Lucy and a Trip to Hamilton

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..my daughter and son-in-law have moved to a larger home

On Thursday and Friday, our daughter, G and her husband packed up their tiny apartment and left Toronto to start a new life in Hamilton. We offered to dog sit so that their Bassett Hound, Lucy, wouldn’t get underfoot. Lucy is a lovely dog but not the easiest to look after.

One of the things that Lucy likes to do is take over the chaise lounge and she won’t stop barking until the offending person gets off. If you’ve ever heard a Bassett Hound bark you know how irritating it can be and Lucy is relentless. By the way she also loves to be covered with a blanket.

Our dog Frances gets along with Lucy in short spurts. After awhile she becomes very territorial and she refuses to let Lucy pass to go up the stairs or down the stairs. We always have to separate them at meal time and Lucy finishes first so if Frances doesn’t finish we have to put her food up high and out of the way.

Lucy’s nose is always close to the ground; a very common trait of Bassett Hounds. When we work in the kitchen she is always underfoot, hoping that we drop something. She also loves kale and if we’re not careful she’ll pull it out of the fridge when we open the door. On several occasions when Lucy has been taken for walks down Yonge St. she’s jumped up onto to a city planters and pulled out the ornamental kale to chomp on. Our daughter is mortified when this happens.

Today our son-in-law returned the moving truck. We put Lucy in the car and picked up BT and drove them back to their new home in Hamilton. This was Lucy’s first exposure to the new house. We were a little worried about the stairs but a new carpet has been laid and Lucy was very comfortable going up and down the the steep staircase. Normally she doesn’t like stairs.

Lucy checked out the backyard. Clearly she’s going to need to be trained as to where she can and cannot walk and pee. The flower beds are definitely out of bounds. The front porch quickly became a popular spot to hang out with her loved ones. She’s content to be near her family and she didn’t bark at the folks that walked by the house. Hopefully that part won’t change.

The new house will be a bit of an adjustment for Lucy. There are still a lot of boxes that need to be unpacked and before we left BT started to paint the living room. I’m sure Lucy will learn to love her new surroundings and why wouldn’t she. She has a big backyard to play in and lots of new places to explore in the house and outside in the neighbourhood. I didn’t see any planters with ornamental kale but if they exists she’ll be sure to find them.

When we got home our daughter sent us a photo of Lucy. Apparently she has already decided where her new favourite place in the house is. So typical!

Share Your World – 2015 Week 17

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….four more thought provoking questions from Cee

What is your most favorite smell/scent?

I love scents that are citrusy, light and fresh.

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?

I prefer hair that is shoulder length or just above the shoulder. Anything shorter and I feel older. These photos were taken six years ago, four years ago and last summer. Each year my hair has gotten a little bit longer. I also lost a fair bit of weight between the second and third picture so that might also influence my decision about hair length.

older

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know)?

My husband and I tend to be spontaneous. We might have an area in mind or a food we’d like to experience but we don’t plan to the nth degree. If something better comes along we’re just as likely to drop our plans and go with our gut feeling.

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

I’d have to say my favourite outdoor activity is walking or riding my bike.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a positive visit to my husband’s endocrinologist. We thought we were facing a tour of radioactive iodine treatment in the next month but his thyroglobulin levels were so low that the doctor didn’t think the treatment was necessary at this time. They will check his levels again in 6 months. Now we don’t have to worry about being around our pregnant daughter or having to give the dog away for a month while he’s radioactive.

This week I’m looking forward to more nice weather. The only downside is that the grass and weeds are growing so quickly that I’m going to have to do some heavy duty yard work over the weekend. Our daughter and her husband are also moving this weekend and I’m looking forward to helping them set up their new home in Hamilton.

Great Weather, Great News, Great Concert

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….it’s been a wonderful weekend and I can finally share my big news

1. Finally a beautiful weekend, weather-wise. Sunshine and warmer temperatures. I managed to get out on Saturday for a walk with the dog and took some photos of the neighbourhood.

