Category Archives: About Me

Thursday Doors – December 7, 2017

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Hamilton’s Children’s Museum

….thanks to Norm for hosting Thursday Doors

Earlier this week I drove to Hamilton and took my granddaughter to the Children’s Museum. Housed in an 1875 farmhouse in beautiful Gage Park, the museum was once home to Hamilton’s Gage Family. It has been providing family-friendly learning opportunities to the public for more than 30 years.

Unfortunately we went on a Tuesday and in the winter the museum is closed on Tuesdays. I half expected Winnie to have a meltdown but she surprised me and started to run around on the grounds through the leaves and climbed on top of the giant anchor that is prominently displayed in the gardens.

When she got tired of doing that she wanted to sit in the car and play with the buttons on the console. I finally convinced her to go back into her car seat and we drove to Denninger’s Fine Foods.

Denninger’s is a wonderful family owned deli that sells delicious European delights. Winnie loved the samples and she was intrigued with the very large Nutcracker that guarded the front door.

Share Your World – Dec. 4, 2017

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…thanks to Cee for coming up with new questions for Share Your World

What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?

I really do not like cleaning the bathroom, any bathroom but I don’t like a dirty bathroom, either.

At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

I think I feel most passionate and alive when I’m doing things for other people and when I’m celebrating with friends and family. Last summer I never felt more alive when we travelled to Italy with the family to celebrate our son’s and daughter-in-law’s wedding.

 

How many times have you moved in the last ten years?

I have not moved once in the last ten years. In fact, I haven’t moved in over 38 years. I have, however, moved my father three times in the last two years.

 

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

This past week I’m grateful for time spent with my friends, Liz and Michele, and my granddaughter, Winnie. I normally travel to Hamilton at least once a week to spend time with my daughter, Gaelan and granddaughter, Winnie. Last week our plans changed slightly and I ended bringing the two of them back to Toronto. We went for a long walk to the library and had dinner together here at the house.

As you know from my recent posts, I made an advent calendar for Winnie and her family. When I picked them up I dropped it off at their house and Gaelan has send me photos of Winnie with some of her gifts. I think it’s been a bit of a challenge for Gaelan to keep Winnie from opening all the gifts in one sitting.

 

Last week I also spent time with Michele. We met at Sherway Gardens where we did a bit of Christmas shopping together and then I treated Michele to lunch at the Keg to celebrate her birthday that took place earlier in the month. Later in the week, Liz and I drove downtown to the CBC to take part in Sounds of the Season. We lined up to see Tom Power (host of CBC’s Q) and were thrilled to hear Lydia Persaud, Ruth B and Whitehorse perform. After the show we walked over to The Canteen and had a great lunch.

This was also a very important week for our son. The project he has been working on for almost three years has finally come to fruition. In his own words:

Kaboom!!!! 3 years of work, a deep dive into the V&A’s collection of 2.5 million objects, 16 trips to China, working with the dream team of Sam Jacob Studio, with Fraser Muggeridge Studio and Alice Masters, and here it is: A glorious V&A Gallery in Shenzhen, full of strange and wonderful things, materials, and spaces.

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Advent Calendar #2

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….another calendar for my other two girls

When I saw the jewellery organizer with pockets I knew I wanted it for another advent calendar. The only problem with this piece is that the pockets are a little on the small side and and there are only 21 of them.  On the plus side there are more hangers on the back of it and it can be used after the advent season is over. If the girls don’t need a jewellery organizer they can put it in their bathroom and put small toiletries and make-up in the pockets.

I would highly recommend gathering items for this kind of organizer well in advance. I’m debating whether to wrap each individual item or just place them in the pockets as is.  My fear is that the wrapping paper might make some of the items too large for the small pockets. Part of the fun of these types of advent calendars is unwrapping a new item each day. Maybe I’ll wrap some and leave the rest unwrapped.

Here is what it looks like before it is filled and after it’s filled. I’m already 3 days late giving this to my daughter and her wife so I’ll have to decide tonight  how to present it. I’m hoping to drop it off tomorrow. IMG_0204IMG_0205

 

Advent Calendar #1

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…every day, from December 1st to the 24th a new surprise to unwrap

Years ago my daughter and husband collaborated on a project where I was given a small gift every day from Dec. 1st to the 24th. Each gift was carefully wrapped and placed in a take away container and set before me at the breakfast table. I was so touched by this gesture that I’ve wanted to do a similar ‘advent calendar’ for someone special in my life. This year I finally got my act together and did just that. In fact I created two different ‘calendars’ for my two daughters and their families. Today I’ll share the first one with you.

At first I was just going to create a calendar for my granddaughter but then I decided to include presents for my daughter and son-in-law as well. In fact I even threw in a gift for their dog, Lucy. The hard part of this project was choosing what to put the presents into. I decided to use an over the door shoe organizer that had 24 pockets. After searching the internet and several stores I finally found the perfect vessel. After Christmas, I thought that the organizer could be used to store some of Winnie’s toys.

