Pure Joy at 93

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….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.

A Photo a Week Challenge – Stacked

Posted on September 21, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge

Why Your Carrots Need to be Separated

Posted on September 21, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….when they first come up through the ground

Today I pulled the carrots from our garden. They were certainly an interesting collection of sizes and shapes. I think our raised garden beds need to be higher and separating the seedlings at the beginning of the summer would have been beneficial to producing more normal shaped carrots.

Photo Challenge – Store Displays

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Weekly Prompts for this week’s photo challenge

London, England had some of the most beautiful store displays, especially at Harrods.

A Photo a Week Challenge – What’s for Dinner?

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge

My husband is wonderful cook and all of these meals were prepared by him in the last few months despite his ongoing illness (which is much better by the way).

A Photo a Week Challenge – Still Life (sort of)

Posted on August 17, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge

Typically a still life is a photograph or painting of things like bowls of fruit, vases of flowers or bottles of wine. My still life photos include fruit, pastries, bread, seed pods, a sand toy and a very still butterfly.

Lens Artist Challenge #57 – Taking a Break

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Travels and Trifles for hosting this week’s Lens Artist Challenge

Last week my daughters and I took a break from city life and spent four days at the cottage with our dogs. Frances (my dog) and Olive get along very well despite the large age difference (10 years). I’m very much a water person and love living by large bodies of water, both at home and the cottage. The cottage is on Christian Island in Georgian Bay which is part of Lake Huron. We had a wonderful time swimming, playing with the dogs and trying to put together an impossible 1000 piece puzzle of the moon.

During our stay these two lovely ladies put together the new barbecue while I read the instructions. After it was completed Josie made us a fabulous dinner on the barbecue. I do all my cooking outdoors when I’m at the cottage. Great food, lots of wine and spirits (but not too much) and time spent with friends and family; I can’t imagine a better way to ‘take a break’.

When it was all over Frances needed ‘a break’ from all that running and playing on the beach. She is after all 12 1/2.

Kammie’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – June 13, 2019

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Kammie for hosting the Odd Ball Photo Challenge

The Best Volunteer Job

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….bread making

Now that may not be your cup of tea but for me it’s fun and it helps support activities at Montgomery’s Inn (an 1840s-era inn operated as a museum by Toronto Cultural Services at 4709 Dundas St W (at Islington Ave) in Etobicoke, Ontario, 416-394-8113, montinn@toronto.ca.).

Every Tuesday I go to the inn to help prepare the dough for six to seven different types of bread. There are no preservatives in the bread and most of them are made with specific bread flours that are ordered from specialty mills. I’m usually in the kitchen for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

On Wednesday I return to the inn where anywhere from four to seven volunteers shape the dough, fire up the outdoor brick oven, prepare two sourdough breads and one or two batches of focaccia. Wednesdays is always a longer day because it takes anywhere from two to three bakes to get all the bread baked and ready for the Farmers’ Market where a another group of volunteers sell the bread. Typically on Wednesday we’re there for five to six hours and lunch is always prepared for us by our ‘boss’ who makes some of the most amazing meals from scratch (homemade soups and stews, sausages with homemade buns, pasta and salads, baked beans, etc.).

This week I took some photos of our beautiful and delicious bread.