UsedEverywhere.com

A Teacher's Guide to Successful Summer Learning Projects

Welcome to the first weekend of summer vacation, at least out here on the East Coast.

If you’re my just-graduated-from-kindergartener, there’s relaxing to be done, neglected toys to be dug out of the corners of the basement, and a backyard to be re-envisioned as a Star Wars set. Plus the splash pool! And the park! And day camps for swimming and art lessons!

It’s all good, and all fun, especially when the weather holds.

But we’re lucky to have a few stretches this summer where the kids and I will be home together. And while we all look forward to unstructured days (or respites from schedules and lunch-packing), I’ve noticed they aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be. Time at home with nothing we have to do can morph quickly into time at home with nothing to do, at least in the eyes of my kids.

Especially if it rains. And hey, it’s the Maritimes: it rains.

Now, I want to encourage my kids to be independent. Even when they’re home, there’s work to be done – both my writing and our family domestic stuff. Days off together involve stretches of complicated Lego games involving aliens and Hello Kitty, but they also involve stripping beds and folding laundry and whatever other chores I can get the kids engaged in. Pro tip: you can get a juvenile Star Wars fan to wipe down a lot of windows if you relabel your Windex “The Force” and tell him the fingerprints represent the Empire.

Still. As the kids get older, they just don’t buy the whole “field trip to the grocery store!” game so easily anymore.

And I still have writing deadlines that require quiet headspace.

So I’m dragging out my long-unused teacher hat – yep, I was once entrusted with the care of whole classrooms of children all at once! – and we’re designing us some summer learning projects that should offer me and the kids both togetherness and independence. They’ll learn. We’ll have some fun. And hopefully, somewhere in there, they’ll get engaged enough in their stuff that mine can get done too.

Win-win.

So. If you’re home with kids this summer, a few tips for designing successful summer projects that can actually be fun for the people involved, short and tall.

First, a definition: a project at its most basic is a learning experience that takes place over time and has a few clear steps that lead toward an end goal.

A project is not – at least if your kids are relatively young – a matter of simply dumping a whole bunch of art supplies or resources on a child and saying, “Go do…SOMETHING!” That’s called a diversion. Diversions usually last all of fifteen minutes and result in half an hour of cleaning-related mess.

With a project, the parents’ role is keeping the steps clear and the goal in sight, while scaffolding opportunities for the kid to take on tasks and responsibilities that lead toward that goal.

Here’s what you need to think about to design a fun family project for summer:

Find Roles for Everybody, Including You
Projects need to be at least a little bit collaborative. Nobody, no matter their age, enjoys being sent away on busy work. If you’re all actually engaged in your respective pieces of the whole, the experience will be far more fun for everyone.

Emphasize Shared Interests
Any project that’s going to be enjoyable has to be interesting to the people actually involved. So if your kid loves bugs but you, say, DON’T…you may want to either pick another project or design it in such a way that you’re not dreading and avoiding your involvement. Try coming up with a list of things you both find interesting, and then think laterally: where do your imaginations take you?

I grew up in apartments, and was well into my thirties before I realized cucumbers are not a root vegetable. So learning about gardening and growing food and flowers is a project the kids and I can embark on together: we have a giant box of tomato plants growing on our back deck. But the questions and games and projects that emerge from that box of tomatoes will be up to the kids: so far, we have a science “how things grow” research project, a cookbook plan, a tomato art show, and a contest to see whose pet plant grows biggest all coming down the pipe.

Keep it Focused
A fun project doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, complicated won’t work. Keep your end goals clear and the steps to getting there within the realm of your own skills (and your child’s!) and the available time you’re able to contribute.

Scale Appropriately
Three or four (sometimes repeated) steps in a project are usually as much complexity as a kid can handle, and a couple of weeks is usually the maximum time span a child can sustain focus on an ephemeral goal. If you’re home all summer, don’t plan a whole-season project, but a series of smaller targets. They can be interconnected if you like, but assess what works and doesn’t from the first before leaping on into the second.

Also, scale participation for kids’ ages and skill levels. From our family tomato project, my six-year-old wants to create tomato recipes and a cookbook from our bounty. For him, this is probably do-able. For his three-and-a-half year-old sister, just being part of the watering and weeding process and drawing pictures of herself as a tomato-grower should suffice. Or building Play-doh gardens.

