365 Days of Art – Child’s Play

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..day 18

Today I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with my granddaughter, Winnie and her mother, Gaelan. I brought some apples with me and together we made applesauce. I peeled and quartered the apples and Winnie’s job was to put them into the pot. She did a great job and she included her own version of quality control by tasting every piece before dropping them into the pot.

When the apples were stewing, Gaelan and I continued to get the ingredients ready to make an apple cake that Jodi from The Creative Life In Between posted yesterday. We made it almost exactly as written except that we didn’t add the glaze because we thought there was more than enough sugar in the cake. While the cake baked I played with Winnie in her playroom.

One of the things that she desperately wanted to do was finger paint. To my daughter’s credit, she has a very strict rule when it comes to painting and that is that everything in the playroom has to be put back where it belongs so that there’s a nice big empty space on the floor for painting. Winnie was very reluctant to do this so the paints didn’t come out. When it was time for me go home she was quite upset because she didn’t get to paint with her Oma. Gaelan told her one more time that she had to clean up first and this time she listened. With our help the floor was emptied of all her toys, a plastic sheet laid out and she was undressed and covered with a plastic paint jumper. Gaelan spread out finger-paint paper and scooped out four colours of paint onto individual paper plates.

We had so much fun. I know why Gaelan completely undresses her before starting this activity, including her socks. Of course she wanted Oma to get right in there with her and I managed to get paint on my sweater but it washed out pretty easily. We worked on one painting together where I painted the flowers and she painted the ground. The other paintings were done solely by her.

Of course when we were done, Winnie went straight into the bath tub and we said our good-byes, this time without any tears.

P.S. The cake was delicious by the way. Thanks for the recipe, Jodi!

365 Days of Art – New Books

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….the last two days have been very busy

Days 13 and 14 are still brewing in my head. I haven’t yet learned to just grab my sketch book and draw whenever I have a spare moment or two. Today and part of yesterday I cleared away some of the Christmas ornaments and tidied up the house for my sister’s visit today. The unfortunate part was that I only spent about 20 minutes with her before my husband and I had to run off to attend a funeral out of town. I didn’t want her not to come because she had cancelled so many times since Christmas because of bad weather and I didn’t want my father to be disappointed if they cancelled again. When we got back from the funeral my father talked at length about the nice visit he had with my sister and her family. He took them all out for lunch before they had to head back home.

The funeral was out of town for a family member on my husband’s side. We’re glad we went. The service was pretty long but it was clear that our cousin’s husband was dearly loved. Afterwards it was nice catching up with some of the other cousins and promising that we would have a family reunion in the near future that wasn’t at a funeral parlour. Most of the day was spent driving to and from the funeral and spending four more hours at the memorial service.

Just before we left a parcel arrived at my door. On Friday I ordered two art books that were recommended by Evelyn Flint on her blog. Jill Kuhn also used the collage book and recommended doing the 50 collages challenge. The first book is called The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman and the second one is Atmospheric Watercolour by Jean Haines. I’m looking forward to reading both books and am very excited about making more watercolour art. Stay tuned for more 365 Days of Art.

WPC – Growth

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..this weeks WordPress photo challenge is growth

WPC – Favourites of 2017

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….I couldn’t help but include photos of my granddaughter

My favourite photos of my granddaughter were the ones that she didn’t pose for. I love capturing her in her quiet and inquisitive moments.

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Two more of my favourites for the WPC challenge – favourites

WPC – Ascend

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…this week’s theme for the weekly photo challenge is ascend

I was a bit perplexed by the word ascend so I looked up the definition.

as·cend

[əˈsend]

VERB

ascends (third person present) · ascended (past tense) · ascended (past participle) · ascending (present participle)

go up or climb:

“she ascended the stairs” · “new magmas were created and ascended to the surface”

synonyms: climb · go up/upward · move up/upward · rise (up) · clamber (up) · mount· scale · conquer · take to the air · take off · rocket

antonyms: descend
- climb to the summit of (a mountain or hill):
  
  “the first traveler to ascend the mountain”
- (of a fish or boat) move upstream along (a river).
rise through the air:

“we had ascended 3,000 ft”
- (of a road or flight of steps) slope or lead up:
  
  “the road ascends to the lake”
- move up the social or professional scale:
  
  “he took exams to ascend through the ranks” · “some executives ascend to top-level positions”
- (of a spiritual being or soul) rise into heaven:
  
  “the Prophet ascended to heaven” · “the risen and ascended Christ”
- (of a voice or sound) rise in pitch:
  
  “Carolyn’s voice had ascended into high-pitched giggles”
  
  With definition in hand I found some photos that I felt ‘ascended’ to the challenge.

