Happy Birthday, Valentine’s Day and Family Day

….for my friend Maria all the good stuff comes together in less than a week

This week my friend Maria celebrated her birthday and was finally well enough to have company. She recently had her hip replaced (her second one) and didn’t recover as quickly as with the first one; however, this week she was finally receiving visitors. In honour of her birthday I decided to bake her some cookies and bought her a nice new mug, some tea and candy. I also collected some of my favourite novels that I’ve read in the past year or so and put them in a bag for her to pull out and read at her leisure.

Over at Life in Between my blogging friend, Jodi posted a wonderful recipe for Amish Oatmeal Raisin cookies and I was very eager to try it. The instructions were easy to follow and the recipe made  four dozen very large cookies. My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies and the only fault he found with these was that there weren’t enough raisins. Easy solution; just add more next time. I, however, found the amount to be perfect. This recipe is a little different from most oatmeal cookies because it has molasses in it and that’s why the colour is darker.

I packed a dozen cookies into a small disposable loaf pan and placed it inside a special translucent bag with hearts on the outside. I then placed them into a square basket that I had purchased and placed the other items (tea, mug, candy) next to the bag.

Before making my way to Maria’s house I decided to make her a card. I took some watercolour paper and watercolour markers and created a simple design to acknowledge her birthday, St. Valentine’s Day, Family Day and a speedy recovery.

In the end I had a very nice visit with my good friend. Her husband spoiled us with wine to start, a plate of cheese and then before I left he made us tea and we enjoyed some of the cookies that I had baked.

If the cookies interest you be sure to check out Jodi’s recipe over at Life in Between.

Cheers and have a wonder Valentine’s Day!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 39

…..thanks Cee for more great questions

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?

I used to think that it didn’t matter but recently I converted to the over method. I found that  when I had the roll go under the roll would sometimes unroll itself. Does that make sense?

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

If I were a crayon I would be red. It’s my favourite colour.

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?

There are stretches of time where I sit for a long time but I’m usually writing or reading on my computer or I’m watching TV. I can’t say that I’m comfortable doing nothing for long stretches of time. I become antsy and need to get out of the house.

Rather: Would you accept $5,000 to shave your head or die it bright lime green and continue your normal activities while not explaining the reason for your haircut or color?

I don’t think I would shave my head but I would colour it bright lime green. It would take a long time for my hair to grow back but I could recolour it soon after I dyed it.

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 successfully participating in the Railpath Run on Saturday with my daughter, A and her partner, J. It’s a timed race where you run for 45 minutes and a device on your number clocks the time you run or walk at 1k intervals. I had planned on only walking this year because I hadn’t run since last year but I started to run right at the beginning and I didn’t stop for the entire run. I managed to ‘run’ 4.5 K in 45 minutes. I’m not fast but I have a steady and consistent pace. I’m also grateful that I didn’t hurt too much in the next few days. My leg muscles were a little sore but it didn’t stop me from my daily walking regime. For the last few weeks I’ve been averaging over 11 000 steps a day and I’ve reached my walking goal 11 days in a row.

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I’m also grateful for spending time with friends from high school. Every time we meet someone new joins us. There were only five of us this time when we met for lunch but it was CM’s first visit and we had a lot of catching up to do. It was a lot of fun.

This week I’m looking forward to celebrating my husband’s birthday. We’re all going to my daughter’s house in Hamilton. Her baby is due any day now and she wanted to host the party at her place so that she would be close to her hospital in case the baby decided to make an appearance during the festivities. Most of all I’m looking forward to the birth of our first grandchild. I may be saying this again next week if she decides to be fashionably late.

Cheers!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 37

….thanks Cee for coming up with four more questions

If you could have three wishes granted for you alone, what would they be?

I would wish that my daughter has a safe delivery and healthy baby so that I can enjoy being the best grandmother ever.  My second wish would be that I win the lottery so that I could share my good fortune with my family and friends. My third wish would be that I remain healthy for at least another 20 years so that I can enjoy my grandchild(ren) and the money that I won in the lottery.

What is the most incredible natural venue that you’ve ever seen in person?

Long before I started blogging I went to Banff, Alberta on a skiing trip. The sight of the Rocky Mountains blew me away. I also worked in Bavaria one summer as a student and waking up to the Alps every day was also magical.

