creative jewish mom

A Visit To LaChine On The Saint Laurence, Montreal

One thing you'll discover if you visit Montreal is that there is water everywhere, which in my book is a wonderful thing. The city of Montreal is actually on an island, which means water all around, and when the weather warms up the city folk make the most of it by enjoying lovely parks on the water just steps from home in many cases. On a lovely Sunday after visiting Habitat 67, we took a drive to the area known as LaChine, on account of the historic canals that were once built with the hopes of traveling over the seas to China! Unfortunately we didn't actually visit the museum or see the old locks, (which you should!) but as I understand it the canals were built so ships could pass through this area of the Saint Laurence and avoid the rapids, which I shared with you previously. Ready for a little Sunday stroll? Let's go........

Graffiti And Birdcages In Trendy Mile End, Montreal

If you are planning a trip to Montreal and love to visit the happening spots around any town, Mile End is the neighborhood you won't want to miss. We were staying in the Outremont neighborhood, just a short walk from Mile End, so on one sunny afternoon the kids and I took a little walk, and apparently I wasn't feeling in such a shutterbug mood, as I only took a few photos, but of course of the things that I loved the most, which happened to be simple graffiti and a wonderful installation of bird cages, which as I suspected is something already photographed numerous times, but new to most of us. Enjoy!

A Fabulous Succulent Globe In Montreal At The BioSphere

Despite great hopes for continuing my crafting spree this week, that just isn't possible on account of a bunch of graphic design and brand development work that floated by and got stuck in my radar, so this week I'm going to continue sharing with you more photos from our adventures this past August in Canada and New York State. And since my mother especially appreciates these posts, hi mom, enjoy!

Hands down, one of my favorite spots in Montreal is the Biosphere designed by Buckminster Fuller for the 1967 World's Fair, and while I did share a few photos with you, I saved these photos of this fantastic succulent globe sculpture for a post dedicated just to that, as it really is inspiring and especially for all my fellow succulent hoarders out there! So feast your eyes and dream of making your own succulent sculptures or wall art!

Fabulous Wire Frame Tree Sculptures As Summer Street Art In Montreal

One of the things that Canada does really well, and Montreal in particular is celebrating the outdoors during the summer, as winter is harsh and very long! This summer in Montreal we came across many many examples of street celebrations and I especially loved these vibrant metal trees defined with strips of fabricm delineating an area in downtown Montreal used for lunch time concerts....a lovely program and wonderful sculptures that were made without investing a huge sum......I am assuming they are saved from year to year, at least hoping that is the case!

And this dear readers can certainly be a source of inspiration for your own creative fall crafting, right?

Whitewater Surfing In Montreal?

Yes, really, there is surfing in Montreal, and I'll admit I was just as surprised as you are, especially since I happened upon it accidently while trying to get a better look at the Habitat 1967 apartment complex from the back side! Of course I also did take note of a bunch of people carrying surf boards, and figured they were just riding them down the rapids, not actually surfing! If you're ready for some more refreshing water views, ....keep on reading.

Brutalist Architecture In Montreal: Habitat 1967 Apartment Complex

You may not know this, but among my many interests, one of them happens to be architecture, so of course on our recent trip to Montreal I just had to have a look at Moshe Safdie's 1967 World's Fair Brutalist masterpiece entitled Habitat. Personally I have a love/hate relationship with Brutalist style architecture, and in this case I'd say my reaction was 100% love. Well except for the fact that the guard of the complex really doesn't allow you to wonder around to get a better look. Fair enough of course, people live here and I can imagine that they quite simply don't need any more curious folks poking around. As far as poking around, that is actually one of the things I'm pretty good at, and this time it actually led to a really interesting discovery, so keep on reading!

A Walk Down Outremont Avenue, Montreal

Knowing very little about Montreal when I set out to rent a place in a Jewish neighborhood where we could meet up with my mother sure was taking a big chance, but I'm happy to report we hit the jackpot, as the Outremont neighborhood that is both trendy and home to a thriving Jewish community is truly lovely on so many levels. It all happened very much by chance, and while I never was much good at winning raffles, I do seem to be on a winning streak with the vacation rentals, much to my relief!

Outremont is both a neighborhood and an Avenue, and we actually rented a place on Outremont Avenue just below Bernard, a few blocks from everything we could possibly need, not to mention a few blocks from gorgeous parks, and or course just walking down the Avenue is in itself a treat, care to join me?

Biosphere Environment Museum, Montreal

With the Jewish holiday season now behind us, one might think I would have some time for crafting, but since that is not the case I thought I'd share some photos with you from our summer travels! First off, have you ever heard of Buckminster Fuller? He was an amazing designer and thinker way ahead of his time, and fortunately was acknowledged enough in his lifetime such that we can learn from some of his projects.

The Biosphere Museum in Montreal is housed within Buckminster Fuller's original dome structure built for the 1967 World's Fair, and the combination of history and present day environmental issues is truly a success. This is one of the best museums I have ever been to (I believe me, I've seen my fair share) and my only regret was that I didn't have more brain power on that day to absorb it all. Kids are free, so one can go often and really delve into the enviromental issues presented.