Correction – Gnat Invasion is Actually a Midge Invasion

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..apparently I’ve misinformed you and what I thought was a gnat is a midge

Today CBC news reported that Toronto is in the middle of a midge invasion. They live near water and seeing that I live next to Lake Ontario it is not unusual to see swarms of them on the street. Apparently those clouds are mating swarms. They look like tiny mosquitoes but they don’t bite. They are attracted to light and that’s why they’re landing on the condominiums by the lake.

I was right about there being more swarms than in past years. Last summer’s unusually wet season is the reason for this years larger population. The good news is that they should disappear in a few days but if we have another wet summer they will return on mass.News video about Midges in Toronto.

Swarms of Gnats

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..it’s one thing when they’re outside…. BUT INSIDE?

I haven’t been able to exercise so my husband has been going for his long walks on his own for the last few days. The weather is still pretty cool but his biggest complaint concerns the swarms of gnats that he has to walk through. On his last walk he swears that the entire walk was one massive swarm. Now he does tend to exaggerate at times but I met my neighbour on Friday coming back from her walk and she complained of the same phenomena. Gnats, everywhere!

Two nights ago I noticed a few gnats in the house but the next morning the table in the kitchen was covered in them. I checked all the windows and doors and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how they were getting in the house. When I told my husband about the infestation in the house he thought about it and came to the realization that the gnats were coming in on his black jacket after his walks. Mystery solved. Solution – shake off outerwear before entering the house.

Today is another beautiful day but windy and cool. I decided to join David Suzuki’s 30×30 Nature Challenge (here) and enjoy 30 minutes a day outside. In the spirit of the challenge my husband decided to have his coffee on the deck. He wasn’t out there more than a minute when he called me to come and see something I’ve never seen in all the years I’ve lived here. The deck was covered in gnats. I don’t know if these photos really do any justice illustrating the amount of gnats that have landed on the deck and the siding of the house but it will give you some idea. Thank goodness they don’t live very long but they do breed quickly and we need some dry weather to end that cycle. Not likely. The weatherman is calling for rain off and on this week.

Sunday Trees – 129

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….there’s just a slight tinge of green starting to appear on the treetops

Everything seems late this year. This time last year I was writing about the cherry blossoms in High Park (here). We’re looking at another week or two before that will happen. Seeing that there is no canopy of blossoms or greenery I will focus on the bark formations. I’ve always loved the texture of bark.

Join Becca Givens at Sunday Trees – 129 for more photographs of trees and join the challenge and add some of your own.

A Word a Week Photography Challenge – Watch

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Mama Cormier

Sue Llewellyn over at Word in Your Ear has challenged us again with the word ‘watch’.

When I first saw the word I didn’t think of the verb but rather the noun. Seeing that I don’t have any pictures of watches I had to look for pictures of people, animals or things in the act of watching. I think you may find some of these amusing.

For more photos featuring the word watch head on over to Sue Llewellyn’s site.

A Day of Reading and Quiet Reflection

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..my road to recovery has been painless

After icing my jaw all day long yesterday I was happy not to have to do that today. There was little to no swelling this morning so I guess the ice paid off. I started the morning with a delicious peach mango smoothie that my husband made for me and for lunch I had some creamed soup and leftover mashed cauliflower with an egg mixed in for some protein. Both meals were somewhat satisfying and I wasn’t as hungry today as I was yesterday.

One of the benefits of staying home and having restrictions as to what I’m allowed to do is that I was able to get a lot of reading done. I’m all caught up with my emails and I’ve finally started a new book, Road Ends, by Mary Lawson which I’m about a third of the way into. I’ve also been able to research some great art sites for ideas for upcoming art classes at school.

We also got some good news today. My husband went for his quarterly check-up at the hospital this morning and his blood count is still in the normal range. It’s always a little stressful for my husband on those days coming up to his appointments.

Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge – Pleasure

Knowing that we don’t have to worry about the return of my husband’s cancer for at least another three to six months brings us both a great deal of pleasure.

Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and with his environment…..Oscar Wilde

As we get older we appreciate the simpler things in life. Here are a few things that give us pleasure:

Tonights dinner. Yum!

My sister with ‘my three girls’.

For more quotes and photographs about pleasure check out Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge.

Sitting With an Ice Cube Against My Jaw

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..recovering from dental gum surgery

Technically I’m not suppose to be doing this. The instruction sheet following periodontal surgery specifically says “NO TEXTING, FACEBOOK, VIDEO GAMES, 1ST 24 HOURS. “USE THE ICE”.” I have to admit that it is difficult to type while balancing a baggy of ice on your jawline but I only have to keep the ice on for 5 minutes and then off for 5 minutes. It’s time to take a break from typing and continue Icing. Back in five.

