One year in Manotick

Can you believe it’s been a year this week since we moved out to Manotick? Seems like yesterday. Seems like we’ve been here forever. It has been the most tumultuous, crazy, busy year – no wonder it flew by in a flash!

I still remember the very powerful feeling I had the very first day we moved in, that we belonged in the house. It felt instantly comfortable and familiar, like we’d always lived here. I think that sense of comfort helped me keep my sanity for the first three months, when it seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

I’ve taken to calling October through December of last year “the dark time” in my head. There were plenty of happy moments, but in addition to being seasonally, literally dark, I was full of doubts about what we’d gotten into. What I’d gotten us into. Within days of moving in, the dishwasher crapped out and the microwave started acting up. The furnace died, and then we found the mould in the basement. The boys were having some trouble settling in at the new school. We replaced the sump pump, had some rewiring done, tore up carpets and then it took forever to put all the bits of poor Tristan’s room back together again. So much went wrong with the house so quickly, I was sick with worry about what else could go wrong.

And through it all, right up until the spring thaw (that leaked into our basement and knocked over a tree in the yard) I rationalized the decision to move in my head. It was a great neighbourhood. It was a great school. The boys had a huge yard. There was great light, breathtaking light, that made me happy when it streamed through the huge windows. I think the reason I have been so vocal about how great life in Manotick is (and really, it is!) is because I was still trying to convince myself that it was all worth it. Having led the impulsive decision to buy the house and to move out here, I had to justify the decision to lead my family into such upheaval. It was well after Christmas before I could drive past the old house in Barrhaven without a sick feeling of “what have I done?” in the pit of my stomach.

And now, looking back on the first year as a whole instead of as a series of highs and lows, I can really say that it was the right choice — but oh man, that was a dark couple of months back there at the end of 2010!

When we first moved out here, I was on a mission (Beloved might even say it was a bit of a pathological obsession) to be a part of the community. I joined the school council, attended community meetings, went out of my way to meet the neighbours. We paid a ridiculous sum of money for a three-month membership to the community pool, largely because I was seduced by the concept of membership itself. We even started going (wait for it!) to church! I’m not sure why I got so fixated on being a part of the community, except maybe that there never really was a sense of neighbourhood and community when we lived in Barrhaven, and I’ve spent my whole life with a vague yearning for that sense of belonging.

This summer cemented my love for the community, and my faith that moving out here was the right thing to do. The house finally stopped (touch wood) finding ways to vex me, and we actually went a couple of months in a row without a contractor coming in to inspect, quote or fix something. We figured out that the odd, faint smell from the basement has to do with the smell of the water table and the island itself than the mould that I feared it was. The summer was long and glorious and beautiful, and the porch unexpectedly transformed itself into a portrait studio.

I really think, though, that the moment when I stopped rationalizing and justifying things in my head happened just this past weekend. We were at the Harvest Festival at Watson’s Mill, hopping off the horse-drawn wagon ride, and a queue of people were waiting to get on. I heard the boys’ names being called over and over. “Hi Tristan!” from one. “Hi Simon!” from another. And even Lucas’s mate from daycare was there. THe boys laughed, shouted, huddled with their friends. We could barely get down the block, so many friends and neighbours were there saying hello and sharing a quick chat.

There’s still a lot of little jobs, and even a few big jobs, that need to be done. The septic system is another year older, and won’t last forever. I’m not convinced we won’t get more water in the basement next spring thaw. And the damn tree that fell over in April is still waiting for Bell to come and rebury the cables underneath the uprooted stump, which has now started to sprout anew. But these are all things we can fix in time. Or continue to look blithely past.

We have a place where we belong. We are home.

Five ideas for Thanksgiving Family Fun in and around Ottawa

Wow, did you see the forecast for this weekend? I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten Thanksgiving dinner in shorts before – yowza, it’s going to be a spectacular weekend!

Here’s five quick ideas of ways you can get out of the house and celebrate Thanksgiving in Ottawa:

1. Admire the fall foliage at Gatineau Park
The National Capital Commission is offering a program called Follies of the Fall Forest, a two-hour guided hike along the Sugarbush Trail including lessons on identifying trees and discussions of why exactly leaves change colour. And it’s FREE!

