Exlporing Sculptures in Creemore and Visiting a Local Christmas Tree Farm

Entrance to the Creemore Horticultural Garden, Creemore, Ontario

Being a city dweller, I  always find it a treat for us to be in rural towns and enjoy the open space and fresh air.


While in Creemore, Ontario,
( population about 1300 )  we visited the Horticulture Garden in the down town area, about a stone throw away from the world's smallest jail.

The Creemore Children's Dress-Up Dance - Creemore Horticultural Garden

Harmony - Creemore Horticultural  Garden, Creemore

Since I have a real interest in gardening and sculptures, I really enjoyed looking at all the different hardy plants in the garden and admired the efforts residents have put into beautifying this public space for all to enjoy .

Sculpture in front of the Creemore Public Library

I was really surprised to find a few creative and touching sculptures in such a small town.

I like all the sculptures we saw in Creemore.  As an educator, I love the one in front of the Crermore Public
Library - a girl on rolling skates carrying her book to the public library.

What a fun message it sends to the kids! Come on, kids, the library is a fun place to be and you can get there anyway you want!    I loved it!

Pizza Perfect Restaurant, Creemore, Ontario

Part of the fun and joy of travelling is meeting the people from the local community.

This time we met Henry, the owner of Pizza Perfect in downtown Creemore. Henry, an immigrant from Sweden in the 60's, was a welcoming friendly host.

Delicious homemade pizza at a local restaurant.

 We enjoyed our pizza lunch and had a friendly chat with Henry while learning a bit of the local history and stories.

 By the way, customers would get 1/2 price for their second pizza order at the diner.We did as we ordered two pizzas for our lunch.

The pizzas were yummmy! One of the most delicious pizzzas we had ever tasted!


After lunch we visited my friend's tree farm in Creemore.

Our friend's Christmas tree farm in Creemore

It is a hundred acre farm with Christmas trees growing on the land. We had the opportunity visiting the farm and taking a look at the property and the surrounding area.


It takes about 7- 10 years to harvest the Christmas trees.
These trees are about three years old now.

I am not a farmer and know nothing about farming.

However, I learned that on this Christmas tree farm, all the seedlings were planted at the same time receiving the same kind of attention ( or non attention once they are planted and started growing on their own.) during the course of their growing period.

Yet some were thriving while some were stunned in their growth.

Palm trees in my friend's backyard, Nevada, USA

I remembered a few years back, I visited a friend in Nevada, USA. The same thing happened to the palm trees in her backyard.

She planted and cared for  a number of young palm trees in exactly the same way.  Some grew really well while some other did not grow well at all. The difference in the growth was quite significant!

The biggest palm tree was almost 3 times bigger than the others though planted at the same time as the rest.
( See picture on right.)

A healthy 3 year Christmas tree takes on the shape already

We often talk of equity and fairness in school and in our society. But is there always fairness in nature?

The trees reminded me again about our children and young people. Though we think we treat them the same with love and kindness, some will thrive and do well on their own while some may not turn out the way we expect them to be.

We went hiking in a trail nearby the Christmas tree farm

 As parents and teachers, we need to understand that as long as we have tried our best to love and nurture them, the rest is in God’s hand!

R.T.
Creemore, Ontario

Relaxing on Wasaga Beach, Ontario - the World's Longest Fresh Water Beach

Wasaga Beach, Ontario

We went to visit a popular tourist spot in the Georgian region - Wasaga Beach.

Wasaga Beach, Ontario -  the Longest Fresh Water Beach in the World

              

The soft fine sand stretches for about ten miles along the Georgian Bay shoreline

Wasga Beach, Ontario, is not on the coastal region of Canada, but located on the shores of Georgian Bay, Ontario, a two hour lovely drive from Toronto.

 It is the longest fresh water beach in the world!

Its soft fine sand stretches for over ten miles and is a must see in the Georgian Bay region if you are visiting the area.

The best place to relax!

We went to the beach three times  during our vacation this time and each time we did something different and enjoyed ourselves very much!

One afternoon, we simply lounged under our beach umbrella and read a book.








 I loved feeling the sand under my feet, listening to the sound of waves, or  just watching the world go by and the kids chasing the sea gulls away on the beach.

I love watching the kids running after the seagulls on the beach!

This time we watched a drama played out by a bullying seagull right in front of our eyes.


A few seagulls found a bag of snack food left behind by some visitors to the beach,

They were milling around the food figuring what to do with it.

Within minutes, more seagulls landed on the spot taking turns poking at the bag of snack food.

Then a seagull bully arrived on the scene trying to claim the territory and the find as its own.

