A Surprise Visit to Abby Road

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…then lunch in a pub and a walk through Hyde Park

Kevin decided to surprise me with a secret itinerary into central London today. We walked to the Arsenal Station and took the Piccadilly line to Green Park and then transferred onto the Jubilee line. Three stops later we got off at St. John’s Wood.

As we started walking Kevin hesitated for a moment and checked his phone for directions. A kind man asked if we were looking for Abby Road. Our destination was no longer a surprise but I was very moved by Kevin’s plan. He knows that I was and still am a big Beatles fan.

The actual studio is heavily guarded but there is a gift shop that is open to the public.

We considered going to some of the other iconic Beatles landmarks but they were all very far apart and not easy to walk to so we opted to get some lunch instead.

We headed to Bakers Street and had a nice meal at the Allsop Arms. I had the steak sandwich and lemonade and Kevin had the chicken BLT and a non alcoholic Peroni.

The forecasted rain held off and we made our way south to Hyde Park. We entered from the north east side and continued along the path towards the Serpentine Lake. As we got closer to the lake we were happy to see benches to rest our weary feet.

After a short rest we continued heading south to the south end of Hyde Park.

On the way out of the park I saw the rose garden and suggested to Kevin that he could rest some more while I quickly checked out the flowers.

All in all it was a great outing and when we got home Brendan cooked us dinner and Sevin set up her hairdressing parlour and gave Oma and Big Papa a makeover. If our son shares his photos with me I might share them with you. All I can say is that it was crazy fun and there was a lot of laughing.

Judy’s Number Game Challenge

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Judy Dykstra-Brown for hosting the Numbers Game Photo Challenge https://judydykstrabrown.com/2025/06/08/the-numbers-game-75-please-play-along/

This weeks number is 197. If you want to participate just type this number into the search box on your photo page. It’s fun to see what pops up.

A Walk Through Camden Passage in Angel

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…closer to home

We didn’t want to go too far afield today because we had to pick up Sevin from school. After a good hearty breakfast at the flat we headed out to catch the #4 bus to Islington Green.

We stopped in Waterstones bookstore to look around and purchased a couple of paperbacks. After that we were desperate for a coffee and we stopped at the same coffee kiosk that we went to the last time we were here. Once we were satisfactorily caffeinated we continued our journey down Camden Passage.

We stopped in a great cheese store and purchased some yummy cheeses made in Britain. One of the cheeses, the cheddar to be exact came from a dairy in Devon. The cheese monger told us that he had been to that dairy and he claimed that the owner knew her cheese as well as she knew her cows. She has a herd of over 100 cows and she has named each one.

Before heading home to pick up Sevin we stopped at Cass Art to pick up more sketchbooks and watercolour paper. All in all a very enjoyable afternoon.

A Trip to the Artist Run Gallery in Angel

Posted on May 24, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in this lovely little gallery

The Bakery Art Run Gallery is situated on a small side street and is home to the work of 19 artists who curate the work themselves and is always manned by one the artists. On the day we went we met Natalie Kingdoms who specializes in silk screen printing using half tone dots. For more information about the gallery you can check out their website: https://thebakeryartgallery.com/

A Trip to Angel

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Mama Cormier

… with the 19 bus

Today we decided to do a little shopping and explore the area around the Angel Station. We stopped at Itsu for some lunch and enjoyed a hot noodle bowl.

We explored some very cool side streets with fun artist owned galleries and outdoor cafes before we ended up at Cass Art Supplies to purchase some sketchbooks.

Back in London

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…arrived this morning at 6:30 just in time for rush hour

The flight was only 6 1/2 hours but the drive from the airport took us almost two hours. After a two hour nap we took a walk from our flat (next to our son’s flat) to the local green grocer/mini market. We picked up a few essentials and when we got back we met up with Sevin who had just returned from school. She helped us put away our groceries and then we went next door where mama was preparing dinner for us.

Sevin entertained us with stories about her day at school. She is in reception which is like our senior kindergarten. Then she showed us her latest work of art.

A Week of Art

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…enjoying other people’s art

Last Thursday I enjoyed a concert in the afternoon put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. They featured the tenor Asitha Tennekoon with pianist Steven Philcox and a string quartet. Here is short description of this man’s musical journey into opera.

https://www.amplifiedopera.com/asitha-tennekoon

After this very moving concert I walked over WAAC and took in the the show featuring photography for this year’s Contact Show.

On Saturday Kevin and I drove to the Better Living Building and spent a couple hours exploring the beautiful art at the Toronto Art Project. It was fun meeting artists that we followed on Instagram and conversing with new artists.

*That’s me being secretly photographed while speaking with the artist*

On Saturday Kevin and I continued our our art filled weekend and took the train into the city and enjoyed an afternoon listening to a big band group of young people , the Angela Pincente Orchestra at the famous Rex.

The Rex is Toronto’s oldest jazz club.https://www.therex.ca/events/angela-pincente-large-ensemble-9gmm4-txnft-w799d-h3m7j