Not quite the adventure we planned

I think I logged awhile back about cleaning out more stuff from the studio.  One thing I ended up with was a fairly large bag of Duffel cloth and felted wool. I have acquired pieces of this since I worked at the Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton, and have made mitts out of it..  I don't even know if you can buy it anymore, but last time I saw it, the price was over $150/metre. Since I had fairly large pieces, I wasn't going to donate it to the thrift store.  I called my contact at the Craft Museum, and she offered to use it in their programming.  I know her programming and decided to look for a more traditional agency.  I ended up calling Thunderbird House, the funny building at Higgins and Main.  They said they could use it in their programming, but it was a young man and I'm not sure if he even knew what I was talking about. None-the-less, we set off with it yesterday.  We found parking about a block away and then had to walk by the Salvation Army hostel.  This means a crowd on the street, just hanging around, as they are asked to leave first thing in the morning and not allowed back in until evening.  While Thunderbird House is round, and has entrances on four sides, the only open entrance is on the East, which meant we had to walk around the building.  A fellow spoke to us to tell us to take off our shoes, and only when asked for help, did he direct me to the office telling me I needed to speak to Jason.  No Jason, but "he'll be back in a minute.  He;s wearing a red T-shirt".  Then the fellow went out into the main area to lead some sort of event.  I hope it went well for him, because everybody's attention was on us. However, no Jason, although a little while later a fellow in a black T-shirt came in, ignored us, and went into a different office.  So we left.  Back past the street full of indigents.

David was determined to get rid of the stuff and remembered that there was a women's resource  center somewhere on Selkirk ave.  So North on Main to Selkirk, looking for "some sort of women's center".  I finally spotted a sign just east of Balmoral, on the other side of the street.  So back we go, and I went in to ask.  A sign on the door suggested that men were not welcome inside. There was a desk. on the other side of a sitting area, where there were several women just sitting and watching tv. A pretty "scurvy" bunch, they were. Thank Goodness, the lady behind the desk was less frightening in appearance and quite pleasant.  ( the ladies sitting around might have been quite pleasant, but I sure wasn't going to try to find out)  She was even more pleasant when she saw the stuff, recognizing immediately what it was. So it was left, in what I'm thinking was a good home.

We were then wanting to go to a mall close to home, but how to get there off Selkirk?  First thought was North to the Redwood Bridge, and then I remembered that Hespeler is a horror because of construction/ clean up related to the new Disraeli Freeway. The radio has been warning people to stay away from the area.  So, South on Main, and back to Higgins?  But wait, there is no left hand turn onto Higgins off Main.  So David decided to try to get to Sutherland and then onto Higgins just by the Louise Bridge.  I mis-understood his intention, and figured we were looking for Annabella, to take the underpass South to Higgins. ( This was one of Dad's favourite routes, but I may be the only one who remembers that.)  We didn't want to turn East onto Euclid,  since we were looking for Sutherland, but soon realized that we weren't going to be able to turn East onto Sutherland, so turned onto Jarvis.  Then we dipsy-doodled through Point Douglas until we spotted Sutherland, and then it was clear sailing through to Annabella, Higgins and the Louise Bridge.  Not a part of town I like to go through, but probably no more dangerous than other areas. A bit of an adventure.  There sure are a lot of warehouses in the area, and the main garage for Greyhound buses.  It bought to mind Amber's wedding, as we had to go somewhere in the area to have the car detailed.

To cap off the day, we had supper at McDonald's.  I wanted to try their new "wraps".  I also tried their Cafe Mocha. The Mocha was very nice, better than Tim's, but the price is more than a dollar higher.    The wrap was also nice.  A good meal, and much nicer than the old style of wrap.  However, shortly after eating, it was off the the bathroom, and then again at regular intervals all evening.  So maybe we won't be visiting that McDonald's again.  But I did lose 4 pounds.  Maybe not a permanent loss, but any loss makes me grateful, and gives me hope.