We are planning to take lots of Gardening Shortcuts this Summer

It is that time of the year when we start thinking of gardening projects and designing outdoors.  I totally look forward to spring, as I like to plan and think of all the possible projects we can do in the garden even before the ground thaws.  

Since we are planning on a trip this summer :) the time I have to garden this year is limited.  I want to make sure that we maximize the fun of gardening by spending as little time maintaining it.  This book Gardening Shortcuts has lots of ideas that will make this possible, and I am sure every gardener will appreciate the tips found in this book.  

The suggested tips and ideas in this book lets us get the maximum benefit of enjoying our garden with less time maintaining it.

Last year, we gave a quick lift to a dull garden space by creating a flowerbed and adding rocks.  Seeing this idea in the book made me feel good that I had come up with this project last year.

To make this flower bed we mounted a lot of soil because we wanted some height.  Then we planted a Japanese maple tree that we bought from Sheridan.  We chose the blood good variety of Japanese maple tree that doesn't grow too tall, and has bright red leaves.  

Around the tree, we placed Pefferlaw deco stones and gravel river rocks that can be purchased in all these locations.  I like how rocks give a serene, natural atmosphere to the garden while helping control weeds in an eco-friendly way.  Usually adding rocks and hard elements to the garden brings the lush colours of plants and flowers to become more focused and attractive. 

We also put a solar spotlight in this area that makes the plants glow at night.  To give the area more colour we planted different coloured pansies and marigold.  To make sure the area does not get a crowded and cluttered we always prune and remove the plants that spread.

This book gives a lot of ideas on how we can create privacy and sheltered spaces in the garden by adding fences and patio.  It also has lovely decorative projects that we can do without incurring a big cost.

This book also shows us neat ideas on how we can grow fruits and vegetables in a decorative manner.

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TIFF Kids International Film Festival 2013

This year will be the 16th annual TIFF Kids International Film Festival.  TIFF Kids 2013 features 117 films, 29 Features and 88 Shorts that represents 40 countries. 

There will be films like A Turtle’s Tale 2: Sammy’s Escape From Paradise (Belgium), Believe (UK), Buta (Azerbaijani), Cinnamon (Mexico), Elmo’s Alphabet Challenge (USA), Miffy the Movie (The Netherlands), Once in a Lullaby (USA), Rafiki (Norway), The Pee-Wee 3D: The Winter, That Changed My Life (Canada) and Waves (India) just to name a few.

The 13 short film programs will run between 50-90 minutes that cover a myriad of subjects and themes for children and youth aged 3 to 13.  Some of the titles are The Adventures of Pim & Pom: Safari, To Give a Present, Jungle Beat: Tiny Bubbles, Her Rain, Room on the Broom, My little Chicken, The Red Carpet, Children of Kabul and more.

Highlights of special events

• This year at the TIFF Kids Award ceremony will be on April 21st at 3:15pm.  There will be two brand new annual awards in the categories Best Live-Action Film and Best Animated Short Film. These two awards will be in addition to the TIFF Kids Jury Awards, TIFF Kids Audience Choice Awards, the Jump Cuts Awards and TVO Kids Choice Awards. 
• The festival lights up screens and imaginations with the best of children’s cinema from around the world. 
• Dino Dan-The Adventures of Trek will be on April 13th at 12:30pm. The premiere will be followed by Q&A with the Trek and Director. 
• The Monkey Bunch Live at TIFF Kids on April 14th at 3:30pm will have kids dancing, rushing the stage and going bananas. This will also end an educational message about the environment. 
• Wild Kratts: Rattlesnake Crystal on April 14th at 10:30am and April 21st at 11:15am. 

• The Festivals opening night film will be The Legend of Sarila (La legende de Sarila) is the first 3D Canadian animated feature.  This adventure is inspired by various Inuit legends and features the voice of Oscar-winning Christopher Plummer.  This film explores the themes of friendship, hope, perseverance and self acceptance.  Before the screening on April 12th at 5:30pm there will be free pizza, snow cones and lots of fun activities.

• We are excited that for the first time ever, Sesame Street will be coming to TIFF Bell Lightbox. During the weekend of April 20-21 there will be fun activities and a chance to meet and greet Sesame Street mascots. 

