Two Different Ideas of a Good Time

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..this weekend my husband and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary

Last Friday we loaded up the car with our doped up little dog in the back and headed up north for a nice quiet weekend at the cottage. When we arrived it was slightly overcast but the rain held off until later in the evening. The next day (our anniversary) it poured rain for most of the day.

We decided to not let the weather interfere with our time together or prohibit us from doing things we enjoy. My husband was bound and determined to get out on his mountain bike this weekend and come rain or shine he did. As it turned out it rained on Saturday but he enjoyed his soggy trip through the woods anyway. He returned covered in mud and his clothes were drenched with rain water. Today it didn’t rain but when he returned he was still covered in mud from all the puddles he rode through and he came back with some new scratches from riding next to the thimbleberry bushes. This is my husband’s idea of a good time.

Look who’s wearing a helmet. Yeah!

Scratches from today’s ride.

Look how happy he is.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love to ride my bike as well but I’m more of a city rider.

My idea of a good time is baking in the rain. As you may or may not know, we don’t have electricity at the cottage so all my cooking is done on the BBQ. Every once in awhile I like to bake and seeing I had 5 very ripe bananas and it was our anniversary I decided to create a new recipe using what I had in my cottage kitchen. I really wanted the recipe to be gluten free because I wanted to share the banana bread with my neighbour (outhouse hole digger) who has a gluten intolerance problem. The final product turned out quite well and I will share the recipe with you later this week.

Baking in the Rain.

The finished product. Yummy, oatmeal banana bread.

As you can see our ideas of a good time don’t always go hand in hand but we both enjoyed the banana bread and after 39 years we’ve learned to let each other pursue our individual interests and hobbies. Later in the day my husband played his mandolin and then read his book while I sat down at the table and worked on some drawings of birds. I’ve never done this before but it was part of an assignment for the on-line summer art camp I’m taking. I really enjoyed the process and I think I will work on my drawing skills some more. I honestly didn’t think I could draw birds. The second assignment was one I’ve done with my own students and it’ll be nice to have a couple of samples to show them if I decide to do this with them again.

An Unusual Summer

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….instead of lounging on the beach at the cottage I’ve been spending a lot of time in the city

I was really looking forward to my summer holiday this year. I opened the cottage later than I would normally and when I returned to the city I spent 3 days in school cleaning up my office and packing up books so that the new carpet could be laid down this summer.

In the second week of the summer I went to visit my aunt. She lives by herself about 20 minutes from my house. She never calls me but she is always happy to see me. Unfortunately, she stopped answering her door or picking up her phone. Two years ago her daughter found her very ill and admitted her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with congested heart failure.

The day I went to see her, my cousin was already there and she said she had a bad night and she was still in bed (3:00 in the afternoon). After a short conversation we went to check on her and she didn’t look good. To make a long story short we called 911 and she was admitted to emergency. At around midnight, after numerous tests, x-rays and blood work we were told that she has double pneumonia.

For the next six days I was back and forth to the hospital. Five weeks later she’s still in the hospital. Her pneumonia has cleared up but now she has a multitude of other problems. Every time I come back from the cottage I go to see her and when I’m not there my husband drops in.

Last week my husband’s car had to go into the shop so he’s without a car and I’ve been driving him everywhere his bike can’t take him. This week he went in for his routine CAT scan and next week he has two more appointments.

Our dog, Frances is presently at the vet clinic having her teeth fixed. Unfortunately the problem is more complicated than we thought and she has to see a specialist to fix the under lying problem. We pick her up this afternoon and will learn more details as to when her next procedure has to be done.

Next week my son-in-law is going into the hospital for surgery so I will be dog sitting Lucy and keeping my daughter company during the procedure.

I’ve also been helping my friend A organize her basement and garage so that she can get ready to sell her house in the near future. Last weekend I also cleaned out our garage but with lots of help from family and extended family members. Normally I like to be at the cottage but when people offer to help with big jobs you kind of have to work around their schedule.

I did go up to the cottage right after the clean-up and I took our youngest daughter and Lucy with me. We only stayed a couple of days because I had to get back into town to get Frances to the vet.

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend but again my cottage neighbour offered to help dig a new outhouse hole so I spent hours on Sunday digging and then hauling sand out of the hole.

This week when I got back to the city I got a call from my friend G who called to warn me that my classroom was a bigger mess than we anticipated. I went in yesterday to check it out and was blown away by what I saw. Painters had come in July and it was decided that they would tackle one long wall. Of course, not knowing that this was happening, none of the books on that wall had been cleared. All the books were removed from the shelves and stacked on the tables and then the shelves were taken down. Were they put back? No!

Upon arriving to school the caretaker tried to prepare me for what I was about to see. The shelves that were moved to lay down the carpet were not returned to their original space. More shelves behind my desk were emptied because they were too close to the floor and the shelves themselves were dumped in my office.

