Spring Flowers
Leave a reply
Category Archives: canada
Big blue skies and bare black trees
Spring is almost here, the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and the weather is gorgeous today! A great day to be off and out enjoying a nice long walk.
The Rose City
My hometown is Welland Ontario – the Rose City. We have beautiful rose gardens in Chippawa Park, a park right near where I live now. The flowers are out in bloom and I love walking through the park at this time of year. Some pictures to share.
Touring Canada’s Capital City
Ottawa is Canada’s National Capital. It’s a beautiful, incredibly clean city located on the Rideau Canal. I finally made it last week to this beautiful city. It’s a great walking city and has amazing museums to visit. Here are some of my favourite pictures I wanted to share.
Favourite places to eat in Ottawa Ontario
I finally had a chance to travel to Canada’s capital – Ottawa, Ontario. I had the pleasure of trying different restaurants while there and enjoyed everything I tried! Here are my favourite places that I went to.
You can’t go to Ottawa without having a beavertail – it’s a Canadian tradition. A beavertail is basically a sweet dough that is pulled and fried and topped with different things, including nutella, peanuts, and the basic cinnamon and sugar. This one is my favourite! Sweet, warm and chewy – and oh so delicious!
Nate’s Deli is a tradition in Ottawa, located on Sparks Street right in the heart of the legislative buildings and business. It opens early and serves a wide variety of breakfasts, as well as lunches and dinners. I tried the spinach and goat cheese omelette with the crispiest hash browns and it was absolutely delicious. If you love goat cheese, this is the omelette to try!
Another tradition in Ottawa is the King Eddy. It’s a cool restaurant with lots of 50’s memorabilia and traditional diner foods. I tried the King Eddy burger with their secret sauce – just enough of a spice to give it a bit of a kick! Definitely give it a try!
Of course, it wouldn’t be right if I travelled and didn’t try a dessert or two. I indulged on my last night and headed to the Byward Cafe and had a delicious triple chocolate cake. Just look at it – it tasted just as good as it looks!
But my favourite place in Ottawa was Zak’s Cantina – they are famous for their margaritas apparently but as someone who doesn’t drink very much, I stuck with the food. The chicken burrito was so filling I couldn’t even finish it all!
There was so much to see and do in Ottawa, and definitely the food scene is one of the best I’ve seen in Canada. I will be going back just to indulge in more food!
WE THE NORTH – Hopping on the bandwagon!
Am I becoming a ….. basketball fan??? Ummm nope – but I am hopping on the NBA Final bandwagon and rooting for the Raptors. It’s pretty exciting to watch the last 5 minutes of each game, but honestly, to sit down and watch an entire game of basketball is not my cup of tea. Free throws and travelling are about the only terms in basketball that I know and can describe. For me, it’s like watching baseball – another riveting sport to watch. Perhaps live these sports would be exciting but watching on TV listening to the annoying sports announcers just makes it tedious to watch.
My favourite sport by far is football – CFL or NFL – either one. I love the game, the excitement of the game, the throws, the tackles. I know the rules, and I love the physicality of the game. It helps that the players also wear those nice tight pants haha.
Hockey would be my second favourite sport. I don’t really have a favourite team, but I always root for the Maple Leafs if they are playing, no matter how bad they are. It’s a fast paced, exciting game as well.
But since none of the Canadian teams are presently any good (sorry Blue Jays – but you suck this season so far!) – I will hop on the bandwagon, root for the Raptors, and exclaim with the rest of Canada – GO RAPTORS and WE THE NORTH!!!!
The sounds of spring
When you think of spring, what comes to mind? Everything turning green? Flowers blooming? Yes, those are the typical signs of spring, but for me, I know it’s truly spring when I hear certain sounds.
The sounds of kids laughing and playing outside. The chirping of the birds. The neighbour mowing his lawn. When I hear these sounds, that means to me that spring has finally arrived.
Of course, other sounds of spring are sneezing! Allergy season is upon us, with all the buds on the trees showing up, and the lilac bushes (as pretty as they are) in full bloom. I personally am not a fan of the lilac bushes – my eyes and my nose especially do not like them!
Every season has their own distinct sounds – summer has the cicada bugs, autumn has the sounds of kids back to school, school bells ringing, and winter has the sound of silence. Winter is my favourite season of all.
Let’s all enjoy the blooming season of spring!
A beautiful Autumn day!
Took some time out yesterday afternoon to venture out to some of my favourite places in the Niagara peninsula to enjoy the beautiful Autumn colours. It was a very nice, relaxing afternoon.
Waterways of Welland
Today was a beautiful day here in Southern Ontario – and I was lucky enough to have the day off of work to get out and enjoy the weather for a few hours. I have a desire to be near water and Welland offers some beautiful waterways. I spent my afternoon sitting by the canal, writing and relaxing. It was the perfect afternoon.
The 5 greatest things about Canada
July 1st is Canada Day – we celebrated 151 years of being this truly amazing country yesterday. I am a proud Canadian and no matter where I’ve been in the world, I proudly tell people that I am from this country. Here is my list of the top 5 things about Canada.
1. The people. Yes, we are the nicest people on Earth. We are humble (except for when we are playing or watching hockey….), we are polite and we are considerate. Of course there are always some bad apples but for the most part, you will encounter the nicest people here in this country.
2. The seasons. We are a vast country but we all get to enjoy the 4 seasons in all their spectacular, and sometimes tiring, way. The spring brings beautiful flowers, the sun brings the unbearable heat, the fall brings us spectacular colours and the winter brings the snow. We are a resilient group of people though, and while it’s a Canadian tradition to complain about the weather, we all come through each season just fine! Me – I am a fall/winter girl and we are having unbearable heat at the moment and I feel like I am melting — but give it a month or two and it will be gone!
3. The natural wonders of Canada – Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains – all across this great land we are treated with some of the most beautiful and spectacular scenery of all the world.
4. The food – okay so we have the best maple syrup in the world – we are the leaders of the world for production of maple syrup – but we also have poutine! And bear claws! We have our own unique food, as other countries around the world do, and we are proud of our uniqueness!!
5. My hometown! Welland may not be on everyone’s radar to visit, but it’s becoming a place to see for the sporting events we host on the Canal. We have some cool new places to eat, and it’s just a really pretty little city to see, even for just a couple of hours.
I am so very proud to be Canadian!
Louise's Loves - Travel, Cooking, Photography, Thoughts 