A Study in Patience

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..Day 77

I’ve included this knitting project has one of my art pieces for my 365 Days of Art. It took me hours if not days to complete this shawl. I had never done a lacy pattern before but I think it was the 361 stitches on the needle that caused me the most grief. If I dropped one stitch or miscounted the whole piece was off and trying to fix a mistake when you’ve completed a row was close to impossible to fix. I ripped out the stitches four times and one of those times I was already finished with the lacy section when I realized that I had misread the last row of the pattern and had 70 stitches too many on my needle. Arghhh!

The fifth try was the charm. By this time I truly understood how the pattern worked and the number of stitches remained constant until it was time to decrease. I have to admit that after the third failure I was ready to give up. After all, it was taking away from my time at my art table but I decided that this project was a form of art so I persisted. I made a couple of trips back to the yarn store, Spin Me a Yarn, where I was given the encouragement I needed and some helpful tips for this project.

If you’re interested this pattern is called Mesquite Shawl from Zen Yarn Garden.

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge – People or Objects Over 50

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Cee for hosting the Black and White Photo Challenge

Art With a Toddler – Day 74

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….365 Days of Art

Today I travelled to Hamilton to spend a few hours with my granddaughter and her mom and dad. I packed up a box of circles from my collection, some stamps, Washi tape, a glue stick and clear ‘cow’ tape. I also brought along a small book with blank sheets inside so that Winnie could have her own sketch book.

We sat together at the kitchen island and I opened my sketch book and we worked side by side so that I could demonstrate how to make a simple collage using bits of paper and tape. She need a bit of help with cutting the tape and using the letter stamps was a bit of a challenge but she got right into it and she added some detail to my example as well.

Here is my piece:

Here is my two year old granddaughter’s art work:

Silent Sunday – April 8, 2018

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Mama Cormier

365 Days of Art – Days 65 and 66

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mama Cormier

Back to sketching with ink. I love drawing. I don’t know why I’m so hesitant to sketch. This time I sketched a daffodil plant that I received at Easter and the remnants of the bouquet that my father gave me.

WPC – Smile

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to WordPress for this week’s theme smile

Today we woke up to grey skies and soon after it started to snow. Later in the afternoon the sun came out but it was short lived as a north west wind blew through bringing with it a blustery storm. I couldn’t believe how quickly the weather changed.

This is the view from our daughter’s house in Hamilton.

Fortunately the blizzard only lasted about 10 minutes and once again the sun came out and so did my smile. Here are a few shots of blue sky, the sun and a trumpet of swans that reappeared when the weather changed. All things that bring a smile to my face after this long weird winter and quirky start to spring.

Thursday Doors – April 5, 2018

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….just before the winds really started to blow yesterday

Thanks to Norm for hosting

Yesterday was an incredibly windy day here in southern Ontario. There was a lot of wind damage across the province. I had a late morning appointment in Mississauga and I decided to venture down to the lake to check out the waves. Incredibly much of the clouds were blown away and the sun and some blue sky managed to peak through the remaining clouds.

One of the unexpected pluses of journeying down to the lake was coming across this beautiful old mansion that has since become a historical site and campus for the Royal Conservatory of Music.

According to Wikipedia:

The land on which the property is built was acquired by Joseph Cawthra in 1809. The farmland, which came to be known as the Grove Farm, was granted to Agar Adamson and Mabel Cawthra as a wedding gift.^[2]

Agar Adamson, born on Christmas Day 1865, was the grandson of William Agar Adamson an influential Toronto clergyman. He married into the Cawthra family whose legacy in Peel lives on through the Cawthra Estate located near the intersection of the Cawthra Road and the Queen Elizabeth Way. Their legacy comes from supplying eastern white pine logs for ship masts in the British Royal Navy.^[3]^[4] by Sandra Gwyn. He served under General Arthur Currie. Insights into his time at war may be seen in the CBC series The Great War[2] which features Talbot Papineau, another of the four Canadians featured in the book.

Agar Adamson designed and built the Belgian-style mansion on this land in 1919, after returning from the wartime service in France. In 1943, his son Anthony Adamson added a home for himself on the property.

In 1975 the estate was sold to the Credit Valley Conservation Authority and is now part of a public park on the Waterfront Trail.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Happy

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…thanks Cee for hosting this happy, fun foto challenge

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – March 30, 2018

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..not as late as last week’s Challenge

Thanks Cee for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge. Your challenges always challenge me to look for the unusual and sometimes mundane subjects. Here are a few shots that I took on my walk a few days ago.

Happy Easter – April 1, 2108

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Mama Cormier

,,,,,is it some kind of cruel joke to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day on the same day?

Of course it’s not 2108. That’s my lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke. I know that teachers are delighted that April Fool’s day is on a holiday, except maybe those individuals who liked playing jokes on their students.

This year we celebrated Easter one day early to accommodate other commitments that family members had. It started out as a sunny day, so I hid all the eggs for our granddaughter outside in the backyard. When everyone arrived we could see that the sky was darkening so we didn’t waste anytime and proceeded with the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun seeing the delight in Winnie’s eyes every time she discovered an egg or other small gift hidden in the branches, corners of the deck, handles of the barbecue and under covers.

One of the gifts was a bubble maker. Actually our oldest daughter also got her a bubble maker. This was definitely the hit of the day. Winnie got into making bubbles almost right away and after dinner we went outside again (just before the rain started) to make more bubbles. It turns out that buying that extra large bottle of bubble soap was a good idea.

Here are a few photos of the egg hunt and blowing bubbles.