Positive "Feeler Words" - #Confidence #WordOfTheWeek

Confidence 

There are certain words I call "feeler words" because they evoke a reaction from me. My feeler words may not be the same as yours, but we all have certain words that inspire, empower, give off a positive vibe, or even work like a personal call to action. In 2018 I'd like to share my list of 52 feeler words, how they make me feel and, why they made my list.

Confidence: "A conviction the outcome will be favourable" and "a belief in the certainty of something". 

Positive thinking, confidence and believing something not only can but will happen is powerful stuff. Adding the word "self" to confidence and believing in your ability to make something happen is all about that powerful stuff coming from within yourself and that my friends is empowering. 

Self-Confidence: "A belief in one's own abilities; self-assured." and "A positive belief that in the future one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do." 

"Confidence" ... just the word alone makes me want to stand a bit taller, and hold my head a bit higher. 
When I started my blog I literally had no clue what I was doing, and to a large extent that is still true. I'm not a writer by trade, so putting my work out there for all to see was a big deal. Yet I go forth writing and posting with the belief my efforts will have a favourable outcome, and that in the future I can accomplish what I wish to to do. I believe I can write, and by continuing to write my skills and ability to articulate what I want to say will improve. With each post I write I'm confident what I write about and how I write about it has value. 

When I feel confident ...
I hear my inner voice loudly and clearly say "Don't be distracted by all the buzz and noise around you, just focus on you and what it is you're trying to achieve. Followed by a "Girl you got this!" 

When I think about "confidence" I think commitment, big picture and the playing the long game. 
To have confidence you don't need to always be right, or the best, or never fail. It's about believing in yourself and your abilities when you are challenged, or struggling, overlooked, or undervalued. It's about believing in yourself while facing challenges and setbacks and that in the long-term your abilities and efforts will result in a favourable outcome. Confident people never strike me as getting that way overnight. Their confidence comes from experience, and the effort they put in developing their skills and abilities to achieve their goals, and a favourable outcome.

We can't control everything around us or even how people act towards us, but we can control how we react to situations, and people, and whether we frame it in a positive or negative way. How I frame experiences and situations impacts how I feel, what I do, and my confidence. It's easy to feel down and question your abilities when you only look at what you haven't done, or are afraid to do. Confidence comes from looking at the bigger picture that includes all the things you have learned and all progress and successes as well.   

Just in case you need a little help ... 
Below are links to a few posts with tips on boosting your self-confidence and staying positive.

• Reader's Digest - Tips to Boost Self-Confidence
• Skills You Need.Com - Building Confidence
• Entrepreneur.Com - 10 Things You Can Do to Boost Self-Confidence
• Forbes - 10 Ways to Build Confidence

And just in case you didn't know ... 

"You Got This!"

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about the word Confidence. 

Definitions via The Free Dictionary 

Foodies Netflix-Google Mind Map - Inspired Learning (#Ad) #Streamteam @Netflix_CA

Inspired Learning with Netflix and Google.

Because you never know where a little inspiration will take you, or what you'll learn unless you act upon it. 

Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix Streamteam I receive special perks for my participation, 

posts and sharing. All opinions are my own. 

The inspiration ...
Have you ever watched a cooking or food show, or even a movie that showed a meal, type of cuisine, restaurant or chef that that left you wanting to know more. An emotional response to food you have seen on the screen that leaves you with a craving to smell and taste it for yourself. 

The Learning Journey ...
What if you were to take those thoughts a step further, and instead of just thinking about it, what if you were to go on a Netflix-Google Mind Map journey. Each person's inspired learning journey is different because we are each inspired by different things.

It's like a Pick-Your-Own Ending Adventure ...

The adventure starts with a food themed show, movie, or documentary. Inspiration found in the show that lead to questions. Different questions lead to different discoveries, journeys and endings. 

