Weekly Photo Challenge – Night Time

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….sunset over the city of Toronto, Sept. 26, 2014 For more night time photos check out Weekly Photo Challenge

A Fruitful and Musical Day

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….ran 4.4k, walked over 11,000 step, and enjoyed the Junction Market and Music Festival

I started my day with a trip to my daughter’s house and we both walked to the Railpath and started to run for 45 minutes. Next week we’re both doing the Railpath Fun Run. I was hoping to run at least 5k in 45 minutes but I only managed 4.4k. For those of you living in Toronto there’s still time to register.

All proceeds from this race will benefit The Stop Community Food Centre.

After our run we got in the car and drove over to the Junction to meet up with K who rode there on his bike. I actually didn’t even know that the music festival was on. Nice surprise but it did make it more difficult to find a place to park. We luckily found a spot on a side street and we walked over to the Farmers’ Market.

It was a gorgeous day but for some reason the wasps were everywhere, especially around vendors with food. I’ve never seen it quite so bad. We sat in a cafe by the window and the wasps came right into the coffee shop. We decided to ignore them and luckily none of us got stung.

The market was very busy and we bought some beautiful kale and green and purple peppers from Wheel Barrow Farms. One of the unique things that we saw on Saturday was a mobile cafe. I wonder how much one of those cost? I should check out the website on the side of the truck.

A few musical acts were set up on the side streets but the big show didn’t take place until later in the day. All in all it was a great day.

Signs That Summer’s Coming to an End

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….other than the cool temperatures

This morning on our walk we wore long pants and sweaters even though the sun shone brightly. I noticed that the leaves are starting to change, flowers are beginning to whither and seed pods and burrs are everywhere. I took a few photos of the changes. Enjoy!

Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge – Week 28

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….for more information on how to participate in this week’s odd ball challenge check out Cee’s Photography

A fish toilet seat, anyone?

New Flower (Sept. 3, 2014) – Morning Glory

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….one of my earliest childhood memories was the trellis of morning glories that my parents planted at our first home

Things That Can’t Be Carried on a Bike

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I follow a blog Urban Simplicity that regularly posts Things That Can Be Carried on a Bike

Well last week we discovered something that definitely doesn’t travel well on a bike. As you may know it was my birthday and my husband was in charge of the meal and the birthday cake.

The meal was a fantastic five course Indian spread that K made completely from scratch. It was fabulous and there was enough left over for another meal for two. The only problem was with the cake. My husband is also a good baker but time ran out so he rode his bike to the local Italian bakery to buy a German Black Forest cake. I know….Indian, Italian, German?

Anyway San Remo makes wonderful birthday cakes and it’s always our go to place when we don’t have time to bake. K didn’t think carrying the cake would be problem because he has a flat carrier on the front of his bike and he was able to strap it in place so it wouldn’t slide around.

I guess the ride must have been a little (or a lot) bumpy because when he got home and opened the box this is what he saw:

As you can see he was a little embarrassed. No need. It was delicious just the same.

Have you experienced anything that CAN’T be carried on a bike?

Harvesting the Garden – Part 2

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….all summer we’ve been enjoying lettuce, beans and zucchini from the garden

On Sunday we started to harvest our root vegetables from our boxes. We were pleasantly surprised at how well our carrots have grown. We planted red, orange, yellow and white carrots. The red ones we discovered are orange inside so if you scrape them they don’t look any different from the orange variety.

We’ve been pulling the beets for a couple of weeks but we had a few left so out they came along with the the few red onions that we had planted. I’ve been roasting the beets in the skins until they’re tender. Then the skin just pops off when cool enough to handle. I slice them, sprinkle a little vinegar on them to refresh them and when we’re ready to eat them we drizzle olive oil on them and season with a little salt and pepper. Delicious!

Now we have cabbage, Brussels sprouts and Jerusalem artichokes left in the garden along with a few more carrots. I think the zucchini is done for the year and we uprooted our pea and bean plants. We may throw in a few more bean seeds and see what happens. If we have a warm autumn we might get another bean crop.

Cheers!