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.

Best Medical Clinic

There are many things associated with "Back to School", and this week we were reminded that usually by the end of September our household generally is attacked by the Flu/Cold bug.    Luckily, lots of rest and some over the counter meds to soothe symptoms have us on the road to recovery.
I have heard good things about many of the doctors and medical clinics in town, but I really have to toot the horn of the clinic that we go to... Carlisle Medical Centre.     Our family joined the clinic not long after moving to Waterdown from Toronto late 2002.    Our youngest daughter has been going there since birth.

What I love about the clinic is that although you have a personal doctor, if they are not available you can see anyone on staff.     The single best factor about belonging to CMC is that there is always a doctor on call, and if you have an illness that does not require going to the Emergency Deptarment, you can page the doctor on call and after discussing syptoms on the phone will meet you at the clinic and assess you if you need it.    This happened to me two weekends in a row in May 2007.    It was a Saturday and I was in absolute agony... the cold I had all week ended up becoming a sinus infection over the weekend and I called the on call doctor and they met me up there 5pm on a Saturday, checked me out and gave me a perscription.    I took the perscription all week and it seemed to be clearing up my sinus infection, but by the following weekend (the May Long Weekend!) I was breaking out in a rash all over.    I again called the clinic on the Saturday of the long weekend, discussed my symptoms and was told to meet the doctor up at the clinic.   Discovered that I had a sulfa allergy and the perscription I had been given was sulfa based.    This was the first time I had ever had this happen.    The doctors at CMC are all so fantastic, and even on a long weekend made me feel like my health was most important.   

More recently, we took our oldest daughter in this summer on a weekend when her high fever went into Day 3 with no sign of coming down.     Turned out she had strep throat and after bringing her in to see the on call doctor, we were sent home with a perscription and peace of mind that the fever might finally break.

At CMC, they have new doctors still accepting patients (a family Dr. accepting new patients is difficult these days), and older more experienced doctors... there are male doctors and female doctors and Nurse Practicioners.    

I have always been very pleased with the service at CMC and have enjoyed the added benefits of X-Ray/Ultrasound and a Lab on site.    Our family highly recommends the service and doctors of Carlisle Medical Centre.    To view more about them please visit...

http://www.carlislemedical.ca/

Best Fall Fun

Fall is my very favourite time of the year, and one of the things I love about living in Waterdown is all the great local farms in such close proximity.

It would be very difficult to choose which one is the very best so I recommend visiting them ALL!    There are things I love about all of these local farms...

Frootogo is a must each year for our family.    We love to take the tractor pulled wagon out to the HUGE pumpkin patch and pick our pumpkin.    Pumpkins are all still growning on the vine so bring a little knife (not too sharp to be carrying around though) so you can cut off your pumpkin.    Beautiful scenery riding out to the patch on the wagon = great fun.    After you get your pumpkins grab a cart and some apple baskets and then head over to the orchard to pick some of your own apples right off the tree.    Apples just taste better when you picked them yourself.    After you've got those done then seeing the animals, running through the corn maze, jumping in the hay, and little ones will love all the great toddler slides and "Little Tykes" type toys.    The market there is full of fresh produce and delicious treats... from pies, crumbles, fudge, biscuits, cookies, candy apples, jams and preserves, and make sure you get a warm apple dumpling!   So good and not to be missed.    To learn more visit their website:   http://www.frootogo.ca/section/view/

Just down from Frootogo on Parkside Drive is Parkside Farms.    What I love about them is the great selection of fresh produce.  One time I was in during the summer to get corn and asked the guy working there how fresh was the corn?   He replied "Just picked 20 minutes ago!"   That's fresh!!!   There was also a nice selection of flower bunches from flowers grown on the farm.    What is best about this farm is the people... a family business since 1964 and always great people working there.    For families, kids will enjoy in the fall Storybook Forest, the Corn Maze and Boo Barn.    To learn more check out their website:   http://www.parksidefarms.com/

About 20 minutes outside of Waterdown is one of the best Farms in the area for Fall Entertainment.    Not only do they have all the typical attractions like the wagon ride and the pumpkin patch but they also have a haunted barn and the best fun of all is the piggy races... not to be missed.    Unfortunately, this farm is only open weekends in October, but this year in 2011 the farm is closed.    Their website: 
http://www.yeehawadventurefarm.com/  states that they have been working on a concept for television for the last two years and this year they are taping a video at the farm.     Hope they are open in 2012 so we can bring our family there again.

