...thanks to XingFu Mama for hosting https://xingfumama.blog/2020/08/28/pull-up-a-seat-photo-challenge-2020-week-35/
Last weekend my husband and I and some family and friends took a day trip to the Aberfoyle Antique Market. There were lots of amazing old chairs.
…thanks to Xingfu Mama for hosting Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge
Enjoying some of the last warm rays of summer before heading back to work.
…..thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World
List 2 things you have to be happy about?
There are many things to be happy about, good health, being mortgage free, being married for 41 years, having a great job, etc. but two things do stand out for me. The first is that all my children are in happy, loving relationships and the second is the joy that our granddaughter brings us.
If you could take a photograph, paint a picture or write a story of any place in the world, what and where would it be?
There are many places that I would love to paint, photograph and write about but the one place that I seem to blog about a lot is the cottage. Our little residence in paradise has brought us much pleasure and fond memories and I look forward to my stay there every summer.
Should children be seen and not heard?
Children should definitely be heard but there is a difference between being delightfully vocal and miserably disruptive. We were always very lucky with our own children. We could take them out to dinner and they knew how to behave in public. Too often parents ignore bad behaviour and often condone it and have no regard for the people around them who have come to a place to relax or enjoy a quiet meal.
List at least five of your favorite first names.
Girls names I like:
Winnie, Katherine (Kate, Katie), Abigail, Lydia, Willow, Josephine, Christina, Alessia
Boys names I like:
Michael, Brendan, Mark, Paul, Peter, William, Jack, Christopher
Names that can be either male or female:
Gaelan, Andrea, Josie, Avery, Morgan
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 a small but wonderful birthday party that my children and husband hosted for me. It was just the immediate family but the food was amazing and the gifts that they showered me with were very thoughtful and generous. More and more, time spent with family is becoming increasingly important to me as I get older.
I’m also grateful for four days spent with my daughter and daughter-in-law at the cottage. We swam, sun bathed, read, played board games and cooked up some great meals. We also attended the Pow Wow and stopped at the Cookstown Antique Market on the way home.
This week I’m looking forward to getting my nails done with my good friend L and hopefully having my hair cut and coloured before I start back to school next week.
…..thanks to Cee for four more great questions
What made you feel good this week?
My family and friends sent me wonderful birthday wishes this week and brought me very thoughtful gifts. I got to go to the AGO (art gallery) with my husband and had a wonderful meal in Chinatown. The next day my girls and their significant others and a couple of dear friends came to the house for a BBQ and my husband outdid himself.
For potlucks or parties do you cook it yourself, buy from a grocery store, or pay for catering?
I went to a potluck yesterday and I brought an arugula and apple salad and spinach and cheese crepes. If I have time I usually prepare something on my own and I like to make appetizers. If I’m short on time I will sometimes go to a take out place and bring samosas, pakoras, fried calamari or sushi (things that I wouldn’t make myself). Cheese and crackers and veggies and dip are also easy.
What is your favorite part of the town/city you live in. And what Country do you live?
I’d have to say that I really like where I live in Toronto. I live right by Lake Ontario (I can see it from my house). I’m right on hiking and cycling trails so going for walks is very enjoyable and I’m only a 15 minute drive from downtown or a 10 minute train ride. The streetcar is about 45 minutes and the subway is 30 minutes (including the 10 minute car ride to get to it). For those of you who don’t know Toronto, I live in Canada.
Complete this sentence: My favorite place in the whole world…..
My favourite place in the summer is my cottage on Georgian Bay. I don’t travel extensively but every place I’ve ever been to I’ve really loved. Some of those places are Ireland, The Netherlands, Hawaii, San Francisco, New England and Quebec City. Funny how all these places are on water.
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 time spent with family and friends on my birthday. I’m also grateful for a wonderful day spent with my Dad. He treated me to a very special lunch at the Royal York Hotel and a visit to the Ripley’s Aquarium. Yesterday I spent a few hours with my daughter, A and her partner, J at the CNE. We played some games, took in the sights and tried some new food.
Today I was grateful to my good friend L who stepped up and helped me clean up the library and transferred all my art supplies to a new home in the school. She came just at the right time when I needed her moral support the most. In the end many people chipped in to make sure that the library would be ready for the first day of school.
For the rest of the week I’m looking forward to spending a few more days at the cottage before I head back to work on Tuesday. I’m also looking forward to getting back to working on my art. Have great long weekend. I’ll be back on Sunday or Monday.
….if you’d like to participate in this odd ball challenge go and visit Cee and she’ll explain the rules
From artificial leaves inside Ikea to…..
No leaves on this old tree …..where the branches have been cut away
….can’t believe that it’s already week 35…check out Cee’s Photography for more great posts of Share Your World or join in
Have your blogging goals changed?
I think they have. I started as an incentive to lose weight and record stories from my childhood. I still do a little of both but now it’s become a venue for sharing my art, photography, and life’s adventures and challenges.
If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do?
I don’t know why this came to my head first but I thought clown. I’m not a big fan of clowns but I do like to make people laugh.
If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?
I would tell myself to pursue my interests, take risks. I was very practical and played it pretty safe at 18 but I was also somewhat romantic and probably naive. My biggest piece of advice would be to put aside money for retirement and not touch it. I’ve been lucky to have a job with a great pension plan and to own a house in the city. Not everyone is as fortunate and sometimes I think we could have been better prepared.
What is your favorite comfort snack food?
My favourite comfort foods are ice-cream and cheese. Not at the same time. When I want something sweet it would be ice-cream and for my savoury moments it has to be cheese.
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 a wonderful birthday week with family and friends. I spent the day with one of my oldest friends at the spa earlier in the week. My good friend L took me to the nail place and she treated me to a pedicure. My aunt and cousin sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, my sisters sent me gifts through the mail, my son called me long distance from the Netherlands, my daughters and I spent time together at the CNE, my husband cooked a magnificent meal for six of us and my dear friends at the cottage prepared a birthday lunch with cake done in the BBQ and gave me a set of beautiful earrings. WOW!
I’m looking forward to using my new Jawbone Up (a gift from my family) to record my fitness and sleeping patterns and learning some new songs on my ukulele from the ukulele book that my sister sent me. I’m also looking forward to going back to school (believe it or not) to catch up with my colleagues and meet my new students. Getting the library up and running is number one on my priority list. I just hope I get some help doing it.
Mama Cormier 