….thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge
I love babies and our family is expecting a new one in January. For this challenge I had to go back into the archives to bring you baby pictures.
Our granddaughter has always loved the camera. In the second shot you can see how she perked right up when she knew that her photo was being taken.
Olive as a young puppy.
Our niece’s little boy.
…thanks to Xingfu Mama for hosting Pull Up a Seat Challenge
Pull up a seat and enjoy our daughter’s birthday celebration.
or take a seat on this cold autumn morning and enjoy the view
or imagine what a Victoria Christmas would have been like in the 1800s.
…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge
When I think of brown I immediately think of our granddaughter’s beautiful brown eyes.
…convinced our granddaughter to put on her princess costume that she wouldn’t wear on Hallowe’en
Most children love to dress up. Our granddaughter is no exception. On Hallowe’en, however, she decided that she didn’t want to be a princess. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but her parents purchased this beautiful costume which was non-returnable.
Last weekend when we were in Hamilton for a visit we convinced Winnie to show off her Belle costume. Out came the wand, the necklace, the special shoes and the dress. The only part missing was the crown.
With any luck she’ll still be able to wear the costume next year.
…thanks to Leya for hosting this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge
Many of these photos were taken at art galleries in London, England and here in Toronto. Others are from the Toronto zoo and from the Highgate Cemetery in London. The one of my son-in-law is a selfie he took because he knew he was being followed by that fox. Being followed by a fox is the creepy part for me not my son-in-law.
….a wet night but that didn’t deter the trick or treaters
The weather for Hallowe’en was suppose to be so bad that there were parts of the country that were talking about postponing Hallowe’en night. Here in Toronto it was decided to leave Hallowe’en as is. We all have memories of going out on rainy and sometimes snowy nights to fill our bags with sugary treats. Back in the 50s crepe paper costumes were all the rage and I remember wearing one on a very wet night. Needless to say the costume fell apart and I was covered in dye that bled from the costume.
We never get a lot of children coming to our door. We are at the bottom of the street and many of our neighbours don’t turn on the lights or are purposely out for the evening. There are about five houses that always make an effort to decorate the yard and/or put out a Jack o Lantern. This year was no exception but it rained very heavily for most of the day and well into the evening. There were brief periods of time when the rain subsided but it kept returning and later in the evening the winds really started to kick up.
The surprise this evening was that the children and their parents came out in droves. Many carried umbrellas, some were driven from house to house but most of the children walked. At first it seemed like Hallowe’en night was going to be a bust but at about 6:45 small groups of kids of all ages started to appear at the door.
Normally we only get 15 to 25 visitors on Hallowe’en but tonight we had a record number of 62. I ran out of chips (56 bags) and only had 6 chocolate bars out of 120 left over. The only downside is that there is no candy to munch on for the next few days, especially since we don’t have any young children living at home any more. In hindsight it’s probably a good thing.
Here are a few photos of some of the decorations in the neighbourhood.
Our pumpkin this year was a happy fellow and some of the kids allowed me take their photos.
Our granddaughter is posing next to her father’s amazing pumpkin. She was suppose to dress up as Belle and that’s why the pumpkin was carved in the Beast’s likeness. As you can see Winnie had other ideas and wore her Owlette costume from last year. My theory is that because her father dressed up as Spiderman she also had to wear a super hero costume.
You can see that it also rained in Hamilton but that didn’t keep Winnie from bringing in this large haul of goodies.
….and Happy Birthday Onkel Günter, Winnie and Brendan
It’s been a busy weekend. Not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving here in Canada but we had four birthdays in the family on the same weekend. In fact in October we celebrate birthdays for my husband, my father, my granddaughter, my son-in-law and his brother, my father’s brother and my cousin. I’m sure I’ve missed someone.
This weekend our granddaughter turned four. Andrea, our oldest daughter volunteered to host Thanksgiving and the birthday party at her house. I was most grateful for that, especially after spending five hours in emergency with my husband on Friday. Before you become too concerned let me just say that he’s much better and gets better each day. Thankfully I had made my contribution to the dinner the day before.
The other thing that I did before going to Andrea’s for dinner was volunteer at the Inn to help with the outdoor oven for a workshop that was being put on by George Brown College. At the workshop the students were instructed in baking pizza in the wood fired oven. Everyone got to make two pizzas, one to eat and one to take home. I couldn’t stay for the whole event because I had to be at the dinner. After I left they also baked pita bread and a cranberry loaf. Dale manned the oven and took the pizzas out when they were ready.
Dinner at Andrea’s and Josie’s was spectacular but the highlight, especially for Winnie, was celebrating Winnie’s 4th birthday. Seeing all the presents was too much for her so we decided to let her open her gifts before dinner.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend, with way too much food and drink. I gained about six pounds but I’m determined to take it off as quickly as possible.
…thanks to Ann-Christine for hosting this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge
Candid shots are the ones where your subject is unaware that they’re being photographed. There are photographers who specialize in street photography where they almost exclusively take candid shots.
….celebrating my Dad’s birthday
On Monday my father turned 93. He’s quite amazing. He lives with us but in his own apartment where he does all his own cleaning, laundry and cooks all his meals. He recently acquired a motorized scooter that he uses to get around and do his shopping.
Twice a week he goes to the senior’s centre where he plays cards and he enjoys walking to the lake where he feeds the birds and sits and takes in his surroundings. He speaks to everyone and loves to engage in conversation.
This year our daughter-in-law picked the restaurant because that’s what she wanted for her birthday which was in July. It happened to be a seafood restaurant and my father loves his shrimp so we decided to celebrate both birthdays on the same day. It turned out to be a perfect evening. The food was amazing, the scenery over the marina was serene and the service was delightful. Both the birthday boy and girl were treated to a special dessert on the house.
I love this last photo of my father and me. Just as my daughter was about to take the shot I noticed that my Dad had spilled some food on his sweater and I grabbed his serviette and held it over the spill. In that split second we both burst out laughing over the irony of the situation.
Mama Cormier 