…..I recently downloaded an app called Photo Sketch that turns photos into sketches or adds filters
Turn Back the Clock
If only it was
that simple to erase the
lines and flaws of time
Weekly Photo Challenge: Selfie
2
Category Archives: About Me
29 Faces Challenge – Day 5
….from the cover of the cookbook ‘Two Greedy Italians’
I had no intention of turning him into a ‘blue man’ but when I washed over the black marker it bled into a deep blue.
Share Your World – Week 5, 2014
….here’s how I feel in this moment in time…..tomorrow my answers could be different
If you had a choice to live anywhere would be your preference salt water beaches, forest, fresh water lakes, hot tub, ski resort or desert?
My preference would be a fresh water beach. My cottage is on the most beautiful beach in Georgian Bay. The bay is part of the Great Lakes in Ontario. I’m only there in the summer so I might not feel the same way if I lived there in the winter, especially this winter. It’s been brutally cold. So if I were to live in one place year round I might choose a salt water beach in a warm climate.
What was your favorite toy as a child . . . and now?
My mother hated clutter and if our toys weren’t put away they eventually ended up in the garbage. The only toy I can remember having for a long time was a baby doll that I named Dorothy. When you fed her she would wet her diapers and her eyes closed when you laid her down. Now my favourite toys are my laptop and my ukulele. I would be lost without my computer and I’ve only recently pulled my ukulele out of storage. Some day I might actually learn how to play it proficiently. Currently I know only a few chords. I need to practise, practise, practise…..
Which do you prefer sweet, salty or both at the same time?
I initially wanted to say sweet but I actually love both at the same time. My favourite popcorn is Chicago style which is a combination of cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn. Yum!
Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?
I prefer snowy winters but this year has been a bit much. It’s not the snow that bothers me but the frigid sub-zero temperatures and icy conditions have been extreme this year. I love the sound of soft crunchy snow under my boots and it has never stopped me from going for walks. The ice, however, this year has been treacherous and I spent some time in the emergency ward with my husband after he slipped and fell. Luckily he didn’t break anything but he did collapse his lungs and stretched the connective tissues between his ribs, causing him a great deal of pain. After three weeks he is just starting to feel better. Come to think of it, the winter where we had no snow and mild temperatures sounds pretty good right now. We were able to ride our bikes all winter. Hmmmm!!!!!
Footwear is Mandatory in Restaurant Kitchens
…I learned that the hard way tonight
I love to cook and since my husband does most of it, I’ve been a bit out of practice. Tonight I was draining the boiling water from the pasta when a large portion splashed out of the pan and onto the floor. Unfortunately my foot was in the way and I wasn’t wearing any footwear other than socks. Ouch!
I sat at the dinner table with a baggie of ice on top of my foot but I probably waited a little too long before I administered first aid to myself. The foot has already started to blister and at the moment it is stinging like crazy.
Maybe I’m taking this drawing thing a bit too far but I really didn’t think that the photograph did justice for the the pain I am feeling.
After reading about burns in restaurants I discovered that major burns are a frequent occurrence, particularly scald injuries (hot water from pasta pots). So to all my friends who work in kitchens and cook at home take this piece of advice…..wear shoes on your feet when working around hot water.
Cheers!
29 Faces Challenge
…..every day in the month of February I will post a new face that I have drawn
Now that my on-line course is finished I need to practise what I’ve learned and experiment with new techniques. I discovered a challenge over at 29 Faces Challenge and I’m hoping tp post one new drawing every day for the next 28 days. It’s called the 29 Faces Challenge because is was started in a Leap Year when February has 29 days.
After posting the line drawing of my friend L, I got a lot of positive comments. Even my friend L liked it but our friend M thought it made her look too old. I have to agree so I’ve done a new drawing from the same photograph. I think it’s much more flattering and I see the value of doing the assignments a couple of times.
Original drawing.
One Last Meeting Before Heading Home
….and then I was down for the count with a head cold
The day after the wedding the sisters and their families got together for one last meal before heading back to Toronto, Oshawa, Calgary, Vancouver and for two lucky people, Hawaii.
There was some discussion by the more practical in the group that meeting for brunch didn’t seem to be a very economic thing to do when the hotel provided a ‘perfectly good breakfast’. After some debate, it was agreed that it wasn’t about the food but rather a chance to get together one more time before heading off in separate directions.
At around 11:00 we all met at the local pancake house allowing the early risers to take advantage of the ‘free’ breakfast back at the hotel. Everyone, including the early risers ordered brunch. I don’t know where they found room to eat again and some of us were being served lunch on the train a few hours later. Anyway it was nice getting together one last time and making final plans for dropping off the rental car and deciding what to do for one hour before heading out to the train station.
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- The newly weds
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- My baby sister’s kids
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- My middle sister’s son
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- Group shot
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- My baby sister who hates having her picture taken.
Now living in Chatham has a few downsides. One of them is that the car rental place isn’t open on Sundays so there was no one to drive us to the train station after we dropped off the car. My brother-in-law agreed to follow me to the rental office, drop off the keys in the drop off box and then drive me back to the station where the luggage and my family would be waiting.
The other downside, however, was that the train station didn’t open it’s doors until 30 minutes before the train arrived. That meant that the luggage and my sister who had to give up her seat in the car for me and all my family had to wait outside in the freezing temperatures while I returned the car.
That brings me to the final downside and that is the weather in Chatham. It is considerably colder than Toronto or at least it tends to get the bad weather first as it blows through southern Ontario towards the big city. There’s not much one can do about the weather and it’s been a brutal winter all over Ontario this year but it was just one more ‘uncomfortable’ aspect of our return trip.
