….Kevin’s family of mice finally have a name
The Corkies Wish all my Women Friends a Happy International Women’s Day
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Tag Archives: mice
Random Acts of Kindness Day
….and in Canada it is Random Acts of Kindness Week
Kevin is back at his drawing board but in the basement apartment and not in his studio. After I did all the cooking for the last 10 days Kevin treated me to a dinner last night that he managed to cook. He’s doing it again tonight. He just can’t help himself. He loves cooking so much that he climbs up the stairs from downstairs. I’m sure that he’s calling it part of his physiotherapy and he seems to be managing well.
On the drawing board, Kevin’s mice returned to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day. Did you reach out to someone today to do a random act of kindness? If not, you have till Sunday to do something kind. For that matter you don’t need a special day or week to perform a random act of kindness. Give it a try.
The Absence of Art Posts
….from both my husband and me
Has the well of creativity run dry? Have we run out of art supplies? No, none of that is true.
During the holidays making art was difficult because we had the house full of family. Even after they left it took awhile to get our Mojo back. Then the accident happened. Ten days ago my husband, Kevin, fell down the stairs at home and broke his hip. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and the next day they did a hip replacement.
The amazing part of this story is that his operation was new and his recovery time is much faster. So fast in fact that they sent him home the same day of his surgery. They got him out of bed one hour after his operation and had him walking and climbing up and down stairs. After that they said he was good to go. Everything our friends who’ve had hip surgeries told us to expecthad didn’t apply to Kevin. No restrictions as to movement and his physio is taking place at home.
We set him up in the basement apartment because everything is at his fingertips. He has a walk-in shower with grab bars, a kitchen, TV and new bed. Climbing stairs to come upstairs is not recommended for another week (although I caught him going half way up the stairs to retrieve some mail). As a result I’ve been cooking all the meals (he can do toast and snacks) and all the running around for meds, food and other necessities, such as a new laptop for his business. Needless to say I’m finding it difficult to find time to do my blog and make art.
Kevin was very impressed with the nursing staff a Toronto Western and saw some of the abuse they have to endure from disgruntled patients. He wanted to do something special for them so he made a painting for them. I brought his art supplies to the basement and this is what he made.
With Valentine’s Day close at hand he also got busy and made a card for the family.
In New Brunswick, our Miss Winnie was busy making Valentine’s Day cards for every member of her class and she personalized each card by drawing something that the child likes or has an interest in. Luckily she only has 13 classmates.
Kevin’s Little Helpers?
….turns out they would rather play in the snow
Yesterday and then again today Kevin spent a considerable amount of time shovelling snow. His little mice friends came to help but they ended up making snow people instead.
A Week’s Worth of Husband’s Characters
….from Tonguely, Monster Monday and Wacky Bird Wednesday
Last week was busy with doctors’ appointments, art openings and clearing out my father’s apartment. Consequently, some of Kevin’s drawings were somewhat late and I was even later in posting them. Even Tonguely couldn’t believe that another Friday had come so quickly.
Last week a very large delivery was made to the house. It was the Murphy bed we had ordered for the guest suite in the basement. It was so large that Kevin put out an SOS for volunteers to come and help us take it down the stairs. One of his followers on Instagram is an artist in Amsterdam and he suggested that his mouse characters, the Schurkies, (@de_schurkies) could come to assist. Instead Kevin created his own cousins to the Schurkies and in lieu of Monster Monday he drew these guys, moving the box to the basement. In reality we had two strong young men come to the house and in five minutes they had the box down the stair. Now we have to assemble it.
For Wacky Bird Wednesday, this bird was inspired by our Miss Winnie’s daily outdoor classes at Forest School. Apparently in NB this grade one class spends every morning in the forest next to the school to learn science and math.
Opening the Cottage in August
….I was dreading going to the cottage on my own to open up for the season
Before we left for Italy I was hoping to open the cottage so that it would be ready when we returned. Unfortunately that didn’t happen for too many reasons to go into to.
When we did return home from our amazing trip it took me a couple of days to recover from jet lag. My husband was still recovering from his gastrointestinal problems so a couple of days were spent visiting his doctor and then a specialist. One thing was for sure; going to the cottage meant going on my own. My husband didn’t feel well enough to be at the cottage, my daughters couldn’t make it until later in August and my friends were busy with elderly parents and health issues of their own.
Last Sunday I finally packed up the car and made the trip on my own. Leaving on a Sunday meant I missed all the weekend traffic and the line-up for the ferry (barge) was short. One of the other reasons I was hesitant about going up alone was because the regular car ferry had been taken off the lake forever and a temporary barge was transporting eight to twelve cars at a time (normally 20 cars were on the old ferry). The fear of the unknown kept me in the city longer than I had planned.
Everything went fairly smoothly crossing the lake. When I got to the cottage my neighbour’s adult children had already removed the plywood panel from the back door and had moved my propane fridge from inside to the deck outside. It was evident that the mice had moved in last fall after we left or early in the spring. It’s been worse. I quickly cleaned up the mouse poop in the kitchen and removed all the cushions from their protective storage bags.
Every day that I was there I tackled a new job or two. This way I didn’t kill myself trying to do it all in one day. After four days I had wiped down all the surfaces, washed most of the dishes I would need, swept and washed the floors on the main level and opened up the sofa bed to make sure nothing was living inside. Outside I raked the leaves from the pathways, swept the deck and set up the outdoor furniture and the barbecue.
While I was there I had some fun as well. I visited with my good friends next door, celebrated a birthday down the way with cake and a bonfire, learned a new board game, went for walks on the beach and actually swam in the lake, two days in a row when the water was calm. I was able to get some reading done and finished a novel I had started earlier in the year. I’m now on a second book that I hadn’t finished from a couple of months ago.
On Thursday when I left I luckily got the last spot on the barge for my car and had a leisurely drive back to the city. It felt good knowing that the cottage was somewhat visitor ready and that next time the trip would be less stressful.
The other fun thing that I found time for was taking photos that I will share with you over the next few days. You may have already seen some of the flower shots that I took of my neighbour’s garden.
Mama Cormier 