As a photographer and artist I am often on the lookout for good places to purchase supplies - everything from photographic equipment and accessories to office supplies. Shopping the net can take longer than shopping locally, but the net has one advantage; it opens up the availability of world-wide shopping. That can be good for comparative purposes, or getting your hands on things you can't find in a small town.

When you shop locally you develop a knowledge of what's available, who has the best service, where the prices are most reasonable or competitive, and usually you can go home with your purchase in your hands. That can be a big plus when you're in a hurry.

Although some of those same things can be said of net shopping too - when you find good online shops you know where to go the next time, but finding that shop can take a lot of searching. As well, you have to wait for delivery, and often incur shipping charges and even duty fees if your order comes from outside your country of residence. The plus side is that you can order anytime of day or night, and if you aren't able to leave the house you can still get the things you need, because your order comes right to the door. The downside is that you often don't know what sites are trustworthy, or what sellers are honest.

Most of the time I opt to shop locally when I can, for a number of reasons. Shopping where you live powers the local economy. I'd rather spend my dollars in a shop that pays taxes to help keep our roads repaired or our street lights lit. Shopkeepers earn their income where I live; they also shop in other local stores, keeping the circle moving. There is a reciprocal relationship in local shopping - I buy in their shop, they may use my services, or send their friends or family to me.

The other thing I have found in shopping locally is that you can build good working relationships with the business community; you get better customer service in local shops too, particularly when you use the same shops on a regular basis. When you can't find something locally, many times the shop owner will go out of their way to find what you need and order it in.

Depending on where you live, shopping local can cost a little more, but I'd rather spend a few extra dollars in my home town and contribute towards making the place where I live a vibrant business community.

That being said, I do shop the net for things that just can't be had in a store; software mostly, large prints of my work sometimes, and greeting cards. A few examples can be found below.



Near Lagoon City, Lake Simcoe


Gull Lake from Gull Lake Park, Gravenhurst


Dawn Harbour, Port of Orillia


Downtown Living


Waterfront at Dawn, Port of Orillia


Sunrise on Harbour, Port of Orillia


Wasaga Beach


Langman Wildlife Sanctuary, Oro-Medonte Twp.

Here's another little winter annoyance - partly due to the snow, and partly the cold:



Little Bigfoot - found this little guy in the kitchen one day, climbing up my exercise mat which happened to be hanging over the top bar of another piece of exercise equipment. I can tell you that it freaked me out a little - a mouse isn't something I normally want to see. It took me a few minutes to recover and run for my camera, though I expected he'd scurry away as soon as he saw me moving. He (she?) didn't, he just continued climbing up that strap (which is only 3/4" in width). To give you an idea of his size, that black clip is only 1.5" from it's very tip to it's very bottom.

After a few minutes I realized he wasn't going anywhere and fired off a couple of snapshots - I figured nobody would believe that it was such a bold little critter.



Now, I've seen mice before - white mice, pet mice, even dead mice in the ceilings when we remodelled, but this is probably the first one I've seen with such big feet in relation to it's tiny body. "My, my, Mr. Mouse...what big feet you have!"

All in all, it must have sat on top of that exercise mat for well over an hour; I spent almost that long on my treadmill a few feet away, and it sat there the whole time. When my daughter came in it freaked her out a little, and a few minutes later my son-in-law came. Minutes after that the mouse finally figured out how to get down and landed on the floor...wandered around a bit and was trying to get into a plastic bag full of newspapers. By this time I was feeling a little sorry for it...it moved slow, seemed confused and frightened - it probably was sick (maybe even dying). We stuck a paperbag on the floor and when it was halfway in my son-in-law picked up the bag (of course Little Bigfoot fell into the rest of the way into the bag) and wanted to know what I wanted done with it.

By that time I didn't have the heart to kill it...we released him outdoors.



I'm pretty sure the reason he was indoors was because there was so much snow outdoors that finding food was probably difficult...finding warmth too. Our house is over 100 years old, and although the foundation and sill above it are in good shape, the front half of the basement is nothing more than dirt crawlspace. More than likely it would be very easy to access that area from the outside - the old furnace is in there too, so it's warm and comfy.

If there hadn't been all that snow, we wouldn't have had the mouse in the kitchen. In some ways, I'm not sure if that's bad - in the end I thought he was a cute little guy, and I didn't mind the visit, but I sure didn't want him living here.

