….thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees
Sunday Trees – 211
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Tag Archives: Toronto
New Flower (November 24, 2015) -Pink Mums
….such a hardy plant considering the temperatures fell below freezing on the weekend
Compose Yourself Adjustments
….yesterday I posted photos of Vertical Lines with adjustments to some of the photos
One of the things that I have difficulty with is removing details from a photo without leaving a blur. Cee commented that she couldn’t see the adjustment so I decided to print the before and the after photos. The other thing I don’t know how to do is add photos to the comment boxes.
As you can see I cropped the bottom and the right hand side, enhanced the colour, added more contrast and I took away the yellow sign on the blue lamp post. Can you see the blur now?
Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge – Vertical Lines
…thanks to Cee for this week’s challenge
I did a lot of adjusting to this week’s photos, mostly cropping because I have no idea how to take out details without leaving a blurry mark. Can you tell in which photo I tried to remove one piece of detail?
Warmth in November, Frances has a Bath and a Destination Wedding
….what a glorious day!
For two days in a row, I’ve slept for a solid eight hours and I’ve reached my walking goal of 10,000 steps for seven consecutive days. Yay!
It is hard to believe that we’re half way into November. I dressed warmly for our daily walk this morning only to disrobe half way through our trek because I was too warm. I took off my scarf and gloves and opened up my jacket and the fleece I had on underneath it. Every day like this from here on in is a blessing.
When we got back from our walk we decided we could no longer stand the smell emanating from our little dog. I don’t know if she rolled in something or if it was a just a combination of swims in the lake and running through the fields that produced that rancid smell. None the less, we plopped her into the tub and scrubbed her down with doggy shampoo and warm water. After a couple of rinses we dried her off with some old towels. She didn’t particularly like the experience but she smells so much better. She even feels nicer to pet. We also threw out her old bed and I went out and bought her a new one. The old one was beyond washing again.
Our entire family has an app called WhatsApp. It’s very inexpensive to purchase (it was free and then went up to 99 cents) and we’ve never experienced any problems with it. What it does is allow us to text message and phone anywhere in the world, free of charge, to friends and family who also have the app. You can also put a group together so that everyone in the group gets the message at the same time.
Today our son in London texted all of us and informed us that the plans for his wedding were starting to move along and that Italy was back in the plan. He put some dates out there for all of us to mull over and it looks like there may be a wedding in July. I don’t want to jinx it so I’m not giving any more information than that. Now we just have to wait and see if the ‘farm’ apartments can be booked for the whole family and what day B and A choose for the actual wedding. Her family would also have to travel, so there’s a lot to consider in a rather short space of time but I’m glad that we’re not waiting another 18 months before this wedding takes place. I’m so excited!
Taken two year Christmases ago when they first got engaged.
It looks like this warm weather may stick around for a few more days. Wonderful!
Cheers!
Master Pumpkin Carvers
….in the Cormier family
This is my husband’s 37th pumpkin that he’s carved and my son-in-law’s first. I think my husband has some serious competition.
Yesterday I luckily found this large beauty. In my neighbourhood they were almost completely sold out when I finally got around to purchasing one and they weren’t reduced in price. It weighed a ton and I was glad that I parked close by.
This year I had the pleasure of cleaning the guts from the inside of the pumpkin.
Now that the messy part was done, my husband could focus on the design and carving out the face of this year’s Jack O’lantern.
Here are the two finished pumpkins, side by side. You be the judge.
It was a perfect night for trick or treating. Both my husband and I sat outside with a glass of wine in hand as we greeted about 46 children. That may not seem like a lot of children to you but last year we only had 2. I leave you with a few more photos of Hallowe’en at the Cormier and Turner house. Enjoy!
Sunday Trees – 207
….thanks Becca for hosting Sunday Trees
Share Your World 2015 – Week 42
….thanks to Cee for four more great questions
Are you usually late, early, or right on time?
It depends on the situation. For appointments I’m almost always on time or early. The only time I’m late happens if I get caught in traffic because of an accident. For parties or social events I’m sometimes ‘fashionably’ late. If I do arrive on time I find that I’m the first one there and end up waiting for others to arrive. If someone has made a reservation for a specific time I try to be there on time. For this blog post I’ve been late recently because of my circumstances in my personal life. Cee would probably say that I’ve posted this in the time frame given but when the next set of questions come out the next day I feel like I’m late.
If you were or are a writer do you prefer writing short stories, poems or novels?
I don’t know if I have the patience to write a novel. I would probably prefer a short story or a poem.
Where did you live at age ten? Is it the same place or town you live now?
When I turned ten I lived in Oakville, a small city between Toronto and Hamilton. We only lived there for four years and my father used to commute to work in Toronto every day. By today’s standards that’s not a very long commute but my father hated it and we moved back to Toronto when I started grade 5. I’ve lived here ever since.
Would you rather be able to fly or breathe under water?
I think I’d rather fly. Flying is faster than swimming and being underwater I think might be somewhat claustrophobic.
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 walks in this lovely crisp autumn weather. I love the colours. 
I’m grateful for a dinner and tickets to the opera, downtown, with my friend D who treated me for my birthday. My blogging friend Judith over at Curious to the Max says that after 50 you can celebrate your birthday season for as many days as you are old. So even though my birthday was in August I can still celebrate for six more days.
I’m also grateful for a fun evening with friends and colleagues from school. We went to a great sample sale, where I bought gifts for Christmas, something for my daughter and a couple of things for myself. Afterwards we had a very nice dinner in a great Italian restaurant, Caffino, in Liberty Village.
As always, I’m grateful for time spent with my family. On Saturday, my husband and I picked up our daughter, A, and her partner, J and we all drove to Hamilton to visit G and her new baby girl. My sister, CJP, drove down from Chatham and her son came in on the Go Bus from Toronto to visit as well. It was like a mini reunion. 
Our little Miss Winifred is starting to show her true colours and was a little fussier than I’ve seen on previous visits but this morning after I checked in with my daughter via What’s App she reported that she was able to get more sleep last night than she’s had in awhile.
While we were in Hamilton we went for a walk and I discovered more wonderful shops. Everyone is so friendly and I spent quite a bit of time talking to the shop owners. One of the shop keepers ended up being a former student that I taught in middle school. She made the connection before I did. What a small world we live in. Shine is the name of her store.
Next week I’m looking forward to closing the cottage for the season and spending more time with Miss Winifred.
Cheers!
Sunday Trees – 205
…..as the days get colder the autumn colours are disappearing quickly
Here in the city, however, there is still an abundance of colour.
Thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees.
Weekly Photo Challenge – (Extra)ordinary
…. this week’s WPC asks us to look for everyday beautiful objects or scenery
Everyday I walk to the this park at the end of my street and witness the city skyline. Each new day, every season and different times of the day brings something different to this extraordinary view.
Sunrise
Winter
Early Spring
Sunset
Mama Cormier 