Start your journey with a show such as Chef's Table, which will lead you to questions about recipes on the show, ingredients used, or a certain type of cuisine. Now Google for answers about those questions. The answers are likely to raise more questions to Google. You might learn about different ingredients, and how to use them, or where they are produced and their historical significance. You might learn about how to adapt recipes to fit your skill level and lifestyle, or about pairing beverages with certain dishes. The possibilities are truly endless. 

I'm sure one of the shows listed below is sure to get you started on your Foodie Netflix-Google Mind Map and your Inspired Learning Adventure.   

Chef's Table
Cooked
A Cook Abroad

Theatre of Life 
Taste of the Country
Testing the Menu

Raja Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyan 
Restaurant Australia 
Chef & My Fridge 

Food, Cooking, and Eating are always about more than just the ingredients. What do each of these mean to you, and what inspired learning journey will they take you on?

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about Inspired Learning Journeys.   

Commonly Misused or Misspelled Words Beginning with the Letter "O" #GrowYourVocab

Words Beginning with the Letter "O" Commonly Misused, Confused or Misspelled

I'm back with yet another list of commonly confused, misused, or misspelled words. This time I focused on words beginning with the letter "O".

Object vs. Subject (use, meaning): The object of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that receives the action that is named by the main verb in the sentence. Object pronouns include me, you, them, or us. The noun that is doing the action in a sentence is the subject. Subject nouns include I, you, we, or they. For instance, "I" is the subject of the sentence: I ate lunch. Here "I" does the eating. "Me: is the object of the sentence: She thanked me. Here "me" is the thing that is thanked. 

Obscure (spelling, meaning): As an adverb means unclear, imperfectly understood or expressed. As a verb it means to conceal or hide something. 

o'clock (spelling): Is an adverb used to describe or indicate the position of the shorter hand on a watch or clock. Six o'clock means the shorter hand is pointed at six.

Onomatopoeia (spelling, meaning): The use of words that imitate or sound like what they are, mean, or are describing. For example rustle, bang, buzz, or hiss.

Opaque (spelling, meaning): Means not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy. 

Organize vs. Organise (use, spelling): Both spellings are correct but "organize" is typically the North American spelling, whereas "organise" is more popular in Britain and outside or North America. 

Oscillate (spelling, meaning): Means to move or swing from side to side regularly. 

Ossify (meaning): Means to make rigid or settle into a conventional pattern. 

Ought vs. Aught (use, meaning): Ought is a special kind of auxiliary verb, meaning that it is added to the main verb. This special kind of auxiliary verb is called a modal verb. Modal verbs (may, must, can, ought, shall) express states of possibility, permission, obligation, or advisability. They do not change their form. They are always added to an infinitive verb. Take the sentence: You ought to eat your vegetables. The main verb is the infinitive "to eat", to which the modal verb "ought" is added to convey a sense that eating is an advisable course of action. Aught used as a noun means nothing or zero. Used as a pronoun it can also mean anything or all.

Outrageous vs. Outragous (spelling): Outrageous is always spelled with an "e". It is the adjectival cognate of the verb "to outrage", meaning to provoke anger or indignation, and is used to qualify persons (or their behaviour) as scandalous or contrary to conventional norms of social conduct. 

Overdo vs. Overdue (use, meaning): Overdo is the verb meaning to do something to excess, such as exercise or eat. Overdue is an adjective meaning unpaid, late, or delinquent, such as a bill or a library book.

Oxymoron (spelling, meaning): A rhetorical trope or figure in which contradictory terms are paradoxically conjoined, as in the phrase: "an honest thief". (Tee hee, yes trope will be on the Letter "T" Grow Your Vocab list)

If you haven't already (like that could ever happen), be sure to check out Grow Your Vocab posts brought to you by other letters. Definitions referenced via The Free Dictionary

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about the Letter "O".

