Share Your World 2015 – Week 50

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for 50 weeks of great questions

Favourite thing to photograph? Write? Or Cook?

I love photographing nature. When I discovered the macro feature on my camera I’m became somewhat obsessed with taking close-ups of flowers and seed pods and when an insect appears on the subject, I’m in heaven.

I like to write about my daily life. It’s like keeping a personal diary that I share with the world. I’ve dabbled in Haiku which I quite enjoy.

I like baking but I don’t do very much of it because I would eat it and be even heavier than I am. I’ll probably do some Christmas baking because I like to give it to my neighbours and friends.

Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing?

I’m not sure that I really liked it as a young child but when I got older (preteen) we used to hang around the swings and challenge each other to go as high as possible. I can’t say that I get excited when I see the swing sets in my neighbourhood. The thought of going on one actually makes me a bit nauseated.

What has surprised you about blogging?

The biggest surprise about blogging is that I’m still here, almost four years since I started. I’m also surprised how my focus has changed and how many photo challenges that I take part in.

List at least five favorite desserts.

I have to admit that desserts are a weakness. When I’m good I can go without for a long time but once I start eating sweets it’s a slippery slope. Here are some of my favourite desserts:

Anything with fruit – apple strudel (authentic is the best)

– apple or fruit crisp

– fresh fruit torte with whipped cream

Poppy seed cake

Creme Brule

Key lime tarts

Bread pudding

Ice Cream with fruit and whipped cream

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a wonderful dinner and time spent with a group of friends last Friday. On Saturday I got out for a long walk with my husband and dog and I managed to log over 15 000 steps for the entire day. On Sunday my family and I drove out into the country to a Christmas tree farm and cut down three trees for each of our homes. It was a cold and dreary day and the first time that I’ve done this when there was no snow on the ground. Afterwards we went back to my youngest daughter’s place in Hamilton and warmed up with coffee, gluehwein, hot home-made soup and grilled sandwiches.

Today the girls played in the West Conference Finals for basketball. They won their first two games and in the final game they lost in a very good game, 16 to 14. It was a difficult loss for them because it was so close and they missed out going to the city championships because of one basket. On the plus side they earned a second place banner for the school.

This week I’m looking forward to hearing the choir sing at the Holiday Concert. We’re having our staff party on Wednesday and on Saturday I’m attending another Christmas dinner with another group of friends. Friday is the last day of school and I have about a week to finish my Christmas shopping and get the house ready for family get togethers. The thing I’m looking forward to the most is seeing my son on Monday. He’ll be flying in from London, England and spending about two weeks with us.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 46

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

What type of popular candy do you not like to get?

I don’t like most candy. I’m not fussy on Twizzlers Red Licorice or gummy worms.

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500?

I’d like to spend $500. on a spa treatment (facial), a manicure and pedicure, lunch, hair cut and a new outfit.

Where do you eat breakfast?

I eat breakfast at home at the dinner table. If I’m running late I’ll pack my breakfast and sit in the staffroom and eat it during my prep period.

Would you rather ride one of the worlds longest zip lines or bungee jump one of the highest in the world? This will come with a 5-day all expense vacation.

I would never go bungee jumping but I would like to try a zip line. The five days all expense vacation would be a bonus. I’ve heard that Costa Rico has some great zip lines through the rain forest.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a wonderful day spent with my husband last Saturday. We had brunch at a new local cafe that hosted a special musical treat for people that made reservations. A string trio, consisting of three sisters, entertained the patrons with a selection of Sound of Music scores. It was definitely a family affair. The restaurant, Sugar for my Honey, was filled to capacity with young families and older folks like us. The Quintessence Ensemble (the Cacciacarro sisters) also performs classical and sacred music for numerous events, such as wedding showers, receptions and private parties.

The food was Austrian in origin and absolutely delicious and the coffee is outstanding. The owner, Will Weiss, is a young entrepreneur. He is hard working and a very genuine person. We’ve been there three times now and each time he takes the time to come and speak to us. My husband dropped off a jar of his homemade plum jam last week and in return he gave us some of his homemade liverwurst.

I’m also grateful for the most incredible weather we’ve had this month. You’d hardly know that it was November. I think that’s about to change but up until today it has been unseasonably warm.

