Exploring a Village Within the City

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. and getting an incredible amount of exercise doing it

Today was a perfect day in many ways. The sun was shining, it was somewhat warm, I got out for a walk/run with my husband and I got on my bicycle for the first time this year.

I always feel better when I move. Today I may have over done it. I started the day lifting a few weights. Then we snapped on Frances’ leash and headed out for our morning walk. When we got to the park I started to run but this time Frances started to follow me instead of K so I found myself backtracking to get her back to my husband. When she followed me a second time she headed straight for the pond, went for a swim and then ran through a field of burrs. She finally came back to me as I was heading back in K’s direction where she immediately found a huge puddle and splashed around in there for awhile.

We decided to put her back on the leash and I gave up on running and walked with the two of them instead. With all the backtracking, today’s walk/run totalled a distance of 3.8k.

Before we left for our walk my husband and I planned out some meals for the week and we decided to have fish for dinner tonight. After he prepared a hearty brunch for the two of us I suggested that we go out and buy some of the items on the list. K knew of a fish market on Roncesvalles Avenue and he suggested that we cycle there. This would be my first ride of the season.

K checked the bikes and got the panniers ready while I readied myself for the trip. The temperatures were a bit on the cool side so I put a scarf around my neck under my jacket and put on my leather gloves.

Roncesvalles Village is another vibrant community in the heart of Toronto. It is located east of High Park and north of the lake at Sunnyside. Roncesvalles Village is home to a diverse population of new families, seniors and numerous ethnic groups. It has everything you need at your doorstep; green grocers, coffee shops, flower shops, bars and pubs, a vintage movie theatre, grocery stores, clothing stores, gift shops, specialty shops for dogs, nail salons, hair salons, churches and a plethora of restaurants. My husband and I have often said that if we ever move, this is one neighbourhood that would be high on our list of places to consider.

The bike ride was a lot of fun. I was a little apprehensive about riding on the Lakeshore but it’s a very wide street and parts of it do have bike lanes. When you get to Sunnyside there are bike lanes all along the way. There were tons of people out today enjoying the beautiful weather, walking, running, roller bladding and riding their bikes.

After we crossed Lakeshore at Colborne to the Queensway there was another bike path that takes you all the way to St. Joe’s hospital and then we proceeded on the side streets over to Roncesvalles. We parked at the library and started to explore the retail neighbourhood. Our first destination was the bank because neither of us had any cash on us. We walked all the way up to Dundas only to discover that the bank we were looking for had been turned into a Starbucks over four years ago. Unfortunately it was still listed as being there when we did a Google search.

After asking someone on the street for the closest bank we walked a little bit south and found a bank on the west side of the street. Our next destination had to be a place where we could get something to drink. We didn’t think to pack any water for our trip so we were very thirsty after our long ride. We found a great little independent cafe where we ordered a pot of tea and an iced coffee. We also treated ourselves to two small French macaroons.

Roncy’s Bean

One of the things that I really like about this neighbourhood is that they support their local artists. In the cafe there were great paintings on display by Laura Hains. You can see more of her work on her website.

The street had a feeling of joy, as people shopped, sat in the outdoor cafes and stopped to talk to neighbours and listen to the street musicians. There were cute dogs everywhere. We found the fish market we were looking for and purchased a beautiful piece of lake trout. We didn’t want to buy the fish too early on our visit so we ended up doing a lot of walking to take in all the sights and sounds of the village within the city. When we were satisfied that we saw what we came for we backtracked to the fish market and then backtracked again to find our bikes.

The bike ride home was a little more difficult for me because of all the exercise I had already done today but I only had to stop once to give my knee a rest and then the rest of the ride was more comfortable and pain free.