We said our good-byes and my baby sister and her family and then they drove off to Windsor to catch a flight to Toronto, where they would individually make connecting flights to Vancouver and Calgary. My sister and her husband had slightly different plans. They would be staying overnight at the airport hotel in Toronto and then catching a flight to Hawaii the next day where they would celebrate their wedding anniversary for two weeks. Nice!
The train trip back was most enjoyable for my father. We had the seats with the large table between us and our seat mates were very friendly and talkative. They quickly learned all about my father’s past, starting with the war, his emigration to Canada, getting his first job at the Royal York Hotel, my mother’s death and how he met his current wife. The four trip went by very quickly.
Once we were at Union Station, my daughters and I regrouped and we made sure that my Dad got to the Go Train waiting room and bought his ticket to return to Oshawa. He phoned me later that night to let me know that he returned ‘safe and sound’ and that his car was still in the parking lot where he left it, three days earlier.
My daughter and I shared a cab and we went back to her place where my husband picked me up. It was nice to be home and back in my own bed. The next day, however, I felt a cold coming on. Isn’t that always the way. I’m not surprised though; my brother-in-law was complaining about his cold all weekend and I did hug him several times.
I had plans to attend the show Les Mis on Thursday with two of my good friends and L’s mom and we were a bit worried about me passing on my cold to M. After three days of suffering at school I decided to take the day off on Thursday and just rest before going to the show. I have to say that it did wonders for me and I didn’t cough once at the show. The show by the way was fantastic. It was the first time I’ve seen it and apparently this show has been getting rave reviews.
So there’s my ‘Away and Down for the Count’ post done over three days. Thanks for your patience. I know that if you started reading mid way it was a bit confusing.
Cheers!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Object
…..this week’s challenge is to share a photo of one object
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/photo-challenge-object/
Exploring Faces
….3 days into a new online course
I recently signed up for another on-line course with Carla Sonheim. It’s called Faces 101 because by the end of the five day course I should have drawn and painted 101 faces. I’m already one day behind on my assignments but the good thing with this course is that once you purchase the program the assignments and videos are always available to you. I can post up to six of my best pieces onto a group page on Flickr daily and Carla will comment on my progress.
Here are a few of my faces so far:
Share Your World – Week 4, 2014
,,,,some interesting questions this week….had to think about some of them
Do you recharge your energy by going out with friends for a good time or by spending with quiet time alone? For a person who likes company and likes to ‘party’ you might find it surprising that I enjoy quiet time alone to re-energize. Going out tends to zap my energy. Staying home and reading a good book, painting or writing gives me a sense of accomplishment and that for me is energizing.
What is the most number of blankets you’ve ever had on your bed? I don’t like heavy blankets on the bed at night. I much prefer one cozy down comforter to keep me warm. I think the most number of blankets at any one time would be three but just the thought of that makes me uncomfortable.
You are invited to a party that will be attended by many fascinating people you never met. Would you attend this party if you were to go by yourself? I’m not sure I would go, especially by myself. If a friend wanted to go I might consider it. After all it might be fun meeting some of these people. My one concern would be that the evening could be a bust and then what would I do. If I went with a friend we could at least salvage the evening and go for a drink together and enjoy each other’s company.
Do you like talking to people on the phone? Or do you prefer voice mail or email? As much as I like the convenience of emails, I prefer to talk to people on the phone. An email and a one sided voice mail can be misinterpreted as to the person’s meaning or intent. Did that message have an angry tone to it?… is he joking? ….should I be concerned? On the phone you can address the person directly and probably hear in their voice how they’re feeling or what the intent of a statement meant and if you can’t you can ask them right away.
Away ….(Continued)
……the wedding and reception
After lunch last Saturday we all went back to the hotel to get ready for the church service. We were toying with the idea of taking a taxi to the reception so we wouldn’t have to worry about drinking and driving later on so I made the decision to not take the wedding gift with me to the church. Instead I would drive back to the hotel and then call a cab. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
On our way to the car we met up with some guests who we had met earlier in the day. They were also going to the church but had been waiting a long time for a cab. They had a similar experience earlier in the day when they waited 45 minutes before a cab picked them up. The van I rented could seat 7 people so we invited them to come with us and the hotel cancelled their cab. 
The wedding ceremony was very moving. Of course I started crying when my sister came down the aisle with her 25 year old son but I pulled myself together quickly. It was a choral wedding which means that the church choir sang throughout the service.
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- The three sisters taken 6 weeks ago.
Both my sister and her husband are members of this church and my sister also sings with this choir. The service was about an hour long and afterwards the families stayed behind so that pictures could be taken in the church.
The couple that we drove to the church needed a lift to the reception so I offered to drive them if they didn’t mind waiting while the photographer did his job. This, however, slightly changed my plans. After all the pictures were taken I drove everyone to the restaurant first but I still needed to pick up the wedding gift so I drove back to the hotel. My girls accompanied me so that I wouldn’t be alone and in the end we decided not to order a cab, considering how difficult it had been earlier in the day for the people that we drove. If we drank too much we would leave the van in the parking lot and order a cab from the restaurant.
The reception was a lot of fun. Instead of clinking glasses to make the bride and groom kiss, you had to take the cap gun and ‘shoot’ the new couple. It sounds a bit disturbing but that’s what they wanted. They both enjoy target shooting and D gets out with his brothers a couple times a year to go hunting. Living out there is quite different from the big city. In the end I only had one drink and really didn’t miss having more to drink. I danced all night with my sisters and nieces and nephews.
The highlight of the evening for my baby sister and I happened when our sister and our father danced together. My Dad is 87 years young and still loves to dance. He brought his dancing shoes with him and made sure to tell the DJ that he had done so. Everyone was in awe when they saw how spry my father is and how well the two of them danced with each other. My little sister cried. It was at that moment that we realized how lucky we are to still have our father with us. 
To be continued……..
Mama Cormier 