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Tag Archives: Travel

The Art Of Journalling And The Journalling Of Art

07 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by duckykoren in journalling, Uncategorized

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Tags

Blogging, Travel, travel writing

It was 1992 when I began journaling.

25 years later, I think it’s safe to assume that scattered around my house are no less then 100 purchased journals filled with quotes, daily activities, pictures, spiritual meanderings, meaningless musings and all other sorts of what some people may consider unending drivel.

Perhaps.

Most of these journals cost on the average about ten dollars. I always tended to go for the prettier journals with lined paper and strong spines.

Other journals came as gifts for which I was grateful.

Now, wherever did I obtain this passion for putting pen to paper in small little books you may ask?

I often asked myself this same question as I kept stacking my filled journals one by one on top of the other. It is my belief that the answer to my obsession is my grandfather, best known in our family as Opa Scherer.

Currently, I am the keeper of what I call The Scherer Archives which contain journals and photo albums which can be found my living room, bedrooms, at least four book cases and one suitcase.

Yes, there are that many.

My Grandfather spoke and wrote in languages that I never learned and so they are mostly unreadable.

This breaks the heart as I can only imagine what they contain.

Now, what I’d like to tell you about are my experiments into making small travel size journals.

My daughter introduced the idea to me when she gifted me with a Tardis blue leather midori journal.

I’ll start with the smaller art journals which I’ve been making over the past week.

My personal preference for the art journal is the cold pressed paint paper which is best suited for watercolour painting.

First, I made the cover. This was done by taking one sheet of the chosen paper and cutting it lengthwise in half, then covering it with either artwork or gluing some decorative paper to it.

Next, I took a sheet of my cold pressed art paper and used washi tape to help divide it into sections. The reason I used washi tape instead of regular scotch tape is that it doesn’t damage the paper when it’s removed.

Then, with my scissors I cut along both lengths of the washi tape as follows…. Which left me with this

So, you may be asking yourself this by now:

How do we put this all together?

There are several options, you can bind it with stitching if you’re sure that you are comfortable with not being able to add or subtract pages later on.

This is my preference for my writing journals.

But since, I’m focusing on an art journal, I’ve come up with an idea that’s much more flexible and easy. You can remove and add paper at will.

Now, here’s the trick:

I got a black hair tie which was purchased in bulk at the dollar store.

I gave the thick paper which would be used for painting a good heavy fold along with the cover.

Then I inserted the prepared paper strips inside the cover.

Next, I fed the paper and the cover through the hair tie until it was halfway up.

In this way, the hair tie is holding everything together like a rubber band would.

Another beautiful thing about this is that should I want to remove a piece of paper and replace it, no problem because it’s not sewn together. It’s only a rubber band that’s holding everything together.

And there you have it, a quick and easy journal easily made for less than a dollar depending on the quality of your supplies.

Of course, the past few days did not come without some mistakes along the way…

I’ve learned that when using a paintbrush to glue cardboard to paper, it is no longer a paintbrush. It then becomes a glue brush because it’s nearly impossible to remove the glue bits trapped between the bristles. The last thing I want are glue particles finding their way into my painting.

Another thing I learned is I must be very careful when using soap to clean the brushes.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out where all the bubbles in my paintings were coming from.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial.

It’s time for me to start thinking up another one.

Cheers!

Living In A Box Of Paints

04 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized, water colour

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Tags

Art, Blogging, Travel

Before I begin, I feel a need to explain the title of today’s post.

It is one of the lines in a Joni Mitchell song that has over the years etched itself deep into my music playlists.

The first time I heard this song was during a movie called TRULY MADLY DEEPLY. A trusted coworker had endorsed this movie as a must see.

At one point during the movie, this song was sung by Alan Rickman, and I was immediately charmed by it’s lovely melody.

The title of the song was A CASE OF YOU.

If you’re unfamiliar with this song, I welcome you to look it up sometime.

Now, on with my story…

If you’ll remember, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to try and learn something new every day.

Well, I can say with confidence that during this very short time I have learned more I had originally bargained for.

Let me begin…

About a month ago, while scrolling through Pinterest I had come across pictures of an extremely small box of paints made from an altoids tin and clear plastic gum pack, you know, like the plastic you find in your average package of gum.

I was immediately smitten.

Within a week I had gathered the materials, sat myself down and began constructing this little treasure of a paint box.

In front of my was a tin so small you could fit two inside an altoids tin. I had purchased this tin in a little Roman shop selling pasta, liquors, cookies and candies. This tin was filled with tiny liquorice candies. I had some bubble tea staws about the size of a liquorice wand. I was going to cut them about an inch thick, and they would hold the paint. Imagine my surprise when I learned the tin would fit sixteen pieces. This meant that my little paint box would hold sixteen different colours.