I’m looking forward to spending time with my daughter and our new granddaughter this weekend. She’s already 5 weeks old, over 10 pounds and according to her doctor she’s already surpassed all her one month milestones and most of her two month milestones. When I asked my daughter what that meant she told me that Miss Winnie is already lifting her head, cooing, smiling responsively, following objects, lifting her head and rolling over from her tummy to her back.

Share Your World 2015- Week 38

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….I don’t know how she does it but Cee keeps coming up with new questions each week

What do you do to make a living or during the day if you are retired. If you are a student what are you studying?

I’ve been a school teacher since 1976. I started out teaching Family Studies to middle school adolescents. I did that for about 15 years and then I did guidance for two years. I was toying with the thought of becoming a principal and I started taking a lot of leadership courses in the evenings. I successfully became a chairperson which is like being a principal’s assistant where you take on a few extra responsibilities while still teaching. For many people this is a stepping stone to becoming a vice-principal or principal. In the end I decided that this was enough responsibility for me and that I liked being in the classroom too much to give it up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When I became a chairperson I was transferred to a junior school where I taught grade 5 and sometimes a 4/5 split. Five years ago I took a library course and qualified to become a teacher librarian. One year later the library position opened up at our school and I’ve been the librarian/art teacher ever since.

Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.

Three and a half years ago when I first started this blog I was determined to lose weight. At school I agreed to assist in a program called Girls on the Run and I started to walk/run with the girls twice a week for 10 weeks. At the end of the program there was a 5k run and at the age of 59 I participated in my first serious race. I did the whole thing and ran for most of it but I was so emotional at the end that a dread overcame me and I thought I was going to die. Of course I didn’t and I did the run again the next year. The second time around it was a little easier. Last fall I participated in the Railpath Community Run and I’m doing it again this weekend. This one I did with my daughter.

What is usually your first thought when you wake up?

My first thought is usually to switch my Jawbone Up from sleep mode to wake mode and then check on my phone to see how well and how long I’ve slept.

Complete this sentence: Look out behind you, it’s a …

…it’s your son. I often fantasize that my son and his fiancé pay me a surprise visit. They both live in London, England and I only see them once a year. A few years ago my son did come to Toronto for a convention and I was truly surprised.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a visit from my daughter who now lives in Hamilton. I was especially grateful because she was 38 weeks pregnant and I didn’t think that she would want to make the trip and be that far from home. We went to my older daughter’s house and my good friend L and her mom joined us. They weren’t able to make it to G’s shower in the summer so they anxious to see her and bring her the gifts that they had bought. It was also the first time that L’s mom had seen A’s and J’s house.

Years ago my daughter, A had volunteered to undergo testing and see if she was a good match for L’s dad who needed to be treated for C-dificile. It turned out that she was and her donation ended up saving his life. When L and her mom arrived on Saturday they bought her a gift as well. L’s dad is a very accomplished and renowned artist and they gifted my daughter one of his paintings. We were all very touched.

Later in the afternoon my girls and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood along Dupont street and stopped for lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant and checked out the interesting little businesses that have sprung up in the last few years.

I’m obviously looking forward to the birth of our first grandchild. We all took bets on when she would come into the world but we were a little surprised when our daughter went into false labour yesterday. She’s fine today and this baby may take her sweet time about making her official appearance. Her actual due date is October 4th.

I’m also looking forward to participating in the Railpath Community run on Saturday but I think this year I may do more walking than running. On Sunday some of my friends from high school are getting together again for another lunch. We’re hoping that CM from Thunder Bay will be able to join us this time.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. The first weekend of autumn looks like it’s going to be especially nice and warm in my neck of the woods.

Cheers!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 35

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Cee for four more great questions

What made you feel good this week?

My family and friends sent me wonderful birthday wishes this week and brought me very thoughtful gifts. I got to go to the AGO (art gallery) with my husband and had a wonderful meal in Chinatown. The next day my girls and their significant others and a couple of dear friends came to the house for a BBQ and my husband outdid himself.

For potlucks or parties do you cook it yourself, buy from a grocery store, or pay for catering?

I went to a potluck yesterday and I brought an arugula and apple salad and spinach and cheese crepes. If I have time I usually prepare something on my own and I like to make appetizers. If I’m short on time I will sometimes go to a take out place and bring samosas, pakoras, fried calamari or sushi (things that I wouldn’t make myself). Cheese and crackers and veggies and dip are also easy.

What is your favorite part of the town/city you live in. And what Country do you live?

