Happy Easter – April 1, 2108

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Mama Cormier

,,,,,is it some kind of cruel joke to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day on the same day?

Of course it’s not 2108. That’s my lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke. I know that teachers are delighted that April Fool’s day is on a holiday, except maybe those individuals who liked playing jokes on their students.

This year we celebrated Easter one day early to accommodate other commitments that family members had. It started out as a sunny day, so I hid all the eggs for our granddaughter outside in the backyard. When everyone arrived we could see that the sky was darkening so we didn’t waste anytime and proceeded with the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun seeing the delight in Winnie’s eyes every time she discovered an egg or other small gift hidden in the branches, corners of the deck, handles of the barbecue and under covers.

One of the gifts was a bubble maker. Actually our oldest daughter also got her a bubble maker. This was definitely the hit of the day. Winnie got into making bubbles almost right away and after dinner we went outside again (just before the rain started) to make more bubbles. It turns out that buying that extra large bottle of bubble soap was a good idea.

Here are a few photos of the egg hunt and blowing bubbles.

Square Within a Square

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Becky B for hosting March Square

Yesterday I went to a Quilting show at the Neilson Park Creative Centre. I could easily finish off this challenge with nothing but quilting squares but I’ll try to be more creative than that.

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Share Your World – March 12, 2018

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favorite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?

I think I would use some of the money to do some repairs around the cottage and then take a chunk to travel to London, England. With any money left over I would divide it amongst my children.

What sound or sounds do you love?

I love the sound of birds in the morning, cicadas on a hot summer day and the laughter of children.

What’s your middle name? Why?

My middle name is Hildegard. I was named after my maternal grandmother. I always hated the name and wouldn’t tell any of my friends for fear of being teased. I actually never realized until much later that I was named after my grandmother. I knew her name was Hilde but I never realized that it was shortened from Hildegard. I wouldn’t have had a problem telling people that my middle name was Hilde.

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

This past week I attended two wonderful concerts with friends. The first was an afternoon concert featuring the Elias String Quartet and the second one was Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew.

On Saturday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter and granddaughter. Of course that brought huge smiles to our faces. As she gets older we find that we can actually carry on conversations with her and she happily instructs us on how to play with her.

WPC – Hunting for Gnomes

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..this week’s theme for WordPress’ Photo Challenge is story

Photos tell a story all on their own. Today we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and we walked through an outdoor area that my granddaughter loves to explore in hopes of finding gnomes.

March Square – March 10

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Becky from Life with B for hosting the March Square

Today I found this beautiful round wooden head sculpture at the RBG.

Is Spring Just Around the Corner?

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..don’t get your hopes up

This past weekend we’ve seen warmer temperatures, thawing snow, rain and grey skies. Certainly signs that spring can’t be too far off but I’m sure winter is not finished with us just yet. Here are a few photos that might give you hope that spring is just around the corner.

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A Busy Weekend

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Mama Cormier

……surrounded by family and friends

This weekend started on Friday when my husband and I drove up to Vaughn to buy a porchetta for our family dinner on Saturday. I really should have taken a photo but I didn’t. I find more and more that I’m just enjoying the moment without having to document everything with my camera.

On Saturday I continued to organize my studio and I started to put together the last piece of furniture from IKEA. At least everything is now in neat piles and I’m able to move around the studio without tripping over boxes and random bits of paper, frames and canvases.

Later in the afternoon I went to a surprise birthday party for a friend from my teaching days. It’s been a busy week for this lovely lady as she and her husband are getting ready to fly to Mexico for her son’s wedding. Her son and future daughter-in-law were in town for a few days so they were able to attend the party. They actually boarded a plane later that night and are now in Mexico to make final arrangements for the wedding.

When I got home around 5:30 my family were already at the house and my husband had prepared all the food for dinner. Again I didn’t take any photos. We had a very nice time and Winnie and I snuck off after dinner to give her parents a few moments to relax with the rest of the family. Winnie’s favourite TV show is Peppa Pig and she was mesmerized for about 15 minutes.

Today started off nice and sunny but quickly became very grey and overcast. Fortunately is was very mild so when Kevin and I went to visit a friend in the hospital we were able to park on the street a little ways from the hospital. We didn’t mind walking and I was able to get in about 4000 extra steps. After our visit we decided to walk up one of our favourite streets in Toronto, Roncesvalles, and look for a coffee shop.

When we got home tonight, Kevin made dinner again and afterwards I phoned my sister in Calgary and then my Dad and I played a game of cribbage. I haven’t yet painted today but the evening is still young and I tend to do my best work at night anyway.

Here are a few shots that I took on Friday when I went for my walk.

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!

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.