My Good Deed

Here's a fun, short video for you to watch today!  It concerns 'advice from dad'.

This past Mother's Day I was at the mall with son K, he needed a haircut and we had a few shopping errands to complete.  I was at the top of a crowded escalator when this mom in front of me went down it  leaving a daughter of about 7 years old behind, urging her to step on the moving stairs and follow.  She had an older daughter of about 9 years old descending with her.  They had gone halfway down when I decided the little one in front of me needed help.  So I took her arm and helped her to step on the moving stairs with me as I supported her.  She really wasn't ready to do this on her own yet.  As we got close to the bottom, I told her to take a big step off and she did so happily as I let go of her arm.  Her mom and sister were waiting gratefully at the bottom.  In fact the older sister looked at me as if I was a savior, with a joyous expression, if I try to describe it.  So that was my (very) good deed for the day!

At the driver licence office

Husband M and I went to the driver licence office to renew our plates recently.  I noticed this young lady in line with a huge baby bump, I couldn't help thinking she must be almost due! I was tempted to ask her due date, but decided to discretely snap this quick photo to show you. Maternity fashion has changed over the years. I remember these huge billowy fashions but now the pregnancy is proudly displayed. When I was pregnant 23 years ago, I remember an older man remarking on my brightly coloured,if billowy dress. He was thinking the maternity fashions had become now more cheerful!

Fleeting Beauty

I took this photo not too long ago and the magnolia buds on the neighbourhood trees have since flowered and the blossoms have already started falling on the ground.  It is a fleeting beauty.

Emissions Test Not!

I thought our car needed an emissions test as it's almost time for the licence plate renewal.  It turns out I was mistaken because when we took it in the service man said we were ok, we didn't need one.  I must have misread the renewal form.  There is such a thing as being too efficient!  Anyway, we were in the area on a gorgeous sunny day last week so husband M and I stopped in at this Italian bakery.  I had a small latte topped with whipped cream and cocoa along with a brownie. M chose to have the cannoli pastry with coffee. It was all good! An older couple, seniors, sat nearby having what looked like a delicious shepherd's pie and bowls of soup.  The lady used a walker.

Sunday Sketches - Last of Winter

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!  I gave my mom a photo album with family photos of the extended family that I had collected over the year.  Her memory is getting progressively worse and she was very interested in looking through all the photos.  I had some photos of her with her 2 sisters who live in Florida.  She strangely recognized one of their husbands, remarking that he hadn't changed over the years.  She didn't recognize people who I thought she would have known.  The hardest was to remember the grandkids who live abroad, but that is understandable, everyone grows up so fast.  I decided to write names beside all the people in the album for future reference.

It's time for Sunday Sketches, this one is called 'The Last of Winter', done on a (3" x 3") post-it note in a combination of watercolour crayon, watercolour pencil and some acrylic paint.  That is supposed to be water from a river or lake in the background.

On Mother's Day Weekend

Have a wonderful Saturday, it is a busy weekend with Mother's Day being such a big occasion here!  Daughter L took me to see the Cinderella movie earlier this week and we both LOVED it.  It was beautiful and magical.  So that was our perfect Mother's Day celebration.  I had been wanting to see that movie for awhile and it more than lived up to our expectations.  A beautiful princess, a handsome prince complete with a happy ending, what more could we want, lol.  It also emphasized 'courage and kindness', with great acting and the costumes were lovely.  The mean stepsisters were so funny.  Cate Blanchett was excellent as the wicked stepmother.  L and I even had tears in our eyes at certain sad and happy moments!

Paint Party Friday - The Rose

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This piece is called 'The Rose'.  It's a greeting card in watercolour pencil and crayon with an acrylic white background.  The story behind this is that I made some mistakes (errors with the rose, the shadows, even the background) so it became an acrylic white background after all the corrections!  I think it works now.