Have an Audience in Mind
Kids are people: they like their work to be received and admired just as much as you do. One of the things teaching taught me was that real audiences matter. Whether that’s writing books for Grandma or blogging, podcasting, or sharing photos with the world, real-life audiences are motivators for kids. When our son was head-over-heels over dinosaurs and talking about them 24-7, his dad decided to harness some of that knowledge and interest, and the Charlottetownosaurus podcast was born. Now that triceratops have been replaced by Han Solo in the pantheon of fascination, we may try a CharlottetownoStarWars podcast instead.

And the beauty of Internet projects? You don’t end up with boxes of them stored in the basement.

Don’t Take Over 
Projects should create interactions in which both kids and adults get to feel like they’re doing something valuable: don’t take all the learning and control out your kids’ hands. No, really. If you think ahead in any project, you’ll see potential risks and mistakes on the path. As a parent, sure, you need to minimize the ones that actually involve danger or hours of cleanup. But leave the rest. Let your child have the chance to learn from his or her own choices, even if that means that sometimes your project doesn’t quite turn out as planned.

Who knows? You might even – gasp – find your kids working together!

Project-based learning is centered around one key premise: the project? Is actually secondary to the process. That’s where the learning happens, and the memories, and the confidence-building. And the fun.

Enjoy your projects!

How to act like a tourist to find family fun

Summer has arrived, and guess who is in charge of your family’s entertainment?

That’s right, you are.

Oh, yes, of course you want them to be able to entertain themselves.  That’s the best idea, absolutely.  But as most of us have experienced, kids entertaining themselves is more of an end goal than a current reality.

So what to do with your kids for two whole months?  Most of us end up with a bit of time away, some camp time and then a few weeks and a whole bunch of weekends to fill.  One of the best ideas is to become a tourist in your own town; for the days and weeks you will all be in town, you’ll need things to do that are local and accessible.  And if they can be things that take you out of your neighbourhood and out of your normal routines, all the better.

How am I doing it?  I actually laid out the weeks on a calendar, and booked some time off for us to have some family time together.  Then I found my oldest some half day camps for a few of the weeks, and one full day camp for another.  With his three year old sister still in daycare four mornings a week, this will give me some quiet work time, while still leaving plenty of time for play and relaxation.

Next, I looked for events going on around town that we might want to attend – things like a local ball game, festivals, the fair, family attractions – all things that will be likely to add some excitement to our afternoons and break up any routine we might get into when the kids aren’t busy at camp or playing at daycare.  I also jotted down the location of nearby splash pads and park programs just in case.

But surely there was more?  How to track down some of the lesser known events or interesting places to visit?  How to find what might be happening outside my neighbourhood or immediate community?

I decided to take my search online.  Who knows what else might be going on?

Here are a few interesting things I found going on across the prairies – are any in or near where you live?  Look for local events or happenings in cities or communities you may be planning to visit.

What about rappelling down a building for a good cause?

Or a combination swap meet and farmers’ market?  They are looking for vendors, sharing details of what sounds like a great space and interesting event.

The Cochrane Cookhouse and Artisan Market sounds amazing, and is in a town I’d like to visit anyway…hmmm…

And who would have though there would be a free musical theatre class in Winnipeg for ages four through seven?

I also found all kinds of garage sales, moving sales, fundraisers, book sales, used kids’ clothing and toy sales which might be fun to check out with the kids.  Sometimes kids that like to wander and shop are just as happy to make their discoveries at a garage sale for much less expense.  I like for kids to see older toys or things that show a bit of history.  And it’s nice for them to be able to buy something interesting for their money, rather than just the latest plastic toy they saw on a commercial.  I still remember some of my tiny garage sale and secondhand purchases from when I was a kid.

I’ll be keeping an eye on these sections as the summer goes on, watching for inspiration.  Oh, and remember, parents deserve a summer treat now and again too, so if you spot an event, concert or fundraiser you want to attend, don’t hesitate.  Look again, and you might just find a babysitter so you can!

We all like to make happy summer memories!

How do you like to find out about local attractions?  What will you and your family be doing this summer to explore your city and neighbouring communities?

Ooh La La! What Lovely Cupcakes

Ooh La La Cupcakes is a boutique cupcake bakery in and around Victoria, BC.  I caught up with owner, Sherryl Andrews, to talk most popular cupcake flavours, Star Wars themes and cakes that look like puppies.

