A Trip to the Aberfoyle Antique Market

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…48 years ago we bought each other a framed Coca-Cola mirror as a wedding gift to ourselves

The Aberfoyle Market holds many found memories for us. Over the years we have shared this wonderful place with our children and now our grandchildren. On our most recent trip we found some very interesting and fun artefacts. This time we just browsed through the antiques but we also had some very interesting conversations with some of the vendors.

The Aberfoyle Antique Market is located about one hour west of Toronto and is just down the road from the city of Guelph.

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Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – Old

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/02/11/weekly-prompts-weekend-challenge-old/

Getting old is not just a number but it’s a state of mind and declining physical abilities. We need to work at staying in shape and it becomes harder as we get older but the benefits outweigh the aches and pains that may come with it. Not caring how you look is not embracing old age or aging gracefully. Even though my husband is suffering with pain and discomfort he would never think about going out, even to a doctor’s appointment without showering first and putting on clean clothes.

26-EE9-D4-D-A763-4360-93-AC-1348-B59-E14-A3 — *Knight’s Armour*

DC82-E5-E5-E399-41-AA-93-C2-24845-EE5908-E — *Kevin’s 70th birthday*

670-D8-CF4-6-D18-4-A99-9538-CD6-DCA435753 — *My 70th birthday with friends and our grandkids*

As plants get older they wither and dry up. Our pets get grey around the muzzle and they slow down and sleep more. My grandmother was very wrinkled but she stayed active right up to her last three years of her life. She walked everywhere, rode her bike and travelled. My father was the same. He was less wrinkled but he walked every day, worked on his crosswords and at 90 he made one last trip overseas to visit his younger brother. He wasn’t without his faults and as he got older he said things that could be hurtful but in his mind he was just being ‘honest’. He passed at 94.

4-E333769-1-A98-491-C-9337-A494-D4-D8-F7-D3 — *Frances at 14 1/2 years old*

C1514090-F200-488-A-96-C8-E05312-A2-DF98 — *Dad doing this civic duty right to the end*

DEB25152-F04-C-4-D4-F-A865-945-F8969-C222 — *Dad on his 93rd birthday*

Furniture and paintings fade as they get older if they aren’t properly cared for. Books and papers yellow and can get musty and brittle. Old things in museums are stored in carefully crafted atmospheres to slow down the aging process and skilled hands can bring masterpieces back to life for future generations to experience and enjoy.

27-FD72-CE-0-C75-418-C-B2-DF-ACB2-EA6-B0-A04-1-201-a — *Degas’s Ballerina*

1-F774-B12-602-A-4399-A36-A-F161923-FCCFB — *The Mona Lisa*

EF57934-A-D5-BE-43-D2-B1-AD-99-DF0-DFCE14-F — *A Cathedral in Paris*

40590-A42-FFD3-4-EF4-9-F85-3944-B2-D21-DCB — *The Medieval section of Tours, France*

BCB13-F05-3-CFD-473-E-894-F-79549800-E442 — *The Cathedral in Tours, France*

2-E98-AFD1-7-F2-C-4-B0-A-B9-CE-6-E0-C8228-CB0-D — *The Chateau Amboise in France*

589-EA76-B-87-A8-4-A95-8457-663043244409 — *Furniture in the Chateau*

Fun Market Finds

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…from our trip to the Aberfoyle Antique Market

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Any Kind of Photographer or Camera

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

Sometimes the challenge is going back far into the archives to find photos to match the theme. This time I had to scroll through thousands of photos over a two year period to find what I wanted. I really need a better system to organize my photos.

More Snow, Cuban Food, Cheese, Tarts and Jazz

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….despite the snow it was a very full and delightful day

On Saturday we woke up to more snow. Lots of snow. We had made plans earlier in the week to meet up with friends for lunch and because we had already cancelled the last get together because of illness we didn’t want to cancel again. Luckily the drive wasn’t too long.

We had lunch at a very popular restaurant on Roncesvalles in the west end of Toronto. The weather certainly didn’t keep people from going out for a meal. The place was packed but our wait was relatively short. La Cubana specializes in Cuban delights and because we were there on a Saturday the brunch menu was being served.

View this post on Instagram

Family day brunch anyone? We are open for brunch and dinner this family day at our Roncesvalles location!