When I left in July I had cleaned out my office so that nothing was on the floor and the counters and the table were clear so that the surfaces could be properly washed. Yesterday I couldn’t even get into my office because everything was pushed into that room. I took pictures so that my principal could forward them to the powers that be and hopefully someone will come in in the next two weeks before school starts and try to clean up the mess.

I spent a few hours yesterday locating some of the shelves, washing them and putting them back on the wall. I also clean off my library desk moved it back up against the wall so that I at least have a place to sit without looking through a mountain of stuff.

Not everything about being in the city has been bad. I did enjoy spending time with my family and taking in some of the World Cup games, especially the final when Germany won.

I’ve spent more time in my garden and reaping the benefits of time well spent.

I also saw part of the Caribana parade and spent some quality time with my husband walking, running and riding our bikes.

This summer I have produced a lot of art thanks mostly to Carla Sonheim’s on-line Summer Camp. Some of it I worked on at the cottage and the rest here at home. I’ve got lots of great ideas to share with my students when I go back to work in September. I think I’m happiest when I’m creating art.

Acrylic paint on 8 x 18 inch cedar shim.

New Flower (Aug. 8, 2014) – Passion Flower

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this bloom lasts only one day

Cottage Life – July 19th, 2014

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Mama Cormier

I finally got up to the cottage. This is actually my second trip to the island but I was back in the city for an extended period of time. Now that I’m back I’ve settled into relax mode. On my first trip I opened up the cottage and did a lot of the cleaning and sorting one does when you first open up after a long winter break.

My fridge is run on propane and right now the only downside is that it requires two people to start it, one at the front and one behind. Unfortunately the automatic starter doesn’t work so someone has to hold a flame in front of the pilot light which is at the back of the fridge while another person pushes the buttons at the front. When I arrived last Thursday, alone, none of my immediate neighbours were around so I kept my food in my cooler. Luckily my girlfriend’s daughter arrived on the next boat so the fridge dilemma was quickly resolved.

My meals are simple. Fruit and yogurt for breakfast, soup and an open face sandwich for lunch and salad and grilled meat for dinner. I always make a thermos of coffee first thing in the morning and later in the day when it cools down I might put a few ice cubes in it and have an ice coffee. I also enjoy a cup or two of tea but I have to stop drinking by 7:00 in the evening or I’ll be up in the middle of the night. Oh, did I mention we don’t have indoor plumbing. I don’t mind the outhouse, except at 3:00 in the morning. I never have to get up in the middle of the night at home. Why is that?

Today my girlfriend and her husband arrived. They’re my immediate neighbours to the south of me. I joined them for coffee when they arrived early this morning and they invited me for lunch later in the day. I always contribute in some way when I’m invited for a meal so today I sliced and grilled sweet potatoes and onions that I prepared on the BBQ. Most of my meals are cooked outside, in fact all of them because I also don’t have electricity.

As I type this on my fully charged laptop I’m listening to the radio which runs on batteries. I love the CBC in the summer. If I stay for an extended period of time I’ll take a trip to the library in the village and use their Wifi to post my articles, catch up on my emails and recharge my laptop and iPhone. I’ve been up for three days and I’ve already finished reading one novel and am on my second. I get a lot reading done at the cottage. The weather’s been a bit cool so I’ve stayed close to the cottage. The beach isn’t warm enough for lounging right now. I need to get out and walk a bit more. I’ll probably do that after I finish this post.

Another activity I like to do while I’m up here is paint. I’ve brought my boards and canvases up with me on this trip and am planning to apply gesso to them to get them ready for painting. The next time I go home I’ll pick up the rest of my paints and bring them with me on my next trip. I also like to take photographs and I’ve taken a number of shots of my neighbour’s garden across the street from me. They come up a lot earlier than I do and when I get here in July their garden is well established. Well I’m I think I’d better finish here and get outside and move.

Till the next time. Cheers!

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Kitsch

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..Sue Llewellyn has gone into her dictionary again and pulled the word kitsch

Kitsch

Share Your World – Week 27

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for more great questions this week for Share Your World

If you were the architect of one existing building, which building would you select?

What an impossible question! There are so many wonderful buildings out there in the world that I’m sure my choice will probably offend a variety of people for a variety of reasons. I’ve decided to limit my choice to buildings in the city I know best and that would be Toronto. I am a huge fan of the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario). It was recently renovated and the architect is Frank Gehry. I love that Gehry built the addition around the old building and preserved the best features of the original gallery. My favourite features of the new addition are the Galleria Italia and the Baroque Stairs.

http://www.ago.net/frank-gehry-redesigned-ago

What is one of your favorite quotes?

My favourite quote is ‘Live, love, laugh, learn’. There are many variations of these four words and I love them all.

What color do you feel most comfortable wearing?

I am most comfortable in reds and royal blues. The OA at our school says that I can wear all colours well but that is not true. I just know what colours suit me and I tend to stick to those colours.

What is something you learned in the last week?

In the last week I learned about the mystery plants that were gifted to me and how to play the chord Dm on the ukulele.

