I like the third one in particular. Have a wonderful Sunday!
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Author Archives: Mama Cormier
Dinner on the Deck
…wearing our jackets
After our wonderful lunch today we really didn’t think we’d want dinner but after six hours had passed we were somewhat hungry so we prepared a simple cold cut, cheese and veggie platter.
It had been such a beautiful day we decided to eat on the deck. The only problem is that our deck is on the east side of the house so the sun had long disappeared from the upper portion of the deck. Nonetheless, we donned our jackets and set the little patio table and enjoyed our simple meal with the dog at our feet. When there’s food around we never have to worry about Frances running away.
How did you enjoy your Saturday? I hope it brought you joy!
Cheers!
Discovering a New Restaurant
….enjoying a meal with my husband
My husband and I discovered a quaint little restaurant on Eglinton called the Hotel Gelato. As you can probably guess the house specialty is gelato. Today’s menu featured brunch with a variety of egg dishes, French toast, smoked salmon and salads.
I won’t lie I had the French toast made with Challah bread and blueberry preserves. It was yummy and I enjoyed every last bite. I’ll have to go for an extra long walk later today. 
Cherry Blossoms in High Park
… every year in late April or early May the Sakura trees blossom and 1000s of people visit the park to take in these beautiful flowers.
The first Japanese Cherry Tree was planted here in 1959. On April 1, 1959, Japanese ambassador to Canada, Toru-Hagiwara, presented 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakurathe on behalf of the citizens of Tokyo, Japan as a gift to the citizens of Toronto for their support of Japanese-Canadian refugees after the Second World War.
Today my husband rode his bicycle to his hospital appointment and on his way home he made a side trip to High Park. According to reports, 80% of the trees have bloomed. Here are a few pictures that he took.
I’m hoping that I can make a trip to the park tomorrow and see the blossoms for myself. Apparently the crowds are quite something and taking your car to the park is highly discouraged. I’m planning on riding my bike. It looks like another beautiful weekend.
Cheers!
A Day Filled With Music
….I was introduced to the music of James Ehnes
My good friend, D, took me as her guest to the final concert of the WMCT’s Music in the Afternoon 2012-2013 series. It was a special concert, held at Koerner Hall, featuring baritone Russell Braun, accompanied by his wife, pianist Carolyn Maule and violinist James Ehnes. The two men are past recipients of scholarship and career development awards presented to them by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, an organization that has supported world class chamber music in the city for 115 years.
I leave you with a caprice played by James Ehnes. Many consider this Canadian treasure to be one of the best violinists in the world. Listen and see if you agree. His playing awed me today. I met him after the concert and bought one of his CDs. 
From Winter Straight into Summer
….we’ve bypassed spring
I love the spring green that pops from the trees as the leaves start to unfold. It was a glorious day. Sunny and hot….well it feels hot after the freezing temperatures we had earlier in the week. The cherry blossoms should be in full bloom in the next day or so and I’m looking forward to making a trip to High Park to snap a few pictures.
Philosopher’s Walk between Koerner Hall and the ROM (museum)
As you can see from the photo above people are walking around in short sleeves and shorts. The photo was taken from the balcony on the south side of Koerner Hall. If the concert I went to wasn’t so fantastic I would have regretted being indoors on such a beautiful day. I’ll post about the concert after my pottery class tonight. I’m off!
Cheers!
Thank you!
…. I reached 300 followers
I reached all my goals before the end of April with your help.
Where do I go from here? Here’s what I’m thinking:
150 likes for one post (114 for https://mamacormier.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-blue/)
200 views for one day (currently sitting at 159)
600 followers one year from today
30 000 views one year from today
300 new posts in the next year
I’m a big believer in setting realistic goals. Looking forward to my second year of blogging and meeting many new friends, worldwide. What are some of your goals?
Cheers!
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Heritage
…..precious gifts from the past
My parents and grandparents lost much during the WWII. When they escaped from the east they literally could only take what they could carry on their backs. Consequently my family has very few family heirlooms. My husband’s mother came to Canada from Ireland as a war bride. She came to this country with a suitcase of clothes and a few wedding gifts from her family.
Over the years I’ve collected a few items from the two families. When I got married my grandmother came over from Germany and gifted us one of the few items that they had saved from their home in Magdeburgh after the war. It was a lovely blue cut glass carafe.
From the time I was a little girl I remember a very old silver serving spoon that my mother used all the time. No one in the family wanted it and I was happy to adopt it. The date stamped on it is 1909 and it’s got a dent in the bowl. I love it and use it regularly.
My mother-in-law loved her tea set and when she passed on I inherited it, along with her silverware and a couple of quirky teapots. My oldest daughter helped herself to the teapots and both my daughters inherited some individual cup and saucer sets.
