Getting Ready for a Busy Day

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….mixing pleasure with those things that never get done

I started my morning going through all my bills and then going on line to make some payments. I have three stops that I have to make this morning. First I’m going for a bone density scan that I should have done much earlier in the year, then I’m heading to the blood lab for more blood work and finally I’ll be standing in line to fill out the paperwork for a new health card. They finally caught up with me and after all these years of using my original health card I now have to get the new one with photo ID.

Once I’ve finished with these mundane tasks I’ll be getting on the subway and heading downtown to the university to take in the first of five concerts in a series called Music in the Afternoon. The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, in its 116th season, puts on a series of concerts every year, featuring outstanding Canadian and international artists in a blend of instrumental and vocal chamber music. Many of these musicians are on the threshold of international recognition.

Today’s concert features Bax and Chung, a piano duo. I’ll be meeting a friend downtown and together we will walk over to the Edward Johnson Building for the Tuning Your Mind lecture which proceeds every concert. The guest speaker will give the audience some insight into the pieces that we will hear and perhaps some information about the artists who are performing. Shortly after the lecture, which is optional, the concert will begin in earnest.

I’m looking forward to the day and will report on the experience in a future post.

Cheers!

Food is Art

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..a special treat to end our Thanksgiving weekend

Yesterday I told you about our trip to Trinity Bellwoods Park. When we reached the south end of the park, my daughter A asked if I wanted to stop for coffee. Is the pope Catholic? You don’t have to ask me twice.

Of course she already had a very special place in mind. Right on Queen St., on the north side and east of the park is a very fancy cafe called Nadege. It was warm enough yesterday to sit outside so we found a table for the four of us on the patio facing the park.

We all wanted Americanos, so A and AB went inside to order. When they came back they raved about the pastry counter and insisted that I had to go inside to see it for myself. I wasn’t disappointed. It was like an art gallery of pastries with real French croissants, tarts, Danishes, French macaroons and delicately and beautifully designed slices of cake. My description here doesn’t do it justice. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words:

A waitress brought out our coffees, glasses of water and a small tray of cream and custard filled puff pastries. Luckily they were small so even though it was an indulgence we didn’t feel too guilty. They were definitely worth the calories. I was glad that I had saved up my calories earlier in the day.

When I had gone inside to check out the counters I noticed that at the back of the store there was an in house bakery that one could see into and watch the bakers at their craft. I took a picture but when I looked at it later it looked like one the the pastry chefs was not too pleased to have her picture taken so out of respect for her I’ve decided to not publish it.

When I went back outside I noticed that there was water on the ground close to where we were sitting. I asked where it came from and they told me that the waitress had accidentally spilled water on J’s back. She had her coat on so she didn’t feel it but the waitress brought three French macaroons, on the house, to the table to compensate for the mishap.

Bonus! We all took a nibble from each one. The orange one was my favourite. It’s a good thing we had to walk back across the park to get to the car. It helped burn a few extra calories. What a great ending to a perfect weekend!

My girls and AB.

The Perfect Weekend

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..mostly good weather and great company

The weather wasn’t perfect but it started off well and ended well.

I spent Saturday with one of my best friends and her family at the art gallery. Both shows, Ai Weiwei and David Bowie, were exceptionally good and awe inspiring.

Sunday wasn’t great weather wise but we spent it with family and enjoyed great food and celebrated my son-in-law’s birthday. We’ve also started what we hope will become a regular family event…..family game night. Who said game night was only for younger children? During our walk we stopped to see my neighbour and good friend, MC, and quickly said hello to her entire family who were also celebrating Thanksgiving together. I’ve known MC for more than 30 years and our children are very close in age. The big difference is that she’s a grandmother four times over and number five is on the way.

Today the sun was shining again. I had a lie in this morning and spent a good hour and a half reading a wonderful book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. K prepared a sumptuous omelet for breakfast and together we started making a hearty turkey soup. Actually K prepared most of the soup while I started cleaning out the fridge.

I know that most people wouldn’t find cleaning a very enjoyable activity. I have to admit that it’s not my most favourite thing to do but I do get a lot of satisfaction when I finish a task. Today the birds were given a nice clean cage, the bedding was stripped and washed and my vacuum cleaner that stopped working two weeks ago has miraculously started working again so the second floor and the stairs got a long overdue cleaning.

After cleaning I took a break and read some emails and other people’s blogs and wrote about our Thanksgiving dinner for this blog. As I was finishing up my latest post, the phone rang and one of my oldest friends and first teaching friend invited me to meet her at her place and then head out to Trinity Bellwoods Park and go for a walk. Perfect ….. the one other thing that I hoped to do today was get outside and get some exercise.

