This morning I read about two ice climbers, Will Gadd and Sarah Hueniken who scaled the first ever ice climb of Niagara Falls. One of my most viewed posts is about about Niagara Falls when I was there with my German cousin three summers ago. To this day I still get readers who find that blog post. Today Frizz from Flickr Comments commented on this historic feat from that site..
I read the article on the Toronto Star and was able to download the video from YouTube. Here it is:
….my first photo challenge of 2015 brought to you by Cee
…..Dec.30 is the birthday of my twins, G and B
Today we celebrated a birthday. Thirty-three years ago I gave birth to two healthy children, a girl and a boy. We celebrated at G’s place where she treated us to a wonderful brunch of homemade bread, homemade ricotta cheese, jams, honey, coffee, fresh fruit salad, kale and goat cheese frittata and a delicious green salad. Everyone contributed to the meal but the bulk of the work was prepared by G.
Gifts were exchanged earlier in the day and then again at the brunch. Our son loves books and our daughter collects cookbooks. Yesterday G ordered B a very special cookbook that he had expressed an interest in and surprisingly it was delivered while we were there. Now that’s service!
After brunch we (our oldest daughter, our son and his fiancé) drove north on Yonge St. and stopped at Super Khorak to purchase some special food items for dinner. Our future daughter-in-law is Iranian and we wanted to purchase some authentic Iranian food. My son and my husband literally cleaned their bowls and the food containers with the flat Iranian bread that we bought. There wasn’t a morsel of food left over. It was definitely a ‘best buy’ today.
….the month of November has been incredibly busy but very enjoyable for the most part
It seems that the number of cultural events that I get to experience are few and far between but lately I’ve been going to quite a few shows. As they say ‘when it rains it pours’.
The month started off, sadly with my aunt’s death and her memorial gathering six days later. On a h
appier note my daughter celebrated her birthday and my son came home for a short visit from London all in the same week. I also attended a show called Between the Pages with a group of friends where we were treated to readings from the top five books that were short listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. All the authors were there and we listened to them answer questions that were given to them by the evening’s host, Carol Off.
In the following week we celebrated Remembrance Day at school on the 11th. It is always a big deal at our school and the children and staff prepared a very moving and memorable assembly for the community. 
Two days later I attended an afternoon concert at the Edward Johnson building where the Dover String Quartet played to a full house. They were the winners of last year’s Banff Springs String Quartet competition. It was an amazing concert and received rave reviews from two newspaper critics. 
The concert was sponsored and hosted by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto.
A week later on the 20th, my husband and I saw the show, The Book of Mormon at the Princess of Wales Theatre. It was a very funny show. Just what the doctor ordered. We needed a good laugh after getting the news that my husband will need another surgery to remove the other half of his thyroid. They discovered that the nodules were cancerous. Apparently cancer of the thyroid is very slow growing and as his doctor put it, it’s not the illness that he’ll die from. None the less, the news was discouraging and the play helped alleviate some of his despair.
Two days later, our good friends, D and D called us and invited us to brunch at the restaurant, Frank, at the AGO. The art gallery was featuring works from Michelangelo and Rodin so after our meal we decided to take in the show. I have to admit that I found the Michelangelo pieces somewhat underwhelming. Many of the works were very small and people moved into the the pieces way too closely for my liking but I can understand why.
The Rodin pieces on the other hand were all sculptural and much larger. I enjoyed seeing the sculpture, The Thinker, up close and personal. It was also interesting to see how large Rodin made the extremities of his figures. The hands and feet of many pieces were massive. 
On the 25th I received a phone call from my friend L and she informed me that our friend, C had put her back out and couldn’t use her tickets for the ballet the next day. She offered them to us and so the next day we headed downtown, had dinner together and then went to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts to see the ballet, Nijinsky. It was an incredible performance. I was mesmerized by the slow motion action going on in the background and the shear physicality of the lead dancer’s movements. How that man isn’t black and blue all over is beyond me.
Finally on Friday, November 28th we were guests of our friends D and D at the University of Toronto production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, It was charming and fun to watch.
As I said earlier ‘ when it rains, it pours’. So much to see and do. I’m exhausted just writing about it. Now that we’re into December I’m sure things will not slow down but for different reasons. November was truly a month for the arts.
….when I saw Cee’s Black and White Challenge this week I knew exactly where I was going to get some great line and angle shots
Today, my husband, my daughter A and her partner J and I took J’s nephew to the ROM in downtown Toronto. The new addition is not to everyone’s liking but it certainly has some great lines and angles.
….warm temperatures, some sun, some clouds, time with family – Bonus!
Today was a special day. Time spent with my husband and youngest daughter are always special but when the weather in late October is pleasant and doesn’t require umbrellas, hats and mittens it becomes extra special. This is especially true when we venture out to one of my favourite places in the city…..the St. Lawrence Market and Farmers’ Market across the street.
Today there were lots of vendors outside the market under canopies, selling paintings, jewellery, clothes and lots of flowers, fruits and vegetables. We met our daughter around 9:00 at the market and decided to eat breakfast before we started our shopping. Normally that means pemeal bacon on a bun but we decided to sit down to for a complete breakfast meal.
Afterwards we headed out in separate directions. I looked for cheese and freshly baked bagels while G and K bought free range chickens and other meat for later in the week. Across the street at the north market we took in the sights and I purchased some beautiful orange sunflowers. Here are a few of things we saw today.