Getting Close to a Pigeon

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….unless there’s food involved most pigeons don’t let me get close enough to take a picture

Last week, while visiting my daughter and her family in Hamilton, we took a walk to pick up some lunch. On the way back I saw this lovely iridescent pigeon in a bird bath. It was bitter cold so I have to think that there was food in the bowl. I didn’t have my telephoto lens with me so I kept inching closer. I was amazed that this little guy didn’t fly off.

Then with a little cropping it became clear that there was food in the bath.

As always when I stop to take photos my family continues walking and I have to run to catch up. Here they are with lunch in hand, eager to get home to eat.

Thursday Doors – December 7, 2017

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Mama Cormier

Hamilton’s Children’s Museum

….thanks to Norm for hosting Thursday Doors

Earlier this week I drove to Hamilton and took my granddaughter to the Children’s Museum. Housed in an 1875 farmhouse in beautiful Gage Park, the museum was once home to Hamilton’s Gage Family. It has been providing family-friendly learning opportunities to the public for more than 30 years.

Unfortunately we went on a Tuesday and in the winter the museum is closed on Tuesdays. I half expected Winnie to have a meltdown but she surprised me and started to run around on the grounds through the leaves and climbed on top of the giant anchor that is prominently displayed in the gardens.

When she got tired of doing that she wanted to sit in the car and play with the buttons on the console. I finally convinced her to go back into her car seat and we drove to Denninger’s Fine Foods.

Denninger’s is a wonderful family owned deli that sells delicious European delights. Winnie loved the samples and she was intrigued with the very large Nutcracker that guarded the front door.

WPC – Cheeky

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…this week’s theme for the Weekly Photo Challenge is cheeky

cheek·y

[ˈCHēkē]

ADJECTIVE

cheekier (comparative adjective) · cheekiest (superlative adjective)

impudent or irreverent, typically in an endearing or amusing way:

“a cheeky grin”

synonyms: impertinent · insolent · cheeky · cocky · brazen · bold · audacious · presumptuous · forward · disrespectful · insubordinate · bumptious · brash · brassy · rude · impolite · ill-mannered · discourteous · ill-bred · saucy · lippy · sassy · smart-alecky · contumelious

antonyms:polite

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Letter P – has to have at least 5 letters and start with the letter P

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for hosting this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

Pollinating Purple Flowers

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Parents

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Pumpkins

Parade

Produce

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Share Your World – Dec. 4, 2017

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for coming up with new questions for Share Your World

What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?

I really do not like cleaning the bathroom, any bathroom but I don’t like a dirty bathroom, either.

At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

I think I feel most passionate and alive when I’m doing things for other people and when I’m celebrating with friends and family. Last summer I never felt more alive when we travelled to Italy with the family to celebrate our son’s and daughter-in-law’s wedding.

How many times have you moved in the last ten years?

I have not moved once in the last ten years. In fact, I haven’t moved in over 38 years. I have, however, moved my father three times in the last two years.

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

This past week I’m grateful for time spent with my friends, Liz and Michele, and my granddaughter, Winnie. I normally travel to Hamilton at least once a week to spend time with my daughter, Gaelan and granddaughter, Winnie. Last week our plans changed slightly and I ended bringing the two of them back to Toronto. We went for a long walk to the library and had dinner together here at the house.

As you know from my recent posts, I made an advent calendar for Winnie and her family. When I picked them up I dropped it off at their house and Gaelan has send me photos of Winnie with some of her gifts. I think it’s been a bit of a challenge for Gaelan to keep Winnie from opening all the gifts in one sitting.

Last week I also spent time with Michele. We met at Sherway Gardens where we did a bit of Christmas shopping together and then I treated Michele to lunch at the Keg to celebrate her birthday that took place earlier in the month. Later in the week, Liz and I drove downtown to the CBC to take part in Sounds of the Season. We lined up to see Tom Power (host of CBC’s Q) and were thrilled to hear Lydia Persaud, Ruth B and Whitehorse perform. After the show we walked over to The Canteen and had a great lunch.

This was also a very important week for our son. The project he has been working on for almost three years has finally come to fruition. In his own words:

Kaboom!!!! 3 years of work, a deep dive into the V&A’s collection of 2.5 million objects, 16 trips to China, working with the dream team of Sam Jacob Studio, with Fraser Muggeridge Studio and Alice Masters, and here it is: A glorious V&A Gallery in Shenzhen, full of strange and wonderful things, materials, and spaces.