So cupcakes, we’ve been in the midst of a cupcake craze for a while now, but Ooh La La almost anticipated that craze and was one of the first cupcake stores in the area. What enticed you to start a cupcake bakery?
We were the first in town! We opened July 2008. The reason I chose cupcakes….was simply as you stated…there were none in town at that time and since every other city seemed to have one I thought it was time for Victoria to take the leap. However, knowing that Victorians are real “foodies” we knew we could not just make any old cupcakes. So, we decided to make the best product we could from the best ingredients we could find. Four years later we have not compromised on that decision.

You can only eat one and only one flavour cupcake for the next year, what do you choose?I often eat the “Monkey Business” which is a wonderful, moist, old-fashioned banana cake chocked full of bananas and a little special ingredient that just brings out all of the rich flavours. It’s topped with our cream cheese buttercream and it’s a great treat any time of the day or week!

What’s your best selling cupcake?
Our best selling cupcake is the “Triple Bypass” which is a rich moist brownie with a caramel filling, topped with our caramel buttercream, sprinkled with Skor bits and drizzled with yet more caramel.

What’s been your craziest cupcake flavour?
Some people think our “Maple Bacon” cupcake is the craziest, but it’s just like eating pancakes and bacon. The cake is made with real maple syrup, topped with a maple buttercream and sprinkled with candied bacon.

Is it just cupcakes, or is it other cakes too?
The majority of our business is cupcakes, of course. But we’re also known for our wonderful celebration and wedding cakes. Our talented baking team make the most delicious cake and buttercream in town and our pastry chef Bonny makes your delicious cake into just about any theme you could imagine. You dream it and we’ll make it!

What’s been your most stand out cake design?
There have been so many that it is difficult to pick one. Check out Facebook for some pics of some of our cakes. We’ll be doing our largest wedding cake this summer which is to be a six-seven tiered cake, so that will be an exciting challenge. One celebration cake comes to mind that we made in the shape of a customer’s special pet dog. It looked so real that when my husband showed pictures of it to people, they thought we had just adopted a new puppy!

If you could design a cake for any special occasion, what occasion would that be and what would you be baking?
We love all cakes and all occasions so it is almost impossible to choose one. Our pastry chef’s favourite theme is Star Wars anything!

Do you tend to buy new, used or a mixture of both?
We have a mixture of both for sure. Some of our equipment is used and much of our build outs in our stores was done with repurposed cabinets that were stripped down, repainted, adorned with beautiful mouldings and glass and mirrors etc.

What been your best used find?
Our faithful dishwasher at our Hillside shop. It’s still going strong after four years of hard labour.

Are you looking for anything used at the moment?
Not at this very moment but I am sure we will be in the near future.

Got a favourite cupcakery? Does your baker bake it best? Tell us about it! 

Canada Day Gifts for true Canadians

Canada Day is this weekend (yippee!) and I know we’re all getting ready to celebrate being the fabulous Canadians we know we are! I’ve always been very proud to be Canadian, especially when traveling abroad.  People would actually stop me on the street just to tell me how much they love Canadians. In fact, I saw Americans  plaster their backpacks with maple leaf flags and try to impersonate us just to be treated better in foreign countries. We always knew who the fake Canadians were as they usually had about 10 canadian flag badges sewn on their packs plus a Montreal Canadien’s ball cap on. Overkill!  The real Canadians  had one small flag on our bags as we are a more humble people, eh?

There are many other things I believe make us truly Canadian; many are stereotypes but most are very true!  One of the traits that I believe Canadians possess is generosity. We love to give gifts and make others happy so I thought, why not find some items you could give as gifts to your fellow Canadians on this patriotic holiday!

This Molson Canadian Beer Clock/Mirror  on UsedVic would look nice in any proud Canadian’s home as there’s nothing more Canadian than beer paraphernalia.  I remember when I was younger and had just reached the drinking age, I loved going to the liquor store and buying a case of Molson Canadian beer for the free beer swag like hats and t-shirts inside the case.  It was like the adult version of finding the prize in the cereal box!  Okay, so I may have also bought it for the beer but it definitely tipped the scales me when choosing a beer.

When you are out and “aboot” on Canada Day, it’s important to dress the part, so why not give these Canadian Flag shorts to that special Canuck guy in your life! As the ad states, help him “celebrate Canada’s birthday in style!”

Here’s another patriotic outfit that would work as a great gift for Canada Day, although my husband tells me that if the recipient doesn’t live in Toronto, this Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey should come with the following disclaimer: “Warning: You may be heckled if you walk down the street wearing this.” But don’t worry, it will be polite heckling.

Okay, so I know this another stereotype, but I’ve honestly only tried maple syrup twice in my entire life! I thought somone could buy this antique maple syrup crate off UsedOttawa and instead of filling it with maple syrup, you could fill it with beer… which is, after all, the official drink of Canada!

And finally you aren’t truly Canadian unless you LOVE Tim Hortons coffee. I just read a poll from the States and this was #3 on their list of things American’s know about Canadians…that and that we live in igloos!

Whoever gives this coveted Tim Horton’s Coffee Maker will definitely make this year’s christmas card list! I’d snag this beauty for myself if I lived in Ottawa…I’m a bit of a Double-Double junkie.  In fact, one of my girlfriends got me this awesome sweatshirt that says, “Just give me my Timmie’s and no one gets hurt.”  So, so true as anyone who’s seen me before my morning coffee can attest. Let’s just you wouldn’t think  I’m such a nice Canadian then!

I hope some of these ideas will help you find the perfect gift to celebrate our beautiful country this weekend and put a smile on your fellow Canuck’s faces.  I intend to get up on Sunday and celebrate by making myself a big plate of pancakes smothered in maple syrup…now I just need to find a maple tree to tap, eh? Tee-hee!  Happy Canada Day everyone!

Coupon Tip of the Week:  As the long weekend approaches, stores are putting all their BBQ food items on sale so be sure to stock up on things like hotdogs, hamburgers, condiments, pop, chips and buns.  You can find some super deals and hopefully stock up for the rest of the summer…and don’t forget those coupons…I know there are currently ones out there for BBQ sauce, mustard and pickles.

Shopping for furniture, Used style

We are in the midst of a very large renovation at the moment. We’re adding a sizeable addition off the back of our wartime home. Thankfully, things have been going very well and we’ve made good progress. The basement has been dug out, and some of the interior walls are gone. The first floor is mostly framed, and now they’re onto the second floor. It’s exciting to watch the progress, and it amuses me to come home and find something like this:

Goodbye tiny bathroom!

We’re spending a lot of cash on this reno so we are looking for other places we can save our pennies. For this reason we will be purchasing most of our new furniture gradually, either waiting for great deals as they come up or shopping Used. Buying this way is a great way to save some money and add personality to our living space.

I’m thinking way ahead here (considering we don’t really even have walls yet,) but there are quite a few really neat pieces on UsedOttawa right now.

• I really like these sideboards with glass doors. Sadly, I just can’t think of where we’d put them. Hmm.
• Check out these interesting walnut stools. Wouldn’t they be neat painted in tangerine or turquoise? I can totally see these in the kids rooms.
• This simple maple-framed mirror is pretty. It might be good for the new powder room.
• This antique hallway table would make a great place to drop keys and mail when we walk in the front door.
• This would make a really neat games table for the basement, but I would paint the top chalkboard black like this one. (Isn’t that neat?)
• I’m a sucker for old desks. This one would be nice in my daughter’s room if it was painted a different colour and paired with a cool chair.

There’s so much to do, and so little time! I do like to browse the Used site for ideas though. It’s kind of like a treasure hunt, don’t you think?

Birth: to plan or not to plan?

I’m 36 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

At the last appointment we had with my midwife, she said “You can just add that to your birth plan.” My husband Mark and I stared blankly and I felt a little flush of embarrassment. Birth plan? Huh.  I wasn’t really planning on doing that….

I mean, it’s not that I hadn’t considered doing a birth plan. After all, I am a planner! I love being organized and I probably have had five lists on the go since I found out I was pregnant. I’ve done detailed research on the cost of cloth vs. disposable diapers. It’s in my nature to plan (it actually drives Mark a little crazy, because he enjoys spontaneity). But it always seemed to me like a birth plan was like an oxymoron. How do you plan for birth? It’s like the one thing in this life you have absolutely NO control over whatsoever. It’s like Christmas that just randomly comes one day a year that you can’t anticipate. It’s a bit mind-blowing for me, the planner/control freak so I just sort of resigned myself to not worrying about it.

However, after a chat with my midwife and several friends, it became apparent that there are certain decisions you might have control over, and if there’s anything that’s particularly important to you- it’s better to make that known beforehand because you’re probably not going to be all that articulate during labour. Unless you have one of these magical pain free labours I’ve read about.

