Winter. Green.

Time for a seasonal
dim sum early brunch!
But first, about last week:

 

We do love a good Allan Gardens Conservatory visit! The greenhouses were splendid, even though we missed the Christmas “opening” event. The grey day provided a beautiful backdrop for the beautiful colours awaiting us, inside. The tropics, the desert, the little orchid shed, the soaring palm house.

We explored and enjoyed, visited the koi and the turtles, chose a few favourites. And Jan brought us some home-baked cookies to share on one of the benches. (And later, too! Thank you, Jan.)

If you haven’t been to the greenhouses in a while, now’s a great time to go. This place never disappoints.

Near where we missed Julie! (Who waited patiently to meet our streetcar. Sorry, Julie!) Another nifty painted signal box. And don’t worry – Julie found us a few minutes later! 🙂

Neat hoarding mural (looks like Nick Sweetman?) at Sherbourne and Gerrard.

Scary or funny? Not really sure. At a Presbyterian church. So not quite as funny as the earlier version of the same template sign I’d seen, simply noting “Danger Due To … Jeff.”

Interesting light work in the dome of the Jarvis Street Baptist Church (“Sentinel of Faith for a Century” – I won’t forget that old sign, though it’s gone now). We went in to say hello have a little look. None of us had visited this church before.

We get to the warm greenhouses and just enjoy. Almost no more comments here. You can just enjoy, too!

Well, maybe one comment: This little train among all the flowers was rather sweet!

I swear… morning glories follow me. All seasons!

(Ed. note: NOT Rudolph, I think!)

♡ ✩ ✶

You knew there’d be another mural, right? A terrific new dragon, in a Chinatown lane (south off Dundas), painted by Blinc Studios. Great work, and technical skills – this is painted on corrugated siding. Nicely done.

And of course we were all wondering, after the last few weeks… What’s Victor Up To? (Now!) This one on the sidewalk near Sanderson Library (Dundas and Bathurst). He does get around!

Click on any image for larger files, in carousel slide-show.

Hard to tell from the photos, but we walked home, via Yonge Street and Dundas. Enjoyed a coffee break together. What a great morning! Thanks to all of you for sharing it. Hope you had fun.

THIS WEEK,
Sunday, December 18, 2016:

Meet at the Y at 9:00, as usual. Don’t worry if you’re a few minutes late: we’ll wait. (If you’ll be later, text or call me that morning and we’ll figure out where/when to meet.)

I originally suggested we’d leave later, but I thought better of it. A good early morning walk is a great way to work up an appetite!

We’ll take a neighbourhood walk and explore the U of T area, the One Spadina Crescent renovation progress, and more. Our mid-morning goal is a big table at ROL SAN (323 Spadina Avenue, east side, between College and Dundas). I predict we’ll arrive there around 10:30 a.m. Nice and early should be a great time to get a table to fit all of us! And it’s an excellent time to share a bunch of different small, tasty treats.

I hope you can join us for the walk. If you’d rather just enjoy the brunch, text or call me around 10, and we’ll plan. Or just show up!

After some delicious dim sum, we’ll take an easy walk straight back to the Y. After all, people have cookies to bake, scarves to knit, cards to send, cider to mull, poetry to write, oratorios to sing, cute gifts to wrap for neighbours… and more. (Or maybe we just want the afternoon off!) Lovely!

COMING RIGHT UP:

NEXT SUNDAY happens also to be Christmas Day. For many, that may be a day to celebrate with family, to recover from family celebrations the eve before, to reflect on life or other holidays and festivities, or just a special opportunity to relax. (Some may even go out for Chinese food.) I vote for all of those, in any combination that suits you. And uplifts!

Anyway, we’ll take that one day off. Meet again, after Christmas, on Sunday, January 01, 2017 to celebrate the beginning of a bright new year. More on that walk, later.

Winter’s walks ahead will include visiting this year’s installation of Winter Stations. Maybe a visit to the snowflakes, in Brookfield Place. And, we might visit a forest in winter. An urban forest, of course. 🙂

Long johns ready?
Located mitts and scarves and tuques (and shawls and hoods and fleece, oh my)?
Winter: we are ready for you.

❅ ❆ ❅

Please feel free to bring a friend along to share our walks.
Tell them to bundle up!
We’ll see you soon.

Are you just finding WestWalking for the first time?!

Welcome. Let’s walk!
See you on Sunday!

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