Summer Turns to Fall

It seems incredibly wrong I am blogging my bucket list wrap up, followed by my fall "to-do" list, yet absolutely appropriate for the first day of fall tomorrow. What happened to summer? 


Anyway, I don't think I fared too poorly with my bucket list. I'm a little disappointed I didn't make it to the Elora Gorge, but I didn't drive by there near as often as in past summers either.

• Go tubing down the Grand River and the Elora Gorge  Next year maybe!

• Get a hammock and put it in my backyard. Also didn't happen, but I'm ok with the money in my pocket, rather than my back yard. Nevertheless, I think bf did some secret hunting for one....

• Go antiquing with my girlfriends

• Lay on the beach for a day  We spent a good half-day laying in Lincoln Park when we were Chicago a few weeks ago. I'm taking that for the beach. There was one, close by, but the park was far warmer!
• Go camping (in a tent  Brownie Camp counts, right?

Fall isn't the only season that crept up on me. Fall fair season was in full-gear, before I'd even realized I needed to at least find a prize list if I was to enter.

• Enter crafts, baking and/or flowers in a local fall fair Next year, for sure!

• Jet boat in the Niagara River
• Stop at Grasshopper Imports on Hwy #6.

Knocked the next 2 off also while we were on holidays a few weeks ago; we hit up the Lincoln Park Zoo, then Duff's on the way home from the airport!

• Go to the zoo
• Go to Duff's for wings

• Run a 10km race  Maybe next year!

Bonus points:

• Went to Ribfest and the Greek Festival. Both events I've wanted to attend since moving to the area, and I finally got the chance!

8/11 - Not bad, but I have always tried to aim for 80%, so I'll have to do better next year! 

Next order of business, the fall "TO DO" list.

• Tidy front flowerbed, plant 1-2 mums
• Paint exterior window frames and untreated wood
• Clean behind stove
• Wash kitchen floor
• Wash siding

It's not a big list, but let's keep in mind I am planning to have my craft room done by Christmas also! If I can get this all done, I'll feel more prepared for winter than I have since I moved into my home 3 years ago. 

Strike it from the List!

It was a social outing with work colleagues, but this week I went on a Whirlpool JetBoat Ride down the Niagara River! It was excellent! It was also on my bucket list! Woo hoo!

One of my co-workers has worked for the Niagara-on-the-Lake company for several years, and he treated us to a great adventure on the river. Although it's perhaps not as well known for rapids as Ottawa, the Niagara River has some of the greatest rapids in North America, ranging all the way from a Class One in size (think of water flowing over a rock) to a Class Six (illegal for rafting). We experienced everyone on the Jetboat, including some amazing Class Five rapids. This trip is not for land-lubber. You will get wet, head to toe, soaking wet. We were warned before departing, it would be like jumping in a pool. There was no exaggeration to this statement.

I was a little anxious after a friend told me the Jetboat made her nauseous. Anticipation prevailed however; I have wanted to ride the Jetboat since I moved to this area. The boat is powered by 1500 hp and travels up the river about 60 mph, so the combination of speed, spray in your face and the exhilaration of the rapids removed any chance of feeling sick. I'm so glad I went and now, I can stroke that off my list!

How is your list coming? Are you going to get through everything you hoped this summer?

Roofing, Sunflowers and the Racing Summer Clock

I can't believe it's Wednesday night already! I posted last Thursday. Now it's August. This summer is flying by incredibly fast, and I'm starting to feel a little bummed I have barely made a dent in my bucket list. 

• Go tubing down the Grand River and the Elora Gorge
• Get a hammock and put it in my backyard
• Go antiquing with my girlfriends
• Lay on the beach for a day
• Go camping (in a tent)  Brownie Camp counts right?!
• Enter crafts, baking and/or flowers in a local fall fair
• Jet boat in the Niagara River - Planning to do this next week!
• Stop at Grasshopper Imports on Hwy #6.
• Go to the zoo
• Go to Duff's for wings
• Run a 10km race

3 for 11... not so good. Hopefully the balance of the summer is more about me and less about work.