Yay!

Now, looking back, I can see that my efforts in making this small liquorice tin into a mini paint box proved to have several faux pas.

To begin with, I had thought that lining the tin with aluminum foil would help protect it from rust.

Well, what it did do was prevent the paint from thickening and hardening.

Putting gel glue on the bottom of the bubble tea straws to help contain the paint wasn’t a good idea either.

I constructed that tin weeks ago and the paint is still as wet as on the day I had poured it.

Another travel paint box that I constructed yesterday featuring varying blues and greens is already dry.

Further, yesterday I lined the tin with washi tape hoping it would add some colour and flair.

That was another bad idea because the washi tape is peeling off the sides.

There’s no flair in that.

It would seem that I’m going to have to rethink my paint box making skills and try to build a better paintbox.

Oddly enough, just now, I can hear my own father’s voice telling me time and again that in order to succeed, one has to build a better mousetrap.

I always knew that I never had the smarts nor the will to build his proverbial better mouse trap.

Instead, I’m going to build me a better box of paints.

The Book Of Thank You ~ Post 7: The Canadian National Exhibition

01 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by duckykoren in Childhood, Education, Entertainment, Family Stories, Father, Grandmothers, Ice Cream, relationships, Rock And Roll, Thanks, Toronto, Tourism, Uncategorized

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Tags

Children, Family, ferris wheel, grandfathers, Grandmothers, grief, midway, Music, Platters, Stories, Toronto, Travel, Writing

 

The month of August always brings thoughts of a family tradition started by my Father in 1966.

That is when we would make our annual visit to the Canadian National Exhibition, or more commonly known to the people of Toronto as the C.N.E.

On the last day of school in late June, every child would be given a free children’s pass to this annual event.

Father was never one to let something free pass him by.

Set in the middle of downtown Toronto and bordering on Lake Ontario, the C.N.E. covers 192 acres of ground filled with a stadium, bandshell, coliseum, midway, fountains, picnic areas and much more.

Using Toronto’s public transportation, Father and I always went on the first Saturday after the grand opening. This usually coincided with the annual grand Scottish Tattoo parades where the sounds of bagpipes could be heard at every turn.

My Father didn’t care for bagpipes, and I remember how he would cover his ears and whisk me off to a quieter venue, a building perhaps, one of the many which would showcase countries from around the world, cars, or home shows.

The food building was a grand concourse featuring kiosks of cuisine from all over the world. I was partial to the corn dogs, while Father always contented himself with a cardboard bowl of spaghetti which cost only twenty-five cents.

Throughout the course of the day we collected free magazines, brochures, samples and souvenirs. By the time we left at the end of the day we would usually have three full bags of treasure to take home. I carried one while Father carried two.

I was allowed to purchase one souvenir of choice which was usually a punching ball, or an invisible dog leash.

The last time that I went to the C.N.E. with my Father was in the early 1990’s.

We brought my two young daughters to share the experience with us.

What I remember the most about that day was when we went to the bandshell where their was a rock and roll revival being held hosted by Bowser from the group SHA-NA-NA. We found a patch of grass to stand and watch. While the Platters were on stage singing their hit UNDER THE BOARDWALK, my daughters and I twirled and danced to the music.

Those were very happy moments.

In 1969, while my Father was away on business, my Grandparents took me for my annual pilgrimage to the C.N.E.

All these years later, it’s hard for me to decide which memories of that day are dearest to me.

Is it the memories of going on the Ferris wheel with my Grandmother?

She handled my rocking the carriage very well. I could be a handful at times.

Shortly after that, as I took another turn on the Ferris wheel alone, she won me an orange stuffed teddy bear. To this day, I think she paid off the carnie just so that she could see the joy on my face as she presented me with a new toy. I named the bear Godfrey.

We were very fortunate that day as our visit to the C.N.E. coincided with the visit of Canada’s current Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who was there for a cinematic premiere at the Queen Elizabeth building.

My Grandmother and I stood less than ten feet from him as he stood for photographs and welcoming speeches.

At one point, he turned his head left, looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.

Now, my Grandmother has always been of the opinion that the Prime Minister was smiling at her and not me.

Indeed, every time that we found ourselves together in the following thirty-five years we would lovingly spar  with each other over this:

“Trudeau was laughing at me…” she’s say.

“No, he was laughing at me…” I’d respond.

Then we would end the discussion by laughing at ourselves.

