Art With Winnie – Day 13

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Mama Cormier

…today was a busy art day with my granddaughter

Since we are not able to get together one on one, I organized at Zoom Art Class with our granddaughter in Hamilton. Once she finished her on-line class with her kindergarten teacher she signed in with me and we had a wonder hour and a half making art together.

I suggested some things that we could work on together and showed her samples of my work. I wasn’t really surprised when she rejected my ideas because she’s five after all. Instead she wanted me to follow her lead and go with her directions. We started with a clean sheet of paper (mine was a bit too small) and she started telling me how to draw the lines on my paper and she did the same on hers. After numerous steps it was time to colour our masterpieces. I carefully filled in the spaces and she boldly added her colours in large free strokes. The whole time we talked and periodically checked out how our work was progressing. Here is the first of three projects we completed.

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.For our next project I was instructed to draw a straight line with small lines coming out of the long line. We were making a tree. Then for some reason she seemed to like the idea of making people the way I had suggested earlier with collage, marker and stickers. Here is what we came up with.

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I love the tower of hair on her girl.

For our last project Winnie decided to show me how to make a paper doll. For some reason she ended up gluing her doll onto a piece of paper and drew tall grass surrounding her. I loved the story she came up with as to why the doll was in the tall grass and how no one could find her but she had super speedy powers so that a lawnmower wouldn’t be able to mow her down.

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What Christmas Taught Us This Year

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….Christmas was certainly different this year for most people who chose to stay safe

Some things didn’t change. We cut down a tree with the family, albeit socially distant and masked, and I decorated it. The difference this year is that I totally decorated it on my own and it was up a full two weeks before Christmas. Normally I wait until my daughter can come over and help me and it often doesn’t get done until a few days before Christmas.

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As much as we love being with family on Christmas we found new ways to celebrate the holiday. We exchanged gifts but this year the gifts were exchanged in front of the house. I still filled everyone’s stockings but this year everyone took them home. Gaelan brought special donuts from Hamilton and we exercised the dogs for a few minutes in the park down the street.

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Our son and his family live in London, England so this year we opened our gifts early. We always open presents on Christmas Eve but 3:00 in the afternoon was early even for us. When everyone got back home we had a Zoom Christmas so that everyone could watch their gifts being opened. It was a bit hectic but in the end watching Sevin celebrate her first Christmas was very special. Technology this year has kept us in touch and brought us closer to all our family members.

My husband and I decided to still make a special Christmas dinner for just the two of us. The only thing that was different is that we didn’t cook a turkey. Instead, we bought a nice big capon to roast and at the last minute I decide to make cranberry sauce. My husband is an amazing cook and I’m no novice when it comes to cooking but even after all these years of experience we can still mess up. The difference this year is that we could laugh about it. There were no guests to worry about or timelines that needed to be met. So when the capon was undercooked and we had to put it back in the oven, after slicing off the cooked parts, we just relaxed with more wine and started off with the wonderful salad that Kevin made.

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My cranberry sauce…..well lets just say that you should never walk away from a pot of boiling cranberry sauce. In the end I was able to salvage it with a little more sweetener. Kevin likes to tell people that we had twice baked capon and smoked cranberry relish.

We’ve learned that it’s the little things that bring us joy. Even though we knew we wouldn’t be together as a family for Christmas I still decorated the house. I pared back on the decorations but I’ve learned that you don’t need to put everything out. Simple things like lighting candles and playing Christmas music brought us joy and peace. In a way this Christmas prepared us for the day when we might have to spend more Christmases alone. There will come a day, perhaps, as the grandchildren get older they won’t want to come to Oma and Papa’s house on Christmas Eve or maybe some of our children will move further away. As for now, though, we hope we can have a few more Christmas Eve celebrations together as a family.

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It was certainly a less stressful Christmas this year. Hopefully 2021 will bring back some normality. We will probably all have to adjust to a new normal and hopefully 2020 taught us some valuable lessons about life and what is important. My husband and I learned that even though we love each other, more importantly, we actually like each and enjoyed our self imposed isolation in 2020.

Cheers and a happy New Year!

Carol

The Week Leading Up to Christmas

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…the furnace broke down, two more COVID tests, my nephew’s quarantine ended, a drive by gift exchange, preparing plates of goodies for the neighbours

I was pretty much absent for the the last couple of weeks. In the week before Christmas there were a lot preparations for our non traditional Christmas celebration and during Christmas there were Zoom calls, phone calls, dinner preparations for two of us and just taking it easy.

