Category Archives: Photography

Fungi…having fun with the macro setting

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For some reason, for the last two years, I have these huge mushrooms, fungi, toadstools (or whatever you want to call them) growing in my front yard. Last year I waited too long before I took a picture. They seem to get bigger everyday and then without warning they whither and fall apart.

Today, as soon as I got out of the car, I pulled out the camera from my purse  and switched to the macro zoom setting. I’m sure my neighbour across the street thought I was a little crazy as I got down on my hands and knees to get these shots.

 

 

I Got My 25 Year Pin Today

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…..after 31 years of service

The day started out well. I ran 2.1 k with the kids this morning. My friend P, timed me today. It took me 19:29 minutes to run that distance. I know that it’s not fast but I didn’t stop to walk and I passed 3 students who started with me.

At lunch in the staffroom my principal called on me and one other teacher to stand before the staff where she presented us with our 25 year pins of service for the TDSB. The irony is that I’ve actually worked 31 years for this board. The days of honouring teachers with 25 years of service at a special dinner and a gold watch haven’t existed for a long time. In fact getting the dates right doesn’t seem to matter anymore either. Another teacher on staff who’s been with the board for 27 years hasn’t received her pin either.

In art today my first class finished up their colour wheels. The grade 3s created a their wheels using an outline of their hand and painting the 6 primary and secondary colours around their fingers. Then we had a quick lesson on ‘lines’ and the kids filled in the hand shape with a line design. I think they turned out remarkably well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After school I had a great yoga session. My yoga partner told me that she thought I was wasting away (in a good way) and she couldn’t believe it when I told her that I’ve only lost one extra pound since starting back to school. Maybe the scale in the morning will show otherwise.

Tomorrow the school is having their Terry Fox run and I’m planning to actually run the course this year. I can’t believe how excited I am about running. I used to hate it.

Life is good. I look forward to each new day.

Art on a Cart

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….doing this everyday will help keep my weight down

Loading this up, keeping it stocked and pushing it back and forth from the library to the class I teach is a bit of a challenge, especially when I have to go outside to the portables and lug buckets of water with me. Should be interesting in the winter.

I love teaching art but this year it’s been a bit of a challenge because I don’t have my own space to teach in and I have to transport all my supplies to the students. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to store some of the supplies in teachers’ classrooms so I’ll have less to move around everyday. In the meantime it’s “art on a cart” and because I’m in other people’s classrooms I have no place to sit so I’m on my feet most of the time going back and forth assisting students. I forgot how tiring art can be but it’s a good kind of tired.

The portables are doubly challenging because they have no water so when we’re painting I’m also lugging water buckets to the classroom and using the caretaker’s room to wash out paint buckets and palettes. Luckily I always have a few students who volunteer to help with the clean-up but I work through the entire recess to leave teachers’ classrooms neat and tidy.

The portable classrooms don’t have wall space to hang art work so I have a gallery wall outside the library where I can display work from all five classrooms. Last spring I hung rope from the ceiling for our Forest of Reading display and it’s come in handy for hanging up art work.

Gallery Wall outside the Library

The first project I did with the students this year is one I call “I’m a star because….” or in French, “Je suis une etoile parce que….”. I ask the students to think of one thing that they are especially good at and then pose for a picture doing something that relates to their skill. 

Everyone writes why they’re a star in the middle of a star that I’ve provided and then they decorate it with lots of colour. In the second class, after their photos have been printed the students cut out their bodies and glue them and their stars onto a piece of card stock. The final step is to draw a scene behind the photo demonstrating what they’re good at.

The students love this project. Students who don’t have me for art are asking their teachers when they’re going to do the same project. I’ve posted a couple pictures where the student isn’t recognizable or their name is absent.

What Do You Do With Nine Pounds of Plums?

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…..make plum jam of course

I love plum cake, plum jam and Polish donuts with plum filling.

It’s part of my German upbringing. Every August/September, growing up, my mom would make ‘pflaumenkuchen mit streusel’ and serve it with freshly whipped cream. It was truly special.

Months after my mother’s death I purchased a plum cake from a local bakery situated near the cottage. When I served it, my youngest daughter started to cry because it reminded her of her Oma. No one, in her young memory made a better pflaumenkuchen.

I have tried to recreate her recipe. Of course she didn’t share the recipe with us and we only have our memories of the taste and appearance to go by. My father’s wife makes a wonderful version of this traditional German cake but always makes it with a yeast dough. I’m pretty sure that Mom used a batter made with butter, flour, sugar and baking powder.

http://www.huettenhilfe.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pflaumenkuchen.jpg

Ah, memories…… however, I am trying to lose more weight and baking a plum cake right now would be counter productive. So most of the plums that we bought have gone into making plum jam and most of the jars will be gifted to family and friends.

