Tag Archives: happiness file

Cottage Life – July 19th, 2014

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I finally got up to the cottage. This is actually my second trip to the island but I was back in the city for an extended period of time. Now that I’m back I’ve settled into relax mode. On my first trip I opened up the cottage and did a lot of the cleaning and sorting one does when you first open up after a long winter break.

My fridge is run on propane and right now the only downside is that it requires two people to start it, one at the front and one behind. Unfortunately the automatic starter doesn’t work so someone has to hold a flame in front of the pilot light which is at the back of the fridge while another person pushes the buttons at the front. When I arrived last Thursday, alone, none of my immediate neighbours were around so I kept my food in my cooler. Luckily my girlfriend’s daughter arrived on the next boat so the fridge dilemma was quickly resolved.P1040290

My meals are simple. Fruit and yogurt for breakfast, soup and an open face sandwich for lunch and salad and grilled meat for dinner. I always make a thermos of coffee first thing in the morning and later in the day when it cools down I might put a few ice cubes in it and have an ice coffee. I also enjoy a cup or two of tea but I have to stop drinking by 7:00 in the evening or I’ll be up in the middle of the night. Oh, did I mention we don’t have indoor plumbing. I don’t mind the outhouse, except at 3:00 in the morning. I never have to get up in the middle of the night at home. Why is that?

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Today my girlfriend and her husband arrived. They’re my immediate neighbours to the south of me. I joined them for coffee when they arrived early this morning and they invited me for lunch later in the day. I always contribute in some way when I’m invited for a meal so today I sliced and grilled sweet potatoes and onions that I prepared on the BBQ. Most of my meals are cooked outside, in fact all of them because I also don’t have electricity.

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As I type this on my fully charged laptop I’m listening to the radio which runs on batteries. I love the CBC in the summer. If I stay for an extended period of time I’ll take a trip to the library in the village and use their Wifi to post my articles, catch up on my emails and recharge my laptop and iPhone. I’ve been up for three days and I’ve already finished reading one novel and am on my second. I get a lot reading done at the cottage. The weather’s been a bit cool so I’ve stayed close to the cottage. The beach isn’t warm enough for lounging right now. I need to get out and walk a bit more. I’ll probably do that after I finish this post.

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Another activity I like to do while I’m up here is paint. I’ve brought my boards and canvases up with me on this trip and am planning to apply gesso to them to get them ready for painting. The next time I go home I’ll pick up the rest of my paints and bring them with me on my next trip. I also like to take photographs and I’ve taken a number of shots of my neighbour’s garden across the street from me. They come up a lot earlier than I do and when I get here in July their garden is well established. Well I’m I think I’d better finish here and get outside and move.

Till the next time. Cheers!

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer

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…..I’ve become a huge fan of international soccer and the World Cup

I can’t believe how much soccer I’ve been watching. I chose five teams to support because of my family ties to some of these nations. My fifth choice was Iran because my future daughter-in-law is from there. In fourth place I supported Italy because my other daughter-in-law is half Italian and her other half is Argentinian so my third choice is obviously Argentina. My second favourite team is the Netherlands because that is where my son presently lives and my number one choice is Germany because that is where I was born.

Now on Canada Day you would think that I would be doing something ‘Canadian’ to celebrate our 147th birthday but I found myself with my husband at a bar watching the Belgium vs U.S.A. game. I have to admit that I was cheering for Belgium and only because of its proximity to the Netherlands. The Americans played a fantastic game and if you’re not a soccer fan after that game I’m afraid there’s no hope for you. It was very exciting, right down to the last few seconds.

On Saturday we went to my daughter’s place to watch the Germany vs Algeria game and it was a nail biter as well but in the end, in overtime, Germany won 2 to 1. Algeria surprised everyone with how well they played and the game almost went to a shoot out.

