Happy Easter Bunny!

That was my best egg this year.  It is a self portrait, although I didn’t nail my peaches and cream complexion or the shape of my head.  I spent Easter Sunday all by myself.  I had a blissful 24 hours alone. We had our first guests of the season at South this weekend.  Jess went to Toronto with the girls to have Easter dinner with his family, and I stayed home to tend to our guests.

I adore Jess’ family, and I am sure I missed a delicious dinner, and general Parker revelry last night.  But having the house to myself is a treat I rarely receive.  We did do lots of fun Easter activities together on Saturday.  Our annual Milford Easter parade and hunt is always a high point.  There is a chance to decorate your Easter bonnet at the Milford library.  I can never seem to convince my kids to wear a bonnet let alone decorate one, so we tend to skip this activity.  Our whole town and community meet at the town hall for the parade.  We walk, bike ride, and stroll through town together with our silly bonnets to the fairgrounds.  The Easter bunny is there, as are real bunnies, and Jen’s dog always rides her donkey to the fairgrounds.  I feel like that dog and donkey team are the unofficial mascots of Milford.  They are there for every event.

Once the Easter bunny gives the go ahead, hundreds of kids run off searching for treats. Our Recreation Committee dispersed 8500 chocolate eggs for our hunt this year.  The kids sweep that field clean in a matter of minutes. There are hot dogs and hot chocolate to consume, and neighbours to catch up with.  It is a small town event, and it is one that I have grown to love.

 The kids and I decorated eggs, and we had a wee hunt of our own Sunday morning.  Jess made a delicious breakfast and then they were off to Toronto.  I spent the day reading the paper, walking my dogs and organizing.  The dogs and I explored one of our local beaches, and found a trail I had never been on before.  I had a much anticipated plate of Easter nachos for dinner with a glass of wine.  I ended the day, cuddled on the couch watching a chick flick.  It was a perfect day.

Now my kids are home, each one showing me their Easter haul from Nanny.  Back to the noise, and the chaos which is just fine with me.  It was too quiet without them.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Marilyn and I

I am not a performer.  I would much rather sit amongst the crowd, than be in the limelight.  There has been quite a bit of interest from the media about our move to Milford, and our chosen digs.   The phone started ringing after our Globe and Mail article was published in January 2016.  Just last week, a television show from the U.K. and Germany have ask to film our home.  It all makes me cringe slightly.  I am flattered that people find our life choices interesting, but the thought of being on stage makes me want to lock the door, turn out the lights and draw the shades.

The Marilyn Denis Show contacted me about a year ago to appear on their show.  I kept declining as it takes a lot of effort to clean up my home, look presentable, and squash my stage fright.  They wanted to send in a film crew, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say yes.  I kept imagining that I would simultaneously throw up and pee my pants in front of the camera and crew, and then they would accidentally air my social faux pas on national television.  Just for the record, I have never done that in public before but it seemed like a rational concern at the time.

A few months back, they came up with another option.  I was to film the episode myself, and mail it in.  Now this was an option I could get my head around.  Luckily my friend Mike from Authentic Media offered to help film my M.D. spot.  Even when it was just Mike and me, I was still quite nervous.

Yesterday was my big premiere.  I got all dressed up in my track pants, and watched it with my kids last night.  It is not as bad as I had feared.  I was going to quietly let it slip under the radar, but I thought I would share it with you.  I am never going to own the stage (even though I do own a stage but you know what I mean), and be comfortable in my own skin in front of a camera.  It is not a skill I ever plan to hone.  I am going to go with generally awkward, nervous with odd hands gestures, respectively rumpled clothes, not enough make up for television, and a slightly lopsided face. Because that’s me in front of a camera, or in person because I’ve accidentally lost control of my bladder while throwing up in public.

If you’d like to peruse some celebrity homes, learn about front door makeovers, and see my clip then click here.  If you want to go right to my highlights, then skip to minute 21.

Enjoy the show!

 

 

 

Spring?

I believe spring has sprung, even though it was snowing this morning.  For a Canadian winter, this past one was quite mild.  Not once did I pull out my full long johns.  There were a few days I wore my thermal shirt but was never so cold that I donned my full thermal threads from neck to ankle.

Now that I live in Prince Edward County, there are some clear non weather based markers of spring.  The first event of the season is Maple in the County.  It is the beginning of maple syrup production. When the nights are cool and the days warm, the sap starts to flow.  Many farms in the County open their gates so us non farmers can come and witness what they do so well, raising chickens, pigs, cows, making maple syrup, and maple candies.  One of our favourite places to visit is Nyman’s farm.   We get our fill of adorable baby farm animals plus some tasty maple treats.

We did try a few new places this year as well.  Saturday afternoon I ventured to the other side of Milford to have a glass of wine at the Jackson Falls Country Inn.  I spotted a few friends at the bar and enjoyed Whoa Nellie! belting out some awesome tunes.  Jackson Falls has revamped their kitchen and is now serving full course dinners most nights.  I can’t wait to come back and try their culinary delights.  They are one of 13 restaurants participating in Countylicious which is happening right now.

Our other new favourite is Parsons Brewing Company in Picton.  Chris and Sam Parsons have opened up a stunning facility with great beer and awesome food.  I had a delicious pint of Mousetrap Rye Pale Ale, which paired perfectly with my maple infused pork tacos.  I met Chris and Sam before we moved to the County.  They lived just a few short blocks from us in Toronto, and we all moved to the County on the same weekend back in June of 2013.  They are now very good friends of our, and it has been wonderful having another family from our old ‘hood go through the rural transition with us.  I can’t wait to see what other delectable food their brewery kitchen produces this season, and there will always be something good to drink there.  Parsons brewery is going to be our new hang out this summer!

Photo of Parsons Brewing Co. is from the talented Eve Harvey.