Day 27 – Favourite Toy

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

All my favourite toys from childhood are gone. I once asked my mother what happened to our toys and she very matter of factly said that we weren’t playing with them anymore so she threw them away. I remember being somewhat shocked but on the other hand my mother did not like clutter and the decorations around the house were very minimal.

Decades ago I started collecting teddy bears. The collection grew very quickly when people learned of my new found hobby. Many of those bears have been put aside and only my favourite are now on display.

Day 26 – Books Waiting to be Read

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

I thought I would get a lot of reading done during this pandemic but I seem to be busy doing other things, like baking, cleaning, blogging, playing piano, making art, walking the dog, connecting on-line through WhatsApp, Zoom and House Party and watching TV. I better get busy because I have to read at least one of these books before May 8 which is when our next on-line book club meeting is.

The first set of books are some of my art reference books, which I look at periodically.

Day 25 – Not Forgotten

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….April 25th is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, similar to our Remembrance Day

Thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge.

On this day the theme is ‘not forgotten’. The past 9 days have been very difficult for all Canadians and for me personally. On April 18th and 19th a madman went on a rampage and gunned downed 22 innocent people in Nova Scotia. Dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a car made to look like an official police car this monster went on a killing spree that lasted 13 hours. One of the ways he got people out of their homes was by setting houses on fire and naturally in this small rural community this prompted people to go outside to see if they could help their neighbours. Instead they walked straight into the path of this killer.

One of my friends and colleagues was one of the victims. Lisa McCully safely put her children in the basement of her house and walked outside to see what was going on. As she rounded the corner of her house she was shot. I waited over a week to find out when and how she was killed. I feared for her children.

I knew Lisa over 14 years ago when she was a teacher at our school. She was only with us for a year but in that time we got to know each other well and we frequently went out together. I was with her when she met her husband and Kevin and I had them to our home for dinner. Unfortunately Lisa was declared surplus at our school and moved to another school closer to my home. My neighbour’s daughter had her as her grade three teacher that year.

When Lisa moved back to Nova Scotia we kept in touch through Facebook. She got married there and had her two children there. At some point her marriage broke up and she discontinued her Facebook page. I thought of her often and in fact she came to mind just a couple of days before this tragedy hit.

My heart is broken. I feel for her family and for all the families of the other victims. It’s been difficult to grieve in the normal way because of COVID-19 but Nova Scotians and Canadians have been sending videos, text messages, making music and laying flowers and making tributes on makeshift memorials.

Lisa was a mom, a teacher, a sister, a friend and a beloved member of her community. We will all miss her. Difficult times are ahead for her students and her family.

Rest in Peace my friend.

Love, Carol

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Day 24 – Through Glass

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

I use these little jars of water for my watercolour painting. To add a little interest I put a touch of paint in two of the jars for the second and third photo.

Day 23 – Food

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

On day 23 my husband and I were inspired by Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals and together we made a wonderful meal for the two of us. It consisted of a Wacky Summer Pasta, Arugula and Watercress Salad with Warm Pancetta and a Pear Meringue Tart.

Day 22 – Bubbles

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

Taking photos of bubbles is not an easy task. Leanne has a beautiful shot on her site and clearly she set it up very professionally. I, on the other hand, photographed the only bubbles in my house at the moment and they came from the kitchen sink.

Day 20 – From My Front Door

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

Not the best photo but it was cold and windy and I didn’t want to spend too much time outside trying to get the best shot.

Day 21 – Today’s Dinner

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

Today’s theme is What’s for Dinner? I didn’t see this prompt until just now but luckily we took photos of our dinner because it was pizza night at Chez Cormier and we like to share with our family. Unfortunately this year we’re only able to share from a distance with photos.

Day 18 – Inside Fun and Games

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

My husband is not much for board games but I might be able to entice him to play a game of scrabble. He is, however, keen to keep connecting with our kids and one way that we do that is with an App called House Party. We use it mainly to chat but there are games on the site such as trivia and drawing. Our four year old granddaughter particularly likes the drawing game.

Another game I’ve been playing with a friend is WordFeud. It’s a scrabble game that we play on our phones with each other.

Here are some screen shots of my inside games.

Day 17 – Still Life Photography

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

I thought I knew what ‘still life photography’ was but it seemed from Leanne’s post that there was more to it than just taking a photo of an object.

According to the Format team still life photography is as follows:

In a nutshell, a still life is a work of art that focuses on inanimate subjects. Usually, the subjects are commonplace objects. That can include both manmade objects (such as vases, items of clothing, and consumer products) and natural objects (like plants, food, rocks, and shells).

The major advantage offered by still life is the freedom to arrange the objects any way you want. Still life photography follows the same philosophy. A lot of emphasis is put on the arrangement of the items, the lighting, and the framing.

With that bit of information I’ve been on the hunt for interesting objects around the house to photograph.