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Before we went to the pub my husband watched the Argentina vs Switzerland game and Argentina also won in overtime. Now that leaves me with three teams to cheer for but if it comes down to Germany and one of my other teams I have to go with Germany. Sorry kids that’s just how it has to be.

 

 

Sharing Memories and Reconnecting With Old Friends

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…watching old V8 movies of us as kids and meeting up with friends from university

Thursday was a laid back day. I couldn’t sleep past 6:00 am so I got up and wrote my first post about the flight to Calgary. I took my time getting showered and dressed and then I went downstairs to join my sisters for breakfast.

My middle sister had given each of us a DVD that she had transposed from VHS. Years ago our mom took all the old V8 movies that my Dad had taken of us as kids and had them put onto videotape. It’s pretty rough and of course there’s no soundtrack. We decided to watch the DVD together, not realizing that it was over two hours. It was great seeing all those clips again. It brought back great memories and we couldn’t help but notice how different life was 50 years ago.

The one thing that really struck us was how formally our parents dressed. Outings to the park, going on picnics and day trips to Niagara Falls involved dressing in your Sunday best. Mom wore heels, dresses, hats and gloves and Dad wore dress pants, jackets and ties and of course all the ‘sisters’ wore dresses and party shoes. The only time I saw us in trousers was when I went roller skating down the sidewalk by our house in the Junction. Good thing too, because I took a couple of nasty spills.

It was also interesting to see the transition from long hair to short hair and then back to long hair when we were teenagers. My Mom wore her hair in a bun for many years and her hair was actually quite dark. Sometime in the 60s she cut her hair short and became a blonde. I never saw her with long hair ever again.

I’m sure there’s some way of copying bits and pieces of the DVD to share with you but I just haven’t figured out how to do that. I’m thinking I need to go to Garage Band and cut and paste segments onto a Youtube video but I’ll have to investigate that a bit more. If any of you have any suggestions I’d be more than grateful.

After lunch, I arranged to meet two friends from university at the Learning Centre in Fish Creek Park. Melissa McKinnon who I follow on WordPress has an exhibition there and one of the things I wanted to do when I got to Calgary was check out her work. I’ve seen it on-line but there’s nothing like seeing it up close and personal. The staff at the centre were very friendly and told us how successful Melissa’s opening was. Her paintings are beautiful and it looks like half or more are already sold. You can check out her blog, here.

I haven’t been to Calgary in over 20 years but I have seen my sister and my friends, L & L, on numerous occasions in Toronto. It’s been great seeing them on their home turf, something that’s long overdue. My next trip will be with my husband. He hasn’t been to Calgary in 38 years.

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A Perfect Way to Spend a Sunday Morning

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….especially the first morning of daylight savings time

People have a hard time adjusting to the change in time, especially when the clocks are moved forward. It means one hour less sleep unless you talked yourself into going to bed one hour earlier. I’m thankful that the time change occurred during March Break. At least it gives us (the teachers) and the kids a week to adjust to the earlier hour in the morning.

Today I woke up at my usual time but it was actually an hour later, so had it been a school day I would have been late. We had prearranged to meet our youngest daughter at the AGO this morning when the gallery first opens which is 10:00. I basically had time to grab a cup of coffee, get dressed and put on some make-up before heading out the door. We discovered on our last trip that arriving when the AGO opens on a Sunday is a good time to go. It’s not crowded, the kids haven’t arrived yet (especially during March Break) and parking is free until 1:00.

My husband was struggling a bit to get going today but he quickly found his groove and the change in time hasn’t bothered him, yet. As we were walking towards the entrance we spotted our daughter coming up the street. Perfect timing. I went to the members’ desk, picked up our tickets and we deposited our coats at the coat check counter. For the rest of the morning we wandered leisurely throughout the galleries. There is no big show on right now so we enjoyed some of the smaller displays throughout the building.

One of the first things we came across was a display put on by Hot Wheels.