• This year’s closing night film on April 20th is the German film Famous Five 2 (Funf Freunde 2), which is an adaptation of the Enid Blyton classic.  This is the sequel to last year’s TIFF Kids Audience Award winner Famous Five.  

Hope you guys will be able to take your children and family to enjoy these fabulous events as well as check out the digiPlaySpace.

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Snowshoeing in the beautiful Copeland forest

When I was growing up in Toronto we used to have a lot more snow that made the air feel clean and fresh, unlike in the recent years where winter comes with flu and sickness because of the chilled windy air and the lack of snow. Walking through the beautiful scenic wilderness in Copeland forest at Horseshoe Resort with our snowshoes, I felt how much of this we miss living in the city.  

There was a sense of calmness and thankfulness being surrounded by the trees that were heavy with snow. Walking by water trickling ponds and listening to the winter birds felt very pleasant.

I was able to take some wonderful portraits of my family in the snow surrounded by the green wonders.  Horseshoe Resort also has cross country skiing in these trails, which would be another wonderful way to admire the nature, exercise and relax our minds.

If you haven't snowshoed before think of it has wearing a big pair of shoes attached to your boots that allows you to walk in deep snow.  We can rent snowshoes at Horseshoe resort, so we don't have to buy or take our own.  

This would be a fun winter activity to do with the little ones and to take the whole family during the Family day weekend, Valentines or March Break.

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Magic of winter: Snow tubing at the Horseshoe Resort

Snow tubing and Snowshoeing are fun activities to enjoy during winter.  The scenic hills at the Horseshoe Resort makes it a perfect place to enjoy these activities.  Horseshoe resort is located in the natural snow belt area and is surrounded by beautiful nature.

We are big fans of sliding down hill and enjoy activities such as tobogganing, so we had an awesome evening tubing.

We can purchase tubing tickets at the Tack Shop located within the Adventure Park.  During the winter season they have special perks such as on Wednesdays we can go tubing from 4pm to 8pm for Free.

Tubing is pretty simple... get the tickets, grab a tube per person, go up their long "magic carpet," and then stand in line for your turn to go down the hill.  We can go in the the tube by our self or with up to 7 tubes connected.  All four of us went together, and then we went two at a time.  
The staff at the Tubing hills will ask if we want to spin or not, I would recommend spinning at least once it is really fun :) 

We spent a couple of hours snow tubing before we called it a night and enjoyed the comfortable accommodation at the Horseshoe Resort.  The next morning we did some snowshoeing before heading home, more about that with pictures coming soon.

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Shaking up dinner with Cavendish potatoes and flash back of our PEI trip

Some days I have a hard time preparing a satisfying meal for dinner especially on busy days after work and school, so having something convenient to shake up our dinnertime is very helpful.

Winter Waves: Scarf and Skiing adventure at the Horseshoe Resort

Our skiing adventure at the Horseshoe Valley Resort inspired me to make this striped check stitch scarf for my son.  This pattern reminds me of the beautiful snow filled mountains and hills that are like winter waves.  I picked this colour of 4 ply worsted weight yarn as these shades remind me of the ever-changing winter sky.  I chose to knit instead of crotchet because the knitting needles represent the skiing equipment. 

To make this scarf I put 21 stitches using a 4 1/2mm needle, but if you want something wider then cast on a multiple of 6 stitches plus 3 extra

Row 1 and all odd numbered rows K

Row 2 K

Rows 4 and 6 P3, *K3, P3 repeat

Rows 8 and 10 K

Rows 12 and 14 K3, *P3, K3 repeat

Row 16 K

Repeat rows 1 to 16 until desired length.

Learning to ski at the Horseshoe Valley Resort will remain as a wonderful memory to our family.  We had a satisfying experience that I would like to share with all of you.  If you want to learn skiing I hope this post will inspire you... or if you already know then take a trip to Horseshoe and enjoy the gorgeous slopes.  

We were happy to enrol our son in this year's new Kids Korral Ponies program at the Horseshoe Ski Resort.  It is a wonderful opportunity for potty-trained children age 3 and 4 to get lessons from qualified instructors, so they can learn this sport correctly at an early age and have fun.
The lessons were from 10 am to 12 pm, so we left him with other children the same age and went to do our family Discovery ski lessons.  
My son said his instructor Connor and other staff like Jessica taught him to make a triangle shape with his skis to stop the skiboards from going; I think this a good way for little children to remember. 

