Textile exhibits in Toronto

It's funny how we learn things from our parents, and what we learn is to be the OPPOSITE of what they are! My mom is overweight, and I vowed very early on not to let myself go. She had loads of knickknacks, and I've tried hard not to let my house become like hers. I didn't quite make that one, but I'm overcoming it in spades. Her personality? Yes—I'm the complete opposite of my mother. 

If you read Elle's comment from yesterday, it sounds like she did the same thing. But as she mentioned, if you don't take the decluttering thing to heart, your children are going to resent you. Well, they will certainly not be happy if they are regulated to clean up your mess, and if the time is short, it will be even worse. 

Yesterday was a big adventure. Technically, I was supposed to do that last week with a friend, but I'm glad we had to change our plans. I went alone, and it all worked out much better. You'll see. 

Instead of driving, I took the train. This is the way to get downtown. It took 40 minutes, it's quiet, and the train is clean. I would never think of driving downtown. And when you get there, no worries about parking a car, which can take forever! 

The train

I had four places on my list, but on Friday, I only had one. So, having to postpone was a good thing. You know what they say: things happen for a reason! I'm not happy my friend was sick, but over the weekend, I discovered three more shows to visit. 

I also walked everywhere, and it was a lot of walking, but only a little more than I would usually walk in a day. On my walk, I spotted this sculpture. The perspective looks strange. 

A sculpture

I walked up to see the name of the sculpture. 

The credits for the sculpture

And then I realized that it was very thin! I'm sure that people walk by and no longer notice this, but I was like a tourist yesterday and stopped and looked at many things. I'm glad I had my orange jacket on, as it was cold. There is very little sun in the downtown area, and those tall buildings are like wind tunnels. 

The sculpture is THIN

I walked through Nathan Phillips Square, where the Toronto sign is. If you don't know, that's City Hall in the background. Soon, the water in front will become a skating rink. Doesn't every city have a sign now? 

The TORONTO sign

My first (technically second—more on that in a minute) stop was the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). It is a grand old building with this bizarre modern structure built on the side. It looks like minerals are exploding out the side of it. 

The ROM

But this is the entrance I went into. I want to see another show coming up, so I bought an annual membership. The memberships were discounted, so I got a great deal on it! 

The main entrance to the ROM

I don't get out much; this was my first experience with the "All-Gender " washroom. 

All Gender Washroom

It was kind of neat, as all washrooms had their own toilet and sink. And look at the sink. The center tap is for water. The two wings on the side? Those are the Dyson hand dryers! How cool is that?!! I want one in my house—no more towels! All are activated by motion sensors. 

The tap in the bathroom

This is the exhibit I went to see: Quilts Made in Canada. I took loads of pictures, but I'm not posting them as many museums are allowing us to take non-flash photos for personal use only. And that means no posting online. The quilts were varied, and some of them were insane in their work. One older quilt was made of 1/2" finished half-square triangles. Now, who had the leisure time to do that? 

Quilts Made in Canada

Thanks to another friend of mine who is a member of the ROM, I went to see another exhibit—an immersive view of the Earth. This was amazing, as you stood or sat in various rooms and saw the inside of a rain forest, life about two feet under the ground, close-ups of insects as they go about their daily lives and the ocean. When I say close-ups of the insects, I mean CLOSE-UP. It was fascinating!

Then, I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) to see another exhibit. 

The AGO

These were not quilts, but the artist called them trapunto paintings. They were huge, with lots of painting, embellishments, and thousands of hand stitches through the canvas! How the heck did her hands survive that? This woman had an interesting life as she traveled to more than 60 countries and was very involved in textiles throughout that entire journey! 

There were other shows to see at the Textile Museum, but there was no way I was going. My feet were getting tired at this point. But I stopped at City Hall. There was to be another show of quilts there, and it was supposed to be open at 9 AM. But when I arrived, after waiting to go through the metal detector, nothing was set up. So I decided to come back on my way to the train. 

They were JUST finishing up. I guess there was a mistake in the advertising as the show technically started with their reception at 5 PM that day. So I got VERY LUCKY that I was able to see the quilts. 

These were quilts made in Canada and sent to England during the war as part of the Red Cross's effort to provide "blankets" to soldiers and people who had lost everything in the blitzes. 

Amazingly, some of the quilts survived, and thanks to a group, some were repatriated back to Canada. As best as the group could identify the makers, the quilts were sent to the Canadian provinces where the makers resided. 

The quilts are held with the Toronto Metropolitain University (formerly Ryerson). I had a chat with the curator and will provide more information later. I have to get to the gym this morning. But it was a great show, and I'm happy I could see it. The quilts are on display for TWO days only. So you see -- I got fortunate in being able to see them. 

As I left City Hall, they were putting up their Christmas tree!!!!

Toronto's Christmas Tree

And yes, there are some sunny spots in the city, but it's very shady and cold compared to what I see every day in the suburbs. There's the CN Tower. 

The CN Tower

I made it back to catch the 3:40 train home. All was good until I reached my station, and NO RESPONSE from DH, who was supposed to pick me up. So I walked most of the way home before he came to rescue me, and I was kind of mad he did. I was close to the grocery store and had to stop to get groceries. But all is good. It was a 15 KM day, which isn't really out of the ordinary for me. 

Having had a late night the previous night, I went to bed early and slept like a log for TEN hours. But now I'm on my way to spin class. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!