…. haven’t seen this much snow in almost 2 years
View from the backyard
View from the front door, early this morning.
…..sporting his new winter hat, busily shovelling the snow.
Snow in TO
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Tag Archives: Toronto
An Old Fashion Christmas Market
….. Toronto hosted a great Christmas Market at the Distillery
The Christmas Market at night. Photo courtesy of http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297349897629_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x
One of my fondest memories of Christmas occurred when I was 11 years old. My father had a good year in real estate and decided to take the family on a three week vacation to Germany over the Christmas holidays to reconnect with family and friends that we hadn’t seen in almost 10 years.
My mother’s side of the family lived close to Frankfurt and we were treated to an evening at the Christmas Market in Frankfurt. It was magical. I remember that it was cold and there was a light covering of snow on the ground. I was in awe of the lights, sounds and smells. The entire event was hosted outside with vendors selling their wares from small wooden stalls. The treat that I savoured the most that evening was a small pink, green, or white confection made from coconut and sugar. To this day I can still taste the wonderful sweetness of those Kokosflocken. I’ve never been able to replicate those exact candies but I have sought them out, especially this time of year. I think I’ve come close to finding them but it’s never been the same.
Yesterday, my husband and I braved the cold and grey weather and made our way to the Distillery District in Toronto where Lowe’s was hosting this years Christmas Market. It was as magical as the one I remembered as a child. There were bier gardens, mulled wine stands and vendors selling everything from old fashion European ornaments, traditional German and Dutch Christmas baking to whimsical winter hats and mittens and children’s books. Of course Santa was on hand to have pictures taken with the kids and there were guest choirs singing classic Christmas songs. And if that wasn’t enough at the far end of the market there were rides for the whole family to enjoy.
After walking around for about an hour it started to rain and it came down hard. We quickly made our way to The Mill Street Brew Pub and stood in line with a mass of people who were also trying to escape the wet weather. We managed to put our name on the waiting list to be seated and to our surprise we were paged after only waiting for about 10 minutes, if that.
K and I enjoyed a lovely lunch together in the warmth of this very popular restaurant and we watched the rain come down from the window next to our table. It rained off and on all day but it didn’t stop the crowds from wandering around the market. My friend L, was there much later and it was still crowded after 5:00. I look forward to going again next year. Maybe I’ll go in the evening so I can enjoy the lights. The only other thing that would have made it perfect would have been a light dusting of snow and a bag of pink and green kokosflocken.
One happy husband, after a warm, healthy meal.
Spreading a Little Joy
….I decided to save my rant for another day
One of my new followers inspired me to write about events that bring me joy or in her words ‘what delights’ me. Earlier today I started writing about political issues that I feel passionate about but after my delightful afternoon with my husband I decided to put that piece on hold and share with you some of the happier events that I’ve attended in the last two weeks.
My youngest daughter has been working with a friend to promote their blogs and businesses. Earlier in the year I wrote about the stamp making workshop that they hosted. This time around they created a workshop around creative Christmas wrapping and featured numerous ideas for creating your own ties, tags, embellishments and paper. As always they were highly organized and personable and offered their eager clients all the materials they would need to experiment with. My daughter also made some delicious shortbread to serve with a variety of teas.
The group enjoyed the evening so much that the owners of the art store where the event was held allowed us to stay an extra half hour to finish our projects. Some of the things people made were package toppers, tags, bows, tree ornaments and stamped paper. Unfortunately the battery in my camera gave out and I didn’t get any pictures of the finished projects.
The next day my book club had their annual Christmas dinner. Since the book we were discussing was Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts and was set in Berlin, we decided on a German theme. I was in charge of dessert so I brought a tray of German stollen and other festive cookies and chocolates. I posted a review of the book earlier in the year. In the Garden of Beasts: A Book Review On average the group gave the book a rating of 4 out of 5, much higher than what we gave his last book, Devil in the White City.
A week later another group of friends got together for another annual Christmas dinner. We lovingly call ourselves the “Over the Hilltop’ gang because we worked together at Hilltop Middle School over 15 years ago and continue to meet three or four times a year. My friend L hosted the party and cooked the entire dinner. What a lovely gift. Again the food was amazing, the company warm and joyous and presents were exchanged.
The Sunday before this last dinner my husband and I treated our daughter, A, and her partner to a day of wine touring and dinner. We managed to visit 6 wineries, each unique in its own way. The winery that intrigued me most was the one called Organized Crime. The owner explained to us that years ago in the area there were two orders of Mennonites, a traditional ‘old’ order and a more modern order. The traditional order didn’t like that the other order played music during their services so in the dark of night they got in their buggies and stole the organ from the modern church. Hence the name ‘Organ’ized Crime.
The day before the wine tour I found myself at a fantastic craft show in the city. The crafters were all local and predominately young, although there were a few people there closer to my age. The crafts were original and beautifully made and displayed. The show was held in the Great Hall and in two other stores, all in the same block on Queen St. W.. I spent hours browsing and buying.
Today K and I attended the Toronto Christmas Market but I think I will save this experience for tomorrow’s post. Till then, cheers!
Music That Brought Tears to My Eyes
…. I’m very emotional this time of year and music touches me to the core
Today L, K and I went downtown to enjoy the CBC’s Sounds of the Season concert. All day long radio shows were broadcast live with a studio audience and performances from musical guests. This year’s lineup included Nelly Furtado, Maestro Wes Williams, The Skydiggers, Rita Chiarelli, Blind Boys of Alabama, Liona Boyd and many more.
Between shows you could take part in the silent auction and bid on many wonderful packages put together by the celebrities at the CBC. All the money raised goes to the Daily Bread Food Bank. There was also an opportunity to meet your favourite CBC personalities and get their autographs and speak briefly with them. I can’t believe that I actually stood in line to do that but I have to admit that it was fun meeting the on air celebrities and putting a face to the voices we hear every day.
Dwight Drummond and Anne Marie M. from the CBC TV news
Mary Ito (left) from Fresh Air. I taught all three of Mary’s children. She’s as charming and outgoing as her picture appears.
The first show that we saw had the Skydiggers as the musical guest.
The Skydiggers
One of the numbers they sang was a cover of 2000 Miles by the Pretenders.
As soon as the lead singer started the lyrics I started to sob like a baby. I couldn’t help it. I thought of my son in Amsterdam and how he wouldn’t be spending Christmas with us this year.
I couldn’t find a cover done by the Skydiggers but I did manage to find a video with the Pretenders doing this number in the 90s. I hope you enjoy it!
Painting at 91
…. Ray Cattell
Ray with his granddaughter and daughter.
On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to Ray Cattell’s opening for his latest group of paintings at the Moore Gallery in Toronto. I’ve known Ray for over 20 years and he never ceases to amaze me with his beautiful collection of paintings. He’s been displaying his work since the 1960’s.
We were all surprised that he wanted to do one more show. Most of the paintings are smaller than what he’s produced in years past but with his recent health issues it’s not surprising. He also recently won an award at a juried art show to add to his list of numerous awards granted to him in his lifetime. Some of his work can be found in the Vatican LIbrary, Windsor Castle and in the private collections of The Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth and Henry Ford II.
If you’re in Toronto between Dec 1 and Dec. 22 you can catch the show at the Moore Gallery on 80 Spadina Ave. For more details you can go to the website: Moore Gallery Ltd.
It’s Official….winter’s here
…..snow, grey skies, biting winds and the Santa Claus parade
I looked out my bedroom window this morning, hoping to take an interesting shot of the tree outside my window. To my horror, I discovered that the tree had been cut back so drastically by the city that all the interesting branches outside my window had all but disappeared.
A couple of months ago we called the city because the tree needed a trim. The branches were always hitting the house during wind storms and some of the branches were hanging so low that they were brushing up against the cars in the driveways on both sides of the property.
