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Elbows Up

June 13, 2025 by nancy Leave a Comment

 

Canada is a country in North America, my country and never have I been prouder to be Canadian.  We live in the best country in the world.  Its border with the United States is the world’s longest international land border.  Sadly we are in a place were the relations are not as neighborly as they once were with our southern border.

I took this photo of a recent visit whilst in Vancouver, British Columbia several years ago.  My family and I bicycled around Stanley Park on Canada Day.  It was one of the most fabulous routes I have ever taken.  I love renting bikes when travelling with the kids and biking around to explore new places.

Since it was Canada Day, I brought Canadian flags with me that day and for fun attached them to the bike.  I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets which is forever etched in my memory.  I can only imagine how festive this year will be in many parts of the country.

I am so thrilled to see so many Canadian flags flying in my neighborhood in Wellington County.

I am sure by now you may have heard the term, “Elbows up”, it is a Canadian phrase primarily used as a rallying cry and a way to express national pride, particularly in opposition to perceived threats or insults.  It originated from ice hockey, when legendary player Gordie Howe, known for his aggressive play and use of elbows coined the term.

“I believe the world needs more Canada.” – Bono

 

Talk Soon,

 

Nancy

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Adventures, blogger, Travel, Wandering Beyond Tagged With: adventures, blogger, canada, canada day, elbows up, national pride

Spring Thoughts

March 27, 2021 by nancy Leave a Comment

When we think of Spring we often think of renewal, new growth and new beginnings.  This new season upon us has got me thinking of a lot of new things.

My world as I know it has taken on new beginnings and new meaning as I recently lost my Mother to cancer just two weeks ago on March 12th in the early Morning hours of about 12:30 am at Hospice Wellington in Guelph.

I was with my Mom as she took her last breath of air, she had terrible problems breathing this past year as she had lung cancer along with severe COPD, and emphysema.  My heart broke that day she took her last breath as any Daughter would. Thankfully she was not gasping for air in her final days and she was kept very comfortable.  I lost my best friend, confidant and mostly my MOM.  I keep saying to myself, “OHHHHH MOMMM”. 

I don’t know how I am supposed to behave now, what to do or even some days what to think.  Honestly I am just going with the motions.  I thought before this happened I envisioned me with covers folded over my head not wanting to escape my bedroom.  This has been farther from the truth of my reality. 

I don’t think I have slept in one day, perhaps it has been a blessing being so busy and not having a lot of time to think about the magnitude of loosing one’s Mother.

My Dad also has stage 4 lung cancer and COPD which he had been fighting now for four years.  Like my Mom he too struggles daily just to breathe.  Having not been feeling well this past Month we just found out this week his lung has partially collapsed.  I had him at the hospital for his Monthly immunotherapy treatment when we found this out from an x-ray.  Luckily he is on some heavy duty medications to help with the coughing, and lack of breath.

I haven’t felt a need or a want to write about any of the terrible realities of my life, however on this Saturday Night hanging out with the kids I felt drawn to dust off my laptop and type a few words after nearly a year of not feeling like writing. I have to say it feels rather therapeutic, even if only what feels like venting or moaning about what is going on currently in my life. I suppose that is what we are supposed to write about, things from your heart. Even if it is broken.

I can hear my Dad coughing upstairs, and my Son is now telling me to shut off the TV. Before my Dad retires for the night I have to check in on him one last time to make sure he has taken all of his nightly medications and give him a ventolin treatment to hopefully help him sleep comfortably. I suppose that is a sign to wrap up the writing of this post and tend to my current needs of caretaking.

Cardinals have been flying around the house a lot this Spring, especially the red cardinal along with a mourning dove coming to visit outside my parents bedroom window.  Usually they come in pairs, as they mate for life however there is just one by itself Morning and Night found on the telephone wire.  The other day I happened to look out and found both a red cardinal and a mourning dove sitting side by side. 

Thank you Mom, you have shown many signs to me since you passed and it has been such a comfort.  Perhaps I will share some of the signs with you in the future.  Maybe you have signs to share from your loved ones who have passed to the other side.

Talk soon~

 

Nancy

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blogger, cancer, caretaking, daughter, dying, Family, hospice, losingmother, moms, motherdaughter, parents

The Polar Express Train Ride

November 22, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

 

The Waterloo Central Railway Village Station in St. Jacobs hosts some wonderful Holiday rides.  Walking towards the venue, you could see the glowing lights from the Christmas decor. 

Bells could be heard jingling in the darkness of the evening sky. One of the smiling attendees from the previous Polar Express train ride said, “Enjoy your time, you will love it, it was so amazing!” 

Entering the warmth of the building, there were Children dressed in pajamas clutching hands with their parents some were browsing the Polar express memorabilia and perhaps wondering what the night would entail.

The lights dimmed, smoke began to fill the room and our evening at the Polar Express began as actors began to tell the story of the popular Christmas book written by Chris Van Allsburg.

Entering train C, there were festive Christmas lights decorating the interior of the 1950’s old style train.  We were met with the actors in costume greeting us all with smiles as we found our seating arrangements. 

The conductor said, “All Aboard, we are embarking on a trip to the North Pole, please have your tickets ready!”

Rolling out of the station we all knew we were in for a special evening as the conductor began to inspect the golden tickets, walking up and down the aisle performing his golden ticket duties.

Attendees can enjoy a 1 hour train ride to the North Pole in the comfort of cozy seating while The Polar Express is read, hot chocolate and treats are served, carols are sang and everyone receives a gift and visit from SANTA. 

The acting was really well done along with all of the details taken in to account to make the ride so memorable for Children of all of all ages. 

Tickets are limited so be sure to check out the website and pre book your ride, Waterloo Central Railway, https://waterloocentralrailway.com/the-polar-express-train-ride/.

One of the last impressions I heard on the loudspeaker was, “What matter’s most is not where you are going, but that you got on!” 

This annual family fun Polar Express train ride along with the Santa train ride experience takes place from Mid November only until Mid December, so get ready to make one of the most memorable experience’s your family will have this holiday season.

 

Talk soon,

 

Nancy

 

Filed Under: Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: blogger, christmas, events, polar express train, santa train, st. jacobs, travel blog, Wandering, wandering wellington county, waterloo central railway

New Elora Luxury B&B Accomodations Inner Joy Getaways

September 5, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

An Elora couple has found a unique way to re-use shipping containers.

Will and Laura Feenstra are the owners of Inner Joy Getaways, just outside of Elora, where they have turned former shipping containers into luxurious suites.

Inner Joy Getaways 7.44 acres of land along four suites looking out onto the Grand River. Along the side of the property is Swan Creek which is a premium fly fishing spot on the Grand River.

“The property has acres upon acres of protected GRCA land and beside us is a small protected bush area.  You can tube right from the Elora gorge all the way to the property. The Wilson flats are just minutes down the road from us along with various other hiking paths,” said Laura.

She said they had been watching the property on the market for 1.5 years prior and they thought they would look at it just for fun. 

(This article was originally Published at Village Media, Guelph Today, see link below)

To read more, check out the link on Guelph Today, https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/elora-business-turns-shipping-containers-into-luxurious-accommodations-1671276

Talk soon ~

Nancy

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bed and Breakfast, blogger, elora, Guelph Today, Inner Joy Getaways, Luxury Accomodations, Shipping Container Accomodations, Suites, Travel Bloger, wandering wellington county, wellington county

A Birds Eye View of Toronto

August 4, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

Toronto a City of almost 3 million people, just 1 hour West of Wellington County is a great City to go day tripping.  We finally had the opportunity to take the amazing hop on hop off City SightSeeing Toronto bus tour the other day with a friend and our kids. 

My 12-year-old daughters dream of riding a double-decker bus had finally come true!  We hopped on the last ride of the day at the habourfront pick up point at 249 Queens Quay West.

toronto3

What a view, if you have never had the opportunity to go on an open air double-decker bus it is highly suggested from my daughter Meaghan!  Our travel friend Dawn always takes the bus tours when traveling, and knew the City of Toronto well.  It is always great to go with someone who can add their favorite comments about your travels.