So, I began my research. I scoured the internet for some birth plan templates and I found there are a lot of questions/comments that are just not that important to me. I don’t think I’ll need special music and dimmed lighting… but it is important to me that my baby’s cord is left until the blood pulses completely (assuming the baby is not in jeopardy). And I decided that a detailed birth plan wasn’t suited for me, but I would do a little point form list of things that are important to me. I would compile a birth wish list (like a Christmas list!)

Mark and I walked through all the questions we could find about labour, delivery and baby care in the hospital and made note of everything that was important to us. It was actually a really good exercise for us as it brought up lots of items we hadn’t considered. If it didn’t matter, we didn’t address it. I only ended up with 5 points (if I was in school, I would’ve just failed the birth plan exercise).

And that’s it. You’ll notice that the language is rather soft and that is intentional. Obviously unexpected things can happen during labour and delivery and most importantly, I just want a happy healthy baby. But, if I have a choice, here are a few things I’d like. Part two of this exercise is doing up a baby care wish list, but I want to take it one step at a time.

I think it’s good to be flexible about birth given there are so many variables, but for us it was nice to just talk about and consider all of our options. After all, we’ve never been through this and I’m not very good at making decisions in the moment.

I think the best advice I received was not to call it a “plan”. All hail the birth wish list!

UsedBlog Covets: Canadian Centennial Flags

Canada Day’s coming up and we have party planning on the brain. So, you can imagine how very pleased we were when we stumbled across these these Centennial Flags on UsedOttawa. Pleased and patriotic, that is.

Canadian Cool: MacAusland Wool Blankets

I am completely in love with these blankets. Founded in 1870 as a sawmill, P.E.I.’s MacAusland Woolen Mills started making blankets in 1932. According to their website, they’re the only mill in Atlantic Canada still making blankets from 100% virgin wool. Blankets come in 3 styles and fifteen colours and they’re crazy affordable ($41-$83 + more for custom work). Wedding gifts, baby gifts, housewarming gifts… Oh, I could go on.

Helpful Points for Using Travel Points

My first title was actually going to read “what’s the point in using travel points?” as I’m sure this is something you may have thought while hopelessly searching for a convenient way to travel using reward points. It seems like these companies do everything in their power to dissuade you from using your points by creating blackout dates on half the year or making you fly half way around the world in order to go one province over.  It can be super frustating but there are ways to make using travel pointers easier and still save money on flights.

For our trip to Orlando/Florida that I’ve been blogging about the last two weeks, I decided I would try to purchase our flights with some travel points we had saved up.  We actually have this great MBNA Alaska Airmiles card that gives you 25,000 points when you first sign up and this can equate to a free round trip flight in the US if you can find discounted rewards flights. We managed to go to New York two years ago using our points with this company and ended up only paying the taxes on the flights which are actually very cheap for US flights compared to Canadian taxes which are insane! I saw the most hilarious ad the other day that said “$9 for one-way to Glasglow” but, in small print below, it read “$650 in taxes and fees!” Come on! Pretty tricky, eh?

I was so excited that I managed to book our flight to Orlando using our points and then we just bought a connecting ticket to Halifax from there…but there was one small hiccup which I didn’t really consider when I pressed the “accept” key online…the layovers!!! You see, the total flying time on the way back from our trip was only 10 hours, (still a bit farther than flying straight across Canada, but we had to backtrack to Orlando in order to use our points!) but with all the layovers, early check-in times and driving, our return travel day ended up taking 24 hours! Oh, and did I mention that this was with a one-year-old child? Thank God our son is easily entertaining by people and managed to spend most of the time waving “hi” to everyone in the airports and on the planes. Plus, we fed him A LOT! Goldfish crackers are now my official best friend!

Not my finest moment as I realized the travel hell I had put my poor family through and looking back, I probably would have decided that saving money on our airfare wasn’t worth this lost day of our lives— but hindsight is always 20/20 right?

Anyway, from this experience I did manage to discover a couple of good tips on how to best use your travel points and not have to live in an airport.

1. Book your flights early! As soon as you know when you want to go on vacation, contact your travel points company to see if there are flights you can apply your points to.  Most of these programs only allow so many seats to be bought up using points, so the sooner you book it, the better chance you’ll get to use your points. Plus, you may actually get to book the only two seats available on an actual direct flight…these are few and far between but they do exist.

