I’m a little late with this Friday update post that I meant to put together this week, but technically it’s still Friday as I’m posting this, so let’s just go right ahead and get all caught up on all the news from our little corner of the world. 🙂 Obviously, there are all kinds of really heavy/intense things going on in the world right now, and it seems like these events are getting closer and closer together every week, but if you look closely and try to keep a positive outlook (whenever you can), there’s plenty of good to be found too.
Taking your kids to a waterfall is always a good idea. I recently discovered that we actually have a conservation area with a real, live waterfall only about an hour from our town! This is kind of a big deal because our part of the world is basically completely flat. I’ve been really looking this summer for fun things that we can do as a family that will be entertaining for all our different age groups and Rock Glen Falls was definitely a winner. Not only was there a waterfall, which was pretty impressive for all of us on its own, but you can actually walk down, basically right through the creek that the waterfall drains into, all the way to the river because it’s super shallow and rocky. We definitely felt like we were worlds away from home. If you live in Southwestern Ontario, definitely look this place up!
My plant ledge is nowhere near ready in the back stairwell but I haven’t been able to stop my houseplant collection from growing and growing and growing. I have a way of getting too excited about projects if I let myself think about them at all. Honestly, at this point, it’s been so long since we’ve really had time to work on it between lockdowns, trying to give our kids a fun summer, and running our businesses that I don’t know if it will even get finished this year. My mind has been wandering a bit though recently when I think about how neat it will look to have all my favourite types of plants lined up that somehow I just keep visiting garden centres and picking them up. And it doesn’t help that I keep discovering new favourites too! Here are a few of my little guys all lined up for lunch on the porch recently. I’m really starting to get good at narrowing down which plants I love and which ones just make me sad when they start to die on me. Ha!
I have been cooking up a storm recently and it has been heavenly. I just love spending time in the kitchen and I often find myself forgetting that when I’m just trying to throw something together quickly and get dinner on the table. I’ve been challenging myself to try a few new things lately, and also just to sometimes make something for fun when inspiration strikes and it just brings me so much joy. I’ve done a peach basil pizza, a pesto from scratch (in my fancy new mortar and pestle, no less), a big batch of my favourite three ingredient fudge, a couple of giant sheet cakes for a bbq our neighbour had, just so many fun things. I’ve even gotten out my cookbooks and started to plan some ideas that I might like to try for the fall. I always seem to fall out of the habit of cooking just for my own personal enjoyment, but I hope I’m able to keep it up for awhile this time.
I’m back in my pre-pandemic habit of waking up at 5:30am every morning. I don’t know if you want to hear this, but waking up super early is just the best. It’s painful for about 3 minutes, but then when your morning opens up and you don’t feel like you’re always behind on everything, it’s a great feeling to see how much more you can fit into a day. I absolutely know that it’s a fact that I’m happier when I get up at 5:30am at the latest, but I still fall out of the habit pretty easily. This pandemic situation has led to some days that seem pretty long and sometimes it seems like a logical choice to try to “shorten” the day be sleeping in. But it never works and I just get frustrated that I’m not able to so everything that I want to do and that I always been behind. Getting myself back into waking up early has almost been a relief. I highly recommend it to all those who are willing to give it a try!
We squeezed in one quick camping trip this year, just this week, and it was the best way to end our summer. We always try to do at least one camping trip each year, but this year the system for booking sites was all messed up back in February when we usually book our trip. I think bots were booking all the sites up in our favourite park and then re-selling them for profit? Something to that extent. Anyway, we weren’t able to get a site before they were all booked up so that’s how we ended up booking the cottage earlier this summer instead. We just randomly checked the booking site a few weeks ago and saw that there had been a cancellation for a couple of days, so we scooped it up last-minute. We had a big storm roll through the first night that we were there and our site completely flooded, but we rode it out in the truck and we survived. Memories were made. The rest of the trip was full of hikes and perfect beach time. Glad we went for it and fit in just a little more summer fun before we go back-to-school next week. 🙂
NEWS AND FINDS
- I don’t understand the pricing on these gap modern t-shirts. I’ve ordered quite a few this summer and each one that comes in, no matter which style, is always just the softest and the best fit. And they even come in petite sizes so I’m not dragging around several inches of extra fabric. I thought maybe I was just on a t-shirt kick, so I tried some fancier, pricier ones from some other brands, but nope, it’s these specific t-shirts for me. I just stocked up on a few of the long-sleeve ones too for fall and winter! Love some of the beautiful fall colors they’ve just released too like the chimney red, mesculen green, and willow pink.
- Back to school is happening and I’m so excited to finally get back to working a “regular” schedule for the first time in 5 months. I may get excited and overload you with new blog posts for a little while. Consider yourself warned. 🙂
- My white all-weather Adirondack chairs are back in stock! If you’ve been thinking about ordering some and you’re smart, now’s the time to pick them up so your porch or patio will be all ready to go for next year and you can enjoy them all fall too! These were constantly sold-out all spring when I was ordering mine and they’d come back in stock only to sell out again right away all summer long. They really are such great, solid chairs and you can’t beat the price! I’m sitting in one of mine right now, actually! Run, don’t walk. 🙂 You can find my full review of them here.
- Today in “Things I Found on the Target Website When I Was Torturing Myself by Checking it Out, but Can’t Buy Because the Border is Still Closed”: This vase instantly reminded me of a vase I saw beautifully styled on a bathroom vanity in a very pricey local store here. The only difference? This one is somehow less than $5?? My American friends, you are living the dream. I’ve been searching for a really classic-looking outdoor thermometer to replace our old one on the side of the garage for a few years. This one is less than $25 and fits the bill perfectly. Can’t get it though!I still have throws from Target that are more than seven years old and they’re still going strong. This one looks like your favourite fall sweater, only in throw blanket form. 🙂
MORE RECENT POSTS
- What to do in September to Get Ready for Christmas
- I Went Ahead and Got the White Velvet Curtains Anyway
- Plant-Based Peach Basil Pizza Recipe
- Five Things on a Friday 8/20/21
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