 Mrs. Mary E. Cochrane
Charles M. Byam
(Charles Morley Byam is listed in 1916 as the youngest of Frank Cochrane's three stepsons - at the time, he was 17, so he's in his mid-50s at this point.)

1953 Mrs. Mary E. Cochrane
Charles M. Byam
1954 Charles M. Byam

1955 Charles M. Byam

1959 Charles M. Byam

1960 Accapulto, Rosare