blogging for change
Conrads Beach Nova Scotia – photo essay
Taking a walk with my new lens SIGMA 17-70/2.8
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Have you considered a dance program like Maritime Dance Academy for your family’s extra-curricular activities? Many moms struggle with managing all of the activities their children are involved in let alone finding time for their own similar activities. As the kids grow older, the activities become…
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If you’re looking for a great spot downtown for a girls’ night out, look no further that Hart and Thistle Gastropub and Brewery. You can’t go wrong with fantastic Chef Stone who loves to exercise his creative processes, in-house brewmaster – Greg Nash – who handcrafts two new beers on tap regularly and a great setting right on the waterfront.
To read more click here
One change that is very welcome for many at this time of year is the change of seasons. Soon it will be spring and everything will start budding again. Without seasonal changes we can’t have gloriously tasty wines like those served at the recent ice wine festival. Or at the fall winery tour that some participants of Blissdom Canada had the treat of going on.
Here’s a little taste of what’s in store if you take a tour in Wine Country Ontario:
This newer family winery has won many world class awards for their winemaking. It is a breathtaking cottage-country style building with an incredible view of Toronto across Lake Ontario.
One of the larger wineries in Wine Country Ontario, is celebrating thirty years on a property that has much longer historical connection (1840’s) to the farmland of the vineyards. It has a world class winery restaurant where we were treated to a three course meal paired with a selection of wine.
Our tour was fascinating and educational, while at the same time magnificent. We learned about the process of making wine as well as the proper technique to make the most of a wine tasting. I have a newly developed desire to tour vineyards & wineries all over the world now!
Photos made with my tablet, if only I’d dragged my DSLR along for the picturesque tour!
All expenses associated with the wine tour were covered by Wine Country Ontario. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun or email me at trish at trishblogs dot com!
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Photo by Paul Wesson Photography
Change is good. Change makes us grow.
Blogging in itself is certainly no change for me, I’ve been at it on & off now for seven and a half years. I’ve been posting pretty consistently for the last 4 years at least.
But I hope to inspire change with what I blog. Change in myself and/or in the others who do me the honor of reading my work.
My life often feels like it follows the same direction as technological innovation – constant change… I’m in an ever-flowing state of flux. I learned to embrace change early in life and find for the most part that I welcome and in fact even look forward to it. This is not the way for many others. People often fear change, even hate change.
Yet, we all love new things. It’s a bit of a conundrum really. How do we manage change while embracing new things? I recently upgraded my tablet from the Samsung Galaxy which I had a love-hate relationship with. It served me well, when it worked. It crashed frequently, and drove me insane with how slow it became. I tried everything to fix the problem, so the next step was an upgrade. Do I go with the new version of the same product? Minimizing the change? That’s not my way.
I had been waiting since April 2010 when the first Ipad was released, for a mini version. It was just too big for my purposes. I didn’t need, or want, a smart phone but I wanted to carry my tablet with me. So, I now need to relearn an iproduct (my last one being the ipod touch when it was new on the market). It’s exciting, but also a pain to setup all the day to day stuff all over again. There always seems to be a bit lost with what is gained.
And with the recent release of of the BlackBerry Z10, my curiosity has been peaked. I’d love to take this innovative new smart phone for a test drive. 🙂 Maybe, more changes are ahead. 😉
Personal changes may soon come as well in the form of a physical move, from one house to another, one job to another, perhaps even one community to another. These are changes that I look upon with anxious anticipation. I love the excitement of a fresh start. While not without a ton of work, these are changes that I always find energizing, refreshing and rejuvenating.
Recently some of my blogging activities have allowed me the opportunity to make new friends. Each new relationship comes with changes to day to day life. Conversations take a different twist, topics of discussion are new or at the very least with new perspectives. My outlook on things are molded slightly differently with each new insight. How could one not look at things differently when bouncing ideas off of Bublé’s twin, getting advice from Rent-a-Hubby and finding a shoulder to lean on in a Digital Summit BFF?