Special thanks to my brother/in-house language expert for his insights and help with my Grow Your Vocab posts. If you find parts in the posts that include lots of grammar and academic-like words, yet still manage to be clear and easy to understand they're probably written by, or at the very least improved by his editing skills. He takes my incomprehensible and transforms it into something useful. 

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for my Grow Your Vocab posts. The purpose of these posts is merely to share information I think might be of interest to my readers. 

Hockey Highlights & History @CanMusHistory #HockeyExhibit #Ad #CanadianMuseumofHistory #Ottawa

Ain't Nothin' more Canadian than Hockey, Eh!

Disclosure: I was invited as media to a guided tour of the #HockeyExhibit at the Canadian Museum of History free of  charge.

The Canadian Museum of History has pulled together a wonderful #HockeyExhibit that celebrates and highlights the tradition and history of Hockey in Canada. And it seems like a perfect outing to kickoff your celebration of Canada's 150th Birthday. 

The pictures below give you a small sampling of the interesting items you'll find on display in this exhibit. You'll also find all sorts of fan paraphernalia, artifacts, art, video and images, including several player contracts dating back to 1949. The Hockey Exhibit has interactive and multi-media components that make it fun regardless of where you sit on the hockey fan-dom scale. 

Hockey Fan-dom Scale:

• 0-3 FAN-potential: You know nothing about hockey. You're not sure what off-side or icing means. You watch the play-off games, but usually because someone else has control of the remote. I'm sure after seeing the #HockeyExhibit you'll be at least FAN-like.
• 4-8 FAN-like: You like hockey, and watch hockey on occasion. You would not say no to free tickets. You may be like me and your interest in hockey started when you were forced to learn what equipment goes where and how when your kids started to play hockey. You have fan potential. You know a bit but you're not an expert. After seeing the #HockeyExhibit you'll know enough to be considered a full fledged FAN. Grab yourself some cool hockey para-fan-alia at the gift shop on the way out so you look like a true fan. 
• 9-10 FAN: You're a fan. You love the game. You definitely watch and track your favourite team and the current season. You own at least one team Jersey and wear when going to a game, or while watching games at home. You might even wear it out and about on game days. Just add a few bits of para-fan-alia, and share some of the cool facts you learn at the #HockeyExhibit and you're well on your way to being a Super-FAN.
• 10+ Super-FAN: You're an extreme hockey fan! You live for hockey, it's the ONLY sport worth watching. You can quote hockey stats going back at least 10 years. You have a large collection of hockey jerseys (both home and away game Jerseys) and para-fan-alia (which you may have a separate shrine room where you display it). You wear your team jersey and or colours on every game day. You own at least one pair of hockey pyjamas and slippers. You plan vacations (and maybe your honeymoon) around the playoffs. You've probably painted your face in your team colours at least once (a season). You are indeed CRAZY ... about hockey. So clearly the #HockeyExhibit is a must see, if only to say "I knew that" at each display.

You can tour the #HockeyExhibit at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau Quebec (Ottawa), but only until October 9th, 2017. So I suggest you get a move on!

He shots! ... He scores!

Then ... 
You'll find many artifacts to help you see and understand (and maybe reminisce) the history of hockey in Canada. Even if you're not a hockey buff, you're sure to enjoy seeing the variety of player, team, and hockey related items on display. Everything from cereal to soup cans demonstrate the degree hockey has impacted the Canadian culture. 

Now ...
There will always be Canadian kids hoping to follow in the footsteps of Canadian hockey greats. And we have so many greats, and have always had so much hockey talent for our youth (both male and female) to look to for inspiration.  

These darlings belong to my friend who blogs at ReeseSpeaks Blog. 

Be sure to check out what the VP's had to say about their visit to the Hockey Exhibit.

And just because it's fun ...

Again you really don't need to be a big hockey fan to enjoy the varied and fun items and artifacts on display in the #HockeyExhibit. 