AB and I have a very special relationship. She is a few years older than I am and was my mentor when I first started teaching. When our first child was born she became her godmother and has always taken a special interest in all our children. In fact she considers all three of our children her god children. We’ve always considered and treated AB and her partner as members of our family.

I picked up my daughter, A and her partner, J and headed out to AB’s place. We drove over to Trinity Bellwoods and parked the car at the north end of the park. It’s a busy park with walkers, runners and cyclists. The leaves are just starting to turn and some of the trees are bearing some unusual fruit. There are numerous memorials and statues in the park, representing individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to the neighbourhood.

: I have no idea what kind of tree this is.

: A close-up of the fruit on this unknown tree.

: Any idea what kind of tree this is?

When we got to the south end of the park my daughter suggested that we stop for a coffee at a cafe across the street. She had obviously been there before and she was anxious to share this special place with me. More about this in my next post. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day and perfect weekend.

Cheers!

Ai Weiwei (part 1)

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….pronounce ‘I way way’

Today my friend L, her sister and father and I drove into the city to the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the David Bowie Show and the Ai Weiwei Show. A lot to take in, in the short time we had. Considering it is the Thanksgiving weekend the gallery wasn’t too busy when we arrived at 1:30 but later in the afternoon the line-ups were quite long.

I’m going to share a few of the pieces that I saw at the Ai Weiwei show. This incredible contemporary Chinese artist produces photographs and installation art pieces that raise crucial questions about the right to express and conduct oneself freely and that feature repurposed furniture and artefacts.

One of the first pieces that you can’t help but notice is the snake like sculpture that hangs above your head as you enter the exhibition. It is made from 800 backpacks, commonly used by students in China, to represent the souls of the many children who died in 2008 during the Sichuan earthquake.

As you pass the through the hallway of floor to ceiling photographs and enter the main hall you greeted by a sculpture called “Grapes“. It consists of 40 wooden stools from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that have been reassembled in a way to transform its meaning and obscure its function. There are no nails in this piece and like the individual stools it is held together with traditional joinery techniques. The whole piece is supported by the legs of one stool.

In the same room, a series of seven chests made from huali wood are lined up across the far side of the room. Each chest has four circular openings that when aligned created the effect of showing every phase of the moon to visitors who walk through the installation. The challenge here was trying to get a shot without people passing through. The piece is called Moon Chest.

I will feature a few more pieces in future posts. In the meantime if you’re in Toronto and you haven’t seen this show, I highly recommend it. Hurry though, it closes October 27th.

Happy Saturday

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….another visit to the market but with daughter, G and sweet Lucy

Whenever we go anywhere with my daughter’s Bassett Hound, Lucy, people stop to make small talk. Yesterday we went back to the Junction Farmers’ Market, sat outside on the patio at the Full Stop and window shopped along Dundas St. W. One of the stores that we wanted to show G was the new meat market situated between the coffee shop and the farmer’s market.

Gourmeats is relatively new to the area. The owner and the employees are extremely friendly and helpful. One of their special features is marinating your choice of meat before you leave the store. There are numerous options to choose from and after the marinade is added (no extra charge) the bag and contents are vacuum sealed.

My husband and G went into the store while I waited outside with Lucy. Every time someone entered or left the store Lucy approached the door, hoping to make her way inside. After awhile both Lucy and I began to peer through the glass door to see what was keeping both of them so long. Someone passed by and commented on what a funny picture that would have been, seeing both of us longingly peer through the butcher’s door.

The meats at Gourmeats are of excellent quality. My only complaint is that they are a tad expensive but then we shouldn’t be eating so much meat anyway and you really do get what you pay for. K purchased some pork shoulder, which he should be cooking shortly for our dinner with the kids today. Everyone is coming over later for a family meal to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We’re also hoping to make it into a ‘game’ day as well.

The only other thing we bought was a capon. I’ve become a huge fan of capons after purchasing one down at the St. Lawrence Market earlier this year. We’ll probably get four or five meals from this big bird alone.

Today we’re having the family over to celebrate K’s birthday and the plan is to make Mexican tacos from scratch. One of the things that we needed are fresh tortillas. We knew of a place situated closer to our daughter’s place so we called her and asked her if she could pick some up for us. She texted us back and told us of a place that has recently opened up very close to where we live.

So after visiting the Junction we made our way to La Tortilleria to pick up fresh yellow and white corn tortillas. La Tortilleria makes tortillas and nacho chips daily and also prepares ready to eat meals as well. You can sit in or take out and there is a small store attached with Mexican products so that you can prepare your own meals if you’re so inclined.

Our last stop of the day was at the Pie Commission. This is a brand new take out place that K discovered on Twitter. Our daughter’s partner, J, also texted us about it so K checked it out a couple of weeks ago and he wanted to show us the place and order some pies for dinner.

