Sunday, October 21, 2012

Beauty in Simplicity

Tracey Fletcher King is having a giveaway of her wonderful art to celebrate her 300th follower! Please stop by and enter just by leaving a comment. She is a talented artist!

For today's sketch, I was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest and thought it needed a quote to go with it, so I found one on Pinterest! Hope you like it! It's acrylic on cardstock (4.5" x 6.5")

Linking to Sunday Sketches! Please visit the other talented participants!




Saturday, October 20, 2012

Halloween Pumpkin



This is our Halloween pumpkin.  I got a small'ish one this year because I was lazy and didn't want to lift a big heavy one home from the grocery store!  Like last year, I just painted a face on it instead of carving it.  I do plan to dispense candy for the kids, hope we get a few this year!

It's time for flu shots, are you getting one?

Friday, October 19, 2012

Paint Party Friday - Zen

I didn't quite know what to call this piece, it was inspired by a Chanel ad I saw in a magazine, advertising makeup. I loved that the image was upside down. It's acrylic on cardstock (4.5" x 6.5") I thought it looked very 'zen', so there you have it!

Linking to Paint Party Friday, thanks to Kristin and Eva for hosting!


Thursday, October 18, 2012

A New Store

A new Whole Foods has opened up in the area, I popped in to have a look on the weekend. It was exciting to see the CityTV news crew there filming a segment. I made sure to sample one of the Belgian chocolates that were being featured near the bakery area. It's a huge new store, I hope it does well. It will depend on whether the demographic is willing to pay more for organic and healthy food items.

Pretty Display





CityTV was there






Belgian Chocolate Samples


M got this tub of guacamole a couple of nights ago, it's really delicious but it was $10! The tortilla chips were fresh made in store too. I think I had better start making my own guacamole.

fresh guacamole

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A night out

I saw the stage play 'War Horse' on the weekend with a bunch of girlfriends. It was raining that night and a bit cold.  I was in the mood for a relaxing play, but ended up getting drawn into the story and the magnificent puppetry.  The horses seemed so real after awhile which made for some touching scenes.  We all enjoyed the play very much!

We went to a Chinese restaurant uptown after the show.  Have a look at this call button on each table!  It's meant to summon the waiter.  We didn't end up using it!



Here is a close up shot



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Putting things into perspective

I lost my gym pass card last week somehow, likely running around trying to do too many things at once!  I was upset with myself for being careless.  I was entering the mall on a cold blustery day when I noticed it was gone.  There was an older lady slowly approaching the entrance doors, she used a walking stick.  I held the door open for her and she was surprised and thankful.  You know, it made me feel better about my lost card.  I was able to get a new one at the gym, and better yet, there was no charge for lost cards!  Apparently, the new card supercedes the old one in case someone else tries to use it. 

Then I was complaining to my mom over lunch about K and his schoolwork, about the teachers calling for interviews about his school progress.  He has a learning disability but one wonders if he doesn't try hard enough sometimes. He can be late to class for no good reason.  My mom said she remembered how stressful her life was when she and my dad ran a business, she had 5 kids to look after, she had to manage the workers, administer to problem customers...Her message was that 'this time will pass'.  She is suffering some memory loss, but still manages to help me put things into perspective!  Needless to say, I felt better.  And there is a positive side to K, it's not all bad.  He is a loving, very understanding 17 year old and one of my staunchest allies.

I might add that I think I'm getting older and wiser, having been through so much more than say, a 20 year old, you see things differently.

And for a spot of happy news, my aerobics instructor announced that her daughter got engaged on the recent Thanksgiving weekend, they were all so happy.  Just prior to her announcement, I had overheard that the new fiance had discussed his intention to propose months earlier.  The instructor said it was so hard keeping it secret!  Well, don't you just love a good romantic story like this?  It's a circle diamond by the way!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Fall Splendour

I made a version of this slow cooker ham and white bean recipe in  the crockpot yesterday.  It took 8 hours, but tasted quite good, I thought. I didn't have ham so I used some pork bones and added some extra spices as I knew it wouldn't have the saltiness of the ham. It's been a long time since I've cooked beans from scratch, not from a can.


Don't you love the flame orange colour of these maple tree leaves at this time of year? I had fun taking these photos for you: