Winter is at our Doorstep

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..cold temperatures and a dusting of snow today (yesterday)…..hit published….looked like it went through…..discovered this morning that it hadn’t…..sigh…..by the way we got another covering of snow last night

An image of what’s to come in the next few months. Brrrr!!!!!!!!!

What a perfect day to do a little Christmas shopping and check out the Winter Arts Fest at Neilson Park Creative Centre. I met a great artist who makes beautiful jewellery with glass imbedded with copper, a retired principal who creates gorgeous wooden boards and boxes made from different types of coloured wood and an author who wrote a novel about Toronto’s history.

I also ran into my former art teacher, LZ, whose classes I took for a couple of years at Neilson Park Creative Centre. She told me she’s been thinking about me lately and hopes I’ll come back to one of her classes in January. She says she’s including collage and more printmaking lessons to the class. She must have been channelling my thoughts of late because I’ve wanted to do more of both, especially collage.

An earlier attempt at collage.

Printing on Gelli plates.

After doing some shopping at the craft show I headed over to the mall which is close by. The kitchen store had some great sales and I picked up some small items for stocking stuffers. I then went to one of my favourite stores and treated myself to a couple of new tops.

What’s up for tomorrow? Well I keep saying I’m going to reorganize my bedroom but there’s an interesting arts and craft show at my old alma mater in Guelph that I might check out. It all depends on whether someone is willing to go with me. I’m all about living in the moment.

Cheers!

Unexpected Pleasures

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..the joys of spontaneity

I really didn’t have much in the way of plans for the weekend. The only thing that I really needed to do was buy new tires for my car. So early Saturday morning I dropped the car off at the Tire Centre at Costco and walked home. It turned out to be a beautiful day and the walk was invigorating. I made an unexpected stop at the library and successfully signed out the next book for our book club meeting in December. So far I’d logged in 5 kilometres of walking and it didn’t stop there.

When I got home I changed into my running shoes and joined my husband, my daughter, G, her dog, Lucy and our dog, Frances for a walk to Sam Smith Park. I brought along the camera and found lots of wonderful things to photograph. Again, I played around with the macro setting and got close and personal with some plant materials.

Not only did I walk another 5 kilometres but some of that distance was covered with running. I didn’t want to get too far behind the family who were always a few steps ahead of me. The distance would get longer every time I stopped to take pictures so I found myself running to catch up. Near the end of the trail I found the group sitting on the rocks waiting for me. As you can see, Lucy has fully recovered from her surgery.

Later in the day, my other daughter called and wanted to meet and go to Ikea. We planned to rendezvous at Costco when I picked up the car but when I got to the tire centre the car wasn’t ready. I quickly called my husband to pick me and the girls up and drop us off at Ikea. This part of the day wasn’t so wonderful for K but the rest of us had a great time. Since it was already late in the day, we decided to have dinner together after our shopping adventure at Ikea. Again K picked us up and took me back to Costco to get the car and then we each had a job to do to get dinner organized. A and I were assigned to get the salad and wine and K, G and J were in charge of getting the pizza.

The day ended with a lovely unplanned dinner with all the girls. G’s husband was at a conference in North Carolina and our son of course is still in Rotterdam. We sent him a quick message to see if he still wants to participate in our Secret Santa draw but I haven’t heard back from him yet. Next week we’re getting together again for a planned meal where we will draw names to see who we will buy gifts for this Christmas. I didn’t think I’d like the Secret Santa concept but we’ve done it for a couple of years now and it certainly takes some of the stress off of buying gifts at Christmas.

Yesterday we got an unexpected phone call from old friends who live in Calgary. They were in town and wanted to get together before they go back on Wednesday. Today was the best time for all of us so we met at the house and then drove over to the Roncesvalle area and had a nice lunch at Hey’s. We had a long leisurely lunch and got caught up on what’s been happening in our lives. My husband and L have been friends since grade school and we all went to university together. We were at each other’s weddings and the births of our children. We literally had to drive L and L to the hospital when their first child wanted to enter the world in the middle of the night. As luck would have it, their car wouldn’t start at that crucial moment in time.

What a great weekend; fantastic weather on Saturday, walking 10 k in one day, an unplanned dinner with family and an unexpected visit from old friends. What more could you ask for? I hope your weekend had some special moments as well.

Cheers!

I Must Confess

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….I haven’t walked or run in weeks

As much as I like to walk and even run I haven’t done much of either in several weeks. Today I left the house early in the morning to have new tires installed on my car. I’ve been shopping around and found that Costco had the best deals but you can’t make an appointment. I arrived right at opening and was shocked to find that I was number 22 in line. Luckily the wait wasn’t too long and I’m glad I didn’t get there any later than I did because they stopped taking cars at number 24. The downside was that I had to leave the car and it wouldn’t be ready for six hours. Obviously I wasn’t going to wait around for that length of time so I decided to start walking home.

