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!    

Getting the word out

Our Flying Leap is proud to be included in two FEBBA advertisements!  Take a look at the image below! 

It's quite a boon to have our house's pretty photograph included in what can easily be called the most elegant piece of advertising put out by Elora & Fergus Tourism, "Grand & Gorgeous".  And also take a look at the Elora Festival folded pamphlet, we're right there on the bottom left of the first spread.  Both advertisements are for FEBBA, the Fergus Elora Bed and Breakfast Association, and, as a "new kid on the block" it's very welcoming to be given a spot in the ad.    
  A big round of applause goes to Garrett Klassen of Crunch! Inc. Communications for creating the ads and being the front-man for FEBBA.   
  So, what are you waiting for?  Come visit Elora and stay a night or two!  

Temptation

I'm drooling on the recipe... how does this strike you for breakfast?  

Hot, creamy, fresh berries... It's from a book called I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson.  I shall certainly be taste testing this one, probably on my sister Doris when she visits, and (if it's as easy as it sounds) serving it regularly at the Flying Leap!  

Earth Day action

For Earth Day, I decided not to add my printer to the landfill and try to fix it again.  I have an HP Deskjet 6540 and one wee piece of plastic that holds the spring that holds the black ink cartridge is broken.  The spring, therefore, doesn't stay in its slot and the printer doesn't register that the ink cartridge is there.  What do I get when I try to print?  Flashing lights, not even a helpful error message.  I fixed this once before when I first discovered the problem about a year ago but my fix (wire wrapped around in just the right spot) is now broken.  Bugger.
  But then my friend Tammi showed me this Bondic welding plastic.


Will this do the trick?  Quite possibly!  If I can recreate the missing plastic piece and further add braces so the spring can move but stay in its track it could be awesome!  

Happy Earth Day everyone!  Be creative and leave a smaller mess behind you!  We are ALL responsible for the future of our planet so use your brain and be you, only better!

Golden oldies

It's an exciting weekend!  We're busy with guests involved in the Elora Vintage and Antiques Show which has been running for 20+ years.  After satisfying our guests with Eggs Benedict, German streusal kuchen with apricot and lemon cake (a really super nice group of people along with the sweetest Westie-Poo!), Mom and I headed over (a very short 3 minute walk) to see it for ourselves.

 It was well-attended and the crowds seemed very keen.  There were some interesting conversations going on and some lovely pieces on display.  And while we're not very much into antiques, I did bring home a rat!  

 

It's not often that you see a rat in a postcard so I had to bring this one home, even though the rat is in trouble!  And the rabbit one is strange:  is it a real photo or was it staged?  It looks fake/staged, but did they do that sort of thing back then?  These cards were purchased from Attic Books of London, Ontario (along with a few to gift my friend Rose who always sends me such awesome Krampus postcards).

On a more practical note, the cornflower pattern in glass has always caught my eye and there was quite a lot of it at the Show.  This piece (from Victoria Street Antiques) however, is both useful and lovely:  it will be used to serve our guests sauces for pancakes, like lemon sauce or raspberry.  Perhaps it'll also be used for warmed maple syrup... maybe this pretty, delicate vessel will discourage guests from drowning beyond recognition my home-made, buttery pancakes in maple syrup!  (How many B&B hosts grumble about this?!)  Ah well, to each his/her own...  : }  

Bunnies everywhere! Happy Spring!

Here's a view of our dining room and parlour, it's so hard to photograph so I decided to try a mini video:
 

It gives a better sense of the space.  This area is for all our guests to use, to relax, to share wine with friends or play bridge on the big dining room table.  

Yes, those are bunnies and lambs on the table, and bunnies in the windows.  Here are some more images of our Springtime home... ignore the snow.

And here's what our guests enjoyed this morning:  Eggs in a Nest with avocado and alfalfa sprouts!  This was followed by apple-honey cake and a cherry German-pudding cake.