Things To Do For Two

Sugar Moon Farm is a hidden gem in Nova Scotia where maple syrup is made. They teach you about the process of making their product, as well as provide plenty of memorable experiences. Though you may not have a maple syrup producer near where you live, you might be surprised to find something similar.

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SHE SAID:

There’s nothing I love more than grabbing a cup of tea and heading out for the day to a new little town or attraction to explore. On this particular day we decided to head to the sugar bush of Sugar Moon Farm near Earltown, NS to see what goes into making this sugary delight and why it costs so much.

Though this sugar maple farm is nestled a bit off the beaten track, I think it is worth the trek. We went during one of the busiest times of year on March Break, which in hindsight I think I would have chosen a less chaotic time. Nevertheless, the staff was very friendly despite the hoards of sticky fingered children running about the lodge.

My favourite thing at Sugar Moon farm would have to be the sugar on snow experience. For $1 a line of syrup is poured onto fresh white snow that you can roll around a popsicle stick to create your own maple lollipop.

While we were enjoying our maple suckers we went on the free tour of the facilities and learned a lot about how the trees are tapped, how the sap is collected, and how it’s processed. One interesting fact we learned was that a 1L jug has to be filled 40 times with pure sap to get enough sugar for one litre of syrup! Though tours don’t usually excite me, this one definitely showed me how labour intensive this process can be and why perhaps it costs so much.

After the tour we had the option of taking the 20 minute hike into the sugar bush, but after about 5 minutes of tripping and colliding into one another in the deep snow we headed back to the lodge and bought some maple products instead. I think it would have been neat to see the original lodge where the syrup was produced back when they used buckets to collect all of the sap, but we were not well equipped for the deep snow and undefined monster of a path. Maybe once all of the snow clears we’ll visit again and hike the 6 km Rogart Mountain trail that I hear contains 6 geocaches. If you’re more adventurous than us, you can rent snowshoes and do the same thing.

If you’re not that into tours and hiking but are looking for a unique dining experience, Sugar Moon Farm has Chef Nights throughout the year that showcase chefs from around the Maritimes that serve up delectable dishes with a maple twist.

HE SAID:

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical when Susan said she wanted to go to Sugar Moon Farm. I couldn’t picture in my head how it would all pan out. However, I laid aside my scepticism as we drove the 90 minutes to see how maple syrup is made.

As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted with the sweet smell of maple. I knew from that point on that it was going to be a good day. We immediately saw where they do the sugar on snow experience. Though the maple lollipop was a little too sweet for my taste, it was surprisingly fun to do. It definitely made me feel like a kid. I was playing with my food, and snow at the same time!

The tour was my favourite part of our time at Sugar Moon Farm. It was interesting, educational, and weird. Those things always go well together. The weirdness mostly came from the other people in our group who were asking some strange questions. I was particularly impressed by the guy who operates the evaporator. He reminded me of the guy who does the Survivor Man show on TV. He chops all the wood that is used to fuel the machinery himself (and it’s A LOT of wood), he lives on the mountain and told us all about how the property is self sustaining.

I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the toilets at Sugar Moon Farm. Oh my goodness. Apparently it’s some kind of composting toilet. The important thing to know is that it looks like the bottomless pit when you open it up. I seriously wondered if a wild animal might jump up and wound me, or I might accidentally fall in. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Some other fun things you can do at Sugar Moon Farm include pancake breakfasts, tasting pure sap from a tree (it looks just like water), and walking on snowshoes. Though we didn’t get a chance to do everything they offer, we still had a really fun time. Other than the gas money to drive there, we only spent a dollar each for our maple lollipops, and a few dollars for a treat from the gift shop. So it was a great afternoon of fun for very little money.

Of course, if you don’t live in Nova Scotia you won’t be going to Sugar Moon Farm right away. However, if you take the time to look you might find something similar where you live. If you do live in Nova Scotia, I would definitely recommend you take an afternoon and check this place out. You’ll have fun and you might learn something new along the way.

Cost – $5.00 – $10.00 depending on what you choose to include in your time capsule.

Creating a time capsule is a great way to reflect on the good things from the past, and prepare for the future. We put together a time capsule for less than $5 by mostly using things around the house. If you’re looking for something to do without spending much money, this might be just what you’re looking for.

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SHE SAID:

From time to time it’s fun to imagine what the future might hold. When I was 16 and tried to think of where my life would be in 10 years I probably couldn’t think of much more than having a university degree and being married. There’s a lot of talk when you’re graduating and going to university about your future, but once you hit your late 20’s there’s not so much of that.

Creating a time capsule was a great motivational tool to keep us thinking about what we want for our future and how we’re going to get there. Now that I’m 26 and look ahead another 10 years I feel like I know what I want for my family and myself better than when I was 16. I used to have a tendency to think that once I reached 25 that life’s excitement was over and there were no more huge milestones to reach, but now I realize that was crazy talk. When I think ahead 10 years at the thoughts of being 36 I don’t feel as panicked as I used to. Instead, I think of all the things we have to look forward to like trips, children, and other new experiences.

Though the thoughts of creating a time capsule may be appealing, it’s not something you can easily put together in a short time span. If you want to make it good and worth opening in 10 years, you’ll have to put in lots of thought and preparation. It might be useful to spend one afternoon just brainstorming ideas and then another afternoon cold be spent gathering materials and assembling the actual time capsule. You could probably even stretch it into 3 dates if you wanted to put more thought into the appearance of your time capsule than just a cardboard box like ours.

HE SAID:

We recently spent some time purging our basement. It’s an unfinished basement, so we’ve been using it mainly for storage. At first it was just a few items sitting down there in the dark, but over the past few years it has grown a little messier than we like.