It was obviously there for the kids to enjoy but we were invited to play if we wanted. We graciously declined the invitation and made our way to the galleries where photographs were being displayed. Our daughter studied photography at university and my husband used to be a photography fan in his younger days. As he gets older he plays with his camera more often and he still appreciates the art of photography, especially some of the older black and white photographs.

Next to one of the rooms that housed some very interesting and very old photographs I came across a room designed for kids. The walls were lined with some famous paintings that featured children and in the middle of the room stood a booth. Children could dress up and then sit behind a frame with a painted scene behind them (I think it’s from one of the Group of Seven). Parents are encouraged to take photographs of their children who look like they’re part of a painting. I wanted to do it myself but I don’t think my husband or daughter would humour me and take a photograph. There were hardly any children there at the time so I think I could have gotten away with it.

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Once we had exhausted all the photography galleries we headed upstairs to the 5th floor to check out the contemporary exhibits. My favourite installation piece took up an entire room and featured mirrors, trees, birds, (real and not) and half man half bird creatures. It was called The Index and was the creation of David Altmejd.

We decided to walk down to the other floors. The stairway had beautiful architectural curves made from wood and was built on the side of the building with glass windows that looked out over the city. I love the curves, arches and the grain in the wood along the ledges. The second floor has huge stone arches that overlook the foyer on the first floor which is also surrounded with these large archways.

Before leaving the AGO we stopped at the Galleria Italia (here, here) for our traditional coffee break at the Espresso Bar. I really wanted to check out the gift shop so I left my husband and daughter at the table so that they could catch up and make plans for the week while I headed to the main floor to do a bit of shopping. I had a little bit of money from the library fund so I bought a few art books for school and I found a present to bring to my sister in Calgary.

When we left the art gallery we were ready for lunch (brunch in my case because I hadn’t had breakfast). We drove along Queen St East and headed toward Leslieville where we found a tiny Irish pub. Our daughter had been there before but for my husband and I it was a new experience. G and I ordered and shared mushrooms on toast and the terrine plate while my husband ordered his traditional Irish breakfast.

After our meal we drove our daughter home and then headed out to see our oldest daughter. We stayed just long enough to have a cup of coffee and pick up a parcel notification. Sometime tomorrow I’ll drive to Purolator and pick up a parcel for her.

When we got home it was already 4:00. Time just flew by. Looks like we’ll be eating salad for dinner. It’s already 6:00 and I’m still full from my one meal today. This should be my last post today. Hopefully I can get to some of my art. If I do I’ll share with you tomorrow. No more staying up late to post things that can wait till tomorrow.

Cheers!

First Day of March Break

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…..even though this is a PA day without pay it couldn’t come soon enough

The sun is shining, the temperature is warmer, I didn’t have to get up at 6:30, my husband made me a perfect omelet and I got out for a long walk with the dog and K this morning. Heavenly!

I leave for Calgary next week so I was hoping to get my hair cut before I go but when I phoned to make an appointment my regular hairdresser, who I haven’t seen in months, was booked solid until next Friday. Boo hoo! I’ve been going to a young woman just up the street and even though she does a pretty good job, the last time I went I wasn’t 100% satisfied. Well it must be my lucky day because the salon called back and told me that D had a cancellation. Yahoo!

Driving into town in the middle of the afternoon wasn’t bad and finding a place to park was relatively easy. I think a lot of people have already left town for March Break vacations. It was great to see D again. She was off for awhile planning her wedding and going on her honeymoon and that’s why I went elsewhere for a couple of cuts. The salon by the way is Brennan DeMelo on Adelaide St., if you’re interested.

As soon as D saw me see she knew exactly what I needed and could see why I wasn’t that happy with the last cut. The big news in her life is that soon after her wedding she got pregnant. She planned it that way just in case it took awhile to get pregnant.  Well I guess it didn’t and she looks like she’s having twins, although the ultrasound showed only one baby. Her baby is due on August 28th which just so happens to be my birthday.