My life has been engrossed in planning a major meeting for the past week. When I wasn't cropping photos on presentation slides last weekend, I was roofing. Yes, that is correct. My Grandma, brother and uncle's houses all need a new roof this year. In appreciation for my dad, brother and uncle helping replacing my roof last year, I felt personally obligated to pitch in. We had lots of bodies, but I helped where I could, scraping old shingles off the roof and picking up the stragglers that didn't make it into the dumpster. 

It was brutally hot on the roof, and I was a little sore the next day, but all-in-all, it wasn't THAT bad. I enjoyed spending the time with my family, and when I couldn't be helpful on the roof, I weeded my Grandma's flower bed.

With my meeting wrapped up and now behind me, it felt strange to come home tonight and be able to spend my evening as I pleased. I picked three more giant zucchini out of my garden and plucked the ripe cherry tomatoes off my plant. I marveled at my tomato plants. I've never seen tomatoes so large, and they're loaded with fruit. In hindsight, I really only needed 2 of these plants. Looks like I'm going to be canning tomato sauce and salsa this year!

What I was also paranoid was Giant hogweed in my garden is actually a sunflower. Of course! The seeds from last year's plants easily could've ended up in the garden. Speaking of sunflowers though... this field has caused many drivers to pull over. 2 weeks ago, I caught it in full bloom. I love how I can't help but smile when I see sunflowers.

I have this plant/weed growing in my flower bed. It has clusters of waxy-looking white flowers that turn into a black berry. I have no idea what it is. Any ideas?

Antiquing in South Bruce

 Strike one off the bucket list! Okay, I didn't exactly spend the day with my girlfriends, rather than my bf and a couple friends who were as enthusiastic about finding deals on great junk as I was, but who's counting anyway?!

We decided to explore South Bruce County on this treasure hunt, after determining the area perhaps had the most antique shops and flea markets of the area. Unfortunately, the listings weren't entirely accurate and we found some of the stores didn't even exist, or we couldn't find them. Nevertheless, we had a great day meandering the streets of Kincardine, Tiverton and Paisley. There were certainly some highlights:

    Photo: TheSaltboxShoppe.com

• The Plant Place and Salt Box Shoppe, Kincardine - We weren't even going to stop here originally, but this was my favourite of the day. The eclectic collection of rustic, handmade birdhouses and outdoor decor mixed with iron figurines and welded garden stakes was beyond charming. One of these bird houses is on my wish-list for next time!
• Olde English, Tiverton - A random collection of antiques and collectibles, we had a good chuckle at the variety of salt and pepper shakers, and I thought the prices to be quite reasonable.
• The Rare Bird, Elmwood - I have to admit, we didn't get to this gem on our day trip. Bf and I stopped the next day on our way back to the city. We were there an hour! It is jam-packed with collectibles including milk bottles, china, old toys, records, trading cards and vintage Coca-Cola items. I picked up 2 milk bottles and 2 cobalt blue china plates.

The owner explained to me why milk bottles are so rare - recycling companies would only take the bottles, when the industry went to bagged milk, if the glass was broken. Many dairies smashed all their bottles, so the few that are left will sometimes sell for over $1000 at auctions! My plates are circa 1850 and were only $5 each! They will never sell for more as they're quite chipped and cracked, but they will still make a lovely addition to my 'blue collection'.

If anything, this trip has piqued my curiosity and interest in antiquing even more! I've started a list of shoppes that I plan to visit before the summer is over, so you can expect more 'antique road shows' in the coming months!

Savvy Homegirl Goes Camping!

"We are the Brownies! Mighty, mighty Brownies!" 

Like being transported back in time, I spent this weekend reliving my childhood as I watched a handful of my Brownies develop their own childhood camp memories. It has been a long time since I sat around a campfire, singing songs like Herman the worm, Bug on the wall and Brown Squirrel. I watched the girls picking up the words and trying to keep up with the actions, and I was delighted in finding some of my personal favorites coming back to me. Our site had a good laugh when I got up to teach Three short-toothed buzzards, and I was amazed at almost one hundred girls weaving into and back out of a snail-shell spiral singing the most ridiculous Snail Song.

