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Bartek Ciszkowski

@justbartek.ca
426 followers 212 following 3K posts

🌊 Halifax, Nova Scotia 💻 Building things 👧👦 Dad Of 2 🍀 Gardener/forager/cyclist ⛰️ Running through cities and forests 🇵🇱 1.5G Canadian 🇨🇦

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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 28/09/2026
Earlier today my 6yo daughter did her first solo bike ride (as I ran beside her) from Fairview to the Mumford Walmart. It’s OK until you get to the shopping centre, and it made me recall the proposed redevelopment. I’d love to see that started in my lifetime. engagehalifax.ca/west-end-mall
engagehalifax.ca
Case 23472 - West End Mall Future Growth Node
On December 14, 2021 Regional Council initiated a process to amend the Regional Centre Secondary Planning Strategy (RCSMPS) and other applicable planning documents
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 23/09/2026
8 cyclists at the corner of Almon & Robie today around 4:30, 4 of those were kids (of varying ages). Change is happening but to most it looks invisible cause we're free flowing around this city on our #BikeHfx wheels.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 18/09/2026
This moody Halifax morning bringing me some serious #BikeHfx joy as I casually ride back home on the Mainland Trail.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 12/09/2026
Free the music! Let it out, in the open air.
Agricola St with live music outside an old auto shop
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 06/09/2026
Surface parking.
A bunch of cars parked open air downtown Halifax
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 03/09/2026
It’s beautiful!
Dee Dee’s sign
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 29/08/2026
Yesterday the kids went to the aquarium store with their grandparents (we now own fish, apparently) and my oldest used our old iPod touch from 2008 to help navigate gramps. This is the way.
Apple Maps directions to a pinned store in a shopping plaza, displayed on an iPod Touch 2nd gen.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 21/08/2026
I have no plans to build a house but I absolutely devour books like this. An expert distilling decades of knowledge into 200 pages. Bonus are the wonderful calligraphy and hand drawn diagrams.
Illustrated house building by Graham BlackburnA book
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 14/08/2026
Road trip.
Sandpiper art. I think
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 13/08/2026
Was in Tatamagouche recently for the first time. Strolled through the town; cute, had pizza with the family, missed out on blueberry picking oops. Found a proper looking repair station, decided this is a nice add to the #BikeHfx parking map. Now to find all the ones in HRM (that aren't broken!?)
A map + photo of repair station. https://justbartek.ca/hfxbikeparking/
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 06/08/2026
@smknigh.bsky.social I recall you posted about monarch eggs. Is this one??? It’s on my swamp milkweed.
A leaf of milkweed
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 04/08/2026
Technical debt.
A variety of wires attached to a home. In all directions.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 04/08/2026
@halifaxretales.bsky.social Got any scoops on what's going in at the former pawn shop beside 3615 Dutch Village Rd? They are renovating the building, so naturally I'm curious 👀
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 31/07/2026
My almost 6yo daughter would like to report she counted 15 bikes on our ride from north end summer camp to Fairview 😀 #bikehfx @stats.hfx.bike
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 30/07/2026
Need a low friction way to put the food I make for my family of four somewhere so I can document them in more depth later. Mute this thread if you don't like food; it is mostly for me. (but comments are welcome) Not a photographer, just someone who enjoys cooking. Anyway 1/*
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 26/07/2026
Morning glow. #seenonmyrun
A cat sits comfortably in a front yard
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 26/07/2026
Slip lane to sit lane conversion. Dutch Village Road, Halifax
A sidewalk benches and greenery front two restaurants A slip lane
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 25/07/2026
We were discussing in the below thread the lack of repair stations (sadly, many are broken). New one in HRM up in Bedford! Will it last? Love the pump! Good location, though.
A bike repair station on a concrete pad.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 24/07/2026
Good morning, my deer friend.
A deer crosses the green marked pedestrian crossing on the mainland trail, Halifax
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 23/07/2026
#halisky Has anyone pulled their garlic yet? (Share region if you are comfortable doing so!)
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 21/07/2026
It’s my first time reading The Hobbit — almost embarrassing. It’s our latest “shared reading” book. I read much fantasy as a teen but as an adult it’s been mostly non fiction and depressing stuff. Having a lot of fun reading this with the kids!
The Hobbit
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 18/07/2026
Dutch Village glow up looking good. Bike lane, benches, trees (many among the stretch; hope they survive!), new pedestrian crossings. Hooray for progress
Photo of described Google street view of the previous look. There was a skinny sidewalk not much else.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 17/07/2026
Taken a many train in my life but first time I’m on an (operational) train in Nova Scotia. Yay! Nice comfy and spacious seats.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 16/07/2026
Definitely not parking here, so I park there instead. (Clayton Park Professional Centre at corner of Lacewood and Dunbrack)
A rusty wheel slot bike rack that is not suitable for useA bike locked to a pole in a garden
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 16/07/2026
Me just sending out to the universe an appreciation for whomever writes the daily notes at Canada Games Centre. Always a nice little dose of joy! (And motivation when you lack it?)
A sign reads