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 to the temporary caretaker who helped me with my dilemma in the library. He made a few phone calls and saved me a lot of work. Hopefully when I return at the end of the summer I’ll have a new floor in the library a new caretaker who’ll be as considerate as this one was.

In the coming week I’m looking forward to returning to the cottage and hopefully seeing Germany in the finals of the World Cup on Sunday.

Mystery Plant #3

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this is the last plant I need identified

Thanks to Maggie Wilson I now know the name of my mystery plant #2. It’s a Spiderwort or Tradescantia. http://home.howstuffworks.com/spiderwort.htm

Photo courtesy of : http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-315.jpg

My last mystery plant has lovely burgundy leaves. I’ve seen this before but the name escapes me. Any ideas?

Ignore the green weeds around this plant.

Done – Time to Relax

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

… finally finished cleaning the library

If you walked into my library right now you’d think I was off my rocker making a statement like that. There are boxes of books everywhere.

Believe it or not that’s what I had to do. Over the summer a new carpet is being put down in the library and the books on the freestanding shelves had to be taken down so that the shelves can be moved.

I also had to clean my office so that the caretakers can get in there and clean the floor and the counter. I was really stressing about not being able to get in there and get things off the floor and the counters.

I spent two extra days at school this week to get the job done. While there I started to purge and threw away a lot of paper and old outdated documents. It was a slow process but worth it in the end. I can now enjoy the rest of my summer without worrying about the state of my office.

Now I hope when I return that the carpet will be down and that my office will still be uncluttered. I suspect that many of those boxes will end up in. It’s the one area that’s not being carpeted.

The big challenge is to keep my office like this all year.

New Flower of the Day (July 3, 2014) – Lobelia

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I’ve been a fan of this pretty little flower for many years

Strike a Chord

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..Do you play an instrument? Is there a musical instrument whose sound you find particularly pleasing? Tell us a story about your experience or relationship with an instrument of your choice.

My parents wanted me to play an instrument but they couldn’t afford to buy a piano. I remember someone coming to the house with an accordion when I was about 8 years old and trying to get me to manipulate this big, heavy and awkward music box. I’m sure that the cost was too prohibitive, never mind that I had no interest in being an accordion player. In the end my Dad bought me a Hohner melodica.

Oh, how I disliked this thing. Image courtesy of https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6014/5927778569_5a0e7458c5_z.jpg

I didn’t like this instrument either.

When I was in grade 7, our school had a school band and everyone was welcome to participate but you had to rent your instruments. Again my parents couldn’t afford the cost of the rental. Instead I took part in the class where we learned how to play the recorder. That instrument my parents could afford. In fact I was pretty good at it. Years later, when I started teaching grade 5, I took a refresher course and started teaching my students how to play. It’s not my favourite instrument but I did take some pride in knowing I could play an instrument and pass on my limited talent to my students.

In high school I was very limited as to what elective courses I could take. As much as I loved the arts I couldn’t fit any arts programs into my curriculum. I think this is one of the reasons why I was so happy that my own children had the opportunity to attend the arts high school and they all studied a musical instrument. When our son was 10 years old he expressed an interest in the piano and we started with an old clunker and then quickly moved on to a beautiful baby grand when we realized that he had a natural gift.

Once our children reached middle school they all played instruments in the school orchestra and band. Two of them played the cello and one the saxophone and they continued to play in high school.

I think one of my favourite instruments is the guitar. I can’t play it but my husband can and over the years, off and on, he had fine tuned his skills. He started playing when he was 14 and even gave lessons at this early age. I never heard him play until he was well into his 30s and in his 40s he played with our daughter at a school recital. He’s pretty much self taught but for a couple of years he did take lessons. He’s added a couple of guitars to his collection over the years and I bought him a strum stick several years ago.

Image courtesy of: http://www.baconworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/strumstick2.jpg

Recently he’s added a mandolin to his collection and every day I hear the sweet sounds of his new acquisition wafting up from his office in the basement.

I’ve tried to learn how to play a musical instrument on my own. I tried to play the piano and I started to feel somewhat comfortable with it but then the piano needed tuning and I stopped. I know it’s a pretty dumb reason to stop but our children also no longer played, mostly because they had all moved out or were away at school and I guess I felt I wasn’t worthy of spending the money to have it tuned. Hmmm? Money seems to be a reoccurring theme in this post.

An instrument that I have taken an interest in lately is the ukulele. I bought my first uke some years ago when we were considering teaching it to our students. I think the one thing that put us off was that we would spend most of our time tuning it, leaving us very little time to actually play.

My love for the ukulele, however, continues and for Mother’s Day this year my husband bought me a new concert ukulele. It’s a little bit bigger and the tone is so mellow. I love it and I keep plunking away. I bought my friend, who is also the music teacher at my school, a ukulele last Christmas. We’re hoping to spend some time this summer honing our skills together.

Maybe some day we’ll form our own ukulele orchestra. LOL!