A New Cooking Blog – The Tiniest Test Kitchen

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….my youngest daughter has gone back to her first love

Forgive me, as I take a moment to gush over my daughter’s new blog. After high school she studied to become a chef. Three years later, she decided that she really didn’t want a career in a professional kitchen. Luckily her love of food and food preparation wasn’t totally extinguished. Four years later after graduating with a degree in photography she met her husband. He too was a foodie and their common interest in cooking and photography was literally a match made in heaven. Two years later they became engaged to be married and G started her first blog. A wedding blog.

To make a long story short, they were married a year later and the blog was rated as one of the top ten wedding blogs in Canada. Unfortunately it was difficult making a living from the blog alone so she gave it up and worked on editing other people’s blogs.

After taking a long hard look at what she really loved she has decided to return to food and created a food and recipe testing kitchen. This is where her new blog comes into play. She is producing about one recipe a week. So far I can vouch for every recipe. They are all delicious. I hope you take a minute to visit her site. She has added a subscription button so you can be notified whenever she posts a new recipe.

Enjoy!

The Tiniest Test Kitchen

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Pots

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Sue Llewellyn for this week’s word ‘pots’

One of my favourite photographs is of my husband standing on a ladder to stir down the tomato sauce that we were preparing for canning. The pot is huge and he couldn’t see over the top of it without elevating himself above the rim of the the pot.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 2

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for 4 more great questions

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?

I don’t come from a family of huggers but I’ve learned to hug over the years. I actually enjoy hugging family and friends but I’m a little put off by strangers who want to hug you. I’ve also become more careful as to whom and when I hug, especially students. Most children love to hug and usually initiate the action but over the years I’ve noticed that some just aren’t comfortable hugging and I have to respect their personal space. Unfortunately for male teachers it’s more risky to hug students and most of my male colleagues are very careful about any type of physical interaction with students

What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor?

I love all flavours of ice-cream but If I have to choose I’d say cinnamon or coffee flavoured ice-cream.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?

I love a bit of both but lately I think I do more exercising of the mind. I play scrabble daily and love the puzzles in the newspaper, especially Sudoko. When the weather isn’t too cold I love to walk and I do enjoy restorative Yoga.

Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Why?

I’ve owned both cats and dogs but I am definitely more of a dog person. We currently own a dog named Frances and in the past we owned two Golden Retrievers for 23 years (back to back, not at the same time). I’m not sure why but all our dogs are and were females. As much as we loved our cat, the dogs were always more active and demanding of our time. For many people that would be a reason to prefer cats but the dogs get us out and walking and enjoying our surroundings. They also bring neighbours together. We may not know everybody’s name but they all know the dog’s name.

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 my husband’s surgery is over with and that it went well. He’s home now and is recovering quickly.

This week I’m looking forward to going back to work and do more of my art assignments for Year of the Spark. So far I’ve only done a few of my one-line drawings and I’m anxious to elaborate on some of them.

Small Stones – January 11, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Mama Cormier

Waiting

I sit here procrastinating

Waiting for tomorrow

Work surrounds me, waiting to be done

Things need to be sorted and put away

But I wait

Why?

Is it the unknown of what tomorrow brings

or do I need this time to reflect on happier times

or just be thankful for every precious moment

Waiting!

….time to get back to work

It will make the waiting go faster

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© rgb for “On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea”, 2011 – 2015

What are small stones?

A small stone is a short piece of writing (any style) that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment for you. The process of discovering small stones is as significant as the finished creation. Searching for small stones encourages you to keep your senses on the “alive and alert” status. Involve yourself with a new set of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, feelings and mind. In short … OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!

Travel Theme: Laughter

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…this week’s Travel Theme: Laughter comes at a time where the world needs a little laughter amidst the grim news in Paris

Nothing like children’s art, silly faces and gestures and the perseverance of that squirrel to bring on a little chuckle. Hope these photos have lightened the mood for a brief moment in time. Carol

Filling in the Negative Space

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….an art lesson that focuses on the negative space

When I took the on-line course called Table Top: Drawing and Painting by Diane Culhane I knew that I wanted to do one of the assignments with my grades 2 and 3 classes. It was a great lesson on contour drawing and positive and negative space.

I gave the students a variety of bottles and vases to arrange into a pleasing still life. They used a fine tipped black Sharpie and drew a contour drawing of their still life. Then they divided the negative space into smaller areas and filled them in with pencil crayon. They left the positive space blank.

Grade Threes Have Fun With Colour and Line

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..in this lesson I introduced a variety of lines and the difference between warm and cool colours

To start the lesson the students were instructed to draw a straight line, a thin line, a thick line, a zigzag line, a broken line and a loopy line. They were encouraged to draw the lines in different directions (horizontal, vertical and diagonal) and to extend the lines from one side of the paper to the other.

Then they had to choose two warm colours and one cool colour or two cool colours and one warm colour. Before they started to colour I suggested that they add more lines inside some of the shapes that they had created so that they had smaller blocks of any one colour and they could add some additional marks for added visual texture and variety.

This is a great lesson to leave with a supply teacher.

Kindergarten Winter Owls

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….a two part lesson using pieces of cardboard and their thumbs

Before Christmas I wanted to create a winter scene that used a minimum of paint but would still be fun for the children without making too much mess. I found a great assignment on Kids’ Artists.

The background is a dark blue or purple paper so that it contrasts with the white trees and looks like a night sky. The trees are created by dipping the edge of the cardboard into the white paint and dabbed onto the paper to form the trunk and branches. Then thumbs are dipped into the paint and stamped onto the branches to make the owl bodies. When the paint is dry the details are added with a fine tipped Black sharpie.

The children loved this project and some of them couldn’t stop stamping owls onto their trees.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – My Favourite Things-Verse One

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…this challenge comes from the song ‘My Favourite Things’ from the Sound of Music

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles, and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with strings, These are a few of my favorite things

Thanks Cee!

Share Your World – 2015 – Week 1

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..wow a new year of Share Your World with Cee

How do you get rid of pesky phone calls from telemarketers?

If I hear dead air for a second or two after I say Hello I know it’s a telemarketer and I hang up. Simple!

What are you a “natural” at doing?

I don’t know if anyone is a natural at anything. I know that people might think I’m a natural when it comes to art or public speaking but it wasn’t always that way. I had to work at it to gain confidence and even now I still have doubts about my abilities but I am always willing to try new things and take some risks.

How often do you get a haircut?

When my hair is short I try to get it cut every 6 to 8 weeks. When it’s longer it might be every two to three months.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?

Fun for me is creating art and being around friends.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful for having my entire family home for Christmas and having everyone together to celebrate B and G’s birthday. I also loved visiting and spending time with friends.

This week I’m looking forward to some quiet time with my husband before he has to go back for more surgery on his thyroid next Monday. I’m also looking forward to starting a new on-line year long art class with Carla Sonheim and Lynn Whipple called Year of the Spark.