Magical Mermaid Place #3 - Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach,
Marathon, Ontario

Located just under 4 hours east of Thunder Bay is the small town of Marathon. Though it may not  look like it has much to offer this small town is homely and inviting. Perched on a gentle incline Marathon has a beautiful view of Lake Superior. The best place to visit? Hands down it's Pebble Beach. There are great rocks for picking, crashing waves and is a beautiful place to watch the sun set.  

Pod Party

Taken at last years Fish-mas party! These girls know how to have a good time! Can't wait for this years! 

Magical Mermaid Place #2 - The steps of Lindau...

Nestled on Lake Constance, Lindau is a beautiful city for all mermaids to visit. Though not based on mermaids or on any of the lore it still remains a beautiful historic town with many mer-mazing sights to see and one of my favourite places to be. Wether I am wandering the old cobble stone roads or sitting at the docks I feel at home. We always wander along the break wall and find these stairs, the water is cool and crisp (not as cold as Superior though!) and glows the most brilliant shades of emerald and jade. To add to the royal colour scheme you often find swans gliding around, and for the most part they are docile. 

In the harbour there stands a towering lion statue and a light house, you are able to walk out to both these monument and take photos. When you do, stop and look back at the shore, I promise you won't regret it! If you are able to go during the summer months they run a ferry across the lake, it's a great way to see the area. 

  

Down & Out

I was down and out yesterday for a medical thing but I bounced back after a day of napping!

For those of you who don't know I'm a mermaid with a lot of dietary restrictions. Between allergies and being celiac I'm a fun mermaid to try and feed. But honestly... with all the excessive additives, preservatives, dyes and other crap food is getting harder and harder for me to digest. Oh well, guess I'll do my best at going all natural :) 

Maybe it'll be a good thing!  

Annual Fish-mas party :)

Worldly Mermaids - Atlantis

This was a painting on display at Atlantis, I've kept this pic all these years because I found it interesting. Every so often I rediscover it and am enthralled once again. This is how art should make you feel.  

No post on Sundays!

HEYO! 

I do have a rule: no posting on Sundays. This is literally the one day of the week that I keep for myself and try my best not to do any running around. I sleep in late, make a nice breakfast (or sometimes just eat my homemade cookies), lounge, craft swim and make plenty of time for my fur babies :)

Ziggy

Farley & Pumpkin

Make sure you keep at least one day for yourself too! 

Self care is NOT shellfish! 

Disney-fy Yourself Challenge!

Disney-fy Yourself!

1. Draw yourself as a Disney character with a sidekick!

2. Meet your favourite Disney Princess & Prince! (or favourite character)

3. Create a co Disney Protagonist

4. Draw yourself in your favourite Disney scene!

5.What would your almost Disney kiss look like?

6. Time for the fight scene! Are you a damsel in distress or a knight in shining armour?

7. What does your casual Disney attire look like compared to your royal attire?

Ziggy Zoom

On July 20th at 2:15 in the morning we received our bundle of joy. My boyfriend and I had decided to adopt a dog together. This was a difficult process as we have 2 vastly different preferences in dogs. I like medium to smallish dogs, cute, cuddly and suck. Chris likes big & playful dogs. However, as we are in a smallish apartment I won't the battle and Veli, now Ziggy was our only valid candidate. This picture was taken a couple of weeks after we got him. There were some trust issues in the beginning but he seemed to warm up quickly enough. I can confirm the the is still a runner and takes every possible opportunity he can to bolt, but he does loves us.  

 

July 30th                                             October 31st

This is Ziggy on October 31st. People kept asking is we got a new dog and I would laugh and say "no! of course not" not understanding how different he looks. It's amazing what a few months of love and care can do. Side by side I am amazed at his transformation. He's gone through puppy school and passed and can now follow commands (when he feels like it). He like to be snuggled but only outside, which is where he has decided to live as he finds houses to cramped. We still need to work on his bolting habit, but all in good time.   

Jellyfish Girl

So moon jellies are probably my favourite type of jellyfish... next to the Portuguese  man o' war. This picture was take by my friends Katie when we were at Atlantis. Even day we would wander the same ocean exhibits and find new things to oogle. While it is sad to see these creatures in tanks I still feel serene and tranquil when I sit down to watch them. I ofter wonder that they're thinking and wether they like their little community.    

Magical Mermaid Place # 1 - Mackenzie Falls

Directions - So says the internets

Mackenzie Falls is just north of Thunder Bay located in the municipality of Shuniah. This is the only waterfall in the Thunder Bay area that is deemed "safe to swim in/under". In order to get to the falls one must park at the old Mackenzie Inn and walk the back trail.This is where the fun starts. If you read the directions it will tell you to follow the dirt road to the gravel trail that leads under the bridge. There are 5 gravel trails leading off the dirt road.  

