Montgomery Inn April 24 2017

Our plan for today's walk was to visit Montgomery Inn and use a free Toronto Public Library pass for admission. Then walk the area looking for Little Libraries. There were 2 little libraries in the area that we had on our map. We ended up finding only those two libraries. Nice area for a walk with some very upscale housing. We also wandered into a Tim Hortons commercial shoot set-up. 

We got to Montgomery at 1130am, but the museum didn't open until 1pm. The staff let us leave the car in the parking lot, then off we went to explore the area. 

First stop....coffee. We walked to a great French bakery/bistro on Dundas, Ma Maison.

4243 Dundas St W, Etobicoke
Between The Kingsway and Prince Edward Drive

Plenty of seating when we got there. Just as we sat down people started to pour in and filled the rest of the tables. 

A very tempting selection of desserts.

Paris-style decor

Hot cross bun, apple tart, cocoa and cafe creme

After our coffee break we headed south towards Bloor and walked through the Lambton Mills/Kingsway residential area. The first Little Library was on King Georges Road.

Then continued our walk along King Georges Road when we stumbled upon white polyester batting covering some grass.  Then we noticed power cords on the sidewalk. Further up 2 police officers in bright green. Trailers, giant fans, ladders, lighting. Cool, a movie shoot.WS-S asked the guys working on set design on one of the house's driveway what the shoot was for. It's going to be a Tim Hortons commercial and they were shooting both winter and spring scenes.

Continued on our way to another Little Library south of Bloor. Along the way we saw this budding garden with a cute way of accentuating the toronto water hydrant on their property. They put a schnauzer statue next to it. We also noticed the special rock near the front stairs. The garden on Cliveden Avenue was the  2013 Environmental Alternative Garden winner. WS-S was also a EAG winner.

Cute dog statue by the hydrant.
The special rock by the steps indicates the garden was a 2013 winner

Peace wreath in the window

A cute purple doll house little library on
Orchard and Thompson,
between Mimico Creek and Royal York

On our way back to Montgomery Inn, we spotted
this curious little monkey in a tree

We made it back to Montgomery Inn at 230pm. 

This was a 3rd visit. It seems we visit about every decade. 

First time was for a tea service at the Inn before WS-S's wedding. 

The second time, about 15 years ago was for a pioneer cooking class. It was fun visiting the kitchen we cooked in, and the old bar room we ate in. Here's a good photo of the hearth that our meal was cooked in (not my photo, it's from the Toronto Public Library):

Here's my photo:

They removed the old pine table to preserve it
and replaced it with this new-fangled table

And here are my photos of the bar room:

All-in-all an excellent walking day, even though we found only 2 little libraries. 

After Montgomery Inn we went grocery shopping. Then I remembered to snap photos of our daily steps. 17,000 (about 12,000 before shopping): 

Good Friday 2017 - Kitchener-Waterloo Little Libraries

13 Little Free Libraries
2 K-W neighbourhoods: Frederick and Belmont

2 coffee shops (tried 5--2 open):
Public Market
and
Smile Tiger

8.5km of walking (about 12,000 steps)
Forgot to take a Fitbit photo, you'll have to trust us

The Frederick area of Kitchener is a beautiful area to walk. It has a welcoming, artsy feel, quaint old homes, a local convenience store turned into a neighbourhood yuppie hangout -- fresh baked goods, cream-top milk, free-range eggs, take home meals, local artisan crafts, and quality coffee/espresso.

We started our walk on Filbert and Victoria.
The books that went into the LFLs were donated by WS-S.

Filbert Street easter bunnies.
Or are they?

Cute mushroom door knob
on the first little library we visited on Filbert.

Made new hygge-theme covers for our booklets

Another little library on a stump on Filbert 

Left the Alberta coffee table book and booklet

Stopped for coffee at the Public Market
on the corner of Frederick and Filbert.
(Not my photo)

A little library by a Quaker house on Frederick.
The doorknob is a peace pole.

Left a kitchen gifts book

Chestnut Street

A brightly painted little library at
Lancaster and Mansion.
Made by J. Gordon (news article)

We saw a LFL sign in the window of this building,
but no little library. :(
It was probably a shelf inside.

Mansion Street

We loved the title of this book.
 Dogs, Houses, Gardens, Food & Other Addictions 

Left a WS booklet and
Arizona coffee table book

Oh the humanity!
A dog-eared page.

Queen Street N

We passed the Kitchener Art Gallery.
It had what looked like community gardens on the lawn.
A closer look made us think they were experimental gardens,
with sponsors' names on the retaining walls.
Monsanto was a bit of a shock.
But maybe this a political art piece. 

Finished walking the Frederick neighbourhood. 

Decided to try for coffee at Sabletine's Bakery.

Mary  Allen Park, Waterloo
We spotted this as we were driving over.
WS-D pulled over, we hopped out, and went all giddy
over the cute window boxes on the red and white library. 

Sabletine's was closed for Good Friday.

Vincenzo's, around the corner, was also closed.

So we tried Berlin Bicycle Cafe in the Belmont

neighbourhood. Closed.  So we walked instead, enjoyed

seeing the beautiful houses in the Belmont area

and found a few more little libraries.

Claremont Avenue

Avondale Avenue

A Kitchener church cookbook

Corner of Avondale and Union

Roslin Avenue S

Woo hoo! We're millionaires!

Camping hygge on an Avondale front lawn

Severn Street

Peace pole on Union Blvd.
Peace Poles were first thought up in 1955 in Japan.

Smile Tiger Coffee.
It's next to the GO train station on Victoria Rd (Hwy 7).
Not my photo. I forgot to take one, so here's one from the internet.
We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the amazing weather. 

Our last stop was the Belgian Nursery
on Victoria (Hwy 7) between Guelph and Kitchener.
Open year round with an amazing cactus room.
(Not my photo)