Finningan's Market- Love where you live

In catching up with my blog reading recently, I was thrilled to see that Gabrielle, also known as Design Mom, is bringing back one of my favourite "columns", called "Love where you live". (Hop over for lots of fun blog posts!)

When I first read about this series of posts, I was really inspired to make an effort to explore fun and beautiful places close to home. We will be spending this summer in Montreal, so I am certainly determined to "love where I live" even more.

For a while now I have wanted to check out Finnegan's market. It is an outdoor antique market that takes place every Saturday in the summer. We thought it would be a fun outing with the kids, that we could finish off with a picnic. 

It seems that I completely forgot how chaotic it is to travel with babies in tow. Our day was not off to a great start. It took forever to get out of the house as it was impossible to get organized. In the end, my son left wearing the T-shirt he had slept in, and I had no time to make anything for our picnic. ( A big thanks to my sister here who rescued our lunch and made sandwiches for everyone! AND remembered to bring my dad!!!) But, we made it out of the house and believe me, that is something to be proud of these days! The 30 minute drive served to cool everyone's tempers, and by the time we got there we were all smiles and ready to explore.

The weather was perfect for a stroll through the stalls, for admiring, chatting and enjoying. I saw so many knick-knacks that I would have loved to bring home with me, here are a few glimpses.

Lovely garden accessories

                                                   

                                                 Happiness in a popsicle

                                                      Endless treasures to discover

                                             And of course something knitting related

                                                         Cousins

And last but not least, the reason I am not getting any sleep these days

Here, here, here  and here are my other "Love where you live posts". 

Kite Winter Festival

What do you do, as a parent, when you have been stuck indoors for weeks, due to the fact that it has been disturbingly cold outside, and your 5 year old is in dire need of releasing some pent-up energy?

You search and search and search for outdoor activities that you can enjoy as soon as the temperatures climb to the single digits, even if they are still hovering at around -7 Celsius. To be honest with you, growing up, I never thought that it would be possible to feel happy that it is "only" -7 outside, but, there is a forst time for everything.

So I research constantly, and keep a running list of possible outings and activities to try. This weekend, the good weather coincided with the Kite Festival being held about an hour from here, in Saint-Placide. We bundled up, hopped into the car and took off in the morning. 

The festival is held in front of the town church of Saint-Placide, which was built facing the Deux-Montagnes lake. Once the water freezes over, which with average temperatures of -30 degrees should be no problem, the frozen surface becomes a playground. You can fly home-made kites, you can watch the professionals put on a show, there are even Paraski competitions....think surfing on ice with the help of a kite. There were slides for the kids to try, bouncy castles and of course warm fare to enjoy. To our delight we discovered a little stand where we could get maple taffy.

With sticky fingers we climbed back into the car and drove back home, happy to feel our toes slowly thawing out and lazily dozing in the sunshine we have missed so much.

I am off to research our next outing....quite possibly a Sugar Shack visit!

Fall is upon us

Where does time go? I blinked, and fall is upon us! As warm and sunny as our summer was, our autumn is making up for it with cool temperature and rain.

I had a couple of blog posts planned, but our outings were cancelled due to bad weather. Between that, and finishing the basement in our house, my material for the blog has been quite thin.

We did manage to drive up north for our annual apple-picking trip, and even though my favorite kind was no longer available for picking, we had a pleasant picnic and a fun outing. While the kids played, the adults sat on a bench, sipping coffee, indulging in warm apple-fritters, and feeling the warm sun, thinking of what a great summer we had.

I now have 20lbs of apples, and even though we've been eating quite a few, it seems we've barely made a dent. I might delight you with some baking-related posts. At least those are not weather-dependent!

We are continuing to live by the "love where you live" mantra, and thus were thrilled to discover that only 5 minutes from our house there is a nature-park, perfect for exploring on weekend afternoons.

Just like last year, we gathered leaves to use in craft projects at home.

On the knitting front, I have been working on the Conversion Cardigan, by Jared Flood, and it's coming along great (picture to follow soon). Unfortunately it will have to be put aside for a bit, as I have now finally signed up for my first ever craft-fair. I have been threatening to so it, for a year now, and I am now officially stocking up with knits for this momentous event taking place at the end of November.

What have you been working on? Are you in baking mode? Any delicious recipes you'd like to share?

Love where you live

Not only does the calendar say September, but I have noticed a nip in the air in the mornings. The sun is now only rising after I have taken my shower and there is that hint of gold in the tree-leaves. I am having a really hard time letting go of this summer, it's been so incredible, so our little family is making the most of the last few remaining summer weekends.

This time we visited a bee-farm. Intermiel is only a 30 minute drive from our home. Nestled in the hills, you come across an apple orchard where beehives are scattered between the rows of trees. The farm not only produces honey, but also maple syrup and an array of products related to the two. You can join a tour of the facility and learn about beekeeping or simply wander around and drink in the atmosphere. We chose to do both.

The kids were delighted to discover a petting zoo and a playground and burned off enough energy to quietly join us for some honey-tasting and a visit to the shop.

I cannot tell you how many fond memories this little adventure has brought back to me. My uncle kept beehives as a hobby when I was young. As we lived in the cit, joining him on weekends on his drives to the country to tend to the hives was a wonderful distraction. My sister, my cousin and I would pile into the car, drag along toys, books and snacks and simply enjoy time spent outdoors.

I loved the time we spent cooped up int his garage or basement, helping him work the honey extractor or label the jars. I still remember the smell of the wax and the honey, the sweetness that seemed to permeate everything. This visit brought me back to those days, and I can only hope that I can create similar experiences for my own son.

The next morning, as I stirred a spoonful of honey into my tea and the sun was shining through the kitchen window, I could not help but feel a pang thinking of those days.

As a family, we've made a conscious effort to explore our own surroundings a bit more, to acknowledge how lucky we are to be living here. This "attitude" and therefore this post was inspired by the "Love the place you live" feature on the "Design Mom" blog. It really opened my eyes to the importance of being appreciative of my own environment. Stay tuned for more!

What about you? Do you like exploring your own city?