St. Jacobs Farmers Market

Here is a spot that a lot of people are unaware of, and it isn’t that far from Toronto if you drive. It is the St. Jacobs Farmers Market, and it is in the Waterloo Region. What you need to be aware of is that the Farmers Market itself is only open on select days. Yearly it is open on Thursday and Saturday and then in the summer (late June to late August) it is also open on Tuesday.

The St. Jacobs Farmers Market is more than just an outdoor area where you can purchase locally grown fruit and vegetables. You will find buildings where you can purchase local grown meat, cheeses, baked goods and a lot more. Being able to give yourself quite a bit of time to walk
around the entire market is so enjoyable. You will see lots of different handmade items as well as some commercially made items, but it is so worth the walking around. You will also find The Fritter Co (see blog entry) in one of the buildings and purchasing some apple fritters is highly recommended.

Besides visiting the Market itself there are a couple of nice antique markets that are very close as well that require some time to walk through them if you are looking for something unique. Each time you go to these antique markets you are find different things as the stock does change so don’t be surprised if you find something today that it might not be there when you look again.

My suggestion is if you are wanting to see everything in the area you aren’t going to be able to see it all in one day, so I would look at maybe booking a hotel room that is within walking distance to the market so that you can enjoy your time and not feel rushed. Being able to spend a day at the market and then have some time to explore the area around is so good. St. Jacobs Village also offers some nice shops, and it isn’t far up the road from the Market.

When you are in the area around St Jacobs you will have to keep your eyes open for horse-drawn carriages or horse and buggies, that will be sharing the road with you. The Waterloo Region is home to the largest population of Old Order Mennonites in Canada. So, keep your eyes open and be prepared to slow down and share the road.

There is a lot to see and do around the St. Jacobs Farmers Market so ensure that you have on some comfortable walking shoes because you will get lots of steps in especially when you are exploring all the different things there are to see in the Market itself and the areas around it.

The Fritter Co

I would like to write a bit about a little shop "The Fritter Co" that I would like to highlight because it is so worth visiting. This shop is in the St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market, so it is only open either two or three days a week but when it is open it is so worth stopping to visit it. One warning that I am going to say that you are going to have to be prepared to stand in line, but the wait is so worth it.

We discovered this little shop during of our visits to the St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market and now it is a stop that is on our list for every visit, and it has now become a spot where we have breakfast on the day or days, we are visiting the Farmer’s Market. This shop offers warm apple fritters that are something that I am going to say that I cannot miss having when I am at the market. 

The staff are extremely friendly, and service is prompt, and my biggest advice is when you go is to order at least 6 of the apple fritters because I don’t think you are going to just want to eat one of them. The first time we went we ordered 6 thinking that we were going to get one for a snack and then take the rest of them back to the hotel to have later. Well, before long we had finished the first one each and then started in on the second one and by the time we left the market there were no apple fritters left.

When so many of us think of an apple fritter, we think of something with a lot of dough with a little bit of apple bits mixed in. Well, in this case we are talking about slices of apples with a light batter around them and fried and then coated in sugar and cinnamon and served warm.  For us, what we do is we order the half dozen and immediately sit down and eat them because they are wonderful warm. I am not certain what they would be like once they were cold because we have never let them get that way.

I know that we go to the market we are prepared to stand in line to wait to get our fritters but for us it is so worth the wait because it is a treat that we get when we go to the market. For me the biggest recommendation is if you are going to go and get some apple fritters is to enjoy them when they are freshly made and not try and take them home because they aren’t going to taste the same.

I do know that the next time we are at the St. Jacob's Market, it is going to be very easy for us to figure out our breakfast and this time it might be twice given we are going to be able to go to the market twice during our next stay in St. Jacobs.

Your resume

I am currently mentoring students that are in college or just recently graduated and a question has come up about how much work experience should I put on my resume. This is a hard question to answer because it depends on your age. 

Just starting your career 0 – 5 years

• Include volunteer work

• Co-op programs

• After school activities and groups

• Any part time jobs you have had (past 5 years max)

Have been working 5 – 10 years

• List the jobs that you have had through that time (5 – 10 years)

• Also volunteer work

Having worked 15 years

• Include jobs you have had in the last 15 years

• Include any volunteer board’s you have been on

In a lot of cases, it depends on the job that you are looking for, but it is important to show that you have experience. Why I am writing this is because I was chatting with a college student who is a mature student, and the college was telling them to only include the last 5 years of experience because employees don’t want to see anything past that. I have some to realize why the colleges are saying this is because a lot of students have just recently finished high school, so they don’t have a lot of work experience.