Since he was on his own for the couple of hours until we returned, I could see his eyes were tearing and he was glad that we had come to pick him up.  I think this program is a good opportunity for children to learn skiing without the parents around, so they don't depend on us too much or cry because it is cold.  I felt that my little one was in good hands with the kind instructors.  There were lots of staff members to care and supervise the children, and I liked that they were making safety a top priority by not letting any parents inside the Kids Korral area.
At the end of the lessons the instructors took him inside to change the skis and shoes, and to offer him hot chocolate.  My little guy passed on the hot chocolate so he can come back to us quickly.  After we came to the room, he told us how much fun he had and that his favourite was going up the "magic carpet" and zooming down the slopes.   

The quality of the picture is due to my husband who went down with my poor camera as he tried to take action pictures :) He didn't get to hold the camera after that Incident!

This Kids Korral Ponies program is for beginner skiers as they learn the fundamental skiing skills without any pressure.  For the half-day Kids Korral Ponies lessons and rental the cost is $50.  Once the children master the stop and turn skills they can go for Kinder Private lessons or the Kinder Kolts program.

The family or group Discovery ski lessons that we did are for anyone age 7 years and up.  This program is a wonderful opportunity to everyone who wants to learn skiing or snowboarding.  The discovery program allows us to learn the basics so we can enjoy the hills at the Horseshoe Resort at our own leisure.  The beginner lesson package is $73 per person and includes the 1 and 1/2 hours lesson, 4 hour equipment rental and beginner lift ticket.  We can learn all the basics such as putting on the skis, going up the slope, skiing, stopping and turning.  I totally think having a teacher helps and makes a big difference when we are learning.  
Horseshoe also has a variety of snow school lesson packages such as private lessons, mommy and me programs etc to accommodate different ages, abilities and skills.

At the beginning of the lessons I was nervous because I thought we were going to be late as it took some time to get the rentals and to put them on.  So next time, I plan to be early at least 1/2 to 1 hour to get the rental equipment.  There is a lot of learning involved especially if it is your first time skiing such as putting and handling the equipment.  Renting the equipment made it easy for us instead of lugging our own.  
We found all the staff at the Horseshoe resort friendly, hospitable and wanting to help.  It was easy to ask them when we needed help with the equipment and to find the correct size.  There are coin lockers within the Horseshoe activity center in the Main Chalet if you need.

Our instructor Kelsey was very encouraging throughout the lessons.  By the end of the lessons, I wanted to keep on skiing :)  I liked our instructor's approach and enthusiasm, which made us believe we could do it as well.  The instructor put on a stretchy cord in front of my daughter's skiboards that she called "a worm" so my daughter could stretch it as much as possible to make the skis stop.  

My daughter told me that she was scared and nervous in the beginning just like we were.  However, after knowing how to stop and use the skis she felt comfortable and happy to go down the hill.
My challenge was getting off the lifts without falling :) I guess I will need more practice on that.

Look for their wonderful deals such as on Mondays we can take up to three friends for Alpine or Nordic skiing for $20 each.  Horseshoe Facebook is updated on Tuesdays with special offers.
They have lots of savings if you are member of their free Sky Life Rewards program.
Both my children and we had a fabulous time discovering skiing at Horseshoe.  Since Horseshoe is a located at the natural snow belt, it is a wonderful place to learn downhill skiing as they have fresh snow all the time.  Just thinking back to our experience makes me happy :) and makes us want to put on a pair of skis and head up the hill.

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Scenic accommodation and dining at Horseshoe Valley Resort

At the first sight of snow my family and I get very excited to get outdoors and have fun.  During the December holidays when we had some snow in Toronto, we were too sick to go out and enjoy it :(  However, I am glad we had planned to go to Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ontario before the school holidays ended and miraculously got well a day before our trip.

Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park

Sky Zone is the only fun Indoor Trampoline Park in Canada where we can experience an Ultimate 3D play.  My children and we enjoyed the bouncy fun at the park.  Adults will enjoy this as much or more than the kids, as we can become a kid again and have fun jumping in the trampolines.