A post shared by La Cubana (@lacubana_to) on Feb 15, 2015 at 5:16pm PST

The food was very tasty and the service very friendly. I would definitely go back. We hadn’t seen our friends, D & D, since New Year’s Day so we had a lot of catching up to do. They talked about their recent trip to Singapore and shared some beautiful photographs of this island country. We brought them up to date on K’s recent surgery and his even more recent accident. You can see from the photograph that he’s healing nicely.

After lunch we said our good-byes, scraped off more snow from the car and then carefully drove off. On the way home we decided to stop at one of our favourite cheese stores in town, The Cheese Boutique. It was a good day to go. We sampled some delicious organic olive oil from Turkey, were served some hot turkish tea and met a lovely lady who was promoting her homemade lemon curd tarts and butter tarts. I asked her if she lived close by and she told us about her store and bakery on the Queensway called the The Tartistry. She also told us about the live jazz band that played there every Saturday, all day long. Seeing it was on the way home we decided to stop in and check the place out. Before we left we picked up some great cheese that was on sale, a free range chicken and a nice big steak to share for dinner.

The Tartistry is a small store, crammed with beautiful antiques, jewellery, art work and of course tarts. We sat at a small table and ordered two pots of tea and because we hadn’t had dessert with lunch we also indulged in the best tarts I’ve ever eaten. The jazz band was very good. The place was pretty quiet, probably due to the bad weather, but I can see how on a nicer day the place could be very busy. I would definitely go back here again as well.

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After spending about an hour listening to jazz we finally drove home, stopped to pick up some fresh vegetable to go with the steak and quickly shovelled more snow and took the dog for a walk before preparing dinner. Actually, we were pretty full from our mid afternoon snack so we waited quite a while before making dinner. The steak was amazing and even though one steak is normally enough meat for both of us my husband did wish he had an entire steak to himself (only because it was so good). We laughed when he said that because when we have in the past eaten a steak each he usually complains that it’s too much meat.

All in all it was a wonderful day. Full of new and unexpected and spontaneous adventures.

Finally, A Beautiful Sunny Day

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. a perfect day for a bike ride to the Green Show

Yesterday I told you about our day out at the Junction or at least half the day.

After lunch K took the groceries back to the car and A and J and I went off to explore more of the stores along the street. A few stores down from 3030 we discovered a great little cheese store, Junction Fromagerie, that specializes in artisanal cheeses from Canada. We went inside and sampled a couple of cheeses and made a few purchases. Luckily K saw us inside the store and continued to join us on our journey of discovery.

There were lots of places for browsing but we didn’t have the time to check everything out. If you’re into antiques the Junction has numerous antique stores, second hand furniture stores, and stores that sell used appliances and unusual old lighting fixtures and hardware.

There are also numerous coffee shops, ice cream parlours, pubs and restaurants along the street. Many are one of a kind establishments, owned by independent merchants but you can always tell when a place starts to become popular because the ‘chains’ start to appear. It’s no different here.

Along with the older and well established businesses, some very trendy and high end stores have started to appear in the last few years. One of my daughters’ favourite stores is Mjolk. This store features beautiful furniture and design pieces from Sweden and Japan. In the window is an art installation piece that was just completed by an artist flown in from Japan. It is called My Garden. It’s a little difficult to see on the glass.

The prices in this store are incredibly high but the items are all one of a kind art pieces. The photograph showing the stones is actually layered and carved paper and the larger piece sells for over $1000.00. Believe it or not my girls always find something here that they want to own. Luckily not everything is out of our price range.

Today the sun was shining when we woke up so we went for our walk a little earlier than we did yesterday. There’s still a chill in the air but the sun on our faces was glorious. I didn’t plan to run today. I thought my body might need a rest after yesterday but after 1k into the walk my feet started to take me on a run again. My legs felt a little heavier today but I managed to run 1.2k and walked another 2k for a total of 3.2 k.

My husband wants to attend the Green Show today. If we ride our bikes we can park for free and if we bring a used electronic device for recycling we can get into the show for free. I’m sure we can find a couple of things that we can carry with us on our bikes. Well I guess I better get going before my husband changes his mind and it gets too late. If I see anything worthwhile to report on I’ll check in with you later.

Cheers!