My husband found an interesting recipe from a cookbook called My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss. It uses less sugar than most jams and is baked in the oven for 2 hours. We’ve tweaked the recipe somewhat and doubled the amounts suggested in the original recipe. I also love the name ‘Pflaumenmus’. If you’d like the original recipe go to: http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/09/my-berlin-kitchen-giveaway-spiced-plum-butter/

Eight pounds of plums soaking in sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

Pflaumenmus (Spiced Plum Butter)

8 pounds of Italian plums, washed, quartered and pitted

4 cups of sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

8 cloves or 2 tsp. ground cloves

1. Place the washed, quartered and pitted plums in a large ovenproof pot or baking dish.

2. Sprinkle the sugar and  cloves over the plums and place the cinnamon sticks under the plums.

3. Place the pan or pot in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

4. Put the pan of plums in a preheated oven (350 degrees) and bake for 2 hours.

5. Here is where we tweaked the recipe. The mixture was very soupy so we put the pan on the stovetop and cooked it longer until some of the liquid cooked down.

6. Place the mixture in a blender or use an immersion blender and puree the mixture until you get the desired consistency. If you like a chunkier jam, blend less and longer if you like  it smoother.

7. Place the hot jam in hot sterilized jars. Make sure that the rims are clean and place the lids carefully on top and screw on the rings.

8. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Three of the 14 jars of Pflaumenmus we made with 8 pounds of plums.

 Enjoy!

To Market, to Market…..

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…. and a few wineries to boot

Yesterday on our trip to the Niagara region our intention was to seek out a few farmers’ markets. I really wanted to purchase a large quantity of Italian plums for canning. Our first stop was in Beamsville where the market consisted of 9 vendors. It was rather overcast and everyone was afraid of being rained out.

None the less we found a few things to purchase and the vendors were very friendly and talkative. One thing I learned was that the fruit farmers in the area lost about 85% of their cherry and plum crop earlier in the spring because of frost. No plums at this market. On to the next stop.

Nothing says ‘autumn’ like a cornucopia of gourds, squash and pumpkins.

These radishes look like they’re on steroids.

Our next three stops were at wineries, Megalomaniac, Featherstone and 13th Street. All of them were very busy because we chose to drive to the Niagara Region during The Niagara Wine Festival.

The entrance to Megalomanic. An interesting place because it’s built into a hill.

A close-up of the door handles on those beautiful doors.

The tasting room was very busy today. We didn’t stay to sample but based on past experience they make an excellent white wine.

Our next stop was at a much smaller vineyard called Featherstone. This is where I posted the sign about welcoming dogs on leashes. This was a much more intimate experience and we were able to speak to the staff about the product. The owners actually own a Jack Russell Terrier that has his own doghouse made from a wine barrel.

The tasting room is inside this quaint little cottage.

Bocci is the dog’s name.

We stopped at one more winery, 13th Street. There was a Hand Made Fair going on at this  place. There were hundreds of people there. Too busy for us. We purchased a jar of Horseradish Garlic Pear condiment to serve with cheese or meat.

We made one more stop at the local cheese factory, The Upper Canada Cheese Co., purchased a smoked maple soft cheese and then drove into St. Davids to have lunch at the Old Winery Restaurant. It was already mid-afternoon and we were very hungry. We made some healthy food choices and thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Before heading home I was determined to find a roadside stall where I could buy plums. As luck would have it there was a stand not too far from the restaurant and they were selling plums. I was a little shocked at the price, $12.00 for a basket, but I decided it was important to support the local farmers.

Italian plums next to peaches and grapes.

The irony of all of this is that when I got home I had to make a quick stop at Costco to pick up something for school and while I was there I saw Italian plums for $6.99 (5 pounds compared to the 4 pounds in the basket I bought). I bought them as well. Today we started preparing them for plum jam using an old German recipe (I’ll share with you tomorrow).

Eight pounds of plums soaking in sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Tomorrow the entire pan goes into the oven for 2 hours and then pureed and poured into sterilized canning jars.

All in all it was a great day. The sun eventually did come out. We bought a variety of vegetables, fruit, cheese, salami, a condiment and a few bottles of wine. We supported the local economy but more importantly I got to spend some quality time with my husband.

Cheers!

A Little Yoga, a Little Running

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….life is good!

The day started with a run and ended with a 75 minute yoga class. Any stress I experienced this week just vanished during Savasana.

http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/poweryoga1

A number of colleagues at work lost weight over the summer. The difficult part for most of us is keeping it off and continuing to lose more. The problem is stress. I personally knew that the first few weeks back at work would be difficult. It’s not eating that’s the problem and I’ve continued to exercise.