Oh yeah, we do have a cat, but she slept through the whole episode.

Given the fact that we have been getting snow since last Friday (January 18th) I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by it. Firstly, I hate snow...absolutely hate it. Although it can be beautiful when it's still pristine and clean, it certainly has it's faults - one is that it's cold and I don't like the cold either; the other is that you have to shovel it.



For the most part I find shovelling snow to be good exercise (builds muscles in your back, legs, arms) and it gets me out of the house in winter (when normally I'd be hibernating indoors) it's gotten to the point where there's nowhere to put what you shovel. It's also getting sort of depressing to see so much of it, and apparently we will be getting more...right up until the end of the week.



The paper reports that as long as the snow continues falling at the rate they expect it to, we'll have received another metre of snow (that's just for this week folks) - a metre! Know how much that is? It's 39.something inches!!! The other day while I was out shovelling I ran in and grabbed my camera just to snap a few shots of the snow in the drive before I shovelled it all out. Yes, there is a car back there.



This one is a corner of our covered porch - a little tough to see at this smaller size, but it's still snowing onto the porch - that white thing? It's a wicker bird cage...or it was, anyways.



The fact that it's been snowing daily has put our moving plans into "holding" mode - it's a good thing we have that luxury right now, or our new house would be full of snowy boxes....melting all over the place.

From time-to-time I get the odd request for a quote to do a wedding. I don't do weddings...well, I have done the odd wedding (mostly for friends an family at a very reduced rate). There's a fellow photographer who lives a couple of blocks up the street from me (Farzin Solaimani) and HE does weddings. Having seen some of his work, I'd have no hesitation as recommending him - friendly, outgoing, personable and professional.

Have a look at his work, and if you know someone in or around Orillia planning their wedding, send them to Farzin for their photography!



Farzin Photography

Boardwalk at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

In the last few years Orillia has noticed an influx of "city folks" - people coming from the large cities, buying up properties and taking on the "small town" life. It's been a while since Orillia was considered a small town - indeed, it's population ranks it as a small city.  Orillia has always made room for it's new residents, and people have been coming here from the city since long before I was born - from it's birth in the mid-1800s, in fact.


Samuel de Champlain Monument in Couchiching Beack Park (©J. Gracey Stinson)

The recent influx began with the building of Casino Rama, just outside of Orillia in Ramara Township on the land belonging to the Chippewas of Mnjikaning. The casino provided a lot of work in this area, and many people came here to live after acquiring work at the casino. That seemed to 'jump start' the migration  'north'. In the past, many people came to Orillia retire, but now we have young singles and families, as well as professionals seeking to become part of the life here.

That isn't the only reason though; as life in the cities (like Toronto) becomes harsher and the crime rate climbs beyond the place where people feels safe, many families look to smaller, safer places to raise their children. Orillia is not crime free; it has it's share of the pot in terms of drugs (seems to be no escaping that no matter where you live), assaults (most often between people who know each other rather than just random attacks), domestic violence, and break and enters. A few car/boat/atv thefts here and there, thrown in with the occasional murder (well, in truth we are lucky in that regard - I'd be surprised if there's one a year). Hardly a crime-less community, but certainly one whose statistics make people feel safer. Orillia is also home to the Ontario Provincial Police Headquarters.


OPP Headquarters (©J. Gracey Stinson)

As Orillia's long-time medical professionals approach retirement age, we have younger doctors (in all areas of medical care), dentists, nurses and administrators coming into the Orillia fold.



For some years now there has been a well-attended campus of the Georgian College here, and recently Orillia saw the opening of the Lakehead University (preparing to building their permanent campus in the coming year). That brings to "town" more professionals (teachers and administrators) as well as students.

As the population changes the demand for housing changes - for a few years the vacancy rate for rental housing hovered down around 1% or 2%. At times, decent affordable rentals were just not to be had. In the past couple of years, new subdivisions have been built at an alarming rate - well, alarming to me, anyways. I just kept wondering...where are they coming from? The people to fill all these houses...