When we got home I was curious to see how far we had travelled on the bikes and how much more walking we had done. I went to g-map pedometer and traced out the route. We thought the ride was longer but the whole trip on the bikes was 17 kilometres. The walk surprised us though. We walked an additional 4.7 k for a total of 8.5 k for the day. My husband thinks that we don’t need to get out for another walk tonight but Frances may have something to say about that. We’ll see. As for how I’m going to feel tomorrow, I’m thinking that I might be feeling a few twinges here and there. Hopefully not.

What did you do on this beautiful ‘spring’ day? Love to hear from you.

Cheers!

The Curse and a Hazy Moon

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..it never fails, when people tell me I look like I’ve lost more weight…..

Years ago a good friend of mine often commented that I looked like I had lost weight and when I checked the scales I was always heavier. As much as I loved this friend I dreaded hearing those words from her.

This past week I’ve had numerous people comment that I’ve lost more weight. I shudder at the thought of stepping on those scales this week. Why? Has the curse returned? To be honest I haven’t had the best food week. Way too many carbs. As for exercise I feel I could have done more. For weeks now we’ve only done our walks together on weekends and I haven’t been to the gym in over a month.

Today I started the day coaching the girls’ soccer team and then at the end of the school day I spent an hour and a half with Girls on the Run. I ran with the girls but I found the ground too soft for my liking and I only ran 1 lap (.6k). Tonight my husband and I got out with the dog and we walked for 3.9k. It felt good and I was happy that my husband was up to doing a second walk today.

On our walk I took the camera in hope of finding some interesting subjects to photograph. I love that the days are longer. When we started the walk it was just starting to get dark and by the time we got home it was completely dark. The moon had a slight haze over it. I wasn’t sure that my camera could handle the low light but I played with some of the settings, hoping for the best.

Sunshine, Tulips, BLTs and Working Outdoors

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..a lot of things to be happy about today

I slept in this morning so I missed out on the walk/run with the dog. I’ve been getting to bed too late this week so sleeping in felt wonderful and I’m feeling completely refreshed. Now I just need to climb into bed earlier during the week so I can have that same feeling for the rest of the week.

This morning when I checked the blogs that I follow I came across one that completely inspired me for the rest of the day. Kate’s Creative Space from Great Britain posted some beautiful pictures of purchases she had made earlier in the day. Pictures of the freshly baked bread and the fresh cut flowers resonated with me and I had an immediate craving for a BLT sandwich. We had everything we needed, except the bread, so my husband (also craving a BLT) and I bundled up warmly, gathered up the shopping bag and walked to the top of the street to our local shopping strip known as Lakeshore Village.

We picked up a nice freshly baked whole wheat bread from the Portuguese bakery and then made our way to the green grocer, just a few stores down from the bakery. We picked up a few vegetables and I treated myself to a couple bunches of tulips. The big difference between flowers here and flowers in Europe is the price. I think Kate mentioned that she paid 1 pound for a bunch of flowers compared to $5.00 for a bunch here.

When we got home I tried to arrange my purchases into an interesting grouping to photograph and I soon realized that there is a real skill needed to do this well. Kate is an expert at it and I need more practice and perhaps some lessons on how to do it properly. The shopping bag behind the food is one that I picked up yesterday at Winners. I couldn’t resist the picture of the Dachshund. It reminded me so much of Frances and the proceeds from the bag go the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

After doing my ‘photo shoot’ I started making the BLTs. Bacon, ripe red tomato slices, lettuce, toasted whole wheat bread and mayonnaise, topped with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Yum!!!!!! I made the classic one for my husband and on mine I reduced the mayonnaise and added soft ripe avocado in its place….my new favourite sandwich topping.

After lunch I needed to get outside some more so I decided it was probably a good day to start cleaning the yard. It was definitely the sunniest day we’ve had in awhile and after raking the grass and pulling weeds I didn’t feel the chill in the air. Call me crazy but I always get a feeling of satisfaction after I finish a chore and can see the fruits of my labour. It literally makes me happy.

A good start.

The ‘fruits of my labour”.