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

My hair is medium to long. Currently it is just long enough to pull up into a bun. In this hot weather we’ve been experiencing I like pulling my hair off my neck.

List some of your favorite blogs.

There are too many blogs to mention them all but my current favourites are:

Cee’s Photography

My Guilty Pleasures

Ann Koplow

Curious to the Max

My Beautiful Things

Our Rumbling Ocean

Life in Between

Jill’s Art Journal

Gypsy Life

Where to Next

Tea and Paper

Becca Givens

Trisha – Shedding Light

The Aran Artisan

My Life Lived Full

‘wanderings of an Elusive Mind

Jings and Things

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 that my husbands tumour wasn’t cancer. It turns out that he has something called BOOP. When the doctor told us this we both asked ‘What is BOOP?’. He laughed and explained that it’s a build up of cartilage in the bronchiole tubes. It stands for Bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia and is a very rare lung disease. After the surgery the lungs looked pretty good in the x-ray so the doctor recommended that we take a wait and see approach rather than prescribing steroids which is the usual treatment for this condition.

I’m also grateful that the first nine days of school have gone pretty smoothly. I’m hopeful that we settle our contract soon so that we don’t have to escalate the conditions of our ‘work to rule’. So far in this new school year the children and parents haven’t been affected by our strike action.

I’m looking forward to getting together with my daughters and my good friend, L, on Saturday. My youngest daughter is only two weeks away from her due date and I’m happy that she is still willing to make the drive to Toronto for a visit. I’m also looking forward to creating more art and finishing some knitting projects for the baby.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 32

…..didn’t I just do this

Are you a collector of anything?

About twenty years ago I started to collect teddy bears. I wanted vintage bears or bears with a vintage feel but family and friends bought me all types of bears. It soon got out of hand and I didn’t have the space for more bears. I’ve asked people not to buy me bears anymore and I’ve even given some away.

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)

I have two phobias. The first one is standing at great heights. I think the actual fear is the fear of falling. I could never jump from a plane or go bungee jumping. I don’t know where the second fear comes from. I’m terrified of bears. I’ve never had an encounter with bears. My aunt, who recently passed away, did buy me a book many years ago on bear attacks.

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?

I like looking through table top books but I love reading fiction.

Complete this sentence: If I Must Be Reincarnated, In the Next Life I Want to Be…

I can’t imagine being any kind of animal so I think I would like to come back as another person and probably as a woman again.

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 to my oldest daughter and her partner for putting on a wonderful shower for our younger daughter, G and her husband. I came back early from the cottage to help with the preparations but the girls did most of the work. I made the lemonade and brought over the china cups and saucers for the coffee and cake and I purchased some nice disposable dishes and cutlery from Costco that we can actually reuse. I’m also grateful that my father and his wife made the trip from Oshawa along with my sister from Chatham. It was a bit of a family reunion and when I dropped my Dad off at the train station he told me that he had a wonderful time and felt like the ‘king of the world’.

The shower was a bit different from a normal baby shower in that we had a ‘taco bar’ that we had catered. We played a few games and people painted onesies with special messages for the new baby. There were about 19 people in attendance and almost the same number of people sent regrets because they were away on holidays. This is the one downside of having a shower of any kind in the summer.

This week my husband is having his surgery on his lungs. I’m looking forward to a full and speedy recovery.

For more Share Your World stories check out Cee’s blog.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 29

….a whole week without internet and I feel I’ve let you down

When I go to the cottage I like to spend some time at the local library to catch up on my emails and post an article or two and some photos. On my last visit to the cottage I made three visits to the library but was unable to connect to their Wifi. It was frustrating but maybe someone was trying to tell me something.

Now that I’m home I’m overburdened with hundreds of emails and can’t seem to get to them because of other commitments. Has anyone really missed me? Probably not but none the less I still feel somewhat guilty for not replying to comments and writing new posts.

My contribution to this week’s Share Your World is a bit later than I like to post because next week’s questions are only a day away.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Initially I wanted to be a nurse, like most little girls of my generation, but when I was 12 I knew decisively that I wanted to teach Family Studies. My teacher at the time asked me to demonstrate some sewing skills for an open house we were having and from that moment on I was focused on my goal to teach.

What was your favorite food as a child? Do you eat it now?

