Travel Blog

Four felt puppets play in a jazz quartet, in a still from a Cardboard Reality video

Outside the Box: An Interview with Northumberland’s Cardboard Reality

January 27, 2022

What do permaculture farming and animation have in common? Plenty, if you ask bekky O’Neil and Keith Del Principe, co-owners of Northumberland’s Cardboard Reality Farm & Studio. As animators, they’ve created award-winning stop-motion and 2D animated short films on their farm outside Roseneath. On the same property they’ve grown flowers, raised ducks, and experimented with a range of sustainable agricultural practices, making them the rare business whose output is equally at home at film festivals and the Cobourg Farmers’ Market.

View down a snowy trail at Ken Reid Conservation Area

Meet the Makers: Mariposa Woolen Mill & Farm Market

December 15, 2021

Mill & Farm Market Ellen Edney, and farm manager Karyn Boyd, giving a comprehensive answer takes a little extra time. “There’s the Mariposa Woolen Mill and the Farm Market, so we have two different kinds of things happening on the same property,” Edney says. “The farm market is more the retail side of things, offering the location for different artisanal products, foods, local produce, that kind of thing, as well as incorporating agritourism into the farm life here.” The retail business and suite of events offered by Mariposa year-round, however, are in addition to the day-to-day operation of the woolen mill. “We produce all-Canadian product made with Canadian wool, so we do everything from washing other people’s fibres for custom work, to finishing yarns, rovings, that kind of thing… Yeah, we have a lot going on.”

Angela Roest of Centre & Main Chocolate Co. stands in front of a wall of her chocolate bars

Meet the Makers: Angela Roest of Centre & Main Chocolate Co.

December 14, 2021

Is there a connection between fine jewelry and artisanal chocolate? Angela Roest, award-winning chocolatier and owner of Warkworth’s Centre & Main Chocolate Co., thinks so: “It’s the creation of something that will be cherished by somebody else. Giving pleasure, aesthetic or gastronomic.” The connection is more than a metaphor for Roest, who left a career

Christine Roberts of Modelia stands beside a tailor's dummy that is wearing a deep blue scarf

Meet the Makers: Eco-Conscious Textiles by Modelia

December 7, 2021

“Every time you think you’ve come up with a new way of doing something,” Christine Roberts says, “then I’ll do a little more research and think, ‘oh, well, that’s not really the case, that’s not new at all—they’ve been doing that for hundreds of years.’” Not that she’s complaining. Roberts’ slow fashion brand, Modelia, is

Leslie Robb of Swell Made Co holding a stack of blankets

Meet the Makers: Swell Made Co. Keeps It Simple, Significant, and Stylish

November 30, 2021

What is good design? Swell Made Co. founder and designer Lesley Robb takes a beat before she answers. “I think primarily it’s something that looks effortless and is very simple, which you’ll see in a lot of my work. It looks effortless because it’s actually quite complicated to make it look so.” Case in point,

Exterior of The Dockside Bistro, a converted red brick church

The Dockside Bistro: Upscale Casual Dining Comes to Campbellford

November 30, 2021

A lot of restaurants have lovely patios, but Campbellford’s The Dockside Bistro takes it one step further. Not only can you dine by the water—boaters arriving by the Trent-Severn Waterway can tie off below the patio and enjoy a meal quite literally dockside. It’s a distinction few other restaurants can boast, but if you’re dining

Restaurant Renaissance: New and Newly Renovated Eateries in Kawarthas Northumberland

November 25, 2021

After a long and trying lockdown, Kawarthas Northumberland is feeling cautiously optimistic. While COVID-19 protection is still a priority, vaccination and other safety protocols have made it safer to step out and enjoy some of the in-person experiences so many of us have been missing. Better yet, local restauranteurs have braved the uncertainty to bring us new and exciting flavours. Read on to discover why we’re calling it the Restaurant Renaissance.

A woman stands in front of a shelf of small bottles

Meet the Makers: Sunday’s Company

November 23, 2021

“I grow all kinds of stuff—I grow rose, I grow yarrow, mint, lemon balm, camomile, calendula,” Melissa Condotta says. “And then of course I get cedar and pine and stuff from all over the property or around Northumberland… With roses it’s the care that goes into growing them and just seeing how versatile they are and

An older woman stnads in the corner of a pottery studio

Meet the Makers: Peace of Earth Pottery

November 18, 2021

“Korean and Japanese potters are very fine, detailed potters—very precise,” Sheila Brenchley says. “Now, the English potters are very geared towards functionality and everyday use… The English have showings and sales and things but they’re geared more to function, I believe.” Brenchley is in the midst of describing a globe-trotting tour she embarked on to

An image of the Peterborough Lift Locks, treated with vignettes and aging techniques to appear spooky

Halloween Haunts: Lore and Legends of Kawarthas Northumberland

October 21, 2021

It can take the better part of a century to rack up enough stories for a spooky reputation. Fortunately for lovers of a good ghost yarn, Kawarthas Northumberland is rich in historical sites that—at least according to those with an inclination towards the supernatural—resonate with the spectral echoes of years gone by. As Halloween approaches,

Yellow leaves create a colourful canopy and forest floor

Fall Exploration: Our Recommended Hike and Brewery Pairings

September 22, 2021

Every beer drinker knows a brew tastes better when you’ve earned it. Preferences also change by season—a crisp lager is never better than in the high heat of summer, and cooler weather makes a rich flavour like porter especially appealing. These fundamentals combine beautifully in Kawarthas Northumberland, where an abundance of hiking trails meets a

Birds, Blossoms, and Big Skies: Exploring Carden Alvar

August 3, 2021

the soil like giant flagstones, and birds flit from the fenceline to hardy clusters of juniper. You’ve arrived in Carden Alvar, a rare form of grassland habit home to a range of uniquely adapted species.

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