So earlier this week the crew from the city’s maintenance department showed up and did their thing. All week I’ve arrived home in the dark and in the mornings I’m always in such a hurry that I never looked up at the tree. When I finally looked out at the tree from my bedroom and could see the houses across the street I was stunned. I hope come the spring we’ll still have a nice shade canopy.
On our walk this morning the wind by the lake was biting cold and the waves were crashing onto the rocks.
Frances didn’t seem to notice the cold and enjoyed the brisk walk to the park where we threw the ball over and over again to tire her out.
While we were on our walk we kept hearing the sound of sirens coming from Lakeshore Blvd. just north of us. We soon realized that we were hearing the police cars, ambulances and fire trucks that were in the Lakeshore Santa Claus parade. We extended our walk and made our way to the parade. When we got to the Lakeshore the parade was just starting to pass where we arrived. Great timing. Well at least it was for me. K and Frances didn’t stay long and headed back through the park to get home.
It’s funny that I decided to stay to watch the parade because I had just made fun of a friend at school who was so devasted that she had to miss the Bolton Santa Claus Parade that was happening today as well. A couple of us thought it was strange that a grown woman whose children were now adults still took so much pleasure from the parade. I’ll have to apologize to her when I see her on Monday.
Here are a few of the colourful sights of the parade: Enjoy!
It’s Finally Friday
….it seemed like the longest week ever
I’m sure that the full moon had a lot to do with it. The students were unusually chatty and restless. For the first time it was a struggle to get them to finish their work. Our mayor was found guilty in a conflict of interest case by the courts and stripped of his position. The teachers’ union made work to rule official and is threatening rotating one day strikes across the province. The minister of education is trying to convince the media that the government is putting students first and that the teachers are bargaining in bad faith. City council was caught in the middle of a shouting match between the mayor, with the aid of his brother and a few councillors on issues that turned out to be non-issues. A crazy week, all in all.
So if the mayor’s appeal is denied we might be looking at a by-election and the same judge that found the mayor guilty clarified today that he could run again in the by-election. He’s convinced that he would win again but I’m not so sure and the polls aren’t in his favour at the moment.
I had my fitness test this week and signed up for 24 sessions with a personal trainer and then the next day I found out we are be in a strike position and could be walking the pavement. Yesterday I cancelled the sessions with the personal trainer until things are a little more settled at work.
Last Friday I discovered I have mice in my library office. They’re living under the sink and have been chewing through my paint mixing containers. All week I’ve been throwing away containers that have big holes in the bottom. I haven’t seen them but there’s lots of evidence that they’re around.
I started to mark some of the art projects. I have to use my time more wisely because as of December 10th we have to leave school 1/2 hour after the students leave. This will be a challenge for me and a few other teachers who regularly stay at school till 6:00 most days. After the 10th, no more field trips, sports teams, extracurricular activities, and anything that involves collecting money and administrative paperwork. I marked about 100 projects tonight. Only 320 to go.
Art classes will continue but displaying the work could prove challenging when I have to leave the building early every night. Some of the work may have to stay up longer than it would normally. Here’s what the halls look like at the moment.
Not everything was bad. At the school council meeting this week the parents put my new art cart on the top of the priority list of things to purchase. It was ordered the next day and arrived yesterday. It only has to be assembled.
On Thursday I went to the One of a Kind Show with my daughter and her partner. They made me a great dinner. I had a free pass into the show and parking was free (that’s never happened before).
The weekend looks promising. I’ll start the day with a walk with the dog, workout at the gym and then to an art show opening in the afternoon. My friend’s 91 year old father is exhibiting his work at the Moore Gallery in downtown Toronto. He is a very accomplished artist and has had many shows in his lifetime. Just a month ago he won another award for one of his pieces at the Watercolour Society.
On Sunday we may be taking a trip to the Niagara region and do some wine touring. This is what my daughter wanted for her birthday and it looks like it should be a nice day weather wise. With Christmas just around the corner and winter on our heels we need to make this trip sooner rather than later.