The bus departed and we were off!  The tour of the City, took us about 2.5 – 3 hours (normally a 2 hour tour), to take the whole tour and it was well worth the ticket price. 

It also includes access for 48 hours and a boat tour.  The boat tour is so amazing, we set sail from the Toronto Harbourfront around the Toronto Islands.  The photos we took from the boat tour on the Serendipity Princess Cruise added to our wonderful memories of our day in the City!

boatcruise

Having taken the tour, which included a commentary it allowed us to walk away with much more knowledge of this amazing City.  Here are my 5 things I learned on the tour.

toronto2

 

  • Toronto has 140 ethnic neighbourhoods in the City.
  • The St. Lawrence Market has been a culinary focal point since, 1803.
  • The Distillery district has no car access, looks like its own little Village.
  • John Graves Simcoe moved the capital of Upper Canada to Toronto, which he named York, not wanting an aboriginal name.
  • The R.O.M. Royal Ontario Museum, only has 5% of their collection on display, with the other 95% at a secret underground location.

toronto1

 

We got to see sights and sounds you wouldn’t normally be able to see driving on your own.  Such as when the bus stopped we all watched a band play in front of the Eaton’s Center. 

It was an amazing way to just sit back and relax and not worry about the crazy rush hour traffic.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day, however there was a lovely breeze to keep us cool as we drove along the scenic streets.

We got to see all of the major sites in the City which included a little history about each of the sites.  I loved all of the architecture and the different ethnic communities we traveled.  Here is the link to the tour, https://citysightseeingtoronto.com/

Talk soon ~

 

Nancy

toronto

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Adventures, Wandering Beyond Tagged With: adventures, besttours, bigcity, blogger, bustours, City Tours, CitySightSeeing, Explore, familytime, I LOVE TORONTO, kidstravelling, ontarioyourstodiscover, Toronto, Toronto Tourism, torontocitysighseeingtours, torontotourism, tourism, travel, travel blogger, travelblogger, travellors, wandering wellington county, wanderingwellingtoncounty

Summer Adventures In My BackYard

June 20, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

falls

Grand River

With the official kickoff of Summer happening tomorrow June 21st, many of us are busy planning our summer vacations.  What plans do you have this summer?  It is such a short season, and we have had alot of rain and not as warm as usual.

Some of us will be jumping on a plane and travelling to far away distant lands.  For others like myself, we will be staying around locally and discovering the many hidden “adventures in my backyard”.

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to feel like you are in a far away land.  Often times just travelling around the neighbourhood can feel like a new escape.  It is all a mindset, or perhaps taking a different road on your daily commute.  We are so lucky to have so many beautiful places in this little part of the World.

Elora, Fergus, Elmira, St. Jacobs and Guelph are just a few of the great little Towns and Villages to go exploring this summer.  Pack a picnic, test out the local cuisine, farmers markets, jump in the local Lakes, or take in an event there are hundreds and watch the world go by.

Here are some great links to place in the area to discover, https://www.wellington.ca/en/business/EDVisitWellington.aspx.  Follow us this summer as we go exploring discovering new places and people this season!

Talk soon,

Nancy

Summer Trail Adventures

ADVENTURE AWAITS

Filed Under: Adventures, Travelling Thoughts, Wellington County Tagged With: blogger, Centre Wellington, farmers markets, travel, travelblogger, Wandering

The Man Who Shot Chance Delaney

May 25, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

chance

It is so great to have a night out; especially a date night with your 12-year-old daughter. 

My daughter luckily still likes to hang out with her Mom on a Friday night, I am not sure how much longer that will last.  Meaghan and I were excited to watch the performance of  The Man Who Shot Chance Delaney together as she performed in a Western play with the Centre Wellington Children’s Drama Club in Fergus not too long ago.   

We settled into our seats and were transported back to the 1900’s to a small town in Kansas where the majority of the play took place in the Lucky Dollar Saloon along with several other locations.  

