A Beautiful Saturday – Why am I Creating a To Do List?

Posted on by
2

….am I crazy or just practical?

I suspect I’m doing this because it needs to be done

To Do List for April 12, 2014

rake front lawn
sprinkle bone meal on garden
take out garden furniture
clean out bird cage
do laundry – started
take out summer clothes and put away winter clothes
clean oven – started
write post – started
go for a walk
dust living room floor and shelves – floors done
vacuum carpets upstairs and down – started
take photographs

As you can see I’ve already started some of these chores. I think I need to fill the gaps with some fun stuff.

My husband must be feeling my energy this morning because he’s started raking the back yard and he’s taken out our bikes and cleaned them off. Maybe we can get out for a ride this afternoon. Well, I’m off to start some work outside as well. Maybe by putting this out there for the world to see I might actually accomplish all of the things on my To Do List or at least get 90% of it done. Wish me luck. I’ll report later today to let you know how I successful I’ve been.

On the fitness and weight loss journey: I’m struggling. Up 3 and down 2. Today’s goal is to get out and move and drink at least 4 large glasses of water. One glass down and 3 to go.

I thought I posted this 2 hours ago. Apparently not. In the meantime I’m down 3 glasses of water, 2 loads of laundry, raked the front and the back yard, finished cleaning the oven, sprinkled bone meal on the garden, and took out the garden furniture. I also took down the Christmas lights, trimmed the yew and bagged 2 bags of yard waste. Now let’s see if I can get this thing posted…..an ongoing problem.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

Posted on by
8

….the most famous monument in Toronto has to be the CN Tower

Visible across the lake from the west end of the city.

Visible across the lake from the west end of the city.

From the Gardiner Expressway.

From the Gardiner Expressway.

From inside the Dome at the baseball game.

From inside the Dome at the baseball game.

From the base looking up at night.

From the base looking up at night.

For more ‘monumental’ photos check out WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

 

Weaving Our Way to Happiness

Posted on by
6

….even the boys are enjoying this activity

We’re finally all working on the same project. We started with a paper loom so that everyone could experiment with different materials and weaving patterns. Once the paper loom was finished I gave each student a sturdy piece of cardboard and they each made their own loom. Students were encouraged to bring in yarn, fabric, lace and ribbon to create their wall hangings. I also had a lot of fancy yarns, raffia and trims that they were welcome to use.

The kids are really excited about this project. I’ve even taught a fair number of them how to finger knit. I think there are more boys then girls who are incorporating knitted chains into their weaving. A lot of the projects are about half finished but I thought you might like to see how they’re progressing.

 

Share Your World – Week 14

Posted on by
3

If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be?

I would be yield or proceed with caution. As much as I love teaching I always have to be careful about what I say, how I say it and to whom I say it. I think it is much worse for male teachers. Young children love to hug their teachers and I always hug them back but I know that my male colleagues feel that they would put themselves at risk if they did that.

Is your hair short (total neck and ear showing), medium (covering ears and neck), long (below shoulders), extra long (at least halfway down your back) or bald?

My hair medium in length. When I was younger I had very long hair and in my 30s and 40s I wore it shorter but not really short. For some reason in my 50s my hairdressers convinced me to wear my hair very short. When I look back at those photos I feel that I look older than I am now. The hairdresser that I go to now convinced me a few years ago to start wearing it longer again. I’m much happier with medium length hair.

IMG_0872IMG_0238

When you are with your friends, do your interactions include much touching—for example, hugging, kissing, rough housing, rubbing backs? Would you like to have more of this? (Note: the answers may vary depending on where you live on this wonderful planet.)

I greet my friends with hugs but we’re not really into kissing. My daughter’s partner and her family are Italian and they always greet me with kisses on both cheeks. I like it but I find it awkward and I invariably I lean in with the wrong cheek and if the other person wears glasses I’m always smashing my lenses into theirs. It can actually be painful.

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $100?

I think the best way to spend $100 is with my husband or good friend over a nice meal and a decent bottle of wine.

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

I am grateful that the weather is finally starting to warm up. Today I noticed that the grass on my front lawn is actually starting to turn green. This week I’m looking forward to more warm weather, a concert in the afternoon, and reading some of the new books that I picked up for the library at the book fair today.

For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s Photography.

How Grade 5s Interpret Abstraction With Charcoal

Posted on by
Reply

…..after some reluctance on their part and some encouragement on my part they really started to enjoy the process

When I introduced abstract art using charcoal I had a few students who cringed at the thought of using charcoal. They thought they had an option and could choose something else. Not so. I told them I wanted them to experience the versatility that charcoal offered. After some hesitation they started to get into it and when I showed them some techniques, such as smudging the lines and erasing some of the dark areas, they started to enjoy the process.

I have to admit I was never really interested in using charcoal myself never mind teaching children how to use it. After taking the course with Karine Swenson I discovered that I really enjoyed this medium. Here are a some of the samples that students produced.

 

Broccoli, Cauliflower and Avocado Soup and Hummus

Posted on by
4

…..I was inspired to cook today

It was sunny today but still a little brisk and even though we did get out for awhile I’m still not into long walks, never mind running at the moment. More about that in another post.

Instead I turned my attention to the food in the refrigerator that needed to be prepped. We’re having small steaks for dinner but I felt like having soup to start so I Googled the three ingredients that I had on hand that I wanted to use in my soup; broccoli, cauliflower and an avocado that wouldn’t last another day. I thought that it might be an unusual combination but lo and behold this recipe showed up over at Family Fresh Cooking.

