Best Holiday Decor Shopping

Yes, Halloween is still 3 days away... but have you seen the stores in the last two weeks???   Right after Thanksgiving most stores started stocking shelves, decorating trees and spaces with CHRISTMAS!!!   Alright, I must confess... I usually start thinking about Christmas decorating in the summer.   One of my favourite shops in the US is Hobby Lobby (think of a cross between Home Sense and Michaels) and during our summer vacation they have already started selling Christmas merchandise (they stock shelves as of July 1st!!).   

I must admit that I have already been to Pier 1 Imports, Canadian Tire, Walmart, Bouclair Home and The Bay to check out their Christmas stuff.    But what I really look forward to seeing are the local nurseries and what they come up with.   New trends, new themes and great decorating ideas.

Holland Park Galley in Burlington has THE biggest display of Christmas I've seen on this side of the border.    Next weekend is their Christmas Open House.   Christmas Elves (decorators) are already busy decorating over a dozen different trees with different themes.    This place does not disappoint.    There just has to be a tree that will appeal to you!   The Open House takes place Friday November 4th from 630p - 9p and Saturday November 5th from 630p - 9p.    During the Open House hours, Holland Park Garden Gallery will pay the equivalent of the HST on your entire purchase.   Nice!   To learn more about Holland Park please visit their website.
http://gardengallery.ca/hollandpark/

Two other great places to see Christmas decor ideas in and around Waterdown are Terra Greenhouses (5th Concession and Highway 6) and Connon Nurseries.    Terra will have their own Christmas Open House on Saturday November 19th and Sunday November 20th.   To view more about Terra and Connons, please visit their websites at:
http://terragreenhouses.com/    and    http://www.connon.ca/

Both Terra and Connon's give back to their community.    For Christmas, Terra has their Poinsettia Fundraising Program and Connon's partners with local organizations (like my daughters Dance School "Live Dream Dance") and anyone who mentions a participating organization at the cashier, Connon's will donate the equivalent of 10% of the total purchase to the organization.    Great decor, great service, great product and great charitable donations... what's not to love about our local nurseries???

May I be the first to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas (and a Happy Halloween! ;-)



Best Girls Night Out

Three or Four years ago I was given a free ticket to attend the Soroptimist International DAF (Dundas/Ancaster/Flamborough) Annual Christmas Auction & Girls Night Out.      What a fun event.    It is indeed mostly women there, but there are male friends who attend the event as well.   I had so much fun, that I make sure that I make time to go now every year.

You can arrive as early as 530p to preview all of the items up for auction and you are given a program so you can go through the items and mark your favourites so you know what you'd like to bid on.

There are several different lots depending on the cost of the items given away.     There is loonie items, toonie items and there are a few five dollar grand prize items.    In each of the lots are a number of items and you bid on the whole lot.     You can purchase more than one entry into each lot.     You are given a number(s) based on how many chances you buy.   Then when everyone has a number they pull the numbers and give away the prizes within the lot.    So for a buck you could walk away with a great prize!    There are usually about a hundred or so items so with many people bidding on items you might have a 1 in 20 chance of walking away with your item.   Pretty good odds!

In addition to winning items through the auction, there are also enough door prizes so that everyone walks away with something.

The meal is great, the ladies are all fabulous and it is a really wonderful way to spend an evening before the craziness of Christmas before you get into December.

The early bird deadline has already passed, and tickets are going quickly.    If you and some of your girlfriends are interested in a fun night out while helping local women's charities, I encourage you to get a ticket real soon.    Information on getting tickets is on the mini poster at the top left hand corner.

Best Waterfalls

Did you know that Hamilton is the "Waterfall Capital of the World"??    It is... and Waterdown is within the City of Hamilton.    The biggest one in Waterdown is the "Great Falls" or is more commonly known as the "Grindstone Falls" located in Smokey Hollow, the dip in the road where Mill Street South turns into Waterdown Road.   I took this picture there the other morning...

The colours around the falls are just beautiful.   Autumn is my favourite season and this is one of my favourite places to go to enjoy the beauty of nature.     There are all kinds of hiking trails around the falls too, including a path for the Bruce Trail.     Other waterfalls in the area are Borer's Falls, Clappison Falls, Hidden Grindstone Falls, and a bunch of other little recognized falls.    The biggest in the area is Webster's Falls in Greensville.    People drive from all over southern Ontario to see the beauty and majesty of Webster's Falls.    A must go destination for anyone who lives in the area.



