Fruits of my Labour

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….overhanging branches of sour cherries netted me 5 jars of jam

Thanks to my neighbour’s sour cherry tree I was able to pick enough cherries that were hanging over onto to our side of the hedge to make jam. I’d never really noticed the tree before, probably because I would have been at the cottage when the cherries are ready to pick. This year I’ve been home more than normal because of a family situation.

I knew the cherries were ready to pick because the neighbourhood squirrel was feasting on them a couple of days ago.

I found an easy recipe in the cookbook, Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan.

Sour Cherry Jam

6 cups of pitted and crushed (I left mine whole) sour cherries, 3 cups of sugar and 1 packet of liquid pectin (3oz/85ml)

Combine the cherries and sugar in a large pot and boil for at least 20 minutes. Add the pectin and boil for another 5 minutes.

Ladle into hot, clean canning jars. Apply the lids and rings and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

The jam is a bit loose but it jells up more when it’s refrigerated. Delicious.

Thanks Nancy. Your jar is on its way.

New Flower of the Day, July 14 – White Astilbe

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….white with a hint of pink

Share Your World – Week 27

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for more great questions this week for Share Your World

If you were the architect of one existing building, which building would you select?

What an impossible question! There are so many wonderful buildings out there in the world that I’m sure my choice will probably offend a variety of people for a variety of reasons. I’ve decided to limit my choice to buildings in the city I know best and that would be Toronto. I am a huge fan of the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario). It was recently renovated and the architect is Frank Gehry. I love that Gehry built the addition around the old building and preserved the best features of the original gallery. My favourite features of the new addition are the Galleria Italia and the Baroque Stairs.

http://www.ago.net/frank-gehry-redesigned-ago

What is one of your favorite quotes?

My favourite quote is ‘Live, love, laugh, learn’. There are many variations of these four words and I love them all.

What color do you feel most comfortable wearing?

I am most comfortable in reds and royal blues. The OA at our school says that I can wear all colours well but that is not true. I just know what colours suit me and I tend to stick to those colours.

What is something you learned in the last week?

In the last week I learned about the mystery plants that were gifted to me and how to play the chord Dm on the ukulele.

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 to the temporary caretaker who helped me with my dilemma in the library. He made a few phone calls and saved me a lot of work. Hopefully when I return at the end of the summer I’ll have a new floor in the library a new caretaker who’ll be as considerate as this one was.

In the coming week I’m looking forward to returning to the cottage and hopefully seeing Germany in the finals of the World Cup on Sunday.

Mystery Plant #3

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this is the last plant I need identified

Thanks to Maggie Wilson I now know the name of my mystery plant #2. It’s a Spiderwort or Tradescantia. http://home.howstuffworks.com/spiderwort.htm

Photo courtesy of : http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-315.jpg

My last mystery plant has lovely burgundy leaves. I’ve seen this before but the name escapes me. Any ideas?

Ignore the green weeds around this plant.

Mystery Box

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..this year a parent from my school gifted me a box of plants

The problem is I don’t know what I’ve planted in my garden. The only plant that I’m familiar with is the succulent. I’m hoping if I post some photos of my newly acquired treasures some of my followers will be able to enlighten me as to what I have.

This is the box that the plants came in.

The plant on top is the one I’m most curious about. I’ve planted it an area with partial in the morning and full sunlight in the afternoon.

Any ideas as to what I have? I’ll post photos of the others when they become a little more established in my garden.

Flower of the Day 2014 – July 1 – Pink Geranium

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..a flower I plant year after year

Share Your World 2014 – Week 26

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….now we are truly at the half way mark into the year

Is your refrigerator, organized or a mess inside?

It depends on the day. Of course after I clean it, it’s organized and I try to keep it that way. My husband, however, does a lot of the shopping and he doesn’t always check to see what’s already in there. Consequently we have doubles and even triples of condiments and vegetables. Even if he does check he often doesn’t see what’s near the back of the fridge. So some days it looks a tad messy in there.

If you could be famous for one thing, what would it be?

If I could be famous, I’d like to be a famous artist, preferably while I’m alive.

An earlier attempt at collage.

What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?

I’d love to have my own art show. I was suppose to have a show at a community arts centre several years ago but because of politics, the group that I was working with was kicked out of the time slot that we had booked to make way for a more established group of artists who were also on the board of directors. The experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I haven’t booked another show since.

Where do you eat breakfast?

I try to eat my breakfast at the kitchen table. If I’m running late I’ll take my breakfast with me or stop at the local Tim Horton’s and pick up some oatmeal. Once I get to school I sit down in the staffroom to quietly enjoy my meal before my classes begin. Now that the weather is nice I sometimes eat my breakfast out on the deck both at home and at the cottage.

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 that school is out and I can now focus on my fitness and weight goals once more. Even though I have to go back in this week to tidy up some more and pack away more books I’ll be able to do it without having children around to supervise.

I’m looking forward to spending time up at the cottage. I haven’t opened up yet and finding someone to go with me this weekend was impossible (too much going on in the city). I’m also looking forward to having my hair cut and my feet pampered before I go.

For more posts about Share Your World check out Cee’s blog at: http://ceenphotography.com/2014/06/30/share-your-world-2014-week-26/

New Flower (June 29, 2014) – Iris

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..this is from my neighbours garden

School’s Out but I’m Back Next Week

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..just couldn’t finish in the library

Normally the children are finished with school one day before the teachers but this year everyone had to stay in school right up to Friday. The last day for teachers is usually a clean-up day where teachers put away as much as possible so that the care taking staff can do a thorough cleaning in the summer.

Many of us found it very difficult to get our rooms to that point and despite staying for a couple of hours after the children had left some of us need to come back next week to continue with the purging and tidying. In the library I had one extra job that needed doing this year. I’m having new carpet tiles put down and in order for the workers to move the free standing shelves and the book carousels I had to empty them all and box the books again (same job as last year). I had children in all day who tried to help me with this task and we still didn’t finish.

As I wrote earlier the last two weeks of school have been very busy and stressful. I’ve mentioned before that stress and weight gain go hand in hand for me. Not only that but all week children and parents have been bringing in chocolates, cupcakes and cookies. We had a pizza lunch with the book club, a BBQ with the grade 5s, our staff party and our principal treated us to breakfast (muffins, Danishes, bagels, croissants) all in the same week.

This morning I put myself on the scale thinking that I had gained back all the weight I had lost recently plus more. I did gain four of the five pounds that I had lost but I was relieved that it wasn’t more. Now that most of my stress has been lifted for the summer I’m hoping to get back on track and drop all the weight that I’ve gained this winter.

I started the morning with a healthy breakfast and then went for an eight kilometre bike ride. For the rest of the day I’m going do some gardening, get out for a walk and drink lots of water. I’m also hoping to get up to the cottage this weekend to open the place up and then I’ll come back to finish up in the library. With any luck I should be able to get the job done in one day.