What's New
If you've stumbled across this page, please note that it is no longer updated. This information has been moved to my new blog, frugalfish. Please visit me there, thanks!
This update: Friday, February 18, 2011
This is for the Birds!
The Great Backyard Bird Count is on this weekend, from Friday, February 18th to Monday, February 21st. This activity has captured my imagination - I just love it when learning, frugal fun, and the great outdoors collide!
The purpose of the GBBC is to create a snapshot of where birds are located across the continent. Everyone is encouraged to participate, and the GBBC's wonderful website makes it easy for children to get involved.
Here's how it works:
- Pick your bird-watching spot. It can be your back yard, a park, a forest...anywhere you're likely to spot some birds.
- Spend at least 15 minutes keeping track of the largest number of birds you spot at one time. For example, if you see three Canada Geese together at 10:00 a.m., then spot six Canada Geese together a few minutes later, you will need to record the six Canada Geese for your tally. Don't add the three and six together, since you might end up counting the same bird twice. You can spend as long as you like at your location watching for birds.
- If you decide to participate on different days or in more than one location, keep a different tally sheet for each day and each location.
- Enter your results on the GBBC website.
- Watch the on-line maps develop as more and more people enter their results.
Don't know the first thing about birds? If you're like me, the only birds you can identify off-hand are Canada Geese, Blue Jays and pigeons! No worries - that's where the GBBC's amazing website comes in. Enter your location here, and a list of bird species native to your area will come up. You can then click on each type of bird to get information and photos.
You can also search birds by name here. The GBBC's kids' page also has a link to an application that will teach you and your child different bird calls, as well as numerous other fun, interactive games, colouring pages, and puzzles.
I think my four-year old daughter will love bird watching. I'm just trying to decide where we'll go to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Come to think of it, we could even count the Rock Pigeons in our downtown neighbourhood - there are always plenty of those around!
This update: Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day Guest Blog at Local Tourist Ottawa
I'm trying my hand at blogging again. Today I have a guest blog up at Local Tourist Ottawa. Even if you've left the planning to the very last minute, I have some suggestions for a frugal, yet still romantic, Valentine's Day!
This update: Monday, February 7, 2011
KidSport™ Ottawa
My husband is a middle school teacher who loves teaching gym and coaching various teams; he's seen first-hand the wonderful effects that participating in sports has on kids. Getting kids involved in sports definitely improves their physical fitness, but it also does so much more! It raises their self-esteem, develops their leadership skills, teaches them to work as a team, instills discipline, and gives them a safe, positive outlet for all that energy. Our children participate in a variety of sports programs.
We're lucky that we can cover the costs; not every family has the means, especially as registration fees and equipment costs keep increasing.
That's why I'm so pleased to make KidSport™ Ottawa Frugal Fun Ottawa's charity of choice. I've been thinking about teaming up with a charity for while now, and I think KidSport™ Ottawa is a great fit. Their mission is to help disadvantaged children and youth overcome social and economic barriers
preventing or limiting their participation in organized sport. They do this by providing grants for registration fees and/or equipment to eligible families. Their staffing and overhead expenses are funded through government grants, so every penny donated goes to help disadvantaged youth here in Ottawa.
KidSport™ Ottawa offers grants, SportShips and SportsCamp assistance programs. The deadline for grants for sports taking place between April 1st and August 31st is February 15th. If you know a child who faces social and/or economic barriers that keep him or her from participating in sports, KidSport™ Ottawa may be able to help.
If you would like to support KidSport™ Ottawa, there are many ways to do so. You can visit their website and make a monetary donation; you can donate your used sports equipment to Play It Again Sports Ottawa and ask that the proceeds be directed to the KidSport™ Ottawa consigment account; or you can volunteer at one of their many activities.
KidSport™ Ottawa - So ALL kids can play!
This update: Thursday, February 3, 2011
Great Contests!
This year has started with some great Frugal Fun Ottawa contests. The Sesame Street Live contest recently closed (made possible by VEE Corporation), the Max & Ruby: Bunny Party! contest began yesterday (made possible by KOBA Entertainment), and another great contest is coming later in February (hint: Disney!). I love being able to bring you these great contests and I am grateful to the production companies who make it possible, and to the Frugal Fans who enter to win these great prizes. Thanks!
This update: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Fruga Fun Ottawa turns one and gets a (slightly) new look
It's hard to believe that I've been working on Frugal Fun Ottawa for a year now. Like many moms, I want it all, including hobbies (like maintining this website) that I enjoy. And like many moms, I find that there just aren't enough hours in the day! So I've revamped the format of the Frugal Fun Ottawa homepage in order to make it easier for me to keep the events and activities up to date. Activites that span more than one day are now listed once at the top of the month's listings; when an activity's official website is easy to navigate and the event details are clear and complete, my link will now take you directly to it instead of to an intermediary Frugal Fun Ottawa listing; and two months show up on the homepage instead of one (and the other months are all there too, though hidden), which means that I have one calendar page to manage instead of twelve. I hope to continue improving the site as time allows and I thank you for visiting!