One of the last times that I visited the C.N.E. Was in 2005, seven months after my Father had passed away. I brought my two daughters and a good friend.

We made new memories as we walked our way through trapeze artists, upside down rides, tall cups of lemonade, tall ships, log flumes, ice cream, all behind the beautiful backdrop of the Toronto skyline.

It was good to be reacquainted with one of my childhood joys and be able to set aside my lingering grief.

Thank you C.N.E. for those new memories.

May there be many more.

 

 

❤

My Daily Distraction ~ Post 198: Carpe Beanum: Seize The Coffee

04 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by duckykoren in Family, Family Stories, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Family, Grandmothers, Stories, Travel

image

 

Carpe Beanum… Seize The Coffee!

Some memories never fade.

It was just this morning as I was making the coffee when I remembered back to the times when my husband and I brought our young children to Toronto to visit their great grandparents.

During our visits with my Grandparents, came the time when we had our inevitable “Kaffeeklatch,” which is the Gernan equivalent for British “Tea Time.”

That was when Oma and I would busy ourselves in her kitchen. She would prepare her signature dessert, fried Ochsenaugen, which are quite similar to our well known Canadian Timbits.

Then, she would always designate me to make the coffee.

Now, thirty years later I can still hear my Grandmother, or Oma as we called her, instructing me in German with a firm, yet loving tone of voice to:

“Mach es eine gute caffee!”

Which in English means:

“Make it a good coffee!”

This morning, as I dipped the measuring spoon into the awaiting ground coffee beans I could feel that memory ever so gently guiding my hand to scoop up just the right amount…

… Plus a little bit more!

After taking three sips of the resulting perfect cup of coffee, I knew I had indeed made…

“Eine gute caffee.”

I am fully confident that I will always have the ability to do so.

And for this, as I savour the morning coffee down to the final few sips…

…I find myself most grateful.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 184: Snail Mail Gets Slick

02 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Communication, Entertainment, Family, Istanbul, Mail, Photography, Stories, Travel

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Tags

App, communication, Entertainment, Family, Istanbul, Mail, Photography, Richard Ayoade, Travel, Travel Guy

Over the past month a new TV series has become very popular at our home.

It is a British travel series hosted by Richard Ayoade. Perhaps you know him from another television show, Gadget Man which he hosts as well.

Richard enjoys critiquing his travels with a dry acerbic humour that leads you to thirst for his deadpan punchlines. He amuses me to no end.

Over the course of four television shows, he and his travelling guest companions take exciting weekend excursions to Barcelona, Istanbul, Iceland, and Madagascar.

There was something that Richard Ayoade did during his episode on Istanbul that left me gobsmacked.

(I’ve included a link to this particular episode at the end of this post, so you can watch it for yourself if you like.)

As Richard and his travelling companion stood admiring the vista of ancient churches in Istanbul, he took a selfie of himself and his guest with his cell phone.

He then explained to his television audience that thanks to a software app called…

‘Touchnote’…

The picture he just took will, at the press of a button, be sent as a postcard to whomever he chooses.

Whoa…

…I thought to myself.

That is one slick way to send a postcard.

Of course I had to check this out.

Much to my pleasant surprise, when I looked it up in the App Store I learned that my husband had already downloaded it.

This was astonishing because I don’t think he’s ever sent a postcard in his life.

He must’ve really been impressed with this app.

Software generated postcards seem nifty, but no one, and I mean no one could generate hand written postcards, with all the old fashioned lick’em and stick’em accoutrements like my Grandmother.

She carried in her purse all the fixings for a postcard as well as formal stationary, accompanying photographs, scissors, tape, and a never ending roll of stamps.

Nevertheless I’m quite sure that my Grandmother would have made really good use of this newly discovered app.

How do I know this?

You see, my Grandmother also happened to be a bit of a shutterbug herself.

When I try to imagine her response to this cell phone generated postcard I can almost feel her glee. I wish she could have experienced the ultimate convenience that all of us already take for granted. No longer do we have to take our camera film to the store to be developed before we can enjoy our photographs.

I find myself looking forward to signing up with this new app and purchasing some postage credits so that I can always be at the ready to send a friend or loved one a postcard made from an impromptu picture that I had taken.

No doubt, there are many of you…

(And you know who you are)

…Who are currently nodding your head in agreement as you know me all too well.

On the other hand there are those of you cringing at the thought of me taking yet another selfie of the two of us.

Nevertheless, you can consider yourself warned.

Keeping that in mind, please prepare yourselves to…

Say “CHEESE!”