I’m happy for her but I was wondering if I was going to have to look for a new hairdresser when the baby is born but she assured me that she was coming back, even if it is only a few hours a week. I’ll really have to book in advance. I love my new haircut. It’s a bit shorter than the last cut. To fix the problem D had to cut more away but I don’t mind. I think the new cut looks great.

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What’s next on the agenda. I’m not sure. We’re thinking about going to the movies tonight and tomorrow we’re hoping to go to the museum (ROM) and Sunday looks like a good day to check out the AGO (art gallery). The one thing I am sure about, though is going for long walks every morning as long as this nice weather holds out.

Spending Family Day With the Dogs

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….and my daughter and son-in-law

Today was another sunny but cold day in Toronto and it is Family Day. It is an official holiday in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. As the name implies it is a day to celebrate families.

Yesterday my husband and I went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) with out oldest daughter, A and her partner, J and saw the show, The Great Upheaval: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection, 1910 – 1918. I loved it. It’s not a huge show but it featured some amazing artists from the past, such as, Picasso, Kandinsky, Matisse, Chagall, Franz Marc, Kupka and Miro. There must have been at least 30 different artists whose works were on display. It was fascinating to see how this era of new technologies ( film, photography, planes, telephones, electricity, etc.) and the presence of World War I affected the art world. If you’re in Toronto the show goes till March 6, 2014. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed at this show so I don’t have any original photos to show you. The Great Upheaval.

After seeing the show we browsed through some of the other galleries at the AGO, where you are allowed to take photographs. Here are a few highlights of our morning.

Today, my husband, Frances and I arranged to meet our youngest daughter and her husband and Lucy at High Park. We took both dogs to the off leash area. We’ve had so much snow that all the paths are packed solid with snow and ice. Luckily K brought his cleats for his boots and our walk was relatively uneventful, falling that is. We did see a few people wipe out but no serious injuries happened.

Frances and Lucy had a great time, running and wrestling with each other. We got a good walk, as well, probably close to 4k. The humans got tired just watching those two dogs darting back and forth.

After looking at all this snow it’s hard to imagine that another storm is approaching us tonight and we’re expecting another 10 cm to fall. Sigh!

Cheers! Hope everyone had a great Family Day!

One Last Meeting Before Heading Home

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….and then I was down for the count with a head cold

The day after the wedding the sisters and their families got together for one last meal before heading back to Toronto, Oshawa, Calgary, Vancouver and for two lucky people, Hawaii.

There was some discussion by the more practical in the group that meeting for brunch didn’t seem to be a very economic thing to do when the hotel provided a ‘perfectly good breakfast’. After some debate, it was agreed that it wasn’t about the food but rather a chance to get together one more time before heading off in separate directions.

At around 11:00 we all met at the local pancake house allowing the early risers to take advantage of the ‘free’ breakfast back at the hotel. Everyone, including the early risers ordered brunch. I don’t know where they found room to eat again and some of us were being served lunch on the train a few hours later. Anyway it was nice getting together one last time and making final plans for dropping off the rental car and deciding what to do for one hour before heading out to the train station.

Now living in Chatham has a few downsides. One of them is that the car rental place isn’t open on Sundays so there was no one to drive us to the train station after we dropped off the car. My brother-in-law agreed to follow me to the rental office, drop off the keys in the drop off box and then drive me back to the station where the luggage and my family would be waiting.

The other downside, however, was that the train station didn’t open it’s doors until 30 minutes before the train arrived. That meant that the luggage and my sister who had to give up her seat in the car for me and all my family had to wait outside in the freezing temperatures while I returned the car.

That brings me to the final downside and that is the weather in Chatham. It is considerably colder than Toronto or at least it tends to get the bad weather first as it blows through southern Ontario towards the big city. There’s not much one can do about the weather and it’s been a brutal winter all over Ontario this year but it was just one more ‘uncomfortable’ aspect of our return trip.

