Originals

 I'm enjoying this spring as a lot of the old events are returning and I am finally feeling that I can go to them without worrying as much about Covid 19. This week we went to visit the Originals Craft Show in Ottawa. It was always a favourite place to see interesting creations, spark my imagination and pick up a few treats. 

I guess not all the vendors are feeling quite as safe yet as there were several booths used to showcase what you could find at other booths throughout the room. 

I went in intending to pick up a couple of treats we have not had over the past few years, and I got them, along with a couple more. Needless to say, we had charcuterie last night.

I specifically wanted Deb's Crispy Cracker Seasoning Mix and a visit to Little Shop of Lobster. I went with the Crab Mousse this time. I like taste-testing what's offered and was completely sold on Crosswind Farm's Cranberry Orange Artisan Cheese!  It's fabulous! Dear Hubby got to pick something out too. He really liked Carmichael's Bisson meat but brought home the Honey Garlic Pepperoni instead.  It did go well with the cheese and cracker platter and wine that evening.

One of the vendors was a lady who makes dresses out of t-shirts. My brother passed away recently and he had so many cartoon themed t-shirts that he likely could have gotten through a year without ever repeating which one he wore (if he wore each one for more than one day). I got her card as she will make a custom dress for me for the same price as the ones she has already made. I just have to give her the five shirts required to do so. Now I just have to decide what colour I want and start sorting. 

The other thing I wanted the moment I saw it was little shelves made out of logs. I wracked my brain trying to figure out where I could put one. I have a small house and it just won't hold any more furniture, but I thought his simple Burnt Log Designs were wonderful.

The only thing that would have made my day better would be if I had not forgotten to pick up some lemon squares from BC before we left!

Ottawa Home and Garden Show

I managed to win a couple of tickets to the Ottawa Home and Garden Show and I got my hubby to take a day off so we could go. He chose Thursday, opening day, and we picked up the tickets across town from Ottawa Home Services shortly before the doors opened. I thought perhaps there would be a long lineup for the opening but if there was it was gone by the time we arrived and it wasn't crowded in there at all. It was great to be able to wander around and see everything without having to wait for others to get out of the way.

I've been to the EY Centre for other events at one end or the other but was pleasantly surprised to find that they could open sections up and make the display area bigger. This show took up three areas, side by side, connected by doorways I never knew existed before.  No wonder it didn't seem crowded!

I had seen pictures on social media of the work being done to construct the garden area. That was quite impressive, and the results were stunning. There were food concessions over in that section too, but by then we had already eaten.

One of my friends mentions he never goes to these events as he generally ends up buying something he later wished he hadn't. I talked to several tradespeople about some jobs that need doing around our place. I gathered cards and brochures, was given a collapsible plastic water bottle and a bookmark ate some of the candies available at the displays and filled in a few contest forms. I saw one or two products that I would happily have brought home but I wanted to see everything first. I've learned that if I jump on a deal too soon I find something I'd rather have had later so I always like to see everything that is offered before I make my choice. I often manage to talk myself out of such purchases before going home too.  Hubby, however, was quite taken with a silicone squeegee that got windows and mirrors spotlessly clean with no streaks at all.  I was even given the chance to clean a window myself and I have to admit it worked far better than my current method, Usually, I have to rewash some of my windows a few times to get rid of the streaks. Of course, there is always this deal where they offer you more if you buy it during the show, or in this case, if you are one of the first 50. The price was really high enough that I'm sure there was no real deal to be had, but we have two very large windows and one of them is very difficult to clean from the outside. The very idea that this tool will help is what sold us. It will be getting a good workout soon.

Earlier in the day, I was able to dodge a bigger bullet as I was scooped into a chair where a guy applied a product under my eyes that magically removed all traces of any bags, circles or wrinkles. He just did one eye first so I could see the difference. Well, there is always a difference with my eyes anyway, since I've had Bells Palsy and the other side of my face is ageing faster than the side he chose.  So yes, I saw a dramatic difference between the two eyes. I did, however, tell him that I would have been more impressed if he had done the bad side. So then he did that one too, which was good as I didn't want to walk around the rest of the day looking totally weird. The product did it's magic and made that eye younger too. He started to tell me which other products he would be throwing in as part of their early bird special. I said something about how I expected this all to be rather expensive. He said, "Oh, no.  Botox would be expensive and this is much cheaper." The price came in somewhere well over $300 and while he went to fetch a bag, I was able to escape from his chair. He seemed totally surprised that I wasn't taking him up on this deal. While it looked like it would fix any issues I'm starting to see in my face, I still think I'm doing rather well for my age. There is no way I want to start spending that sort of money knowing full well that once you start you would never suddenly want to see those wrinkles again when you ran out of the product in 6 months. I had a hard enough time growing out my natural hair colour!  This product pulled the skin tight and was not at all soft to the touch. I knew I had made the right choice when the product cracked and created verticle lines under my eyes. That certainly isn't becoming, not is it a natural look. At least not for me.  I'll keep my wee lines. I've earned them.

It was a lovely day out, but of course, by the time we paid for gas, lunch and the window washing system, it was hardly free. Maybe I'll win something.

Getting My Greek On

Greek Fest is going on in Ottawa. In case you didn't know, Greeks are all about food and music. That's what you will find at Greek Fest. Darn good food, and hopefully music, if you happen to land there at the right time. Oh, and if there's music, there is bound to be dancing. It's really hard to keep your feet still when you hear Greek music and Greeks love to dance.There is also some art, and a few vendors, but that really seems to come across as something to look at while you wait for more music, or while you wait for your full tummy to make room for some of those honey balls!

It may not be the most exciting festival you will attend this year, but you aren't going to get a better meal anywhere. Admission is free and so is the parking. There is parking on site, and along Prince of Wales between Baseline and Meadowlands Drive. There is also parking on a few of the back streets too If you go looking for it, watch out for signs that tell you not to park certain places during special events. They really enforce those.


There is a free shuttle service to and from St Pius High School (1481 Fisher Ave) about every 10 minutes. Free parking will also be available (without shuttle service) at the St. John the Baptist Shrine (952 Green Valley Cres.) and the Temple of Israel (1301 Prince of Wales Drive). Please note on August 11th & 18th parking will only be available after 6:30pm.

So why am I telling you about this?  Well, my paternal grandfather came to Canada from Greece.  My Dad may have been half Scottish, and my mother was Scottish from both sides of her family, but that bit of Greek blood I inherited runs deep in my veins, and that's what I identify with. I will tell you I'm Greek and only mention the Scots as an afterthought.

Go get your Greek on. Have a great feed, and get your toes atapping. The festival continues until Sunday. You'll find it at 1315 Prince of Wales Drive.

Art School Fair

This past weekend I attended the first ever Art School Fair in Ottawa. It was an art materials trade show, but it was great fun.  The vendors were from the manufacturers themselves, so they all knew their products well. They were able to demonstrate and answer questions, and in many cases you had the opportunity to try the products before making the decision to buy.  Some of the vendors even handed out samples.  What they were really good at was getting you inspired to try new things.

The admission price was just five dollars, which was waived if you signed up for one of the many courses available.  I didn't do that this year, mainly because the ones I was most interested in were fully booked by the time I found out about the show.  The event was a great success though, so I hope I can get in on at least one of the classes next year.

As this is the first year for the Art School Fair and because it went so well, hopefully they will find ways to expand it in coming years. I am very sure they will do it again, and I am also sure I will attend.

I certainly came home with more than my entrance fee in samples.  I got a PITT Artist Pen, some watercolour dip dots from Daniel Smith, a nice little bag with 6 products from Golden, plus a beautiful t-shirt I will be proud to wear. I also purchased a new journal in support of the Ottawa Art School for another $5.  It is divided into right brain and left brain sections. A quiz inside tells me I'm definitely Left Brained, which kind of confirms my theory that I'm not all that creative.

Did this trade show do it's job? Yes, indeed. I came out of there knowing about products I had never heard of before, and plans to try them.  I want a water soluble graphite pencil. More than that, I want some Daniel Smith Watercolours. They have granules in them that create interesting textural effects and I'm already dreaming up ways to use them.  I also am very interested in the Mixed Media products by Pébéo.  Yes, I'll go again next year, and every other chance I get.  Great show!

Finding the Silver Lining

One day last week I planned to take the senior's shopping bus into Ottawa for the day.  I got dressed and walked the half mile to where I would catch the bus. I chatted with a friend for a little while, before being left alone to wait. Then I waited and waited, and waited some more. It was strange that the bus wasn't coming. It was even stranger that the others who normally catch this bus were not there either. I decided that they had changed the pick up point once again, and that I just had not heard about it. This bus only runs once a month, and I don't often take it.  Obviously I wasn't going to be able to take it that day either. I wandered over to the local Drop In centre, and joined the gang there for some treats and a cup of tea.

Someone said, "I thought you were going into Ottawa today."