As for changing my blog for the better, I’ve changed my name/domain, my webhost AND my design (thanks to these great new friends for their input). I’m working on some ideas for an editorial calendar to bring a little more cohesiveness and fun to my writing. I hope it will be appealing to my readers and perhaps bring a few more ;-). All in the interest of improvement, a little work is created to have a more polished look, and better home for my passions. Things don’t get better without change.
Drop me a note and tell what you think about the changes, or share your own story of change for the better.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun or email me at trish at trishblogs dot com!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
If you enjoyed this post, please do like/share it. You can do so using the easy share button below!
Let’s see if I can wrap this up, post #5 about a 3 day FordNAIAS event, and I barely touched the surface!
Photo courtesy of @paulletourneau
Of course the North American International Auto Show was more than just a Ford event, all the big players were there with their finest. I found a few of my favourites as we wandered the show room on our way to the giant Ford area. The highlights for me included a gorgeous silver Jaguar XKR-S 2013 convertible, the Corvette Stingray, and the SMART car Forstars concept (with glass star-viewing roof and built in projector for turning your back yard into your own theatre al fresco!).
[cincopa AYLAgHrcAp7h]
After a nice lunch, and some time to relax and recoup with our friends, it was time to catch the first bus back to the hotel, grab our luggage and get to the airport. This meant saying a few goodbyes, sadly sooner than I would have liked.
Heading home we now had travel companions (in all of the friends we’d made) that made the trip much more bearable. That tiny little commuter between Detroit and Toronto felt like a class trip. Tamara and Heather, Paul, John, Christine and Felicia, Jennifer, Lyndon… I’m sure I missed some. A few of us had time to grab a last supper together – so to speak – before catching our connecting flights. I was overwhelmed when I walked onto the Boeing 767-300, after our little Dash 8. Apparently it was headed for London from Halifax. I swear 3 dash 8’s could easily fit inside of that plane!
Once home I was already tweeting my new found friends, bloggers and Ford staff alike. Rent-a-hubby, Paul & I have a trip to Peru to plan 😉 And the whole gang has a press trip to organize to check out Tanya’s home in South Africa!! Luckily for me, I have my complete collection of Michael Bublé to remind me of Ford NAIAS until then!
One of these days, I’ll find an opportunity to meet our Twitter wing man, Carson too!
Ford may just have made a car gal, and specifically a Ford Gal, out of me.
You can find my (mostly) complete collection of FordNAIAS photos here.
For Day 1 of the FordNAIAS digital summit, click here
For the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, click here
A recap of the rest of Day 2 can be found here
To read about the unveiling of the Ford Atlas at the Ford NAIAS click here
My travel and expenses to the Ford Digital Summit were covered by Ford, however I was not compensated in anyway for my time or this post. Opinions expressed are my own.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
Those who know me well are likely a little surprised to see all these Ford posts from me lately. You don’t know me to be a car gal. Little known fact: I used to be into cars. I had posters of Lamborghinis and Jaguars on my wall. I photographed MGB’s and Mustang convertibles driving by on road trips when I was not yet a driver. I was married to a car guy, a mechanic who owned an old Ford Ranger (84?) when we met and until he was employed elsewhere was a Ford man. I liked cars. But I like the environment more, so my interest in cars waned. With recent strides in efficiency and other green efforts, especially by Ford, my interest has begun to build.
So ya, I like cars. Fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars especially. Not having affordable or accessible options available to me for driving the hilly longer distances required of Nova Scotia drivers, I bought a 2012 Focus. I average 7.6 liters/100km. Not bad.
But am I a truck gal? I’m all about driving purpose-driven vehicles. If you need a truck, by all means, drive a truck! If you don’t, why drive something that consumes so much energy? That being said, after my getaway to #FordNAIAS and a short subsequent road trip, I returned home to snowbanks blocking my driveway. They were small crusty snowbanks. My friend’s truck would have handled it no problem!