We said our good-byes and my baby sister and her family and then they drove off to Windsor to catch a flight to Toronto, where they would individually make connecting flights to Vancouver and Calgary. My sister and her husband had slightly different plans. They would be staying overnight at the airport hotel in Toronto and then catching a flight to Hawaii the next day where they would celebrate their wedding anniversary for two weeks. Nice!

The train trip back was most enjoyable for my father. We had the seats with the large table between us and our seat mates were very friendly and talkative. They quickly learned all about my father’s past, starting with the war, his emigration to Canada, getting his first job at the Royal York Hotel, my mother’s death and how he met his current wife. The four trip went by very quickly.

Once we were at Union Station, my daughters and I regrouped and we made sure that my Dad got to the Go Train waiting room and bought his ticket to return to Oshawa. He phoned me later that night to let me know that he returned ‘safe and sound’ and that his car was still in the parking lot where he left it, three days earlier.

My daughter and I shared a cab and we went back to her place where my husband picked me up. It was nice to be home and back in my own bed. The next day, however, I felt a cold coming on. Isn’t that always the way. I’m not surprised though; my brother-in-law was complaining about his cold all weekend and I did hug him several times.

I had plans to attend the show Les Mis on Thursday with two of my good friends and L’s mom and we were a bit worried about me passing on my cold to M. After three days of suffering at school I decided to take the day off on Thursday and just rest before going to the show. I have to say that it did wonders for me and I didn’t cough once at the show. The show by the way was fantastic. It was the first time I’ve seen it and apparently this show has been getting rave reviews.

Les Mis in Toronto

So there’s my ‘Away and Down for the Count’ post done over three days. Thanks for your patience. I know that if you started reading mid way it was a bit confusing.

Cheers!

From Zero to Hero – Day 11 – The House is Completely De-Christmased

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Today’s assignment: leave comments on at least three blogs that you’ve never commented on before.

I understand the value of leaving comments on new blogs. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t do that but it’s always good to be reminded of its benefits. Once people start coming to your site you might feel somewhat disappointed when you have a day or two when very few come over to read what you thought was an awesome post. Sometime though, as in my case, no one came over because when I pushed the Publish button (it appeared that the article was sent off and it even showed up on my Facebook page) it didn’t really publish and the next day I discovered that it was still sitting in a Draft file. I still don’t know why that happens but closing all my tabs before publishing usually helps.

Some of you may be uncomfortable leaving a comment but WordPress has all kinds of great suggestions on how to do this successfully. If an article resonates with me I want the writer to know how it affected me. I usually leave highly political or religious commentary alone. Once I got involved in a conversation that made me very uncomfortable and it wasn’t the author that caused the angst but the people who stopped by to comment. In the end I think that blogger had to moderate all her comments before she would publish any of them.

For the most part people appreciate your comments. Just follow the guidelines that WordPress has drawn up.

Day 11 – The Small Task That Ended up Being a Big Job

Earlier in the week I mentioned that I still had to put away my Christmas ornaments and decorations. I tried to do a little bit every day but the bulk of the clean-up happened today. I think it took me over two hours to pack up the remaining signs of Christmas. I even brought in the wreath that was hanging on the front door. The only thing I haven’t taken done is take down the outdoor lights. I’ll save that for another day, probably closer to the end of the month or even February. IMG_0227

Earlier in the day I read a book for school and I completed a sample for my art class. I loved how the day started and how it’s ending. Dinner is out of the way, dishes are done, the bags for the Goodwill are packed and ready to go in the car, two loads of laundry are done, my Zero to Hero post is written, I watched a pilot from the UK called Derek and loved it and it’s not even 6:30. Maybe I’ll have time to write another post about the art project and the book.

Cheers!

 

From Zero to Hero – Day 4 and Saying Good-bye to my Son

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….a challenging day overall…lots of company and one last meal with B and Az

Today’s assignment: follow five new topics in the Reader, and begin finding blogs (and bloggers) you love.