Last but not least is Dyments.   If you are looking for the best scenic wagon ride, you can't beat the beauty of this farm.    The amazing views of Dundas as you go along the trail of the escarpment are breathtaking.    The other part of the Dyment farm I really enjoy is the Animal Farm.   So many different animals and opportunities to get up close and pet them.   There always seems to be baby animals around too!!    Another great attraction at Dyments is the Spook Hut and Spookley Theatre.   Little children are scared by the Spook Hut so kids under 4 or 5 years old might want to skip that part.   Of course there is lots of great items in the gift shop and make sure you drive down the road and stop at the Dyments Market and Bakery.   Yum!!   To learn more about Dyments, please check out their website   http://dyments.com/

I hope you and your family get out and enjoy some of the great local farms this Fall.

Best Sweet Temptation

A great new business opened it's doors in Waterdown this week... and my girls and I there for Opening Day.   We were excited when we first saw the sign for Atomic Cupcakes go up in July and after delays from the city getting permits, it finally opened this past Monday (Aug. 29th) for a sneak peek.   Shop owner Jessica Sykes is in the shop everyday (closed Sundays) whipping up countless batches of fresh cupcakes.   A special official Grand Opening celebration is planned for Saturday September 10th.

I was able to chat with Jessica on Monday and ask her a few questions (a first for me to personally interview someone for my blog ;-)

Q:   What are your favourite flavours of cupcake that you make?
A:   My favourites are mint, peanut butter, carrot cake (she also had just come up with a great new flavour that she wanted to try a cupcake with a Nutella Buttercream icing that she was sure would be right up there as one of her favourites.)

Q:   Will you have standard flavours and a daily selection or will there be the same flavours everyday?
A:   We will have a standard set of flavours, the vanilla/chocolate combos will always be available.   The Peanut Butter Cup and Peppermint Patty Cake will almost always be available.   I'll try to have one more Classic and two Gourmets available as well.    Add that to two flavours of Whoopie Pie (an inside out cupcake) and a cake plate dedicated to minis and I will have a full counter.   My goal is to post on Facebook what flavours I'll be serving that day.  (note - see their facebook fan page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Atomic-Cupcakes/133129253367010  )

Q:   Why did you choose Waterdown as a location for your business?
A:   As a location for an upcoming independent business, Waterdown has alot going for it.   It still carries a "small town feel" with a cute downtown and residents who can walk there. The spot we chose specifically is not 'big box'...it's charming; a must for the image we wanted to create.   Added to that are the new businesses that are coming into Waterdown (the new retail at the corner of Dundas/Main and next to our building on Main), thereby generating more pedestrian traffic. As well as the very large residential developments all along Dundas St and on Parkside. Finally, Waterdown is nicely situated within an easy drive of Burlington, Dundas, Ancaster, Carlisle, and Flamborough. 

Couldn't agree more Jessica.  As for me and my girls, our favourite Atomic Cupcakes were for me a the Peanut Butter Cupcake  and for my girls who are chocolate lovers the Chocolate on Top was the only choice for them.     While most cupcake shops including Atomic, serve both regular and mini sized cupcakes, I always prefer the mini cupcake.    That way you can have two different flavours and the cupcake to icing ratio is in better proportion for the ideal cupcake experience.  (Do I sound like "Cupcake Connoisseur"??).   What sets Atomic Cupcakes apart from other cupcake shops??  Candy!!!  Jessica lovingly tops each cupcake with something to go with the flavour.    A Peppermint Patty, Peanut Butter Cup, Gummy Worms, Smarties, Gumdrops or Peanuts top the sweet treats.

I wish you many great years serving Waterdown Jessica.   For more information on location, hours, flavours and special cupcake themed items for sale in the shop please visit their website  www.atomiccupcakes.ca