The Pie Commission makes a variety of savoury meat pies and sells them from a take out window. There are a few seating areas outside the location where you can sit and enjoy your meal or you can opt to buy the pies frozen and take them home and bake them in your own oven. There are plans to expand the place so that you can go inside. They’d better hurry. As good as the pies are I can’t see people lining up outside in the middle of February, especially if we have another winter like last year’s.

We took home a selection of 4 different pies and served them with a large salad. A great meal and a very special treat for us. As good as these pies are, they aren’t exactly diet food.

After dinner we made our way to a birthday party across the street. We enjoyed the company of our neighbours and met some new people. We also got to know some of our dog walking acquaintances better.

One of our fellow dog walkers is Adrian deRooy. I mention his name here because he is quite an accomplished artist and I would like to feature some of his work here. We’ve only met Adrian and his dog a couple of times but he always engages us in conversation. One of the things we didn’t know about him is that he makes his living as an artist.

At the party we noticed that T had great paintings on her walls and four of them were painted by Adrian. Here is Adrian deRooy’s website where you can check out more of his work. I’ve included a few of his paintings here so you can see what a talented guy he is. He is also a very nice man and very down to earth.

Adrian and Daisy

Time to start prepping for dinner and getting ready for the family. It’s been a great weekend so far.

Cheers!

Hanging onto Summer

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….now that we’re officially into autumn, I appreciate all the ‘warm and sunny’ days that come our way

Yesterday I spent the entire day with my oldest daughter, A and her partner, J. We started out in the morning at the Junction Farmer’s Market. I love this small market. The vendors are friendly and young, if not in age certainly at heart. The market has a lovely community feel to it.

The market includes freshly baked breads and healthy treats (and not so healthy), olives and olive oils, organic vegetables, free range chickens and pork, freshly picked fruits, local fish, honey, and ready to eat food, like BBQ ribs, dumplings, and meat pies. One of the vendors took out his guitar and played a tune for those passing by.

After making a few purchases we decided to check out the new cafe situated right next door to the market. It’s called the Full Stop and they make great Americanos. J really wanted one of the scones but she was shocked at the size of it. It could have fed a family of four.

After enjoying great coffee we headed back to my house and dropped off some of the perishables. Then we proceeded on our marathon of shopping….Canadian Tire, Ikea, Zellers, and Costco.

After our trip to Costco we were starting to feel rather peckish. Other than our coffee and splitting one scone three ways we hadn’t eaten in over 5 hours. The girls really wanted pizza but one of our favourite places had a line-up all the way out the door and almost to the street. We decided that there had to be other places that made good pizza.

We chose a place that a couple of my friends really like but I have to say that the pizza was just mediocre. When you don’t eat pizza all the time because of dietary reasons it’s really disappointing when you end up with a meal that you wish you hadn’t ordered. The salad was good but I would never recommend this restaurant for pizza. I took the leftovers home and K ate it when he got back from the cottage. He has a weakness for pizza.

Emma over at My Darling Lemon Thyme posts some of her favourite things every month. This video of an outdoor dinner in a cave by the ocean really made me long for more summer. I wonder how I could do this on a budget? Hmmm! Enjoy!

Playing With my Camera

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….on the last evening at Mono Cliffs

While the students played some cooperative games after dinner I walked around the grounds and took some interesting shots.

Up in the Treetops

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..as for me maybe next year

When I first saw the treetop trekking course I was in awe. I couldn’t believe how high the course was. I found out later that the wires were anywhere from 25 to 40 feet off the ground. This is the first year that Mono Cliffs has offered this amazing program to students. Our school was only the second school group to attempt this course.

Before the students were allowed on the high course they participated in a team building activity where they were encouraged to walk across a low ropes course. The wires and swings were close to the ground so that if one lost their balance all they had to do was step off. It was pretty challenging walking across those wires but I did it. It wasn’t a pretty site as my body wobbled and shook, making my way across.

It was raining and cold the morning my group headed towards the treetop course. The three groups that had already experienced the ropes had perfect weather. Everyone raved about the experience and my colleagues encouraged me to take on the challenge. All of us were fitted with safety harnesses and helmets and then sent to a different low ropes area where we learned how to use the harnesses and transfer our clips from one part of the course to the next. Safety first.

After going across the low ropes I felt much more confident and even allowed myself to hang from the ropes in the harness. I waited my turn to go up the cargo net to the first platform. I cheered on the students ahead of me and praised the two who attempted the climb but couldn’t bring themselves to go any further than the platform. When it was my turn my hands were already numb from the cold but I started the climb up the ropes anyway. It was much harder than I expected. The first platform was 30 feet from the ground and I was about 6 feet away when my arms just gave out. I tried to rest but my experience with anything physical has taught me that when you’re physically spent, pushing yourself can only lead to trouble.