I’d have to say that I really like where I live in Toronto. I live right by Lake Ontario (I can see it from my house). I’m right on hiking and cycling trails so going for walks is very enjoyable and I’m only a 15 minute drive from downtown or a 10 minute train ride. The streetcar is about 45 minutes and the subway is 30 minutes (including the 10 minute car ride to get to it). For those of you who don’t know Toronto, I live in Canada.

Complete this sentence: My favorite place in the whole world…..

My favourite place in the summer is my cottage on Georgian Bay. I don’t travel extensively but every place I’ve ever been to I’ve really loved. Some of those places are Ireland, The Netherlands, Hawaii, San Francisco, New England and Quebec City. Funny how all these places are on water.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for time spent with family and friends on my birthday. I’m also grateful for a wonderful day spent with my Dad. He treated me to a very special lunch at the Royal York Hotel and a visit to the Ripley’s Aquarium. Yesterday I spent a few hours with my daughter, A and her partner, J at the CNE. We played some games, took in the sights and tried some new food.

Today I was grateful to my good friend L who stepped up and helped me clean up the library and transferred all my art supplies to a new home in the school. She came just at the right time when I needed her moral support the most. In the end many people chipped in to make sure that the library would be ready for the first day of school.

For the rest of the week I’m looking forward to spending a few more days at the cottage before I head back to work on Tuesday. I’m also looking forward to getting back to working on my art. Have great long weekend. I’ll be back on Sunday or Monday.

A New Farmers’ Market in a New Home Town, a Visit From One Sister, Washing the Car and a Children’s Concert

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..needless to say it’s been a busy weekend

On Saturday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to return my daughter’s husband and dog (see yesterday’s post). It was probably the warmest day we’ve had this season. Both my husband and I were uncomfortable with the sudden heat. I’m not sure if Hamilton was warmer than Toronto but it certainly wasn’t that warm when we left the big city.

When we arrived our daughter was in the process of putting away dishes in the kitchen. There are still a lot of boxes that need to be unpacked. I really thought we were going to help with this massive job but G and B had other plans for us. B and I drove up the mountain to the paint store to pick up paint and G and her Dad walked up the street to pick up some lunch.

After lunch K and I walked to the end of the street to check out the Farmers’ Market. It was pretty big and there was a great selection of produce, meat, fish, cheese, baked goods, coffee and spices. There were also a number of vendors selling crafts.

When we returned B was already prepping for painting. I guess until the painting is done there isn’t much that can be done in the way of putting things away. We had a feeling that our help wasn’t really needed. We enjoyed a cup of coffee that we picked up at the market. It is literally only a five to ten minute walk from the house. When we left, B was well into painting the living room.

On Sunday, my sister from Chatham dropped by before heading back to the farm. She was in town to visit her two children. Her daughter was suppose to leave for Nepal this week for a three month co-op placement. She needs this in order to graduate. Fortunately for her the trip was cancelled because of the earthquake. Actually she was very disappointed but my sister was relieved. I’m sure the school will come up with another placement.

It was nice catching up with my sister. We didn’t even see each other at Christmas so one of the reasons for the visit was to pick up her Christmas gift which had been gathering dust in the corner of my living room.

I’m embarrassed to admit it but Sunday was the first time since the fall that I washed the car. It was also the first time that I took the car to one of those do-it-yourself car washes. It was the best $4.00 I ever spent. If I’d had more change I would have washed the floor mats and vacuumed the inside of the car. Next time!

On my way home from the car wash I got a phone call from my friend L and she reminded me of the children’s concert that we had talked about earlier in the week. I had completely forgotten about it but luckily it was being held in the neighbourhood at the Assembly Hall. I quickly fixed dinner and then I walked over to the college. The concert was put on by the Etobicoke Children’s Chorus. It was a special night because it was the farewell performance for the choir’s choral director.

As you can see it was a pretty busy weekend. In between all the fun things I’ve written about I also managed to do a little gardening, I cleaned up the kitchen, started cleaning the refrigerator, did some laundry and drove to Canadian Tire to pick up some household items.

A Busy Weekend – Art, a Movie, Walking, Shopping, Gardening and Lunch with Friends

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….some of my followers have complained that I don’t post enough about my daily endeavours

Well, truth be told, only one person has complained, so this is for her.

