Doors Open 2015

Doors Open on June 20th gave us a sneak peek into the Elora Mill, what a treat!  This four story behemoth is being brought back to life by Pearl Hospitality.  

"The first Elora Mill was built in 1833 and has had a colourful history of burning down, and being rebuilt. In the 1970s, the building was renovated into a hotel. 'It has historically failed as a hotel for a number of reasons,' project manager Brian Blackmere said. 'Obviously the Elora Mill never had adequate parking. It was one of its downfalls.'"(from a Wellington Advertiser article). 

 Plans to resurrect the hotel include parcels of the land on the other side of the Grand, and bringing back the Victoria Street Bridge as a pedestrian-only bridge!

What we really appreciated, though, was seeing the interior of this great old building with all the exposed beams and stone walls.  They plan to leave as much as possible bare so this is really going to be something to see when it's completed!
   

The added bonus was getting to see the Grand River as it flows outside the windows!  

Wow, what a roar from the waters!  Made us wonder how anyone could sleep here!

Further on, towards what will become the new spa, there were also great water views:



  Getting to see things in progress and wander the grounds was really helpful in envisioning what this great project will accomplish.  Watch for next year's Doors Open to see what opportunities for "behind the scenes" peeks will be made available!

Elora in the papers

There's a great article all about Elora in a number of local area papers; take a read here:  http://www.therecord.com/living-story/5702639-living-life-on-the-edge-in-elora/  Yes indeed, take a leap (a flying leap?) and enjoy Elora!

This is on the sidewalk outside the Neob Niagara Lavender Boutique and Soap Factory on Metcalfe Street.  You can't miss it, just follow your nose and relax into the sweet, gentle scents drifting out of this shop!

Canada Day in Style!

Happy Canada Day!  This was our first in Elora and, wow, does this village know how to throw a celebration!  The weather teased us all with heavy clouds and gorgeous sunshine but let us stay dry.

The Volunteer Firefighter Breakfast had a huge line, obviously a popular event... 

while the Soap Box Derby took place just outside our house, the carts speeding down Geddes Street!

The view from our balcony...

and just outside our house.

This is how the carts got back up the hill, and here are three future racers!

The Canada Day parade took place at 11:00 and it started at the Community Center to turn onto Geddes and travel right down our street!  What a view from our balcony!  

Here's a video of the Save our Water procession, and you can find out more about our very important water issues here: http://saveourwater.ca/

After lunch we went down to Bissell Park to watch Puppets Elora as they presented "Where's my Mommy?" to a huge crowd, some of the children getting to participate in this interactive puppet show!

So much talent, and I really have to applaud their ability to stay focused and remember their lines in all the noise and commotion!  "Where's my Mommy?" was just the right play for this outdoor performance.

Next we thoroughly enjoyed the agility demonstration put on by Diamonds in the Ruff!  The dedicated handlers and fun-loving canines put on a great show!

This little darling was a sweet "newbie" just learning the ropes.

And why run one dog when you can run two!  At the same time, of course!  

The frisbee demo was fun to watch.

Then they had a dog vs. human agility race! Diamonds in the Ruff canines raced against the children in a fun match... I think everyone won!

The Blue Bonnet Lassies danced in their lovely traditional costumes on the Bissell Park boardwalk...  

...and we walked home, proud to be a part of this incredible community!

Out and about with Willow -- Bissell Park

I shouldn't neglect to highlight one of Elora's local treasures:  Bissell Park.  Not as gloriously shady as Victoria Park and without the splashy grandeur of the Gorge, Bissell Park sits on the bank of the Grand just as you leave Elora heading towards Fergus.  It's across from the Elora Centre for the Arts and about a 10 minute walk from our B&B.  It's best known as the outdoor location for the Elora Farmers' Market and for the site of Riverfest.  When it's not busy during the week, this is where Willow likes to go for gourmet rabbit poop.  Yup.  

A well-maintained boardwalk loops around the outer edge...

...where you can admire views of the other bank, with its upside-down cedar trees clinging for life.

The dam is often a rush of noise in the Spring, and there are benches and picnic tables scattered about to take a moment and appreciate the beauty, singing birds and flitting butterflies.

One of my favorite spots is the stream or off-shoot of the Grand that runs through what I think was once a mill race.  There are ruins of a stone building nearby, possibly a mill, and various chunky machinery bits scattered about the waterside that indicate a larger waterworks... Anyway, these ruins are lovely.

Here's some history from a site my sister Doris found: "Elora Ontario industrialist T. E. Bissell powered his 1894 farm implement factory beside the Grand River. It became Fleury-Bissell Ltd. (1937- 1954). In 1964, Muriel Bissell donated the site to the GRCA, today's 38 acre Bissell Park." (from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ_1aolCN_Y&feature=youtu.be)

And Willow didn't mind posing.

Continuing along the path, 

you can take a foot bridge over the water (a great spot for photos of the Grand) and walk back along Water Street to to Metcalfe and cross the bridge back into the Village. 

Or stay in the Park to investigate smaller side trails and great views.

If you do stay in the Park and cross the parking area, you'll be treated to one of Elora's most community-minded and unique projects, the Kitchen in the Park Project, or KIPP.  

This outdoor kitchen is for the community to share, whether for fundraisers or private parties.  What a novel idea, I hope to attend the next bake just to see how it all works!  As it says on their website, "There is a great deal of potential with the creation of a gathering place such as a public kitchen."

See you in the Park!

Happy birthday to our website!

I completely forgot to celebrate the one year anniversary of our website,  http://www.theflyingleap.com/ !  The Flying Leap as a website appeared online June 2nd, 2014, after we bought the house but before we actually got it.  So our web presence was already being crawled before we had a phone number, etc... but that early start was probably helpful in getting established/found on the web.  
  On that early site there was a photo from the outside of the house, street address, an "Opening Fall 2014", and an email address... we've come a long way!  
  And we've got great reviews to show for our success so far!  Take a peak at TripAdvisor:  we are so grateful that some of our guests have taken the time to share their experience so potential guests have some assurance that we're a quality spot worth choosing.  Thank you to all our lucky 13 reviewers, it means a lot!