Back from the Thousand Islands

We're back 😉

In short: our trip was awesome! We (our family and our close friends, the W family) rented houseboats (one per family... not just because we're still socially distancing 😉 but having 11 people on a boat with only one bathroom would be nuts 😉). We traveled through the beautiful Thousand Islands- Canadian side, of course, because the border is still closed. If you are interested in checking out the boats, see this link. Spending our vacation on a houseboat was really fun... it was like being in a cosy retro cottage on the water. The really cool part was that if you wanted a change of scene, you just moved your little home... without having to pack up and change hotels! Bonus!

We visited 4 different islands in 7 days: Mermaid, Macdonald, Camelot, Gordon, back to Mermaid (the boys loved the swimming and fishing there) and the last night in Clark's Marina (check out was 9am so we decided to head in early... and go to a restaurant). Each of the islands are a part of Parks Canada  (link here) and I have to say that we were all really impressed with how clean and well-maintained each site was. We docked our houseboats and enjoyed what each island had to offer.

The best parts of the trip were being able to spend time together as a family and with friends, enjoying beautiful scenery, having the chance to relax, good wine and good food, a cosy environment, sun, someone who makes awesome Aperols... I could go on forever!

The bad parts.... well, just A bad part... water snakes... that is it. They don't bite (I guess that this fact could also go into the best parts of the trip) but they are pretty freaky (pictures here). Yes, I can speak from personal experience as one decided to sun on my shoulder while I was hanging out in the water, talking to W family mamma. I guess that I should be happy to interact with wildlife but, honestly, I could have done without 😉 I am laughing about it now.... maybe not so much then 😉 I am sure that W family mamma got a good laugh watching me 😉. By the way, I only saw the snake on one island- Camelot- the other islands were clear! I made sure to check it out 😉

Would we do this again? Absolutely! Would I feel good recommending this trip (especially considering I see some of you in real life where you can get even with me)? Definitely! If I haven't convinced you enough, here is a photo spam. See for yourself ;)

xox

Break

Tomorrow, we are going on a family vacation. We had plans to go to Spain before the virus hit and borders shut down. Needless to say that put more than a dent in our plans 😉 Instead, we are going to explore the Thousand Islands (see here) but remain on the Canadian side since our border with the US is still shut too.
We won't have any internet and I am not sure how I feel about that yet. It is always hard to be away from work and other obligations but I am willing to try it out 😉 That means no email, no Instagram and no screaming guys who play video games on YouTube (the last one is sounding pretty good right about now). It also means that I won't be posting anything here but I promise to spam you all with photos from our trip when we get back.

Have a good week ahead!

PS: house/dog sitters are still free to text me. We are not THAT far away 😉

A gift of memories

Another birthday present that I received was a big package that I found in my mailbox. The box was big and heavy and had traveled all the way from the Netherlands. My lovely friend Ageeth had sent me a birthday box of memories!

Ageeth and I had become blog friends a few years back and, in 2018, we spent a fantastic weekend exploring Amsterdam together (see here). It is always a funny situation, to spend a weekend with someone that you have never met in person before, but I hit the jackpot with Ageeth! She was exactly who I thought she would be! We both loved to wander around, explore flea markets, enter every cool looking shop, drink rosé wine in cafés and spend some slow time enjoying the city. She treated me to a craft afternoon in a ceramic shop, making our very own works of "art" (hers was much more talented than mine!). Ageeth also patiently hung out while I bought way too many candies for the trip home 😉

Opening this big box from Ageeth brought me right back to our time in Amsterdam: the candies, the beautiful wrapping and details that always reminds me of Ageeth and the vase I had made during our ceramic adventure!

Thank you, Ageeth, for the beautiful gift of memories! Although I cannot physically travel at this time, your box brought me right back. A mini trip to Amsterdam! Let's do it again sometime xox

The vase I made during our ceramic class. OK, I know it is crooked but it takes me right back.... xox

YUM!

All works of art!

Postcards from a Pandemic: the birthday edition

Yesterday was my 50th birthday... I know, I can't believe it either 😉 I have never liked a lot of fuss on my birthday so a pandemic version suited me fine... Some of my dear friends stopped by my house during the day with very thoughtful gifts, which allowed me to have some time with each of them (except one... sorry that I missed you!).

Late afternoon, Andreas and I went downtown with our close friends (the W family parents) for a beautiful walk, appetizers at an oyster bar and dinner at a Portuguese restaurant. Good vibes, good wines, good food and good friends... I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the day. Downtown Montreal is still pretty quiet and the restaurants have only just opened... we could tell that everyone was still very respectful, yet appreciative of a bit of normal.

Here is the Montreal photo spam... birthday edition. As Andreas kindly reminded me yesterday, I am halfway to getting my birthday message from the Queen ;) Umm... thanks for that thought ;) Hope you all enjoy the view! xox

<3

I actually shared ;)

Biggest oysters I have ever seen... happiness in a shell ;)

Happy birthday to me! ;)

More postcards from a pandemic

Day seemingly 1,234,567 of this pandemic: Andreas and I are still going for our walks. The energy in the air seems to be changing though and, even though the government still has a lot of aspects of our society closed up, there is a definite trend towards a re-opening. The stillness on the streets is disappearing and we're seeing more and more traffic again. Shops (besides grocery/pharmacy) are starting to open up, as long as they are not in a mall. More of my friends are returning to work. Summer sports activities are planning for a return. While I am excited for a return to "normal", I really hope that we can hang on to a bit of the non-scheduling, a bit more of the calmness and a bit less of the stress. 

Happy weekend to you all xox

Another science geek

When I was about 9 or 10, I wanted a microscope... badly. I was totally obsessed over anything science-y and I dreamed about being able to view what we can't normally see. It also helped that my friend had Sea Monkeys (see here... the advert to buy them was on every 1970s/1980s comic book) and the ad said that you could see them under a microscope. Of course, I needed to do this!!
Anyway, someone in my family (maybe Santa? 😉) took pity on me and put a microscope under our tree... Yes, I got to raise brine shrimp and, yes, I got to see them with my microscope. That toy was well used and well loved. Maybe even a contributing factor to my current career 😉

Flash forward to Saturday and, in the process of cleaning, I pulled out my old microscope. I was lucky to have it because my grandmother was sentimental and had kept it for me (thank you, Oma, for your hoarding tendencies 😉). Oliver was as intrigued as I used to be... even down to the brine shrimp. Although the chances of hatching the the remaining eggs in the box (they are the original ones) are really low, I promised Oliver that we would find some new ones and grow them together. I showed him the slides that I had made many years ago and he was impressed.

Maybe we have another science geek in the family? 😉 Feast your eyes on some classic 1970s science 😉 xox

Love the 1970s turquoise!

It still has the original Consumer's Distributing label on it! ;)

This was the 1970s Sea Monkeys advert that I found on the net. Flashback!!!