….just finished writing my report cards so I’m a little late posting this photo
Japanese Peony
The Japanese peony is considered a tree peony. Maybe I’m taking some license posting a picture of this beautiful flower on Sunday Trees but I saw it for the first time today and I just had to share it with you. I didn’t know that there were tree peonies. I’d only ever seen the herbaceous variety.
For more great Sunday Trees check out http://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2014/06/08/sunday-trees-134/
…..a couple of fun images from yesterday’s Fun Fair
For more odd ball photos check out http://ceenphotography.com/2014/06/01/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-week-14/
….these are the toughest questions yet
If you could make a 15 second speech to the entire world, what would you say?
This is the only world we have. Love it, look after it and keep it safe for the next generation. Love yourself and your fellow man. Be generous with your time and share your knowledge to create a better world. Use your words to solve problems, not weapons. There is no place for hate in this world. Be kind.
If you could take a photograph, paint a picture or write a story of any place in the world, what and where would it be?
I have no idea. There are so many great photographers and travel writers and subsequent photographs and stories of magnificent places in the world that the work has already been done for me. Maybe a better question would be what would I like to see first hand. Even this question is difficult for me because there is so much I haven’t seen. Off the top of my head I’d like to see Machu Picchu, the Pyramids of Giza, the Coliseum in Rome, Stonehenge and the canals of Venice.
If you had to spend one weekend alone in a single store but could remove nothing, which store would you pick?
I thought this question would be fun to answer and then I read that I couldn’t remove anything. Does that include gourmet goodies and bakery delights. I am spending the weekend there after all and one does need to eat. Seeing that I have to sleep there I’m thinking about a department store that sells beds, comfy chairs so that I can curl up and read and exercise equipment so that I can get in a bit of a workout.
I would want to try on shoes to my heart’s content and pull designer clothes from the racks to see if they suit me and are comfortable to wear. Of course I would return everything to its rightful place and leave everything no worse for wear. In Canada I would choose Holt Renfrew and in the U.S., Saks Fifth Avenue.
If you were given a boat or yacht today, what would you name it? (You can always sell the yacht later)
Owning a boat is not high on my priority list so I haven’t given much thought to naming one. How about ‘Get Me Home Safely’ or ‘Slow and Steady Wins the Race’. As you can see I’m a bit of a nervous Nelly when it comes to riding in a boat, especially at high speeds. I’ve always been amazed at how much time and money it takes just to get a boat onto the water and then again when one returns (more fuel, repairs, docking fees, on going maintenance, etc.). Maybe a good name would be ‘This is Where My Money Goes’ or ‘Four Hours of Prep for One Hour of Enjoyment’. To all boat lovers I apologize for my sarcastic response.
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 the girls won all four of their games at the soccer tournament last week. I’m also grateful that the weather was so warm this weekend that the flowers actually started to bloom and I was able to really clean up the front garden.
I’m really pleased that my rhododendron survived the winter and blessed us with some blooms this spring. My Dad’s aren’t nearly as bountiful.
This week I’m looking forward to finishing up the art projects for the silent auction. It’s being held this Saturday at the Fun Fair. Also Jump Rope for Heart is this Friday and so is the playoffs for Girls’ Soccer. It’s going to be a busy week.
For more great posts of Share Your World check out Cee’s Photography.
….the only thing missing is painting
What a perfect day. I woke up early and started reading the book The Silent Wife. After a couple of chapters I made myself a cup of coffee and then started practising Somewhere Over the Rainbow on my ukulele. I’m hoping I can play it well enough to accompany the kindergarten class at this years school concert at the end of June. I then made myself an omelet and prepared fresh berries for breakfast.
My husband wanted to start planting in his new raised bed but we decided that it needed more soil and it needed to be sectioned off with string. So I made a quick trip to the dollar store for twine and the nursery for more soil. When I returned home I found that the front lawn had been mowed but now I could see where the dandelions were starting to expose their yellow heads. I donned my gardening gloves and pulled the weeds from the flower beds and the dandelions from the lawn. Then I took my trimming shears and trimmed away the long grass around the tree, at the edges of the flower beds, sidewalk and driveway and around the telephone pole…..all the areas that were missed by the lawn mower. 
It took me hours but it felt good to get out in the sun and fresh air and the yard looked so lovely and groomed. It was almost 3:00 before I finished and I had a party to attend at 4:00. I quickly showered, washed my hair, blew it dry and dressed for the afternoon birthday celebration.
It was a perfect day for a backyard get together. It was warm enough for people to sit outside and I got to meet M’s sisters and friends. M was celebrating her 70th birthday. She looked stunning and her son did a fantastic job organizing the entire affair. His friends did all the serving and bar tending. A great time was had by all.
The day’s not over yet, Maybe I’ll get a little painting in as well.
Cheers!
