A Road Trip to the Country

….titile for my third painting for the New Members Show in January

My third intuitive painting turned into another floral abstract but it is probably the least abstract of the three paintings. It reminded me of the wild flowers along the edge of the highway on our way to the cottage, hence the name.

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The Greenest Christmas Tree Hunt Ever

….with very little snow on the ground

On Thursday the family who reside in Ontario all travelled to a Spruce Meadows Christmas Trees near Hamilton. It was very mild, sunny and there was little snow left on the ground. When Kevin and I arrived in our car we were the first of the family there and in fact we were the only people there for a short while. Apparently the weekend before the place was so busy that the entire field was filled with cars.

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It didn’t take long before the rest of the family arrived, all wearing masks and ready to trek to the tree field. My daughter, Gaelan and her husband, Brendan were looking for a tall tree to fit into their Victorian style dining room while the rest of us were more content with much smaller trees.

60966-FD6-7-BA8-4-A68-8111-BFBA672-CFF00 BE59-D674-0-C87-4654-8682-9-B514-F65-E391 42835-FE7-4-BAE-414-E-BB47-EF49-A8200-FED After Brendan cut down the tree for their home Winnie was content to find any small patch of snow to play and chase after Olive. 0-E2-DD826-36-AF-4-BE5-B206-3-A44-E6-F1558-C BA957-C3-D-6-E96-4048-8244-84-A737-F373-C7 BD2-AC383-B968-4-E61-90-E7-C2147-FED46-AF Once we all cut down our chosen trees we headed back to the bundling area, had the trees netted and then loaded onto and into the cars. Normally we would have all gone back to Gaelan’s house for refreshments but this time we all went our separate ways. 12-AA8703-B7-E8-488-B-91-E6-86228-C9-E9046 A439-D9-FD-5889-4534-BCEC-2236-A8386141 927-BAB19-DA8-A-4356-8-D93-831-C6-E091704 19-F60-C32-7-CC7-4244-875-A-CB72-D0-C39747 Later that evening Winnie put the finishing touch on their tree. I hate to admit it but our tree is still in the back of the car. 240-C3-A7-F-0515-4152-A47-D-101-E760-F45-CD

Memories of Nowruz

…this name came from my daughter-in-law who was reminded of the Persian New Year, Nowruz

The colours in my second painting reminded my son’s wife of the colours associated with Nowruz. I thought it was the perfect title for my second entry into the New Members Show at WAAC in January. I’m really enjoying my experiments with intuitive painting.

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Cold But Sunny

…makes for a brisk walk in the park

As winter approaches we still make an effort to go for walks. Putting on my down coat, scarf, mittens and a hat makes the walk bearable and when the sun shines even pleasant. We had another one of those beautiful days on Sunday.

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One Word Sunday – Seasonal

…thanks to Debbie for hosting One Word Sunday https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/7279497/posts/3060650678

With Christmas around the corner and COVID all around us we’ve decided to decorate for the holiday season early. Every day I’ve been pulling out some decorations and lovingly finding a special corner for them. Now some of you might think that this isn’t early at all but for me, the person who decorates her tree on Christmas Eve, this is early.

We were suppose to get our tree on Friday but we had to postpone because one of our daughters found out that she had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. As soon as we find out that she’s negative (hopefully) we’ll find another time to drive to a tree farm to get the tree.

So my entry for Seasonal is related to the Christmas season. Here are some of the decorations that are up in the house. The outside has been done for weeks already.

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December Came in Like a Lion

…after those beautiful spring like days at the end of November

I love the first snow, especially when there’s a lot of it. The first snow this year was just a dusting for us back in mid November but the snowfall on December 1st was magical. Most of it has already melted but it was nice for the first two days. Here are a few shots from my garden.

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These snow tires were installed the next day.

Thankful for One More Splendid Day In November

….Nov. 29th proved to be an awesome day for a walk

I’m so happy that my husband and I could enjoy one more mild day in November and get out for our longest walk yet. We were in good company. I think half the neighbourhood decided to take advantage of this good weather.

One pleasant surprise was seeing the para sailors out with their kites on the water. I’m sure the Lake must be very cold but that didn’t deter these hearty souls from enjoying skimming across the water and flipping through the air.

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I said earlier that this is the longest walk we’ve done in awhile. My husband managed to make it all the way to the point and back which is approximately 4.6 kilometres. The cyclist, dog walkers and even the fishermen were out on Sunday. It’s a good thing we all took advantage of the good weather because the last day of November turned out to be cold, grey and rainy.

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A COVID Picnic in November

…with this unusually warm and sunny weather in the last weekend of November we were able to get together with family for an outdoor picnic

Every time I say that we’ve seen the end of the good weather for awhile we get these amazing days. So we decided to make the most of it and I organized a picnic lunch with my daughter and her family who live in Hamilton. They thought it was a great idea and they drove to Toronto to spend some time with me and my husband.

I quickly drove to the deli up the street and picked up fresh buns, cheese, coldcuts and a few jam filled Polish donuts. I made up sandwiches and packed our lunches in separate bags and with masks on we started to walk to Col. Sam Smith Park which is about a kilometre from the house. After awhile we took off our masks and stayed socially distant from each other.

It was a lovely walk and we found a bench to sit on and Gaelan’s family sat on the rocks so we could enjoy our lunch. It’s these small pleasures in life that make for memorable moments and help make the isolation of COVID bearable.

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Water, Water Everywhere – November 27, 2020

…thanks to Jez for hosting Water, Water Everywhere https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2020/11/23/water-water-everywhere-52-fan-of-85/

The Pond in Col. Sam Smith Park

On our walk today I noticed that the water levels in Lake Ontario and the pond that feeds into the lake are considerably lower than what we’ve begun to consider normal. My husband and I were discussing the theories as to why this happens. With the polar ice cap melting we would expect it to rise so a lot of strange conspiratorial theories were being thrown about to our amusement.

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Humber College Through the Trees

….today’s walk with Kevin

While the weather is still somewhat pleasant and my husband is feeling relatively well, we’ve been taking walks together around the neighbourhood and over to the parks. Today we got as far Col. Sam Smith Park and headed up towards Humber College.

I love the grounds and the old buildings of the south campus. These building used to be part of the old psychiatric hospital that closed down in the the late 70s. The buildings were all restored to their former glory but instead of hospital wards they became classrooms and offices for Humber College. Some of you might even recognize one of the buildings that was used in the Police Academy movies before the restoration took place.

Now that the leaves have all fallen I found it interesting to shoot some of these old buildings through the branches for a slightly different perspective.

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