after the rain, in the back alleys

today was my first long summer walk in the plateau and then in villeray ruelles. warm rain is a distinct mood. as fragrant as yellow mangoes are flavourful. this starts at Soares on duluth (did i mention i go by there often these days?)

also very duluth street: weird enclosure in front of a store, with semi-stray dog and wild rose and umbrella

and the very emblematic montreal-themed mural

i think this is a ruelle verte, but can't be sure. it is pretty green, anyway

so almost unbelievable after the winter and all

this dog was chasing a squirrel. she was running up on the wires, i don't understand what he thought was going to happen. i laughed at him for a while and then sort-of-randomly informed his master that the squirrel wasn't mine

this is what i mean when i say it's like a village. (seriously, romanian people: what is the equivalent of this in bistrita or cluj? i can't come up with anything)

i want to live up there. so many charming/enviable little corners. and, of course, this time of the year, people having dinner in their balconies or backyards. or just beers or wine. or strawberries. sitting outside. playing guitar. 

this is technically not in a ruelle, cause it's on a corner, but come on

and this is straight on mont-royal, but it goes here because it's my blog (i know, very mature) and i'm obsessed with mangoes - also very mature

back in the back alleys - "rue du clown triste"and of the sleeping house

serious stuff

more serious stuff: i'm close to home now and  there's a whole lot of honeysuckle on this fence. most of it not in bloom yet, but it's good to know where i can find it

in villeray, back alleys look more onto backyards, which are a joy right now what with all the planting. this one backyard though looks more like a fancy secret restaurant - it must be nice with the lights

making the most of a new-style building

and just your typical, improvised, chaotic and happy-looking backyard space.

this lilac comes in two shades (purple fading to white in the same clump), but it's becoming more and more obvious that i need to change my camera soon.