My 300th Post and A Great Day After All

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. but not because of the weather

My 2.2k running route

After walking 1k this morning I started to run. I hadn’t planned on running, in fact I haven’t been able to run because of my cold. I’m not sure if it was the rain or what but something spurred me on to start running and I kept running and running. I didn’t stop until I got home. I felt good the whole time and I think I could probably have gone farther but I decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to push myself much more than I already had.

One year ago I could barely run 50 metres and I remember feeling like a bowl of Jello. Today it felt completely natural and I wasn’t the least bit self conscious about how I appeared in public. I’m not fast but I’ll work on my speed after I can run 5k without stopping. I’m almost half way there now. It’s been 8 hours since my run and I still feel good, no sore muscles or aching joints.

After our walk/run my husband and I picked up our daughter and her partner and headed over to The Junction. It was recently renamed The Junction Triangle but I haven’t heard anyone use the new name. We parked the car and checked out the old record store, the art store, Articulations, and then we crossed the street to The Sweet Potato. We picked up some kale, avocado, almond milk and a few other healthy foods.

There is a new restaurant that’s opened in the Junction and we had heard great things about it so we headed over there to get some lunch. The restaurant is called 3030 which also happens to be address on Dundas St. W.. When we got there they were serving brunch and we each chose different items off the menu. My choice was a spinach, proscutto and bacon rotolo topped with a sweet tomato chutney. It was delicious. It’s basically an omelette that is filled with the ingredients listed above and then rolled,sliced and baked in the oven.

After lunch we continued to head west along Dundas and took in some more of the sights and other little businesses. I’ll post more photographs of our great day tomorrow.

Happiness File:

1. I ran 2.2k without stopping and I feel great.

2. I spent quality time with my family.

3. I treated myself to a new bracelet.

4. I’ve written 300 posts since I started blogging one year ago.

Cheers!

Another Gloomy Day

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. but at least it’s a little warmer

We always look forward to the first days of Spring but this year Winter keeps reappearing. Just as we start to think that warmer, sunny days are upon us the temperatures plunge back down to freezing and the skies cloud over, not with warm spring rain but icy cold snow and sleet.

I’m sitting here debating whether to get outside and attempt a long walk with the dog or get in the car and get a little bit of shopping done in the Junction. We need some organic vegetables, coconut water and almond milk and there’s a great store up there called the Sweet Potato that sells all that great stuff.

My husband just checked the weather and the rain isn’t coming for a few more hours so we’ve decided to get the dog out. I’ll continue when I get back.

*****************************************************************************************

Well the weatherman was wrong again. As soon as we stepped outside it started to drizzle but we decided to continue with the walk. We didn’t get very far and it started to rain pretty steadily. We were both dressed in our rain gear so we made the decision to keep going. Initially we thought we would do a shorter route because of the rain but our legs kept us moving on our usual path.

When we got closer to the rugby pitch something came over me and I started to run/jog. I jokingly told my ‘Girls on the Run’ students that I always run faster in the rain and maybe there is something to that because I didn’t stop till I got home. More about this later.

I just called my oldest daughter and after we dry out a little we’re going to pick her up and head over to the Junction to do some shopping. Maybe we’ll catch some lunch in one of the little coffee shops or restaurants that are springing up all over this up and coming area of Toronto.

Well, so far the day isn’t turning into a ‘gloomy’ day, despite the weather. It’s only 11:00 in the morning and already I’ve had a great walk/run, I’ve written a post for the blog and I’m about to go out do some fun shopping with my husband and daughter. Things are looking up!

Cheers!

On the Mend

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. 11 days later and I’m starting to feel better

I’m hardly ever sick. People at work often say “Carol you’re never sick.” This year has certainly been the exception. Prior to this year I never worried about having to take time off to recuperate because over 25 years I had saved up more sick days then I would ever use. This year the government took all our saved sick days away and our sick days for the year were cut from 20 to 11 days. I’ve already used up 7 of those days this year.