The Friday before Christmas our furnace decided to break down and all of a sudden we had no heat on the main floor and in the basement where my nephew was staying. The repair man came that same night when we discovered our problem but it just so happened that the part that was broken was not in stock and they weren’t able to get the part until Monday. So for three days we were bundled in extra sweater and blankets. We did have one working space heater and that did help somewhat.

A good friend of ours has not been feeling well for awhile and because she is on her own our daughter who lives close by went over a couple of times to make sure she was alright. Unfortunately, her doctor suggested that she might have COVID so our daughter went and had the test to make sure that she wasn’t infected. Thank goodness it came back negative. Then our nephew who was quarantining in our basement didn’t feel well and he went for a COVID test. Again the test came back negative and he left to visit his mother on the farm near Chatham.

On Monday the furnace was repaired and I ran around getting last minute items for stockings and the gift platters that I prepared for the neighbours. The next two days are a blur. I filled the stockings, made soup and our granddaughter made art. Even though no one was coming inside the house I spent a lot of time tidying the place up.

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When Christmas Eve finally arrived we were ready. It was the first time in my life that I wasn’t wrapping gifts right up to the last minute. It actually felt great.

….to be continued.

The Greenest Christmas Tree Hunt Ever

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….with very little snow on the ground

On Thursday the family who reside in Ontario all travelled to a Spruce Meadows Christmas Trees near Hamilton. It was very mild, sunny and there was little snow left on the ground. When Kevin and I arrived in our car we were the first of the family there and in fact we were the only people there for a short while. Apparently the weekend before the place was so busy that the entire field was filled with cars.

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It didn’t take long before the rest of the family arrived, all wearing masks and ready to trek to the tree field. My daughter, Gaelan and her husband, Brendan were looking for a tall tree to fit into their Victorian style dining room while the rest of us were more content with much smaller trees.

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After Brendan cut down the tree for their home Winnie was content to find any small patch of snow to play and chase after Olive.

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Once we all cut down our chosen trees we headed back to the bundling area, had the trees netted and then loaded onto and into the cars. Normally we would have all gone back to Gaelan’s house for refreshments but this time we all went our separate ways.

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Later that evening Winnie put the finishing touch on their tree. I hate to admit it but our tree is still in the back of the car. 240-C3-A7-F-0515-4152-A47-D-101-E760-F45-CD

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Another COVID Birthday Celebration

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thank goodness for the beautiful weather we’ve had in November

The last two days have been more normal in terms of November weather but prior to this we’ve had the most glorious, warm and sunny days. Our eldest daughter celebrates her birthday in November so we were thankful that we were able to get together with the family and have a small celebration on the deck in the backyard.

Blowing out the candles has also taken on a new format. I lit the candles on the cake and then we removed them one at a time and my daughter blew them out individually away from the cake. Well that was the plan but it turned out that the candles had burned down too far so she tried to put the candles out by waving her hand over them.

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That didn’t work very well so she tried to extinguish the candles by snuffing them out with popcorn. That worked somewhat but the popcorn caught fire.

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In the end no one was harmed and the cake was delicious.

Poppies for Remembrance Day

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….a time to reflect on my Father’s life

Dad always said that November was the hardest month of the year for him. It always made him feel sad, especially in the last few years of his life. He was a very young man, only 17, when he joined the army and he saw many of his friends die before his eyes. He often wondered why he was spared.

The other thing that I think he found difficult was the fact that he fought for the ‘other side’ and he knew that no one, here, would be thanking him for his service. He never talked about it but I know that it weighed heavily on him. I do know that he was always very grateful for the friendships he forged after the war, first with the Americans who helped him after he escaped the Russian prison camp and then with the English who gave him his first job.

Years later he emigrated from Germany to Canada with his new and growing family. He quickly got a good job at the Royal York Hotel in his chosen line of work. He was able to buy a car almost right away and four years after arriving in Toronto he bought his first home in Oakville. Dad always made friends easily with other German immigrants and Canadians alike. No one seemed to look down on him because he fought in the German army.

Over the years Dad pursued a variety of jobs but his happiest days were as an entrepreneur. When I was 16, Mom and Dad started their own fabric and sewing machine business and never looked back. Again Dad was at the top of his game when he was surrounded by people and both he and Mom had close ties with the business and local community.

