Everything is changing. A dip into the bowels of the city today – to the fashionable Westboro district – triggered varied and wondrous thoughts about infrastructure, train rails and seemingly endless building and modification, all of which heightened the burgeoning urban landscape.

And then we saw from the large sitting room window of Bunny’s new apartment the spectacle of the Parliament buildings in the distance; and the Ottawa River trailing in the northern perspective as it has done for centuries. From one of the bedroom windows on the other side of the apartment I caught sight of a swank and very urban restaurant where I had dined as a younger man, in a different time of life and friends and professional pursuit.  And I hurriedly recollected Widdicombs antiques nearby.

For over thirty years Michael Spooner owned Widdicombs of Westboro providing Ottawa with the finest antique and 20th century furniture and accessories.The store was closed in December 2008

Today Widdicomb’s tradition of offering quality items continues through Michael Spooner and Son Auctioneers, which began in 1979, shortly after Widdicomb’s opening. The auction business was the natural result of Widdicombs clients looking for an easy and efficient way to sell their own furniture, art, silver and other fine household chattels.

When our hostess pulled me back from this spectacle to the present we exchanged critical views upon the proper place to assemble art on the walls – in the sitting room, in the bedrooms, the kitchen and the hallways.  It was an excitement! Some we settled upon a conspicuous place; others collected in a group; two or three with special places of mutuality and conglomeration.

The energy of novelty and newfound dreams was apparent throughout our visit.