Time for a Trip to the Toronto Islands

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..with the temperatures going into summer mode this weekend, there’s no better time

If you haven’t headed up to the cottage this weekend and need a little get away trip, make your way to the ferry docks this weekend.

I would avoid Centre Island, unless you have children and need the amusement park for entertainment. Ward’s Island is a great alternative. It is a residential community where people own their homes but not the land and it’s the largest urban area in North America that has no motorized vehicles other than a few service vans. Most of the homes are tiny and on small lots. It looks very much like a cottage community.

My daughter’s mother-in-law was lucky enough to rent a house for a couple of months when she came back to the city before moving on to her next foreign adventure. On the Mother’s Day weekend we were all invited to her place for a meal. It had always been a dream of hers to own her own house on the island and every year for a number of years she paid a fee to enter a lottery when homes became available for sale. Needless to say she was never chosen so being able to rent for awhile was the next best option.

While we were there we took a walk and enjoyed looking at all the cute homes and emerging gardens. As we continued north we ended on a beach and even though it was still chilly that weekend there were quite a few people walking along the beach and some were sitting on the sand and enjoying a small picnic.

Our hostess loved living on the island. She was there in the middle of the winter and then again in April and May. Her only source of heating was a gas fire place in the shape of an old fashioned wood burning stove. She was toasty and warm all winter and she loved the solitude and quiet of her neighbourhood. The ferry runs every hour and residents can buy a monthly pass so if they have to make more than one run a day to the mainland it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg. Most of the time if you’ve forgotten to buy something or have run out of something there’s a web bulletin board and your neighbours come to your aid if they have what you need.

Update on the Paintings for the Silent Auction

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..one is almost finished and the other is just started

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Assemblies, trips to feeder schools, soccer tournaments, field trips and a school council meeting. The grade 3s abstract painting is undergoing a second coat and will be finished by the end of the week. The grade 5 project has been delayed because the class missed art one week and this week I was at the soccer tournament with the grade 4/5 girls (we won by the way) when the same class had art. When I saw the class in their library period last week I told them I was taking inspiration from previous projects they had done and applying some of their designs onto our massive set of canvases.

Today some of the students asked if they could help start the project after school. I had painted up a rough copy of what the project might look like and most of the class liked what they saw. We agreed to keep the background one colour and I’ll conference with a small group to decide on the other colours. One of the girls from the class was able to stay for quite awhile and together we drew the design onto the canvases and I started painting the background.

Hopefully I’ll be able to take a small group at a time out of class to work on the project. Ideally I’d like every student to paint a portion of the project. If you can’t tell from the photo the entire piece is quite large. There are four canvases measuring about six feet in length.

I also introduced a new project to my grade 3 art classes today. Carla Sonheim gives a free tutorial on how to paint crazy flowers using watercolours, gesso and pencil. It’s a fun project and very textural.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Ground: rocks, sand, dirt, paths, walks, trails

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I went back into the archives to find some of my favourite photos of rocks filled with fossils

For more fun photos of rocks, sand, dirt, path, etc. check out Cee’s Photography.

Share Your World – 2014 Week 20

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..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.

Persian Delights in Toronto

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..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.

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Sundays Tree – 131

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..weather remains cool but the leaves are trying to emerge

Don’t know if this grand old tree is just slow to get out of the gate or if it has succumbed to last winter’s ice storm and frigid temperatures.

Same location as the previous tree but much more hopeful on the green front.

For more Sunday Trees check out Becca Givens blog.

Long Walks on Weekends

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….now if only I could do that every day or at least every other day

I started this long holiday weekend with a long, 8.6k walk. Last Sunday I managed two walks totalling 9.0k but in between I didn’t walk at all. Granted it was a busy week at school and when I was on yard duty I purposely kept walking for the entire 15 minutes. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I was out with the girls for soccer practice and on Wednesday night I went with the junior choir to the baseball game at the Rogers Centre where they sang the national anthems at the beginning of the game. They sang beautifully but the Blue Jays lost miserably against the Cleveland Indians, 15 to 4. It was a very late night and I didn’t get home till 11:30. I was also out on Tuesday night with friends and on Thursday I had one final appointment with the oral surgeon after school. Everything on that front looks good and I’m ready to be fitted for my dental crown next week.

