09 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
I went for a walk… outside… in the neighbourhood… no idea when I did that last…
walked with my daughter in my ear…
didn’t go too far, up to and around Bruce Park… it was lovely to see flowers, the creek, and get some photos…
felt fine at the end… only met a few people and they weren’t close to me…
05 Sunday Sep 2021
Posted in business, family, life, moments, Photography, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
balloons, big girl pants, blessed, flight, hot air balloon, memories, moments, weather, widow
woke up and watched half an hour of FMG balloons taking off from the Gatineau Airport…
brought back such wonderful memories… our first flight took five tries in 2013 but when we finally made it, it was spectacular…
that flight was from the grounds of the Festival…
in 2014, we made it the very first time and ended up taking off from the same airport as I watched the liftoff online…
the Festival happens on the September long weekend and I am hoping to make it there again… someday;-)…
31 Tuesday Aug 2021
Posted in camping, family, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, boat, cormorants, family, fishing, lake, memories, moments, nature, photos, water, weather, widow
spent a delightful afternoon on the water…
we jumped in the boat and went to a few different fishing spots… no luck at the first one but we did much better at the second…
saw turtles and cormorants… the cormorants got a bit tired of us following them along the canal, but I got some great photos…
I also caught two fish and brought another one up to the side of the boat where it decided to jump off, lol… and the rule is, if you don’t get it into the boat it doesn’t count…
one of the Jack’s I caught was around 30 inches (second biggest of the day) and put up a fight before getting into the net… the other was smaller, but really any fish is great;-)…
good thing I have all these excellent fishers around me to provide backup and helpful instructions…
24 Tuesday Aug 2021
Posted in family, food, garden, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, dinner, family, flowers, food, garage, garden, Grandpa, moments, mum, mums, plants, tablecloth, weather, widow
had a lovely dinner tonight with the kids…
they brought me a bunch of mums for the garden… I had been collecting parcels for them over the last few weeks, so we traded, lol…
we ate in the garage as it was a bit cool out and rain threatened… I am still nervous about having people in the house for any length of time…
even put one of the plants on the table to provide some ambiance;-)… looks good with the tablecloth, but we won’t mention all the “stuff” that is everywhere…
we spent time remembering how grandpa knew where every single thing was located and planning the organizing and decluttering that has to happen…
13 Friday Aug 2021
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, food, friends, garden, moments, nature, Pho Hoang, pond, rain, rainfall, sky, time, weather, widow
Sunday to Wednesday life was very busy…
Sunday, a friend, her husband and daughter came over for lunch… the garden looked beautiful and we had a lovely visit…
lunch was a delightful collection of goodies from Pho Hoang… everything was tasty…
on Monday morning I had an early meeting in the garden and the rain held off just long enough for us to finish…
Tuesday morning, when I woke up after the storm in the night, I discovered that the hibiscus and dahlia planters were both tipped over from the strong wind… when I looked at the neighbour’s yard I discovered a large branch had fallen right next to their house… thankfully, nothing was damaged…
Wednesday morning a friend stopped by and we had a great catch-up…
in the evening my grandson came for his birthday dinner… delicious steak, lobster, mushrooms and twice-stuffed potatoes were on the menu…
once again, great timing… as we were cleaning up the sky turned very dark… we just got all the cushions inside when the wind and rain arrived…
we have certainly appreciated the rainfall;-)…
10 Tuesday Aug 2021
Posted in family, food, garden, health, life, loss, moments, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, car, family, garden, grandson, memories, moments, photos, purple, shopping, twenty-one, widow
today, my grandson turns twenty-one…
apparently I am getting lax in my old age as I haven’t been taking as many photos as usual…
these are three of the most recent ones with him in them, lol… but they cover the important things…
in this first one he is cleaning out the hot tub for me… he often comes over and looks after various household and garden jobs…
currently he has my car and here he driving me home after my first Covid-19 vaccination where he kept me company through the entire process… and suggested we get an ice cream treat…
this last one is him heading out in the car after delivering items off for me… he runs errands for me and drops off bits and pieces whenever needed…
what a wonderful time these twenty-one years have been…
he is a wonderful support…
09 Monday Aug 2021
Posted in business, family, garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
busy time in the garden on Saturday…
my grandson came, whipper snipped, trimmed the weeds in the driveway, and blew all the leaves and detritus… we do like the blower, which can also act as a vacuum… everything looks tidy… he also helped get one of the bubble machines going…
a bit later Hilda the Gardener spent time weeding and tidying so that the garden looks well cared for… it is always such a treat to see how lovely everything looks after she’s been here…
meanwhile, I had lightly fertilized the plants that are heavy feeders, filled bird feeders and pulled out a few weeds in the new grass…
bubbles make me happy…
02 Monday Aug 2021
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fun times, garden, grandson, happy, hot tub, lifesaver, memories, moments, photos, remembering, treat, water, widow
came across this photo yesterday… it is one of my all time favourites…
it was taken twenty years ago (so it isn’t quite as crisp as I would like) in a rented hot tub in our yard…
for a few years we would rent a hot tub for our anniversary weekend… it was such fun and a wonderful treat… so lucky to now have my own hot tub to use whenever I want;-)…
the lifesaver is so cute and his little face is adorable;-)…
our grandson just loved it then, and he still enjoys using hot tubs…
makes me smile to remember special times…
01 Sunday Aug 2021
Tags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, everyday, family, garden, George, hands, happy, health, memories, moments, morning glories, pond, purple, remembering, widow
the Olympics have been a distraction as this day has come closer – what would have been our 51st wedding anniversary…
I’ve spent the day thinking of some moments with my beloved…
the everyday things: changing up the configuration of the ponds; working in the garden as it changed over the years; caring for his lawn, trimming the Virginia creeper, fixing whatever needed attention; making the world’s best French fries, fried egg sandwiches and salads; driving the girls and I everywhere; reading and playing with our grandsons; cleaning the garage, packing the car, barbecuing; the strength of his hands that could wring out a cloth so it was dry, massage a sore neck, scrub a pot perfectly clean, and gently hold my hand when we were out walking…
so many little things…
I’ve been remembering our 40th anniversary… I was in the hospital for an extended period of time and he came every day and brought me pictures he had taken of whatever morning glories had opened on that particular day… I took this photo just yesterday…
he also sent me a basket filled with 40 roses… each night they had to be moved into the hall because their scent was so strong I couldn’t sleep with them in the room, lol…
a friend recently lost his partner and has decided to refer to their anniversary as the first celebration of their 41 years together… what a lovely way to describe it…
today I am also enjoying the sentiment of this beautiful card which I recently received in the mail…
what a blessed life I have lived;-)…
25 Sunday Jul 2021
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fun, garden, Google Home, grandson, iPhone, link, moments, plug, pond, Technology, water, waterfall, widow
been wishing that I didn’t have to climb behind the planter every time I need to turn the waterfall on and off…
I decided to look online to see if there was something I could use outside to control the plug…
I was so excited to find a KASA TP-Link outdoor plug… KASA is part of my Google Home system, and the plug was reasonably priced…
my grandson picked it up for me and it was easy to add to my Google Home… well, he added it, lol… I can even add another item to the plug as it has two outlets…
this is going to make dealing with the waterfall so much easier, and I’ve been having fun turning it on and off;-)…