One way to increase readership is to follow other people’s blogs and make comments. Invariably they will come back to your blog to check you out. Today we are encouraged to branch out and investigate topics that we haven’t considered before. I’ve chosen the following five topics (some suggested by WordPress):

Stereotypes: Livicatherine  and You’ve Got to be Kidding and Rural to Roaming

Flaneur: The English Department and Around a Red Table

Coffee Culture: Cody Delistraty and Just Add Attitude and Filter(ed)

Owls:  My Eco-centric Life and Owl Moon (it’s amazing how many sites pop up when you type the word owl)

Humour: Singing Pigs and Life With the Top Down

Day 4 – The Daily Task

Today was a busy day with saying good-bye to our son and his fiancé. My friend, L came over to say hello and good-bye all at the same time and A and J came for an hour to say a final farewell. I knew that today would be a difficult day to tackle something new so I did what I said I would and that was finish reading the book The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. Reviewers used words like, charming, delightful, hilarious, compelling, unforgettable, unique and clever. I guarantee that you won’t want to put it down.

It’s been snowing off and on today, but mostly on and right now it’s very wet and heavy. Unfortunately I didn’t get out for my daily walk. I’ll have to do double duty tomorrow. Here’s hoping for a safe and uneventful flight back to the Netherlands for both B and Az. I miss you already. Love, hugs and kisses. Mom

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My Twin Babies Turned 32 Yesterday

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….a hectic but fun day

The day started early with a visit to Sherway Mall to look for a winter parka for Az and a birthday present for my son. I had already purchased his sister’s present long before Christmas but we didn’t know what B needed or wanted so I waited until his arrival to Canada to find out.

It turns out that B really needed new shoes. It was his lucky day. Between his fiancé, Az and me, he ended up with three new pairs of shoes, 2 casual and one dressy. We also found a warm and stylish winter parka for Az, which will come in very handy when they go to Montreal later this week. It’s always colder in Montreal.

After our shopping spree we headed to Costco for gas and groceries. Az wanted to prepare an Iranian feast for us and what better time than for a birthday celebration. We were expecting 10 people for dinner and even though they had picked up a load of groceries at the Iranian grocery store (who knew) we still still needed a few extra items to round out the meal. One of the things we bought was a birthday cheesecake for B and G. I know that’s not very Iranian but it’s a bit of a birthday tradition in our house. Turns out that more desserts were brought by others and I have a lot of cake left over.

The girls hard at work.

The girls hard at work.

Once we got home Az and our daughter, G started to cook and cook and cook. When Az told me that 1 kg of rice wasn’t enough, I was shocked so when I picked up our other daughter, A, her partner J and our son-in-law we made another stop at a store to purchase more basmati.

The green olives were the best I've ever eaten. They were purchased at the Iranian market. The marinade included ground walnuts and it became a great dipping sauce as well.

The green olives were the best I’ve ever eaten. They were purchased at the Iranian market. The marinade included ground walnuts and it became a great dipping sauce as well.

When all the guests arrived the place was buzzing with activity. I noticed that Az was not happy with one of her dished and was quite upset. I tasted it and I thought it tasted wonderful. I passed it around to a few more guests to sample and they all agreed that she needed to serve it. Ignorance is bliss. It really did taste devine but I’m sure if it had turned out the way she wanted it would have been better but we didn’t have anything to compare it to. The whole meal was an explosion of taste in the mouth. I’m sure I could never recreate it on my own but our daughter G has a little more experience and hopefully I don’t have to wait for another visit from B and Az before we can experience this meal again.

Of course there was way too much food, especially desserts. My husband is hoping we don’t have to go grocery shopping for awhile. My fridge is jam packed with leftovers and the cheesecake is sitting outside in a cooler bag on the deck where it is frozen solid.

Thank goodness there aren’t anymore major birthdays now until the summer. My waistline can’t afford more days like this.

Cheers!