On Friday I treated my husband to dinner. As many of you know K usually cooks most of the meals, not because he has to but simply put, because he enjoys doing it. He wasn’t feeling up to going out so I ordered in. We tried a new Thai restaurant in the neighbourhood and it was excellent. For those of you close enough to check it out, it’s called Nimman Thai Cuisine and it’s located at 2451 Lakeshore Blvd. W. It wasn’t cheap but then many things worthwhile are a little more expensive. The service was pretty fast for a Friday night. They said that it would arrive in just under an hour and the knock on the door came about 40 minutes after the order was placed. I’ve discovered that ordering and paying on-line (including the tip) is painless and very convenient.

Friday night is one of two nights that I like to watch TV. After dinner we watched The Amazing Race together. I haven’t decided who I’d like to see win this season but I definitely have a couple of teams in mind that shouldn’t win. We’ll see.

On Saturday I decided to do a little bit of shopping. First I drove to Curry’s art supply store to buy some more brushes, paint and wooden boards so I could make more textured Gesso art with watercolours. I love the process so much that I want to create more pieces using this technique. Here are the first two pieces that I made earlier in the week.

I still had some money left on my Marshall’s gift certificate from Christmas so I thought it was high time to treat myself to a couple pieces of clothes for spring. I tried on 10 items and found two tops that I really liked. Bonus! My next stop was Lowe’s. I picked up two fluorescent bulbs for the kitchen, a gasket to repair the sink and yard waste bags so that I could start cleaning up the yard. I also made a stop at Tartistry (I’ve written about it here) to pick up a couple of tarts to have with tea after dinner. I would have liked to stay longer because they had the jazz band playing again. There were a lot more people there this time. I guess the snow storm really did keep people away the first time we went there.

Saturday evening K made an amazing dinner of proscutto, pesto and mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts, pasta and fresh mixed vegetables. After dinner we went for a walk and we saw these funny faces up in the trees and one of the trees was wrapped in a blanket. I went back today to take some photos because it was getting a bit too dark on our walk.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After our walk we treated ourselves to tea and tarts and then we watched the movie Big Eyes. The movie is based on the real life of Margaret Keane and her husband Walter Keane. Margaret is the artist who created the infamous ‘Big Eyes’ paintings in the 60s but her husband convinced her to let him take credit for her work because according to him women artists couldn’t make it in the art world. He was an amazing salesman and promoter but he was also incredibly egotistical. Margaret worked around the clock producing her popular paintings while her husband took all the credit. They became incredibly rich, even though art critics hated the work. The lies and deceit wore on Margaret’s conscience. Eventually she left Walter and with the help of her daughter and friends she confessed the truth and took her husband to court.

I remember the posters of these big eyed children that were so popular in the 60s and 70s. Apparently Walter Keane was the first promoter to turn art into posters for sale. The movie was nominated for numerous awards last season and Amy Adams won the Golden Globe award for best actress.

After the movie I prepared the boards that I purchased earlier in the day with a coat of gesso. Now I just have to decide what it is I want to paint.

Today I started my day with toast made from K’s homemade batch bread that he also made yesterday. Bread is definitely my weakness, especially homemade bread. I’m glad that he froze half of it and gave some away to our daughter, G, today.

After breakfast I started getting ready for my lunch date with six friends from high school. We met at La Veranda Osteria at Royal York and Bloor. For lunch they have a prix fix menu for $15.99 which includes an appetizer and a main dish. None of us had ever been there and we weren’t disappointed. I was so caught up in the conversation that I didn’t take one photo of our reunion and we were there for 2 1/2 hours. As we were leaving we promised that we would get together again in a few months.

When I returned home I put on some gardening clothes and started to clean the yard. There are definitely signs of new growth but the seed heads and dried grasses still dominate the garden. It’ll be a few more weeks before we start to see real change.

After filling in the last yard waste bag I took a walk through the neighbourhood and noticed a lot of activity. People were out and about, enjoying the sun and the mild temperatures. It was also very evident that a lot of spring cleaning had taken place this weekend.

Of course now that the weekend is over all I can think of are the things that didn’t get done. I did get out for one more walk before dinner with the dog but I’m probably still shy about 1000 steps of my goal. Unfortunately it’s too late to do it now because it’s after 11:00 and I need to get to bed. As it is I’m not going to reach my goal of 8 hours of sleep tonight, either. Oh well, c’est la vie!

Cheers!