270:365 Autumn acorns

2. Manotick Harvest Festival
This runs Saturday October 8 from 11 until 4 pm. There will be horse-drawn wagon rides, pumpkin painting and face painting for kids, a harvest market, and you can visit Watson’s Mill, among other activities. The village is beautiful in the fall – well worth the drive!

3. Celebrate the harvest at a local farmers market
Is there any better way to celebrate the harvest than fresh, local food? This weekend marks the last weekend for many local farmers’ markets, so it’s time to get out and stock up! This website has a great list of local markets with hours and locations.

273:365 First day of fall in the Byward Market

4. Saunders Farm
It’s Haunting Season at Saunders Farm, with a list of activities that seems to grow each time I visit the website. Giant jumping pillows, fairy gardens, pedal racing, mazes – there’s more than a full day of fun here.

5. Take some family pictures
The autumn light is soft and flattering, and you simply can’t beat the backdrop of colourful fall foliage. Why not get out and take some family portraits this weekend! (That’s what I’ll be doing!) Last year, I wrote a post with five suggestions for great places in and around Ottawa to take family portraits, but heck, at this time of year it’s hard to find a bad location for pictures!

278b:365 Lime Kiln Hike

Got any other tips to share? What will you be doing to celebrate this summer – erm, I mean AUTUMN long weekend? 🙂

Friday Family Fun: Three reasons to visit rural Ottawa this weekend!

As you know, I’ve embraced the semi-rural life on Ottawa’s outskirts. It seems this time of year is rich with festivals, fairs and farmer’s markets. Here’s three suggestions for fun family activities outside of the city’s urban core this weekend!

1. Manotick’s Picnic in the Park and Soap Box Derby
Come out to Centennial Park in Manotick on Sunday from noon until 3 pm to see the soap box derby races, and stay for the old fashioned family picnic games! The Manotick Village and Community Association provides food, fun for the kids and music in the pavillion. Visit their website for more details.

2. The Richmond Fair
The Richmond Fair runs all weekend at the Richmond Fairgrounds, 6121 Perth Street in Richmond. There will be a midway, petting zoo and pony rides, as well as a lawn tractor pull, demolition derby and musical entertainment. We loved it last year!

At the fair

3. Osgood Museum’s Fall Harvest Festival

The Osgoode Museum (7814 Lawrence Street in Vernon) will be hosting their very first Fall Harvest Festival on Saturday September 17 from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be fruit, vegetable and craft market vendors, local corn, apple cider and pumpkin pie. Go bobbing for apples and participate in the scarecrow-making contest and horseshoe tournament. Admission is free – you can’t beat the price!

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend – how will you get out and enjoy it?

Friday Family Fun: Build a soapbox racer and join the derby in Manotick!

I absolutely love this idea! I was recently asked by the Manotick Village and Community Association to help spread the word about a fantastic family event coming up the third week in September: they’re staging their annual Picnic in the Park, and one of the new features this year will be a soapbox derby. Is that awesome or what?

A soapbox racer (originally built from a wooden soap or orange crate and rollerskate wheels) is simply a non-motorized car that uses a slope, gravity and a big push to power it. You can build your own based on the specifications on the Manotick VCA website, or there are kits available for purchase online. Or maybe there’s one tucked away in grandpa’s shed, waiting for a little WD40 and TLC? Wouldn’t it be fun spending a few days this summer building, test-driving and decorating a soapbox racer with the family? No batteries, no wires, no video screens allowed!

Here are a few of the details:

  • registration costs $25 per racer, and you must register before August 31. However, there is a limit on number of participants, so register early to ensure you get a spot!
  • the derby will be held Sunday September 18 starting at 10:00.
  • minimum age of a driver is 7 years.
  • each racer is guaranteed four races, and you don’t have to have the same person driving for each race.
  • racers must wear a helmet with chin strap, eye protection and gloves. (The mom in me needed to get that part out there!)

And even if you don’t build and enter a racer, come on out to the Picnic in the Park in Manotick’s Centennial Park on September 18 to cheer on the racers. A picnic and an old-fashioned soapbox derby? I don’t think it gets more family-friendly than that!

Mothership Photography: Perfect Porch Manotick Mini-Sessions!!