This two act play was written by Canadian playwright Ian Weir.  I had read about Weir he had a dream of being a writer when he was young, but was told like many artists, “Yes but what will you do to earn a living?” 

We watched the 6 experienced actors who all had multiple roles in the play with delight and awe as they quickly transformed from one character to another mostly without even leaving the stage.  The visual effects of the lighting and set design all made for a great Wild West gun slinging story.

I especially liked the quick flip of an apron strap which changed the lead actress Molly into a totally different character once the strap was properly fastened on the apron. There were the many voices of Perkins, the fast talking Brewster and Abilene who changed from a young women to a little boy with just a flip of a hat.

The storytelling began with a stranger who entered the Saloon and started to share his tales.  Meanwhile at the same time the tales were told by each actor helping to get a better glimpse of how the story unfolded.  The story included like any good Western shootouts, bar fights, and broken hearts.

Chatting with my daughter on the way home she commented, “It was as if there was multiple layers to the characters and you had to listen really closely to see what would happen next!”  I agreed and said “It sure was an evening of great storytelling and was so well done.” 

From the experience my daughter had in a live production, it give us a glimpse of the many hours of rehearsal required for a production. 

Many thanks to the Director of the play Denise Gismondi, Judi McCuaig the Producer and Bev Maintenay the Stage Manager and Assistant Director. 

The GLT has many volunteers that help make the productions run smoothly and I am told they are always looking for more people to come and help them share the love of arts and the Royal City.  

The entertainment continued after the show when we walked into the lobby and a dance party had begun with the Range Riders band playing country music.

If you want to find out Who Shot Chance Delaney and how the story ends you still have time to attend a show, it is running until June 2, 2019. 

Bring a date to either next Friday or Saturday’s evening performance and you can kick up your heels to the Dan Badger Band playing both pre show and post show with the bar open later.    You can purchase tickets at the Guelph Little Theatre, http://www.guelphlittletheatre.com/.

Talk soon ~

Nancy

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment Tagged With: actors, blogger, date night, daughter mom date, Guelph, Guelph Little Theatre, live theatre, night out, review, storytelling, Theatre, wandering wellington county

This Girl would have been 101 Today!

May 16, 2019 by nancy 1 Comment

grandma

There are some benefits of social media, such as the memories feature on your Facebook.  While sipping my first coffee of the day I checked out my social media.  I am not so sure this is the best use of my time, or if it is the most beneficial way to start the day.  

I hear yoga is a great way to start the day with a little meditation.  It sounds good, but I am privy to my FB and checking out what’s going on in the world of my friends updates, and news updates.  I admit I am forgetful and don’t always know when someone’s Birthday is.  I like FB for that type of reminder.  

This morning this picture showed up of my Grandmother.  It was taken on May 16th, 2014, she had turned 96 that year.  She so wanted to join the 100-year-old club.  Sadly she didn’t make it.  However she did live 96 long years of life and today would have marked her 101 year Birthday!

Grandma I thought of you today and I remember when I snapped this picture of you above.  The silly Birthday hat, and colourful balloon and few little things to make you feel special.    Here are 50 thoughts I have today on your 101 Birthday.

  1. Happy Birthday Grandma
  2. Life is awesome
  3. We Miss You
  4. Love you
  5. Meaghan and Noah are getting so big
  6. The weather is finally getting better
  7. The birds are coming now
  8. I bet your squirrel will be coming soon to see you
  9. Do you want to play scrabble
  10. Did I say we miss you
  11. Your house you lived in for all those years has a young happy family in it now
  12. Miss those Christmas’s at your house
  13. Remember when we went swimming in the summer
  14. I loved your raspberries
  15. You were a great gardener
  16. I love your toastites
  17. Sandy was the best Dog ever
  18. I ll bet you miss going to Midland
  19. How did you have 5 kids, 5 years apart
  20. What was your greatest fear
  21. You never really liked a lot of affection, not kissy feely
  22. You always listened to every word when people spoke
  23. You were the best scrabble player 
  24. You love big
  25. You were so kind
  26. Big hearted person
  27. I remember your funky Nissan van
  28. Thanks for all the great memories with David and I
  29. You took my other Grandma places, she loved it
  30. Thanks for the “special Nancy, David, days”
  31. You would not believe your house now
  32. The Airport sold
  33. You loved a big lunch, it was your meal of the day
  34. How did you have so many kids
  35. You were the same age as me, when you had your last 2 kids
  36. I know I was your favourite oldest Granddaughter
  37. I am writing in the Guelph Today
  38. I bought a house finally
  39. We are so happy now, Meg, Noah and Me.
  40. Matt always talks so fondly of you.
  41. Mom and Dad are good
  42. I wish I could take you out a Rocky’s hotdog
  43. Len was your greatest love
  44. We loved you fiercely
  45. You kept the family together
  46. It is not the same without you
  47. How come you didn’t have more comfortable things
  48. Did you have a party when you went to Heaven
  49. I loved reading to you
  50. Simple Abundance