In the process of this cleaning spree we came across a lot of things that we put in boxes 3 and a half years ago when we left our separate homes and got married. I found old pictures from my childhood, old school books, awards from piano recitals, etc. It was a lot of fun to look through everything, so I can’t wait to break open our time capsule in ten years and look through it.

We started by adding things about our culture that might make us laugh in ten years like a magazine that showcases how people dress in 2010, some flyers with the current gadgets and gizmos, a list of current gas prices, among other things.

We also added some more personal items. We both made a “Favourites” list of our top 5 movies, tv shows, and musicians that we like right now. I can’t wait to see how my taste in movies and music changes over the course of ten years. We then made up separate ten year plans. We wrote down where we want to be in 2020, what our hopes and dreams are, you get the idea.

One fun item we threw into the time capsule is a USB thumb drive. It wasn’t included because we think it’s cutting edge technology or anything. Instead we filled it with pictures. I threw in screen shots from various websites like CNN, CBC, the current Billboard music charts, movies that are playing at Empire Theatres, as well as pictures of the car we drive and the house we live in. I’m sure those will be fun to look back on in ten years. Here’s hoping I’ll actually be able to use a USB device in ten years.

Once everything was together, we put it all in a cardboard box. We then labelled it and sealed it tight with packing tape. Since we just purged out our basement, we have a nice little empty spot underneath the stairs, so that’s where the box will sit until we move.

Of course if you make your own time capsule it doesn’t have to be set aside for ten years. We simply decided to wait that long to make the impact bigger when we open it. If you do decide to make one, make sure to include things that showcase current technology, trends, and costs of living. Don’t forget to include a few personal items as well. We included a funny pen that Susan bought when she first started teaching, my little Batman and Batmobile toys, and a souvenir from a trip to PEI where we held hands and got them dipped in wax.

I think we did a good mix of things that will make us remember this time period, as well as things that will bring back good personal memories. Making a time capsule can be a lot of fun. Don’t be afraid to take your time with it. Everyone’s time capsule will be different, so don’t feel too pressured to include anything that we did. If you’ve ever put a time capsule together before we’d love to hear about it. If you haven’t, go ahead and give it a try!

Cost – FREE!

Everyone likes to dream about their future, and we’re no different. We love to dream about the kind of house we’ll live in some day. So we decided to put on our grown-up hats and go to some open houses. Though we were anxious at first, we had nothing to lose since the whole afternoon didn’t cost a penny.

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SHE SAID:

When I was a little kid I loved looking at floor plans and attempting to design my dream home with Lego. I relished in the task of laying the foundations of the mansion that I believed would one day be my safe haven. I no longer want a mansion, but I still quite enjoy roaming through the homes of others if for nothing more than simple inspiration.

Before this outing I had been to a few open houses with people actually capable of buying a nice house and loved it. Since we were with other people it was easy to slip off and explore the house while they did the talking.

Heading out on your own is a whole other ball game, which is why I was a bit anxious going into it. What if they looked down their noses at us and hammered us with questions? What if they laughed in our faces? Thankfully none of these things happened.

It was a bit awkward at times, but I don’t think it had anything to do with us specifically. It’s just the nature of the situation. You arrive at someone’s house and there’s someone else there trying to sell you something that you know you’re not necessarily interested in buying but have to act like you are. I find that nerve wracking, so I usually dart from the main entrance and leave Brad to bold face lie to all of the realtors.

All awkwardness aside, it was a fun thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. We managed to see 5 houses in the run of 2 hours. I quite enjoyed seeing what’s out there in various price ranges for different areas. It really gave us a feel for what type of space we want in the future to suit our needs and what style house we like. Some homes were in dire need of upgrading while others showed beautifully and even inspired décor and paint ideas – I think I see home reno projects in our future for March Break!

HE SAID:

This past Sunday was the perfect day to get out of the house as it was one of the first spring-like days here in Nova Scotia. As we headed out the door, Susan began to panic. She was frantically telling me that I had to do the talking, and obsessing over how we both look way too young to be home buyers. I assured her that everything would be fine.

We walked into the first house and the awkwardness began. We were the only ones looking through the house, so it was just us and the real estate agent. Oh boy… As we began walking through the house, I felt as though she could hear every word we were saying. It was like being in a library where no one is saying a word, just silently going about their business. That was us. After looking through the house, we bolted as quickly as possible to avoid any personal questions.

As it turned out, we were the only ones looking through almost every house we went to. However, we really got a good feel for how each real estate agent does things. One guy gave out cookies, while one lady was super friendly and fun to talk to. As we saw more houses we got more and more comfortable talking to the agents and answering their questions.

Despite the anxiety from having to bluff my way through a few conversations, I had a lot of fun going through open houses. We got a much better sense of what you get for certain price ranges, as well as a better feel for what we do and don’t want in a home. It’s a totally different experience than looking through pictures of houses on MLS, which we do all the time. At each open house we got a sheet with all the information about the house. So when we got home we had fun as we each ordered them from favourite to least favourite. We had quite similar reactions to the houses, which hopefully means it won’t be too hard to agree on what we want in a house when the time comes for us to buy a house.

Before we left the house, Susan looked up the addresses to several open houses online. I fully intended to randomly drive around the neighbourhood until I saw an open house sign. So depending on your spontaneity level, you can try either one of those methods.

I really enjoyed going to open houses. It was tough to work up the confidence at first, but after a few tries we started to get the hang of it. If you’re looking for something fun to do on a Sunday afternoon, give open houses a try. For some added fun, dress up nicely, go through some super expensive homes, and pretend you can actually afford it. You’ll have fun, dream a little, and best of all spend nothing.