Happy Easter – April 1, 2108

,,,,,is it some kind of cruel joke to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day on the same day?

Of course it’s not 2108. That’s my lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke. I know that teachers are delighted that April Fool’s day is on a holiday, except maybe those individuals who liked playing jokes on their students.

This year we celebrated Easter one day early to accommodate other commitments that family members had. It started out as a sunny day, so I hid all the eggs for our granddaughter outside in the backyard. When everyone arrived we could see that the sky was darkening so we didn’t waste anytime and proceeded with the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun seeing the delight in Winnie’s eyes every time she discovered an egg or other small gift hidden in the branches, corners of the deck, handles of the barbecue and under covers.

One of the gifts was a bubble maker. Actually our oldest daughter also got her a bubble maker. This was definitely the hit of the day. Winnie got into making bubbles almost right away and after dinner we went outside again (just before the rain started) to make more bubbles. It turns out that buying that extra large bottle of bubble soap was a good idea.

Here are a few photos of the egg hunt and blowing bubbles.

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Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – March 23, 2018

….I know I’m a bit late on this one but today seemed a good day to post photos from last week

Thanks to Cee for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge. It’s been dreary and wet all day today and what a better time to post my sunny photos from last week when my husband, daughter and I took Olive for a walk to High Park. We walked along Bloor Street, past fruit markets, through tunnels and down a descending sidewalk towards the park entrance.

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Once in the park we headed towards the off leash area where we could let Olive run free. She loved it. I love the off leash area in High Park because it is made up of fenced in trails and if you’re a walker it’s a great way to get in some steps and fresh air.

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It was a great day. On the way back we walked down hill, then up hill, back through the tunnel and then we took a short cut up a flight of stairs which took us up the the rail path. All in all I clocked over 15 000 steps that day.
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WPC – Favourite Place

……do you have a favourite place?

Thanks to WordPress for this week’s photo challenge, favourite place.

It’s so hard to choose just one place but if I must I think my favourite place to hang out would be at my cottage on Georgian Bay.

What Happened to My Art Challenge

….the last time I posted 365 days of art was 10 days ago

I’m feeling very stressed about not posting art projects that I’ve been working on. The truth is I’ve been doing very little art but I’ve been busy using my hands to create other projects.

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for beginner’s crochet class. So I wouldn’t forget what I’d learned I proceeded to use up yarn to make coffee cup holders and dish rags. I think I’m ready now for the next level.

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Before I tackle

a new crochet project I decided I needed to finish some knitting projects. I started a complicated lacy shawl and I’ve taken it apart now four times because each time I found a mistake that completely messed up the pattern. The problem with this project is that you have to cast on 361 stitches and if you don’t discover the mistake until you’ve gone on for two or more rows it means having to undo over 700 stitches. I tried doing that a couple of times but then I was dropping stitches and after hours of work I was ripping it all out anyway. Today I’ve started this project for the 5th time. Wish me luck.IMG_1187

My father also asked to borrow my sewing machine so that he could hem his jeans. By the time I pulled it out, found the thread he needed and lugged it down two flights of stairs I offered to sew them myself. It took me some time to clean off my art table but now I feel that when the machine comes down I’ll have a clean surface to start painting again. After I hemmed his pants I found a pair of my own that needed hemming and then I made curtains for my Dad’s apartment.

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The last 10 days haven’t been an art free zone. Every day I go on-line and open Carla Sonheim’s daily posts and I signed up for a class given by Lendon Noe called Inspired by Lives and Letters. In this class Lendon has taught us how to create two kinds of envelopes that can hold messages written on art squares that we create with watercolour paper and ink or plaster. Here are some of the envelopes that I’ve made so far.

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One of the things that I purchased for this class was Walnut ink. Actually I purchased the walnut ink crystals to make my own ink. When I saw the price of a small bottle of walnut ink I just about fainted ($46.00) so the store owner showed me the crystals at 6.95 a bag. I only need 1 tsp. for every 1/2 cup of water. There’s probably enough crystals in the bag for 3 or 4 cups of ink. When all is said and done the cost of one bottle will probably be $1.00. Stay tuned for the next 365 Days of Art post when I’ll show you how I use the ink.

Share Your World – March 12, 2018

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favorite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?

I think I would use some of the money to do some repairs around the cottage and then take a chunk to travel to London, England. With any money left over I would divide it amongst my children.

What sound or sounds do you love?

I love the sound of birds in the morning, cicadas on a hot summer day and the laughter of children.

What’s your middle name?  Why?

My middle name is Hildegard. I was named after my maternal grandmother. I always hated the name and wouldn’t tell any of my friends for fear of being teased. I actually never realized until much later that I was named after my grandmother. I knew her name was Hilde but I never realized that it was shortened from Hildegard. I wouldn’t have had a problem telling people that my middle name was Hilde.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

This past week I attended two wonderful concerts with friends. The first was an afternoon concert featuring the Elias String Quartet and the second one was Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew.

On Saturday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter and granddaughter. Of course that brought huge smiles to our faces. As she gets older we find that we can actually carry on conversations with her and she happily instructs us on how   to play with her. IMG_1167.JPG

 

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – March 11, 2018

…thanks to Cee for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge

Anything with signs, bridges, pathways, roads, stairs and sidewalks qualifies for this challenge. Yesterday’s trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens was a photographer’s delight.

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WPC – Hunting for Gnomes

…..this week’s theme for WordPress’ Photo Challenge is story

Photos tell a story all on their own. Today we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and we walked through an outdoor area that my granddaughter loves to explore in hopes of finding gnomes.

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Reflections of the Past

….fond memories of the High Park Zoo

When I was very young, about three to be exact, I remember going to the High Park
Zoo with my parents and little sister. I loved feeding the ducks and seeing what I thought at the time were exotic animals. Those exotic animals would have been bison, deer and camels. I remember bringing bags of carrots and I can still feel the pull that the deer exerted when nibbling on the these treats as I held them through the wire fence.fullsizeoutput_6c52

I recall going there quite often because we lived fairly close by. I loved walking on the stone ledges pretending to balance on a precarious cliff. In the warm weather my parents would dress us in our Sunday best and we would walk down by Grenadier Pond and around the beautiful gardens. It was also a favourite place to take visitors.

Last Sunday my husband and I drove to High Park (it’s a bit far to walk to now), parked the car and started to walk along the pathways. When we got to the top of one hill I made a request to head down towards the zoo. I felt like a kid again. The camels are no longer there but the deer and bison still reside in this zoo. Feeding the animals is now completely forbidden.

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Do you visit a place that brings back fond memories from when you were a child?