The seagull bully exerted itself and confronted the crowd for a few moments.

It extended its wings, broke up the party and scared the other seagulls away!

Though it was not a hot day when we could run into the water without hesitation, we still had so much fun on the beach!

We just let our hair down, jumped around, posted for pictures and had some great laugh!

What a lovely time we had on Wasaga Beach every time !
 

R.T.
Wasaga Beach
Ontario

More to see in Thornbury, Ontario, than we expected!

Beautiful old houses in Thornbury

While vacationing in Collingwood, we visited Thornbury, a small town about a twenty minute drive from where we were staying.

A perennial garden with Hosta plants

 

We could  find a spot and parked our car easily in the main street area.

Strolling around town, we passed by some beautiful houses with  nice perennial gardens

Shops in the downtown area, Thornbury, Ontario

Like so many small rural towns in Ontario, the business area is usually located on one main street of the town.

Stores in the downtown area

Though a town with a population of around 2200 people -  2011, Statistics Canada (web), there were quite a number of nice shops and stores on the main street downtown area.

 Along with some fine furniture and interior design stores, we saw at least two bakery cafe restaurants.

Ashanti Cafe & Bakery in Thornbury

We found our new favorite coffee shop -

Ashanti Cafe and Bakery which we visited in Collingwood.

We ordered some coffee and  homemade pastries. Yummy!  Using the WiFi. we checked emails and read the newspaper.  Thai Curry Chicken Coconut Soup was offered as the soup of the day. It was O.K.

Catering to a more mature crowd, Ashanti was a  comfortable place to stop for coffee and a bite to eat in downtown Thornbury.

We visited Thornbury more than twenty year ago and remembered the Thornbury Harbour well.

Thornbury Harbour

It was a cool, grey day on the day we visited the town, therefore there were not a lot of actions at the harbour.

Thornbury City Hall

 There were more to see in Thornbury than we expected!

When we were here many years ago, we stood on the Thornbury Bridge over the Beaver River and watched in amazement the salmon run for the very first time in our lives!

Beaver River, Thornbury

The scenery of the river was just as beautiful and peaceful as we remembered.

This time, the place looked not just prettier but with more consideration and help for the salmon fish and their next many generations!!

The Thornbury Dam

Since Thornbury has a dam,  it is almost impassable for the salmon fish returning to their spawning ground  each year.

After some careful study and planning by the town, a ladder like structure was built to enable the salmon to swim upstream gradually and get to their spawning grounds to lay their eggs.

Some generous towns people donated money to build a long wooden stairs with viewing platforms leading to the banks of the river. 

A  viewing platform was built recently

Some generous towns people donated money to build a long wooden stairs with viewing platforms leading to the banks of the river.  

Folks visiting the dam could sit on a bench to rest and enjoy the scenery. It would be a great place to watch the salmon run during the fall seasons as well.

An old wooden bridge in Thornbury

We had a great day in Thornbury visiting the shops, and enjoying the scenery along the river. 

We look forward to coming back to watch the salmon run in the fall!

R.T.

Thornbury, Ontario

Ashanti Coffee - A Great Bakery Cafe in Collingwood & Thornbury!

Ashanti Cafe, Collingwood, Ontario

One of the joy and fun things to do while travelling is trying new food at different places.

















Sipping  a good cup of aromatic coffee, savouring delicious homemade pastries and enjoying good conversations are little things that we enjoy on a regular basis.












Therefore, we are always looking for nice and comfortable coffee places and are willing to try them out.

 This time while vacationing in the Collingwood and Georgian region, we found and tried a new place.

We found a neat new coffee place -Ashanti Cafe and Bakery, located at the corner of First and Elm Street, close to the downtown area of Collingwood.

Ashanti Cafe - a great place for coffee and reading the morning paper!

The cafe, nicely decorated, with comfortable wicker chairs for seating allow patrons to enjoy their coffee, read the newspaper in an unhurried and relaxing atmosphere.

The cafe offers sandwiches and wraps besides sweets

It also offered a decent selection of sandwiches and pastries.


We liked the experience so much that when we visited another small town, Thornbury, in the area, we went to the Ashanti there as well for a bit to eat and our coffee fix.

Ashanti Cafe - Thornbury, Ontario

The best part about Ashanti Cafe - it is Canadian owned and operated!

A Canadian couple purchased a  farm in Africa, starting growing coffee, harvesting and bringing the beans to Canada. The coffee beans are roasted right in Thornbury!








We are big supporters and dedicated loyal customers of  Canadian owned and operated business.

Instead of Starbucks, now we have another option!

We will be looking for Ashanti coffee from now on!

R.T.
Collingwood
Ontario