It was an exhausting weekend, no doubt, but it was totally worth it. Waking up to the birds above my tent (and the rain in the middle of the night), to boiling water for dishwashing, and even cleaning the lats (outhouses), I regained an appreciation for the Girl Guide program. What a truly awesome opportunity for these girls. 

All this does not even begin to include the basic skills the program teaches girls, including the opportunity to be themselves. As a Guider, it is the coolest thing to watch your girls try and conquer new tasks. It's even more amazing to see their ideas form and creativity come out. 

During the Muffin Man, the Brownies were busting out dance moves that had me in awe. Then at campfire, 3 girls offered to lead Princess Pat, a repeat song that was new to me, and I was amazed at their excitement and energy after 14 hours on-the-go and little sleep the night previous.

I watched a little Spark approach one of our leaders in a 'wide game' yesterday. 

"Are you going to the party?" She asked the all-important question in this game. 

"No," the leader replied. 

To which the little spark, all 3 1/2 feet of her, dressed in her pink rain coat and rubber boots, peered up at the leader and with the most solemn voice, said "Oh, you weren't invited eh?" My face melted into a big smile, and I immediately loved this program even more.

Guiding celebrates 100 years in Canada this year, in 2010. It is humbling to think how long this program has been in existence and how little I have been involved in it, yet I feel this is about to change. In the fall, another leader and I will take over our own unit, which is very special to us but also to the history of Guiding in Canada. It's rare a worldwide program takes root in Canada so early in its existence, but Guides was started in Canada almost very shortly after launching officially in England. 

The heritage aside, it's not surprising Guiding is bringing former Brownies and Guides back to the program as volunteers. How can you not enjoy campfire songs, crafts and games? We're just like the kids, except a little bigger with a little more responsibility. Why else would we wear the camp-hats and be just as passionate about hat-crafts?!

Interested a little more in Guides? Check out this cool photo project on what the girls are saying!

My Summer Bucket List

Perhaps, it's reading Christen's "Just do it"s at La Vida Lista. Or, it might be a realization that finally having a radio will result in less mind-numbing thinking and planning behind the wheel. Maybe, I am stressed almost to a tipping point.

Whatever it is, I decided to create a "Bucket List" of things I want to do this summer. I made my mind up the last time I drove back from my parents' farm; this is going to be the summer I do all the things I always think about doing. You know, visiting the stores you always look at with wonder & curiosity, but tell yourself, "not today".

I actually had to look up bucket list before I started typing this, because I wasn't entirely sure if that was even the right name. It just seemed appropriate for some reason. Well, it is correct with one exception; my list covers only those items I want to do this summer. It does not extend beyond to all the things I want to do before I die, like most bucket lists.

Photo credit: http://lovelifelists.blogspot.com/


It's not long. I will probably add to it as the summer goes on. Especially, if I accomplish these items. I can't sit around the rest of the summer and do nothing, afterall!

• Go tubing down the Grand River and the Elora Gorge
• Get a hammock and put it in my backyard (okay, this is more of a 'to buy', but I fully plan to lay on it this summer, so it counts)!
• Go antiquing with my girlfriends
• Lay on the beach for a day
• Go camping (in a tent)
• Enter crafts, baking and/or flowers in a local fall fair
• Jet boat in the Niagara River
• Stop at Grasshopper Imports on Hwy #6. If you are from the area, you know this place... it's a lot with a lot of clay planters and the building looks like it was painted by hippies.  DONE - BF & I stopped this past weekend. It was EXACTLY what we expected, but neat stuff and reasonably priced. I have my eye on a glass pitcher... sangria anyone?
• Go to the zoo
• Go to Duff's for wings (this is not anything special, except we keep talking about going there and never do!)
• Run a 10km race - likely a pipe dream, but I ran a 5km race last year, so aim high, right?

Do you have any plans for the summer?