Happy New Year

And just like that, we're in 2019! I had a chance to spend the last couple days of the previous year with Newton and some close friends in Niagara-on-the-Lake, home to many Canadian Wineries. We had great weather, especially considering the fact that we were at the end of December! We sampled some wine at Westcott Vineyard, visited the town that looks like a Christmas card, walked in vineyards,  saw some horses, visited the lavender store, explored an old barn and met great people. 

It was my first time visiting this area of Ontario and it was very inspiring. I hope to be able to come back with the Toronto Urban Sketcher group for a day trip during the summer. There was something about the colour palette of the area that looked like a finished painting and perfect for artists. I also learned about an annual lavender festival that would be perfect for the group. I didn't take a lot of pictures during our short stay but I snapped a couple photos of some inspiring scenes as shown below. There was an interesting pattern created by frozen water on the ground that reminded me of contour lines. I also learned about milkweed pods They are absolutely beautiful! They are the only host plants for Monarch Butterflies and also serve as a great source of food for them and other pollinator species. The way the seeds float in the air when you open them is really inspiring. I even took some short videos of them. Not sure what they will be used for, but they might come in handy in the future. 

I'm hoping to get back to blogging on a regular basis this year. Wish me luck. There so many things I feel I could share but often get trapped into analysis paralysis mode because I'm trying to make it "perfect". The goal is really just to share and keep an online record of things I find interesting and inspiring, trips, etc.