We had a dusting of snow today in the afternoon. By 4:15 it was already dark, partially due to the overcast sky. Of course for the next 21 days it will continue to get darker earlier in the day. How depressing but I can’t let the stress get to me.
The Next Best Thing to Children’s Art
….. buying children’s art books
Today I was able to leave school early and go the book vendors’ sale for teacher librarians. When I got there I only had two hours to browse and buy books. I had 2 main objectives: purchase this year’s Forest of Reading books and purchase French books.
Luckily one vendor had most of the Forest of Reading books so that I didn’t have to wander over that large room looking for the various titles. As for the French books, there was one vendor that sold only French books. The first time I went to this book sale this same vendor had already packed up and left by the time I got there. Even though I arrived 2 hours before closing, he was starting to pack up when I arrived at his section.
When they saw that I was interested in buying numerous books from them they were very helpful and over $900.00 later they were glad that they hadn’t left early this time. Normally I take a French Immersion teacher with me to help make decisions about which French books to buy; however today I literally had to judge a book by its cover and trust the suggestions made by the vendor. Hopefully I’ve made some good choices.
I had time to visit a third vendor today. The two women who own this book shop in the east end of Toronto are very knowledgeable about their books and I really enjoy buying books from them because they are so passionate about their books. They sold me several art books for children and I’ve decided to share them with you.
The first books are a series of art books by Irene Luxbacher, titled 1 2 3 I Can Paint, 1 2 3 I Can Print, 1 2 3 I Can Collage, 1 2 3 I Can Builld and 1 2 3 I Can Draw. They are written for children but teachers new to teaching art would find these books very helpful. Most of the examples could be used for art lesson plans.
Each book has a materials page so that you’ll know what you need to complete all the projects. Each activity has step by step instructions with clear techniques and inspirational projects that will leave children with a sense of accomplishment. At the back of the book art words that are used throughout the book are explained and teachers and parents are given tips to “ensure a good art experience every time” for their children.
Tomorrow I will share some more books with you.
Cheers!
A Gift….a Beautiful Day in November
….. November 11th, Remembrance Day
As we prepared to go for our walk this morning we had no idea how beautiful a day it would be. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm. Here are a few of the sites we experienced on our walk.
I know that you may think posting a Tim Horton’s sign is odd but we’ve been waiting for months for this place to open. Being able to pick up a coffee on our early morning walks is a special treat, especially since this location is right in the middle of the college where we walk every day.
“Hurry up and finish that coffee, Carol!”
I pass this tree every day. Today was the first time I noticed what an unusual shape it has.
- A few final blooms.
Signs That Winter is Close at Hand
…. the rain finally let up for an hour or so
Plans to go to the cottage were put on hold today because my husband has done something to his arm that keeps him from lifting anything heavy. A quick visit to the clinic this morning confirmed that the pain is probably due a sudden yank on the arm that took place when K walked the dog earlier this week. Doctor’s orders …… no heavy lifting and keep the arm still. So moving the fridge and BBQ at the cottage are definitely out of the question.
While K was at the clinic I decided to get out with Frances. The rain had stopped and she was complaining loudly about not being outside. I put on my scarf and rain jacket, pocketed my camera and phone and fastened Frances into her Buddy Belt. The sky was grey, the wind chilly and my pace was quick. It became very apparent, quickly that winter isn’t far off. I documented the signs with my camera.
At the yacht club….empty boat slips.
As Frances and I walked into the wind the I could feel the odd drop of rain on my face. I had walked farther west than we normally do. I decided to abandon my plan of walking north before heading home and headed east instead. I hadn’t gone very far when I realized that I probably should have made that decision 10 minutes earlier. The drops turned into a drizzle so I started to run, walk, run. Bonus on the exercise front. Thank goodness that I wore my running shoes.
It’s a sure sign that winters coming when you see all the boats in dry dock.
By the time I got home the drizzle turned into a steady rain and shortly after getting inside it started to pour. I guess we can look forward to a few more days of this weather as hurricane Sandy makes its way up the eastern seaboard.
Even the sign looks tired.
Mama Cormier 