I admitted that had been the plan and that they must have moved the pick up point as the bus never came. They asked what time the bus comes to pick us up, and that's when I realized my mistake. I had gone to wait for the bus a full hour late. Most everything else I tend to do starts at 10am, while the bus leaves here at 9am.  I was ready on time, but I was on auto pilot, and didn't leave the house until I normally would if I was going to go somewhere. I started wondering if I was going senile or something.

This week I attended a function in a nearby village, where a lady who sometimes rides that bus into Ottawa asked me if I had gone last week. I told her I had intended to, but somehow managed to miss the ride. She told me that the bus had broken down on the way, and everyone had to sit on it for a couple of hours while they got a replacement bus to pick them up and continue the trip. They didn't get to Ottawa until noon. I'm so glad I missed the bus as it would have been lunch time when we got there and after eating (which I'm sure I would have done) there wouldn't have been a lot of time to shop before the bus was ready to take us home again at 2pm.  I would have felt I'd spent too much on the trip for the amount of time I would have had in the mall.

Sometimes it pays to be absent minded.

Seniors Become Sitting Ducks

I told you recently about an enjoyable visit to the Fifty-Five Lifestyle Show. I mentioned at the time that I had filled out a number of contest forms and expected that I would get a lot of calls that would nor necessarily be about things I had won.  Well, let me tell you about some of them.

First I had a call about the 3 course dinner that everyone who filled in a ballot was entitled to.  A chef would prepare it, using the Cuisine Sante International cookware I saw at the show, to demonstrate how easy it would be to cook healthy meals without fats or oils. I was naturally busy on the dates he had available within the next week or so, and he will call back in October, when the chef would be available for the next round of meals.  I likely won't answer the phone now that I know what name will appear on the screen.  I have now had time to look up the company, and the "deal" along with the comments from other people who either loved the cookware or found the trip that came with it to be a scam.  I'm certainly not interested in paying exorbitant prices for pots and pans, or any of the other kitchen equipment they may try to foist on me after I've eaten a meal they invited me to.  If you want to know how these people operate, check this website and investigate further for yourself.

The second call came from  Arbor Memorial Inc.  I was walking by there, thinking it wasn't anything I'd be interested in, when I was called over to fill out a ballot for .... well I couldn't imagine what. I asked him if it was a cemetery plot or a funeral or what, and I'm not sure I got an answer to that, but just for filling out the form, I was going to get a free book where I could record where everything was, so others could find things if something ever happened to me.  Well, we really all need one of those, as I realized recently, and this one looked like a decent book that was well laid out.  But suddenly, he couldn't find one to give me, and seemed, after rummaging around in the booth, to only have the sample copy left.  However, he now had my address and he would  make sure I got one.  Ya, well, with the phone call, it was clear that it wasn't coming by mail, and would be delivered along with a sales pitch on future funeral arrangements or something. I just told him I'd just pass on the book thanks. He had time to say, "Are you sure?" before I said, "Yes," and hung up.

The third call was from a company I didn't even remember seeing there. The lady said, "Well, you filled out a form for a $20,000 draw. Do you remember that?"  I laughed and replied that I had filled out a lot of contest forms that day. I had a good time, actually.  She said that, though I was still in the running for the $20,000 there were also daily draw and I had won one of those.  She said there were three choices.  One was a 3 day, 2 night stay at a quality hotel, from a large list that covered all of North America. The second was something that sounded rather like CAA coverage, with towing and battery boosting, etc. and the third choice was a 50 foot PVC garden hose.  I had to laugh at that, as there is such a large difference between a trip and a hose, but she said that as some people can't travel, and some people don't own a car, they had to provide something for everyone. (Well, I could argue that some people may not live in they type of housing where a hose would be useful, but I was still being good at that point).

I, like many others, chose the hotel room (or, as they hoped you believed, the trip).  Then she wanted my physical address.  I asked why, and she said so they could deliver the "travel package".  I asked, "When that gets delivered here, then what happens?" I have to wonder how many people never think to ask that.  She said that they would want feedback on their air filtering system.  I said, "So someone will want to come in here and show me your product?" and she said yes, as they wanted feedback.

At this point I told her I thought I'd pass on the whole thing as I had played this game before, and really wasn't interested in doing it again. I then quickly said, "Thanks anyway," and hung up.  For any of you who don't know, falling for a demonstration of an "air filtering system" is really just allowing a vacuum cleaner salesman into your home.  I had a really great time confounding one of these fellows before, but once was enough.  You see, my first job was in door to door sales. I was trained in how not to take "No" for an answer. This makes it easier for me to see how these people try to maneuver their customers into making a purchase.  Guilt and embarrassment often work well.  The time the last vacuum cleaner salesman got to practice on me (and I actually told him that was all he was going to do), I had him convinced that I didn't care how dirty or germ infested my house was. Since he couldn't convince me how badly I needed his product, he couldn't sell it to me. He did have a quick mind though, and I asked him if he was doing this to put himself through university. He said he was. I told him he would do well in life.