…..with the temperatures going into summer mode this weekend, there’s no better time
If you haven’t headed up to the cottage this weekend and need a little get away trip, make your way to the ferry docks this weekend.
I would avoid Centre Island, unless you have children and need the amusement park for entertainment. Ward’s Island is a great alternative. It is a residential community where people own their homes but not the land and it’s the largest urban area in North America that has no motorized vehicles other than a few service vans. Most of the homes are tiny and on small lots. It looks very much like a cottage community.
My daughter’s mother-in-law was lucky enough to rent a house for a couple of months when she came back to the city before moving on to her next foreign adventure. On the Mother’s Day weekend we were all invited to her place for a meal. It had always been a dream of hers to own her own house on the island and every year for a number of years she paid a fee to enter a lottery when homes became available for sale. Needless to say she was never chosen so being able to rent for awhile was the next best option.
While we were there we took a walk and enjoyed looking at all the cute homes and emerging gardens. As we continued north we ended on a beach and even though it was still chilly that weekend there were quite a few people walking along the beach and some were sitting on the sand and enjoying a small picnic. 
Our hostess loved living on the island. She was there in the middle of the winter and then again in April and May. Her only source of heating was a gas fire place in the shape of an old fashioned wood burning stove. She was toasty and warm all winter and she loved the solitude and quiet of her neighbourhood. The ferry runs every hour and residents can buy a monthly pass so if they have to make more than one run a day to the mainland it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg. Most of the time if you’ve forgotten to buy something or have run out of something there’s a web bulletin board and your neighbours come to your aid if they have what you need.
…..one is almost finished and the other is just started
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Assemblies, trips to feeder schools, soccer tournaments, field trips and a school council meeting. The grade 3s abstract painting is undergoing a second coat and will be finished by the end of the week. The grade 5 project has been delayed because the class missed art one week and this week I was at the soccer tournament with the grade 4/5 girls (we won by the way) when the same class had art. When I saw the class in their library period last week I told them I was taking inspiration from previous projects they had done and applying some of their designs onto our massive set of canvases.
Today some of the students asked if they could help start the project after school. I had painted up a rough copy of what the project might look like and most of the class liked what they saw. We agreed to keep the background one colour and I’ll conference with a small group to decide on the other colours. One of the girls from the class was able to stay for quite awhile and together we drew the design onto the canvases and I started painting the background.
Hopefully I’ll be able to take a small group at a time out of class to work on the project. Ideally I’d like every student to paint a portion of the project. If you can’t tell from the photo the entire piece is quite large. There are four canvases measuring about six feet in length.
I also introduced a new project to my grade 3 art classes today. Carla Sonheim gives a free tutorial on how to paint crazy flowers using watercolours, gesso and pencil. It’s a fun project and very textural. 
….I went back into the archives to find some of my favourite photos of rocks filled with fossils
For more fun photos of rocks, sand, dirt, path, etc. check out Cee’s Photography.
…..35 kilometres north of where I live is a thriving Iranian community
When my son and his fiancé came to visit in December we were treated to a wonderful Iranian meal made by my future daughter-in-law. A trip to Super Khorak Supermarket in North York made it possible to gather up all the ingredients necessary to create our authentic meal. I heard so many wonderful stories of this Persian market that day and then again when I read about it in fellow blogger, Ann Gagno’s post yesterday that I really wanted to experience it for myself.
My husband suggested that we take a drive up there today and purchase some of their ready-made food for our dinner with our girls tonight. The place was buzzing with activity. The bakers worked non-stop putting fresh hot flat breads on the counter for customers to gingerly fold and put into paper bags. Behind the take away counter the grill man cooked skewers of kebobs while the ladies packed up the orders swiftly and efficiently into styrofoam clamshells and foil containers.
Everyone was extremely friendly and very helpful. One thing I realized after we paid for our purchases was that I ordered way too much rice. When I saw the size of the container I told the man next to me that I ordered enough for ten people. He laughed and suggested that it was just enough for four hungry Persians.
We ordered three different kinds of kebabs, beef, chicken and ground meat, two different flat breads, marinated olives, baked rice with a chicken filling, an eggplant and meat stew and gormeh sabzi (herb stew) and for dessert, baklava. Needless to say we had lots of leftovers. The girls went home with bread and rice.
Tonight’s dinner. Yum!
For fellow Torontonians who’d like to try some authentic Persian cooking I would highly recommend a trip to Super Khorak Supermarket in North York. It’s open 24/7 and is located right on Yonge Street. Check out this site for more reviews.
…..weather remains cool but the leaves are trying to emerge
Don’t know if this grand old tree is just slow to get out of the gate or if it has succumbed to last winter’s ice storm and frigid temperatures.
Same location as the previous tree but much more hopeful on the green front.
For more Sunday Trees check out Becca Givens blog.