The Orillia Opera House (©J. Gracey Stinson)

But Orillia is in a unique position - it is perhaps an hour and a half from Toronto's east end (less time from the west end); just about an hour from the airport; 20 minutes from Barrie; 45 minutes from King City (the home of Wonderland); less than an hour from Newmarket. People can live here and still commute to their jobs in the city. From the east end of Toronto to the west end takes more time to drive during rush hour than it does from Orillia. On top of that, Orillia's location between two lakes and surrounded by rural beauty makes it feel like a "cottage" community, but it offers all the benefits of a larger city. To make transportation matters even easier, Orillia has a well-established transit system, and the Simcoe airport is roughly halfway between Orillia and Barrie.


Simcoe Airport (©J. Gracey Stinson)

The historic downtown area houses many vintage buildings with unique boutique-style shops; the main street 'dead ends' in three connected, waterfront parks; we have a large, highly acclaimed and well-equipped hospital and Orillia is home to some of the finest artists in Canada - it has a large, talented art community. The Orillia Opera House is home to many productions, from plays to concerts by some of world's most popular entertainers. Numerous times throughout the year you can attend a Jazz Festival in Orillia; the Mariposa Folk Festival (a summer venue) boasts great entertainment and draws people from just about everywhere; April sees the Annual Perch Festival, with avid fishermen from as far away and the US coming to town; there's a Bass festival too, as well as events like the Annual Vintage Car show; and it has a Tribute Artist Weekend where you can watch tribute artists performing "Elvis", "Patsy", "Roy Orbison", "Shania Twain" and a lot of other favourites, complete with professional costuming. The yearly "Scottish Festival" draws over 15,000 visitors to Orillia each year.  The annual "Bike Show and Shine (for the motorycle lover in you).

These are only a few of the events in Orillia - throughout the spring to autumn months you'll find other things like the Home Show, the "In-water Boat Show", "The Cottage and Boat Show", the "Poker Run", sporting events like the Triathlon - essentially, every weekend has an event - sometimes more than one, and winter events like the "Winter Festival".


Cottage & Boat Show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Cottage and Boat show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

cottage and Boat Show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34 - they host many of these events. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

If you're an avid fan of winter sports, Orillia is the place to live - Orillia is a short drive from a number of ski-resorts offering downhill, and cross-country skiing, as well as tubing and snowboarding. Skidoo lovers can find groomed trails here - safe and well patrolled.


Wetland pond along Orillia's trail. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

We also have (besides the college and university) a sufficient number of highschools and, although there are some aging grade schools a new centrally-located public school is in the planning stages. Orillia is a multi-cultural centre, and as such has schools for Catholic and Christian education, as well as an Alternative School where single mothers can complete their schooling with a daycare on the premises - and also is a place for those who don't learn well under normal school auspices.

Downtown, Orillia has an excellent library - well stocked with everything from books to movies, and well-staffed. The library has outgrown the current building - a hybrid constructed from the original 1800s building with more modern additions at the front - and it's also in the final planning stages to construct itself a new home.


The public library with it's side garden. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

If you're health conscious, there's a number of good gyms in town (the newest being Genesis), as well as the YMCA and racquetball courts. There's dance studios, karate clubs, figure skating, gymnastics - almost anything you'd want to learn or participate in can be found here. Orillia's trail system winds along the waterfront areas - you can walk, or ride your bike for hours and not come to a beginning or ending, since it connects with the cross Canada trail system. Just outside of town is the Geo. Langman Wildlife Reserve; numerous provincial parks (Bass Lake, Mara, McRae Point), numerous private campgrounds (Heidi's). And of course, it's numerous beaches mean you can swim, or waterski to your heart's content.



Bass Lake Provincial Park (©J. Gracey Stinson)


Geo. Langman Wildlife Sanctuary (Oro-Medonte) ©J. Gracey Stinson

And on top of those good things - there's plenty of fine eateries - from the downtown's popular Ossawippi Express and Brewery Bay Restaurants, to Kelsey's, and Eastside Marios roadhouse style restaurants, and all manner of dining in-between, from the most expensive of steak houses to the fast-food outlets.


Ossawippi Express Dining Cars in Winter (©J. Gracey Stinson)


Sounds like a "dream place" doesn't it? In some respects, I guess it is, but when you live here, it has all the issues you'll find in many other cities - problems like road repair, complaints about the governing council, lack of family practitioners, neighbourhood issues (like whether or not a  "group home" or "retirement home"  should be built, or should we allow high-rise apartments and condos; how to develop (OR NOT develop) the waterfront areas; how much industry should we allow? How much commercial development and where? Water filtration, garbage collection, snow removal - you'll find plenty of complaints if you want to pick at the town - which you will if you live here.