This update: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
CBC Ottawa Morning
I was interviewed on the CBC Ottawa Morning show yesterday. I thought I had this whole interview thing down pat, but this interview was in the studio, and it was live. I was nervous but also excited about the opportunity to promote Frugal Fun Ottawa, and I found it really interesting to get a glimpse of how things work in a radio station. You can hear the interview by visiting the Ottawa Morning website and scrolling down until you see the Frugal Fun Ottawa listing. Thanks to everyone who emailed me after hearing it!
This update: Monday, June 21, 2010
Blogging over at Kids in the Capital
The nice folks at Kids in the Capital have let me join them in blogging about kid-friendly activities happening in Ottawa, and my first blog entry was posted today. It's a new experience for me, and I've enjoyed talking about the RCMP Sunset Ceremonies, one of my favorite free and fun activities of the summer, in a more personal way. I hope to contribute a few more blogs over the summer.
This update: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Back to work, and an interview on CKCU
I'm back at work after being on maternity leave for the past year. I love working on Frugal Fun Ottawa and will continue to post all the free and frugal events I can find, but please be patient if you email me and I'm a bit slow in responding. I love getting emails from fans of the site and will still try to answer all of them.
I was recently interviewed by Donna Sherman, a journalism student from Carleton, about Frugal Fun Ottawa. The interview aired during the Midweek show on Wednesday, March 31st, and is now available online. You can listen to the show by clicking on "Mar. 31 Show" under the "Listen" column. (The interview is about 40 minutes into the show.) I'm starting to get used to being interviewed and was much more comfortabe with the whole idea this time!
This update: Sunday, January 31, 2010
You learn something new every day...
As many of you may already know, I'm a "code-monkey" in training. Meaning that until I started this website with my friend's help, I knew absolutely nothing about how to put a website together and get it on the internet. I've learned a lot since August!
Yesterday I learned a little more about browsers. I ended up viewing this site using Internet Explorer 6, and I was shocked to see that it didn't look the same as when I use Internet Explorer 8, Safari, Google Chrome, or Firefox. (I knew that not all browsers render web pages the same way; I didn't know that IE6 was so completely different!) If you're viewing this website in IE6, you're not getting the best rendering and the pages don't look quite right. Just before I started tinkering with my css files I found this article explaining that due to security issues, even Microsoft is advising that users upgrade to IE8 and stop using IE6 and IE7 immediately. Since the site looks as intended in most other browsers, and IE6 and IE7 should be phased out, I've decided to leave my css as is.
If you're using IE6 and would like to upgrade, you can download a different browser such as IE8, Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari, among others. If you're stuck with IE6 until your workplace upgrades - sorry. I hope they upgrade soon.
This update: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Frugal Fun Ottawa Newsletter and Contest Alerts - Oh, and I'll be on TV!
Many Frugal Fun Ottawa fans have asked for a newsletter, and I am happy to oblige. It will go out monthly starting in February. I'll include lots of free and frugal event and activity information, and much more! If you'd like to subscribe, click here. You'll have the option of subscribing to the newsletter or signing up to get contest alerts, or both.
Laura Lowe of 'A' Morning contacted me and asked me if I'd agree to be interviewed for a special 'A' Morning show all about free things to do in Ottawa. Of course I said yes! I was a bit nervous about the interview, but thanks to Laura all went smoothly. The show will air Friday, January 22nd on 'A' Channel starting at 6:00 a.m..
This update: Monday, December 28, 2009
Everything - sort of!
Well, here it is - the new and hopefully improved site. The major changes are behind-the-scenes, but the overall look of the site is a bit different. I've changed the format of the Ongoing, Seasonal and Year-round Activities pages to make it easier to find specific activities.
And where are the Almost Frugal and For Grown-ups pages? Don't worry, that information is still here. As per your suggestions, the Almost Frugal and For Grown-ups events and activities have been incorporated into the main pages. The "
" symbol represents an event or activity that is Almost Frugal and the "
" symbol represents an event or activity for Grown-ups. I'm striving to put out a site that is informative, user-friendly, and fun to navigate. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
This update: Friday, December 18, 2009
I'm currently working on some behind-the-scenes improvements (going from html tables to css to control the look of the site, for those of you who are interested); at the same time I want to streamline the site and make it as user-friendly as possible. In order to get some feedback from visitors to the site (like you!) I've put together a very short survey which you can take by clicking here. Thanks to everyone who has already taken the survey - I really appreciate it. I'm starting to get a really good idea of what you want and as soon as I figure out this css business (remember, I'm still a "code-monkey" in training!) your suggestions will be put into effect. In the meantime, I wish you a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!