MySushi a unique sushi experience

We had a fabulous time and meal at my sushi, a newly opened restaurant/takeout.  The idea of my sushi came to be because of their customers from Bento, who wanted to have their own unique sushi combinations and flavours.  There isn't any other sushi establishment that allows guests to make their own choices and customize.  After experiencing my sushi with my family, I can tell you that it stands for its name.

I like the comfortable, inviting environment at my sushi.  Even if it your first time at my sushi you will feel as though you are visiting a close friend/family, because all the staff there were friendly.  I saw that everyone who walked-in was welcomed and felt special as they were explained about how to order, we don't see this type of hospitality nowadays so everyone in my family really liked this.  We felt comfortable as we were told how the process works so we could order without feeling shy :)  It is kind of like a friendly assembly line, so only one person is handling one section i.e. the rice or the protein and this avoids cross contamination.

When ordering...
We can get our own unique combo and pick the fillings we like or get one the six chef recommended sushi rolls from the menu.  My sushi has counted 786240 different combinations of sushi rolls they can make.    

1. We pick our wrap either the traditional nori (seaweed) or the modern soy based wrap.  Then we choose either or a combination of white or brown rice.

 

2. For the protein we can choose cooked seafood; carb meat, spicy crab, tempera shrimp etc... or raw; salmon, tuna etc or a combination of both.  For every extra protein it will cost $1.50

3. Then we get to pick 3 greens; asparagus, avocado, carrot, cheese, yams, mango etc...  If you want more ask the chef.

4. After the sushi gets neatly wrapped and cut, we can ask for a sweet sauce; Japanese mayo, teriyaki, my sushi sauce or a spicy sauce; mayo, Korean sushi sauces, sirachara chilli that will be beautifully drizzled and decorated.

5.  Then if we like we can top it off with any of their toppings such as the fried onion, sesame seeds etc.

Walking through and seeing the fresh quality ingredients and the process made me hungry :) and I couldn't wait to taste it.  

My children enjoyed the flavours in their sushi such as the mango and avocado that motivated them to eat without any complaints.  They also liked the fabulous taste of the tempura yams and tempura shrimp with the salad greens.  We also liked the colourful presentation.  

Tempura salads

We skipped the soy sauce and enjoyed the sushi roll as it had lots of flavour on its own, if you want soy sauce it is available on the table and in packets.  I preferred using my hands because it is comfortable and after all that is the traditional Japanese way to eat sushi :)  They have good quality chopsticks for us to use if you prefer.

miso soup

The sushi rolls comes with a choice to have miso soup or edamame/ sunomono/ seaweed salad.  The miso soup is fabulous, I kept wanting more :)  They also have refreshing green tea and cold drinks.  We shared it around so we were able to taste a variety of delicious items that were really filling.

sunomono salad

On top of the delicious sushi rolls my sushi also has traditional Japanese Donburi rice bowls made to our preference, which I highly recommend.  They also have healthy fresh salads and udon noodles soup that are customizable.  Just feel free to ask as you please to make it the way you want.  

Sushi is a healthy alternative that we can have instead of our regular meals.  Rice is an excellent source of carbohydrate and a protein that is also gluten free.  If we choose brown rice then it has more fibre.  The natural ginger without the additives served at my sushi is a healthy palate cleanser that aids digestion, boots the immune system.  Nori has nutritions such as protein, minerals, vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, niacin and C.  
Many people think that sushi is raw fish, which is not true because we can have the option of having cooked fish or omit the fish and have it vegetarian.

Some perks that my sushi offers...

• Register and track your sushi experience at mysushi.ca by picking up the card from the store.  Then register online and get a free side. 
• As a loyal member for every 8 rolls you will get one for free.
• On your birthday get one free roll.
• On the anniversary date of registering to become a member you will get a free roll.
• Get to know about the Chef's latest and tastiest innovations.

We can enjoy the delicious food their location or takeout.  Once you experience the food and hospitality you will want more.  We are already planning our next trip :)

9343 Bathurst Street
Vaughan, Ontario
L4J8W1
phone number 905-823-6519
They are open from 11am to 9pm everyday.

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