On the whole though, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather live.

Back in October (2007) we purchased ourselves a new home - at long last. We had spent months looking - not that there wasn't plenty to look at, there just weren't many we wanted to live in that fell within our price range. Most of the time my daughter and I would do a "reconnaissance" by checking out the Open House listings and visiting those that held possibility - that started during the early summer months.

After looking at somewhere between 20 and 30 homes, we found one that had most of what we were looking for. We called our agent (Stewart McNeely) and made an appointment so my husband could see too...he liked it, but he is a little slow on the draw when it comes to getting himself together to make an offer. By the time he was ready, the house had a sold sign on it. Even today, after having bought the house we finally did buy, that first little house on Park Street would be my first choice.

The second house we looked into as a serious purchase was on Charles St. - I've forgotten how many times we looked at it - at least 3. By the time he was ready to make the offer...well, it had another offer that was about to close. Too late again. By this time I was feeling disappointed and very frustrated.

In the end, we settled on a newer home (about 3 or 4 years) in a newer subdivision - that was not what we had wanted; to live in a new subdivision where the homes are barely 3' feet from each other, with no mature trees...and quite likely a lot of kids (not that we don't enjoy children when they visit, but having a lot of little kids running around a subdivision can get a little nerve-wracking at times - my "alarm quotient" goes into high when I see kids playing near the streets). In the end though, the interior of the home won us over. It has a very flexible floor plan, and it was a "builder's model" home, so it contains many upgrades that other houses we looked at in that subdivision don't have. It's billed as a bungalow, but because it's the builder's model, it has the additional "loft space", which has a small sitting room, two bedrooms and full bath. The main floor has an open plan - living, dining, kitchen are all open to each other which gives the house a spacious feeling, even though it is not large. On the man floor is also a good-sized master bedroom (which I'll be using as a studio space until we are too old walk up and down the stairs), and a smaller bedroom at the front entry which will become my office space.  In the future, if we get too old to manage the stairs to the bedroom, we can move our master bedroom down to the main floor - there's a semi-ensuite: a door from the main floor bedroom to the main floor bath (full bath). It was this flexibility in living space that convinced us to buy this house.

What reminded me of all this...well, the deal closed on January 17th (yesterday) and we picked up the keys to our new house (picture below - which by the way, I didn't take - it was from the handout flyer at the open house).

Stewart was a big help in handling paperwork and other real estate stuff we know nothing about. He's been our agent for, oh, probably 15 years or more. He was even gracious enough to help me deal with a Toronto real estate agent who was selling my mother's condo for us - I think I might have killed the guy if it hadn't been for Stewart.

So, anyone from out of town looking for a referral to a good agent or company in Orillia - go see Stewart, or just go to his office at the Royal LePage/Real Quest Realty building on Andrew St. (#19) Orillia, or call them toll free 1-866-933-9733. He also hosts this cool little website with information about Orillia called Northward Living - you can contact him through there too.

Over the course of the 30+ years I've lived in Orillia, I've come to understand that what keeps "transplants" from the city living in Orillia is sometimes more than the unhurried pace of the life, the safer environment (not 100% safe - nowhere is, but certainly much safer than Toronto or other large city areas), the friendly people - sometimes it's just the sheer beauty to be found here. If you take time to stop and look around you, there is beauty in the houses, the downtown buildings, even the highway areas are surrounded by nature.

Take time to have a look at some of my efforts to document the passing of days and years in this place I call home. (To see the larger image, click on the picture).


A single swan on Lake Simcoe - not far from the narrows bridge in an area where the marshy reeds grow tall.





The Stephen Leacock boathouse on Lake Couchiching




A cold and misty morning at the Port of Orillia.





Dawn on the docks at Port of Orillia




A series of images combined into a triple triptych poster image of the passage of dawn over the Highway 12 & Mississaga overpass.





A dramatic evening at Bass Lake (near the end of the 13th Concession of Oro).





A rural road just outside of Orillia, in Oro/Medonte Township: the radiant autumn colours of Orillia.



(interested in these prints? click the image to view purchasing information).

One of my latest endeavours is creating greeting cards (RedBubble Cards) (Zazzle Cards) and I've just begun on a series focusing on local interest images. A few that are prepared and ready for sale:

Local Interest Cards - Orillia

Samples: