…my husband’s Valentine’s Day wish to Winnie
Last night my husband told me that he sent off Winnie’s Valentine’s Day wish for today. When I told him that he had done it a day too soon he shrugged his shoulders and said that it didn’t matter because she was already prepping for Easter.
Here she is singing ‘Let it Be’. What a ham!
….thank you Dad
My Dad was hinting at buying me chocolates for Valentine’s Day and I asked him not to. I also warned him that flowers are very expensive as well and it would be better to wait. On Sunday I took him to Costco with me because he loves to shop and there are things that he only likes to buy there. We usually split up and meet at the checkout. He was just ahead of me and I noticed that he had a bouquet of flowers in his basket. Thanks Dad.
….had to ask where the cubby was
When our granddaughter saw today’s drawing she said it had to go in the cubby. We know that at preschool she has a cubby to store her personal items. Maybe all Valentine related things need to stay there until the big day.
….it’s Valentine’s Day, Papa
In honour of Valentine’s Day, you’ll see a heart theme for the next few days. The first is a Valentine’s Day Bear.
….two days late but celebrations are taking place all week
It’s the Year of the Pig on the Chinese calendar and celebrations are in full swing all over the world where Chinese communities exist. To honour the Earth Pig I decided to create a collage over a quick sketch of a pig I had done last year. I actually love drawing pigs and this one was one of my practice pigs. There are actually other ‘pig parts’ on this page as well but I chose to cover them with some printed transparency film.
Gong Hei Fat Choy to all my colleagues and friends who celebrate Chinese New Year.
….just when I thought I was done
I mentioned in one of my recent posts about Christmas that a very good friend of ours who almost always spends Christmas Eve with us couldn’t come over this past year. My daughter arranged for the three of us to get together last week for lunch.
I packed up all the gifts that I had for her, put them in my car and then headed out for Montgomery’s Inn where I volunteered to help put up an art show. I’ve never done a professional exhibit before and I found it exciting helping the artist decide where and how to hang her work. The artist’s name is Sharon McManus and I will probably share more about her work after the official opening this Saturday.
When we finished hanging all the pieces I made my way to Arlene’s place. We met in her condo where she still had up all her Christmas decorations, including her white tree that she’s had since the 60s.
Andrea arrived soon after and we all went down the street to the local Sushi restaurant. We toasted in the New Year with a little saki and warmed our tummies with a bowl of ramen.
When we went back to the condo and Arlene opened her gifts. She loves Henkel Trocken and it’s become a tradition to place a bottle in her Christmas stocking. 
Before we left she made us coffee and we shared a muffin and some cookies. Andrea also taught her how to use her camera on her phone so we played around posing for pictures.
I think this is pretty much the end of our Christmas season, although my niece and her husband celebrated Orthodox Christmas a couple of days ago.
There are still a few remnants of Christmas around the neighbourhoods and some of the lights will stay up well past Valentine’s Day but for the most part the decorations are starting to come down and the greenery is starting to whither. Some people are sad that the holiday season is now over. As for me I’m looking forward to some rest and returning to a more normal routine of eating. How about you?
….my twins are 37 years old
Last Sunday my babies turned 37. Our son travelled to Uruguay this Christmas to spend time with his wife’s family. Her uncle rented a ranch house by the ocean and while we were enduring the cold here in Canada they were basking in the sun at the beach. My son was literally burning (at least his feet were).
For his pre-birthday dinner he was treated to a South American BBQ with lots of meat on the grill.
Meanwhile back here in Canada we celebrated his twin sister’s birthday in her home. We decided on a Persian themed pot luck supper. My husband picked up some meat kabobs and eggplant dip from our local Persian restaurant and he made a pot of Gormeh Sabzi (Green Herb Stew). Our son-in-law made a Fesenjan (Pomegranate Walnut Stew) and a Jewelled Rice (rice with nuts and dried fruit). Andrea made a Cauliflower Kuku (cauliflower frittata made with eggs). Everything was delicious. I think Azadeh would have approved.
Winnie insisted that Mom needed a birthday cake so Gaelan whipped up a cheesecake with a hazelnut base. It was outstanding.
Of course it wouldn’t be a birthday without opening gifts. It turned out that some of us also got to open some Christmas presents from our friend who was unable to come to our house on Christmas Eve.
All in all it was a great day.
