….initially I too thought of swans when I saw the word graceful
WPC – Graceful
3
Tag Archives: flowers
The Last Days of Summer
….normally we start to experience cooler temperatures before the onset of autumn
The first day of fall is only one day away, September 22. You would hardly know that by the clothes people wear to work and out on the street. Sandals, shorts and sleeveless tops and dresses are still the norm. Even the evenings are still pleasantly warm.
Today I witnessed sailboats out on the lake in the late afternoon hours and the swans, geese and ducks are in no hurry to fly south. There are signs, though, that autumn is close at hand. The leaves are starting to change colour, many flowers are starting to whither, plants are going to seed and bushes are ripe with red and purple berries.
After the Rain
…..orange sky, green tomatoes and wet flowers
Maybe someone can tell me why my cherry tomatoes are still green after all the heat we’ve had lately. It’s true what they say about ‘red sky at night’. Today was a beautiful sunny day.
Georgia O’Keefe Inspired Art
….a great lesson for symmetry and using oil pastels
My grade 1, 2 and 3 classes were given a quick introduction to Georgia O’Keefe’s flower paintings. I had some beautiful calendar pages that featured some of her florals. I pointed out how she blended colours and how the whole page was filled with her flower image. Most of the classes had studied symmetry in their math classes so I showed them an example of symmetry in nature and one that was man-made.
For this lesson I wanted them to try and create a flower that had at least two lines of symmetry. I showed them how to divide their paper into equal quarters and then I started the flower from the middle. I demonstrated how to blend colours and over lay colours using oil pastels.
Most of the students got the concept and many loved adding more and more colour. When a student didn’t like their colour choices I showed them how to add white or peach to lighten or soften their picture. They were so open to trying this technique and most came back with a completely different picture and much happier with their project.
The first slideshow is work from my two grade one classes and the second one features larger samples from my grade two class.
Share Your World 2016 -Week 14
….thanks Cee for some great questions this week
If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work?
Hands down, I’d want someone to help me with the cleaning. I’d love to have someone clean the bathrooms, wash the floors, dust and vacuum. We already have a family of young boys who cut our grass once a week and we love to dabble in the garden. My husband is an excellent cook and he loves cooking for me and for family and friends. I don’t mind cooking either.
What makes you laugh the most?
A good joke, a funny movie and watching my granddaughter feeding herself.
What was your favorite food when you were a child?
I loved food and was definitely not a fussy eater. It may sound odd but I loved creamed spinach and my dad made a tasty spaghetti with ground beef and peas in a brown gravy. When I was about 11 or 12 my mom learned how to make a real spaghetti meat sauce with tomatoes and that quickly became a favourite meal for me. Truth be told I don’t think I had one favourite food. I loved cabbage rolls, chicken a la king, chicken pot pie, homemade burgers, fruit torts with whipped cream, ice cream and most cakes and cookies.
List at least five favorite flowers or plants.
I love the following flowers: sunflowers, tulips, Peruvian lilies, irises, carnations, roses, daisy mums and Gerber daisies.
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 for some beautiful weather last week before winter returned. I enjoyed a wonderful day with the family in Hamilton on the weekend, despite the blizzard we had to drive home in. I’m grateful that I didn’t break any bones when I slipped on the ice when I was going down the concrete steps in front of my house on Monday. Earlier in the day all of the snow on the sidewalks and pathways had melted but there were a few wet patches that froze later in the evening and that’s what caught me by surprise when I took the dog out for one last walk that night. Thank goodness for strong bones and a good amount of padding.
I’m also grateful for the support from my husband on our weight loss journey. He’s lost 10 pounds and I’m down 8 1/2. There are 96 days left before the wedding. If I can lose 1 pound every four days I should be able to lose another 24 pounds but I can’t think that far ahead. One day at a time.
Cheers!
Spring Has Sprung
….despite coolish temperatures Spring has officially arrived
I mentioned in an earlier post that there were signs of spring here in Toronto if you take the time to look. On my walk today I purposely photographed as many signs of spring as I could. Enjoy!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Yellow or Orange Flowers
…..one of my favourite things to photograph are flowers
Do you have any photos of yellow orange flowers? If so, you should consider joining Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.
New Flower (September 20, 2015) – Orange Dahlia
….my neighbour around the corner has these beautiful big dahlias in her front yard
Finger Painting Brings Out the Child in Me
…thanks to Carla’s recent on-line mini class in finger painting
Using only your hands to paint is very liberating. I loved the simplicity of it and the feel of the paint on my fingers. I’m hoping to do more and I haven’t even tackled the third assignment that let’s you get really messy.
The first assignment was to create a palette of colours using your fingers to mix the paint and apply them to the paper. The second part was to paint a vase of flowers but I decided to use two of my photographs that I recently posted and try to recreate them with this finger painting technique. Jill Kuhn actually gave me the idea after she commented on the first photo, suggesting that I paint it with watercolours. Instead, I used acrylics and my fingers. What do you think?
The Bees are Back!
….maybe I’m being overly optimistic
I can imagine that if you’re allergic to bee stings you may not be delighted with this statement. Bees, however, are critical to the survival of this planet. Without them our food production could disappear. They pollinate 70 out of 100 species of plants that feed 90% of the world’s population.
Unfortunately the honeybee population is decreasing at an alarming rate, mostly due to the use of pesticides and habitat loss. Longer and colder winters, in some areas, hasn’t help either. So what can we do about it?
At a local level you can advocate for the ban of dangerous pesticides in our parks and our own gardens, encourage city councillors to commit to returning some park lands back to natural states so that wild flowers can thrive and provide a food source for bees and plant flowers in your own garden or flower boxes that attract bees.
On my recent walks and in my own backyard I’ve been seeing an abundance of bees pollinating the wildflowers and my climbing hydrangea. I hope you’re seeing the return of bees in your neighbourhood. We can’t take them for granted.
Mama Cormier 