You can learn more at the Canadian Museum of History website, or follow them on twitter, facebook or instagram. And if you're looking for a fun hockey souvenir or para-fan-alia the Museum Gift Shop has a fun collection of hockey related items at all price points. 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about the #HockeyExhibit at the Canadian Museum of History. 

Commonly Misused or Misspelled Words Beginning With The Letter N #GrowYourVocab

Words Beginning With the Letter N Commonly Misused, Confused or Misspelled.

I'm back trying to clarify and demystify more words that are commonly confused, misused or misspelled. This post has been brought to you by the Letter "N".

Naive vs. Naivete: (usage) Naive is used to describe a person or action showing a "lack of worldly experience and understanding" or "lack of sophistication or critical judgement" (adjective) "Naivete is the state of being naive" or unsophisticated, inexperienced, uncritical, innocent or even gullible. It refers to a naive person or action. (noun)

Naught vs. Not vs. Knot: (usage) Naught means nothing or nonexistent. Not is used to express negation, denial or refusal. Knot refers to a nautical unit of speed, fastening something by tying two parts together, a tightening of something, or a circular hard section or lump of a tree that is visible in cut lumber. 

Nebulous: (meaning) Nebulous means "hazy, vague, indistinct or confused". Not clearly defined or easily understood. 

Necessitate vs. Necessity: (usage) Necessitate means to "require, compel, force or to make necessary or unavoidable". Necessary means "needed to achieve a certain effect or result".

Nefarious: (meaning) Nefarious means to be extremely evil or wicked. 

Neighbour vs. Neighbor: (spelling) Neighbour is the British spelling, whereas Neighbor is the American spelling and refers to someone living nearby. Both spellings are correct. 

Neither vs. Either: (usage) Neither can mean "not one or the other" or "also or similarly not". For example: Neither movie appeals to Joan, and if she doesn't want to go to the movies neither do I. Either can mean "one or the other" or "likewise or also". For example: We can either stay in and watch TV or go out to the movies, but if you're not going out I won't either. 

Neophyte: (meaning) Neophyte refers to someone recently or "newly converted to a belief or religion", or a "novice or beginner". 

Nine, Ninth, Ninety, Ninetieth: (spelling) Notice that only when spelling ninth is the e dropped. Most tricky of all is the spelling of ninetieth. 

Nonfiction vs. Non-fiction vs. Non Fiction: (spelling, usage) Both nonfiction and non-fiction are correct. I referred this to an expert in the field and he explained it this way: "This question is exemplary of a broader question concerning the use of hyphens in compound words. My impression is that the use of hyphenated words greatly increased in the twentieth century as the jargon from very technical vocabularies entered common parlance: military-industrial, socio-economic, crypto-fascist etcetera. I notice that spellcheck regularly recommends the use of hyphens." So there you have it folks both options are correct and look for parlance to be in the upcoming Letter "P" Grow Your Vocab post.  

Nonplussed: (spelling, usage) Nonplussed means to be bewildered and unsure how to react, or at a loss as to how to react, or to think say or do in reaction to.

Noticeable: (spelling) Noticeable is spelt with an e. 

If you haven't already (like that could ever happen) be sure to check out the Grow Your Vocab posts brought to you by other letters.
Definitions via Free Dictionary 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about the letter "N".

Special thanks to my brother for his expertise and insights on my Grow Your Vocab posts.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. The purpose of the post is merely to share with my readers information I think might be of interest to my readers. 

Commonly Misused or Misspelled Words Beginning With The Letter "M" #GrowYourVocab

Ten Words Beginning with the Letter "M" Commonly Misused, Confused or Misspelled. 

I'm back with another #GrowYourVocab post trying to clarify and demystify more words commonly misused, confused and misspelled. This post has been brought to you by the Letter "M".

Main vs. Mane: (usage) Main refers to the chief or largest part, or the most important or principal part of something, where as Mane refers to a long growth of hair on mammals such as horses, or on people.

