A Trip To Wings of Paradise, a Butterfly Conservatory

This afternoon, Paul and I took a little trip out to Wings of Paradise, a butterfly conservatory in Cambridge, Ontario. We had always meant to visit Wings of Paradise, as Paul had visited there in the past and I had never been. Cambridge is very close to where we live, so it is wonderful to know that such an amazing place is so nearby!



Wings of Paradise is described on their website as a lush tropical garden where you can discover "thousands of live flying butterflies from Costa Rica and the Philippines." Upon entering the conservatory it really is a tropical environment - it is very warm and humid, like being in a tropical rainforest! There are thousands of butterflies freely flying all around landing on flowering tropical plants. Some of them are very noticeable at the little feeding stations of fresh fruit that they have set up, but some of the butterflies blend in with the environment. It is almost like a little scavenger hunt, trying to discover the butterflies as you walk around the path!




There were also many different little birds, primarily finches, flying all around. They are all quite cute and fun to see hopping around. The butterflies and the birds are definitely not afraid of people - one butterfly landed right on Paul's hand when he wasn't even trying to hold his hand out or anything!


There was also a nice informational center where you could read up all about the various butterflies and moths. There are many events that go on at Wings of Paradise that are great for kids and people of all ages. One part of the conservatory showed butterflies in various stages, including the cocoon stage. We saw a butterfly slowing coming out of its cocoon which was pretty amazing!



From the website, you can see all of the different types of butterflies that live at Wings of Paradise, many of which I can recognize that we saw there. There were also many insects - I'm glad that some of these were kept in large aquariums or cages! Millipedes and cockroaches give me the creeps! We did see all of the Giant African Land Snails, as well as honeybees.


All in all, we had a great afternoon spent at Wings of Paradise - if you live in the area or would like to spend a relaxing afternoon learning about butterflies and various creatures, I would totally recommend that you check it out!

To view more images from our day at Wings of Paradise, please check out my web album on Flickr!

Canadian Winters (and How to Make the Most of Them)

Ah, winter. While it has been a rather mild winter so far, I know that we won't get out of the season unscathed and the snow storms will begin soon enough. Canada isn't known as "the Great White North" for nothing!

Some Canadians embrace the winter season whole heartedly; I, on the other hand, don't care for the bone-chilling winds, the treacherous driving conditions, and the frost-bitten fingers and toes. However, the best way to make the most of a snowy winter season is to partake in some winter sports and activities! So far this winter, I have only taken a couple of outdoor walks on particularly mild days, but I hope to get out there and have some fun in the snow!

My first recommended activity if you are living in a snowy climate is skiing or snowboarding. I have skied on numerous occasions, although it has been a number of years since I have gone skiing. I hope to try snowboarding for the first time this year since it is something that I've wanted to try out for a while. My fiance and my sister both snowboard so it is about time that I gave it a shot! Here in Southern Ontario, we have access to a whole bunch of ski hills, including Blue Mountain in Collingwood and Mount St. Louis Moonstone to name a couple.

Another fun winter activity is ice skating. I haven't laced up the ice skates in ages, but this was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I might borrow some ice skates in the near future as a friend of mine has a neighbor who likes to make their own little ice rink by freezing over a pond on their property. Something that I would also like to try sometime is ice skating along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. Ottawa is several hours from here, but perhaps on a vacation sometime, it would be something neat to try - supposedly quite romantic!

Other fun winter activities include: building a snowman or making snow angels (you're never too old to play in the snow!), snowball fights, and snowshoeing if you have access to snowshoes - I remember my old elementary school had snowshoes that we used to put on for gym class and it was quite fun!

My favorite winter activity of all? Being home on a chilly winter day and knowing that I don't have to leave the house for anything at all. I can just stay cozy in front of a warm fireplace with a hot mug of coffee (or tea, or cocoa) and watch the beauty of the falling snowflakes from indoors.

Etsy Blogger of the Month: Nico Design

The featured Etsy Blogger of the month for January 2010 is Nico Designs! Nico Designs is filled with handbags, purses and clutches for you or a loved one, and items for the home and your family. You can find lots of sewn goodies including baby crib shoes, pin cushions, art dolls and more!

The photo above showcases the darling ladybug pincushion that is up for sale - almost too adorable to stick pins into! Great for any crafter or sewer with wonderful detail in the stitches and little beads.

What I love about Nico Designs is that she designs and creates with the environment in mind. he handbags are eco-friendly; they are made using upcycled, recycled, or re-purposed materials. I just love the idea of keeping materials out of the landfill and using them to make a new and incredibly useful creation!

You can also check out Nico Designs at the Nico Designs Blog.

New and Improved Craft Room!

I have recently re-designed my craft room! I posted pics in the summer of my craft room, but I was able to rearrange some things and added a new desk to accommodate the new sewing machine that my fiance got me for Christmas :) At this time I am unable to paint the walls or hang anything from the walls (we live with my fiance's dad for the time being and I am fortunate enough to have my own craft space!), hence the bright yellow paint with tacky curtains that I didn't pick out. However, I have a really great space to work in that I'm lovin'!

Here are the photos! I have two desks with one office chair in between so I am able to roll back and forth between work spaces. One desk has a laptop on it where I am able to use the computer and watch TV. The one table that has the sewing machine has most of my craft supplies - paper goods, needlecraft, ribbons, stamps, scrapbooking stuff, button maker, etc. Along one wall, I have two Ikea shelving units that have the big plastic pullout storage containers that are home to my wool and fabric collection. On those shelves, I also keep my supplies of Perler Beads.

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos!

Update: Tree Project Photos (Nov '09)

I'm a little late for posting these, but here is a Tree Project Update! For those of you who may have missed my previous posts, I am part of the New York City Horticultural Society's Tree Project exhibition! Here is my introduction post explaining what it is all about. These seeds are direct descendants of the plants that grew at the atomic bomb sites at Hiroshima. Various seeds have been mailed all over the world for people to grow and then share with loved ones.

Here is my first update when I first planted the Chinaberry seeds (September '09). I was surprised at how fast they really did begin to grow! After that, Hiroshi Sunairi who is organizing the Tree Project recommended that I split each plant to grow in separate pots, which I did below:



I took one of the Chinaberry plants to my sister's house. This is where it lives on her bookshelf:


The next set of photos are a picture of me and my sister, a photo of her cats examining the new plant (formerly our cats, our family pets from when we still lived at home with our parents), and a photo of me at home with the Chinaberry plant.

Featured Etsy Blogger for December

Wow, I am a little bit late for this...but, better late than never! The holiday season has been incredibly hectic for me, so I have been unable to blog until now! Happy New Year to all - hopefully 2010 will bring plenty more blogging!

Here is a wonderful Etsy shop filled with handmade goodies that I would like you to check out. It is the featured Etsy Blogger for December, CalKat the Jewelry Junkie! Here you will find many one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces handmade with care. Pictured above is the Snowman Shepherd's Hook Bookmark, which would look lovely to keep your page on your favorite book (or perhaps one you got as a holiday present that you've just started to read!)

You can also check out Calkat's blog, Calkat the Jewelry Junkie.