Cobble Beach Inn

Thursday - Drove up to Muskoka. It's easy to tell Spring is on the way although it's not quite woken up there yet. Very sunny and blue skies - enough to make you want a swim but the lakes are still very cold; won't be long though. Even without all the leaves on the trees is it easy to see why this is such a beautiful destination in Fall. You could literally pick a spot anywhere and have the most amazing back drop of colour. Came back to Collingwood after a little retail therapy. Found quite a lot of inspiration in the new wedding magazines so will be posting about that when I am back in the UK.

Friday - Have been out to Cobble Beach today to have yet another look at the venue and facilities. The drive out there was lovely - the trees are all coming into leaf and colours are appearing everywhere. As much as I love Cobble Beach in the snow, there is a lot to be said for it in Spring and Summer and Fall as well !!! The sun was shining, the sky was a fab blue and the water was quite calm. I'd forgotten just how breath-taking the scenery is there and the feeling of space that you get - photos don't do justice to it. Had a lovely lunch too!
Came back 'home' via the Village at Blue - still little patches of snow left on the hill; obviously not enough to ski or board but enough to evoke memories of the good times. LOVE the Hattley shop up there, bought some gifts to take home and could have bought more! [Goes without saying really, I can always buy more] Found Whispa Gold in the sweet shop - not eaten it yet so don't know if it will taste the same as at home but that reminds me, must stock up on Hershey Kisses.

Having a really good time; it's going very quickly and I feel it will be time to come home before I know it. Going to St Jacobs tomorrow where there may be a new venue.

Oh dear!

Haven't been blogging lately cos I've been on Gramma duty. Was due to fly out to Canada today and was getting time in with my grandchildren before I missed them too much while away. However, will I be going and if so when? The $64,000 dollar questions. Seems like my flight is only delayed not cancelled so I will be going but when is another matter.

I had a full itinerary lined up of new venues to look at and photography to do plus some florists, bakers and 'shops' that were calling to be checked out. Surely you'd want me to check out the general shopping for you? I have to be honest and admit that I have list of stores that I cannot leave Toronto without just popping in - Holt Renfrew being at the top of the list, then some amazing little independent stores along Queen Street West and finally a visit to Sherway Gardens or the Yorkdale Mall where there's Pottery Barn, PB Kids and Williams Sonoma.

More about these things later. I've just had a call to say we're going to go up to the airport to be there 'just in case'. Here's hoping the next time I write, I'll be in Ontario ..... promise to post photos etc whilst I'm away. Usually fly over Iceland so may get some shots. Still can't get my head around the fact that Iceland airspace hasn't been closed - how strange is that?!?!?!?!

Couldn't wait ...

Just browsing through various sites looking for ideas, inspiration, venues, etc and came across this blog and couldn't wait to post a link here. I honestly think these images are amongst the BEST I have seen AND it's a UK photographer. You know how every time you see some shots you like the look of, they are from North America, well these aren't. Shout long & loud.
marianne taylor photography

Not sure if I should do this but I love this one::

Still trying to get organised ........

Seems like the more I sort, the more there is to do! Anyway my board for inspiration arrived this morning - not sure if it is too big! Still better big and organised than small and overflowing! Just got to get it on to the wall now!

Got into a bit of a muddle with Facebook yesterday and was posting pictures that were meant for the blog, however got some response from people who liked them so that's good. Still not figured the mlw page on there yet - seems to appear then disappear and then bits come back and bits disappear. I WILL master it - just not sure when.

Going 'live' is creeping nearer and nearer. Soon there will be no excuses left!

Today's efforts

Still playing with the slideshow idea. Have gone down another route which may, or may not, work. Let's see



Guess what? I think it has. Yeah !!!!!!! Previewed it and it's there - not quite as I wanted it but hey, it's there. We can only improve!

Also have the first two items for the 'inspiration' board - see under Easter & ideas. That's the next job.

As You See It – One Camera, Many Points of View
Had to come back and post this cos it's great. It takes the idea of putting cameras on guests' tables a step further. Drop them around the town and get folks to use them.Wish I was in Collingwood right now to try and find one. Bet she'd have dropped one on my front deck if I had been there! Well done Marg - such a neat idea

http://blog.collingwood-bluemountain.com/

Snow, sun & shadows

I thought today I would try adding a slide presentation to the blog! HOWEVER - hours later, I have decided that is not a good idea. This post has been sitting in drafts whilst I have tried to figure it out ~ to no avail so you'll just have to have a series of photos instead!

Because our first wedding venue is promoting weddings in the snow, I thought it would be an idea  is to show that even in quite deep snow, it is not really THAT cold, the sun shines and the skies are a fantastic blue. The snow even sparkles ~ it's quite magical. I guess it reflects the light and brightens everywhere, unlike here where the winters are just grey and overcast. Also you get the idea of icicles - they grow so long! I think we actually broke off one of the ones in these photos and put it in the freezer cos we thought it was so unusual! We know better now!

Little white dresses & jewellery

As promised earlier - the short dresses

These two are my favourites - Flora & Audrey and this is the link http://www.amsale.com/lwd/lwd1.shtml

Also, you may want to check out the jewellery here  http://www.magpievintage.co.uk/ 

and the story of Flo & Percy who inspired a jewellery collection here

http://www.floandpercy.com/who-fp.html

Fab pieces on both sites - will carry on with the wall, it was a good idea

Easter & Ideas .....

Have had 4 days rest!!! Not. Did family things including making cakes that I've not made for years [2 worked 1 didn't] and having an Easter Egg hunt. Surprising how little boys can read when it's names on eggs! Got a lovely card from my grandsons saying "easter eggs are better than normal eggs, even grandparents think so". And we do!

Talked quite a lot about the blog and website and how to stay inspired. At Hannah's suggestion, I am going to clear part of one wall in the office and turn it into an ideas/inspiration board! The kids' photos will be along the top and then scraps of fabric & ribbon, colour palettes, paint charts [they're great for defining precise shades - exactly what colour IS tiffany blue?] Got the May/June issue of  BRIDES and have found some ideas in there to go up. Will have to get over my angst about cutting up magazines! I hoard them but as it is Spring maybe now is the time for a clear out! Must remember to find the short wedding dress photos. I think they are fab - will post them here to see what you think.

So clear wall, check mags and cut out relevant things then DITCH the rest, sort filing and do last job for Sasha so website can go 'live'! That's in reverse order of importance - hmm. Maybe a skip?

Time to start, I think

So, I've managed to upload the website holding page on to here.  I can now post and upload. Improving! Have to learn some other stuff quite quickly as we already have some good things to show off.

Think what we'll do is write it three times a week to feature things we see and find as we are working   [unless there is something that we just HAVE to get out there]. I guess it would also be good at some stage to explain differences between the UK and Canada from things like car boot being trunk and elevator being a lift to the difference in attitude to alcohol and driving speeds. Also neat places and ideas that we come across. Looking through so many other blogs to gauge how it's done becomes quite ....difficult. That's a good word for it! It's - well mine isn't like that; and ours doesn't have that; and should we do this?

Hope you like the wellie boots by the way - the rest of the photos from this wedding are really fun too. The 'three great photographers' are where we got most of the fantastic photos on our site from. It really won't be long before it is live but as I have learnt, these things take their time and can't be hurried. Or maybe it's just if I didn't overthink things, it would be live by now!

We'll be back after the Bank Holiday  - hope you find loads of eggs. [Been really BAD today and bought a full box of malteaster rabbits - 32!!!!!!!!!] Oh, now I have mine I can tell you where I got them - www.sweets2.co.uk/index.php - The Chocolate shop. Happy Easter