I am so excited about this!!

I’ve been wanting to offer summer mini-sessions, but I have been waffling over the location. I wanted a location that was unique, accessible, interesting from a photographic perspective and most of all, filled with delicious light. It was my friend Christine who suggested the porch, after I posted my pictures of it last week.

Of course! The porch!! It’s big, it’s got great photogenic furniture, it’s covered in case of inclement weather, and the light is magnificent. See?

185:365 Porch party

So what’s a mini-session? Here’s what you can expect:

  • a 30-minute session on the porch and in the garden
  • 10 – 15 custom edited proofs to choose from
  • one 8 x 10 or two 5 x 7 prints
  • three high-resolution digital negatives
  • Cost is $100 (more than 50 per cent off my lowest portrait package!)

This is a great package for families, kids, teens, grads, or even engagement photos. Sessions are available the afternoon of Saturday July 9 or Sunday July 24. However, they are limited (the best light of the day is actually a pretty small window!) and it’s first come-first served! Contact me or send an e-mail to danicanada(@)gmail(dot)com to book your appointment today!

186:365 Porch week continues!

And! Since you’ve made the trip to Manotick, you might as well take a look around while you’re here. I’ll throw in a complimentary $5 gift card to Manotick’s My Toy Shop, snuggled down on Tighe Street between the Gingerbread Man and the HodgePodge Shoppe (with ice cream, coffee and antiques!!) That’s just a few steps down from Watson’s Mill and the used book sale in the carriage house, not to mention all the other fun and interesting things Manotick has to offer!

Don’t wait, book your Mothership Photography Perfect Porch Mini-Session in Manotick today! 🙂

Photo credit!

Photo credit! by Dani_Girl
Photo credit!, a photo by Dani_Girl on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
My first print photo credit appeared this week in our community newspaper, the Manotick Messenger! I was expecting a quarter-page ad, and was delighted to see the ad was a half-page, so my collage took up a whole quarter of the page. 🙂

(I’m particularly tickled that the story that runs above my photograph is that of poor Ann Currie, the ghost of Watson’s Mill — I told that story in a blog post just a few months ago!)

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend and live in the Ottawa area, Manotick’s Dickinson Days promises to be some great family fun with a parade, midway rides, tours of the Mill, a pancake breakfast, a crafter’s market, kids’ fishing derby and more. See you there!

Mothership Photography and Manotick’s Dickinson Days

It has been a very exciting couple of days for Mothership Photography!

Remember the I Heart Faces photo challenge I entered? My picture of Lucas jumping into a puddle came in second out of nearly 450 entries! How cool is that?

And!! As if that weren’t exciting enough, I got a note from the office of our city councillor Scott Moffatt, asking if they could use one of my pictures in an ad for Dickinson Days, Manotick’s annual summer festival. The ad will run in this week’s Manotick Messenger – my first print photo credit! Wanna see a sneak peek?

Manotick Messenger Ad featuring Mothership Photography

Isn’t that fun? I took the pictures last Saturday, a perfect and highly photogenic early-summer morning in Manotick. I liked how the collage came together so much that I’ve ordered myself a wall print, even before the councillor’s office asked to use it in the ad.

Here’s the original. (This is the leftover from my weekly Project 365 post, the one that I said needed a post of its own!)

149:365 One morning in Manotick

And speaking of Dickinson Days, the party starts on Friday with a parade, a midway, and fireworks. Through the weekend, there’s all sorts of family fun to be had, including a kids’ fishing derby, a craft market, tours of Watson’s Mill and Dickinson House, live entertainment, and on Saturday afternoon Manotick Main Street is closed to traffic so the local merchants can step out and feature some of their best stuff. I’ve been looking forward to this all winter!

If you’re looking for a family-friendly celebration of summertime fun, Manotick is the place to be next weekend! (Please let the rain abate by then!!)

In which she discusses windstorms with the Universe

It went something like this:

*ring ring*

Hello?

Hey, Universe. It’s DaniGirl.

DaniGirl! Always a pleasure to hear from you. How are you enjoying your first spring in the new house?

Oh, it’s been gorgeous. There’s daffodils and crocuses, the boys love playing in the yard, and the porch is beyond awesome.