I’m back. The whole procedure today went very smoothly. There is so much freezing that I didn’t even feel the needles go in. My doctor never stopped talking for a minute. He told me jokes, and riddles, and talked about the latest scandal with Rob Ford, Gwenyth Paltrow’s lastest break-up, his wish to go scuba diving in Mexico, going to the movies with his wife and in between giving instructions to his assistant and explaining in detail what he was doing to me. The entire procedure took just over an hour.

Riddle #1: Mary’s mother had 4 daughters. She named them April, May, June and ….. What was the 4th daughter’s name?

I’ve been icing my jaw again and this time I reread some of the instructions. Apparently I have to avoid talking for 24 hours. I wonder if that’s why my husband is taking his time getting back with my meds. Luckily I’m not in any pain yet but I do have to start taking the antibiotics soon. The only thing I can eat for the first 24 hours is broth or smooth soups (no bits of meat or vegetables) and I’m really starting to get hungry.

A few other DO NOTS are:

Do not rinse for 24 hours
Do not brush teeth for 3 days
Do not use straws for 7 days
Do not drink alcohol for 24 hours
Do not exercise for 5 to 7 days
Do not sleep with your head down

Some Do Nots that I like are:

Do not do any housework
Do not do any heavy lifting

and some Dos

stretch out on the couch
let your husband pamper you (I made that one up)

Well I think I’ll go and put my feet up and hopefully my husband will arrive shortly.

Answer to the riddle: The fourth daughter’s name is Mary.

Goals Met

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….after two years I’ve met and surpassed most of my blogging goals

Back in February (here) I wrote that I had already met many of my blogging goals before the anniversary of my second year. I reset some of my goals and set my target date to be April 30th. Well today is the day and I’m happy to report that I’ve met most of my goals and surpassed some of them again.

Here are my original goals and where I stood in February and where I stand now.

200 views for one day (currently sitting at 159) I reached 303 views on June 7th – I’ve reached 360 views for one day

600 followers one year from today I reached 600 followers 10 weeks early – I’m now over 675 followers

30 000 views one year from today I am 5500 views away from this goal – That would be 550 views a week, 79 views a day – right now I average about 50 views a day- this is the only goal I didn’t reach – I’m sitting at 27 500 views

300 new posts in the next year I’m at 262 so I have 38 posts to go – that’s 3.8 posts a week….very doable. My magic number will be 614 posts in total. – this is my 650th post

Again none of this would be possible without the support of my loyal followers. When I started this journey two years ago I had no idea how long I would do this. Now I don’t see myself stopping. I love writing, taking photographs, setting goals and participating in new challenges. I’ve enjoyed reading blogs from all around the world and I take great pleasure reading your comments.

Children Never Cease to Amaze Me

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….after a stressful and frustrating couple of days, an act of kindness melts my heart

Today was much calmer at school. The children actually got outside for recess despite the overcast skies. We started the day with our Character Education assembly and two of the kindergarten classes entertained us with fantastic performances featuring the theme cooperation. Mr. J. presented the trophy to this year’s winning floor hockey team and handed out medals to the boys’ touch football team that came in second in the City Finals. Mrs. F’s grade 3 class performed a musical production on the Orff instruments, conducted by Ms C. In my opinion it was one of the best assemblies we’ve had this year.

Now that all the voting for favourite books in the library is finished some of my stress has been lifted. I managed to email the last set of votes before I left school today. All day during library classes the kids were truly interested in knowing how the vote went. In art class the grade 3s continued on their weaving projects. I’m really loving this assignment. It’s so relaxing and the kids really like it. One of the students who finished his project is working on a design for our class project that everyone will participate in. When it’s done we will donate it for the silent auction at this year’s Fun Fair at the end of May. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

I started and ended the day with soccer tryouts for the grade 4/5 girls. A group of students wanted to help me in the library and I told them what I really needed was a clean office and clean art equipment. They were happy to take up the challenge. All I really wanted was to have the paint cleaned off the palettes and brushes from Monday’s class.

When I walked into the library after soccer practice the room was dark but I heard a few giggles and my three helpers jumped out from behind my office door and yelled surprise. Not only had they put away all the books but they cleared off my library/computer table, washed all the art equipment, polished the sink, tidied the counter and organized the table and surfaces in my office. If that wasn’t enough they brought me a tray of fresh fruit and made me a cup of coffee. What a great way to end the day. They made me feel very special.