The one thing that I’ve always wanted to experience is being repelled from a significant height. So rather than climb back down I asked if I could be repelled. It was a lot of fun and it inspired the two students who didn’t continue on the course to climb back up and then then experience the same thing. I think they felt a lot better having done that.

As for me, I definitely need to build up my upper body strength before I attempt this again. Losing more weight would also help. I’m actually looking forward to trying this again.

Exhausted but Rejuvenated

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….I can barely keep my eyes open as I write this

Today I returned to the city after three days at Mono Cliffs with 54 grade 5s.

The experience at this well established outdoor education centre was very different from years past. The focus used to be more ecological with geology hikes to the caves, eco hikes through the woods along the Bruce Trail, exploration of the ponds, orienteering, and survival skills in the woods.

This year’s programs still focus on the environment but are more adventure based. The children participated in archery, instincts for survival games, co-operative games and team building, mountain biking and tree top trekking. The last two activities are completely new and just blew me away. The equipment for the mountain bike ride was top notch and the design of the tree top trekking was awe inspiring and frightening at the same time.

Mountain Biking

I have owned bikes most of my life and I still ride today. Now I do more city riding and I haven’t been on a mountain bike for several years. About half of the students hiked a short distance through the woods to a cabin in the clearing where Mono Cliffs stores all their bikes and related equipment. The remaining students were at other activities. At the cabin each student was equipped with a bike that was suited to their size, a water bottle and a helmet. They were instructed on how to wear the helmet and how to adjust their seats.

A couple of students who had never ridden before were taken to a clearing with a couple of instructors and were given personalized lessons on how to handle the bikes while the remaining cyclists were lined up and taught about changing gears and braking. Then we all got onto the bikes and rode around in circles for awhile, practising

proper braking, going up and down hills and keeping a safe distance between the bikes. When the leaders felt we had mastered the skills sufficiently we set off for our afternoon ride through the conservation area.

The ride took us into the Mono Cliffs conservation area which is open to the public. The trails started out wide and mostly downhill and when the path became too rocky for beginner riders we all dismounted our bikes and walked for a stretch. The leaders made sure that the children took frequent water breaks and aired on the side of caution with the paths that they chose. As we were going downhill, I realized that the trip back would be a lot of uphill but I didn’t know that we’d be pushing our bikes back up the side of the cliffs. The leaders and the teachers were able to pick up their bikes over the rocky areas but some of the smaller children struggled to get their bikes up the hill. Surprisingly on one complained and they all seemed to enjoy the adventure.

On the last portion of the trip we rode through grassy fields. This is where some of the children wiped out. The paths were very narrow and overgrown with tall grasses, shrubs and trees. There were lots of dips and rocky areas as well. At least when they fell it was usually into the tall grass. I think at this point of the ride we were all getting very tired. Certainly that was what was happening to me and I started to feel claustrophobic on those narrow trails. I fell twice before I finally abandoned the idea of riding on the hilly areas of the field.

When we got back onto the road I got back onto the bike and finished the ride back to the cabin. Other than a few scratches on my ankles I was unhurt and all the children survived the ride with relatively few bruises. Later in the day the lead instructor came to me and apologized for the route she had taken, realizing that it was probably a little too long and technical for our students. The group that had done the ride in the morning had taken a different route and the group that went the next day chose another route. It is early days for this program and the leaders are still working out the glitches and the best routes to take.

All in all it was a great experience for all of us and the two students who couldn’t ride at the beginning of the afternoon were confident cyclists before we headed back to the centre for dinner. On our way back we passed the tree top trekking course and witnessed first hand what we could expect to experience the next day. More about that in the next day or so.

Bull’s Eye!

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….I hit the mark at Mono Cliffs

On Monday I was asked to join the grade 5s on their trip to the outdoor education centre at Mono Cliffs. I’ve always loved this trip and it’s one of the things that I miss now that I don’t have a homeroom. That morning I put that very thought out into the universe when I was talking to some of the parents during our cross country practice.

We were one teacher short for supervision for this year’s trip so after some rearranging of timetables it became possible for me to go on this trip. On Wednesday morning we packed 54 students and all their luggage into two school buses, waved good bye to some anxious parents and made our way up north to Mono Cliffs for 3 days of outdoor activities.

One of the first activities that I took part in was archery. I used to hate archery in high school but since coming to Mono Cliffs for over ten years it has become one of my favourite things to do. Today for the first time in my life I hit the bull’s eye. I was shocked and thrilled at the same time and it left quite the impression with the kids.