It was my first week back from Portugal and back to the familiarity of home. I resumed my exercise routine, chatted with family and friends, booked coffee and walk dates, restocked the refrigerator, did laundry, and caught up on emails and blogs.
It was also a week with plenty of sunshine and unusually warm temperatures. The daytime high temperatures reached 29C (84F) on Wednesday and 31C (88F) on Thursday. I was happy to cycle to some of my favourite places in the city. I also took daily walks, met friends and together we enjoyed spotting spring flowers and watching birds and turtles.
Seven Fun Outings
Here’s a selection of my nature photos from Toronto, taken in the past seven days.
One Mural
To continue my floral theme, for the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) this week, here’s a mural painted by Alexandra. It was on the side of a flower stall in Rossio Square in Lisbon, Portugal. Obrigado means thank you.
Weekend Coffee Share
How was your week? I’d love for you to share what’s been happening, simple joys from your week and/ or favourite public art photos from around the world in the comments or Weekend Coffee Share linkup #114 InLinkz below.
For more pastels and white, visit Terri’s Sunday Stills April colour challenge.
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Natalie the Explorer 
The flowers are lovely Natalie – it’s like they’re just bursting out of the ground to greet the Spring sunshine. The weather’s cooling down where I am – and the rain has begun – totally the opposite to what you’re experiencing.
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Hi Leanne, The sudden warm temperatures and several days of sunshine really accelerated tree growth and flowers around here. I hope you have a cozy and relaxing weekend listening to the rain outside.
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Looks like a fabulous week. Nice to see the warmer temps, I’m sure. It was lovely here in Spain too but we are heading toward summer temps.
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Hi Darlene, It was nice to see the warmer temps although for outdoor activities I prefer cool and sunny weather. This weekend is going to be beautiful here, too. Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy spring in Spain!
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Gorgeous river ride on your bike. I love that you know all the names of the flowers. They are beautiful as is the mural flower. I have some new public art for you this week. Vince and I discovered a 40-acre Natural History park about two minutes from Costco this week.
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Hi Marsha, The warm temperatures and sunshine accelerated tree growth and flowers here. Today I saw magnolia blossoms and lots of daffodils. All of a sudden willow trees look green and no longer yellow. I look forward to seeing your new public art. That Natural History park sounds fantastic. Happy weekend!
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Your temps are very warm compared to our Prescott temps. It was only 57 degrees at lunchtime today with a fairly strong breeze that was pretty cool. It’s great walking weather. 🙂
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It’s 70F-72F and sunny here this weekend. We’ll be back to normal temps 50F-60F next week.
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That sounds more like us. Have a wonderful weekend, Natalie. 🙂
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Thank you, Marsha. Have a great weekend!
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🙂
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Love the flowers! And all your outing- love you have this network of walking and biking friends. Cool mural. Looking forward to your Portugal posts. We really enjoyed our time there.
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Hi Bernie, The sunny weather is staying on this weekend so more flowers are popping up everywhere here. I hope to publish my Portugal posts in May as it takes time to write and include some photos. I’ve been outside a lot which means less time at my computer. I read about your injury on your blog after I came home. I hope you’re feeling better every day.
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Today I feel like I’ve turned the corner and actually will be recovered in time for Europe in less than 2 weeks!
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That’s very good news. Wishing you continuing and full recovery for Europe. I look forward to hearing more about your itinerary.
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I tend to “live blog” so it means lots of dailies!
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Pretty flowers, blue sky. It looks wonderful. And slowly we’re m morphing into the same here.
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Spring has sprung and we got a taste of summer in mid-April here. I hope you get beautiful weather this weekend, Ally. Thank you for stopping by.
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I always know its Friday because of you. Thank you for that!
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You’re welcome 🙂
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So nice that you can bike along the lake. Love the flower photos. You have had a beautiful week!
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The Waterfront Trail here is my favourite cycling route. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great weekend!
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Looks like a lovely week with so many signs of spring. Gorgeous.
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It’s been a fabulous week and good weekend forecast too. Thank you for linking up. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Looks like a lovely week Natalie, and extra special with lots of time outdoors. I love the flowers and especially the crocus. They are always a favourite. The flower mural is stunning.
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Hi Jennifer, Crocus flowers are sure signs of spring. The nice weather continues this weekend so I plan to be outdoors again. Have a great weekend!
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They all look great but 50 turtles! Just wow!!!
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Some of the turtles look like families with baby turtles. They were min islands in the middle of the small ponds so it was hard to get a good picture.
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Hi Natalie, those top temperatures sound very warm for spring but the flowers are loving it! I really like seeing crocus flowers coming up and 50 turtles would be a sight to see. Thanks for having us over for your #weekendcoffeeshare
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Hi Debbie, Several sunny days and warm temps really accelerated plant growth around here. Today I saw magnolias and daffodils in bloom, and overnight the willow leaves turn from yellow to green. The turtles were a bit far out in the ponds for me to get a good picture but they were out enjoying the sun. Thank you for linking up. Have a great weekend!
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It looks like gorgeous weather to get out for bike rides & walks. #Weekendcoffeeshare
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The whole week has been beautiful and this weekend, too. Thank you for linking up. Have a great weekend!