I’m so happy to hear that. I heard you dodged a bullet on that summer water ban issue, too.

Did we ever! As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m calling.

Oh really? Why is that?

Well, I know you have a bit of an, um, odd sense of humour, and I was wondering if maybe you heard me talking about how happy I was to be living out here in Manotick on well water for most of yesterday and today.

Well, yes, I may have heard you. Why do you ask?

Yeah, it’s about that insane windstorm yesterday. The wind was gusting up to 100 km/h here for a couple of hours. Did you know that once they get up to 120 km/h they’re hurricane force winds? It was quite brutal.

There was a lot of damage all around Ottawa, wasn’t there? Don’t tell me your house was damaged?

No, not really. There’s this chimney cap that blew off, and I’m a little worried about that. I’m afraid that if it rains, we’ll get moisture in the walls. And you know, it was just yesterday that we finally laid the carpet in Tristan’s room following the whole mould debacle. Did I even tell you about the leak in the opposite side of the house we had during that big spring melt back in March? So yeah, I’m a little twitchy about potential moisture issues.

I can’t say I blame you. So what are you doing?

Oh, a guy is coming by today to look at it, so I think we’re okay. The big damage, though, was the tree.

The tree?

Yeah, one of the giant old beauties in the back yard. It tipped clean over. It must have been at least 40 years old, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 50 or 75 feet tall. This is what it looks like now.

20110429-052411.jpg

Wow, DaniGirl, the poor old tree. It didn’t fall on the house did it?

Nope. If it had fallen in the exact opposite direction, it would have crashed through Lucas’s bedroom. If it had fallen 90 degrees to the right, it would have taken out our play structure. But, at first glance, I was pretty relieved to see it only took out some cedar hedges — and it may have landed on my back neighbour’s garden.

Oy, that’s a hell of a way to introduce yourself to the neighbours!

Isn’t it? And that’s exactly what I did, with three boys in tow because Beloved was blissfully oblivious to all the damage at an event for his work. We walked around and I was going to knock on the door when I took a peek in the yard to see how the tree looked from their side. I noticed that it actually cut across the bottom corner of their yard and looked like the top might be resting in their next-door neighbour’s yard.

Pretty tall tree, eh?

No kidding. So I went next door, and my jaw dropped open. This is what I saw.

Holy crap, DaniGirl!

Yeah, that’s what I said. And they weren’t even home so I had to leave a note in their mailbox. What a mess!

I heard there were a lot of trees down in Manotick.

It’s just crazy. Two houses down from all this, a humongous Blue Spruce tipped over and took out the hydro line for the whole street. One block over, another tree fell on someone’s minivan. And there’s a little pocket park with a wooded area just around the corner, it looks like carnage in there, I’m sure more than a half-dozen trees down. And this — remember this gorgeous old silo that’s entranced me since we moved to Manotick?

18:365 Old Barn

This comment was posted on one of my other pictures of it:

Dani, I live just across the street from the Silo, It has fallen down in the last hour, due to the wind storm. 3:30 April 28th.

And this is what it looks like today.

Oh, that’s a shame, I’m sorry to see that. It was a brutal storm. In the end, you were pretty lucky.

Yeah, I did want to say thank you for that. I’m heartbroken to lose that beautiful tree — it was supposed to be my clothesline tree! — and it will be a bit of trouble to get everything back to normal again, but oh my god, it could have been so much worse.

Nobody was hurt, at least.

Exactly. Nobody was hurt, and if there’s nothing more than a dribbling of rain today, we’ll be okay with the naked chimney. I wanted to mention, though, I did notice that every time you wreak some minor disaster on the house, you make sure to wreak much larger disasters out there in the world. Like the day in March when we had the water leaking in the basement was the same day the tsunami happened in Japan, and all Beloved and I could say to each other was “A little water in the basement is nothing compared to that.” And today, thinking about what could have happened — oh my god, can you imagine if that treehouse had blown away? Tristan would have packed his bags and moved back to Barrhaven!

Heh, yes, I did step in and give it a little bit of a buffer from the worst of it. I figured poor Tristan has been through enough, losing the room of his own that was promised to him for the last six months.

Yes, well, thanks for that, Universe. But I gotta ask, are you on the city’s payroll or what?

Pardon me?

Yeah, I was thinking, it’s mighty darn convenient that this unprecedented wind storm blew through and got everybody’s attention diverted from the Barrhaven/Manotick/Riverside South summer water ban in a big hurry. You have anything to do with that, maybe?

I’ll never tell, DaniGirl.

Yeah, fair enough. Okay, well, thanks again for watching out for the treehouse, and the house. Um, not necessarily in that order.

My pleasure, DaniGirl. Take care.

In which being off the city water system suddenly became a very good thing

Wow, I’m still in shock over the news today of a summer-long outdoor water ban for Barrhaven, Riverside South and Manotick. According to the news so far, the ban will prohibit not just lawn-watering and car-washing, but sprinklers and kiddie pools, too.

OTTAWA — The City of Ottawa is immediately banning on all outdoor water use in Barrhaven, Riverside South and Manotick, which is expected to last until as late as mid-August.

That means almost 27,000 homes in these south-city communities will be prohibited from watering their gardens, filling splash pads or pools, car washing or even running a sprinkler.

Nancy Schepers, a deputy city manager, told council Wednesday morning the ban is necessary as the city replaces the Woodroffe water main, which experienced its second break in January. There is a backup water main system that can deliver enough water for drinking and other normal indoor uses, but “it does not have the capacity to meet spring and summer demand.”

The ban is in place, said Schepers, to safeguard the quality and quantity of drinking water.

It was about the third time I re-read the article with exponentially-increasing dread and outrage that I realized — hey, wait a minute, we’re not on city water. So while I’m relieved that we’ll be able to run the sprinkler and fill a kiddie pool, I’m still disappointed that our favourite splash pad will be out of commission for most of the year and I simply can’t imagine not being able to even water the flowers for a whole summer. Wow.

And suddenly living on a well and septic system doesn’t seem as intimidating and fraught with peril as it did last fall. It’s nice not having the $60 water bill every month, and the quality of our water is amazing now that we’ve upgraded the pump, water softener and filters.

I’m still ambivalent about the septic part, though. Now that the snow is melted, I’m making an effort to pace the lawn around the septic bed once a week or so to make sure the ground hasn’t gone spongy on me. One of these days I may even stop flinching every single time I flush the toilet, so deep run my fears of a sudden catastrophic failure of our septic system.

Anyone from Barrhaven up for a weekend car-washing party at my house this summer? 😉

Simon visits the Manotick Village Butcher

Have I mentioned before how much I love the Manotick Village Butcher? Um, maybe a few times, no? I love going in there. I never go when I’m in a hurry, because I’ve learned to leave time for chatting, and I rarely leave without a smile on my face. And that’s not even getting into how amazingly scrumptious my hamburgers are now with high-quality, local, sustainably-raised beef.

So when Simon had to do a school project on people who work in the neighbourhood, we asked if they’d be interested in being “interviewed” by a Grade 1 student. And they said yes! So last Saturday afternoon, Simon and I went to visit the butcher. Here, in more or less Simon’s own words transcribed, is what a butcher does.

Simon and the Butcher

What does a butcher do?

He cuts meat. Meat comes from animals like cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys.

The butcher doesn’t cook the meat.

The butcher makes steak, sausages, bacon, ribs and hamburger.

What does tools does he use?

The butcher uses different sizes of knives, some big, some small and some medium size. They are really sharp, so you don’t play around with them. He uses gloves that are made out of chains to protect his hands. He also uses a big saw that can cut right through bones. The saw turns a big piece of meat into small pieces that people buy to take home and cook.

He also used a machine called a grinder. He puts chunks of meat and it turns it meat that looks like spaghetti. He puts it all together to make hamburger meat.

The butcher works in a cold room that froze my nose. He has to wash his hands a lot.

The butcher makes sausages by stuffing meat and spices into pig intestines.

Different parts of the animal are used to make different kinds of meat.

I’ve gotta say, the butcher men were pretty nice to let me see all those cool things!

Simon and the Butcher 2

Thanks, James and Blair, for making Simon’s day!

Now comes the real challenge — did I mention that the presentation is supposed to be in French? Yikes! Okay: boucher, viande, vache, dinde, and erm… google translate, here I come!