Queen Street West

The forecast I heard this morning said "just a few showers, nothing to really worry about, although it will be quite windy, with gusts up to 50 km". HA! They certainly got the wind part right but what they should have said was, a steady rain starting around 9:30 am and lasting all day, seemingly torrential towards late afternoon. And they should have mentioned that this kind of weather can be death to umbrellas. Never have I seen so many discarded umbrellas in only a few blocks! Here's the photographic proof:


Nevertheless, I had a lovely day exploring Queen Street West with two new friends, Diane and Lorraine. I have been taking an online class with these ladies and we decided to meet today to show each other what we have made from class and visit some of the stores in this area. We started at Mokuba, a ribbon store, then sat in Second Cup having a coffee/hot chocolate for quite a while getting to know each other and taking a look at what each had brought. Then we headed back out into the rain to hit Arton, a bead store of which I have heard much these past few years but had never visited, followed by a couple of sewing supply stores. Hopped in the car to head a little farther west to The Paper Place, followed by lunch at Terroni then a fun little store called The Tin Taj filled with all sorts of colourful gifty items and one last stop at a trendy spice store (where we saw the author John Saul!) and then it was time to go home.

It didn't matter that it was raining, there was still colour everywhere we looked:

Here we are, about to eat a delicious lunch - that's Lorraine on the left, Diane in the middle and yours truly.

Thanks for a lovely day, ladies, in spite of the weather!