2. Also on Saturday, my husband and I picked up our youngest daughter and her dog Lucy and brought them back to our house. G’s husband was on a business trip so she was looking for some company and she needed a break from packing boxes. This Friday they will be moving from their tiny apartment in uptown Toronto to a 4 bedroom Victorian semi in Hamilton. It’s a move they need to make because they needed more room to accommodate the new baby that they are expecting in October. Yeah!!!!!!!!! I’m finally going to be a grandmother. That’s my BIG news!

3. Today my friend DM invited me to a concert downtown. The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto hosted a live competition to present the Career Development Awards. The concert featured the three finalists who were chosen from a pool of 10 candidates chosen by CBC regional producers. Usually a jury of musical experts from across Canada rank all the entries based on written and audio materials and select a winner but because this was the tenth anniversary for the award (given every three years) a live competition was held. Prizes of $20 000., $10 000 and $5000 were awarded for first, second and third place.

All three competitors played magnificently. There were two pianists and one cello player. First prize went to Charles Richard-Hamelin on piano, second prize to Stéphane Tétreault on cello and third prize to Pierre-André Doucet on piano (my personal favourite).

I’ve found Pierre-André Doucet’s performance of Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata No. 1 on YouTube.

Stéphane was the youngest performer at 22 and played this beautiful arrangement of Hayden’s Divertimento in D Major.

I couldn’t find the exact piece that Charles Richard-Hamelin played today but here is a sample of Chopin.

Share Your World 2015 – Week #16

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks Cee for this week’s questions

What are your favorite spices?

I think I answered this question this time last year and my answer is the same: cinnamon. I love cinnamon ice-cream, cinnamon buns (I never eat them because they’re too high in calories), cinnamon on top of my cappuccino, cinnamon in apple pie and apple crisp and cinnamon in my mulled wine.

What object do you always have with you when traveling and why?

I would be lost without a camera of some kind. I love taking pictures and experimenting with different angles and shots. Taking photos is a great way to share your experiences with family and friends. A trip without a camera is like fries without ketchup. It just adds an extra little zing to the experience.

What is one thing you love about being an adult?

I love being able to go to bed when I want. I’m a bit of a night owl and tend to become most creative in the wee hours of the morning. This doesn’t bode well when you’re working and I’ve been trying to get a least 8 hours of sleep a night. I’ve been averaging 6 1/2 hours but yesterday I was so tired that I was in bed before 10:30.

I also love being able to do things without asking permission. That doesn’t mean that I’m inconsiderate of others. I always discuss what I want to do with my husband but I don’t have to ask permission. My husband has always let me explore my own path, as I do his but we both make sure that there isn’t a conflict of interest with the dates we’ve chosen. We still love to do things together but we don’t do everything together.

What item, that you don’t have already, would you most like to own?

I would love to own a really good camera that isn’t my iPhone. I love the convenience of my camera phone but there are times when I wish I could zoom in closer on some things far away.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for the two days of warm sunny weather that we experienced last week. It was wonderful getting outside without having to wear a jacket, mitts and a hat. Unfortunately the last few days have been cold, rainy and windy. I even brought some plants, that I bought earlier in the week, indoors last night because the temperatures were suppose to go below freezing.

This week I’m looking forward to some more warmer weather on the weekend. I’m hoping to get together with my children for a meal and on Sunday I’m going to another concert with my friend DM.

Too Tired to Write

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….so I’ll post a few photos of my weekend

It was a somewhat busy weekend with running to clinics, grocery shopping (twice), painting, reading (but not enough), walking and running (yeah, I can still do it), blogging, laundry and helping a friend sort through 40 years of paperwork. I’m exhausted and need to get to bed before 11:00. Here is a gallery of my weekend.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 15

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks Cee for four more interesting questions

Regarding your fridge, is it organized or a mess inside?

I’m embarrassed to say that at the moment my fridge is a mess. Over the years all the plastic shelves and drawers have broken. We looked into replacing these pieces but the cost was ridiculous, over $700.00. The fridge itself works well but It’s become increasingly difficult to keep it organized.