Apart from buying things that would be fun to open and be somewhat practical and not break the bank, the next most difficult part was wrapping each gift.

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I won’t kid you and say that this project is simple and quick to put together. If I were to do it again I would start buying small gifts months in advance and wrap them as soon as I bought them. It was, however, fun to do and now that December 1st is here I’ve been blessed with photos of my granddaughter’s reaction to the first gift that she unwrapped this morning.

 

Trying to Get Back to Painting

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As some of you know, we’ve gone through some major renovations in our home. Last May my 91 year old father moved in with us but before that was possible we had to create an apartment for him in our basement. That meant moving my husband’s office (he works from home) from the basement to the the second floor where my art studio used to be and moving my art studio to the far end of my bedroom.

I managed to rearrange some of my art and actually got it up on the walls but I had boxes of paper that needed to be shredded and filed. My art supplies are in piles all around the drawing table and the drawing table is covered with more art supplies and my computer. I’m purging my closet of clothes I don’t wear anymore and some craft supplies that I will never use.

A few weeks ago I got my filing cabinet built and I’ve been slowly filling it up with only the essentials. I’ve literally shredded enough old bills to fill five recycling bags. I’ve bought a new desk from IKEA and now I need to assemble it. That’s my next project. Once that’s done I’ll have a new space for my computer and writing supplies and a new surface to sew from. Wish me luck. I’m hoping to get this all organized before Christmas.

Do you have a renovation that’s keeping you from doing what you love to do? Maybe you have some tips to share with those of us who are struggling to get things done. I don’t know what my excuse is, especially since I’m retired.

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs…..

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….what’s more entertaining than a dozen super energetic Super Dogs?

In the summer I saw, for the first time, the Super Dog Show at the CNE. I was sitting pretty far back from the arena and I didn’t have my zoom lens with me so most of my shots were distant and often not very focused. It was also very dark in the arena and the dogs were highlighted with special lights and spot lights.

A couple of weeks ago when I went to the Royal Winter Fair with my father, he really wanted to see the Super Dog Show, so I went again. It was very different this time. It wasn’t dark, we sat much closer and I had my zoom lens with me. It was, however, still difficult to get clear shots of the dogs because they moved so quickly through the race course.

Here are a few shots that I managed to get that I’m somewhat happy with:

These last two shots are probably my favourites.

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Share Your World – November 6, 2017

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….thanks Cee for hosting Share Your World

Would you rather take a 2 week vacation with an organized tour or take a cruise of your choice?

Sometimes I think I would like a two week vacation with an organized tour, especially in an exotic place where I don’t know the language. China and India come to mind. On the other hand, I’m far too spontaneous and I’m somewhat adventurous and I think I’d like to organize some of my itinerary. I see benefits to both ways of travelling.

Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing?

I did like swings but I was wary of going too high. I still get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see children soar to the max.

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What is the most important thing that you ever learned ? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

In my 20s I learned that not everyone will like you and often the reasons are not clear. The hardest part is to except it and get on with your life. Focus on those who love you and don’t try to change for people who don’t.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

Last week I went to a wedding and met up with old friends of the family. When we first came to Canada my parents knew few people but my father’s good friend and his wife, along with their 4 year old son arrived before us. As their family and ours grew we were almost like cousins. Carlo was my godfather and my father was godfather to their third boy.  In my family there were three girls and they had four boys.  On  the weekend the second son’s youngest boy married and we were invited. Everyone still calls my Dad, Onkel Heinz and they were thrilled to be able to finally introduce their children to us. It was so nice to put faces to all the names we’ve heard over the years.

The next day we celebrated my oldest daughter’s birthday. It was actually the day before but because of the wedding we delayed the celebration by a day. We met at Barque’s for brunch and then went back to Andrea’s and Josie’s place for cake.

On Monday my 91 year old father wanted relive some memories of his past by visiting the Royal Winter Fair. As a boy he grew up next to a farm and helped tend to some of the animals. Last year I went there with my youngest daughter, Gaelan and her daughter Winnie who was only one at the time.

It was wonderful seeing the joy my father got out of such a simple excursion. We started off watching the horse jumping competition and then walked through the barns where we saw cattle, sheep and pigs. We strolled amongst the prize winning vegetables and fruits and then we went to the food court and had some lunch.

After a meal of fish and chips we headed towards the President’s Choice Theatre to watch the Super Dogs show. We arrived a bit early so we also took in the Medieval Times presentation. My dad loved both shows and was so impressed that he felt that it should have been televised. I explained to him that the Royal wants you to go there. If it was on TV people wouldn’t need to attend.

Texture

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….those of you who are acquainted with my art know how much I love texture

Rhinos and elephants have the most interesting hides. They are thick, rough and lined with intriguing patterns. I couldn’t help myself when I saw this rhino family at the zoo last week. I just had to take some shots and the back ends were particularly textural.

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