Share Your World – April 30, 2018

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

Do you use paper money? If so is your money organized sequentially according to denomination?

I do use paper money and I do use debit. I try to avoid using the credit card but when I do I try to remember to pay it off right away. I’m not alway successful. I can’t get my head around people who use their debit card for small purchases like a cup of coffee. Don’t they know that they add to the cost of each cup when they do that. Maybe they just have a better bank plan or maybe things have changed in that department and I haven’t kept up with the times. Time to visit my bank.

Anyway I do like using cash for smaller purchases and I organize my money by denomination in my wallet with a separate compartment for my change. Doesn’t everyone do that?

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?

Not really. I don’t consider sitting at my computer or watching TV as doing nothing, although some people might disagree with me. I get too antsy just sitting and doing nothing. I have to keep my brain working and even after sitting and doing stuff I have to get up and move around.

What is your greatest strength?

I think my greatest strength is my creativity and my work ethic. The latter is what my husband said which surprised me a bit because there are days where I feel very lazy. I also like to do things for other people and I can pretty much be relied on to do what I say I’ll do.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination

Last week was pretty uneventful. I finished reading a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

On Friday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. We signed the ownership of our second car over to them and went to lunch at a local sushi restaurant. Believe it or not it was at Winnie’s request that we went there. How many two year olds do you know that love sushi?

Thanks to my husband who took this photo.

The other thing that did bring a smile to my face last week was the onset of some beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures. Finally!

Share Your World – April 23, 2018

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Cee for coming up with great questions each and every week for Share Your World

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?

My answer is pretty close to Cee’s . I love cheese and dark chocolate and then a nice red wine to go with it.

List at least five movies or books that cheer you up.

The Wizard of Oz, Forrest Gump, Life of Pi, Up, Bridget Jone’s Diary, Mama Mia

If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?

After dinner a mouse (me) would see us sitting in the living room watching TV. After a couple of hours my husband would go to his meditation room and meditate and do yoga and then get ready for bed. I, on the other hand, would sit in front of my computer and read some emails , read a book and/or work at my art table and produce some art. This seems to be the time when I’m most productive and often stay up till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

Last week I saw my father off to the airport. He flew to Germany to visit his brother. When he called on the weekend I was so happy for him because I could tell that he was having a wonderful time. On Thursday I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with my daughter and granddaughter. We did a little shopping but mostly we played in the playroom. On Friday I printed Snoopy designs onto the front of six t-shirts that the family wore to our family lunch on Saturday.

The lunch on Saturday was a lovely casual affair and because the weather was so nice we went for a long walk to the park down the street and followed the Heritage Trail. The trail meanders through the park and past numerous marinas. We ended up at a cute little playground where Winnie wandered around and tried out the various pieces of playground equipment.

First Ice-cream of the Season

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..you know it’s spring when you can eat your first cone outside

What’s a Snoopy Party?

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….day 81 of 365 Days of Art

On Friday our granddaughter requested that everyone coming over for lunch on Saturday wear a Snoopy t-shirt. Our oldest daughter was the only one who could honour that request so Oma and Papa went to work looking for Snoopy clipart. I knew I had t-shirt transfer sheets so it was just a matter of choosing the design and finding some plain t-shirts that we didn’t mind messing up if things didn’t go as plan.

The first shirt did get messed up and I had to hand draw the lower half of Snoopy with a black Sharpie. The next two worked out much better.

I asked my daughter-in-law what colour t-shirt she wanted for her Snoopy Shirt. When she said black I knew that I couldn’t use the transfer sheets that I had so I researched how to transfer designs onto to black or dark fabric. It turns out that there is a special transfer paper designed for dark colours.

I made a quick trip to Michael’s and found the special sheets that I needed and the t-shirts were on sale, buy two and get one free. I picked up three new shirts and decided on the spot that I had to make shirts for daughter #2 and her husband. I loved how easy it was to use the special paper for dark colours and was very happy with the outcome. I think everyone loved their shirts.

New Flower (April 18, 2018) – Yellow Rose

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..happy birthday Mom

My mom would have been 87 today but she departed this world just over 25 years ago. Miss her all the time.

The Roster Spring Run-Off

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….following in her father’s footsteps

When my husband was in his twenties to thirties he was considered an elite runner. He specialized in long distances, anywhere from 10k to marathons. As he got older he decided that in order to continue to improve it would mean making more sacrifices that would negatively affect our family. He made the decision to quit running because the sacrifice wasn’t worth it.

We never pushed our children into running but our son seemed to have a natural gift and in his early teens he pursued running until he started to suffer pain and he had to make a decision between a music career and being a runner. He chose his cello over his running shoes.

Our oldest daughter took an interest in running in her 30s. Over the years she has participated in numerous races, anywhere from 5k to half a marathon. Every year she steadily gets better. Her wife also started running with her.

Today we attended a race that holds special memories for my husband. The Spring Run-off is held every year in High Park and some 35 years ago or more Kevin ran in this race as a member of the Brooks Racing Team. The race then was known as the Brook’s Spring Run-off.

Today Andrea and Josie joined some 2600 runners to take part in this challenging 8k race. The challenge is in the hills that this race covers. Andrea was aiming to complete the race in 40 minutes and did it in 39 minutes and change. Out of 900 women participating today she placed 8th in her age category. She was delighted with her accomplishment.

As you can see the race attracts all ages. My daughter is the young lady on left in the above photo with the blue sunglasses. Here a few more of her throughout the race (one of Josie #1927)

March Square – Gift from a Student

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Becky B for hosting March Square

Only one more day of March Squares. I’ve loved this challenge and don’t know what I’ll do in April. Maybe more art projects? Every day when I wake up I’m greeted with this lovely piece of art that was made by one of my grade three students and gifted to me on my retirement. Thank you Alex.

WPC – Hunting for Gnomes

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..this week’s theme for WordPress’ Photo Challenge is story

Photos tell a story all on their own. Today we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and we walked through an outdoor area that my granddaughter loves to explore in hopes of finding gnomes.

Reflections of the Past

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….fond memories of the High Park Zoo

When I was very young, about three to be exact, I remember going to the High Park
Zoo with my parents and little sister. I loved feeding the ducks and seeing what I thought at the time were exotic animals. Those exotic animals would have been bison, deer and camels. I remember bringing bags of carrots and I can still feel the pull that the deer exerted when nibbling on the these treats as I held them through the wire fence. fullsizeoutput_6c52

I recall going there quite often because we lived fairly close by. I loved walking on the stone ledges pretending to balance on a precarious cliff. In the warm weather my parents would dress us in our Sunday best and we would walk down by Grenadier Pond and around the beautiful gardens. It was also a favourite place to take visitors.

Last Sunday my husband and I drove to High Park (it’s a bit far to walk to now), parked the car and started to walk along the pathways. When we got to the top of one hill I made a request to head down towards the zoo. I felt like a kid again. The camels are no longer there but the deer and bison still reside in this zoo. Feeding the animals is now completely forbidden.