All of this of course is extra over and above my regular teaching day. I also met with the board designer to have the library measured up for some renovations and the assembly that I organized for this year’s Jump Rope for Heart took place Friday morning. It always feels good to be able to check another thing off the ‘To Do List’ this time of year.

This brings me back to walking. Last week I installed a new app onto my iPhone called Strava. It tracks my distances, times, calorie output and maps out the routes that I’ve taken. I just push start at the beginning of my walk and stop when I’m done. It does all the calculations for me. I love it and on Mother’s Day, A and J bought me an armband to put my iPhone into when I’m running so I don’t have to carry the phone in my hand or worry about it falling out of a pocket (if I have one).

Walk on May 17th, 2014

If you click on the link you’ll notice that it calls my walk a run. I haven’t figured out how to change that to walk but I did for the first time in a long time run part of today’s walk. It wasn’t far, maybe 1/2 a kilometre but it’s a start. During the walk I stopped a few times to take some photos of the birds in Sam Smith Park. There’s a bird sanctuary there and it is nesting season so there’s lots of activity there. One of the highlights for me on today’s walk was seeing one of the male swans building up the nest and the female sitting on her eggs. It was a bit cool today so she never got off the eggs but the last count had her sitting on five eggs.

I have to admit that I got a bit carried away with today’s walk and completely lost track of time. I was gone for over two hours and my husband called me on my phone to make sure I was okay. The nice feature about Strava is that is only records the time you are actually moving.

When I did finally get home it was time for lunch and then I spent about two hours working in the garden. Our beautiful White Pine has died and it is slated to be cut down in the near future. One of the jobs that I tackled today was removing the river rock that surrounds the tree. We’re having the stump removed right away so everything around the bottom of the tree has to be cleared away. It’s a much bigger job than I thought and I’ve only removed about half of the rocks. My husband was building a new raised garden bed today so I volunteered to start tossing rocks (literally tossing them across the path and into the side garden).

Here are a few more photos from my morning walk. Enjoy!

Floral Friday – May 16, 2014

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….my first attempt at Floral Friday

I saw this beauty during my walk on Mother’s Day. This lovely tulip was fully opened and probably on it’s last legs but I loved the contrast of the white petals against the dark shady setting.

For more Floral Friday photos check out Woolly Muses Floral Friday.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Nature Animals

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Mama Cormier

For more Fun Fotos check out Cee’s Photography.

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….in Canada we’re honouring our Mothers today

My daughters and their significant others treated me to a wonderful day on Ward’s Island yesterday. G made a fantastic meal that included a rabbit and apricot terrine, homemade sour dough bread, cured salmon infused with beet juice and cheese cups with hot pepper jelly and those delights were the appetizers.

After a bit of nourishment we went for a long walk and explored the beaches and neighbourhoods of Ward’s Island. I’ll post more about this amazing community in the coming week. When we returned to the little cottage that G’s mother-in-law was renting we enjoyed part two of our Mother’s Day Extravaganza.

For the main course we were treated to chicken legs, a faro salad and green beans and snow peas garnished with chopped hazelnuts. Dessert was a delicious panna cotta topped with rhubarb.

At the end of the meal the table was cleared and we played a family game of Apples to Apples. It was a lot of fun but apparently I’m not very good at it. Either my answers weren’t clever enough or they were too embarrassing.

Photo courtesy: http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/getreligion/files/2009/01/apples.jpg

This morning my husband surprised me with a very special present…..a brand new ukulele. What a nice surprise. I guess I’d better learn to play better than I play now. After a nice breakfast, also prepared by my husband, I connected with my son and his fiancé in the Netherlands via Skype. After some minor glitches with the volume we spent 35 minutes catching up on the news and sharing plans for the future.

All in all it was a perfect way to spend Mother’s Day weekend!