Mall vs. Maul: (usage) Mall refers to "a large enclosed shopping complex, or a street lined with shops and closed to vehicles", where as Maul refers to a "type of hammer, a Rugby play, or to cause harm or treat roughly and injure or mutilate".

Maritime: (spelling) Related to, or adjacent to the sea. The term "The Maritimes" is used to refer specifically to Canada's eastern provinces as a collective or region. 

Maybe vs. May be: (usage) Maybe is "used to indicate uncertainty" possibly or perhaps. The rule seems to be if you can substitute perhaps then you use the single word maybe. May be is used to imply something is possible, could be or might be. If you can substitute could be then you use the the two words may be. 

Medieval: (spelling) It means "relating or belonging to the Middle Ages".

Mischievous: (spelling) It's meaning is "causing mischief, playful in a naughty or teasing way". 

Misspelled vs. Misspelt: (spelling/usage) To spell incorrectly. Spelled and spelt are interchangeable and are both correct spellings, with spelled being the American and spelt the British form. American usage sometimes regularizes the past principle of irregular verbs (e.g., pled/pleaded, dreamt//dreamed, shone/shined).

Momentary vs. Momentarily: (usage/meaning) Momentary means lasting for only a moment, or very brief" amount of time. Momentarily means "at any moment or very soon".

Moot vs. Mute: (usage) Moot means of no practical importance, or to render (a subject or issue) irrelevant". It can also mean "to bring up (a subject or issue) for discussion or debate. Mute means "refraining from producing speech or vocal sound, or not giving out sound or speech; silent". 

More vs. Mores: (usage/meaning) More means "greater number, size, amount, extent or degree". Mores refers to "accepted traditional customs of a particular social group" and "the customs and conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group". "Moral attitudes, manners and ways".  

Be sure to check out the Grow Your Vocab posts brought to you by other letters. 

Definitions via Free Dictionary.

Yep, just me Cathy thinking about the Letter M. 

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. The purpose of this post is merely to share with my readers information I think might be of interest to them.  

14 Ways to Say I Love You on #ValentinesDay #Wordlist

Fourteen Sweet Options to Tell Your Sweetie You Care

Sometimes finding the right words to tell someone you care can be tough. So to help you express yourself this Valentine's Day I have compiled a list of 14 alternatives to I Love You. 

1) I adore you.

2) Love Ya.

3) You're my dream come true.

4) You're my one and only.

5) You're my destiny.

6) You're my everything.

7) You're my soul mate. 

8) You're the light of my life.

9) You complete me.

10) You fill my heart.

11) I only have eyes for you.

12) I'm all about you.

14) I'm crazy about you.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about ways to say I Love You. 

Family Dinner with @BostonPizza #BPKidsCards: Perfect Teachable Moment

Food for Thought: Making a family dinner about more than food. 

We all know how important eating together as a family is, but you'll really raise the bar on the impact sharing a meal together as a family can have by purchasing a Boston Pizza Kids Card for a minimum donation of $5. starting now until October 2nd, 2016. 

With a single $5. donation you create a teachable moment, help kids in need by supporting mentorship opportunities, and get 5 free* Boston Pizza kids meals. 

As my boys head to college and university this September, I reflect on the efforts it took to get to this point, and the resources my husband and I invested to help get them here. They've benefited from close and engaged relationships with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and have no shortage of impressive role models and mentors in their family to choose from. I think about the importance of youth having people in their lives to teach, guide and model positive behaviour, and just how lucky my kids are. 

Sadly this isn't the case for all kids. Not everyone grows up with access to role models. mentors, mentoring programs, and financial resources to help navigate life's challenges and choices. This is why the Boston Pizza Kids Card Campaign is so important. For a minimum of a $5. donation (available now - Oct 2, 2016) you can purchase #BPKidsCards to help ensure many more kids in Canada get support and access to role models and mentoring programs. Each $5. BPKids Card purchased provides an hour with a role model for a child in need. 

Plus your Boston Pizza Kids Card gets you 5 free* meals. That's a $35. value! If you register your BP Kids Card with a MyBP account you'll get another free kids meal, making it 6 free* meals for $5.

By involving your child in the process of purchasing a BP Kids Card you have an opportunity to teach them how this donation helps the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects to provide more than 200, 000 hours of mentorship to Canadian children and youth. It's an opportunity to teach them about giving back, charity and about the incredible organizations who partner with Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects and together provide support, role models and mentorship programs to kids who would otherwise have none.

For more than 25 years Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects has raised more than $22 million and partnered with organizations and charities such as: 

• Big Brother Big Sister Canada: Helps 1000's of youth with mentoring programs and the funds raised help them "extend and expand mentoring services to new communities and youth who do not currently have access to mentoring programs".
• JDRF Canada: BP Kids Cards help to fund "youth ambassador programs which provide mentorship to young people living with T1D (Type 1 diabetes).
• Kids Help Phone: Donations help to fund their "national professional counselling services" to youth as well as "adult tools and resources and online content on their website".
• Live Different: Funds help Live Different to deliver high school motivational presentations to inspire youth to "embrace a lifestyle that cares about people not stuff".
• Rick Hansen Foundation: The Boston Pizza Foundation helps the Rick Hansen Foundation spread the message of inclusion and reach more than 500,000 kids across Canada each year with its Rick Hansen School Programs. 

All this for just a $5 donation! So while you and your family gather for a delicious meal at Boston Pizza think of all this meal means to you, your kids, your community and the kids you've helped to reach their goals for a bright future. 

Bon appetit!

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about Boston Pizza Kids Cards.

For more information about the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects and BP Kids Cards follow Boston Pizza on twitter and facebook, and Boston Pizza Foundation on twitter and facebook. 

*Some conditions apply
Note: I have been compensated for my time creating this post. All opinions are my own and on a personal note I have in the past and will continue to support Boston Pizza and Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects in their efforts to give back to the community. I consider it an honour to participate in this campaign.

I had the chance to visit to @TwitterCanada Ain't that a sweet tweet treat!

First Things First: 

My street cred with my teens increases substantially when I casually dropped: "I'm going for a tour and Q & A session at Twitter Canada tomorrow, cause I'm cool like that".  

Recently I was lucky enough to be included in a small group to both tour Twitter Canada, and participate in a Q & A session with their Communication Lead. (thanks for the invite Julie!) This fabulous group was diverse in age, background, experience, interests, and domiciles. 

After a little pillow talk about the tweet swag at Twitter Canada, giving up on my "Free the Blue Birds" campaign to release a flock via my purse, and saying howdie to my pal Justin, Julie, Garrett, Christine, Chantel and I settled in for over an hour of talking twitter. The conversation was allowed to flow very organically resulting in shared insights about how we use twitter, what we love, what we would love, how twitter has evolved, issues we've experienced, and social media in general. Our discussion ranged from hashtags, hashtag hi-jacking, ease of following conversation threads, twitter parties and chats, engagement, reach, marketing, brands, speed of information sharing, trolls, twitter cards, twitter stickers, and video to name a few.

It's always interesting to see something from the other side and gain understanding why things are done certain ways, or the thought process behind changes or certain directions taken. This visit opened up an opportunity not only to share and hear others' experiences and perspectives, but also to have a voice to those at Twitter Canada. They certainly appeared to be receptive to hearing what we had to share, and in the spirit of twitter have a two-way dialogue. 

Although no secrets or specifics about the future of twitter were revealed, I did get a chance to see the people and faces behind Twitter Canada. Meeting IRL (in real life) always changes the dynamics of an on-line relationship and future interactions, and IMHO (in my humble opinion) that's a good thing.

Now if we could return to the topic of my swagger, Twitter Canada feel free to "swag her" (and by her I mean me) anytime! Thanks for the visit. Until we tweet again! 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about Twitter Canada.