I had all the ingredients in the recipe and it was pretty close to what I would have done anyway. The only difference is that I used the broccoli stalks and only about half the cauliflower that the recipe called for. I thought the recipe produced a soup that was a little too thick so my version will be thinner.

I’ll be using the left over broccoli and cauliflower as a snack with hummus at school this week. Here’s my recipe for an easy and quick hummus.

Hummus

2 cans chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, well rinsed and drained

fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon

1/2 cup (125 ml) tahini
2 small garlic cloves, minced (more if you like garlic)
1/4 cup (125 ml) olive oil, plus more for serving
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt, depending on taste
1 tsp. (5 ml) ground cumin
4 to 6 tbsp. (125 – 185 ml) water
Dash of ground paprika for serving

Throw everything into the food processor (except the water and paprika) and blend. Add the water while the food processor is running until it reaches the consistency you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning. This is where I take a spoonful and get my husband to sample it. He didn’t think it needed anything added today.

Serve on a platter and drizzle with oil and sprinkle a little paprika on top. So easy to make and so much cheaper than buying store bought. Enjoy!

Daily Prompt: Remembering Summer

Posted on by
9

Theoretically, summer will return to the polar-vortex-battered Northern Hemisphere. What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

Summer Dreams

Mornings at the cottage

sitting on the deck with a good book

and a cup of coffee

Long walks on the beach

soaking up the sun

running through the waves

Puttering in the garden

turning the warm soil

picking fresh herbs

Starting up the barbeque

sharing food with family and friends

warm evenings with a glass of wine

in the backyard

Painting in the great outdoors

Listening to the CBC

Marathon games of scrabble,

Rummikub and euchre

Car trips to the country

farmers’ markets, antique stores

ice-cream parlours

Dreaming of summer

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/daily-prompt-in-the-summertime/

Daily Prompt: Express Yourself

Posted on by
7

Do you love to dance, sing, write, sculpt, paint, or debate? What’s your favourite way to express yourself, creatively?

People who have been following me for awhile know that I love to paint and experiment with new art forms. I loved drawing when I was in elementary school, especially when one of my teachers took the time to teach us about perspective and shading. It opened a whole new world for me.

The unfortunate part is that once I went to high school I no longer took art classes. There was no room in my timetable for it. I knew at an very early age that I wanted to be a Family Studies teacher. That meant taking a lot of science classes in high school and of course my one and only elective I had went to Family Studies classes.

Once I started teaching I spent the next 17 years working side by side with the art teachers because we shared an open concept space or were only separated by a door. At the time all middle school students took Unified Arts, which included visual art, shop and family studies. I loved watching the creative process that happened in all three disciplines but I didn’t venture outside my own comfort zone and try my hand at woodworking or painting.

Once my own children approached adulthood the yearning to paint grew stronger and in my late 40s I took my first art class. I loved it. I started with folk art and then moved on to watercolour. In recent years I’ve experimented with acrylics and just recently tried oil painting. This year past I also took a pottery class and loved that as well and last week I attended a 6 hour workshop on dyeing fabrics with indigo dye and of course I’m crazy about that too.

As you can see I need to try new things all the time. Recently I took on the job of teaching art to grades 2 to 5 along side my library duties. I have the best job, books and art. What a perfect combination.

Here is a small sampling of some of the art forms I’ve played with:

An earlier attempt at collage.

Thank Goodness for the Weekend

Posted on by
2

….it couldn’t come soon enough

Have you ever had one of those days that felt like it would never end?

Today was one of those days. It rained most of the day. All recesses were cancelled. The kids were indoors all day. By the afternoon they were more squirrelly than normal and it didn’t matter what you did or said they just couldn’t work without bickering at each other.

I knew I was in trouble when my last art class arrived at my door and their teacher apologized in advance for their behaviour. I sat them down and explained that I understood how their pent up energy had no avenue to be spent on this rainy day but we needed to try and focus on the lesson ahead if we were going to have a fun and productive double period of art. I said I was willing to let them go in pairs for a walk from one end of the school to the other if it would make a difference to their productivity. Most of the students were excited to be able to do that so I organized them into groups and one group at a time ‘went for a walk’.

I’m not sure it made any difference. Not two minutes after I demonstrated the lesson and gave precise instructions students started coming to me and asked what they had to do even though there were students already engaged in the activity. I couldn’t believe it. I looked at the kids that were working and asked them, “Didn’t I just explain what to do?” They nodded in the affirmative.

Day 2 is hard enough as is because I teach art back to back to grades 2 and 3. We have three or four projects on the go and I’m trying to get students to catch up so that we only have one common project that we’re working on at the same time. We didn’t quite reach that goal today. Next week we should only have two projects on the go and hopefully by the end of that class everyone will be on the same project. Of course that means some of the students will be finishing their big weaving project while others will have barely started.

At the end of the day I took some time to put up more art projects around the school. I must have been pretty tired because as I was leaving for the day I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures of their work. I didn’t have the energy to turn around and go back to take a few shots. I apologize for the lack of photographs today. I’ll make it up to you next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I hope to get some rest, read and get out for a walk, weather permitting.

Cheers!

 

A Word A Week Photograph Challenge – Contrast

Posted on by
1

….a challenge from Sue Llewellyn

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

To me contrast is not just complementary colours, side by side, but anything that makes something else stand out. Black and white and neutral colours make bright colours stand out and unusual groupings provide contrast. I love the dachshund surrounded by the bright pink flowers over the black and white stripes.

For more photographs that feature contrast go to A Word a Week Photograph Challenge.