I loved many foods as a little girl but one food that stands out for me was a meat sauce that my father made with ground beef and peas and the base was made from a roux of flour, butter and beef stock. This is what we served over spaghetti until my mother learned how to make an Italian tomato based meat sauce. I’ve never made the original meat sauce with peas again but have made the Italian sauce numerous times.

If you were invisible, where would you go?

If I were invisible or a fly on the wall I would love to hear and see what goes on in the private chambers of some of the world’s leading politicians. We might be surprised at how much some of them struggle with day to day decisions that they have to make and we might be shocked at some of the corruption that occurs in the name of democracy.

Would you rather forget everyone else’s name all the time or have have everyone for your name all the time?

I’m not sure I understand this question as it is written. I’m assuming you mean ‘or have everyone remember you name all the time’.

I’m not good with names either but I don’t think I want to forget everyone’s name all the time. I’m often surprised how some names come back even after decades but I’m very uncomfortable when someone remembers me and I can’t think of their name. This happens often when students come back to visit me and I can’t for the life of me remember who they are. I can feel their initial disappointment but eventually I remember something about them and we can carry on a conversation. It helps when I explain that I have taught 1000s of students over the last thirty some years. When I taught middle school I used to teach every student in the school. In one school that was over 600 students.

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 a wonderful week at the cottage. I wish that my family and friends from the city could visit me up there but I have good friends and neighbours on the island that I spend time with. I’m very grateful to my friend’s son, DM, who helped me transport a bed and a beautiful old oak cabinet from my girlfriend’s house to the cottage. Without his van I would never have been able to get it up there.

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This week, which has mostly passed I cleaned up the cottage and had friends from the island over for a wine and cheese party and some supper. I loved gathering flowers for the tables and preparing dips and plates of goodies.IMG_5587

I was also looking forward to yesterday’s final women’s soccer game against Brazil and Colombia. I was a bit disappointed in the overall game. It certainly didn’t feel like a gold medal game. Brazil won easily over the Colombians, 4 to 0. In the first five minutes of the game I couldn’t help but compare this game to the one I watched two weeks ago with the Canadian women. It made me wonder how the Colombians had advanced so far and weren’t able to play a better game. Their shots were wild and they only had 8 shots on goal compared to Brazil’s 120 shots on goal. I don’t know how accurate these stats are but according to my husband that’s what he saw on the scoreboard. Sitting between Brazilian and Colombian fans was quite the experience. They’re loud and exuberant if nothing else.

How I Keep Warm on Cold Rainy Days

….last Tuesday it poured at the cottage and it was cool

There’s always plenty to do in the cottage but when it’s cold outside it does limit my choice of activities. Last week we had one of those days. Luckily the rain held off until noon so I was able to cook a nice warm breakfast on the BBQ. I should have gone out for a long walk but I didn’t so I didn’t reach my walking goal of 10 000 steps.

The inside of my cottage holds whatever heat there is fairly well and when the windows and doors are closed there are no drafts to worry about. I did a lot of reading on Tuesday and when I felt cool I put on an extra sweater and covered myself with a blanket.

Close to supper time the rain ceased but the temperatures remained cool. I walked over to CH’s cottage, four roads over, with D and we found her unpacking her car. She had just arrived from Toronto with her 10 year old granddaughter, from Norway. I stayed for a cup of tea and I was then invited for dinner. Wonderful!

CH’s cottage is small and has electricity so it was nice and cozy warm inside. When I returned to D’s cottage, however, it had cooled off even more. D turned the electric heater on but you had to sit right in front of it and then it felt like you were starting to bake. If you moved back a cool draft hit the rest of your body. There was only one solution to really warm up and that was go into the sauna.

Now this sauna is something else. As with most projects done up here it was over engineered but it works like a charm. D’s father did an amazing job with the finishing details. It’s big enough to seat 6 adults comfortably and right next door is an outdoor shower with hot and cold water. What a luxury! Not only did I warm up but I also washed my hair. Heavenly! It’s the things we take for granted that bring me so much joy up here!

A Bit of Cleaning, Some Reading, Making Bean Soup and Visiting Friends

….Monday, July 6, 2015

People often wonder what I do at the cottage all day, especially when I’m up here alone. Well there’s lots to do but no pressure as to when I do it. I like that.

Instead of spending two days of solid cleaning when I first open the cottage I like to spread it out and do a little bit every day. I take care of the absolute essentials when I first arrive, like fill up the water barrel, start the fridge, make the bed, uncover the furniture and wipe down all the surfaces that I’ll be using right away.