16 Jur 2026, Thursday
Progress happens
underground before it blooms above the surface. Keep showing up
Have a wonderful day ahead
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 15/07/2026
Initial red currant haul as I fight the wave of little fingers (kids) consuming them as they arrive. Thankfully there are many. There is a joy I get in picking these off the bush so inefficiently while the evening winds down. Slow time. 🌅
A bowl of red currants
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 07/07/2026
Ok I’m very pleased with this serviceberry. I love when nature gives me new colours to admire.
A serviceberry bush
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 06/07/2026
The colour of these eggs I got from a farmer in Canning, NS ❤️
A dozen eggs in varying shades of brown
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 05/07/2026
We go here every year (camping) and I genuinely can’t look away when the basin is in sight. Stunning and magical.
A low tide
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 02/07/2026
#BikeHfx One of my summer goals is to teach my kids that they can bike to a swimming hole. Chocolate Lake is our obvious choice due to proximity but … any tips on how to deal with the Herring Cove portion? Where to cross/ride/any secret tunnels I’m unaware of?
Google map route
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 02/07/2026
Went for a bike ride. It's nice out there. #hfxws (expect for when we had to bike alongside the line of car traffic on Romans Ave. That was mucky)
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 01/07/2026
Happy Canada Day. Grateful to be here! 🇨🇦
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 27/06/2026
I learned today that this is a Wolf's Milk slime mold. We observed it closely, popped them, and the vibrant colour was a colour I've never seen before. I bet someone's tried to create a paint colour from it! Found in Hemlock Ravine, among many other mushrooms (and mosquitoes) today
A Wolf's Milk Slime Mold grows on a decaying log
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 16/06/2026
For those in #BikeHfx curious about the multi use path adjacent to Commons skate park — is fully blocked off at the moment, no reasonable or marked detour yet. So many signs!
A construction fence with multiple PATH CLOSED and NO TRESPASSING signs
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 14/06/2026
Had a great #KidicalMassHfx ride. I'm pretty pleased that we can bike to the North End, downtown, and back in majority protected infra or quiet streets (latter doing some heavy lifting). On a Sunday morning, is good. 5yo getting used to her new wheels, the follow-me tandem really helped us today!
Me and my two kids riding on a residential street. Photo taken by my wife.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 06/06/2026
We visit Hope for Wildlife a few times a year. It's always a beautiful day with some nice stops at the ocean / local shops along the way. Today we were lucky to chat with Hope herself, realized the scale of this operation. 653 patients in care at this moment, many staying for 6+ months. Incredible!
Screenshot of the WRMD (Wildlife Rehabilitation MD) Pro dashboard for 2025, displayed on an HP Pavilion monitor. Shows patient statistics including 6,692 patients this year, 236 patients this week, 223 species, and 653 patients in care today. A line graph displays total patients per day from January to December 2025, compared against 2024 data. The dashboard includes sections for Your Patients, Exclusive Access (WRMD Knowledge Base, Birds of the World), and Recent News.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 30/05/2026
Regularly reminding my kids we have a creek near our house so when they’re older they can bike here themselves and do the things youth do (throw rocks!)
Two kids bikes along a wooden fence. Bridge creek and kids in views
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 26/05/2026
Much of the bike lane discourse ignores the need for (both independent and not) child mobility. Our optometrist appointment today is a much safer and easier bike ride today thanks to councillors like @lecwhite.bsky.social who fought for this infra.
A kid rides in a protected bike lane
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 19/05/2026
#BikeHfx As far as I understand there is a light timing issue on E. Perimeter Road. Vehicles leaving the mall turning right have a dedicated right, it goes red, then this nebulous moment: red light, no pedestrian signal. 3s later, ped light. I see many people almost getting smoked in those 3s
A satellite view of the aforementioned intersection.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 19/05/2026
Piece of an animal skull my daughter (who is clearly a zoologist in training given her obsession with all things bugs) found in the south shore this long weekend. She was super stoked. Found it on a beach during low tide. We looked it up and it looks to be of a deer.
a kid holds one part of a deer skull; the jaw.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 14/05/2026
The first signs of what I can only assume is a new road as the grand reshaping of the Windsor Street Exchange continues. This is adjacent to Bayne St., which is a common "short cut" through the WSE for many drivers.
An excavator sits on top of a pile of packed down gravelAn excavator sits on top of a pile of packed down gravel. A worker steps away from the site.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 13/05/2026
Look who’s on the #BikeHfx Almon bike lane this fine morning.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 11/05/2026
The IWK has probably the best #BikeHfx service station I've seen. How do we get more of these in the city? (spoken as someone who was fiddling with his kid's brakes today after school :) )
A bike service station within a parking garage.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 10/05/2026
#HaliSky Anyone know of an open database which contains the locations + details of all wind farms in Nova Scotia? This stuff seems like it'd be standard public record I found www.thewindpower.net/zones_en_14_... but some data is hidden behind "premium access"
thewindpower.net
Nova Scotia (Canada) - Areas - Countries - Online access - The wind Power
Nova Scotia (Canada) - Areas - Countries - Online access - The wind Power
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 10/05/2026
Only on a quiet Sunday morning can you hear the birdsong on Bayers Rd., otherwise absolutely dominated by car traffic. Neighbourhood pockets are *bursting* with song while car dominated areas like Windsor Street Exchange are dead zones (literally?!) The odd bus sometimes wins the battle for sound.
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 09/05/2026
Love how much the Commons comes alive in good weather. Picnics, scooters + bikes, a drum circle, and more! #hfxws
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 07/05/2026
Enjoyed a morning walk in the rain and observed three magnolia trees which I was happy to notice aren't yet on the very excellent magnoliamaphfx which includes crowd-sourced findings and even walking routes! (curated by @libbysometimes.bsky.social) www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/v...
a crowd sourced map of magnolia trees
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 04/05/2026
Biking home with my little (but growing up :)) crew. From cargo carrier to one independent rider + trail gator to now somitemes two independent riders 😀
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 26/04/2026
When wife and I finish putting the kids thru school: A cafe + book shop combo. Open late. A real third space type of vibe!
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Bartek Ciszkowski @justbartek.ca · 18/04/2026
Ice cream weather #hfxws
Deedee’s ice cream captured in the sun. Rare sight where there wasn’t an outdoor line.
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