…..on Boxing Day the sewer started backing up into the basement
Soon after doing the laundry we noticed that water was coming up through the sewer drain in the basement. Luckily it was only a large puddle around the drain and it was easily soaked up with rags but soon after when someone showered it happened again. We decided to carefully ration the water until we could get a plumber to the house. We called the next morning but because it wasn’t an immediate emergency we had to wait one more day before the plumber could get to our house.
On the 28th a camera and a plumbing snake were lowered into the drain. At 41 feet the camera came across the problem. The clay pipe at the Y junction had collapsed and only a small area was letting water get through. That meant that paper and some ‘matter’ was building up at the break and water was having a hard time passing through. Plumber Joe was able to clear the blockage but it was only a temporary fix. The pipe had to be removed and replaced. There was only one problem; the broken pipe was in the middle of my neighbour’s driveway and her car was sitting on top of it.
Now that might not seem like a huge problem but the car hadn’t been moved in almost two years and no amount of pushing would move it back the three feet we needed to get to the problem. We tried calling CAA but they didn’t show up and when I called they said that our coverage didn’t cover moving the neighbour’s car. Now what?
The next morning we figured out why we couldn’t put the car into neutral. Newer cars are all controlled by the electrical system and since the battery was completely dead we needed to give the car a boost. Eureka! We got the car started and backed it up the three feet that we needed. Unfortunately by the time we called our plumber back he was already on another job and couldn’t come till Monday, Dec. 31.
Our third day of Christmas was suppose to happen on the 28th but due to a miscommunication my sister’s family was planning on arriving on the 29th. At the time I thought the plumbing was going to be fixed on that day so I wasn’t too anxious about having eight adults and a baby in the house. When they arrived I explained the situation and asked them to use the bathroom sparingly. In the end we decided to go out for dinner instead of eating at home. Before we left we opened more gifts and phoned the restaurant to make sure that they could accommodate our large group.
In the end it turned out that the restaurant was a good option all around. There were no dishes for me to wash (couldn’t run the dishwasher), everyone was able to order according to their dietary needs and likes, we arrived after the rush, the service was great and we were able to spend time talking to one another without worrying about our plumbing problem. My sister and her family all live out of town and my nephew had flown in from California. If we hadn’t gotten together that day it probably wouldn’t have happened. Thanks for small blessings.
…..after Christmas Eve the festivities continue
Christmas Day this year was a very relaxed day. We opted to forgo the turkey dinner and order in Chinese food. After a bit of a lie in I convinced my father to go for a walk with me through the neighbourhood and check out the decorations. We donned our Santa hats and off we went.
Our daughter and daughter-in-law arrived later in the afternoon and we opened more presents. Everybody was on board with Chinese food, especially my father, and we ordered for a pick-up. I don’t know if you’re aware but Chinese food restaurants are very busy on Christmas Day. Eating at home was less hectic than eating out and much cheaper.
After dinner clean-up was very easy. We packed up the leftovers and gave some to all the parties present. All of us had another meal the next day.
Later the girls and I dressed warmly and took the dogs for a walk and checked out the lights around the neighbourhood.
….the holiday season is always busy
Now that my children have all grown up and moved out Christmas has become more complicated. This year we had three separate Christmas gatherings.
Christmas Eve is usually the day that we celebrate with the immediate family. Every other year our oldest daughter and her wife join the Italian side of the family and come to our place on Christmas Day. This was one of those years.
Our son didn’t join us this year. We were very fortunate to see him twice in the same year. The first time was in the summer when he was able to combine business with pleasure and in October we went to London where he lives. This Christmas they decided to visit Azadeh’s family in Iran in early December and then they were invited to join her uncle and his family in South America.
On Christmas Eve our daughter, Gaelan and her husband, daughter and mother-in-law joined us for our traditional German Christmas. Platters of cookies, plates of cheese and meat, crackers and bread and a variety of nibbles were set out to graze on. My husband also made a pot of meatballs and a tourtière.
We always open our presents on Christmas Eve. My husband has always liked this German tradition and adopted it as soon as we were married. Having a three year at the party made this year’s
evening extra special. Winnie loved opening presents and helped hand out the Christmas stockings. When all the presents were opened she carefully packed all her gifts into a very large bag that I had purchased to wrap her art tray. The other kid at the party was my 92 year old father. He really got a kick out of his stocking this year.
Day 2 to be continued ………
Mama Cormier 