As the years passed, Dad lost my mother while vacationing in Mexico in 1993 and then his second wife in 2017. When he turned 90 in 2016 we had a big party for him. Despite having lost numerous friends already he always made new friends where ever he went and yet come November he would always reflect on those who had died before him and he would fall into a deep depression.

Dad passed away almost four weeks ago. This Remembrance Day I will reflect on all the good times I had with him in my lifetime. It will be bittersweet. This painting is dedicated to you Dad.

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A Drive By Birthday Party

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….for five year old Winnie

I wanted to post this 10 days ago but with my father’s demise the day after these photos were taken I was ……well you can imagine how my blog was not my priority.

Now that things are settling down but nowhere near normal I’m trying to find joy again in the little things, like taking photographs of autumn leaves and flowers and taking walks with friends (with masks on). I’m on the phone a lot catching up with friends because COVID makes visiting in person difficult.

This year for my granddaughter’s fifth birthday we were suppose to get together for a birthday celebration in our backyard on Thanksgiving Monday but our daughter in Hamilton (Winnie’s Mom) received a COVID alert that she had been close to someone who has the virus. Out of caution they decided not to come to Toronto.

On Wednesday they decided that a drive by birthday for Winnie would be okay if we stayed apart and wore masks. Before they arrived I put out chairs on the front lawn and placed her birthday presents next to the chairs and her cake on the wall next to the driveway.

It was different. No hugs and kisses. We stayed on the porch while Winnie opened her gifts and then she dug into a piece of cake. She loved having cake at 10:00 in the morning. The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes. Then we blew her kisses through our masks and they were off to the Toronto Zoo.

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This last photo was sent to me by Winnie’s Mom. At the zoo they had these decorated hay bales and Winnie wanted to pose in front of every single one. This one was my favourite.

Sadness in my Heart

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….at 94 my father took his last breath on October 15, 2020

You may have noticed that I have not been very active on my blog in the last few day. The loss of my father has been very difficult and making arrangements for his cremation has been very time consuming. My husband has made many of the calls to family and friends to inform them of our loss and for that I am eternally grateful. Slowly I have been able to speak to those close to me and many of them have stepped up to let others know of Dad’s passing.

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COVID of course has made it impossible to have the big funeral Dad had always hoped for. Yesterday we were allowed a small gathering of 10 family members for 30 minutes to say farewell and pay our respects. For those in attendance it helped bring us closure and for that we are grateful.

I want people to know that Dad did not suffer pain and that in his final hours he slept and passed away peacefully with me by his side. Again COVID did not allow more than one family member to be present in the hospital and even with that I needed a special designation to be there. The nurses and support staff were wonderful and tried to give me as much emotional support as possible in my time of need. The hardest part for me was having to deal with this on my own and not having my family there. In the end Dad got his wish and died in his sleep.

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A Tribute to Shirley

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…Shirley was a long time cottager up on Big Sand Bay

Shirley O’Donnell passed away a week ago today. I saw her one last time back in August when we were both at our cottages. She looked well but clearly her health was not good. Her log cabin cottage was the envy of the beach. Over 40 years ago she had the logs of the cabin floated over to Big Sand Bay and rebuilt on top of the dune. Every summer she and her two children resided in this rustic cabin. She only had electricity installed in the last decade and like us used an outhouse for most of her cottage life. Several years ago she had a beautiful little building put up next to the cabin with a composting toilet and an outdoor shower.

On the weekend I got up early Sunday morning and took a walk to Shirley’s place and started to take photos of the view and the special little touches that made her place so special. The mist coming up over the lake was very mystical and I almost felt like Shirley was looking down on us and sharing the morning with me.

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Apples, Apples, Apples

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…it’s that time of year already and the early varieties of apples are ready for picking

On the weekend the family did one more get together before our granddaughter starts school. As of Tuesday our bubble has been broken and we can no longer do these family outings for awhile.

My daughter and daughter-in-law drove with me (in my new car) to St. George where we met our youngest daughter and her family at the Brantview Apple Orchard.

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It was about an hour drive from Toronto but it was a beautiful day and it was great walking through the trees and picking either MacIntosh or Royal Gala apples. Winnie loved filling up everyone’s bag.

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After a hard day of picking we headed back over the store and bought some their cider and special apple cider doughnuts. Then we loaded up the cars and headed out for our next destination. To be Continued…….