Have you ever been a participant in a parade? What did you do?

Why does this question sound familiar? The only parade I remember participating in occurred when I went to summer day camp and at the end of the summer or end of the session (I don’t remember) we participated in a parade where all the different city camps got together and put on a parade. I might have been in a parade when I was a girl guide. It’s all a blur now.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

I tend to have a very loud and distinctive laugh. People always say they know where I am in a building by my laugh. When I was younger I used to be the narrator in school plays and today I find myself quite comfortable being the master of ceremonies at large school gatherings.

How many bones, if any, have you broken?

I have never broken a bone. About 20 years ago I had a very bad fall. I fell from the top of our stairs to the landing below and didn’t break a thing. Apart from a slight concussion, a few abrasions and bruises my injuries were pretty minor. I think I hit my head on the way down and knocked myself unconscious so I fell I like a rag doll. Falling into a full laundry basket probably helped as well.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

This week I’m grateful for sunny weather and milder temperatures and time spent with a group of friends from high school. I’m also grateful for small accomplishments, like finally getting my solar light drilled into the brick wall over our house number. I also found time to do some sketching this week and completed 2 paintings.

This week I’m looking forward to another afternoon concert put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. My friend CL and I will be meeting for lunch and then heading downtown to the university where the concert is being held. I’m also looking forward to a new on-line lesson from the Year of the Spark, this time given by Lynn Whipple. I was also thinking of turning some of my bird sketches into paintings.

A Busy Weekend – Art, a Movie, Walking, Shopping, Gardening and Lunch with Friends

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….some of my followers have complained that I don’t post enough about my daily endeavours

Well, truth be told, only one person has complained, so this is for her.

On Friday I treated my husband to dinner. As many of you know K usually cooks most of the meals, not because he has to but simply put, because he enjoys doing it. He wasn’t feeling up to going out so I ordered in. We tried a new Thai restaurant in the neighbourhood and it was excellent. For those of you close enough to check it out, it’s called Nimman Thai Cuisine and it’s located at 2451 Lakeshore Blvd. W. It wasn’t cheap but then many things worthwhile are a little more expensive. The service was pretty fast for a Friday night. They said that it would arrive in just under an hour and the knock on the door came about 40 minutes after the order was placed. I’ve discovered that ordering and paying on-line (including the tip) is painless and very convenient.

Friday night is one of two nights that I like to watch TV. After dinner we watched The Amazing Race together. I haven’t decided who I’d like to see win this season but I definitely have a couple of teams in mind that shouldn’t win. We’ll see.

On Saturday I decided to do a little bit of shopping. First I drove to Curry’s art supply store to buy some more brushes, paint and wooden boards so I could make more textured Gesso art with watercolours. I love the process so much that I want to create more pieces using this technique. Here are the first two pieces that I made earlier in the week.

I still had some money left on my Marshall’s gift certificate from Christmas so I thought it was high time to treat myself to a couple pieces of clothes for spring. I tried on 10 items and found two tops that I really liked. Bonus! My next stop was Lowe’s. I picked up two fluorescent bulbs for the kitchen, a gasket to repair the sink and yard waste bags so that I could start cleaning up the yard. I also made a stop at Tartistry (I’ve written about it here) to pick up a couple of tarts to have with tea after dinner. I would have liked to stay longer because they had the jazz band playing again. There were a lot more people there this time. I guess the snow storm really did keep people away the first time we went there.

Saturday evening K made an amazing dinner of proscutto, pesto and mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts, pasta and fresh mixed vegetables. After dinner we went for a walk and we saw these funny faces up in the trees and one of the trees was wrapped in a blanket. I went back today to take some photos because it was getting a bit too dark on our walk.

