The Last Time for a Long Time : Lunch with Meghan at The Drake Commissary

Readers here will know that I hang out with my friend Meghan pretty frequently -- I checked my diary and we've gotten together at least twice a month for the past several years. So, when I tell you that she has now left the city for a whole year, off on an around-the-world adventure, you can imagine how much I will miss her.

Pictured here is our last date, shared with our mutual friend Julie. Well, we did see her one more time before she left, at her going away party, (which I'll tell you about next week), but this was the last time we got the chance for a long talk in a relaxed environment.

Of course, I'm happy for my friend because this is an exciting trip of a lifetime, and we'll be keeping in touch online, but, no doubt, the absence of her company in-person will be greatly felt.

We went for lunch at The Drake Commissary, which opened this past June in The Junction Triangle. I'd not had the opportunity to go there before but had heard it was really good. Those accounts turned out to be completely accurate.

It's a 8000 square foot space located on Sterling Road (west of Landsdowne, south of Bloor). Arriving at the former pickle factory, which was built in 1908, you wouldn't know what was in there from the outside. In fact, Nick drove me over and dropped me off on the street. As he drove away, I worried for a moment that I wasn't in the right place. I was standing in what appeared to be an industrial park, with not much going on. There wasn't a single person in sight. Now, being in the wrong place would have been no major issue for most people, however, I choose not to carry a smartphone so would have had to scramble about to find a public phone in order to let my friends know that I'd be late, because I was somewhere, on foot, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

But I saw that the building said Commissary on it, with Drake in small letters, so I walked around to the other side, waiting first for a big tractor trailer to inch its way out of the driveway. Then I spotted the entryway and got kind of excited about the location. (I love old buildings, and going inside one is always a treat!)

A New Art Gallery in an Interesting Building

Nick and I were happy to go to the opening party of a new independent art gallery in Toronto, on Thursday evening.

The C9 Art Gallery, located in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Toronto (at 7 Sultan Street, at St. Thomas Street, south of Bloor, between Avenue and Bay), is "devoted to nurturing inquisitive and inclusive viewpoints when challenging art", with the focus of "bringing Canadian and International artists together for themed shows that spark not only curiosity but conversation as well".

Their first show, Relationships, features artworks by Jin Zuo and Corno. It "investigates themes of complicated human connection. It is an intimate, multifaceted exploration of the human relationship with oneself as well as others, encouraging reflection and questioning personal sense of belonging". The exhibition runs until April 23, 2018.

It was a really good time, with great art, friendly people, wine and nice hors d'oeuvres.

All this was made even better by the interesting location of The C9 Gallery, within a brand new modern building that has been erected, connected to a row of Victorian era mid-1800s townhouses. It's a beautiful space.

You walk between the old buildings to get to the entrance of the gallery.

The Art of Gardening : The Canada Blooms Festival 2018

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/at-canada-blooms-festival-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38952 blk-brdr">I had the good fortune of going to "Canada Blooms : The Flower and Garden Festival" on Saturday. In its 22nd year, now I'm wondering why I've never been before.Well, actually, I know why I haven't been before -- I had a mistaken impression of what it was, and believed it wasn't for me. I thought it was a trade show where visitors could see and purchase gardening and landscaping components from various vendor booths. I imagined there'd be a cavernous space, crammed with large posters advertising goods such as state-of-the-art garden hoses, gravel and paving stones, alongside displays of water fountain pumps and hot-tub filters.While I'm sure this type of show would be appealing to many, it would be more of a tease for me, highlighting things I cannot have, given our small and shady urban garden.However, when my friend Leslie contacted me to say she had tickets and wondered if I wanted to join her, I gladly accepted because I wanted to hang out with her. I knew that, no matter what environment we were in, it would be fun. She's always good company and we would be able to catch up while admiring the rain barrels and sliding screen doors.So, off we went, by streetcar, down to the Enercare Convention Centre, on the CNE grounds, on Saturday afternoon.

A Handmade Gift for a Child : Kid Sized Pillowcases

There's a dear young lady in my life, for whom I make a gift every Christmas. She is my cousin Lisa's little girl, Delilah, and she's now 6 years old.

It's always fun, if somewhat challenging, to come up with a good, age-appropriate, idea for something to make her each year. So far there have been: a semi-quilted blanket, a cat doll made from socks, with clothes, a crocheted cross-body purse, and a crocheted garland decoration for her room. (Links for each below)

Hanging Out at Home : A Pie Story to post on Pi Day

After coming home from Kensington Market on Saturday with a bunch of fresh blueberries, Nick said he was going to make a pie on Sunday. He suggested that I see if our friend Andrea wanted to join us for some.

L: Hi Honey. If you're looking for something to do tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, Nick is making a blueberry pie. You're welcome to come on over for a piece, if you'd like.
A: Hey! That sounds amazing. Thank you for inviting me. What time do you think is good?

She agreed and the get-together was on.

Now, this would have made a much better story if any of us had realized before the plan was made, that "Pi Day" was this week. But, I won't pretend -- while we'd never invited a friend over specifically to have a piece of pie before, our decision to do so on a date that was so near to Pi Day, was purely coincidental.

That's not to say that I didn't know there was a day dedicated to honouring the mathematical constant pi (π), when celebrants were encouraged to eat pie, because I knew it existed. That was thanks to a project I'd once been asked to participate in, which involved coming up with a list of reasons to celebrate throughout the year, along with ideas for handmade decorations/crafts that would suit the various occasions. I was told to dig deep, and so, searched out all the special days that could be viewed as a reason to party. Pi Day came up, although, I wasn't able to come up with any good decorating ideas for it. A garland of wedges of pie, made out of construction paper, perhaps? There could be cherry, apple, blueberry, key lime? Ummm, No.

So, with all the talk about pie and remembering that it existed but not being sure when, I had looked up the date of the holiday (March 14th, third month - fourteenth day, 3.14, the first three digits of pi) and discovered the coincidence before Nick began baking. This caused me to take photographs of a casual get together, which ordinarily I wouldn't have done. Thankfully our cheerful friend didn't mind the camera. Nick flat-out refused to have a shot taken of him holding his creation though, which is why I appear to be taking ownership in the photo of me.

Granted, I can't take credit for the pie, but I did make the coffee!