…last Tuesday, Brendan, Sevin and I decided to go to the AGO
When I booked the tickets I knew that Tuesday would be the last day before another lockdown here in Ontario. Frankly I was quite surprised at how many people had the same idea, especially since it was a Tuesday and many people were back to work, mostly remotely, but none the less there was a bit of a line-up to get in even with timed tickets.
I really wanted to see Picasso’s Blue Period but Sevin was not really into this show so we walked through quickly. Hopefully I can go back when the lockdown is lifted.
One of my favourite areas of the AGO is the Galleria Italia with its floor to ceiling windows and beautiful wooden arched beams. I thought Sevin would enjoy this more and of course she found a seat to sit in right away. Since COVID the cafe in the galleria is closed and the tables have been removed. In its place a number of bronze sculptures are prominently displayed.
Sunbird II by Soral Etrog, 1962Andrieu D’Andres by Auguste Rodin, 1888-89Eustache de Saint-Pierre by Auguste Rodin, 1887Fisher-boy Dancing the Tarantella by Francisique-Joseph Duret, 1883
…after a trip to the ROM I was delighted to find these trios
A Trio of Toy Teacups MiniaturesA Display of COVID MasksBonus – three t-shirts that my daughter in New Brunswick made for Winnie
If you have any photos of trios, why not join the fun and post some on your blog. Copy my link and post it into your blog and I will get a pingback. I promise I will get back to you. Apologies to those who posted over the holidays. I’ve been very busy with family and have not been on the computer as much as I normally am. I’ll get to your comments shortly. Happy New Year, everyone.
Last week my son and I, along with my granddaughter took a car ride to the Royal Ontario Museum. My son really wanted to see the Photography exhibit and I knew that Sevin would be less than impressed. I was, however quite surprised when I saw how easily she amused herself. It wasn’t the photos that caught her attention but the chairs that were placed throughout the exhibit.
When my kids were little they were allowed to watch Sesame Street. Not only was it educational but it also gave me a bit of time to myself while the kids were entertained. Things are not much different today except that there is way more variety and kids’ shows can be viewed on tablets and phones as well as TVs.
Now that our granddaughter from England is here visiting us we have discovered that she loves Peppa Pig (as did her older cousin at the same age) and Sarah and Duck. Whenever she gets a bit cranky, out comes the phone with the downloaded episodes that Mama and Papa preloaded before they arrived.
Last week when the family went out for a walk, Kevin went to his drawing table and drew Sarah and Duck and pasted it to the front door. When she returned home this is what she found.
…after waiting almost two years I finally got to meet my granddaughter
This Christmas was touch and go. As many of you know our sweet Frances had to be put down last week. If that wasn’t bad enough our daughter in New Brunswick, Gaelan, cancelled her trip to Toronto because of the Omicron variant. All the things I had planned to do with Winnie went out the window. I don’t blame them for not coming. Things got complicated with having to put their dog in a kennel and then they had to be back by December 31st because the kennel was closing down for a two week vacation.
That same day we found out the our daughter-in-law had tested positive for COVID so that meant that two more people were not coming to the house for Christmas. Luckily Josie didn’t have to be hospitalized and our daughter Andrea continues to test herself and the results regularly show negative for COVID. In the meantime on the east coast, Gaelan has been testing herself and she kept getting a faint positive result. Fortunately the last couple of tests have come up negative. On Christmas Eve, Kevin and I spent the evening together sans family.
Fingers crossed that Brendan and his family were going to get here from the U.K. Not only was the spread of the variant rampant there but the airlines were starting to cancel flights because they didn’t have the staff to man the flights. On Christmas Day I finally breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that they were on the plane. When they arrived it was raining but seeing my granddaughter for the first time was like a ray of sunshine.
Jet lag is tough for adults but particularly hard on toddlers. On Sevin’s first night she was up at 3:30 am. I normally sleep till 8:00 but I was in and out of sleep till about 7:00 and I finally decided to get up and actually get outside early and catch the sunrise. We all got warmly dressed. At the least the rain had stopped and we got a peak of the sun coming through the clouds. Seeing that we were up we walked over to the playground so that Sevin could explore.
Today it started to snow. We spent the morning playing with Play Dough and Sevin and I filled the bird feeder and watched the birds and squirrels come for breakfast.
We’re hoping to make some video calls to New Brunswick later today and hopefully we’ll be able to see Andrea and Josie in the next few days. Fingers crossed again.
…I’ve been MIA for the last two days dealing with a very sick Frances
Frances was our beloved dog for over 14 years. It was just a few days ago that I announced that she turned 15 and little did I know that 5 days later she would be gone. It is never easy to have to make the decision to put down an animal. We both knew that the time would come when we would probably have to make that decision. Apparently very few dogs die naturally.
My husband always said that Frances was his dog but we had a special bond of our own. When I came home from work she would always greet me at the door and even in retirement she would come to me for walks. She loved going to the cottage with me, when Kevin couldn’t and she quickly learned that I had a soft touch when it came to doling out treats. Kevin always gave her liver treats before he retired for the evening but as soon as he went upstairs she would start on me. She knew she could break me down if she was persistent enough and she was persistent.
A couple of weeks ago I ran into a neighbour who was out walking her second dog. Her first dog had passed away a couple of years ago. Frances and Pichou were puppy friends. She was amazed that Frances was still with us and she declared that Frances was the last of the six or seven puppies that hung around together in the summer of 2007.
Every time we have a dog, my husband firmly announces that there will be no more dogs when the present one goes but this time he started thinking about the next dog he wants to own. This time I’m the one that says no more dogs (for now anyway). I was hoping that travel would be in the cards for us and having a dog just complicates that. It will seem odd though not having a dog in the house. We’ve had dogs for the last 38 years. Who do you think will win this argument?
Frances, the semi-wonder dogFrances at the cottage this past summer
….from Tonguely, Monster Monday and Wacky Bird Wednesday
Last week was busy with doctors’ appointments, art openings and clearing out my father’s apartment. Consequently, some of Kevin’s drawings were somewhat late and I was even later in posting them. Even Tonguely couldn’t believe that another Friday had come so quickly.
Last week a very large delivery was made to the house. It was the Murphy bed we had ordered for the guest suite in the basement. It was so large that Kevin put out an SOS for volunteers to come and help us take it down the stairs. One of his followers on Instagram is an artist in Amsterdam and he suggested that his mouse characters, the Schurkies, (@de_schurkies) could come to assist. Instead Kevin created his own cousins to the Schurkies and in lieu of Monster Monday he drew these guys, moving the box to the basement. In reality we had two strong young men come to the house and in five minutes they had the box down the stair. Now we have to assemble it.
For Wacky Bird Wednesday, this bird was inspired by our Miss Winnie’s daily outdoor classes at Forest School. Apparently in NB this grade one class spends every morning in the forest next to the school to learn science and math.
My daughter posted this photo of her and her brother and sister from 38 years ago on our Family Page yesterday. It’s one of my favourite photos. Recently I put together a photo tribute for my Dad’s memorial and I came across this trio of my Dad, Mom and her sister, taken about 30 years ago.
Mama Cormier 