Flea Market is Open

Mom and Dad are coming up today and we are heading over to the Elmvale Sales Barn (aka Elmvale Flea and Farmers Market). They are open Thursdays and Sundays throughout the summer and this will be our first time heading over there this season. The weather is good so hopefully there are lots of vendors out. Dad is on the lookout for cheap DVDs, and I'm always looking for book deals. They have some excellent meat deals too. Hope it is a nice day of deal hunting.

Previous Meat Deals!

Coldwater Steampunk Festival - Other Happenings

We attended the Coldwater Steampunk Festival earlier this summer and I've previously posted about the amazing costumes and the dazzling art. For the final round up of the event, here are some odds and ends of the fun we had that day.

One of the highlights of the festival was a knight fight in the street. We missed their first fight that was scheduled and in the park, but later in the day they took to the street for another battle. It was like a game of road hockey where they had to move off to the side when a car came. Hilarious! The knights were fun to watch and put on a good show for the crowd.

Knight street fighter

Real swords!

Knight fight!

Attack!

Knight fist bump - love it!

Happy knight

There was also a Birds of Prey show in the afternoon. There was lots of information to take in, but the bird handler didn't have a microphone so it was hard to hear all the amazing stuff barn owls do.

Another highlight was a steam powered corn roaster. They were selling the roasted corn for only fifty cents! Super deal and super delicious.

Our last stop of the day was the Coldwater Legion for some french fries and a few rounds of the meat draw (buy a ticket, maybe win a roast). It was a lot of fun and everyone at the Coldwater Legion was super nice and welcoming.

I'm already looking forward to next year! I wonder if I will put a costume together?

Coldwater Steampunk Festival - Art

We had a wonderful time at the Coldwater Steampunk Festival earlier this summer, and beyond all the amazing costumes, they also had a showcase of some pretty dazzling art. Steampunk is such a neat style, and I had a great time looking through all these creations.

3rd Annual Coldwater Steampunk 2013 art

Hat with goggles

Love this chess set

Clock with exposed gears

Necklace

Multi-gear necklace

Necklace with keys

Tin man

Dragon

Coldwater Steampunk Festival - Costumes

In August we attended the third annual Coldwater Steampunk Festival. We had never been before (or even heard about it) but I have an appreciation of the Steampunk look, and the fact that it was being held in Coldwater, Ontario really caught our attention. Coldwater? Really? Coldwater is a small town near us that has a population of about 1700, and we weren't sure how many people there would even know what Steampunk was. Our main motivation to attend was curiosity, and we ended up having a fantastic time. The atmosphere of the small town, with some historical looking buildings and old timey trucks lining the main street, really added to the Steampunkiness of the event.  It was really well done.

Like any street festival there were vendors of art, crafts, and food. There were buskers of music and other talents, even an acorbatic pole dancer put on a show. There were way more people dressed up then I expected, and a costume contest was held to recognize the amazing work participants did putting them together. Someone was even carrying an elaborate bubble gun that was very Steampunky.

The following is a round up of some of the costumes at the festival. I took a lot of photos that day so I will post more over the next few weeks.

Children's Costume Contest

Women's Costume Contest

Men's Costume Contest

Judges for the costume contest

She told us she made her dress. What an amazing job! Looks awesome!

Love this group! The bubble gun was awesome.

 

Mud Pies of the Future

We went to the beach with friends recently and I was reminded that there are so many new kids toys available now.

I'm sure every generation at some point thinks "we never had that as kids" and I found myself thinking that as the kids played with these mud pie accessories.

Back in the 80s, my childhood mud pies were made using pebbles, sticks, and leaves, and I was forced to use my imagination to see the mud pie beauty. What do you think about these mud pies of the future? They added some nice colour to the beach and the kids had fun playing with them. Maybe I'm just jealous, but it makes me wonder if there is a level of creativity that gets lost with a pre-made set like this. What do you think? Does it matter if a mud pie is decorated with pebbles or plastic roses? I know one thing for sure, I got some adorable photos. :)

Icing the cake...with mud

Blow out the candles!

Cottage Bound Mix

Heading north of Parry Sound today for a Cottage Weekend with my university crew.  We are only spending the day, but a mix is required for the car ride.  I'm into feel good music at the moment and this playlist reflects that for sure!

 1. Real Good Radio - Kira Isabella
 2. Banjo - Rascal Flatts
 3. Mississippi - Dixie Chicks
 4. Music Inferno -Madonna
 5. Party Rock Anthem - LMAFO
 6. Move In the Right Direction - Gossip
 7. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
 8. Forever - Chris Brown
 9. With a Little Luck - Paul McCartney and Wings
10. Marry You - Bruno Mars
11. Don't Tell Me - Madonna
12. Sun is Shining - Bob Marley
13. Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney and Wings
14. The Remedy (I Won't Worry) - Jason Mraz
15. Superbowl XLVI Halftime Show - Madonna

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

I Like What You've Done With The Place!