—————————-

TRAVEL MAN: 48 Hours In Istanbul

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 178: Barbie Sunglasses

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by duckykoren in fashion, inspirational, Toys

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Barbie, Childhood, Happy, Sunglasses, Toys, Travel

image

Barbie sunglasses…

Now, that’s a pair of words that I have not uttered in a long time.

In fact, it’s almost impossible for me to say “Barbie sunglasses”…

…without smiling.

These two words randomly came to my attention this past weekend as I watched a travel documentary on the city of Istanbul.

The young woman hosting the show decided to visit a store which sold world famous designer sunglasses. She asked the owner to pick out a pair for her. After a moment’s thought the owner then handed her what he called the ‘house special’, a very successful pair of sunglasses that he had designed himself.

Of course when she tried them on she looks spectacular. She asked the owner for the price. Quite understandably, he declined quoting the price while the cameras were still rolling. Our travel hostess nevertheless still decided to purchase them immediately.

The last word she said, or rather squealed before the camera faded to black was…

“BARBIE SUNGLASSES!”

This made me wonder what is there about a small piece of plastic that can bring a girl so much happiness?

My personal experiences with Barbie sunglasses was always joy when I opened up my Barbie suitcase and was able to find the ever elusive Barbie sunglasses still among my possessions. Elusive, of course because Barbie sunglasses were so very small and easy to lose.

It has been said that…

“Bits and fragments from the past affect us in the present.”

Unfortunately, all too often we are overcome with those “bits and fragments” from the past which contain unhappy memories of one sort or another. These unpleasantries from the past do indeed affect us in the present.

That is why every happy tidbit which emanates from our past must be acknowledged, celebrated and cherished.

Hence, my quote of the day:

‘Carpe shadium’

Seize your “Specks”…

And shine!

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 170: “Can You Hear Me Major Tom?”

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Music, NASA, Science, Space, Spaveflight, Travel

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Tags

Apollo, Buzz Aldrin, Computers, David Bowie, History, Holiday, Houston, Johnson Space Centre, life, Moon Landing, Music, Nasa, Neil Armstrong, Rock, Space, Space Oddity, Texas, Travel, Ziggy Stardust

image

It was a very hot and muggy August day in Houston Texas when we visited the Johnson Space Centre during a family holiday.

While we were there, my Grandmother and I decided to go on a tour to see the actual NASA mission control room. It seemed only right because I felt like I spent most of my childhood watching mission control during the televised Apollo missions. What I looked forward to the most now was seeing mission control with my own eyes and not through a television screen.

During the tour, we were taken into the press room, where reporters were allowed to sit behind glass and observe mission control as historic events unravelled in real time.

What surprised me most was that mission control is in reality, much smaller than it appears on television. Mission control itself was now very empty and as devoid of life as the lunar surface.

After the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969, mission control, as we know it, became a historical landmark building. This designation prevents any kinds of permanent alterations. It is to forevermore remain as it was the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

Everything in that room looks exactly the way it did in July 1969. Every coffee cup, ashtray, and original computer casings are all still there.

Believe it or not.

Not being able to change anything posed a very big problem for NASA because the big ancient looking computer boxes which you may remember seeing on television went obsolete forty years ago. They cannot be swapped out.

At least on the outside.

What NASA had to do was constantly install new circuitry inside the archaic green metal boxes to make the computers more practical for those who use them now.

When there is a space mission, only portable televisions and computer screens can be installed so that those scientists who are running the show can watch the missions.

While standing in the press room, I placed both my hands on the glass that separated me from mission control. I was so close to actually being there, and was yet still so far away.

As I continued to gaze at mission control through the press room window, I thought of songwriter David Bowie’s iconic character from his song SPACE ODDITY, Major Tom, and how he must have felt like as he floated in his little tin can…

…where planet Earth was blue and there was nothing he could do.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 124: Wanna Take A Ride?

23 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Astronomy, Canada, Science, Space

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Astronaut, Burlington, Canada, Colony, Karen Cumming, Mars, Ontario, Science, Space, Space Travel, Travel

The title you see above is a line from one of my favourite movies, Contact, based upon a book written by Carl Sagan.

In this movie scene, billionaire and business mogul S.R. Haddon (played by John Hurt) offers Dr. Eleanor Arroway, a SETI scientist, (played by Jodie Foster) the opportunity to pilot a spacecraft designed by extraterrestrials and make first contact with aliens from another world.

And of course, she takes him up on it.

This month, the 200,000 applicants for the one way mission to Mars was narrowed down to 100, six of which are Canadians. Burlington, Ontario native, Karen Cumming is among the finalists.