Most recently I have been getting a number of phone calls from Breath EZ Homes.  I have not answered that call.  I know they will just have me do a survey, and then call back in a couple of days to tell me I've won a prize.  Then, of course, they will want to come and deliver it and do a product demonstration.... oh yes, it's another vacuum cleaner sales pitch.

At this point I'm starting to think that the whole Fifty-Five Plus LifeStyle show was a way to put the scammers in touch with the vulnerable senior citizens, and I think they should find a way to screen their exibitors better next year.

If you attended this show and had similar experiences, I'd be very happy to hear from you as I think I may try to find a way to alert the promoters before this sort of thing happens again. The more people I hear from, the more convincing this complaint will become.

Aging Has Some Benefits

As many of you know, I don't often turn down things that are offered for free.  Earlier this year I saw a post online that offered free tickets to the Fifty-Five Plus Lifestyle Show in Ottawa.  I decided to print them off, just in case I had a chance to go when the time came.  The tickets indicated that they were worth $10 each, but I managed to print off one for both my hubby and myself.  On Saturday, we got to use them.

The first thing that happened as we entered the premises was that we were each handed a reusable shopping bag with a few brochures inside. This is the first such bag I've ever had that actually has an outside pocket. I can just imagine how handy that's going to be. The bags were a great idea since they publicize the event so others who see them in use would think about attending next year. They definitely came in handy throughout our visit, since there was so much to pick up at the various booths.  After getting home, I discovered a tag attached, that made it clear that the bag also publicized the company that printed them. I could, for instance, get the Merrickville Karate Club logo printed on some, with more appropriate colours for our club.

Here are some of the things I came home with:
- A magnifying ruler from Phonak
- A shortbread cookie shaped like a wrench, from G.V. Renovations
- A little truck from the Got Junk people
- A notebook and pen from Davidson Hearing Aid Centres and also a package of batteries from them after they cleaned my hearing aid for me.
- A small sylus for using with my tablet, that is also a pen and a flashlight!
- Four assorted pens, and two other notepads.
- Plus the usual assortment of fridge magnets and candy and little chocolate bars.
- And of course, the multitude of brochures, coupons and other reading material I stuffed into the bag they provided.

While there, besides getting my hearing aid cleaned, I got my spine scanned by a chiropractor, to find out some areas of my neck were disintegrating (but I knew that). I also had a good talk with a renovator about my bathroom, and other things that might need doing around my house. I entered a myriad of contests too. Of course that likely means I'll have a few follow up phone calls to deal with. I'm very good at "no" so that's fine.  One will be for a date and time when we can actually go have a free meal somewhere in the east end of Ottawa. It will be cooked on special cookware, that requires no fats or oils. That's supposed to make the food healthier, they say.  Of course then the sales tactics will come into play, but as I said, I have no problem leaving afterwards without committing to anything. It's a little late in life to be investing in new cookware.

While waiting for my hearing aid to be cleaned, we helped ourselves to nice large cups of coffee and tea, and watched part of a performance by a lady dressed if a gold dress, split down the front to the waist.  She was impersonating Marilyn Monroe and even came off the stage for a while to flirt with some of the men in the audience. They did seem to enjoy that. 

Later on we sat though a performance by Wayne Rostad. (I've discovered so many ways to spell his last name that I've settled for the one in the brochure). He managed to get us all to sing somehow, though he did warn us that would happen.  This was the first time I've seen him perform in person, and it was really quite enjoyable.

We were at the Lifestyles show for over 3 hours, and the only cost to us, for all the entertainment, treats and goodies was the $7 parking fee at the Ernst & Young Centre.

That's quite a bargain for such a nice outing.  If you missed it, they have started referring to this as The First Annual Lifestyle Show, and plans for next year are already in the works.  I wouldn't  hesitate to go back.

It's All in the Family

Today we finally made it to the new IKEA store, in Ottawa.  It's huge.  It's got one floor of display rooms and another floor where you might as well get yourself a cart because you ARE going to pick up items as you walk through. Then you go through the warehouse area, where you can locate some of the things you spotted in the displays, and get those there.  The tags on the items in the display areas tell you what isle and section to look in when you get to the warehouse.  We didn't see any of the order forms like they used to have in the old store, so we wrote the numbers down on a piece of paper we happened to have with us. Do come prepared! 