I wasn’t sure how far the walk would be but my plan was to walk about one third of the way and then phone my husband and have him pick me up at the Italian bakery. I ordered a cappuccino and a breakfast sandwich and then pulled out my phone. It was dead. Oh well!

I knew that the walk was doable, so after nourishing myself I continued to walk. It is a beautiful day today in Toronto, one that I’m sure we won’t see too many of before next spring. I forgot how much I really do like to walk. As I got closer to home I felt compelled to walk even further and check out the library to see if they had the book I needed for our next book club meeting. Bonus! I lucked out and checked out their only copy of The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

When I got home my husband was surprised to see me walk through the door and no car in the driveway. I went to gmap pedometer and mapped out the route and discovered that the walk covered 5 k. Will I walk back to pick up the car? Probably not but then one should never say ‘never’. I will, however, do some gardening today and plant some tulip bulbs that were gifted to me and maybe I’ll join my husband and daughter and walk the dogs to Sam Smith Park.

It’s going to be a good day!

Cheers!

What are the Odds?

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….in a city of almost 3 million people

Today at work I sat with two of our new teachers during lunch. I asked my table mates if they had ever eaten at Tavoos or had any experience with Persian foods. One of my colleagues used to live within walking distance of the restaurant that I posted about yesterday. This conversation eventually led to where people lived presently.

Mr. T said he lived in the Parklawn area. I perked up immediately because I had spent 10 years of my formative years in the same area. I asked him if he lived in one of the apartments or a house in the area. He said it was an apartment. I also lived in an apartment. I asked him if he lived on Kings Point Dr. The answer was yes. I couldn’t believe what came next. Not only did he live on the same street but he lived in the same building and on the same floor. When I described the view from our apartment it became very clear to both of us that he is residing in the same unit that I lived in for 10 years. We were both blown away. We continued to describe the neighbourhood and the amenities that were across the street. He couldn’t wait to go home and tell his wife of our conversation today. What are the odds?

Cheers!

Persian Breakfast

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….celebrating my oldest daughter’s birthday

My daughter, A was away on her birthday last week, touring wine country in Prince Edward County. She did, however, want to celebrate with the family and she expressed an interest in having brunch at a very trendy Persian restaurant in the west end of Toronto. Tavoos doesn’t take reservations so they suggested that we arrive at 10:00 when the restaurant opened on Sunday so that we wouldn’t have to wait.

My sister was in town on the same day and she was hoping to spend some time with me so we invited her to join us at the restaurant. In total there were six of us in attendance. Arriving early turned out to be a very good idea because when we left the line-up went out the door.

This unique little restaurant is located on College Street just west of Dufferin. When you walk in you are greeted by a warm, inviting atmosphere with a very Persian decor. There are a couple of areas that are covered with exotic carpets and cushions and you can enjoy your meal sitting cross legged on the floor. Luckily, A requested the small room at the back of the restaurant with regular tables and chairs. I’m not so sure I could get up gracefully from the floor after sitting for any length of time.

The menu offered some very unusual breakfast selections. One of them was a soup made with a goats head and hoofs. We all passed on that item. A ordered the porridge with lamb which was quite delicious and surprisingly sweet. My sister played it safe and ordered a Mediterranean salad and the rest of us had Persian egg dishes. Traditionally the dishes are baked with the eggs sunny-side up on a spinach or onion potato base. With coffee and or tea and tip the total cost came in under $65.00 for our party of six. Pretty good for the city of Toronto.

After brunch we went back to A and J’s house. My sister hadn’t seen their home and it gave us more time together. Of course there was birthday cake and more coffee. We didn’t need to eat again until dinner time.

My sister with ‘my three girls’.

Art for Remembrance Day

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….Picasso’s Doves of Peace drawings were the inspiration for this lesson

Pablo Picasso was very political and didn’t like how the world’s peace initiatives were emerging after after the the second world war. He created The Dove of Peace as an extraordinarily powerful and lasting political symbol for peace, liberation and equality around the globe. Doves also had a highly personal significance for Picasso, going back to childhood memories of his father painting the doves that were kept in the family home. Doves were a frequent presence in Picasso’s homes and studios in Paris and in the south of France. ( adapted from Tate.org.uk)

Back in the spring when I came across The Dove of Peace I decided then and there that I wanted to do a similar theme for this year’s Remembrance Day assembly. I liked the simplicity of the drawings and felt that my students would be up for the challenge.

I didn’t want every student to draw doves so I had them research symbols of peace that could be easily drawn. My only rule was that the picture couldn’t have blood or weapons in it. After working out a rough copy of what they wanted to draw I gave each student a piece of watercolour paper. They were allowed to choose between a small and medium size.