To view the whole list of Waterfalls within Hamilton, click on the name of the Falls listed below or please visit   htttp://www.cityofwaterfalls.ca

Waterfalls:

Albion Falls

Ancaster Heights Falls

Baby Webster's Falls

Betzner Falls

Billy Green Falls

Billy Monkley Cascade

Borer's Falls

Boundary Falls

Brown's Falls

Buttermilk Falls

Canterbury Falls

Cave Falls

Centennial Falls

Chedoke Falls

Cliffview Falls

Clappison Falls

Darnley Cascade

Deal Cascade

Denlow Falls

Devil's Punchbowl

Dewitt Falls

Duchess Falls

Dundas Falls

Dyment Falls

East of Fifty Falls

East Glover's Falls

East Iroquoia Falls

Erland Falls

Felker's Falls

Ferguson Falls

Fifty Road Cascade

Fruitland Falls

Glover's Falls

Grand Cascade

Great Falls

Greensville Falls

Griffin Falls

Grindstone Cascade

Hannon Cascade

Hermitage Cascade

Hidden Grindstone Falls

Hunter Falls

James Falls

Jones Road Falls

Lafarge Falls

Lewis Road East Falls

Lewis Road West Falls

Little Canterbury Falls

Little Davis Falls

Little Falls on Wilson St

Little Rock Chapel Falls

Lower Beckett Falls

Lower Borer's Falls

Lower Chedoke Falls

Lower Cliffview Falls

Lower Fruitland Falls

Lower Glendale Falls

Lower Hopkins Cascade

Lower Little Falls

Lower Mill Falls

Lower Princess Falls

Lower Punchbowl Falls

Lower Sanatorium Cascade

Lower Sydenham Falls

Lower Tews Falls

Lower Weeks Falls

Lower Westcliffe Falls

McNeilly Falls

McNeilly West Falls

Middle Glendale Falls

Middle Sydenham Falls

Mineral Springs Falls

Montgomery Cascade

Mountain Spring Falls

Mountview Falls

Oak Knoll Falls

Old Dundas Road Falls

Olivieri Cascade

Optimist Cascade

Patterson East Cascade

Patterson West Cascade

Pond Falls

Pritchard Falls

Progreston Falls

Promontory Falls

Puddicombe Falls

Quarry Falls

Ridge Falls

Samuel Cascade

Scenic Falls

Shaver Falls

Sherman Falls

Sisters of Mary Falls

Spring Falls

Springhill Falls

Stephanie Falls

Steven's Falls

Tallman East Falls

Tallman West Falls

Taro Falls

Tiffany Falls

Tews Falls

Troy Falls

Upper Beckett Falls

Upper Glendale Falls

Upper Hopkins Cascade

Upper Princess Falls

Upper Mill Falls

Upper Quarry Cascade

Upper Sanatorium Falls

Upper Shaver Falls

Upper Sydenham Falls

Upper Weeks Falls

Valley Falls

Veever's Falls

Vinemount East Falls

Vinemount West Falls

Wall Falls

Walnut Grove Falls

Washboard Falls

Weir's Falls

Webster's Falls

West Iroquoia Falls

West of Fifty Lower Falls

West of Fifty Upper Cascade

Westcliffe Falls

Best Fall Fair

Hard to believe, but I grew up in Hamilton and have lived in Waterdown for 9 years now, but last year was the FIRST TIME I ever made it to the Rockton Worlds Fair.    I had heard about it each year growing up but never did make it there until last year.    So much fun to take our kids on the rides of the midway, check out all of the judged exhibits (school projects, baking, produce, animals etc...)  

Here's a little bit of the history of the fair from their webiste   http://www.rocktonworldsfair.com/

"The Rockton Agricultural Society has come a long way since the first Beverly Agricultural Society Fair was held in October 1852.

According to the information recorded in " The Pioneers of Beverly ", October 20th was a " Glorious Indian Summer Day ". There were 181 members and prize money paid to the exhibitor's was $194.50. Compare this to today's volunteer membership of 500 and prize money of $80, 000 paid to over 1200 exhibitors.

In 1934 the Beverly Agricultural Society became the North Wentworth Agricultural Society and in 1966 the name was changed to the present Rockton Agricultural Society.

In 1878 Andrew Kernighan commented that the fair should be called the "World's Fair" because all of the world comes to it. The next day local newspapers carried an article about the fair entitled "The World's Fair at Rockton".

The Rockton World's Fair has grown tremendously since 1852. There truly is something for everyone. Each year sees new features added, along with the tried and true that have been a part of this great agricultural show for decades.

Today Thanksgiving weekend hosts an attendance of 100,000 people, bringing Urban and Rural together.

Agriculture is the highlight of the fair and education of agriculture is our objective."

The fair is held each year on Thanksgiving Weekend, and it runs from Friday October 7th to Monday October 10th.    This year is the 159th Anniversary!    A great place to go with the family if you need walk around to work off that Turkey Dinner!     Happy Thanksgiving to all.