Filed Under: Travelling Thoughts Tagged With: blog, blogger, Grandma, grandma turning 101, missing you, wanderingwellingtoncounty

In Conversation With Santee Smith

November 8, 2018 by nancy Leave a Comment

santee2

The River Run was very lucky to have an Internationally recognized Indigenous performing arts leader Santee Smith to launch the new, Miijidaa Life Stories speakers series.  Entering the Cooperators Hall you could sense it would be an intimate evening filled with insight into the life of a creative soul.

sante

The stage was set with beautiful costumes and 2 chairs one which was guest, Santee Smith and the other was taken by host, Cameron Smillie who wears many hats in both the corporate and the performing arts world.  The night began with host asking Santee a few questions about the very beginnings of her life.  Here is a link to one of her past performances, https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcasa&p=santee+smith+performances#id=1&vid=dc32e16c556d47d42d02114c9a408845&action=view.

Santee shared with the audience that she is from the Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River, Haldimand Treaty territory.  She shared with us that she is a proud Mother to a 20-year-old daughter who is currently studying at the University, and like most parents could not believe where the time went.

It was hard to imagine what the early years of life were like for the beautiful women who took centre stage.  She had endured much hardship in the early years and mentioned many of the events she did not remember.  At age 3 she had endured the first of three accidents which left a major impression on the life of such a young soul.

At the young age of just 3 years old she was run over in a car by her Grandmother.  She endured many injuries and was hospitalized for over 3 months and many weeks of rehabilitation to learn to walk again.  Then recovering from this injury she was riding on a bicycle with her father who was at the time a carefree 20 something year old riding down a hill with his baby girl strapped on the back of his bike with a homemade carrier and by the time they had made it down to the bottom she had somehow fallen off the bike with her ankle caught in the spokes of the wheel facing the opposite direction.

With three accidents at the age of just 3 years old she needed to regain strength and with her dancing ability at such a young age she began her journey of entering the world of ballet.  She shared with the audience that thru her natural talents and her dedication she was accepted in the National Ballet School at age 11.  So at that preadolescent age she left home and studied.  Her close-knit family would call her and tell her she, “She could come home at any time, that they would just come and pick her up”.  However by the end of the call she shares she would feel better and carry on with her love and passion of the dance world. 

Dance and the performing arts was Santee’s whole world and left little for much else.  She finally became disillusioned with the dance world, and left at Grade 11 to explore other options.  She didn’t realize there was another world outside of dance until she began exploring what every other young women at the age explores, which she giggled and said “included a few parties along the way!”

She ended up going back to school and entered University and gained a degree in Kinesiology and thought she would work a physical therapist until she entered the profession and realized it was not for her.  Her love of psychology that she minored in allowed for more schooling and she eventually realized that she wanted to return back to the performing arts.

We watched 3 short films which showcased a few of Santee’s work.  The audience could gain a better insight into the creative force who sat in front of us, with the host describing how Santee’s ability to process the start and finish of each production with all of the elements such as idea, dance, choreograph, design, execution many times are the sole work of the multi talented artist.