Group Blog Hug: (GTONGE1, Sober Julie, Life on Manitoulin, it's_pinkie, Cathy Thinking Out Loud)

Note: I was not compensated for this post. The purpose of this post is merely to share with my readers. All opinions are my own.

Don't Miss #HorsePower & #GoldRushExhibit at #CanadianMuseumOfHistory @canmushistory

Gold Rush - Dorado in British Columbia Exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History.

Worth It's Weight in Gold. 

Hold Your Horses! Before you go be sure to trot on over to the Horse Power - The Paul Bienvenu Carriage Collection Exhibit.

You know me always thinking out loud. This time to share a few "nuggets" of wisdom about two special exhibits currently at the Canadian Museum of History. Both exhibits have a "gold mine" of fascinating facts and artifacts which give a window into specific parts of our Canadian history.

There's gold in them thar hills ...
Until Jan 15th, 2017 you can explore the 280 artifacts that tell the story of the British Columbia's Gold Rush, and where it fits into the timeline of gold rushes around the world. On display are some extraordinary works of art, miner's tools and even a real restored stagecoach. You'll also learn all sorts of interesting facts and information about gold's "uses in science, technology and medicine".

Chasing the dream ...
This exhibit provides a window into life during the British Columbia Gold Rush, how it impacted Canada's immigration, colonization, culture and "helped to shape the Canada we know today". 

Here for a good time but not a long time ...
The Gold Rush exhibit is a collaborative effort between the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal BC Museum, and gives those outside British Columbia a limited time opportunity to see these artifacts from this interesting period in Canadian history. In other words it's not permanent so be sure to take advantage and explore this exhibit while you can.

Since this Thing 1 seems to think he's worth his actual weight in gold ... the debate continues. 

Hold your horses ...
You can't leave yet. That would be like putting the the cart carriage before the horse. EXTENDED! Until January 7th , 2018, 2017 you can explore Horse Power - The Paul Bienvenu Carriage Collection. This unique collection of 18 horse-drawn carriages and sleighs demonstrate the superior craftsmanship and attention to detail that when into these vehicles. The mode of transportation one drove back then, like now acted as both a way of getting from A to B and as symbol of wealth and social status.  

Transported back in time ...
This collection exhibits both the evolution of horse-drawn vehicles, and highlights carriage and sleigh designs and makers that are uniquely Canadian, including 14 made in Quebec. The Canadian climate influenced how people and goods were transported, which in turn impacted the design and materials used to manufacture horse-drawn vehicles. If it was merely to function as a (excuse the pun) work horse decoration and ornamentation would be minimal. On the other hand if the sleigh or carriage was about making a statement on your social status, or it's purpose was to allow for socializing this was reflected in the design, as evident in the intentional decision to manufacture roofless sleighs allowing one to "be seen". Like a Louis Vuitton trunk, a sleigh or carriage could be a sign of wealth.

Also interesting about this exhibit ...

The Musees de la civilisation in Quebec City developed this exhibit drawing from the more than 213 horse-drawn vehicles donated by Paul Bienvenu. Using 18 carriages and sleighs this exhibit not only examines the history and evolution of horse-drawn vehicles in Canada, but also ties them to famous or historically significant events or Canadians who owned or used these vehicles. 

Don't be shy, get social with the Canadian Museum of History: on twitter and facebook to be in the know, and on Instagram for pretty pictures.

FYI: CMH is running a 

Horse-Power Twitterature Contest!

A final note ...

If you have young children be sure to visit the Canadian Museum of History's Children's Museum. It's a wonderful interactive experience that never disappoints. 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about all the golden opportunities to incorporate gold and horse puns into this post. I know it's hard to bridle your excitement having hit the mother lode of funny puns with me. But sadly it is time for me to stop horsing around. 

Note: I was an invited guest of the Canadian Museum of History for a media tour of these two exhibits, but received no compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.