It was almost mentioned by another international student who I was mentoring that they shouldn’t put experience from back home on their resume. Only experience in Canada is what you should include, and I totally disagree with this because if you have experience no matter where it is from, it’s experience. 

It is so interesting listening to what is being taught because your resume can either get you a job/interview or be the issue of why you aren’t getting an interview. Of course, if the resume is being marked as part of a course, then I would follow the instructions that are given. Now, when it comes to applying for jobs, I would include past experience even if it is from another country because experience matters.

Your resume is what helps get you an interview so making sure that you are providing the necessary information to show you are qualified for the job you are applying for. If the job descriptions asks for 3 – 5 years work experience and you have been in school that long but you worked prior to going back to school, make sure you add that experience from before going back to school. 

So, how much work experience should you put on your resume, it really depends how long you have been working.

When patterns say 1 - White what colour do I use?

 There have been so may questions about what colour 1 – white is when stitching using DMC floss.  It is quite simple 1 White is Blanc not the new colour 01 which is White Tin. 

It has been asked so many times through the various groups that I belong to, and I understand part of the issue. When you look at a pattern you can see both 01 and 1 and you aren’t certain what is the difference. It is quite simple, 01 is one of the newer floss colours and 1 is the original number that has been shown for white (Blanc).

I know that with Heaven and Earth Patterns, they have a listing for 1 – white and so many people have continued to ask which colour I should use. It is quite simple when you look at the colour description if it says White, then you are going to be using Blanc. If it says white tin, then you would be using White Tin. 

It is amazing how many times this question has been asked and answered but it continues to be an issue. Of course, a lot of this issue has arisen given the charting software that is used, and it can be an issue to explain what colour you should use. When I see colour 1, I immediately know it is Blanc. I do have a pattern that is calling for 01 and it is described at White Tin so I know what floss I should be using.

When you see 1 – White as a colour on a pattern you should immediately pick up Blanc and not even think about using 01 – White Tin on your project.  Sure, you may have to look at the description of the floss that you are using so will see how things go. Make sure that when you are looking at the different flosses that are called for that you check both the description of the floss as well as the number. It might be a bit of a challenge to deal with the colours but spend a little bit of time checking on the floss that is called for and make sure you check both the description as well as the number.

When a pattern calls for 1 make sure that you know what the actual colour that they are calling for. Using 01 versus 1 can make a bit difference on what the overall outcome of the pattern will look like when you are fined. Remember 1 is Blanc and 01 is White Tin which is a newer colour.

Squishy Parcel

It is always fun when you get a parcel in the mail, and you know exactly what it is. We have a nice postman and always has a big smile on his face when he knocks on our door and hands us a parcel. It is always nice when we get a chance to say hi to him because we don’t get a lot of mail or parcels, so it is a treat. 

This parcel is something that I ordered during a sale, and I have been trying to wait patiently for it to arrive. Of course, I have been tracking the parcel since I got the notification that it had been shipped, and it finally said the expected delivery was “today”. It is going to be nice to open the bag and see what is instead. I know that I am going to be busy after the bag arrives, but it is always nice to see what is inside the bag.

The parcel is from Arcane Fibre Works and they are a Canadian yarn dyer, and I have loved their yarn since I got my first package from them. I started purchasing from them just after I heard about them on Facebook as I was looking at where I could purchase some nice fingering weight yarn, and it was available from within Canada. 

Now, getting this yarn also means that I am going to have to figure out another shawl that I am going to knit with it, and I am looking forward to doing that in the next little while. I do have lots of fingering yarn that does need my attention but getting some more to add to my inventory makes me feel good.

It is always a lot of fun when I get this bag and again today when this bag parcel arrived our postman knocked on the door with a huge smile on his face when I opened the door and got my parcel. Here are some pictures of what I received today.

Here are the colours that I got this time

Turquoise Treasures

Beaches Be Crazy

Stormy Seas

Being able to spend some time figuring out the next project or so is going to be a lot of fun and I hope to be able to get that done soon so that I can start working on one of these projects. It is always nice to receive a squishy parcel and now the next part of the fun begins as I decided what project comes first and then what yarn I will use.

Read reviews don't just look at the star rating

 Recently I purchased a product through Amazon, and I ended up returning it as it didn’t meet my needs at all. I purchased one of those watches that will monitor your sleep, count your steps, answer calls and a bunch of other things. I took a chance on a watch that was a very reasonable price. I received the watch and immediately charged it and then started to wear it as I am someone that does track my steps because it helps keep me moving and motivated.

