Lisa Stokes

Saturday November 1 – Snow Day

The view that greeted me as I stepped out the door this morning brought a smile to my face. I love snow and I am looking forward to a cold, snowy winter so I can enjoy building and maintaining a community ice rink again. I love the sight of my two favourite seasons colliding. It’s not often I see snow when there are still leaves on my red maple tree.

Patti and I ran this morning. She was a bit reluctant, but once we got going it was quite pleasant.

After a quick coffee I returned home to pick up Trystan and Owen for skating lessons. It was still snowing!

We had just returned home when Alun needed a ride to DECA competition, which is a youth business organization. Alun placed in the top ten out of almost 80 competitors in this afternoon’s Regional competition and expects to advance to the Provincials in February.

We decided to go to Montana’s for dinner tonight. Once seated it took a while for someone to take our order and then over thirty minutes for the food to begin arriving. It was about five minutes between Alun’s meal arriving and Megan’s meal arriving with the others arriving in between. Mine, a steak ordered medium rare, arrive cold, congealed and overcooked. I complained. The manager came over and offered to bring me a new meal on the house in twelve minutes. I accepted and the new meal was hot and tasty. The manager returned to offer free dessert, but we were all too full to accept.

Michael has begun cleaning out his mother’s house. It is a formidable task as she was a pack-rat. Peter and Caroline are helping as is Donald, Michael’s father, who has come down from Scotland to help.

The shed.

The box room. The door of which had to be forced open as the room was so full.

The living room with the contents of half of the kitchen cupboards pulled out by Michael for sorting.

Friday October 24 – Autumn and Les Miz

I had a lovely ride this morning to Downey’s Farm to see if I could catch a glimpse of my friend Gail leading a school group. I was not disappointed and learned all about how pumpkins grow in Gail’s very entertaining fashion. The kids loved her.

In the afternoon I took a walk in the woods near my house to take some autumn pictures. There is a lot of trash and graffiti in the woods, but when photographed carefully in the right light at the right time of year I can create quite magical images.

In the evening Michael, Alun and I went to see his friend Taurian performing in the Etobicoke Musical Productions version of Les Miserables. Aside from a few issues with the microphones, it was excellent. Taurian was very impressive and we enjoyed watching him enormously. You can see Taurian in a red and gold braid jacket here. We had dinner at Boston Pizza beforehand.

Friday was the day the body of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was murdered while guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa, was transported to his hometown of Hamilton. We ended up on Highway 407 ahead of the hearse and witnessed the crowds on the bridges waiting to pay their respects. It was quite poignant.

Friday October 31 – Hallowe’en

I was at the school today for a teacher parent interview and on the way out stuck my head into the kindergarten classroom to which I donated, on behalf of my Dad, the dollhouse he built (which was modeled on our home) for Lara and me, when we were children. The wallpapers and fabrics were all ones used in our home. The pink and white striped room was mine; the green one was Lara’s. I didn’t think to ask what happened to the stand which had a swimming pool on it. It was higher than the one they are using.

It was a cold, rainy Hallowe’en. Trystan elected to stay home and hand out the candy. Owen and I walked around for an hour before he got too cold. I was wearing a winter coat and fleece hat. I discovered when we returned home that he was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt under his costume. No wonder he was cold.

After we got home some friends of Trystan came by and convinced him to go out for a bit. I told him to get a costume from the costume box in the basement as he was not going out as a surly teenager. This is what he chose.

Thursday October 30 – Niagara College Welland Campus Visit

Today Megan and I visited the Welland Campus of Niagara College. It took about 90 minutes to drive there so Megan would live in residence if she attended. The campus has 5500 students.

We arrived about 1pm, checked in, got a parking pass and directions to the cafeteria. As we found at both Humber and Sheridan College fast food chains predominated the food options on campus.

There is a nice new light filled building where we first entered. All the buildings, other than the residence, are interconnected. The building where Megan’s classes would be held was older and the studio equipment did not seem to be as up-to-date as Sheridan’s or the equipment she is used to using at Rogers, where she volunteers. Of the colleges we have seen so far, this would be Megan’s third choice.

The landscaping around the buildings was nice and created by the college’s horticultural students.

Here is the campus bar.

A view from the second floor of the newest building.

A view of the residence which is a short walk from the teaching buildings.

The set-up of the residence rooms was similar to Sheridan’s, but not quite as nice or up-to-date. For example, the TV is an old CRT model on the dresser rather than a flat panel on the wall. Basic cable is provided. There is ethernet, but no wifi in the residence. There is wifi in the teaching buildings. Each pair of students shares a small kitchen and bathroom and has a private bedroom. There are shared kitchens with stoves. The cost is $6760 this year. We were told a dining plan is offered, however, when I read the pamphlet it appears to simply be a pre-paid debit card. If you put $1990 on the card apparently your purchases are tax exempt which saves 13% over just using your debit or credit card to purchase you meals. There is also a 5% discount on non-branded items but that doesn’t apply to Subway, Tim’s, Pizza Pizza or Extreme Pita – half of the restaurants on campus. However, as Megan said, it wouldn’t take long to put on weight eating at fast food restaurants every day. She would rather do her own cooking.

