Wiidookdaadiwin Lookout

Located in Springwater Township, the Wiidookdaadiwin Lookout looks over the Minesing Wetlands, historic Fort Willow, and from Collingwood to Mount St. Louis, Moonstone.

Wiidookdaadiwin is from the Ojibway language and means “working together, and helping one another.”

A walk easy enough for a couple of two year olds


You can watch as
a train goes by.
You can watch as 
an eagle flies across the sky.

A member of the First Nations and an Explorer

This bronze statue depicts an explorer and a member of First Nations, complete with an Eastern Ojibway birchbark canoe.

The icon sculpture recognizes the First Nations, explorers, settlers, and military that traversed the area between Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario.

The Humble Donkey

Calm, patient, steady.
When Mary needed a ride
the donkey
was ready.

They protect herds 
from wolves and coyotes. 
Their hee haw, 
is actually quite throaty.

They are stronger than horses,
their strength and stamina 
can, of course,
be a contending force.

Highly intelligent 
their capability of learning, 
often leaves other animals
yearning.

For their smile,
that can be seen for a mile.

So the next time
you want to use the word 
Donkey, as an insult 
take yourself to task
And don't be an A....

Flowers of Summer

Summertime, and the living is easy……

No Mow May

Star of Bethlehem, and Forget-me-nots colour the area at the edge of the forest.

A sea of blue. Not forget-me-nots, but probably a close cousin.

Earth Day in Photos

Another year around the sun.

All Things Beautiful

View from the inside of the Art Gallery of Alberta

A wonderful afternoon of All Things Beautiful!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream…The ’70’s Musical

In a forest inhabited by fairies, the characters in William Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer’s Night Dream come alive.

A group of musicians from the 1970’s turn prose into song.

Dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head,oh no!
I said dreamer, you said you are a dreamer 
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
Roger Hodgson

HIPPOLYTA
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven, shall behold the night. WS

Art Class, at the Childhood Home of Emily Carr

The childhood home of Emily Carr, in Victoria BC, was built in 1963.

My son and I spent three wonderful Wednesday mornings studying the art of watercolor painting with an amazing group of like-minded people.

“To look into the heart of the cherry tree when it was blossoming was a marvel almost greater than one could bear. Millions and millions of tiny white bells trembling, swaying, too full of white holiness to ring.” Emily Carr

There are so many skills and techniques to discover!

Enjoying beautifully decorated macaroons, a delicious treat prepared for us by our instructor, Helga Strauss’s mom, and fellow artist.

After today’s class to Beacon Hill Park, where we painted for another two hours.

Thank you, Emily, for sharing your home with us and our new friends.

Old Town Bakery

‘The Old Town Bakery is a must visit,’ shared my airplane seatmate. ‘It is where you will find the best cinnamon bun on Vancouver Island,’ the long time islander enthusiastically shared.

Standing outside, in a long line of cinnamon bun fans.

Established in 1932, the Old Town Bakery was voted home of the islands best cinnamon bun. Word of mouth says that it still is.

Nutella caramel hot chocolate, ham and cheese croissant, whiskey caramel cinnamon bun, lunch for two people under 30 dollars.

A lunch, of quality, affordable, made-from-scratch baking, nostalgic of Grandma’s homemade treats.

Whiskey caramel cinnamon bun with a sprinkle of pistachio nuts.

The Old Town Bakery holds a ‘Fast as you can eat’ contest of an 8 pound cinnamon bun. It took us three days to finish our regular size cinnamon bun, so I don’t know!

Like my friend on the plane, I highly recommend the trip to Ladysmith, for a taste of Vancouver Island’s best cinnamon bun!

The Teacup Tree

We came upon a teacup tree. A cup for you, and a cup for me.

Granny’s favourite charity, artsREACH, is a non-profit organization that provides free enrichment workshops in visual arts, dance, and theatre to vulnerable schools in the Greater Victoria BC area.

Since 2005, more than 42,000 children have benefited from the program.