The 2014 Ford Atlas concept… would have eaten the snow in my driveway for breakfast and gone looking for more!
[cincopa AwNAkErV_cil]
When Ford Canada invited me to the North American International Auto Show, I was thrilled. Besides taking in The Henry Ford while there, what excited me most was the unveiling of some of the concept vehicles. With limited time, I only caught a few, but the Ford Atlas was our focal point. With our media credentials verified we were escorted to the press show. Talk about impressive! We saw the Transit and Transit Connect in their glory, then the highlight… the Ford Atlas concept truck. Spectacular!
This video will show you what Ford’s unveiling of this gorgeous truck involved. I was awestruck to be honest. I could see how a truck lover would be excited.
A few interesting facts about the Ford Atlas:
Photo compliments of Ford
After the unveiling we headed to the COBO Centre for the auto show. I’ll include photos of the rest of the show in a subsequent post for now let’s stick with Ford.
To be honest, the classic 1948 F-100 pickup in the COBO Centre had me drooling. < I know, I know, there is nothing fuel efficient or green about that truck… but a girl is allowed her weaknesses 😉 >
[cincopa A0LAgFb6_oVt]
I had my photo taken sitting in my red 2014 Mustang Shelby convertible, and made a few photos of the eye candy that Mustangs really are. < More weaknesses, I know. >
Photo compliments of @wedding_crasher
For Day 1 of the FordNAIAS digital summit, click here
For the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, click here
A recap of the rest of Day 2 can be found here
To read the FordNAIAS Wrapup click here
My travel and expenses to the Ford Digital Summit were covered by Ford, however I was not compensated in anyway for my time or this post. Opinions expressed are my own.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
The remainder of day 2 allowed for a lot more opportunities to become acquainted with other bloggers from across Canada and around the world. From bus rides to interactive dinners and social/learning events, FordNAIAS provided for more chances to engage with one another than any other blogger event I’ve attended (even those designed for the specific purpose of networking with bloggers).
At breakfast I finally reunited with the one blogger I really knew before attending. Throughout the day friendships were formed with many more. By the end of the night, a core group of about 10 of us had become well acquainted. It would make for a fantastic time wandering the auto show on day 3. Some of the bloggers and Ford staff I became better acquainted with on day 2 can be found here: @MartinSagala @FeliciaDewar @MommyMommentBlog @TanyaKovarsky @momvstheboys @FordCraigSilva @ammar_ammar
Photo Courtesy of @wedding_crasher
After the incredible Ford Rouge factory tour, it was time for lunch. Taking us back in time, we were treated to a feast at the Eagle Tavern, a part of Greenfield Village – connected to The Henry Ford museum. It’s an 1850’s stage coach stop with staff in period costumes and food made from period recipes that were absolutely decadent. The veal stew and then the ginger cake sliced in chunks as big as my head were my favourite.
The atmosphere was set when the “Master” of the facility greeted arrivals at the door and commented on my lack of a coat (there *were* snowflakes in the air). After I replied that I had one but I was Canadian, he responded with a laugh “OH! I’ll be sure speak to more slowly then!” 😉 We sat at long wooden tables, in a room heated by wood fire, with family style service, passing dishes along to serve ourselves. It really facilitated the continued relationship building that was happening at FordNAIAS.
We returned to the Westin for panel discussions organized by #FordNAIAS. The first one: My Energi Lifestyle panel – represented by Ford, Eaton & Whirlpool. Next up was a Green Business Summit – on sustainability: John Viera, Andrew Winston, Matthew Banks. It was inspiring to learn of Ford’s commitment to energy saving and sustainability, employing and working in partnership with climate change, sustainability and environmental science experts!