…..another new challenge by Where’s My Backpack
Museums, art galleries and churches have the best interiors
This week’s one word photo challenge is rainbow. Anything that reminds us of rainbows or rainbow colours is worthy of posting. For more information on how to participate in the challenge check out Jennifer Wells’ blog: http://jennifernicholewells.com/2014/07/15/one-word-photo-challenge-rainbow/http://jennifernicholewells.com/2014/07/15/one-word-photo-challenge-rainbow/
Student art
…..the end of a long weekend brings us to a new Share Your World
If you could go back and visit any time period, what time would you travel to and why?
I saved this question for last because I’m not sure which time period I’d want to travel to. Having studied and taught early civilizations, the medieval era, and everything else up to the present day I know too much about the downside of each era, i.e. the plague, wars, disease, poverty, discrimination, persecution, unsanitary living conditions, etc.. If I had to choose I think it might be the early 1900s when the first wave of technology really started to impact people’s daily lives. Imagine experiencing the telephone, cameras, sewing machines, typewriters, electric lights, refrigerators and washing machines powered with electricity for the first time. It must have been a very exciting yet controversial period in history. Abstract art became popular then because with the invention of the camera, artists didn’t need to recreate realistic images onto canvas. They were now free to try new art forms and express their creativity using new techniques and materials. It was also a time when women started to fight for equal rights and fashions changed dramatically. Reminds me a little bit of growing up in the 60s and 70s. 
If you could have three wishes granted for you alone, what would they be? This is a time for you to dream and have fun.
My first wish would be to be able to pack my bag at a moment’s notice and fly to anywhere in the world that my heart desires. An opening to a Broadway show in New York, a week on an island in the South Pacific, time spent with my son in Venice for his biennale, or attending an art retreat in the mountains in British Columbia would all be possible in the blink of an eye.
Image courtesy of: http://www.travel-south-pacific.com/images/site/south-pacific-1.jpg
Image courtesy of: http://www.nycgo.com/images/broadway/broadway_default_310x218.jpg
My second wish would be to completely renovate my house from top to bottom. Never mind moving. I love where I live. My only stipulation would be that the work is started and finished by professionals. No more DIY for me.
My third and final wish would be to live a long and healthy life so that I can enjoy the first two.
Wanting something to quench your thirst, what would you drink?
For quenching my thirst, nothing is better than plain old water. I love the water at my cottage because it comes from deep in the ground through a sand point. It is cold and free of chemicals. It’s also tested every year and is about as pure as it gets. No e-coli, bacteria, excess minerals, pollutants, etc..
At home the tap water isn’t bad but I also enjoy a good cup of tea, especially on a chilly night. I’m not usually a beer drinker but on a hot day an ice cold glass of beer with ginger ale, also known as a shanty, also quenches my thirst.
If you watch TV what are your favorite three television shows?
I had to answer this question first because the answer didn’t require a lot of thought. The first show to come to mind is Survivor. I’m a fan through and through and have watched every season since the beginning when Richard Hatch won.
Image courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Survivor_8_Logo.png
The next show that I love is Dancing With the Stars. I wasn’t always a fan. I don’t think I even bothered watching the first season but it was during season two that I became a fan. One of the reasons why I love this show is because my husband and I took ballroom dancing for about 13 months. We spent three days a week at the dance studio taking private lessons, group lessons and participating in dance parties and competitions. The only reason we stopped was because it became financially burdensome. Dancing with the Stars
Now before you think that I am a reality show freak, which I confess I probably am, my third choice is a drama. Actually I like about three or four dramas. My first choice is The Good Wife.
Image courtesy of: http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/100525/the-good-wife_320.jpg
In second and third place are Elementary and The Mentalist. All three shows have great actors and great writers.
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 another positive visit to the oral surgeon. Everything is healing on target and I’m able to eat more normally. I’m also grateful for getting out for two long walks this weekend and spending a great day with my daughters and husband on Sunday.
This week I’m looking forward to walking more and for the soccer team’s tournament on Tuesday (that’s tomorrow). I’m also hoping to get out into the garden and plant some flowers, now that the temperatures are starting to warm up. It was pretty cool this weekend.
For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s Photography.
…..35 kilometres north of where I live is a thriving Iranian community
When my son and his fiancé came to visit in December we were treated to a wonderful Iranian meal made by my future daughter-in-law. A trip to Super Khorak Supermarket in North York made it possible to gather up all the ingredients necessary to create our authentic meal. I heard so many wonderful stories of this Persian market that day and then again when I read about it in fellow blogger, Ann Gagno’s post yesterday that I really wanted to experience it for myself.
My husband suggested that we take a drive up there today and purchase some of their ready-made food for our dinner with our girls tonight. The place was buzzing with activity. The bakers worked non-stop putting fresh hot flat breads on the counter for customers to gingerly fold and put into paper bags. Behind the take away counter the grill man cooked skewers of kebobs while the ladies packed up the orders swiftly and efficiently into styrofoam clamshells and foil containers.
Everyone was extremely friendly and very helpful. One thing I realized after we paid for our purchases was that I ordered way too much rice. When I saw the size of the container I told the man next to me that I ordered enough for ten people. He laughed and suggested that it was just enough for four hungry Persians.
We ordered three different kinds of kebabs, beef, chicken and ground meat, two different flat breads, marinated olives, baked rice with a chicken filling, an eggplant and meat stew and gormeh sabzi (herb stew) and for dessert, baklava. Needless to say we had lots of leftovers. The girls went home with bread and rice.
Tonight’s dinner. Yum!
For fellow Torontonians who’d like to try some authentic Persian cooking I would highly recommend a trip to Super Khorak Supermarket in North York. It’s open 24/7 and is located right on Yonge Street. Check out this site for more reviews.
Mama Cormier 