The woman giving us the tour is a student and lives just off campus in the private Residence on First which is marketed to students. She told us it is $5000 for eight months, a large savings, a newer building and nice kitchen/common areas. However, the students do have to provide their own bedroom furniture and desk/chair. The pictures on the website look quite nice, but I discovered when I went to the website that the monthly rate is much higher if you pay for eight months, not twelve. For eight months the price is within a few hundred dollars of the on campus residence.

The library.

The study commons.

Students receive free local public transit included in their tuition. The tour guide told us about the company Megabus which offers cheap long distance bus rides. There is a bus from Welland to Mississauga which is just $6 one way which Megan could use to get back and forth when she wants to come home.

Wednesday October 29 – Downey’s Farm

My friend Gail, a retired teacher, has been working as a school tour guide at Downey’s Farm this fall and loving it. She gave me a free pass for one child to visit Pumpkinfest. The weather wasn’t great today, but Pumpkinfest ends on Friday so as soon as Owen arrived home from school we headed out.

It is much more elaborate than the last time we were there in 2008. Wasn’t Owen adorable?

There was a lot to do. A band of skeletons played for us.

Duck races.

We had a great time races these bikes around a track.

Here we are about to enter the corn maze.

It was huge. Here’s a aerial view of the maze.

There were still pumpkins in the field.

The haunted house was fun. The ogre actually scared Owen when he rose up and growled.

A giant spider web entrance has been incorporated into the old goat mountain that was there years ago.

There were goats, sheep, cows, chickens and rabbits to pet. Stop eating my coat you silly goat.

Owen loved the rabbits.

There were a couple massive boxes of gourds.

We finished up with coffee, hot chocolate and baked goods which we ate in the car. There is no where to eat inside and we were quite chilled by the time we finished.

Michael’s mother died this evening, peacefully, while he was with her. She was 80 years old.

Tuesday October 28 – Bike the Creek Planning Ride

Sunday afternoon we received a call from Caroline and Pete, good friends of Michael’s mother, Maureen, telling us they had found her delirious, and bleeding, in bed on Sunday morning. They took her to the hospital for assessment. In the evening they called back to say that nothing had been found yet, but that she was staying in hospital for observation. We went to bed. When the phone rang a little after 1am we knew the news would not be good. Her colon was necrotic. Maureen had a DNR and had made it very clear she did not want to live dependent on others for care. They would make her comfortable, but Michael should fly over as soon as possible. He made arrangements in the morning and flew to Bristol Monday night.

He arrived midday. Fortunately, Maureen knew that he had come. She was unable to speak, but knew he was there and was able to squeeze his hand. He spent the day with her. Caroline spent the night. Today Michael spent the day at the hospital again, but Maureen did not appear to realize he was there.

Meanwhile, I went on a planning ride with the chairman of the Brampton Bicycle Advisory Committee, David, his wife Dayle, the secretary of BBAC, Joanne and Nelson, employees of the City of Brampton, Erica from the Region of Peel, and a representative of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (whose name escapes me at the moment). We were testing out the tentative northern portion of 2015 Bike the Creek ride. It was a pleasant day and since the ride is a loop next year, I saw some areas of the city that I have never seen before. It was about 16km. Next week we text the southern portion.

This is the view from the northern end of the route looking north towards where the 410 swings west to meet Highway 10.

This is a lovely park, which I have long admired, called Christie Park, in the Stonegate area of the city.

We finished up with lunch at Tim Hortons.

Cycling Goal Achieved

The light was glorious this morning as I prepared to leave the house to meet Patti for our first ride together since we each acquired a road bike.

We rode the Etobicoke Creek Trail from County Court Boulevard in the south to just north of Conservation Drive in the north for a total ride of just over 31 kilometres. It was 10 degrees, but it felt cooler with the wind, dampness and overcast conditions. My toes were quite cold by the end of the ride.

I had two goals for cycling this year. The first was to ride the 100 kilometre route in the Tour de Mississauga, which I did on September 21. The second was to ride 2000 kilometres in 2014, which is about 400 more than my previous personal best. When I returned home today I checked Mapmyride and I have now surpassed my goal by 80 kilometres. Done and done.

Next year I have three goals:

1. Ride the 120 km route in the Tour de Mississauga,

2. Ride 100km each day for two consecutive days, and

3. Ride 3000 km in 2015

Monday, October 20 – Schomberg

Today I met my friend Jennifer in Schomberg for lunch. It is about half way between her home in Barrie and mine. Jennifer and I met when Megan and Jennifer’s daughter Emily were in Junior Kindergarten together. Her son Jacob is the same age as Alun and her daughter Abigail is the same age as Owen. They moved the summer Abigail was born. The children have recently grown apart however Jennifer and I have managed to remain friends despite the distance.