So what’s the difference? For starters I know I’m not drinking enough water.  I’m also not moving as much (despite running). A good part of my day is reading to children and sitting in front of a computer. Another factor is that I’m not getting enough sleep. Also the political climate for teachers in Ontario is very contentious.

It’s difficult going to work everyday when the media paints all teachers with the same black brush. Even though we continue to offer extracurricular activities at our school many teachers are angry with the government and some schools have collectively decided to cancel all or some of their extracurricular programs.

At our school council meeting yesterday the parents put me on the spot and asked me during the meeting what my take was on the status of extracurricular programs at our school and elsewhere. I assured them that for the time being at our school programs were running but if other schools opted out there wouldn’t be any teams to play against.

The bottom line is that extracurricular activities have always been voluntary. Ontario teachers do not get paid to run these programs and there’s nothing in the Education Act that says teachers have to offer extracurricular programs. Since our right to negotiate our  contract has been taken away from us, teachers feel betrayed by their government. We normally settle contracts with our school board.

I didn’t plan on making this into a political rant. I felt you needed some background as to why school is so stressful for me right now. I literally gained 3 1/2 pounds over the weekend. I know that I didn’t eat 12 000 more calories than I should have in 2 days. When I’m under a lot of stress my body hangs on to water and my metabolism slows down.

So why did I say “life is good”? Because I feel like I’m back on the right path with my weight loss journey. At yoga tonight I could feel the stress leave my body. During Savasana I was seconds away from falling asleep. That’s how relaxed I was.

So I’m making a conscious effort to drink more water. I’m planning and packing my lunches before I go to bed. I continue to avoid all sweets (except the odd piece of dark chocolate). I’ve asked my husband not to prepare any pasta dishes for at least a couple of weeks. I’m continuing to run with my students 3 times a week and plan to ride my bike at least once on the weekends.

One of the most important changes I need to make is getting to bed no later than 11:00. So on that note I need to sign off so that I can get a big glass of water and get into my PJs. Positive thoughts!

Cheers!

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The Joy of Buying New Clothes

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….in smaller sizes

It wasn’t that long ago when I was so happy about getting out of plus sizes and into x-large.   Today most of the tops I bought were large.

I have to admit that I am a bit of a shop-aholic. Today wasn’t the only day that I bought new clothes. Last week after a stressful day at work I headed for my new favourite store, Marshall’s, and tried on at least a dozen tops. Many of the extra larges were too big and I actually went back to the racks to find the same garment in a smaller size. I bought 3 sleeveless tops and I’ve already worn all 3 to work.

I don’t think I’ve ever had as many compliments about what I was wearing as I did last week. Not only were the tops pretty but they actually accentuated my new figure and people really noticed how much weight I’ve lost.

Today I convinced my husband to go with me to Marshall’s again. We had spent hours today making ketchup, cleaning the kitchen, washing the floor and organizing all our newly made canned goods. I really needed to get out. Come to think of it I more or less left it up to K to decide where we would go. I guess Marshall’s was the lesser evil of all the other suggestions that I made.

I spent most of my time looking at the large size rack and took 8 items with me to the dressing room. Only one top was too small and the pants were a little snug. I ended up with 5 items.  I spent just over $100.00. Not bad and all of these tops will take me into the colder weather.

When I got home I knew that I needed to clean out some more of my old clothes that were clearly too big for me. I used to think that looser fitting clothes would look okay but the truth of the matter is that they only make you look bigger than you are. Out with the old!

“Out with the old”…. I’m sure the pile will become bigger. These are only the clothes that were on hangers. I haven’t gone through my dresser drawers and then there are all my winter clothes that are packed away and stored under my bed.

 

 

 

 

I used to reward myself with food. I think I prefer my new reward system.

” In with the new!”….. they look much nicer on me. Maybe I can convince K to take some pictures for a future post.

Images From My New Bike

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…. I finally got out for a long ride on my new bike today

It started out as a beautiful day. I wanted to go to a market and pick up some more fruits and vegetables to can but my husband had other plans.

It would be a shame to let such a sunny morning go to waste by getting in the car and driving to a market. Out came the bikes and the panniers were fastened to the racks on the back of each bike.

We opted to head east toward the city. There are good bike lanes for most of the route. Good thing because traffic was heavier than normal due to road closures this weekend. As always there’s a lot going on in the city of Toronto. Getting there by bike is probably one of the best options to choose. Not only does it give one a good workout but we also didn’t have to worry about the heavy traffic and parking was a breeze.

The other benefit is being able to enjoy the scenery along the way and stopping to take pictures. At the Humber River we have a great foot bridge that on its own is wonderful to photograph but recently a piece of installation art was added that makes it even more interesting.