Photo courtesy of @wedding_crasher
Next stop, TechShop. With barely time to freshen up and change we were off on another bus ride, to spend an evening playing in Detroit’s TechShop. < You know you’re in for a fun night, when handed waivers to sign on the dimly lit bus, walking in the door with wine poured and served before even making it to the coat check, and then are told you will be required to wear safety goggles for the tour! > Before the fun and games began, we sampled great food, had a few drinks and headed into the theatre to hear all about Ford’s App Developer program, now open source and accessible to anyone. Apps to enhance the driving experience of all kinds are encouraged, as long as they don’t take away from the safety of drivers (i.e. no reading, gaming, etc.)
After the tour we had opportunities to try out many of the tools available at TechShop. It’s a community workshop membership-based space where you can make just about anything! We sandblasted giant glass beer mugs, silk screened tote bags, and made pewter pendants, while continuing to take in refreshments.
Finally our buses returned us to the Westin, and the group of bloggers I referred to earlier all congregated at the hotel bar for a few more drinks and some great conversation. We talked Ford, blogging, social media, family, jazz hands, Michael Buble, Peru, South Africa, creepy old men and being forever 21…
Day 3 was fast upon us, and none of seemed ready for the event to end.
For Day 1 of the FordNAIAS digital summit, click here
For the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, click here
To read about the unveiling of the Ford Atlas at the Ford NAIAS click here
To read the FordNAIAS Wrapup click here
My travel and expenses to the Ford Digital Summit were covered by Ford, however I was not compensated in anyway for my time or this post. Opinions expressed are my own.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
The Ford Rouge Factory was impressive, to say the least. As a part of the FordNAIAS digital summit day 2 began with an overwhelming experience of history and education.
The Ford Rouge Factory produces the F150, and used to also manufacture Model A’s, Thunderbirds and Mustangs.
Henry Ford designed the assembly plant to automate the process of building Model T’s and cut production time from 12 hours by a team of workers for each car. He wanted to make cars available to the masses. The best way to make them affordable was to reduce the time it took to produce them. After studying other assembly plants he came up with a system that reduced production time to 98 minutes per car! Today the plant manufactures F150’s from raw materials to finished product, eliminating the wait time associated with parts being ordered/delivered, etc.
From start to finish, the F150 is created from raw materials in 40 hours! It spends 6 hours on the assembly line, which is a masterpiece in itself. Thanks to a strong union/company relationship work stations are designed to be customized to the worker with the ability to elevate the platforms and more. Walking around the assembly plant walkway above, I was amazed by the condition of the workspace. Clean as can be, without any off gasses to be detected…
Ford has thought of everything, making the plant tour interactive, educational and fun.
A visit to the observation deck allowed an opportunity to view and learn about the incredible living roof system designed ten years ago to recover the environment around the plant. Recirculating the water back into the environment, feeding man-made ponds, gardens and even an orchard – the cleanup is really spectacular. From a plant that had a heavy cloud hanging over it < quite literally > to clear skies and the largest living roof in the world, spanning multiple football fields worth of sedum.
A film of the life of Henry Ford and development of the Ford Motor Company shares fascinating details about how the Ford Motor Company got it’s start. It includes details about Henry Ford’s resistance to the union, which inevitably was formed and became a strong contribution to the health of the company.
From the 3 screen Legacy Theatre, we moved to the panoramic, multi-screen, multi-sensory theatre that requires swiveling seating in order to capture the full experience of the Art of Manufacturing. This film walked us through every aspect of car and truck manufacturing from raw materials to finished painted & polished vehicle. The music the film is set to is performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. From wind, heat, sound and vibration, this is a fantastic experience.
I heard it said that a gentleman custom ordered a truck, got his VIN and attended the plant to request viewing of its production. He was informed it was scheduled to be on the line the following day, and allowed to return to the plant and follow his truck through the assembly line! We don’t really think about everything involved in the production of our cars, we just get in and turn the key. I’m willing to bet this gentleman never sells his truck.
After seeing the precision involved in the assembly of the F150 I was in awe considering what went into the design of the plant to begin with – to lay that out step by step, then physically design it would have required significant time & energy. I asked what sort of time is involved in refitting the plant for changes to models. And was told minor changes can be made on the fly but for major changes, like those the F150 underwent 4 years ago, the plant was shut down for about two weeks.
What impressed me more than anything was to realize the family connection that has been retained. Even with a company of this size and duration, family ties remain. Bill Ford, the Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company , is the great-grandson on Henry Ford who founded the company in 1903.
The Ford Rouge Factory tour is just another site worth seeing in the fascinating Detroit/Motor City.
For Day 1 of the FordNAIAS digital summit, click here
A recap of the rest of Day 2 can be found here
To read about the unveiling of the Ford Atlas at the Ford NAIAS click here
To read the FordNAIAS Wrapup click here
My travel and expenses to the Ford Digital Summit were covered by Ford, however I was not compensated in anyway for my time or this post. Opinions expressed are my own.
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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
If you enjoyed this post, please do like/share it. You can do so using the easy share button below!
Whatever you’ve heard about Detroit, there’s plenty there, worth visiting Motor City for. Thanks to Ford Canada, I had an opportunity to get a glimpse last week.
[cincopa AQMArHLX54e3]
I’m not denying the eye-opening presence of homelessness and dilapidated abandoned homes. If more of us took the time to really appreciate what Detroit has to offer, we might find the state of their economy improving though.
Not surprisingly, Ford has a large presence in Motor City. During the Ford Digital Summit (#FordNAIAS) we were treated to the experience and story of the Ford Motor Company. I’ve had the good fortune of being at Ford events in the past. True to form, Ford did not disappoint. They pulled out all the stops, with detailed info/welcome packages, greeters that met us exactly where we’d been told to expect them and secure escorts (in Ford vehicles, of course) to our hotel – driven by local active and retired police and firefighters.
My flight left Halifax at 10:50am, gaining an hour and connecting in Toronto over lunch, with a stopover just long enough to get through U.S. Customs and airport security – no real meal to be had. After arriving at the Westin, and checking in at the FordNAIAS registration room, we had a fantastic buffet of food waiting for us < for which *I* was ecstatic! > and a little time to freshen up before boarding our bus for the first big event of the Ford Digital Summit. Something about the atmosphere of this event made it impossible to meet fellow “online influencers” and not become fast friends. By the end of day 1, I’d already befriended 4 other Canadian bloggers (among several others on day 2) with whom the remainder of the trip was spent. Connect with them on twitter: @wedding_crasher @paulletourneau @misteryyc @scalazormo
This evening was the highlight of my trip: The Henry Ford museum. I would have made the journey just for this, and likely will again someday because we didn’t have nearly enough time for the one small section that we saw. The Henry Ford is a museum of innovation. With collections of cars through the century, farming and industry machinery, home and office furniture, lego architecture, telephones… I was in my glory. The most exciting finds for me, were the bus Rosa Parks was arrested on < I sat in the seat she refused to give up, while listening to her story retold in her own voice! I felt chills and was rather uncomfortable in that seat – being a white woman who was appalled by the sight of the black and white waiting rooms also displayed > and the 1962 Mustang concept!
We were treated to a fantastic meal and plentiful libations, while we were introduced to Ford’s creative team and direction.
After returning to the hotel, my FordNAIAS “BFF” and I relaxed while we took in the end of the Golden Globes, tweeting about our night, including the hideous dresses we saw on the awards show.
My travel and expenses to the Ford Digital Summit were covered by Ford, however I was not compensated in anyway for my time or this post. Opinions expressed are my own.
For the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, click here
A recap of the rest of Day 2 can be found here
To read about the unveiling of the Ford Atlas at the Ford NAIAS click here
To read the FordNAIAS Wrapup click here
Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!
I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, like my page on Facebook, etc.)
If you enjoyed this post, please do like/share it. You can do so using the easy share button below!
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A social media/online influencer, who has been blogging for more than fifteen years.
We write about issues & activities of interest to us – doing advocacy/social justice work & personal expression. You’ll also find samples of amateur photography.
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