today I went out for a meal before my shift at The Leaf…

all
by
myself!!!
had the falafel breakfast, with tomatoes instead of hash browns…

it has become one of my favourites…
then it was off to The Leaf… way to go me;-)…
18 Thursday Sep 2025
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
today I went out for a meal before my shift at The Leaf…

all
by
myself!!!
had the falafel breakfast, with tomatoes instead of hash browns…

it has become one of my favourites…
then it was off to The Leaf… way to go me;-)…
17 Wednesday Sep 2025
Posted in business, health, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, magnolia, Mediterranean biome, memories, moments, nature, scent, tree, widow
this magnolia seems to be blooming one or two buds at a time…

saw some beautiful trees filled with magnolia blooms in Courtenay, BC, more than fifteen years ago and I still remember how amazing the scent was…

unfortunately, this tree is too high up to be able to enjoy the scent, but it is lovely to spot new blooms…
15 Monday Sep 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, books, compare, family, JD Robb, list, moments, need, Ottawa, Technology, widow
been working on my list of needed JD Robb books…
my daughter found a bunch in a used bookstore on a walk in Ottawa…

that meant I had to find, and compare, my list with the titles she sent me… found the list, phew, and sent her four that I could use…
this morning my housemate helped me double check the books on the shelf with the list, and I forwarded that list to my daughter… she found another four…

so, now that the comparison has taken place, it appears that I only need ten to complete my collection;-)…
woohoo…
14 Sunday Sep 2025
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventure buddy, big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, flowers, friends, gardens, heated, moments, nature, Park Cafe, roses, walk, water lilies, weather, widow
had breakfast with my adventure buddy at the Park Cafe on Friday… I hadn’t been for awhile, but it was lovely to be recognized by the waitstaff…

enjoyed the classic eggs Benedict with tomatoes instead of hash browns…
then we had a short walk through the English Gardens and a quick look at the water lily pond in the Leo Mol Garden…

the flowers were stunning and we were drawn to all the beautiful dahlias and and roses…

as always the water lilies were blooming in the heated pond…

the frogs do enjoy the warm water, lol…
lovely time;-)…
13 Saturday Sep 2025
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, bonsai, display, enchanted, forest, gardeners, grandson, moments, nature, plants, widow
spent time at The Leaf Thursday afternoon letting guests know that the biomes were closed until Friday…

happy to spot a gorgeous flower on the tall magnolia;-)…

there were two of us, so we had opportunities to take turns checking out how the work on the Enchanted Forest display was going… the gardeners were moving at warp speed to finish up…

I also had a lovely chat with one of the people from the Bonsai Winnipeg group as they waited to place their tree in the new display…
then, in the evening, my grandson and I attended a members-only viewing of the display… I was especially excited because I was able to bring a buddy… as everyone who knows me knows, I don’t like to do things on my own;-(…
what fun…
12 Friday Sep 2025
Posted in business, family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, carrots, dinner, family, food, Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, gnocchi, moments, Technology, treat, waitstaff, widow
at last I ordered the carrots (roasted carrot, buttermilk dressing, grilled kale, salsa macha, fresh dill) at Gather…

they were very tasty, the sauce was delicious, and it took two of us to get them all eaten, lol… I’ve heard that this is one of the most popular items on the menu…

then I tried the saffron gnocchi, with white wine beurre blanc, asparagus, mint, hazelnut, lemon vinaigrette, rosemary oil, and added shrimp… also very tasty…
my grandson had the burger with some tasty regular fries…
it was busy and the waitstaff were all efficient and seemed happy going about their work;-)…
I also like that you can reserve a spot online, lol…
07 Sunday Sep 2025
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cool, family, garden, goldfish, mistake, moments, pet store, pond, released, widow
went to a pet store today… big mistake, lol…
came home with three goldfish… a white one with a bright patch of red close to its tail and two gold with black dots all over them…

set them in the pond in their travel bag for nearby an hour… it is fairly cool in the pond with all this cold weather we’ve been having…

once they were released, I spotted this little one and got a quick photo… then they vanished under the bridge… since then, I’ve spotted the white one, but so far not the other two;-)…
06 Saturday Sep 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
getting rather used to using Uber…
Friday, I took three, lol…
I appreciate how quick they are… each one today arrived within two minutes of my ordering the ride…
the cars were clean and the drivers were friendly…

I also appreciate that I know the cost from the beginning and don’t feel any stress if traffic is slow or detours needed…
05 Friday Sep 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
bendy bus, big girl pants, blessed, dentist, drive, family, memories, moments, morning, Ottawa, small, widow
such small things give me joy;-)…
this morning, on a drive downtown to the dentist’s office, I spotted two different bendy buses;-)…

since I first saw one in Ottawa, while visiting my kids, just seeing one brings me happiness, lol…
great start to the day…
03 Wednesday Sep 2025
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, differences, family, fun, grandson, hamburgers, le burger, moments, online, Technology, treat, widow
went out for le burger week…
started at Kristina’s on Corydon, where we had a Saginaki Lamb burger which we shared…

it was a mix of beef and lamb and was delicious… we ordered fries to go with it and they were also very tasty… the wait staff were efficient and friendly… we even got a piece of cake with our bill…
a lovely atmosphere… hadn’t been there for a long time but will try to get back there again soon…
next, we went to the edge of St. James to Original Joe’s where we shared the Big Pierogski which came with fries…

they brought it on two plates for us, so that was nice…
it was a good burger and we ate every bite, lol… the fries were fine and our server pleasant…
certainly a different vibe, and a bit dark… probably showing my age, 😂… interesting to see the difference between a privately owned restaurant and a chain on the same evening;-)…
we did spend quite some time online, deciding on which burgers we’d like to taste and where we wanted to go…
it was a fun outing and I thoroughly enjoyed it;-)…