WPC – Satisfaction

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….this week’s WordPress photo challenge is satisfaction

One thing that I great satisfaction from is organizing my stuff. Right now I’m sitting in my cluttered bedroom, trying to figure out how to organize my art materials into a small space at the far end of the bedroom. One thing that I have done is sort through all my finished art projects and I’ve actually put them up on the walls. I had contemplated selling off everything very cheaply just to recoup the cost of the materials I used but there were too many pieces that I like too much. I’ve discovered that I’m getting a lot of satisfaction seeing my art on my walls.

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Woods

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Frank for this week’s photo challenge – woods

Next to water I love the woods. My cottage sits in the woods a little ways back from the water’s edge. There are some definite advantages to having the cottage tucked away in the woods. One of them is that on very hot summer days it is always cooler in the shade of the forest.

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First of Many Retirement Parties

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..not sure why but this is the fourth time I’ve tried to write about this

As many of you know, I retired from teaching on June 30. Four of us all retired this year so there were many parties to attend. The first party was put on by the Toronto District School Board. I’ve been with this board for my entire career.

Back in May over 900 employees from the board were celebrated. That’s how many people retired this year. The highlight of the evening happened at the end of the evening when each of us was gifted a bronze school bell. At the countdown every recipient rung their bell at the same time. It was deafening. In the video below only three of us were ringing the bells.

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New Flower (July 18, 2017) – Yellow Cone Flower

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….also from the RBG in Hamilton

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Two Hummingbirds: One Real and One Made From Lego

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..one at the cottage and the other at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton

Last week when I went to the RBG with my daughter, Gaelan and my granddaughter, Winnie we were lucky enough to see some of the sculptures made with Lego. One of the creations was a very large hummingbird taking nectar from a very large lego flower. P1030971 P1030970

This next hummingbird came by my feeder last weekend.

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Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – July 16, 2017

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Cee for hosting Odd Ball Photo Challenge

Some of my odd ball photos come from experimenting with my camera and my different lenses. Here are a few at I took at the cottage the last two weeks.

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A Birthday Party and the Royal Botanical Gardens

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….a busy week with the family

On Sunday, after returning from the cottage, Kevin, my father and I went to my daughter-in-law’s father’s 80th birthday party. I knew when we got to the party that my father would make a big deal about being the oldest person there. He quickly found the over 80 table and made himself comfortable and engaged in conversation with people he had never met before. That’s what my Dad has done his whole life and I remember as a kid being so embarrassed by how easily he would go up to perfect strangers and start talking.

The party was a huge success and the daughters actually pulled off surprising their father. The mostly Italian and some Argentinian guests thoroughly enjoyed the food and there was lots of laughter and lively discussions.

On Monday I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with my daughter, Gaelan and her daughter, Winnie. Brendan was working from home that day so he decided to join us for lunch at a great Chinese Dim Sum restaurant. Winnie has been introduced to a lot of different foods as soon as she started on solid foods and I was amazed at how much she enjoyed digging into the sushi.

After lunch it started to pour and we waited in the strip mall while Brendan ran home and brought the car back. I felt badly when he got back because the rain had almost completely died down. Thank goodness it had because Gaelan, Winnie and I decided to go the Royal Botanical Gardens. The part we went to had a lot of indoor displays but the rain was so light that we ventured outside and took Winnie to the children’s area where she could run around and play in the sandbox.

Just before we went back home we decided to go the Tea House for some refreshments. We had tea, coffee and scones. Winnie drank the milk they brought me for my tea.

A wonderful two days.

Cheers!

Enjoying the Peace at the Cottage

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..so happy that I opened the cottage earlier in June

On my first trip to the cottage after opening it three weeks earlier, I was really looking forward to my stay. The only big thing that I still had to do was move the fridge outside, hook it up to the propane tank and fasten the tarp to the edge of the roof to keep the rain off the fridge. I managed to do most of this on my own and the only part that I needed help with was lighting the burner at the back of the fridge while I pushed the buttons on the front. Luckily my friend’s son had arrived the day before and was able to assist me with this final step.

For the most part the weather was very nice. I took several long walks along the beach that is mostly under water this year. When I wasn’t walking, cooking or cleaning I started and finished a book called The Last Days at Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan. A lovely summer read that gave me some insight into how the lives of Iranian citizens were affected by all the political and religious unrest that has taken place since the 1930s. The story centres around the owners and staff at Cafe Leila and the children who were sent to America after their mother was murdered by the police. When the daughter is separated from her estranged husband her father asks her to come home after being apart for more than 30 years.

When I wasn’t reading I took time to go and explore and take photographs. A couple of times I had to drive to the dock to drop someone off or pick someone up from the boat; consequently, many of the photos are from that area. The rest were taken at the beach.

The shots from the beach were taken in the early evening just as the sun was setting.

The day after the previous pictures were taken the weather had become quite windy and very cool. For most of the day I wore my longer pants and sweat shirt.

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Two More Days!

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..the count down continues

One more day with the kids and then a PA day for cleaning up. The irony is that it seems like all I’ve been doing for two weeks is cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning; however, as soon as I start a new art project or pull books for discarding I seem to be right back where I started from.

Joanne suggested that I take photos of the every day things that I see all the time as a visual record of my life as a teacher. Here are a few shots taken after I’d cleaned the library. Unfortunately it doesn’t look that way at the moment. Outside the library a gallery of art that my students have done is on display and further down the hall is Ms. B’s class, Ms. C’s class and the office.