2. Consider the TOTAL amount of travel time! As I said earlier, really look at your itinerary and first consider this: you usually need to be at each flight at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours prior to departure. Then calculate how many transfers there are and what the layover times are between each flight.  I was talking to a flight attendant on one flight and she told me that her sister had used travel points to fly from Orlando to New York but with all the layovers, it took her over two days to get there!  Sometimes it just may be better to buy a regular plane ticket if you want to get to your destination straight from A to B. (Something I will definitely consider now that we are travelling with a child!)

3. You don’t HAVE to use travel points just on travel.  Most rewards programs with credit cards and Airmiles have a catalogue filled with items you can buy using your points.  So if you cringe at the idea of travelling two days for a five hour flight, this may be a better option for you. You can buy everything from appliances to gift certificates to hotel rooms.  I’ve been trying to use my Airmiles points for years now but the layover times have been so ridiculous that I’m now saving them up to buy a Kitchenaid mixer!

4. Make sure your points don’t expire. Certain rewards programs have a rule that if your account remains inactive for a certain period of time, you can lose all the points you’ve accumulated.  I heard about this a few months ago and immediately panicked that I’d lost years worth of points as I hadn’t looked at my account in ages.  Luckily they were still there and from this, I stumbled upon this awesome free webpage called usingmiles.com which allows you to keep track of all of your rewards points accounts in one spot. Plus, they will send you alerts if any of your points are about to expire.  Super handy if you have a bunch of programs…I think I have like ten! You all know how I like to get free stuff!!

All in all, the trip was fabulous and I’m happy that we saved a bunch of money on our flights by using our points but I would rethink using them again for airfare now that we have a child.  Gone are the days of taking two Gravol and drifting off to sleep for the flight…Welcome to my new world of entertaining a small human for six hours in a flying tin can with no cartoons, no crib, no toys and dozens of people giving you that look. Oh, you know the look!  The”Oh-crap-there’s-a-baby-on-the-plane!” look.  I know because I used to give that look…isn’t karma fun?

Coupon tip of the week:  It’s summer time and that means it’s a great time to get super deals on clothing for fall and winter.  Search out the clearance sections in your local department stores and I’ll guarantee you’ll find some amazing deals on long sleeve shirts, sweaters and outerwear.  My hubbie just bought an awesome hoodie for $7 (regular $45!).

Cold Comfort Ice Cream: Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

Cold Comfort is an ice cream artisan local to Victoria, BC. Hand-crafted in small batches and seasonally inspired by local produce, Cold Comfort ice cream is curiously flavoured, tenderly crafted and simply delicious. Their Ice Cream Journal – an archive of all their flavours is my new favourite webpage.

I threw some questions at Autumn Maxwell, the lady behind the cream scene.

What are the three ingredients you need in your kitchen at all times?
Organic cane sugar, organic cream, and local eggs from happy chickens!

You are allowed to eat one and and only one cold dessert for four months, what are you going to pick?
I’ve kind of hooked myself on the coconut milk salted caramel – for being so simple and minimalistic with only 3 ingredients, it has a superb creamy texture and complex flavour.

What’s your latest Cold Comfort creation?
Hmmm, I guess that would be the White Tiger – fennel and orange. Tastes like Tiger Tiger from childhood, but without the stripes.

Are your treats available outside of Victoria, BC?
Not really, but I did just deliver some to Union Market in Vancouver.

Most popular flavour in the history of the Cold Comfort journal?
That’s a tough one. Either the Bourbon & Salted Butter Caramel, Black & Tan Fantasy, or Salted Caramel. Lowest common denominator: Salted Caramel – the people love it.

When you buy for yourself and for your home, do you usually buy new, used or a mixture of both?
Almost exclusively used. Except a few unmentionables.

Best ‘Used’ find?
I treasure my vintage dresses that I find time to time in second hand stores.

Looking for anything ‘used’ right now? (because you never do know right!?)
Might be in the market for a bigger ice cream machine, or a hole-in-the-wall “storefront” somewhere…

 If I’m going to buy a Cold Comfort ice cream this week, what do you recommend?
Depends where you go – some stores have a more varied selection that others! If you can get your hands on a pint of Caramel Apple Crumble I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be let down.

Visit coldcomfort.ca for a list of local stockists and check out Autumn’s ice cream journal for an archive of all their flavours past and present.