as I sit in the garden, overlooking the beautiful sanctuary that it is, I’ve been thinking of my privilege…
I have a safe home, food to eat, and a glorious space to enjoy every day…
this is due in large part to my beloved… he worked for years to make our home comfortable and to put money aside for our retirement… and he never got to see that…
all that allows me to stay home and enjoy life is due to his work, and yes, his death, which has paved the way for my time sitting in the garden…
he worked hard to make it a sanctuary for us and I often think of him mowing the grass or pulling weeds… or cleaning the garage, lol…
no one has been inside my house for weeks and three people were in it today…
nice man from Dynacare to do bloodwork…
my grandson to bring up the toolbox from the basement… he also brought us breakfast, chose tools and discussed a landscaping job that needs to happen in the garden… thankfully we did all of that outside…
and my son-in-law to catch the fish and take them out to the pond… he also repaired the very broken bottom step on the deck so I won’t fall through it, and fixed a rocking bench in the shade garden…
I was napping when the doorbell rang and I found three boxes on the doorstep… and a few days later, another box arrived…
they were from Irwin Tools and held a ton of excellent tools… levels, vice grips, knives, a measuring tape, a plane, straight lines, clamps and a ginormous hammer…
I won a contest on Instagram… how cool is that…
I will be sharing them with my grandson, son-in-law and maybe a few others, lol…
this afternoon my son-in-law came over and got the waterfall going… looks like he has also solved the vanishingwater problem by moving the large standing stone and levelling it… this is very exciting as we’ve been struggling for a few years trying to fix it…
he also spent a bit of time in the garage sorting the tools to give away, toss, and the items he wants to keep… we already have a couple of toolboxes with most of the things I might need…
finally, he did a quick fix of the step so I can use it until he brings over the board to repair it properly…
so happy to hear the water running in the garden;-)…
I had ordered the Velvet Glove’s Mother’sDay High Tea, and the kids got Afternoon Tea from Zoe’s in the Chateau Laurier…
my grandson picked mine up and dropped it off here for me… it looked so cute…
we had such fun… their savoury items were different than mine, but it was fun to compare…
we ate our way through the savoury items, and then the sweet items… I was full, and still had four sweets left (gonna have them with my supper)…
we drank tea (mine was Liza Hill) and chatted about everything and nothing, lol…
using my fancy tea set was fun and a way to include the matriarchs in my family…
I absolutely loved the presentation that the Velvet Glove used… it was much fancier than Zoe’s, which was a surprise because Zoe’s have Afternoon Tea on their menu every day, lol… I am going to save the tiered platter to use again, or make tea for someone else;-)…
I will certainly order this again… thanks to Carly who provided great customer service at The Fairmont;-)…
planning a fancy Afternoon Tea on Sunday and I’ve been trying to find a pretty teacup and saucer to use…
somewhere, in a box, in a closet, in the basement, there is a Royal Doulton teapot with cups and saucers, but I have no idea exactly where, lol…
so, I’ve been looking online and found a very cute set which I would have ordered, but it wouldn’t arrive until next week so that wasn’t going to work… I do love the saucer though…
while on a phone call today, I remembered a set that my mom, while she was serving as a WREN in England, had sent to my grandma…
I knew exactly where to find it, and was so pleased when I pulled it out, as it will be perfect;-)…
besides the small teapot, cup, creamer and sugar bowl, it also has a little toast stand…
not planning on any toast, but it is very cute and will look great with the other treats… so cool to have this family heirloom to use which represents both my mother and grandmother on Mother’s Day…
I have spent the last month planning how I would mark this special event, so there were, and will be, a few surprises for others…
I’ve been hearing about birthday weeks, so to start that off, on Monday I ordered Chinese food… it was lovely as I haven’t had any for a long time and I had leftovers for the next two days, which was a wonderful treat…
a number of parcels and envelopes arrived in the mail, which had to be set aside until today… this morning there were sparklers and singing;-)…
had a lovely gift opening time with the kids and received some delightful presents… paintbrushes, paint, a cool pad to make art pictures with, and a gorgeous window bird feeder;-)… my daughter is encouraging me to find a hobby… maybe it will be bird watching and then painting pictures of them… not likely, lol…
looking forward to trying all of the goodies… will need to wait for warmer weather to attach the feeder to the front window…
made poached eggs on potato patties, with bacon and asparagus… and I had it on my confetti plate… ended breakfast with half of a delicious pistachio cupcake which a friend dropped off for me yesterday…. nice start to the day…
texts, posts and phone calls have made the day extra fun… watched a cooking competition marathon…
lunch was cold shrimp with cocktail sauce… as I peeled them I was remembering fun times on the lanai in Florida, many years ago, with a dear friend…
moved orchids and flowers to set up the den for my video call with my BS friends and we had a great time… there was singing, tea, snacks, toasts, and lots of laughter… what a wonderful group of women…
there were more phone calls as the snow began to fall again… decided to order beef bones instead of barbecuing, as it was cold and windy…
that worked very nicely, it was delicious, and there will be enough for tomorrow’s supper…
what a ride these seventy years have been… truly, I am blessed and look forward to a year focussed on gratitude and living in the moment;-)…
herbiggirlpants 