Another downside of being sick is that I haven’t been walking or exercising. I was sure that I had put weight back on but when I finally stood on the scale on Monday I was pleasantly surprised to see that my total weight loss was holding steady at 32 1/2 pounds. Of course that means that all the weight I lost during the 3 day detox was back on but I’m not surprised. Today I was down another pound.

Yesterday we started Girls on the Run at our school again. I’m one of the coaches and have 15 girls on my team. The weather was very cold. I led the girls in some of the warm-up activities and then we walked/ran for 15 minutes. I have to admit that I only walked yesterday because of my cough. I can go without coughing for hours at a time but speaking too much or laughing or sudden changes in temperature brings on extended coughing spells. Hopefully tomorrow, on day 2 of this 10 week (twice a week) program, I’ll be able to run a little bit.

Things are starting to look up. My eating is back on track and I’m looking forward to running again. A year ago I couldn’t imagine saying those words. For most of my life I hated running. I tried running numerous times but I always gave up after a couple of days. I don’t expect to be running a marathon any time soon, if ever, but I certainly am planning on doing another 5K.

Time to take my evening cold medicine. Wish me a speedy recovery.

Cheers!

Who Knew?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….how much work it is being part of a studio audience

The fact that I came down with the flu the day before probably didn’t help. For weeks I had been looking forward to being part of a studio audience for the Steven and Chris Show and after arranging the time off (that’s another story) I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. I medicated myself with cold and flu medicine and made sure I got a good night’s sleep.

I parked the car in the car park about 1.6k away because I missed the walk with the dog this morning and last night I had to pass on the walk. At least I got one walk in yesterday. After walking back to the car I got a total 3.3 k in. Happy about that!

My view on the way to the studio.

Once in the studio, we had to rehearse how to clap and cheer and keep smiling. Do you know how hard that is? The show was entertaining but my friend D who came with me had it right when she said that the hosts talk more to the TV audience than to the actual audience in the studio. At times it was difficult to see what was happening on the floor because there were so many cameras in front of us.

Between vignettes there were lots of prop and scene changes. During that time staff members from the show kept us entertained with draws, games and interviews with audience members. Chris, one of the hosts, was also sick and I felt for him. He was a trooper but he avoided contact with the audience at the end of the show. All in all we were there for about 2 1/2 hours for a one hour show.

Would I do it again? I’m not sure I would go back to the same show unless I knew they had a special guest coming. Apparently if I follow the show on FaceBook they make those announcements ahead of time. I would go to different show. I’ve already applied to be on the Marilyn Denis Show. This show airs Friday, April 5th.

After lunch I walked back to the car and I really started to feel achy again and the cough started up again. I phoned into work and asked them to retain my supply teacher so I could take one more day off. When I got home I went straight to bed. I’ve also started my lemon tea and honey regime. Rest, rest and more rest.

I wrote this post last night but didn’t publish until today because I couldn’t upload my photographs. Has anyone else had this problem? No problem today. Hmmmm?

A Cacophony of Bird Noises

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Mama Cormier

… at 6:30 this morning

My Happiness File: Day 12

Finding things to be happy about this week has been tricky. The first day of Spring arrived but the temperatures were cold and it snowed all week. Our dog Frances has been feeling somewhat under the weather so I didn’t get out for our evening walks this week.

Today Frances woke me at 6:30 to take her outside. When we stepped into the cold March morning we were greeted by birds squawking, screeching and making quite the rukus. It was so loud that Frances just stood there looking off in the distance trying to see where the noise was coming from. She never did do anything and after standing there in my pyjamas in the cold I decided to bring her back inside. I knew that this cacophony of bird sounds was a sure sign of spring so I found myself smiling despite the cold.