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After our walk we treated ourselves to tea and tarts and then we watched the movie Big Eyes. The movie is based on the real life of Margaret Keane and her husband Walter Keane. Margaret is the artist who created the infamous ‘Big Eyes’ paintings in the 60s but her husband convinced her to let him take credit for her work because according to him women artists couldn’t make it in the art world. He was an amazing salesman and promoter but he was also incredibly egotistical. Margaret worked around the clock producing her popular paintings while her husband took all the credit. They became incredibly rich, even though art critics hated the work. The lies and deceit wore on Margaret’s conscience. Eventually she left Walter and with the help of her daughter and friends she confessed the truth and took her husband to court.

I remember the posters of these big eyed children that were so popular in the 60s and 70s. Apparently Walter Keane was the first promoter to turn art into posters for sale. The movie was nominated for numerous awards last season and Amy Adams won the Golden Globe award for best actress.

After the movie I prepared the boards that I purchased earlier in the day with a coat of gesso. Now I just have to decide what it is I want to paint.

Today I started my day with toast made from K’s homemade batch bread that he also made yesterday. Bread is definitely my weakness, especially homemade bread. I’m glad that he froze half of it and gave some away to our daughter, G, today.

After breakfast I started getting ready for my lunch date with six friends from high school. We met at La Veranda Osteria at Royal York and Bloor. For lunch they have a prix fix menu for $15.99 which includes an appetizer and a main dish. None of us had ever been there and we weren’t disappointed. I was so caught up in the conversation that I didn’t take one photo of our reunion and we were there for 2 1/2 hours. As we were leaving we promised that we would get together again in a few months.

When I returned home I put on some gardening clothes and started to clean the yard. There are definitely signs of new growth but the seed heads and dried grasses still dominate the garden. It’ll be a few more weeks before we start to see real change.

After filling in the last yard waste bag I took a walk through the neighbourhood and noticed a lot of activity. People were out and about, enjoying the sun and the mild temperatures. It was also very evident that a lot of spring cleaning had taken place this weekend.

Of course now that the weekend is over all I can think of are the things that didn’t get done. I did get out for one more walk before dinner with the dog but I’m probably still shy about 1000 steps of my goal. Unfortunately it’s too late to do it now because it’s after 11:00 and I need to get to bed. As it is I’m not going to reach my goal of 8 hours of sleep tonight, either. Oh well, c’est la vie!

Cheers!

Five Stories, Five Photos Challenge – Day 4

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Mama Cormier

I was invited by Elizabeth from Tea and Paper to join the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge “Post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge.” Elizabeth is a fellow Canadian who lives close by but never reveals exactly where. She loves to journal, take photographs and write poetry.

Tulips

My art is simple, almost child-like. I don’t paint to become the next Picasso or Frida Khalo or Matisse. I paint for me. If you like it, that’s wonderful; if you don’t that’s okay too. I take joy in the process. It relaxes me, gives me a sense of purpose and allows me to be creative and experiment with new techniques.

Tulips was done on a piece of birch plywood. The technique was new to me. I drew the flowers with a pink marker directly onto the board and then covered it with Gesso. When the Gesso dried the pink showed through enough to paint around the image. Before adding colour, more Gesso is applied to create texture. When the second coat dried, I used very wet watercolour to wash over the Gesso. When that dried the whole piece was rubbed and buffed with a damp cloth. The image was outlined with pencil and marker and shaded with charcoal.

Carla Sonheim taught me the technique. I’m taking a year long on-line art class with her and Lynn Whipple called Year of the Spark. I believe over 600 students, world-wide have signed up for this class. It’s wonderful sharing our work on a special FaceBook page and receiving comments and support from like-minded people.

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Today I’d like to invite Joanne from My Life Lived Full. Joanne is another Canadian blogger. I love her sense of humour and gusto for life. I hope she accepts the challenge.

Share Your World – Week 14

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..join the fun and Share Your World with us

What type of music relaxes you the most or do you prefer silence?

Sometimes I need complete silence. Being surrounded by children all day can take it’s toll. I do, however, love music. It can inspire me to paint and motivate me to move but if I need to relax I need, for lack of a better term, ‘spa music’. I know that there is a word for this type of music but i’m having a ‘_________’ moment. Maybe you can fill in the blank or come up with the name I’m looking for.