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On subsequent days, I’ve washed all the dishes, even though they were clean when I left in October, wiped out the cupboards and restocked them and organized my clothes and put them back into the dresser. All of this is necessary because at some point in the months when we’re away a few rodents manage to find their way into the cottage, looking for warmth, food and shelter. Unfortunately for some of them they don’t survive and I usually find a few carcasses lying about and of course evidence that they’ve been around. Luckily this year the evidence has been minimal and a few of them had drowned in a bucket of water that was inside the cottage.

One of my goals this summer is to finish reading the books that I started this year and then didn’t finish before I picked up another to read. I’m happy to report that I’ve finished two of them and am concurrently reading two more. I also started a new book and I finished that as well. I think I will report on those books in a future post.

Another goal is to do a little bit of art everyday or at least a couple of times a week. I completed one art assignment this week and I started sketching in my art journal. Another goal well on it’s way!

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I didn’t bring up a lot of food on this visit but enough to get me through the week. When I was cleaning out the cupboards I noticed that I had left a container of dried beans here over the winter. I decided to make soup from scratch. I turned on the side burner on the BBQ and cooked onions, celery and carrots in a large soup pot. I added a chopped clove of garlic and then 4 cups of broth, 2 cups of water, a tin of diced tomatoes and 1 cup of dried beans. I added salt and pepper to taste and then I let it cook for 2 hours. After the two hours I looked in the fridge to see what else I could add and I found some chick peas, cooked hamburger and fresh mushrooms. I chopped up the burgers and the mushrooms and added everything to the pot. I let it cook for a few more minutes and dinner was ready. I grated in some fresh parmesan cheese. Delicious!

Of course I had way more soup than I could eat so I put the rest into container and froze it for future meals and I kept some in the fridge for another dinner this week.

While I was cooking I got a phone call from a friend who has a cottage four roads over from mine. She invited me to come to her place for a chat, a glass of wine and to see the finished renovations on her cottage. The soup had pretty much finished cooking, so I turned it off and walked over (1500 steps). The cottage looked fantastic and since we hadn’t seen each other since January we had a nice long gab and got caught up on each other’s lives.

When I finally left it was going on 8:00 and I ended up having a late dinner. The nice part was that it was already cooked, I just had to reheat it. Even though it was getting dark I ventured down to the beach for one last walk and just managed to get in my 10,000 steps for the day. I did decide though that leaving my walk for that late wasn’t the best decision because the mosquitoes also come out at that time. Note to self, walk before the sun sets.

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So that’s my day in a nutshell. Everyday I read a little, do art a little, cook, clean and visit friends, either in person or on the phone. I hope all of you enjoy your days as much as I do. Cheers!

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Gas Pumps, Spark Plugs and Carburators

…..every year when I go to the cottage I learn something new

Friday, July 3, 2015

First things first. Coffee. I started the BBQ and boiled water to make a pot of coffee. I don’t know why we feel the need for expensive coffee machines when using a kettle and a coffee filter over a carafe makes excellent coffee and in the same amount of time.

Dr. D came over and shared a cup of coffee with me and then we went to tackle the water problem. We’ve both started this pump hundreds of times and have never had a problem that couldn’t be solved with a minimum of effort. Today was the exception.

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One of the things that I noticed was that there wasn’t a strong smell of gas, even after numerous pulls on the cord. Most people would think that we flooded the motor. Just in case we gave it a rest. Dr. D also thought that it might need a new spark plug so she rummaged through her brother’s stash in the boathouse and found the exact match. The difficulty came when we tried to remove the old one. I don’t know how a man with big hands could possibly remove this spark plug. We found the socket wrenches but the plug was so far into the motor that the wrench didn’t fit.

We found another tool that fit over the bolt at the bottom of the plug and with a screw driver acting as a lever we finally managed to remove the old plug. We screwed in the new plug and tightened it the same way we loosened the old one. We pulled on the cord again. Nothing. Now what?

Dr. D remembered that her brother had heated the end of the spark plug for another application so we removed the new spark plug using our make shift tool and got out the propane torch. After heating the contact end we put it back into the motor and tried again. Nothing.

As a last resort we called D’s brother and her parents. We reached her mom and dad who were on holiday on the east coast, first. We told them what we had done and all the suggestions that they made we had already tried. Their final recommendation was to get buckets and get water from our neighbours. Luckily D’s brother D called. He was on his way to the cottage but was still one and a half days away.

