Share Your World – January 15, 2018

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

Complete this sentence: I’m looking forward to….

….doing more painting and art projects. I’ve been reorganizing my studio space for the last few months and even though I’m still not finished I have started to work on small projects.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

My favourite comfort food is anything with carbs but I’m not suppose to eat them too often because when I start I can’t stop. My all time favourite comfort food is pasta.

What was one of your first moneymaking jobs (other than babysitting or newspaper delivery)?

I remember working in my parents’ milk store when I was 14. I did that till I was 16. When the store was held up for a second time and I was working that night my parents gave up the milk business and opened a fabric store.

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

This past week I spent time with a friend who is going through a tough time. I helped her check out nursing homes for her partner and I consoled her on the phone. It made me realize how quickly life can change and how important it is to live life to the fullest. I also spent time with a couple of other friends. With one we went out for lunch together at a really nice restaurant in a hotel and afterwards we walked downtown and browsed around in a few stores. With the second friend we drove to the mall and had lunch and did some shopping for a gift. Then we went to Costco and did our shopping together. We ran into another friend from our teaching days and quickly got caught up with what was happening in our lives. Each moment with all these friends was special in it’s own way.

On Sunday my sister came to visit with her daughter, son-in-law and her baby grandson. She lives about 3 1/2 hours away and she had to cancel a couple of times after Christmas because of weather. I knew that my husband and I had a funeral to attend on Sunday but I didn’t want my Dad to be disappointed again so I didn’t call her back to let her know we wouldn’t be there. Luckily they arrived before we had to leave so in the end we had a short but sweet visit and my father was able to finally take them out for lunch.

At the funeral we were able to reconnect with some of my husbands cousins, got caught up with up was happening in their lives, learned a few things about the family which we didn’t know and promised each other that we wouldn’t wait for the next funeral to get together.

Six Word Saturday – Excuse

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Debbie Symth for hosting Six Word Saturday from Travel with Intent

It’s too pretty to pack up!

WPC – Favourite Action Shots for 2017

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….I promise that these are the last of my favourites for 2017

Playing with a telephoto lens is new for me and this year I loved experimenting with my new toy. One of the things that I enjoyed doing was trying to catch action shots. I found it tricky timing the shot. So often I would take the shot too early or too late and only get part of the subject or none of it in the photo. Here are two shots that I’m particularly fond of. I’m sure they are far from perfect but it’s a work in progress.

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WPC – Favourites of 2017

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….I couldn’t help but include photos of my granddaughter

My favourite photos of my granddaughter were the ones that she didn’t pose for. I love capturing her in her quiet and inquisitive moments.

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Two more of my favourites for the WPC challenge – favourites

Action at the Hockey Arena

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….you were where??????

Most of you know that both my husband and I are not huge hockey fans. Sometimes during the playoff season, if our home team are in the finals I might take in part of a game or at least watch the last 10 minutes. My Dad thinks that we’re both very un-Canadian because we don’t get excited about the hockey game. None the less he tells us about every game that he watches and we listen politely.

Last weekend my daughter came over to help me put together a wall unit and I promised to drive her to a hockey game afterwards so that she could see Josie’s nephew play hockey. My husband agreed to come with us and we experienced first hand the hockey culture that so many Canadian families endure at least once a week if not more during hockey season. For some hockey season goes all year, with summer training camps and off season tournaments.

The arena that we drove to in northern Etobicoke has five rinks and parking can be challenging. The game was well under way when we arrived. I brought my telephoto lens with me and played around trying to get action shots, not an easy task when the boys are moving so quickly.

If you haven’t guessed, Josie’s nephew is number 00. Here’s our favourite shot of the day.

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Unfortunately, Dante’s team didn’t win that day but more importantly the boys played well and Dante’s family was out there supporting him.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Letter P – has to have at least 5 letters and start with the letter P

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for hosting this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

Pollinating Purple Flowers

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Parents

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Pumpkins

Parade

Produce

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Advent Calendar #1

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…every day, from December 1st to the 24th a new surprise to unwrap

Years ago my daughter and husband collaborated on a project where I was given a small gift every day from Dec. 1st to the 24th. Each gift was carefully wrapped and placed in a take away container and set before me at the breakfast table. I was so touched by this gesture that I’ve wanted to do a similar ‘advent calendar’ for someone special in my life. This year I finally got my act together and did just that. In fact I created two different ‘calendars’ for my two daughters and their families. Today I’ll share the first one with you.

At first I was just going to create a calendar for my granddaughter but then I decided to include presents for my daughter and son-in-law as well. In fact I even threw in a gift for their dog, Lucy. The hard part of this project was choosing what to put the presents into. I decided to use an over the door shoe organizer that had 24 pockets. After searching the internet and several stores I finally found the perfect vessel. After Christmas, I thought that the organizer could be used to store some of Winnie’s toys.

Apart from buying things that would be fun to open and be somewhat practical and not break the bank, the next most difficult part was wrapping each gift.

I won’t kid you and say that this project is simple and quick to put together. If I were to do it again I would start buying small gifts months in advance and wrap them as soon as I bought them. It was, however, fun to do and now that December 1st is here I’ve been blessed with photos of my granddaughter’s reaction to the first gift that she unwrapped this morning.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Letter O – Needs to have an O anywhere in the World

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for hosting Fun Foto Challenge

Otters at the Toronto Zoo

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Orangutan at the Toronto Zoo

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Jack-O-Lantern

Cows at the Royal

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Hog at the Royal

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Olaf at the Hamilton Santa Claus Parade

Black and White vs Colour – November 27, 2017

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…join the fun and change your colour photos into black and white

Thanks to the Maine Paper Pusher for hosting the Black and White vs Colour photo challenge.

Which of the two do you prefer?

Standing in the rain, waiting for Santa.

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Dogs, Dogs, Dogs…..

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….what’s more entertaining than a dozen super energetic Super Dogs?

In the summer I saw, for the first time, the Super Dog Show at the CNE. I was sitting pretty far back from the arena and I didn’t have my zoom lens with me so most of my shots were distant and often not very focused. It was also very dark in the arena and the dogs were highlighted with special lights and spot lights.

A couple of weeks ago when I went to the Royal Winter Fair with my father, he really wanted to see the Super Dog Show, so I went again. It was very different this time. It wasn’t dark, we sat much closer and I had my zoom lens with me. It was, however, still difficult to get clear shots of the dogs because they moved so quickly through the race course.

Here are a few shots that I managed to get that I’m somewhat happy with: