..…I think I’m two weeks behind so today you get two monsters for the price of one
So happy that my husband is back making these cute paintings. This time around he’s using watercolour paints instead of markers.
…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.
….pulled out the lights and strung them on the outside tree
On the weekend we cleaned up the garden and put away the lawn furniture. We took out the snow shovel and snow blower and put the garden tools and rakes back in the garage. I also found the outdoor Christmas lights and dragged them out as well.
On Saturday our eldest daughter came over helped me put up the lights. This has to be the earliest I’ve ever put up the lights. I’m usually the one who gets to it a few days before Christmas. This year because of COVID we decided to try and make the Christmas season as cheerful as possible seeing that there will be no Santa Claus parade, shopping mostly on-line or curb side pick-up and no family gatherings.
We’re planning on a Zoom Christmas for now. In Toronto we’re in lockdown again for at least four weeks. To keep our spirits up we’re planning on decorating as normal, doing a cookie exchange and doing drop off deliveries of presents and goodies.
Our first snow was pretty slim down by the lake but other parts of Toronto and north of the city there was quite a bit of snow. Most of it has now melted but I’m sure there will be lots more to come in the next few months.
I’m glad we got the lights up when we did. It was probably the last nice day for awhile. Now that they’re up it helps boost my mood and I’m starting to pull out more decorations.
….thank goodness for the beautiful weather we’ve had in November
The last two days have been more normal in terms of November weather but prior to this we’ve had the most glorious, warm and sunny days. Our eldest daughter celebrates her birthday in November so we were thankful that we were able to get together with the family and have a small celebration on the deck in the backyard.
Blowing out the candles has also taken on a new format. I lit the candles on the cake and then we removed them one at a time and my daughter blew them out individually away from the cake. Well that was the plan but it turned out that the candles had burned down too far so she tried to put the candles out by waving her hand over them.
That didn’t work very well so she tried to extinguish the candles by snuffing them out with popcorn. That worked somewhat but the popcorn caught fire.
In the end no one was harmed and the cake was delicious.
….a time to reflect on my Father’s life
Dad always said that November was the hardest month of the year for him. It always made him feel sad, especially in the last few years of his life. He was a very young man, only 17, when he joined the army and he saw many of his friends die before his eyes. He often wondered why he was spared.
The other thing that I think he found difficult was the fact that he fought for the ‘other side’ and he knew that no one, here, would be thanking him for his service. He never talked about it but I know that it weighed heavily on him. I do know that he was always very grateful for the friendships he forged after the war, first with the Americans who helped him after he escaped the Russian prison camp and then with the English who gave him his first job.
Years later he emigrated from Germany to Canada with his new and growing family. He quickly got a good job at the Royal York Hotel in his chosen line of work. He was able to buy a car almost right away and four years after arriving in Toronto he bought his first home in Oakville. Dad always made friends easily with other German immigrants and Canadians alike. No one seemed to look down on him because he fought in the German army.
Over the years Dad pursued a variety of jobs but his happiest days were as an entrepreneur. When I was 16, Mom and Dad started their own fabric and sewing machine business and never looked back. Again Dad was at the top of his game when he was surrounded by people and both he and Mom had close ties with the business and local community.
As the years passed, Dad lost my mother while vacationing in Mexico in 1993 and then his second wife in 2017. When he turned 90 in 2016 we had a big party for him. Despite having lost numerous friends already he always made new friends where ever he went and yet come November he would always reflect on those who had died before him and he would fall into a deep depression.
Dad passed away almost four weeks ago. This Remembrance Day I will reflect on all the good times I had with him in my lifetime. It will be bittersweet. This painting is dedicated to you Dad.
….for five year old Winnie
I wanted to post this 10 days ago but with my father’s demise the day after these photos were taken I was ……well you can imagine how my blog was not my priority.
Now that things are settling down but nowhere near normal I’m trying to find joy again in the little things, like taking photographs of autumn leaves and flowers and taking walks with friends (with masks on). I’m on the phone a lot catching up with friends because COVID makes visiting in person difficult.
This year for my granddaughter’s fifth birthday we were suppose to get together for a birthday celebration in our backyard on Thanksgiving Monday but our daughter in Hamilton (Winnie’s Mom) received a COVID alert that she had been close to someone who has the virus. Out of caution they decided not to come to Toronto.
On Wednesday they decided that a drive by birthday for Winnie would be okay if we stayed apart and wore masks. Before they arrived I put out chairs on the front lawn and placed her birthday presents next to the chairs and her cake on the wall next to the driveway.
It was different. No hugs and kisses. We stayed on the porch while Winnie opened her gifts and then she dug into a piece of cake. She loved having cake at 10:00 in the morning. The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes. Then we blew her kisses through our masks and they were off to the Toronto Zoo.
This last photo was sent to me by Winnie’s Mom. At the zoo they had these decorated hay bales and Winnie wanted to pose in front of every single one. This one was my favourite.
….at 94 my father took his last breath on October 15, 2020
You may have noticed that I have not been very active on my blog in the last few day. The loss of my father has been very difficult and making arrangements for his cremation has been very time consuming. My husband has made many of the calls to family and friends to inform them of our loss and for that I am eternally grateful. Slowly I have been able to speak to those close to me and many of them have stepped up to let others know of Dad’s passing.
https://cremationcare.ca/tribute/details/340/Heinz-Winkler/obituary.html
COVID of course has made it impossible to have the big funeral Dad had always hoped for. Yesterday we were allowed a small gathering of 10 family members for 30 minutes to say farewell and pay our respects. For those in attendance it helped bring us closure and for that we are grateful.
I want people to know that Dad did not suffer pain and that in his final hours he slept and passed away peacefully with me by his side. Again COVID did not allow more than one family member to be present in the hospital and even with that I needed a special designation to be there. The nurses and support staff were wonderful and tried to give me as much emotional support as possible in my time of need. The hardest part for me was having to deal with this on my own and not having my family there. In the end Dad got his wish and died in his sleep.
….I’m a little late into the challenge but thanks to Becky B for hosting another wonderful square challenge for the month of Octoberhttps://beckybofwinchester.com/2020/10/08/kinda-square-8/
My father is definitely one of a kind. He turned 94 yesterday. He looks a little rough around the edges here in this photo but for good reason. Two weeks ago he fell and broke his collarbone. He refused to go to the hospital but realized two days later that maybe that was a mistake. Unfortunately when he was diagnosed with a broken clavicle he was also told that it would take at least 6 weeks to heal and other than rest and Tylenol there wasn’t much else that could be done.
After six days Dad was ready to get back on his mobility scooter and do some shopping. He loves to shop. I offered to pick up what he needed but he got impatient with me and left before I returned home from helping a friend with her own mobility issues. Luckily the trip was without incident and he got everything he wanted. Now almost two weeks later he went out again to do some grocery shopping but I think this time he over did it. So on his birthday, yesterday, we planned a small party with four of us and ordered Chinese food from his favourite restaurant. When it was time to eat Dad struggled to get up the stairs but he refused to give up. After eating he returned to his apartment and went straight to bed. I’m happy to report that he seems better today.
…after arriving at the cottage we had a quick snack and then decided to explore the beach
Now that the days are getting shorter my daughter and I knew that we didn’t have a lot of time to walk on the beach before darkness set in. After sitting in the car for over three hours we needed to stretch our legs. We fuelled up on some tea and homemade apple cake and then headed down to the beach. We were pleasantly surprised to find the the water level had gone down somewhat since our last visit so walking on the beach was considerably easier than it was two weeks ago.
Mama Cormier 