The Colours of the Pride 5K Race

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….today our son, daughter and daughter-in-law all took part in the Pride 5k Race

There is probably no race more colourful than the one that takes place during Pride Week here in Toronto. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine, warm temperatures and colourful decorations and runners.

All three of our children did very well. Of the three Andrea arrived first at just over 22 minutes.

Brenda came in next in just over 24 minutes. Not bad considering he hadn’t trained in over two months and only had four hours of sleep the night before.

Josie wanted to break 35 minutes and came in at just over 33 minutes. Congratulations to all of them for a job well done.

Next year I promised I would do the run with them. I better start training now. I’d be happy to break 45 minutes.

Why Three Year Olds Love the Crazy Uncle

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….maybe it has something to do with the fact that they can be as goofy as the three year old

Our granddaughter doesn’t get to see her uncle Brendan very often but when she does he makes sure that he gives her his undivided attention. Yesterday was no exception when we drove up to Sparrow Lake to visit Brendan’s twin sister and her family. From the moment we arrived he was placing banana peels on her head, swinging her in the air, playing pretend sword fighting with sticks, playing with balls and doing cannon balls into the lake. Here are a several examples of the two of them at play.

Friendly Friday – Twins

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Snow for hosting Friendly Friday this week

Here are my twins who are well into their 30s.

I Can’t Believe She Ate the Whole Thing

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….it seems that my granddaughter is going through a growth spurt

I was blessed this weekend to have my daughter and granddaughter stay with us for the weekend. On Friday they will be moving to the summer camp that my son-in-law is in charge of and unless I go up there during the summer there’s little chance of seeing them for the next two months. Hopefully I will find the time to drive up and spend a day or two, here and there over the summer months.

So this weekend was very special to me. We started the day with lunch on the deck and Winnie enjoyed a sandwich, juice and strawberries. She discovered that dipping strawberries into almond butter made for a tasty treat.

After lunch Mommy left to visit a friend for a couple of hours so Winnie and I walked up to the Lakeshore where a grilled cheese festival was taking place. Before we got there she was already declaring that she was hungry again so the first thing we did was purchase a grilled cheese sandwich. She didn’t eat it all but she did want to take it home (which she finished later). Then we went to the yarn store and the owner kindly offered both of us a drink of juice with ‘strawberries’ in it. Of course Winnie loved it.

When we left the yarn store Winnie once again said she was hungry so we headed towards the ice-cream store. She ordered a ‘strawberry’ cone and I had a cup of ‘sweet cream’. Her cone had a very generous scoop of ice-cream for a kiddie cone but she had no problem finishing the whole thing.

In between all the treats Winnie bounced around in the Bouncy Castle and played several games where she earned some coupons for a few small prizes. All in all it was a wonderful afternoon that I will always cherish.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Smiles

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

Smile for the camera.

Personal Best Moment

Old Friends (both in their 90s)

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge – Any Kind of House

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for hosting the Black and White Photo Challenge

A Cottage

The Queen’s House

A London Flat

A Home to Rent in Hyde Park

The Tortoise’s House

A Bird House

In the Neighbourhood

Dundurn Castle in Hamilton

A Playhouse

All Lined Up

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Judy for hosting the All Lined Up Photo Challenge

A special shout out to our son-in-law for the last photo of our granddaughter with the line of dipping sauces in front of her.

The Garden is Taking Shape

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….unlike other years this one is in before July

When I was working our garden sometimes didn’t get planted until the end of June or later. This year, thanks to a burst of energy, my husband was eager to get the seeds and plants in for his vegetable boxes. I’m in charge of the flowers.

The weather has finally shifted and it’s been comfortable enough to work outside in the garden. The soil is no longer swimming in water and is finally dry enough for planting. The family who cuts our grass also seeded it a few weeks ago and it’s looking very lush and healthy. Two evenings this week it’s been warm enough to eat supper on the deck and I’ve been enjoying my morning coffee outside.

Today’s dinner started with this amazing burrata, roasted peaches, prosciutto, tomato and arugula salad.

The main course was a mussel, shrimp, halibut and chorizo stew.

Happy Victoria Day

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….to all my fellow Canadians

As far as long weekends go this one was pretty uneventful. Daughter number two went up to the camp to continue cleaning out their cabin that they’ll be living in this summer but they only stayed one night. The black flies are pretty bad this time of year and it was cold.

On Saturday I got some gardening down and cleaned out part of a flower bed and trimmed back the Rose of Sharon and the ornamental grass. Even though it was warm enough to garden without a jacket it wasn’t warm enough to sit outside without a jacket to enjoy a cup of coffee.

On Sunday daughter number one and our daughter-in-law came over to drop off their dog, Olive so that they could camping in a yurt up in Tobermory. While they were there my husband felt well enough to make a fabulous dinner that he had seen on Jamie Oliver’s show, Dinner in 30 Minutes. This is a photo of the salad he made with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, roasted peaches, olives and salad greens.

Olive seemed to settle in quite nicely and she certainly made herself right at home when her mommies left. Unfortunately night time was a bit rough and I ended up sleeping on the couch with her until 4:30 in the morning and then my husband took over.

Today started out promising but the winds picked up and the temperatures were well below normal. Later in the day I bundled up and took the dogs for two separate walks. Frances would only let me take her around the block but Olive went five times as far. We ended up in Col. Sam Smith Park. The water levels are still high and one of the pathways was completely under water.

No sunburn or tanning this long weekend but the good news is that I walked over 13000 steps today. How was everyone else’s weekend.?

This Little One Brings Sunshine into my Life

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….even if the weather doesn’t want to cooperate

After a stressful morning on Tuesday my husband suggested that I drive to Hamilton to spend some time with the family. I had originally planned to go there on Thursday but my father’s CAT scan appointment came through and it turned out to be on the same day. On the weekend we didn’t see Gaelan, Brendan or Winnie because Gaelan came down with a stomach flu.

I was in desperate need of some ‘Winnie’ time so I quickly fed the neighbour’s cat (a story for another time), put the car seat back in the car (in case we decided to drive somewhere in Hamilton) and headed out for the highway.

Just before I reached the onramp for the QEW I remembered that I had left the dog outside and forgot to lock the front door. Back I went.

Eventually I did get to Hamilton and spent the day playing games and reading to Winnie. While I was there I noticed that the sun was trying to come out and it seemed to warm up. After much coaxing we finally convinced Winnie to go for a walk to the playground at Dundurn Castle.

We spent about an hour there and then we had a hard time convincing Winnie it was time to go home.