First they drew their symbol with pencil and then went over the lines with crayon. To make the symbol stand out more I showed them how to add a bit of black marker. Then I taught them how to do a simple wash of colour for the their background while leaving the symbol white. This was a difficult concept for some because they wanted to paint everything.

As a final touch the children were allowed to take photographs of each other. The photo had to symbolize friendship and or peace. Some children embraced each other while others shook hands. If they didn’t want a photo taken the other option was to find a magazine picture with the same theme. The pictures were in black and white because we printed them from the computers in the room onto our shared printer which only prints in black.

On Friday, most of the art was finished and ready to be displayed in the gym. Other classes did a similar theme and some of the younger grades changed it up a bit. All in all, everyone did a great job and the space looks wonderful. A big thank you goes out to all the staff and students.

Hung Over 120 Pieces of Children’s Art This Week

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..90 of them were put up yesterday

I teach about 110 students art and I feel it’s important that every child’s work should be displayed. This week I knew it was time to take down some of the older work and replace it with newer assignments.

In grade 5, I taught the students about the colour wheel. Even though I’ve taught art as a prep coverage subject for only the last two years, when I had a grade 5 homeroom I always did my own art. So for the last 14 years, the colour wheel was always been an important aspect of my art program. This year I decided to change it up a bit and instead of giving them a prepared wheel that they added colour to, I had the students create their own wheels and I encouraged them to be somewhat creative while remaining true to the colours and placement of the colours.

Once the acrylic paint dried I had the students take it one step further and add a splash of Zentangle designs to their wheels. Zentangle is an art form using structured repetitive patterns to create beautiful images. It’s like doodling but more carefully applied. Here are a few examples of their amazing work:

The other 90 pieces that I hung yesterday were inspired by Picasso’s Peace Art. Here’s a sneak preview.

I’ll post the lesson in the next day or so. Have a great weekend!

The Kids are Back, Lucy Goes Home and My Baby Turns 34

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….November always evokes special memories for me

It was a cold grey day in November, 34 years ago when I finally went into labour with my oldest daughter. I say finally because my original due date was October 10th and it was November 4th, almost four weeks later before I went back to the hospital. I remember that my rosebush in the front yard still had a beautiful bloom on it. I think that’s why I took a photo of this rose on my walk on Sunday.

It feels strange to say that I have a 34 year old daughter. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. A and her partner went away for a couple of days so we haven’t celebrated her birthday as a family. We’re planning on getting together next Sunday for a special brunch at a restaurant she’s long wanted to try.

On Sunday our youngest daughter and her husband returned from their week long cruise in the Caribbean. It sounds like they had a good time. It was a very special reunion when they came to pick up Lucy. When they left for their holiday they got a phone call just before they were ready to board the plane that Lucy needed to have emergency surgery. It took a couple of days and a couple of phone calls to the veterinary hospital before they could really enjoy their holiday.

Lucy was pretty much back to normal when G and B picked her up Sunday evening. As much as our Frances loves playing with her buddy, Lucy, I think she was glad to have the house to herself again.

Day Light Savings

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..moved the clocks back last night

One of the benefits of changing the clocks back one hour is that you get one extra hour of sleep the next morning but the best part for me is that I won’t be driving to work in the dark. This morning the sun cast a beautiful light over the backyard that I just had to capture with the camera. In fact, so that I wouldn’t miss it, I went out wearing only my pyjamas. I forgot how cold it can get in November.

After ‘quickly’ getting shots of the garden’s remnants and last blooms I ran back into the warmth of our kitchen where my husband lovely made me my morning smoothie.

Life is good!

Rain, Rain Go Away

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….it poured down all day and just before our Hallowe’en parade was to start it stopped

The only thing worse than indoor recess all day is indoor recess on Hallowe’en. The kids are already excited and when they can’t run off that excitement during recess it’s hard to keep them focused on their work. On top of that the book fair is still going but I have to admit that business was considerably slower today.

Someone was looking out for us today because just before our parade was scheduled to start the rain stopped. Hooray! We didn’t have to parade up and down the halls but we actually got to go outside and show off our costumes for the parents and the community.

Some of the costumes this year were very creative. The homemade ones are always the best. Here are a few that I can share with you.

: Homemade Candy Machine

: Homemade with a metal bowl and a garbage can

The teachers at our school also get into the spirit of Hallowe’en.

: Our music teacher dressed as the gym teacher

: Our gym teacher as Wolverine man

: Football player

: Mother Nature

: Paper Bag Princess

: The Library Witch

Unfortunately when I got home tonight it started to rain again. I managed to carve the pumpkin but only 16 children came to the door. They actually didn’t even come to the door. My husband and I stood out in the rain and took the candy to the few children that walked past our house. A very sad Hallowe’en night indeed.