Schomberg is quite pretty this time of year with the old homes on its main street with the autumn foliage surrounding them.

We ate at the Schomberg Pub. I had cheddar and bacon perogies with a side caesar. It’s the third time we have met there and I have enjoyed the food every time. In the summer we ate on the patio which was surrounded beautifully by the gardens.

While waiting for Jennifer I took a selfie in front of the pub. Being the photographer in the family I never used to get my picture taken. I’ve solved that by joining the selfie craze.

Renovations

Trystan and Owen share a bedroom, and we have an extra bedroom that I use as a sewing room/photography studio, which is used by guests when we have them. The living room has been used as a playroom for years, but with the youngest, Owen, having reached ten years of age, it isn’t used very much any more.

The couches have been moved upstairs to an open area outside Megan’s room. I originally planned to move them back to the new sewing room, but have enjoyed sitting there so much this past week that I think I will leave them where they are. It is a southern exposure with trees just outside the window. The sunlight, filtered through the autumn foliage this week, has invited me to sit there for my coffee most afternoons.

We have decided to change the children’s playroom into my “playroom”. It will become my sewing and photography studio and I won’t have to vacate it when we have company. The sewing room, a large room over the garage, will become Trystan’s bedroom, which will have two single beds in it, and be shared with Owen when we have company. Owen will stay in his current bedroom, on his own, with a new daybed, which will fold out into a king size bed, when needed.

The current sewing room has never been painted and the walls are quite a mess. The playroom and Trystan and Owen’s current bedroom were painted years ago, so all three rooms will be getting a fresh coat of paint. I have been weeding out the toys since the spring, by donating the ones in good shape to the school, throwing out broken toys or ones with missing pieces and building a shelf in the basement to store the massive Lego collection, which I am unwilling to part with (the kids probably wouldn’t care). Unfortunately, it turns out one shelf isn’t enough – we still have four large Ikea under-the-bed boxes in Trystan and Owen’s room full of Lego. The toys shelves will become shelves for my quilting and photography supplies, and have been moved temporarily to the dining room, and reloaded with the toys and games for which I have yet to find a home. Today we removed all the plates and curtain rods and started repairing the walls.

Unfortunately, the floor has become quite worn in the three places where desk chairs have been moved repeated over the years. We don’t have the budget to replace the floor right now, nor do we want to spend a lot of time refinishing it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Once the old playroom has been re-painted I will move in furniture from the old sewing room and move everything I want to keep. Then we will paint the old sewing room and move in most of the furniture from Trystan and Owen’s room. They will both move in while we re-paint Owen’s old room.

We aren’t very fast at these types of things so we hope to be done by Christmas since we often have company on New Year’s Eve.

Friday October 17 – Sheridan Campus Oakville Visit

Today Megan, Michael and I visited the Sheridan Campus in Oakville. We picked up Megan from school just before lunch and headed to Oakville. We parked and checked in at the Student Tours office to give them our license plate so we didn’t get ticketed. Then we went to The Marketplace for lunch. Just like at Humber, which we visited two weeks ago, it was populated by fast food chains. Unlike Humber, Sheridan was light and airy. It had a different and better feel to it. It felt more sophisticated, less like a souped up high school.

The eating area of the Marketplace was beautiful with the autumn colours and sunlight pouring in through the wall of glass.

The landscaping was beautiful.

The tour group here was quite a bit larger (there was only one other student at Humber). The guide spent an hour showing us around. It is a lovely campus with lots of resources. The creativity of the students abounds in the art and furnishings around the campus.

The student bar.

The Student Union.

Two of the many S shaped pieces of art scattered around the campus.

Outside the library.

The technology commons where students can congregate, study, print and get technical help.

One of the lovely sitting areas outside.

If Megan attended Sheridan, she would live in residence as it would take 90 minutes to two hours one way on public transit from our house. Megan doesn’t have her driver’s license. She isn’t interested in getting it – at least not yet. At $6850 for a residence room plus groceries I don’t think we would save any money if she did get her license and drive a second car (which we would have to buy since we only have one). There is no meal plan. The rooms consist of a shared kitchen and eating area with fridge, microwave, shelves and sink. Students can bring other small appliances and use the common kitchen area down the hall if they need a stove or oven. The residence runs a weekly shuttle to the local Supercentre and teaches the kids how to shop and cook if they need help. There is a private full bathroom and two bedrooms, each with a double bed, desk, shelves and closet. Each bedroom has a TV with cable and ethernet connection in case the campus wide wifi is too slow. It is quite nice. They have a games room and even have a theatre. Laundry facilities are shared by the whole residence.

The view from the room we saw was lovely.

Sheridan Oakville has 8000 students and room for 800 in residence.

Sheridan is Megan’s first choice so far. We have three more campuses to visit.

We discovered that the program that Megan has applied to is changing to a combined print and broadcast journalism instead of just broadcast, but she is still excited about Sheridan.