Show us a two of your favorites photographs? Explain why they are your favorite. If you are not a photographer, think of a two favorite scenes in your life and tell us about them.

This is hard because I’ve taken thousands of photos. I’d probably have to chose recent photos. One that stands out for me was the photo where I was able to capture a water drop coming from a faucet. It’s not a perfect shot but capturing that split second gave me quite a thrill.

Another photo that I like is one that I took yesterday. People were feeding the seagulls down by the lake and there was quite a feeding frenzy. I love being able to catch birds in flight and in this shot a seagull flew in front of my shot just at the right moment.

What is your favorite tradition? (family tradition, church tradition, whatever)

Our favourite family tradition is having everyone over on Christmas Eve. It’s a German tradition that my husband adopted when we were married and one he refuses to give up. My husband prepares food all day long. The menu varies from year to year. We often have mulled wine, a shrimp ring, and a cheese and meat platter. Those are standard items. Some years we’ve had a hearty homemade lentil soup made with a pork hock. One year my daughter brought over Chinese steamed buns and another time my husband made Jamaican roti and a Guiness punch. We nibble all night long and we slowly open gifts. Christmas Day is more low key. Some years when all our children are at the homes of their significant others we order in Chinese food and go out for a movie.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 50?

If I could go back to being 18 I would tell myself to listen to and learn from my elders and spend more time with them. I know that sometimes parents say the strangest things and I couldn’t wait to move away from home when I was 18. When I graduated from university I got married right away so I never did live at home again. I would also tell myself to put away a certain amount of money every month and never touch it until retirement. We started doing that but life doesn’t always go as planned and our nest egg disappeared. Luckily I have a very good pension fund as a teacher. I would also tell myself to pay off my credit cards in full every month. The last thing I would tell myself is to never count on an inheritance to feather your own nest. The unexpected can happen and generally people live longer.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for the long Easter weekend and time spent with my family. My husband made a delicious pork roast and roasted vegetables and homemade cheese biscuits. My youngest daughter made a tasty Caprese salad with homemade mozzarella cheese and my oldest daughter baked a scrumptious plum cake that she served with homemade roibus tea ice-cream. I set the table and made the place setting cards.

This week I’m looking forward to lunch with friends from high school. It will the first time that we’ve all gotten together since the passing of our dear friend Marcia last July. It was because of Marcia that we all reunited in the first place and we vowed that we would continue to see each other at least once a year, if not more often.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 13

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..four more great questions from Cee

What was your favorite subject in school?

I want to say art but I didn’t take one art class in high school. Not because I didn’t want to. If I could have chosen any subjects I wanted I would have taken music, art and Family Studies but I was restricted to Latin and one other elective. I ended up taking Family Studies because I knew from the time I was twelve that I wanted to be a Family Studies teacher. So I guess I’d have to say that my favourite subject included cooking and sewing.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away” (George Carlin). When have you had such a moment?

I guess I’d have to say at the births of my children.

What’s your choice: jigsaw, crossword, or numeric puzzles?

I like all three. I did a lot of jigsaw puzzles as a child. Now I do the occasional crossword but my favourite puzzles are Sudoku.

If you found an obviously abandoned car with $50,000 in the back seat, what would you do?

I think I would hand it into the police and hope that no one claims it and that the money can’t be traced. Eventually the money would be mine.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I took a trip to Oshawa with my husband and daughter, G to visit my Dad. He recently sold his house and it was the first time G and my husband saw the new apartment. It was also the first time that I saw it furnished. Dad and Gu did a great job arranging their furniture in this new space and finding a place for all their belongings. I’m grateful that the move went without a hitch and that my 88 year father withstood the stress of moving. This week I’m looking forward to Easter and having the whole family (minus my son and his fiance in England) over for dinner on Saturday. I’m also looking forward to some warmer temperatures, even if they are suppose to be short lived.