The objective is to begin building a colony on Mars, and this six billion dollar mission is slated to take off in 2024.

Four people will be initially dispatched to head for the red planet with another four people being sent every two years, until they have reached a total of twenty-four colonists.

Comprehensive tests were done to see which types of people would be best suited for this unprecedented journey.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the athletic types placed second next to those who were content spending long periods of time by themselves.

Yay loners!

However, there’s been many movies about humans trying to colonize Mars and it never ends well for the humans.

I applaud the volunteers for their bravery and sense of adventure and wish them Godspeed.

However, if I were offered the opportunity for a one way ticket to Mars, I would have to decline and send my regrets citing the words from another one of my favourite movies…

“There’s no place like home.”

❤

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 104: Armadillo Droppings

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Food, Travel, Writing

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Tags

Armadillos, chocolate, Coffee, Friends, jokes, Texas, Travel

My poor friend…

A few years back when my husband was still travelling he came home from a trip to Texas with a box of chocolates.

Consisting of chocolate covered nuts and caramel, they were delicious.

They’re “armadillo droppings,” he told me.

“Armadillo droppings, are you serious?”

Yes, he was serious.

That night, I took some to work.

Everyone loved them.

I told them what they were called and everyone seemed to have a good giggle.

That’s when my friend told me that she’s heading out to Texas on holidays in a few weeks.

“Where did he buy them?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” I told her.

“You’ll just have to ask around…”

And we left it at that.

Well, when she returned from holidays, she was not happy with me at all.

I asked her what was wrong.

She explained how she and her husband were intent on finding the chocolates.

Then she told me how they drove through the entire state of Texas asking all the nice people behind candy counters if they had any…

Armadillo Droppings.

She swore to me that no one had ever heard of them. Then she told me all about the strange looks she got in return.

I’m afraid that she thinks I pulled a fast one on her, and now she doesn’t really trust me anymore.

She is now retired and I don’t see her anymore.

And so dear friend, and you know who you are, if you ever read this, please accept my apologies for any embarrassment I might have caused you.

And for the record, it was no joke.

So, please give me a call and we’ll do coffee.

I’ll even throw in some Horny Toads!

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post Ninety-Four: Tibet’s Greatest Threat

24 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Archaeology, Business, Culture, environment, Geography, History, Industry, Mining, Tibet, Trains, Transportation, Travel

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afraid, archaeology, Archaologists, assimilate, assimilation, China, Copper, Culture, Environment, evil, lead, Mining, money, Nepal, pay-dirt, People, Railways, Route, Tibet, Tourism, Trains, Transportation, Travel, Treasure, Xinhua, zinc

I have always loved the sound of the trains as they go by. Indeed, how many times have they lulled me to sleep.

However, I fear that the sound of the Chinese Qingzang Railway will be the death knell of the Tibetan people and it’s culture.

This train will successfully bring approximately fifteen million people to the remote ancient capital of Llasa.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the upcoming tourist onslaught will do the Nepalese and their culture irreparable harm.

Having done some research, I have come up with some information that I’d like to share.

At first glance, this super-train might look like a good idea on several different levels, however there are points that need to be considered.

I fear that in less than one hundred years the Nepalese will have totally succumbed to Chinese rule and that there will be no more living culture and continuing history.

We will indeed have lost a pearl of great price.

The Chinese take this new railway very seriously. Why else would they have invested 4 billion dollars to see it to it’s fruition?

They claim that tourism will double.

This obviously is not a good thing for Tibet. The impact of this enormous surge in the tourist industry will no doubt threaten the fragile Tibetan environment. Up until now, Tibet has remained effectively independent in spite of the invasion by the communist Chinese in 1950.

We are about to once again witness the the truth of the saying, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” The Tibetan culture does not need money to survive. Rather, it needs global respect and above all, independence from China.

China’s official news agency Xinhua announced that a treasure trove of copper, iron, lead and zinc have been found by Chinese government archeologists along the route of the railway. They have hit pay-dirt which includes twenty million tons of copper, the second largest ever found in China and Tibet, alongside of ten million tons of lead and zinc.

So, there you have it.

If you are one who weighs everything by gain, then no doubt, this train and all that it stands for is right up your alley.

For those who are opposed to the cultural genocide of the Tibetan people and it’s culture we know that the global deck has been stacked against them and that the cards have been dealt.

There is no consolation in knowing that I am not alone in fearing the worst. Yes, governments will lament the passing of Tibet as the Chinese government assimilates all that this culture holds dear.

I am afraid for Tibet.

Very afraid.

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