As you can see from the photos, our beautiful sunny day was quickly becoming overcast but we decided to continue our journey and we rode north to Bloor West Village to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the Ukrainian Festival.

A good part of this ride was all uphill but I’m happy to say I made it all the way without getting off my bike. I put myself in the same mindset when I’m running and just focused on my breathing and only concentrated on the road in front of me.

When we got to Bloor St. a parade was underway. We locked up our bikes and started walking down the street.

The sky got darker and darker as the morning gave over to the afternoon.

When the parade ended we found a relatively quiet cafe and ordered a couple of cappuccinos. We timed it well because the place filled up quickly. After finishing our caffeinated beverages we headed back out on to the street to enjoy the colour and din of the vendors that lined the centre of the road.

We made very few purchases this morning. I’m sure that some of the regular vendors on this strip lose money on weekends like this. We did buy a couple of loaves of fresh bread from Cobbs which we carefully packed into our panniers. We were debating whether to head home or wait out the impending rain. We decided to risk it and ride back. Good thing!  The rain still hasn’t materialized.

As we were riding down the hill (much easier) we became quite chilled so we stopped and put on our fleece jackets. We stopped at the bridge and took some pictures of the city skyline and a lone kayaker coming down the Humber River.

When we got home I checked gmap.pedometer and calculated that we travelled a total of 24 k today. Not bad for the first time on my new bike.

Cheers!

Up to Our Elbows in Tomatoes

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….that motorized food mill looks better all the time

After spending 12 hours with daughter number one on Saturday, I felt I had to extend the same courtesy to my second daughter, G.

I called G, early Sunday morning to see if she would be interested in making tomato sauce and learning how to use the pressure canner that she helped pay for. It was a Father’s Day gift for my husband who is becoming more and more conscious of the food we eat.

It took a bit of coaxing but G’s husband was away and she needed to do laundry. Being able to use my washing machine and having her father pick her up clinched the deal. G lives about 35 minutes from us, when the traffic is good. Luckily it was.

After putting a load of laundry into the machine we started the process of making our own sauce about 12 noon. A bushel of tomatoes is a lot of tomatoes. Until you start cutting them up and putting them through the hand operated food mill you don’t realize how big a job it’s going to be.

While one person fed the tomatoes into the food mill, another one turned the handle to grind them and the third person scraped the sauce from the screening and the slide into a shallow bowl. The advantage of using a food mill is that the skins and seeds are separated and deposited from a separate orifice  and you can eliminate the blanching and peeling and straining steps.

This is only the beginning. We had tomatoes next to the food mill and there are more tomatoes hidden behind this pot.

We started to fill the large pot that you see behind the smaller one in the picture. After preparing one bushel of tomatoes we ended up filling that pot about 3/4 full with sauce.

Our fancy new food mill.

Once we were ready to start cooking the sauce we realized that we didn’t have enough propane for the new burner outside. I volunteered to head out to Costco to purchase a new tank and have it filled. Nobody said that making your own sauce is economical.

My trip to Costco was a nightmare. You would have thought it was Christmas. I searched the entire parking lot before finally finding a spot to park and the line-ups to pay for your purchases literally snaked halfway through the store. I wish I had taken a picture of that. The girl at the checkout said that it was just as crazy the day before.

By the time I got home it was almost 5:00 and G and my husband got tired of waiting for the propane so they started cooking the sauce on top of the stove. Now you might wonder why we didn’t do that in the first place but I think when you see the next picture you’ll see why cooking inside isn’t the most ideal place.

K standing on the ladder so that he can stir the tomato sauce.

As you can see from the picture, K literally has tomato sauce up to his elbow. Another purchase that we need to invest in is a much larger wooden spoon.

After cutting, grinding and simmering tomatoes for 7 hours we were too tired to cook dinner so we ordered in. After regaining our stamina we started the canning process. Having never used the pressure canner before we did a lot of checking on the internet and watching youtube videos to make sure we didn’t end up with tomato sauce erupting over the entire kitchen.

The process was relatively simple but time consuming. We only managed to process 7 jars last night. By 10:30 G packed up her dog, Lucy, her laundry and 3 large jars of sauce and I drove her home. By the time I got back it was going on midnight and I had no energy left to write about our experience.

“The fruit of our labour”, 20 jars minus the 3 our daughter took.

Today K processed 7 more jars and hopefully he’ll finish the rest tonight or we’ll be eating a lot of sauce this week. Is canning your own sauce economical? We figured it will take us years before we recoup what we spent on equipment but the time spent with family is priceless.

Will we do it again? Absolutely!

Cheers

P.S. By the way for those of you who are following my fitness journey, I got out this morning and ran 2.4 k with the kids at school. Feels good!