Warm Wishes From A Frozen World

The past few days have been snow and ice. It's been incredible to see everything completely covered in ice. Many people in the city have been out of power for days. We've been fortunate in that only our internet has been down. I went out yesterday to take some photos of the beauty of the frozen world before it melts away.








The sunset last night sparkling through the ice on the tress was so gorgeous. This photo doesn't do it justice, it was absolutely magical.

I'll be back in a few days, once the busyness of the season dies down a bit, with some photos of some of the sewing projects I've been working on- a new cat stuffie, a beautiful pom pom trimmed pillow and an adorable little girl's nightgown that I'm completely in love with.

Whatever holiday you may be celebrating this season, I hope you enjoy it tremendously.

♥ Andrea ♥

Santa Claus Parade Photos

Last Sunday we made it out to the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. The photo above is my favorite from the day. The chatting Christmas Trees totally crack me up and their seemingly unimpressed pal in the background makes this scene totally hilarious to me.



This lovely clown was happily handing over a teddy bear to a little baby next to us. It was a really special moment.



Official peppermint bearers just chillin'.



The cutest Little Red Riding Hood ever.




I have such fond memories of being a kid at the Santa Claus Parade, atop my big brothers shoulders. How excited I was to see Santa Claus! My kids were equally excited this year. We didn't realize that Canada Post would be there last weekend, collecting letters for Santa. Next year we'll bring our letters for Santa for sure.

One month to go! We're so excited for Christmas in the city this year. How about you?

♥ Andrea ♥

Autumn Cottage Photos

The Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend is always bittersweet for me. It is hands down my favorite weekend of the year. But it's also the last time we go up to my brother's cottage until the spring. I always love to take and share photos from this weekend. The light this time of year and the changing leaves always make for incredible images.

We very much enjoyed our long weekend. Saturday was just the perfect day. I am so thankful. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

♥ Andrea ♥

An Unexpected Blog Break and an Instagram Update

I haven't been using Instagram as much these past few months but I did manage to take some great photos that really sum up our summer. I'm sad to see the summer fading away. I can't believe it's the last week of August already! This past weekend we took a trip to our old stomping grounds and spent an afternoon at the Winona Peach Festival! We had a great time and I forgot to bring a camera so all I have to share are a couple of photos on Instagram. The first one here being my favorite.

Are you on Instagram? Follow me, @andreateetoo.

1. The Fun Slide at the Winona Peach Festival!
2. Mint flowers.
3. Gifts from our new neighbours amazing garden.
4. We saw Bjork at Echo Beach in July. We went for our anniversary and it was amazing!
5. The coolest beetle I've ever seen! This photos was taken at the dock at my brother's cottage.
6. An Adventure Time meets Halloween drawing by my son. I love his drawings so very much.
7. Playing at a local park.
8. A dead bird Eamon found on the road.
9. Drinking a mojito at the lake.

I didn't intend to take a break from blogging last week. Life has kicked into high gear and I've needed every moment of sleep to keep up. I thought I would pop in today to let you know that I'm going to be away for a bit longer while I get used to the rhythm of our new city life.

When I return, it will be with a great little giveaway I've been planning for a while with Ponychops!

Have a great week!

♥ Andrea ♥

Weekend in Ontario Cottage Country

The weekend before the one that just passed was dreamy. We got to spend a couple of days relaxing at the lake and adventuring in beautiful Ontario cottage country.






I told you about the bees at the dock. Have you ever noticed sometimes that a bumblebee will spend a really long time on just one flower? Sometimes they are quick like other bees, but sometimes it seems like they're having a nap on them. This one stayed on this one echinacea flower for hours. I really enjoyed watching him.



Whenever we visit my mom, we always take a trip to the little pond near her house to visit the ducks. I took the opportunity to photograph some plants and flowers around the pond.



Hello chamomile!




I'd love to know what these white wild flowers are. Does anyone know?



Milk thistle flowers are so pretty. Silybum Marianum is a wonderful herb for healing and protecting the liver and also as a liver supportive plant, it is superb for calming anger and assisting the body in flushing out toxins. I think I will write more about it on my homeopathy and natural remedies blog soon.



It's fun to visit the same place every year and take photos and then look back and see the kids changing so much and yet finding joy each year in the same way.

This past weekend we stayed close to home and tended to a cat with an infected wound he got from a fight with a neighbourhood cat (I'm trying to forget about the vet bill) and a little girl with a flu. Everyone around here is on the mend now.

Happy Monday!

♥ Andrea ♥

A New Life in the City

Slowly but surely we are settling into our new city home. When we first came to see this house, these two little wooden birds were sitting in the front window. These birds seemed to represent the extra specialness of this house. The kids asked if we could live here the day we viewed it, and the house just seemed like it would be such a good fit for our family.

Upon moving in, we found that our house is also home to house sparrows. I think it's really lovely that they are here.

The day after we moved in, two little sparrows were fighting and fell onto the driveway. The driveway here is nice and long and has been getting a whole lot of use as a canvas.

I love this new kitchen. It's bright at any time of the day. I'm looking forward to it being really organized. Every room is out of order right now. Getting everything sorted feels really great. Though last week, by the end of the week, I got really tired of moving.

I was happy to find mint growing through the fence along the driveway.

Our neighbour has the loveliest rose patch. Last night we ate our dinner on the front porch. As the sun was getting low in the sky, these roses looked so incredibly gorgeous.

The number of cats in our neighbourhood is unreal! This handsome fellow keeps coming around. Marvin doesn't like it. Not one little bit.

I feel so blessed to have found a little oasis in the city. We love our new backyard. We have a pear tree and a cherry tree! And we also have what looks to be an old chicken coop. I've always wanted to get some chickens... Sadly, it's illegal to keep chickens in Toronto.

A great thing about moving back to the city is getting to see so many of our friends and cousins! We've been having a whole lot of fun discovering new parks and spending some time (in between unpacking boxes) with people we love.

♥ Andrea ♥

Orchid Macro Photos

I received some orchids from my thoughtful father-in-law for Mother's Day this year. I took some photos of them recently that I wanted to share with you.








I think orchids are so beautiful. Each one looks like a little flying angel, don't you think?

♥ Andrea ♥