Spring is in the air

Easter weekend is coming... I wonder if I can make these?

I love devilled eggs, and these look simple enough... served warm they'd be lovely.  If we brought these out to the breakfast table, what would you like to eat them with?  

You can view more pictures at: https://www.tumblr.com/search/deviled%20egg%20chicks

The Meadow in Spring

Well, it's not Spring yet but the weather is certainly not wintery any more.  With above freezing temperatures overnight and predicted rain, our snow will all be gone very soon and snow drops are peaking out of the slush.
   We took a break from the larger renovations to do some "detail" work on our Meadow room.  A touch of elegance was added:  we found mist green tie-back tassels and pewter colored boxing hooks (both by Canadian Drapery Hardware) at Len's Mill and this little bit of accessorizing made the sitting area look quite classy.  










Then, at Market Roads Antiques in St. Jacobs, we found a shelf that we mounted just under the mirror:  the two pieces match almost perfectly!  The added convenience I'm sure will be appreciated by all our guests, because you always bring more toiletries than you can find space for. Notice also the small acrylic container on the wood shelf:  it has Q-tips, cotton swabs and cotton balls in it, for easier make-up removal and perhaps to spare our face cloths.  Each room now has one of these containers.  

And there was a nice push for Elora in this article, concerning my favorite season:

14 Ontario Towns Bursting With Fall Charm

"With its stunning natural beauty and small-town charm, Elora is a multi-sensory pleaser. Featuring 80-foot limestone cliffs and two majestic rivers, the Elora Gorge is breathtaking and unforgettable, especially in autumn. And if the finer things in life are what you seek, the downtown village offers plenty of ways to indulge."  

Read the rest by clicking on the title.

Tuning up

Sorry for the over-long silence: we've been very busy with renovations!  Since January 4th, we've been hip dip in the tool box doing all sorts of repairs and fixes, everything from re-gluing peeling wallpaper to having new windows installed.  More details later, but for now here's one of the little jobs that took quite a bit of effort: 

Our Little Creek door had a very broken strike plate, in fact as we removed it we discovered it was actually in two pieces!

Ouch!  The space that had been carved out of the door frame was also a mess, so we took the brass strike plate from the linen closet door (which strangely has no latch anyway), checked its location with the latch (using a smear of mustard!), measured what it needed and filled the rest of the carved out space with wood filler.  Sanded smooth, all it needs now is a coat of paint or two and then we can screw the plate on securely.  

So many new things to learn!  

Below, the door terminology image is from http://www.hardwaredetailed.com/.

Getting our feet wet

Back in mid-August on a weekday when we stole a few hours for ourselves, Mom, Willow and I explored the Irvine Creek.  We took the stone stairs in Victoria Park and wandered up and down the creek bed, exploring the caves and enjoying the cool water rushing over our feet.  It's a very pleasant way to spend a hot afternoon!

In the water stand two pillars and we wondered what they were for... well, it turns out there used to be a footbridge!  Above is a picture of the David Street bridge today and you can just see it in the background of this 1920s image.

I had come across this photo somewhere but it's too unclear to figure out the specific location...

and then I found this image in the Wellington County History Volume 15, 2002 issue!  Wow!  The text reads "Downstream from Elora's David Street bridge,and until its destruction by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, there was once a footbridge across the floor of the gorge.  The earliest version dated back to the 1880s, when Elora made its first serious attempts to cash in on the tourist trade.  The final version of the footbridge sat on a pair of heavy concrete piers that carried the walkway 12 feet above the floor of the gorge.  Stairs at one time descended both sides of the gorge." (page 62)

Now we can't wait for better weather so we can explore and figure out where the other set of stairs used to be!  

This gorgeous root is near the base of the David Street bridge.

Happy and Merry and Bright

Happy Holidays everyone, however you choose to celebrate the darkest time of the year!  

We received an early gift on December 19th, this great article by travel writer George Bailey that appeared in the Niagara Falls Review.  George and his wife Ellen had enjoyed our Bed and Breakfast once before (October 2014) and George was very kind to include us in his write-up!  Wow!  The Flying Leap is in print! 

Happy New Year!  Here's to a prosperous 2016!

Graveyard weather

The weather has been wet and foggy for days, and we've been inside busy baking and finally hanging pictures in our living space... I needed a break, so I said to Mom yesterday afternoon, " Let's do something fun."  She said, "Okay, like what?"  I replied, " Let's go the the cemetery and find Dr. Robertson's grave."  Okay, not your idea of fun?  So we hopped into the car without Willow as the weather was pretty wet and drove to the Elora Cemetery.  

Our house was built for Dr. William Robertson in 1891, and he lived 1865 - 1941.  I had the plot designation, D7-9 and figured it would be relatively easy to find... not so!  The Elora Cemetery does not have any section breakdowns, so you're expected to know where the office is and go there first to locate the grave you want!  Gesh!  We were extremely lucky to be there at the same time as the ground's keeper, who was very helpful and patient.  He phoned the office and someone there looked up Dr. Robertson in the computer:  no hits.  So they looked in the old records:  success!  The plot she gave us was G46, close to the chapel.  The three of us hunted for the grave and after a while Mom spotted it, close to a pathway.  Yeah!  

I've read that at the time of his death, Dr. Robertson did not get a gravestone, his plot was unmarked.  Only afterwards did the citizens of Elora raise enough money to have this monument created.  The questions are:  where is Dr. Robertson's body, is it here?  What happened to the money that he had nothing for a gravestone?  And what of Florence, who died in 1930?  Where is she buried?

What a nice spot, and it stopped raining long enough for us to walk around a little.  

A close neighbour is this lovely stone with the elegant draping.

And we both appreciated this umbrella tree.  We figured the stone never gets wet under this dense greenery!

Mice are nice, Krampus is coming and a little Baileys for everyone

  If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I am not a very Christmases sort and MUCH prefer the glorious thrills of Hallowe'en.  In fact, I rarely purchase anything new for Christmas decorating (to save space and money for skulls and severed fingers, of course!) but this year there was a notable exception:  mice!!  I spotted these ADORABLE mice during Elora's Starlight shopping event at pod (75 Metcalfe Street) which always has unusual things on offer.  
  Mice enjoy a little Christmas cheer so they appreciate this mouse-sized Baileys... and behind them?  Why, that's a framed postage stamp featuring Krampus. (Thank you again Rose!)  Krampusnacht is December 5th so you'd better watch out if you've been naughty!  

On our door we have some switches for Krampus... they're supposed to be birch but I think he'll be okay with our willow.  Apparently, one Krampus custom is to display the switches all year, to remind children that Krampus will return!  Love it!