After explaining, again, what we had done he advised that we check the carburator. Okay but where is it? We’re lucky that he knows this motor so well because he described exactly where to locate the carburator and how to empty it. The theory is that water had mixed in with the gas and wasn’t going through the motor. That would account for the lack of gasoline smell when we were pulling on the cord. Again we had difficultly removing the bolt but this time the socket wrench proved useful. After emptying the tank we pulled the cord again. Nothing! Arghhh!

We decided we needed a break and went inside D’s cottage. She made us each a cappuccino with the expresso maker she brought to the cottage. Did I mention that they have electricity where I don’t. What a treat! After being satisfactorily caffeinated we decided to clean up the tools and wait for D’s brother to arrive to fix the problem.

After putting the tools away and cleaning up the area, I suggested that we give it one more try, just to make sure that it really wasn’t working. Voila! It worked! We gave each high fives and acted like little children who had just won a competition. We had beat this thing and fixed it ourselves.IMG_5401 IMG_5403

I filled up my water barrel and five large bottles of water that I took to the kitchen. Someday I will actually have the water piped right into the cottage so that I don’t have to lug water every other day but that’s for another day.

Now it was time to celebrate. A little bit of wine and great food. A wonderful way to end the day.

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Share Your World 2015 – Week 15

…..thanks Cee for four more interesting questions

Regarding your fridge, is it organized or a mess inside?

I’m embarrassed to say that at the moment my fridge is a mess. Over the years all the plastic shelves and drawers have broken. We looked into replacing these pieces but the cost was ridiculous, over $700.00. The fridge itself works well but It’s become increasingly difficult to keep it organized.

Have you ever been a participant in a parade? What did you do?

Why does this question sound familiar? The only parade I remember participating in occurred when I went to summer day camp and at the end of the summer or end of the session (I don’t remember) we participated in a parade where all the different city camps got together and put on a parade. I might have been in a parade when I was a girl guide. It’s all a blur now.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

I tend to have a very loud and distinctive laugh. People always say they know where I am in a building by my laugh. When I was younger I used to be the narrator in school plays and today I find myself quite comfortable being the master of ceremonies at large school gatherings.

How many bones, if any, have you broken?

I have never broken a bone. About 20 years ago I had a very bad fall. I fell from the top of our stairs to the landing below and didn’t break a thing. Apart from a slight concussion, a few abrasions and bruises my injuries were pretty minor. I think I hit my head on the way down and knocked myself unconscious so I fell I like a rag doll. Falling into a full laundry basket probably helped as well.

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

This week I’m grateful for sunny weather and milder temperatures and time spent with a group of friends from high school. I’m also grateful for small accomplishments, like finally getting my solar light drilled into the brick wall over our house number. I also found time to do some sketching this week and completed 2 paintings.

This week I’m looking forward to another afternoon concert put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. My friend CL and I will be meeting for lunch and then heading downtown to the university where the concert is being held. I’m also looking forward to a new on-line lesson from the Year of the Spark, this time given by Lynn Whipple. I was also thinking of turning some of my bird sketches into paintings.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 11

……thank you Cee for some easy and some thought provoking questions this week

List 2 things you have to be happy about?

I’m happy to be on vacation. I have time to get a few things done around the house, time to spend with family and friends, time to read and time to make art. I’m also happy for reasons that I cannot share but will in the near future.

Do you prefer ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise?

I like mustard on my hotdogs and sausages, ketchup on my burgers and fries and mayonnaise on my BLTs, turkey sandwiches and sometimes with fries (something I picked up when we were in the Netherlands).IMG_3681

If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, what colors would you use?

I would choose happy and calming colours like blues, greens and yellows with just a dash of red for excitement.

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Do you prefer a bath or shower?

I always prefer a shower. Long hot ones in the winter and cooler showers on hot summer days. I have a hard time with a bath because I find that the water cools too quickly and the thought of sitting in dirty water isn’t my idea of relaxing. I guess that’s why the Japanese wash before they get into the tub.

If I wanted a bath it would be in a nice deep tub like this one.

If I wanted a bath it would be in a nice deep tub like this one.

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 the warmer weather and that all the snow has melted away. I’m also happy that the last week of school finally came to an end and I’m looking forward to a week of rest and relaxation.