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The SNAP
Guelph Review - January 2010
by Michelle Bell
January's here and I think
that we should now have our minds wrapped
around the fact that winter is fully upon us.
So...being Canadian, let's
make the most of it and get out and enjoy some
winter fun! I know of
a place just ten minutes southeast of Guelph
where you can have a
delightful lunch or dinner paired with a walk,
cross-country ski or
snowshoe in a labyrinth or along a nature trail.
Now doesn't that sound
splendid?
The 'Originals' Loft opened its doors in November and
is a delight from
the moment you enter its Mennonite-built, pine-covered
walls and step
onto its shining pine floors. Martha Hoey's original
artwork, including
sculpture and pottery, surround you like a gallery as you seat
yourself
at a bistro-style table amongst the antique furniture and treasures.
The
sun streams in during the day bringing the outside in and you get
the feeling of
being outside. Artist and proprietor Martha Hoey created
all this so that she
could share her original art, her love of food and cooking,
and her beautiful 89-acre
farm with people who desire to experience the
beauty and peace of nature.
The menu at The 'Originals' Loft is
casual gourmet. Wraps, quesadillas,
Spanikopita, quiche, chili, salads, nachos, pita pizzas and desserts are all
homemade. Have lunch, go for a walk or ski and then come
back in for
mulled cider, hot chocolate or herbal tea, or take
in the outdoors first and
then come in enjoy dinner with the
twinkling white lights at night. Martha
describes the
experience of hiking the hardwood bush and the 3 labyrinths
at
the back of her property as "quite magical".
Martha has grown up on this farm and
her artistic abilities are inherited.
Her mother,
Elizabeth Wilkes Hoey (now 95) was featured in a National
Film
Board documentary describing her amazing silk-screened printed
fabrics. Many well-known clients including the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra
& Appleby College commissioned her fabric
designs for draperies. Her
work has been on exhibit at
the ROM. Martha's great-great grandmother
worked on the
stained glass windows of the Canterbury Cathedral in England.
It is no surprise then, to learn that Martha's pottery has
been written up in
Country Living Magazine, The New York Times
and in a NY Times cookbook
entitled Dinner for 8. Many
of her pieces are available for sale in the bistro.
In the future, Martha plans to have
Saturday night entertainment with dinner
specials & dancing.
She also hopes for an open pottery studio where people
can
watch pottery being made. Check out the web site for
directions to The
'Originals' Loft. Throw your
cross-country gear into the car and the next sunny
day plan on
some good times with friends in our great white north.
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