I've been delighting in discoveries of new clumps of early spring flowers in bloom.  Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a mild case of the jealous-neighbour-next-door when I see how others have proud displays of bright yellow and brilliant purple crocus' or colourful tulips.  All I seem to have in my own yard is headless tulips and early spring onions...At least I can eat those. 

But today, I finally noticed a tiny little clump of small purple flowers in my own backyard...Hardly anything to gloat and show-off.  This however has spurred some gardening fun.  

Picked up a cheap strawberry and poppy flower gardening kit; $1.00 each; the type for kids to play and mostly likely not going to work.  But, just for the fun of it, I decided to give it a try...And who knows?  Maybe something can be coaxed to grow from that small little peat pellet enclosed in the package.  Maybe that's the fun part; not knowing if it'll really work.  And if does; I'll be boasting my strawberries in a later blog entry ;p

When I was a young kid, my parents decided it would be fun to bring their three little bamboo girls to a maple farm...We're proud Canadians after all and isn't that what every family does during March Break holidays?

But, not being particularly articulate at the young age coupled with the fact it would be a lost-of-face to complain about the could when your younger siblings haven't made a peep about it; I held my tongue for as long as possible.  When my feet went from uncomfortably cold to downright painful; I started to express my discomfort.  But, I suppose when one's got two younger kids to attend to...Well. there really wasn't much they could do other than to tell me to deal with it.  

But you see, I was and am (or so I've been told), a very impressionable child.  Images of blue toes amputated due to frostbite (I had been reading the Little House on the Prairie books about pioneers and the dangers of being frostbitten) and the fact that all fair maidens and princesses (I still entertain the idea that I'm a descendant from Chinese royalty from mom's side as her maiden name is a Wong and kings are known as Wong Dai) always had all their toes and fingers.  Bitter thoughts of how I was on the brink of losing my fingers and toes coupled with the chilly wind led to bitter tears as I fashioned up all sorts of pretend-headlines in the next day Toronto Star newspaper about this poor Chinese kid who lost her toes...Sacrificed so her parents could better attend to the needs of her younger siblings.  I'd be a heroine of sorts...Besides; as the eldest in the family, one hardly gets good roles in fairy tales as the eldest is almost always painted as wicked or selfish and thus it will be my duty to show that the eldest can also bring glory to family and country...

But I digress...And you can see why I had trouble expressing all that in the above at the age of 9ish.  Anyway, now as a full-grown articulate adult, I visited Mountsberg maple farm out in Halton.  

Quaint and informative as it is; this definitely something more suited for the young families or tourists who's new to maple farms.  Tickets were $7.25 each but family packages were available.  There are wagon/hay rides, maple candy demonstrations (and samples!); informative trails through the maple trees with signs explaining the process of turning sap into the maple syrup and everyone's favourite, the pancake house!  But very pricey!    I can't recall the exact price but was remembered feeling taken aback by it considering an admission fee was already taken. 

On the way out, we stopped at a small aviary for birds of preys.  The snowy owl was breathtakingly beautiful. 

All in all, it was an educational trip (I learned that a maple tree produces 50L of sap and that 40L of sap is needed to make 1L of syrup); a bit pricey as we finished it in about 40 minutes.  But, I can see for young families it can be a great outing for the kids. 

Visited this the same day I did Allen Gardens.  Although there was only one hour left until closing, we decided to go for it anyway...It was a small little place so there was enough time.

Toronto's library MAP pass is awesome; so much so that I hesitate to promote it here...Free passes to various museums and historical centres and MacKenzie House was one of them.

Upon entering, an informative man shared with us information about MacKenzie's print shop.  As Toronto's first Mayor, it turned out he wasn't that rich at all and left behind debts.  Perhaps money was poured into his printing business or to the upkeep of their home.

Leaving the printshop, we were given a short guided tour of the ground level comprised really of a large room with dividing doors separating the parlour and the dining area.  The lady who led this guided portion was cheerful and knowledgeable and quite pleasant. 

We were left on our own to explore the upstairs portion;  two bedrooms and a storeroom/maid's room and the basement portion which housed the kitchen and pantry.  All the rooms were outfitted with furnishings appropriate for the time period though not necessarily original to the House. 

One cold, snowy weekend, we were looking for something to do INSIDE...Other than eating of course, which as you can see from my previous posts, is quite often.  As we were in the vincinty and having just fed ourselves a yummy brunch, we decided to give Allen Gardens a go. 

We were pleasantly surprised to find it bigger than it looked.  The attached conservatory held numerous colourful flowers and presents itself as great photo-ops for those looking for a colourful place to practice photography...Had a bit of fun myself playing with various camera features; mind you, I can't take credit for that lovely pic at the top of this post...Got it from Google ;p

Beautiful flowers, a little carp pond, colours galore...All in the middle of winter!

Now that we've admired the pretty flowers, look at what it was like outside!  Made me want to just stay in the garden!