Later that morning my husband decided that we needed to take Frances to see the vet. Earlier in the week she suffered with vomiting and constant diarrhea and today she couldn’t go at all. When we got to the vets’ office she was full of vitality, not the same puppy we had experienced all week. Anyway, $200.00 later, armed with special gastro intestinal food and antibiotics we left the office with one happy dog. Update: she hates the one medicine, loves the ‘canned’ food and appears to be back to normal.

The upside to her feeling better is that we went back to our evening walk. I really did miss it and I feel so much better for it. Happy!

The other happy moment (yesterday – I didn’t finish this post last night) is that the sun came out. I was checking some studies about how sunshine and happiness are related and apparently people in countries where they don’t see the sun as often as other parts of the world are actually happier overall. I have my own theory about that. When Canadians and other more northerly countries actually do see the sun we’re so grateful when it happens that we become doubly happy. I can imagine that in countries where the sun shines all the time people tend to take it for granted.

Here is the perfect song for the end of winter.

Enjoy the sun. Cheers!

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. this bread made everyone happy today

Happiness Files – Day 8

I was prepared to add raisin and currents to my bread today until I read that traditional Irish soda bread has only 5 ingredients: flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and buttermilk

4 cups (1000 mL) all-purpose flour

1tablespoon (15 mL) sugar

1 tsp. (5 mL) salt

1 tsp. (5 mL) baking soda

2 cups (500 mL) buttermilk

1. Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Nothing is worse than biting into a clump of baking soda. Make a well in the middle.

2. Pour the buttermilk into the centre and then using your hands move the flour into the liquid and mix together until all the ingredients come together.

3. Using your hands gently knead the dough a couple of times until you form a nice smooth ball.

4. Place the loaf on a lightly greased cookie sheet and with a sharp knife cut a deep cross through the middle of the loaf.

5. Bake the bread in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes. Cool on a rack.

6. Slice and serve with butter.

Dinner today consisted of a beet, wilted greens, and feta salad. I used the beets and steamed greens that I prepared last night. I added feta cheese, a splash of olive oil and freshly ground pepper and salt. I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant enjoying a gourmet salad.

The main course was the Guinness Irish stew and a dollop of champ (mashed potatoes with sliced green onions) that my husband made. It was amazing.

Before dessert we took the dogs, Lucy and Frances, for a nice long walk to help burn some of the calories from the stew and make room our fresh berries and cream and hot steaming coffee.

Here are 5 more reasons why I had a happy day today. Bringing people who love each other together to enjoy a meal, regardless of the occasion, is always a happy moment. Sharing food with people who appreciate your efforts is very rewarding. Hope you had a lovely day, whether you were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or just enjoying a regular Sunday.

Kevin enjoying a Guinness with his Irish stew.

Cheers!

My Happiness File – Day 6

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….why does food play such an important role in making me happy?

I don’t think it’s the food itself but the social aspect that surrounds the food. Two of my happy moments today occurred at meals.

The first event that made me happy today was taking my youngest daughter out for lunch. We went to a nice little restaurant in uptown Toronto close to where she lives. It was easy to make healthy choices and the food was delicious but more importantly I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We both write blogs and we discussed how her DIY wedding blog and business were coming along and she gave me some tips on how to resolve some issues I’ve been having with my blog.

Today the sun finally came out and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. When I took my daughter back to her apartment we decided to pick up her dog, Lucy and head over to the off leash area over at Sunnybrook. Watching her dog run along the path into the woods with such joy and freedom made me smile and getting some exercise and fresh air put me in my happy place.

When I got home tonight my husband wanted to go out for dinner. I wasn’t sure that going out for two meals in a row was such a good idea but he seemed really keen on going out so I agreed. It turned out to be a happy evening and again I was able to make healthy choices for my dinner. I ordered grilled fish and a side of perfectly cooked beans and broccoli and started with a grilled radicchio and arugula salad. The fish was grilled with bones in so it forced me to eat slowly and carefully to avoid choking on a fish bone. At the end of my meal my husband actually applauded me. He said it was like watching a perfectly executed symphony. His analogy put a big smile on my face.