After many years of visiting the old IKEA, and never once being able to get into the restaurant there, we finally got to eat IKEA food.  It's cheap and plentiful.  Hubby said his meatballs and mashed potato meal wasn't as hot as he would have liked, but he said it was good.  I had a huge mandarin salad with a chicken breast. Marvelous meal for the price, but the chicken, which is proudly advertised on the table displays as being organic, was rather tasteless.  A good dose of salt helped that a bit. 

I found this machine when I entered the store that would issue a free IKEA Family Membership Card.  Being like most kids I know, I just had to push the buttons.  I ended up with a nice orange credit card sized card with a code that needed to be scanned in.  After that I was all set to enjoy the benefits of being a Family Member. One was that there are certain promotions that are just for Family Members.  I apparently didn't choose any of those items today.  Another benefit is that you get your coffee and tea for free if you present your card when paying for your meal.  We not only got our beverages for free, but found you could get refills too. We enjoyed this benefit both with our meals and again later when we went back for an afternoon snack.  At that time I had a slice of apple strudel cake, and hubby had a chocolate truffle bar.  Both came with whipped cream.  We're thinking this might just be a great place to go, even when we don't have any plans to shop the store.  Actually, nobody should ever have any trouble dragging their men to this store. They can sit and  drink a few cups of coffee while you shop, or even have beer with lunch if they want.  I can't think of another store where you can get a beer!

On the way out I checked out another food area.  It seems you can get hot dogs and cinnamon buns and coffee there too, but it's more of a grab and go place. There are lots of other packaged  foods available too.  They even had baskets with samples of bits of cookies.  I tasted one that had vanilla cream filling with an apple jelly glaze.  Ha.  As if I had not had enough to eat already, I had to bring some of those home. But hey, I certainly did get my exercise walking around that place, and quite honestly, I didn't see it all. 

We will be going back!

One of Those Days!

Did you ever have one of those days when nothing went right?
I had one today.

First we thought we would make reservations to go on the Lost River Cruise, out of Morrisburg, as they are having Old Home Week there this week. Last year this was a very popular cruise and was sold out. Today we found out it had been cancelled "due to lack of interest."  Well, I doubt it was really lack of interest, but rather the poor way in which it was advertised. I had a hard time locating any information about it and I'm actually better at searching out such things than most people I know.  Anyway, we couldn't book the cruise.

Next we decided we would go to the IMAX today, and eat in Ottawa before the show.  I had two coupon deals. One was for a place we have been to many times, and the other was for a place we had never been to.  We thought we'd try that one.  We managed to get confused about just where it was, and ended up at the one we knew after all.  The portions have shrunk, and they no longer included the salad, but we got enough to eat, and enjoyed the meal. The waitress forgot about the coupon at first, but then remembered after she brought the bill. She fixed that and off we went.

There was a little discussion about which side of the river the IMAX was on, but I won that one, thank goodness.  My memory isn't the best these days, but I was sure I knew where that was.

So, we got there in plenty of time, drove around and around until we finally found a place to park and then proceeded to stand in line for our tickets.  The show was sold out.  We had driven all this way and paid for parking for a show we could not even see. 

We decided to head for Michaels on Bank Street, as I have a gift card to spend, and we had run out of ideas for the day.  As everyone knows, Ottawa has two seasons:  Winter and Construction.  It was definitely construction season as we saw lots of scaffolding where buildings were being renovated or repointed; great holes in the ground at various places, where new buildings would soon be built; and cranes lifting things high over other construction sights, and sometimes over the roadway, which is a little scary.  We also came across at least five areas where road construction was underway.  One of those was Bank Street.  That required a rather long detour.

I found some of the items I wanted at Michaels, but there were still three I couldn't find. Perhaps I'll have better luck at Deserres, where I usually shop, next time I get a chance to look. 

We stopped to pick something up at a store closer to home.  I thought I was lucky to find a cashier with only the person she was dealing with and one other person in line.  But then another cashier beckoned me over to her cash.  There was a man there, ready to pay by debit card, and I would be next.  She actually had the "Cash Closed" sign up, but since I only had a couple of items in my hand, she was being nice to me.  But as luck would have it, as least for today, the man's debit card wasn't working for him.  He had to try several times before he was able to pay for his purchases. I would definitely have been better off to have stayed where I was. 

Yep, it was just one of those days!