Saturday, July 15, 2023

Local Tourists and Back to the Sewing Machine

I did not have a lot of sewing time in the last 10 days...you see, my cousin and her husband came to visit us for a week.  They live in Scotland and we had not seen each other since 2019.  Since it was their first visit to Canada, they wanted to see all the famous tourist sites including the CN tower in Toronto and Niagara Falls.  So, my husband and I planned an itinerary full of fun and interesting things to see and do...our days were full of chatting and laughing and doing activities together.  Before I share some pictures of the places we went, here is a picture of the very small amount of stitching that I got done while they were here. I hope to make more progress this coming week. 


My daughter is almost finished her Ottawa cityscape.  Just a few more spots to fill in. 


Our company left on Thursday evening so today, I reacquainted myself with my sewing machine by making some blocks for the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild Charity quilt for Quilt Con 2024--four identical 6.5" blocks in assigned colours.  I will put these in the mail tomorrow so they can be added to the quilt. 


I am two months behind on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks so I made a red pineapple block for July.  I will make the June block this coming week. 






In Toronto, we went up the CN Tower where the views were fabulous!  I had only to the CN tower twice before--once on a field trip in public school and once with my daughter about 20 years ago.  The Toronto skyline has changed a lot in those intervening years. 


In the evening, we took a one hour boat tour of the harbour and had great views of the city. 


There was a photo op at the TORONTO sign in front of city hall.  They were amazed at how busy it was and the size of the buildings. 

We spent several hours at "Little Canada" a scale model of various cities and sites in Canada. There were trains running on the tracks and cars driving on the roads and lots of tiny people in all sorts of interesting situations. 


It was interesting to see the buildings in the model and then see them in real life as well. These curvy buildings are in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. 


If you are ever in Toronto, I highly recommend a visit to Little Canada

We spent the next day at Black Creek Pioneer Village, a living history museum with costumed interpreters in most of the buildings.  I spotted an old cross stitch sampler and a sewing machine in one of the buildings.  



We spent the next day at Point Pelee National Park near Leamington where we rode bikes and went on a boardwalk hike in the marsh where we saw several turtles, lots of birds and dragonflies and two beavers. 






Next, we went to Niagara Falls where we climbed the Brock Monument... 


Had butterflies land on us at the Butterfly Conservatory...


Went on the Voyage to the Falls Boat tour...  (this used to be called the Maid of the Mist--I had never been on this boat tour before!). This picture was taken from the Journey Behind the Falls. 


We also strolled along the Main Street in Niagara on the Lake and admired the beautiful flowers.


On the way home, we stopped at the Welland Canal viewing area in St. Catharines and watched a large ship go thought the locks. 


Our final full day together was a tour of our home town and included visits to the Elevated Park, local murals, Port Stanley and, of course, Shaws Ice Cream Parlour.   

We all thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the sites together and look forward to when we can see each other in person again. They didn't get to see Finn and our daughter in person, but we did talk on FaceTime several times while they were here. 


I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge folks. 

18 comments:

  1. that is so pretty - thank you for sharing your area of Canada with us - that is so interesting - I haven't been in years and never really saw a lot the time we were there was mainly driving from one area to get to another. One day!!
    love the pineapple blocks

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  2. Thank you for the tour, it was so interesting and beautiful! Like your pineapple blocks, the quilt will be lovely.

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  3. I enjoyed the virtual tour. Niagara Falls has been on my bucket list forever. Someday maybe. That grey in your pineapple blocks sure makes the colors pop. Love them!!

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  4. That looks like a very fun time with your cousins, and showing them all the amazing sights! I've been on the Maid of the Mist boat around Niagara Falls and loved it. I didn't know they had changed the name of it, though. Little Canada looks so interesting!

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  5. Thank you for sharing the photo's! Little Canada looks like a fun time. Good memories of a work trip to Missassauga in the 90's where I got to go up the tower and see the NHL hall of fame before I headed home. Enjoy your stitching today.

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  6. How nice to spend the time with your cousin and show them the sites. Thanks so much for the tour! Your stitching, and your daughter's finish are beautiful!

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  7. Hi, Did you stand on the glass floor up in the CN tower? It is quite something. These outings you describe I've done with my parents, then my girls and later with older grandson spanning the years as it were. Always wonderful and so much to see and enjoy. Our country is so beautiful.

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  8. Looks like a great time with your Scottish kin!

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  9. That is quite the range of activities and sights you and your guests enjoyed! You and hubby were amazing tour guides - you could hire yourselves out as a tourism service!

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  10. I am bookmarking this post in the hope that my husband and I can enjoy these sites in the future. Thanks for all the great photos.

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  11. I am around the world from you & I want to come spend the nightšŸ¤£šŸ¤£beautiful site seeing for your cousin

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  12. A very nice summer you’ve been having. The Scottish relatives will certainly have fond memories of Canada. It’s been many years since we visited Point Pelee. The rainbow blocks are quite colorful against the grey. Last time we were in Niagara Falls it was called Maid of the Mist. Thanks for mentioning name change. I’m thinking Finn must be missing you both by now.

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  13. Lovely rainbow blocks. I've been to Toronto a few times but you've shown me there's more yet to see! Thanks for that. Sounds like a fun time with your cousin. We did the Maid of the Mist for the first time just pre-covid and it was fun. I wonder about the name change though?

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  14. What a wonderful tour of your town. I'm sure your cousins enjoyed every moment. I would love to visit Toronto one day. Your pineapple blocks look fantastic all together. Hope you're having fun reacquainting yourself with the sewing machine. Lol!

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  15. Isnt it fun to take visitors for a tour around your area, rediscovering place we had probably not gone to for ages. Do your live close to Niagara? We visited there some years ago, so exciting, all the way from little old New Zealand! And did the Maid in the Mist trip too.

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  16. PS. Meant to add, I do like your pretty colourful pineapple pieced blocks with the grey background!

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  17. What fun to catch up with your summer travels!
    Little Canada looks amazing. I love miniatures of all kinds and would love to see this.
    Niagara Falls is such a natural wonder and truly sublime to see. I didn't take the boat when we went, but I will next time.
    Lovely stitching and pineapple blocks!!

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  18. You live in such a wonderful place and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with you . Your beautiful quilts have left me with inspiration for some projects with the lovely fabric you gave me . Can’t wait to see you both again and meet Finn.x
    Love Mo and Bob x

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