I wore my new watch, and we went for a walk-through Ikea as it was a place I knew roughly how many steps I would get while doing that walk. It was interesting to see the outcome of this walk once we sat down to grab a hot dog for lunch. My step count was in the lower 800 steps while my husband was around 3,200 steps. The 3,200-step number is roughly when I normally get when walking around Ikea because of course we have to look at things and not just stay on the path. Seeing just 800 steps told me there was something wrong. We then did some other walking that day and I finally got to around 1,500 steps while my husband was over 5,000 steps. Yes, there was a problem with the watch, but I decided to try it a couple more days to see if things changed.

The result was the step count was way off, and I decided to return the item because it wasn’t working as it should. I also had made sure that I had entered all the information that could possibly affect the measurement of my step count. I have been wearing a tracking device since around 2014, so I understand what is needed to accurately track my steps. The return process was very easy, and the refund came quickly which also made me happy. I decided to do a review of the product on Amazon because I wanted people to know that the watch out that the watch might not be right for everyone. The review I left was a 1-star review and said my honest opinion about the watch. I thought it was over but found out differently.

About a month after purchasing and returning the watch and posting a review I received an email from the company, and they offered to send me a replace watch and attached the information on how to get the watch to correctly count your steps. The funny thing is this is the first thing I checked when the step count was wrong. So, I figured I would accept the new watch and at least then I would have a spare and one that I could wear when I didn’t want to damage my new watch that I purchased by a known brand.

I provided them my order number and mailing address and figured everything was going to be done. Well, I finally get an email that says that my new watch is going to be on the way shortly. What I didn’t like was the next part of the message and it reads:

“1.We have successfully registered a new watch for you. Once the logistics tracking number is successfully created for you, we will send it to you as soon as possible.

2.In addition, we sincerely ask you to re-share the review for us. You don't need to change the content, just change the star rating to five stars. If you are bothered by this, you can also delete the review directly. If you are willing to help us, we will be very grateful to you, and we are happy to send you two free bands. Please tell us the band code you want . Thanks.”

When I saw the just change the star rating to five stars, I know there was something extremely wrong with this. I then started looking at a bunch of the other reviews for this same watch and I saw that quite a few people had changed the start rating to five starts with the headings like these

• Not Great

• Product doesn’t last

• Poorly made

• Changed my review

All of these are for now 5-star reviews and all of them said that customer service was great, and a replacement was offered. It is amazing that replacement products have to be offered to so many people and the heading of the review doesn’t match the initial wording of the review.

I have left my review as it because I wanted to give an honest review and I have also told the company that they can keep their product.

So here is my word of warning when you are looking at a product that the price seems maybe a little lower than you expected. Sure, there may be a lot of 5-star reviews but go through and look at the heading of the reviews as well as what some people have said as you could learn a lot. Asking something to change their rating from a lower star rating to a 5-star rating is just trying to track potential customers that the product it better than it might be.

What is a stitch-along

 For people that do cross stitch there is a term that we use to explain a project that people are going to be working on at the same time and it is called a stitch-along, or as some people call it a start-along. When people are talking about doing one of these, they may refer to it as a SAL.

There are so many different stitch-along and it just depends on what you want to do. 

Mystery stitch-along 

There is mystery stitch-along where you will receive a piece of the pattern at a specific time, and you can work on that section and then have to wait until the next section is released. This can be a lot of fun, but you have to be willing to work on a project and not know what the final piece is going to look like until the final section of the pattern is released. This can be a lot of fun, but you have to be willing to not know what the piece will look like and sometimes these projects will be a 12-month project.

Specific pattern stitch-along

This one is an easy one to understand because you are given a specific pattern to work on and it can be divided into sections, but you know the pattern before you ever start the stitch along. There are designers that will do this, and they will give you the entire pattern all at once and the pattern is divided into sections so you can either stitch it following the sections or you can stitch it your own way it doesn’t matter.

Specific designer stitch-along

This one is you can pick any pattern from a specific designer, and everyone starts their pattern at a specific time, and it is just a way to motivate each other to get work completed on the design. This can be a lot of fun when people are posting which pattern they are working on as well as where they started the piece.

The idea behind a stitch-along is to help motivate you to work on a piece and try and get it done within a specific time people. The reason why some people call it a start-along is because in some cases if you have a lot of projects on the go you will start the stitch-along but you end up working on a bunch of other projects and the stitch-along piece doesn’t get finished in a timely manner.

For me it is interesting to figure out which stitch-alongs that I want to participate in. I have done most of the different stitch-alongs that I have listed, and it has been fun. I have done both the stitch-along and the start-along because things just got in the way of me finishing a project when it was the stitch along. I recently finished a 2019 Mystery Stitch-Along so what started as a stitch-along turned into a start-along but I at least got it finished. 

A stitch-along can be a lot of fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you can’t keep up with the project that is fine because cross stitching is supposed to be for enjoyment so why stress about keeping up with something.