Rain, Voting, Indoor Recess and Cleaning Up Paint

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….an exhausting couple of days

Yesterday my grade 5 class finished, continued and started their abstract paintings. It was a crazy art class with 30 students all working on canvases and acrylic paint. It was the first time that the boys made less mess than the girls and they were really focused on their work. The girls on the other hand were silly, messy and a little too free with the amount of paint they used.

Just as we were ready to start, an announcement for grade 5 boys and girls who were interested in trying out for shot put were called to go outside. All of a sudden about half the class left. The remaining half were pleased to have more space but it didn’t last long because after about 20 minutes the students returned.

A half hour later we were well into our paintings and wouldn’t you know it we had a fire drill. A few girls were literally up to their elbows in paint and I had to quickly cover their hands with towels as we made our way outside. I have to admit that I totally lost it with these girls, who are normally very responsible students but for some reason they turned into 5 year olds yesterdays.

When we returned to class we had another 20 minutes to work and then it was time to clean up. We started clean up a little earlier because last time we didn’t give ourselves enough time. A couple of girls volunteered to clean the paint palettes and they quickly went into my office where I have the only sink in the room. The boys quickly cleaned up their tables and put away their paintings.

The girls in the office seemed to be taking a long time to clean and when I went into my office I was assaulted with a mess like I’ve never seen before. The bell was about to sound off so I sent them to the bathroom to clean themselves. I didn’t really appreciate how bad the mess was until I tried to organize it. I found an empty bin and put all the dirty palettes and brushes into it and then cleared the counter and emptied the sink. There was paint everywhere….. the backsplash, counter, drying rack, cupboard doors and the floor. Even my kettle was covered with blue paint. I spent the next 20 minutes just clearing the paint from the sink.

I had to stop cleaning when my kindergarten class came to the library for a story and when one of my colleagues arrived to continue with the class I went back to my office and cleaned for another half an hour. When the bell at the end of the day went off I went outside to do bus duty and when I came back I worked another hour cleaning. I left the brushes to soak and I bagged the dirty towels to take home and launder.

Today it rained all day which means that the kids had indoor recess all day. It was also voting day in the library. For the last four months we’ve been reading a selection of books written by Canadian authors. The program is called The Forest of Reading and at the end of April students across Ontario vote for their favourite books. Last week the entire school voted for their favourite English picture book and today the French Immersion students voted for their favourite French picture book. The older students (grades 3 to 5) belong to a book club that I run with the help of the staff and today was their day to vote for their favourite fiction, non-fiction and French books. Students came down during recess today and filled in a ballot and deposited it into the ballot box. A busy day.

By lunch time today the students were very restless and very loud. As I get older I find the noise unbearable and it makes me very grumpy. My class after lunch was no exception and after 3 warnings I told them they weren’t allowed to speak at all and they had to use sign language to communicate. I don’t know why it works but it was quiet in the art room for the next minutes. When they got too noisy again I insisted on the no talking rule again and once again it was quiet. This class was working on their weaving projects and they managed to get a lot done.

After recess I went to one of the kindergarten classes to pick up the class and take them back to the library so that they could vote for their favourite book. Like the rest of the school this class was busy and chatty but because I was changing up the routine they were anxious to clean up and see what they would do next. I explained to the class that when we walked to the library we were going to do some exercises to get our muscles moving and we were going to do it quietly. It was like a game of moving Simon Says. We organized the children into a line and I started doing lunges, high steps and large arm movements as we made our way to the library. One day I figured that it is about a 200 metre walk from the kindergarten rooms to the library. By the time we got to the library our hearts beat a little faster, especially mine and the children got rid of them of their pent up energy.

For the last period of the day I had the grade 5 class that I had for art yesterday. After voting I sat them down and complimented the boys for their cooperation and neatness during art and we discussed the problems that we encountered before, during and after the fire drill. I think the girls were a little uncomfortable when they realized that they were part of the problem yesterday.

At the end of the day my library helpers came in to help me clean a few more palettes and brushes, put away books, organize the shelves and count the votes. Before I left I was able to email the results of the votes to the Ontario Library Association. Tomorrow I’ll probably discover that a class forgot to vote or students who have been away want to vote. Oh well. C’est la vie!

Here are a few more finished abstract paintings and three finished weavings. When I see students’ finished work I can’t stay angry for long. In the end it all seems worthwhile.

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Water

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I’m very attracted to water

I live by water all year round. My home is 100m from Lake Ontario and my cottage is on Georgian Bay. My walks take me along the shores of the lake and our dog loves to swim in the lake.