When asked what is next by host you could tell that may take a whole other evening of conversation with Santee to delve into her world and share her vision for the future of her arts, including the Kawa:wi Dance Theatre which has served as a vehicle for Smith’s practice for than a decade.  She founded the theatre in 2005, Kaha:wi means “to carry” in Mohawk.

She was available for a VIP experience of post show Meet & Greet which took place in the Sleeman Atrium.  Here is a link with some of her students at her performing arts centre, https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcasa&p=santee+smith+performances#id=5&vid=921d0693d8a508735bff8388abea67f5&action=view

I look forward to more performances at the River Run Centre, here is a listing of upcoming “WHAT”S ON”, http://riverrun.ca/events/whats-on/?event_search=&event_month=&event_category=river-run-presents

Talk soon ~

 

Nancy

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment Tagged With: blogger, Entertainment, Guelph, Live Performances, River Run Centre, Royal City, Santee Smith, Theatre & Arts Community, wandering wellington county

Jason Raso “Funktet”

October 27, 2018 by nancy

jason raso

I attended my first Jason Raso performance last night, and I can tell you it will not be my last.  What a wonderful intimate evening with local Guelphite Bassist, Jason and his “Funktet”, http://riverrun.ca/whats-on/the-jason-raso-funktet/.   They kicked off the Borealis Music Series at the River Run Centre last night to a full house of Jazz loving attendees. 

My daughter Meaghan who was my date for the evening, is in grade 7 and just starting her musical journey.  She chose the trumpet as an instrument to play in her music class.  She was watching the 6 piece band playing and I knew she had her eye on the trumpet when she nudged me and whispered, “Mom could I get my own mouthpiece?”  I gave her a hug and whispered back, “of course Meaghan!”, being that I played trumpet in the high school band I knew the importance of having something of your own in the musical instrument world.  I secretly can’t wait for her to come home for the first time carrying thru the door her school loaner trumpet for the weekend.

 Jason the bassist lead guitar player and his band, include a trumpet, keyboard, guitar, saxophone, and a drummer. They began their first set with the spotlight on the trumpet soloist.   Band leader, Jason Raso began strumming along, slowly introducing all of the 6 piece “Funktet”.   I had always wanted to attend one of Jason’s performance’s.  He has been performing for crowds for over two decades and is very well-respected within the local community and is a very busy professional playing worldwide. Check out his website here, https://www.jasonrasomusic.com/.

Memories of my first live Jazz performances came flooding back during the night.  My first real introduction to live Jazz was in Montreal nightclub, I will never forget the first time I sat and listened to a bluesy live jazz performer in a smokey club in Montreal.  My mother’s love of Diana Washington & Ella Fitzgerald playing loudly in the background of my youth also helped to in grain the love of Jazz.

One of my favorite songs of the night titled Eviction, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DET6ZZf3NoY .  He shared with the audience his inspiration for the writing of the song came from a photo he saw of a beautiful shiny expensive guitar sitting in a room of what looked to be someone who was down on their luck.

During this song I had visualized a troubled soul who had to choose to sell their instrument at a pawn shop just to survive. This image along with the haunting sounds of the band conjured up feelings of loss and sadness of long forgotten dreams.  Oh, the power of music to paint such a vivid portrait of the human condition.

Later in the evening he dedicated a song to his father.  Pointing him out in the audience he joked that the last time he had done that his father had excused himself to the facilities, the audience roared.  These comments and others felt like you were part of his family and maybe sitting in his living room watching the live performance, which I am sure many of the attendees in this cozy venue would agree upon.  If you ever get a chance to attend or listen to his music I highly recommend that you do so.

 

Talk soon,

 

Nancy

 

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment Tagged With: Bassist, blogger, Entertainment, Guelph, Guelph Proud, guelphproud, Jason Raso, Jazz, Live Performance, LiveJazz, Musicians, River Run Centre, travel blogger, wandering wellington county

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Meet Nancy

Wandering Wellington County developed from Nancy incorporating all her passions into one - travelling, writing & building connections within the community.

Nancy lives, works and plays in Wellington County along with her "little people". If you have an event or story you would like to share we would love to connect.

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