The Biggest Snow Storm Since 2008

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. and the school board kept schools open today….sigh!!!!!!!!!!

The accumulation of snow overnight was far less than predicted so the TDSB decided at 6:30 this morning to cancel school buses but keep schools open. The forecast for the rest of the day, however, was for even more snow than originally predicted because of the delay. The drive into work was hazardous but coming home was even worse.

Over 120 students didn’t come to school this morning and over the course of the day another 40 were picked up before the end of the day. Even though we were willing to combine classes and let teachers who had a long drive ahead of them leave a little bit early the powers that be at the board office refused to let principals make those arrangements.

The city claimed that there were hundreds of snow ploughs out clearing the streets, but we didn’t see one all day long. The ploughs that are suppose to clear school parking lots never made it to our school. Our first worry, after getting to school unscathed, was how we were going to dig out of the parking lot when we were finally allowed to go home.

My friend L took her music classes outside in the afternoon with shovels and brooms in hand to clear off teachers’ cars and dig out the snow around them. They loved it and we appreciated the help.

Even with all their help, one of the most difficult parts of getting home tonight was getting out of the parking lot. We made sure that no one was left behind and with lots of guidance, patience and muscle each car was directed and pushed to the road.

The drive home was slow and scary. At times I wasn’t sure if I’d make it over the unploughed streets or up and over the bridge. When I finally got to my street I knew immediately that it hadn’t seen a plough all day. Twenty feet from the house I couldn’t move the car any further. When I tried to open the car door to get help it hit a wall of snow. Luckily a neighbour was out with his snow blower and came over and cleared the snow around the car and in front of my house. My husband came out as well and cleared away more of the snow so that I could finally pull into the driveway.

All I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and enjoy a glass of wine to calm my nerves. After more than 24 hours of snow it’s finally come to an end.

Believe it or not I’m actually looking forward to getting out tomorrow for a long walk through the white fluffy stuff.

January 2013 Photo a Day – Landscape

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..step back and take a photo of a landscape near you. Or even take a little trip just for the photo. Would be nice to explore your town for a beautiful photo

It was pretty overcast today and there was a grey hue over the entire city. I have lots of landscape pictures in my files but I feel I have used some of them once too often. There’s a large bridge close to my house and I often see photographers at the top of it taking pictures of the city. I always wondered what the attraction was so I drove over and parked the car on the wide shoulder and took some panoramic views. The bridge goes over the rail lines and downtown Toronto and Lake Ontario are off in the distance.

After taking pictures from the Islington Bridge I decided to drive over to one of the bridges that spans over the highway into to city. This bridge was a bit scarier because the railing was lower and the speeding cars below were intimidating.

For more landscape photos check out http://www.nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com

January 2013 Photo a Day – Electric

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…… this could be a simple photo of your toaster {but get creative} or something else electric

Our life depends on electricity. We use it to run our appliances, heat and light our homes, cook our food and run our computers and electronic games and devices. Without it we couldn’t write our blogs and post our photos. Funny thing is that in the summer I live without electricity for weeks at a time at my cottage and don’t miss it. Electricity is something we take for granted until we experience a blackout and are forced to adapt.

The challenge is to take interesting photos that highlight the word electric.

In the first picture, you see a bright light coming from a person’s yard where their children were out playing in the freshly fallen snow. The second picture is a light standard next to a local skating rink. I tried to capture the large fluffy snow flakes that were falling in front of the light and this is what I got.

For more photos for the January 2013 Photos a Day check out http://www.nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com

January 2013 Photo a Day – Something You Saw

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. go about your day with eyes wide open and take a photo of something you saw.

Yesterday the weather had turned from a balmy six degrees celcius on Saturday to a frigid minus 11. The day hadn’t gone exactly as planned. I had a breakfast meeting at 10:30 that didn’t involve breakfast. The meeting went well and when it was over I drove to the mall to spend the rest of my gift certificate. I bought costume jewellery that I didn’t need but I couldn’t resist the bargains and I do love jewellery. Then I stopped at the Lindt chocolate outlet on the way home and had the first food of the day…. dark chocolate samples.

When I got home I finally had a healthy lunch at about 2:30. K started making a great soup for dinner and while it simmered on the stove he decided to do our daily walk before dinner. His thinking being that when he got back he’d be ready for a hearty warm soup. Remember it was -11 degrees outside. Initially I opted not to do the walk. After my husband left to do the walk on his own I remembered that I hadn’t done the photo challenge for the day.

I bundled up and decided to walk east, the opposite direction that we normally do our walk. Eventually I would meet up with my husband and then I could turn around and walk back with him. I also thought that it would be interesting to see the city from a different point of view. It was already starting to get dark and the clouds over the skyline were reflecting the setting sun in the west.

I tried to get some shots of pussy willows that I saw on the walk but it was too windy and all the shots were blurry. The soup by the way was delicious. I probably should have taken pictures of that.

Check out http://www.nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com for more January 2013 Photo a Day Challenges.

January 2013 Photo a Day – Water

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. I live by water all year round

Surf on Georgian Bay.

Rocks on the water in Georgian Bay.

Frances in the Georgian Bay surf.

A must see for visitors – Niagara Falls

Geese on Lake Ontario, by Samuel Smith Park

Grade 5 year end activity day at a local community pool.

For more water photos check out Jeanne’s blog…a nola girl at heart.

January 2013 Photo a Day – Street

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. views of my street, neighbourhood and city during different seasons

It was my first day back to work since the holidays and by the time I got home it was already dark. Consequently I wasn’t able to take new photos for today’s theme. Luckily I have a pretty large file of photos. Some of them were taken from my bedroom window at different times of the year and others from the front door and one from the car window.

Spring

The street below looking through the blossoms of the crab apple tree.

Summer

The CN Tower while driving along the Gardner Expressway.

Pedestrian bridge at the mouth of the Humber River

Autumn

View of the street below through the autumn leaves.

The gravel road we take on our daily walks.

Winter

The view from our front door after our first big snowfall this winter.

Walking the dog. On our way home.

To see more amazing photos following this challenge go to Jeanne’s blog….a nola girl at heart.

A Word a Week Photo Challenge – Clouds

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..whether it be cirrus, stratus or cumulus, clouds make great subjects for photographs

For more photos of clouds check out Sue Llewellyn’s blog A Word in Your Ear.

The View From Here

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. day 4 of the 2013 January Photo a Day Challenge

Today’s challenge was to take a picture of wherever you happen to be, today. On our daily walk I decided to experiment with the panoramic setting on my new camera. I braved the cold and the wind to get these shots. Unfortunately it was very grey today and the city in the distance is barely noticeable.

Panoramic view of Toronto. This is what I see when I walk to the park 100 feet from my house and face east.

This is the view at the bottom of my street, looking south towards Lake Ontario.

I love looking toward the city. I’ve often thought that I should take pictures every day so that I can document how the view changes with the different seasons and weather conditions. The view at night is stunning.

If you want to take part in the challenge go to Jeanne’s blog…nola girl at heart.

A Word of the Week Photo Challenge – Glitter

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. tried to stay away from the traditional Christmas ornaments but I caved

It was a beautiful cold, crisp morning this first day of 2013. The sun shone brightly and reflected off the lake and snow causing them to ‘glitter’ and ‘shimmer’ for the camera.

If you want to see more glitter photos check out Word of the Week Photo Challenge – Glitter.