The first 2 will take you under the old highway bridge to a series of small cascading waterfalls, these ones are not considered safe to swim in. However, they do make for beautiful pictures. The second 2 will take you farther along a side hiking trail above the river. This trail ends with a steep and sudden drop off, so please, do be careful. The last trail leads directly to the previously stated drop off. Just incase you really wanted a short cut. 

The ACTUAL Directions

To successfully reach the falls (after parking at the Mackenzie Inn) is to follow the old dirt road all the way to the new highway. There is a skido/atv trail at the top of the hill, turn right and follow the trail as it goes under the divided highway. I suggest taking your time as when they did the blasting for the new highway they hit an amethyst vein and pieces can be found in the rubble. Go down the gravel incline under the bridges and take the path directly to the left of the last pillar. From here you follow along the riverbed, weaving into the woods and out to the rocks. You'll come across little streams that are easy to cross (and are super enchanting) as well asters with a vast tangling of roots that you must climb over. The hike is absolutely beautiful so take a camera. Eventually you will have to walk up the rock face to the falls. If you go all the way up you get a gorgeous birds eye view of the falls, but in order to swim you have to stay on he lower level and edge your way around to it.

Please note that access to the falls depends on how much run off there is. 

Please take all garbage that you bring with you. This is a beautiful area and should be kept that way.   

 

P.S. there are leaches, bring salt

Sunday Swim - Expanding My Pod

I cannot stress enough how important it is to go swimming and find others to create your pod. While being a mermaid is fun it can sometimes be lonely, thats where your pod comes in! Not only will you guys wow any spectators and fellow swimmers but you get to create friendships and bonds with people who have similar interests. You can share stories or ideas and get feedback from people who understand. 

Having a pod is vital to being a mermaid!  

"I didn't come here to read"...

So this is something that irked me. 

I love going to  aquariums, they are one of my favourite places to visit and I have no problem going to the same one more than once. Each time I go I learn something new. I get excited about learning, especially when I can then apply the knowledge and share it with others in a relevant setting. I love grabbing my friends hand an dragging them around on a personal tour of the under water realm, it's been my specialty since I was a child. 

This particular incident happened while I was on a trip in Minneapolis. My friends and I went to the Mall of America (it's really cool and I suggest checking it out) and went the the Sea Life Aquarium. We're all post grads of a interactive media course so we were taking loads of pics and angling the shots up just right. Normal day for us. We entered this black room with neon lights and tall water pillars filled with floating orbs. They were jellyfish (moon jellies to be exact)! Definitely one of my favourite creatures to watch. They're just so calm and peaceful, its relaxing. 

Hidden within the maze of water columns are some with a strange type of jellyfish, they don't really move. Upon closer inspection I realized they were plastic bags. Now the importance of this is realizing how similar the bags resemble jellyfish and how easy it is for turtles and other predators to mistake them and eat garbage instead. 

Yes, this is a "trash" talk. 

Anyways this 10 year old kid comes up behind me and presses his hands against the glass to get a better look, "This is boring, they're not even moving". I looked at him and replied "They're not supposed to, thats the point", he gazed over and looked me up and down before moving along. Maybe 10 seconds later his father shows up and skeptically looks at the column of trash. "I don't get it" he blatantly stated, even though there was a little write up in front of him. "You have to read the write up" I said with a smile. He looked at me and said "I didn't come here to read" and then walked away. 

I stood there horrified. I know to some that this is nothing, and it probably seems silly, but I couldn't believe that this man would not take 10 seconds to read the 4 line explanation. The kid, yea I know reading is a pain if it's not for school. I'm sure he wouldn't have made any life changes after gaining the information (which is fine as that is his choice) but to just say "I don't get it" an walk away without trying...like what? 

His wife read the explanation, and I heard her trying to convey it to her husband and uninterested kid. 

Why go somewhere educational and choose not to learn even a little bit?

 

Sofunzelmermaid

Sofia was my first ever mermaid student and I could not have gotten a better mermaid! She is smart, funny, passionate,  LOVES to swim and adores all things ocean and mermaid. To this day she is my only graduate, she can swim 500m in her tail with no break and can hold her breath for 15m! She's learned all kinds of tricks, even how to blow bubble rings!

Recently she started her own blog about being a mermaid. This is her link, go check her out!

https://sofunzelmermaid.blogspot.com