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Oooh, you’ve captured some beautiful pastel florals here, Natalie! Perfect timing for the color challenge this Sunday. Your weather sure warmed up–I’m sure you are making the most of it. Your slightly bare trees look like ours here! We just got home yesterday to sun, but still cool temps!
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Hi Terri, Thanks for letting me know about this month’s colour challenge. I’ll update my post and ping back to your Sunday post. I was away and I’m catching up on blogs and linkups. I hope you had a great trip.
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It was a good month to travel for both of us! We had a wonderful time visiting states!
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Hi Natalie, it is always nice to ease back into reality after a good trip. I love the trees that look like giant hands and that blue sky above is dazzling.
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Hi Suzanne, The weather here has been fantastic this week and the weekend forecast is looking good. It beats coming home from a good trip to gloomy weather, especially after I had very good weather in Portugal. Those trees that look like giant hands have a lot of buds now. It will be lovely when the leaves are more visible.
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Sounds like a great first back from traveling. I think the weather for the entire eastern side of the continent was wonderful for outdoor activity.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend and have a wonderful week ahead!
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It’s been a beautiful week and this weekend is looking good, too. Have a great weekend and great week ahead!
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Thanks for hosting, Natalie. Happy Saturday.
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Have a great weekend, Shari.
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Hi, Natalie!
Portugal in the spring sounds divine, and you timed the return home very nicely. We’re very green in the south right now, and the Dogwoods have been fabulous. Temps are in the low 70s and are predicted to remain there for another week. Great weather for walking my new roommate–a dog I adopted earlier this week. More later.
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Hi Joe, Glad to hear you’re enjoying great weather. The sunshine and warm temps accelerated plant growth here. I look forward to hearing more about your new roommate. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Toronto looks absolutely beautiful! Have a great weekend, Natalie.
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Thank you, Pam. It’s been a beautiful week. Hope you have a great weekend, too.
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Very nice photos! I’m originally from Ontario and my dad has a boat on Lake Ontario. I live in Alberta now but would visit Ontario every summer. It looks so sunny and warm there! ☀️
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Hilary, Thank you for your visit and comment. It’s been beautiful here this week, great weather for boating. Hope your weekend in Alberta is going well.
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It didn’t take you long to get back at, it, Natalie. The photos are lovely.
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Thank you, Dan. It’s been beautiful here this week. Next week we’ll get back to normal April temperatures. Have a wonderful weekend!
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My entry from my travel blog.
Regards Teresa
https://boomercoupletraveljournal.wordpress.com/2023/04/16/along-the-seaside/
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Thank you, Teresa, for taking me along the seaside. I love the light and colours in your photos.
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Glad you liked it Natalie ❤️
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These flowers are so amazing. Beautiful ride on your bike. Anita
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Thank you, Anita, for your comment. All of a sudden we had July weather in mid-April. I saw more flowers in bloom this weekend.
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Lovely weather and photos 🙂
Here is mine:
https://photographias.wordpress.com/2023/04/16/ppac-glasgow-32/
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Thank you, Sofia, for your PPAC contribution. I love fountains and terracotta 🙂
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I love fountains too but don’t seem to have many in my archives 😦
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I have a few fountain photos from my recent trip to Portugal. I’m writing up the post and will share it on my blog in May.
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Excellent. Looking forward to it 🙂
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What a beautiful bike ride. Love the river. So very nice. Thanks for sharing and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
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Thank you, Patrick, for joining in. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Beautiful pictures. We too had a lovely week.
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Glad to hear that you also had a lovely week. Have a great week ahead!
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Beautiful Natalie…and look at all those spring flowers in bloom. So prety.
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Spring has sprung here for sure. I look forward to many flowers in bloom from now until early autumn.
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So beautiful… love the capture of the trees and everything else.
Another entry from me:
https://mywanderings.travel.blog/2023/04/17/pats-tiny-house-solo-getaway/
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Thank you, Teresa, for your comment and PPAC entry. I enjoyed reading Pat’s tiny house solo getaway. I saw a kindred spirit in Pat as I’ve done and enjoyed a lot of solo travel myself.
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Oh yes she did lots of solo travels too. So you are both strong, independent women. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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Yup, strong and independent women live interesting lives 🙂
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Agree 👍
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I have missed so much Natalie! I must go back and find out how Portugal went! What a fabulous week to return to Toronto – such sunshine & beautiful blooms. Glad you included the mural souvenir from Portugal.
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Ju-Lyn, Portugal was wonderful. I’m working on my Portugal posts and will share them in May. Last week was a fabulous week to return to Toronto. I’m glad you liked my photos and the mural from Lisbon. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great week!
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Can’t wait! I’m sure it was a fabulous time! I have been working on my Português on Duolingo – some day!
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I took Portuguese lessons on Duolingo before my trip. It was very useful. Keep on learning.
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Will do! Obrigada!
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Glad you found some sunshine at home, Natalie.
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It was a warm and wonderful week, Jo. This week we’re back to seasonal weather and the cherry blossoms are at peak bloom.
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A special time of year!
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Yes, the cherry blossoms here were gifts from Japan years ago. At peak bloom, they are gorgeous.
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🤗🌸
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