Photographs also didn’t survive the war. There are a few of my father’s family but my sisters are the proud owners of these tidbits of our family history. My husband’s family on his father’s side who have lived in Canada for over a hundred years have some wonderful photographs of his grandfather and his great grandparents that we have also inherited.
For more Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Heritage posts check out Across the Bored.
One Day Left in April
…..and I’m still shy 2 new followers to reach my goal of 300
April has been an interesting month. I reached 10 000 views and in fact this month I set a record for the most views in one month since I started blogging one year ago. I also had my best day for views yesterday.
Recently I mentioned that I’ve met some wonderful people since I started blogging. We comment back and forth so often that I feel we’ve really made a connection. Thank you for all your kind words and your support.
This weekend I experienced a first for me. Someone I’ve never met before came across my blog while she was helping her daughter with a homework project. They were researching watercolour painters and they saw my post Painting at 91. The mom realized that she knew the family in the photo. In fact she’d been looking for my friend L for years. They met during high school when L was studying in France. They lost touch with each other about 18 years ago. Now they’re about to reconnect, despite living an ocean apart. Isn’t the internet wonderful?
Love hearing from you? What was the most interesting experience you’ve had since you first started blogging?
Cheers!
Felt Pretty Good Until I Sat on the Bike Today
……ouch!
The day started out nice and sunny and it was warm enough to enjoy our morning coffee and breakfast on the deck. I made breakfast today. I made a vegetable hash with shredded Brussels sprouts, chopped kale and diced shallots. I sauteed the vegetables in olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper and then near the end I splashed some balsamic vinegar over it. I plated the hash and then topped it with a couple of fried eggs. It was surprisingly good! Oh I almost forgot, I also added a little bit of diced Polish sausage to the mix.
While I was checking my FaceBook page this morning my young cousin sent me a message and asked if I was going to be home. I told him I was about to get ready to go out but I would wait for his phone call. I really like this relationship that I’ve developed with my 21 year old cousin from Germany. Some of you may remember that I met him for the first time last August when he arrived in Toronto with his girlfriend, Marie. Toronto was their last stop over before heading to New York to catch a plane back to Germany. They had spent almost an entire year in Canada but most of their time was spent out west. Anyway we spent a great 10 days together and ever since he phones me regularly (about every 6 weeks) and keeps me updated on his studies and how the family is doing.
We talked for about an hour (he has a great phone plan) before we said our farewells. At this point in the morning I was still in my pyjamas and hadn’t made breakfast. K and Frances went for their morning walk without me and I was still on the phone when they returned.
After breakfast, which was more like brunch (again) we decided to take the bikes out again and do our vegetable shopping for the week. This time we headed west, along the Lakeshore Trail to a vegetable wholesaler in Mississauga. I had no muscle or joint pain after yesterday’s 17 kilometre bike ride but when I sat on the seat I realized that not all parts of my body were pain free. Ouch, ouch, ouch!
I rode through the discomfort and after awhile I was able to block it out and enjoy the ride through the Humber College grounds, along Lake Promenade, over Marie Curtis Park and past the old Arsenal Grounds where ammunition was manufactured and stored during WWII.
When we left the house it was a bit overcast but the ride to Lanzarotta’s was dry and quite warm. So warm, in fact, that I had to stop and remove one layer of clothing. The quality of fruits and vegetables at this place is always so good. I don’t mind spending more for some of the produce because I know that it won’t spoil the minute we get home.
We bought quite a bit. We didn’t let the fact that we were on our bikes keep us from stocking up on this beautiful produce. Our panniers hold quite a lot.
I love my pannier. So pretty on my new red bike.
The trip home was a little more difficult because we were riding into the wind, which had picked up considerably. It was so windy that there were a couple of kite boarders out on the lake. You know that summer is just around the corner when you see sailboats, windsurfers and kite boarders on the water. I had to stop and take a picture. They were pretty far away but I was able to capture some of the action.
Can you imagine how cold that water must be? Only last week we were still experiencing temperatures as low as freezing.
When we got home I got into the car and headed over to Costco to pick up a few things that we couldn’t buy on our bike trip.
I made dinner tonight. Come to think of it I’ve done a lot of cooking today. I baked the fish that we purchased yesterday, made lemony smashed red potatoes and made a killer salad. I don’t know why we don’t eat more fish. It was delicious.
By the way, when I got back from shopping my husband had been on g-map pedometer and figured out that we rode for 14 kilometres today. That’s a total of 31 kilometres on the bike this weekend. Wow!
Hope you had a great weekend. I know I did.
Cheers!
