….thanks to Squirrel Chase for hosting Whatever is so Lovely https://www.thesquirrelchase.com/2022/05/24/whatsoever-is-lovely-2022-week-20/
I know this post may seem outdated in some parts of the world but spring tends to arrive later here in Toronto, Canada and in the last week many of the blossoms are still just opening up. The ornamental crabtree in my front year still hasn’t completely bloomed. It should be in full bloom in the next day or two. Clearly blossoming trees bring me joy.
….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World
When do you feel most connected with others?
I feel most connected to people during those quiet one on one conversations over a cup of coffee or tea. I like that intimate personal time with people where you can really get to know them.
Tea and Panettone
What daily habit would you like to introduce to your life?
I would like to do one creative activity every day. I paint and read sporadically now but I’d like to be more consistent. I’d also like to do some volunteer work.
What one mini-little-adventure would you like to have in the coming week?
This week I’d like to visit the art gallery or the museum. It’s a long weekend here in Canada and sometimes it’s a good time to visit places in the city because so many people head north to open their cottages.
List things or events that changed your Life: It could be as simple as a book or meeting a certain person?
• meeting my husband 43 years ago
• the birth of my children
• graduating from university and becoming a teacher
• the death of my mother
• meeting my best friends AB in 1976 and LC in 1989
• learning to drive when I was in my 20s
• my first art class where I learned how to paint with watercolour
• building a cottage next to my good friend DM
• the birth of our first grandchild
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 being able to continue on my weight loss journey and for the support of my husband and my friends at work. My husband has lost 26 pounds and I’m down 18. My new passport arrived this week and I can check off one more thing from my to do list before I go to Italy in July. I’m also grateful that my photo isn’t the worst passport photo that I’ve ever taken. I have to live with it for the next 10 years. 
For the rest of the week I’m looking forward to our girls’ soccer tournament on Friday, visiting our daughter and her family in Hamilton on Saturday and seeing my older daughter on Sunday or Monday. Since it’s the long weekend here I’m also looking forward to planting some things in the garden and firing up the barbecue for a meal or two. It’s also suppose to be a spectacular weekend, weather wise.
Here are a few photos from this past week.
…..thanks Cee for four more thought provoking questions
What is the most important thing that you ever learned? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)
I learned early on in my adult years that not everyone you meet will like you. The first time I discovered that someone really didn’t like me it took me for a loop. I get along with most people so when someone dislikes you for simply being yourself it can be somewhat hurtful. I don’t let it bother me anymore and figure that the problem lies with them.
I also learned that friends you make in school won’t necessarily be your friends later in life and sometimes if you’re lucky you can rekindle old friendships as you get older. In recent years I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that.
What feeds your enthusiasm for life?
I love to learn and try new experiences. I get joy from reading, doing art, teaching art, taking photographs and spending time with family and friends.
What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane commercial or private flight?
My most memorable airplane flight took place last year when my brother-in-law treated my middle sister and me to a complimentary flight, first class, to Calgary. The seats were comfortable, the food was good and our wine glasses were never empty. The flight took place on Air Canada.
If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?
I would explore all the great museums and art galleries of the world. That of course would take me to the most amazing cities in the world as well so I would check out all the historic sites and local markets and artisans.
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 spending an interesting day in Hamilton last week. I discovered a whole slew of interesting stores, restaurants and galleries in my daughter’s new neighbourhood. I can’t wait to go back and check out some of these places more closely.
I’m grateful that my husband’s biopsy went smoothly and that there weren’t any complications. The results were inconclusive so we have to wait for another test.
This week I’m looking forward to watching the girls play in their soccer tournament and meeting the author that I booked for the students’ activity day. Forty students met their goal of reading at least ten books in the last five months and earned a special day where they are excused from class to attend a drama workshop and bookmaking workshop, are treated to lunch and in the afternoon spend time with one of the authors whose book was nominated for the 2015 Forest of Reading Collection. It should be a lot of fun.
I’ll end with some photographs that I took the last few days.
…..the end of a long weekend brings us to a new Share Your World
If you could go back and visit any time period, what time would you travel to and why?
I saved this question for last because I’m not sure which time period I’d want to travel to. Having studied and taught early civilizations, the medieval era, and everything else up to the present day I know too much about the downside of each era, i.e. the plague, wars, disease, poverty, discrimination, persecution, unsanitary living conditions, etc.. If I had to choose I think it might be the early 1900s when the first wave of technology really started to impact people’s daily lives. Imagine experiencing the telephone, cameras, sewing machines, typewriters, electric lights, refrigerators and washing machines powered with electricity for the first time. It must have been a very exciting yet controversial period in history. Abstract art became popular then because with the invention of the camera, artists didn’t need to recreate realistic images onto canvas. They were now free to try new art forms and express their creativity using new techniques and materials. It was also a time when women started to fight for equal rights and fashions changed dramatically. Reminds me a little bit of growing up in the 60s and 70s. 
If you could have three wishes granted for you alone, what would they be? This is a time for you to dream and have fun.
My first wish would be to be able to pack my bag at a moment’s notice and fly to anywhere in the world that my heart desires. An opening to a Broadway show in New York, a week on an island in the South Pacific, time spent with my son in Venice for his biennale, or attending an art retreat in the mountains in British Columbia would all be possible in the blink of an eye.
Image courtesy of: http://www.travel-south-pacific.com/images/site/south-pacific-1.jpg
Image courtesy of: http://www.nycgo.com/images/broadway/broadway_default_310x218.jpg
My second wish would be to completely renovate my house from top to bottom. Never mind moving. I love where I live. My only stipulation would be that the work is started and finished by professionals. No more DIY for me.
My third and final wish would be to live a long and healthy life so that I can enjoy the first two.
Wanting something to quench your thirst, what would you drink?
For quenching my thirst, nothing is better than plain old water. I love the water at my cottage because it comes from deep in the ground through a sand point. It is cold and free of chemicals. It’s also tested every year and is about as pure as it gets. No e-coli, bacteria, excess minerals, pollutants, etc..
At home the tap water isn’t bad but I also enjoy a good cup of tea, especially on a chilly night. I’m not usually a beer drinker but on a hot day an ice cold glass of beer with ginger ale, also known as a shanty, also quenches my thirst.
If you watch TV what are your favorite three television shows?
I had to answer this question first because the answer didn’t require a lot of thought. The first show to come to mind is Survivor. I’m a fan through and through and have watched every season since the beginning when Richard Hatch won.
Image courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Survivor_8_Logo.png
The next show that I love is Dancing With the Stars. I wasn’t always a fan. I don’t think I even bothered watching the first season but it was during season two that I became a fan. One of the reasons why I love this show is because my husband and I took ballroom dancing for about 13 months. We spent three days a week at the dance studio taking private lessons, group lessons and participating in dance parties and competitions. The only reason we stopped was because it became financially burdensome. Dancing with the Stars
Now before you think that I am a reality show freak, which I confess I probably am, my third choice is a drama. Actually I like about three or four dramas. My first choice is The Good Wife.
Image courtesy of: http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/100525/the-good-wife_320.jpg
In second and third place are Elementary and The Mentalist. All three shows have great actors and great writers.
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 another positive visit to the oral surgeon. Everything is healing on target and I’m able to eat more normally. I’m also grateful for getting out for two long walks this weekend and spending a great day with my daughters and husband on Sunday.
This week I’m looking forward to walking more and for the soccer team’s tournament on Tuesday (that’s tomorrow). I’m also hoping to get out into the garden and plant some flowers, now that the temperatures are starting to warm up. It was pretty cool this weekend.
For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s Photography.
Mama Cormier 
