……thanks to Cee for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge
Now that spring is finally here, I’m back out for my walks. I headed towards the parks west of my house to see what kind of damage the recent wind storm had caused. Fortunately most of the debris and downed trees had already been cleared away.
As I continued toward the pond I was treated to a wonderful gift.
….thanks to WordPress for this week’s photo challenge Place in the World
People assumed that I would move when I retired. That’s other peoples’ dreams, not mine. So often I hear people say they want to move to the country, get out of the city. I’ve known some people who have done that but moved back to the city within a few years. I live close to downtown Toronto but I’m right by Lake Ontario and I’m surrounded by parkland. If I want to go into the city to catch a show or go to museum or art gallery I’m only a 20 minute car drive away or a short trip on the subway. When I want to go hiking or biking I just have to step outside my door and get on the Waterfront Trail. I have the best of both worlds.
I’ve always loved living close to the water and I love my city, Toronto.
….day 87
Carla Sonheim’s prompt today was to create a design using lines or just doodling. This is just what I needed today. It was fun and relaxing. All three pieces were done in one of my many art journals. The first one took the longest but the other two were done very quickly.
….after yesterday’s windstorm it was very unlikely that today life would return as a normal spring day so quickly
The forecast was for more wind but not as severe as yesterday but with all the damage that the storm did I thought it would take a few days for things to return to normal. Even though today is a Saturday, people are already having repairs done to their roofs, the streets have been cleared of debris and tree branches and entire trees and couples and families are out walking and enjoying the sun. You can see from the photos that the water is still pretty choppy but it’s not keeping people from sitting at the shore to take in some rays or for some brave souls (or foolhardy) to get into their boats today.
I know that the damage that you see here may not seem like much, especially if you compare it to the damage that a hurricane or tornado can do but two people did die during this storm from falling trees and 100 000 people were without power.
…..day 84
It’s been too long since I’ve created art; not sure why. I’ve had lot’s of inspiration but I think I’ve been surrounded by too much clutter. Tonight I cleared a space and produced another collage from the The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman. In week 14 the challenge was to use stamps in our collage to create an additional layer of intrigue.
When I was a young girl my aunt had a personalized stamp made for me with my name. So it consists of my German first name Carola and my maiden name Winkler. I can’t believe that I saved it all these years. I used parts of envelopes and stamped labels and a bit of Washi tape to create my collage.
….my neighbours must have been wondering why the UPS and Canada Post trucks were stopping in my front of my home so often in such a short space of time
No it wasn’t because it was Christmas or someone’s birthday. I’ve decided to make more purchases through Amazon because the prices are good and shipping is free. Well it’s free for both my husband and me because we took advantage of the free Prime delivery service but forgot to cancel it after one month and now we’re paying for it. So it isn’t exactly free but we need to take advantage of the service or we will be paying for nothing. One of the advantages to having Prime is that we also get Prime TV shows and we’ve seen some good series and movies.
Anyway some of things that I’ve ordered are books and art supplies. A lot of these things were ordered on the same day but the delivery dates were random. One item I received within 12 hours and some took longer because the seller couldn’t guarantee faster service but I knew this when I ordered them. Everything arrived in pristine condition and was exactly as I expected. I’m one happy customer.
….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World
Do you use paper money? If so is your money organized sequentially according to denomination?
I do use paper money and I do use debit. I try to avoid using the credit card but when I do I try to remember to pay it off right away. I’m not alway successful. I can’t get my head around people who use their debit card for small purchases like a cup of coffee. Don’t they know that they add to the cost of each cup when they do that. Maybe they just have a better bank plan or maybe things have changed in that department and I haven’t kept up with the times. Time to visit my bank.
Anyway I do like using cash for smaller purchases and I organize my money by denomination in my wallet with a separate compartment for my change. Doesn’t everyone do that?
You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?
Not really. I don’t consider sitting at my computer or watching TV as doing nothing, although some people might disagree with me. I get too antsy just sitting and doing nothing. I have to keep my brain working and even after sitting and doing stuff I have to get up and move around.
What is your greatest strength?
I think my greatest strength is my creativity and my work ethic. The latter is what my husband said which surprised me a bit because there are days where I feel very lazy. I also like to do things for other people and I can pretty much be relied on to do what I say I’ll do.
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination
Last week was pretty uneventful. I finished reading a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
On Friday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. We signed the ownership of our second car over to them and went to lunch at a local sushi restaurant. Believe it or not it was at Winnie’s request that we went there. How many two year olds do you know that love sushi?
Thanks to my husband who took this photo.
The other thing that did bring a smile to my face last week was the onset of some beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures. Finally!
…..day 83 of 365 Days of Art
Every once in awhile I like to change things up. Recently I took a crochet class. After making numerous wash clothes and coffee cup holders I decided it was time to branch out or get more creative. One thing that I love making are hats, so I found a pattern for an Owl hat for my granddaughter. Normally I make things too large but this time it may be on the small side. If it is, I’ll hang on to it until more grandchildren come around or if someone else is having a baby.
Here is my first attempt at an owl hat for a toddler made with a crochet hook.
…..thanks to Cee for coming up with great questions each and every week for Share Your World
If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
My answer is pretty close to Cee’s . I love cheese and dark chocolate and then a nice red wine to go with it.
List at least five movies or books that cheer you up.
The Wizard of Oz, Forrest Gump, Life of Pi, Up, Bridget Jone’s Diary, Mama Mia
If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?
After dinner a mouse (me) would see us sitting in the living room watching TV. After a couple of hours my husband would go to his meditation room and meditate and do yoga and then get ready for bed. I, on the other hand, would sit in front of my computer and read some emails , read a book and/or work at my art table and produce some art. This seems to be the time when I’m most productive and often stay up till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
Last week I saw my father off to the airport. He flew to Germany to visit his brother. When he called on the weekend I was so happy for him because I could tell that he was having a wonderful time.
On Thursday I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with my daughter and granddaughter. We did a little shopping but mostly we played in the playroom. On Friday I printed Snoopy designs onto the front of six t-shirts that the family wore to our family lunch on Saturday.
The lunch on Saturday was a lovely casual affair and because the weather was so nice we went for a long walk to the park down the street and followed the Heritage Trail. The trail meanders through the park and past numerous marinas. We ended up at a cute little playground where Winnie wandered around and tried out the various pieces of playground equipment.
Mama Cormier 