I visited the great city of Toronto yesterday to attend my beautiful friend Natalia's wedding.  The bus schedule got me to town earlier than needed, so I took the opportunity to explore the city I used to call home.  A spot I have been itching to check out, which happened to be a 5 minute walk from the wedding, was the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws.

I love groceries and I love grocery shopping, a trait I inherited from my mother.  I love checking out the weekly flyers, I love walking down the grocery store aisles, I love looking at all the possible foods I could eat! Or deals I could get! I just love the whole experience.  So my love of groceries coupled with some high expectations about the new Loblaws based on some photos I had seen, got me pretty excited to be on Carlton street in Toronto yesterday.  And my excitement and expectations were met entirely by what I encountered throughout my twenty minute visit!  First case in point: when I walked into the store I was greeted with the sites and sounds of an Elvis impersonator doing a show.  Amazing!!  And Like a good tourist, I took a bunch of photos!!

Elvis was just doing a show in the lobby. Obviously.

The place is gigantic and beautiful.  There is a full LCBO, a coffee shop, a Joe clothing store, and many incredible specialty sections.  Oh and just an entire regular grocery store as well.  I was completely overstimulated by the site of so many fresh foods and prepared treats, countless varieties of meats and cheeses - my heart be still till the next time I'm in the T-Dot.  Oh and they have free wifi if you want to surf the web while shopping. I loved it.

Wall of Cheese!  So many choices!!

Classy meals to go section.

An actual deli in the grocery store - did I mention the Loblaws is really big??

 Everything in the store is classy.  Even the signs that indicate what aisle you are in are classy.

Looking for ice cream cones has never been so upscale!

They also pay homage to the history of Maple Leaf Gardens with a giant blue maple leaf made out of the former seats.  It was a neat touch.

Go Leafs Go!

I live in a small town, so the other highlight for me was the variety of foods in the international foods section - and how inexpensive they were!! Next trip I am bringing some reusable bags and loading up!  Memo to Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws: I will be back!

Have you checked it out?  What do you think?

Take It To The Woods

Yesterday John and I went out for an afternoon/evening camp out in the woods. Normally our camp out is near the end of winter/early spring, as the woods are more bearable then (less snow, warmer temps). Even though it is still the middle of winter, we've seen above average temperatures and barely any snowfall this year, so we got to enjoy an early camp out on the weekend.

I love the woods.  It is close enough to home that I'm not scared I'll get lost, and yet it is somehow completely removed from the madness of everyday.  My mind naturally stops thinking about the regular bullshit that normally plagues me, and instead focuses on what is around me.  The fresh air, gathering wood for the fire, the sound of the wind, the smell of the fire, and really thinking about what to eat next.  Did I mention that being in the woods is also an amazing excuse to eat copious amounts of hot dogs? My favourite kind is a Snackin' Dog; that is when you eat the hot dog directly off the roasting stick. I had at least three snackin' dogs yesterday.  Unfortunately I don't have any photos of my fire roasted hot dogs or sausages; they had no time for the camera and went directly into my belly.

The following are the photos I did remember to take throughout the aft/evening:

The awesome stick pile I gathered!

Hello fire!!

Keeping the drinks and condiments cold!

Meat and Marshmallows!

Moon rising.  It was almost full and kept the woods bright.

Fire is kicking ass at this moment!

I'm trying to roast a marshmallow - that's it in middle of the fire.

Marshmallow caught on fire (as always!)

It got pretty dark and the moon got more beautiful.

End of the night fire - beginning to wind down.

Oro World's Fair Photo Round Up

Here's some highlights of the sights at the 2010 Oro World's Fair.  If you notice slight blurriness on the right side of some of the photos, that is compliments of my five year old nephew who put his adorable little fingers right on the lens.  Good thing he's cute.

The midway.

Caramel Popcorn was purchased here!

Local farmer's tractors on display.

Demonstrating how they used to saw logs back in the day.

My nephew Earl checks out a calf.

My sister-in-law won first prize for her 'Hungry Man Lunch' display.

The parade begins with a police escort and the fire department!

Oro-Medonte fire truck.

At this point the parade went to the dogs.

The crowd watches as the tractors join the parade. 

My brother driving my uncle's tractor.

The finale of the parade is the march of all the elementary school students.

W.R. Best was my school and I got to carry the banner in grade 7.  Represent!

The parade ends with the clumping of school children (a.k.a chaos)