Category Archives: family

sunlit…

17 Friday Apr 2020

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yesterday I was in the hot tub early in the evening, which is not my usual pattern…

I watched geese flying south in the blue sky…

I also watched a number of birds in the elm tree next door… in the sunlight they looked like they were bright red in colour… many flew from there past the garage…

I stared at one of them for the longest time trying to decide if it was a sunlit robin or something else… because there were so many of them I didn’t think they were robins as usually I see them alone… eventually it flew away…

thinking how my beloved would have been able to provide a certain answer as he had eagle eyes;-)…

as soon as I got into the house I checked my bird book and my bird app (of course I have one) and am pretty sure it was a robin…

but it was exciting for a few moments as I imagined all kinds of very red birds, lol..

here’s the photo that my Merlin Bird ID came up with…

options…

13 Monday Apr 2020

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played with some technology so that I could have Easter dinner with the kids in Ottawa…

we tried two or three options and ended up using Google Duo… worked nicely, once we got it figured out after my son-in-law found it, lol…

they got a bit fancier with their table… I was focussed on getting the computer set up, lol…

I had roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turnip, asparagus and cranberry jelly… they had homemade pasta, salad and chocolate bunnies:-)…

everything was delicious and it was a nice treat to eat with others…

doorbell…

10 Friday Apr 2020

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been a quiet day, although I did get dressed, lol…

this afternoon, as I sat reading in the living room, the doorbell rang… sounded odd as the doorbell has not rung for quite some time…

on my steps was a brown bag with Happy Easter on it and a dear friend standing on the sidewalk… she had made hot cross buns … which she does every year, and usually brings to our Monday night gathering closest to Easter…

she was dropping off these treats to each of our doors so that we could enjoy them;-)…

I couldn’t wait and warmed it up, buttered it and enjoyed every bite…

what a wonderful Good Friday surprise and treat…

twisted…

03 Friday Apr 2020

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my daughter sent me a calendar wth daily yoga for April, so this morning I decided to do some… I got an old yoga mat out, arranged my phone so I could see it from the mat and started the video…

unfortunately I twisted my back in the process so I’ve had to be very careful with everything I’ve done for the rest of the day…

since the girls were little I occasionally end up with a hurt lower back… sadly, it usually takes ages to return to normal… there’s never an obvious action to cause the problem… it just means being careful about standing for too long and twisting the wrong way when sitting…

my solution today has been to quietly sit in the living room and read… so happy I found the books on Kobo…

for a good portion of the day it snowed and late in the afternoon the sun came out and it looked beautiful with everything covered in snow… especially as I didn’t have to leave the house…

as I was sitting and reading I looked out to see the most beautiful sky…

seeing this stunning view was a very special moment, which I enjoyed…

deadhead…

30 Monday Mar 2020

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Monday is now plant watering day… used to be Saturday, but this new schedule is working well…

was talking with someone about their friend who, whenever they visited, would walk around and deadhead all the plants in the house…

as I was wandering around the living and dining room this morning I was reminded of my mom and mother-in-law and how they both did that in my house… they were both gardeners and certainly had green thumbs, actually – hands, lol… the plants always seemed happier after they had been over…

I think of my friends who are also amazing with plants… right now I am working on growing an avocado following one of their directions;-)… hope it works…

I also spent a bit of time enjoying the newest blooms…

flowers sure do make me happy…

envelope…

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

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mail…

yesterday I received an envelope with a beautiful card and goodies in it…

another of my Advent All Year packages from my daughter…

a nice treat in this time of staying at home…

the card had a butterfly and flower on it and there were cute leaf stickers and two very cute camera paper clips inside…

thinking of where I am going to use those paper clips…

such a pleasant surprise…

changes…

23 Monday Mar 2020

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I’ve noticed a few things during this time of social isolation…

but I do think that sheltering in place – words used in the US by many – feels like a kinder description, although maybe not as clear for those who are not paying attention to the seriousness of the situation we are all in…

I have been isolating since I returned home from Ottawa in January as I recovered from a very intense final six months before I retired… of course I was still able to go out, but mostly I stayed home…

I did get to see my boys a few times, so that was lovely…

one of the things I’m pleased to see is a family that has been playing street hockey in front of my house a couple of times… haven’t seen kids (and their parents) out on the street getting some exercise for years;-)…

the other thing is about being told to stay at home and how it makes you want to go out… this reminds me so much of times when I’ve been told what I should and shouldn’t eat, and how all I could think about were those things!

when our girls were little I had to have access to the car, although I rarely went out in it… just knowing I could made being at home much easier…

we must stay home to protect everyone…

popping…

20 Friday Mar 2020

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after a conversation yesterday I had an urge for popcorn…

I love theatre popcorn a lot and sometimes eat the entire bag before the movie even starts, lol…

I used to have the bags that were nuked, but now I make it in the microwave in a glass measuring cup with a cover and put a tiny bit of oil on it when it is popped…

last night I decided to make some and poured butter on it as a treat…

you have to pay attention when it is cooking… if the popping slows down too much the popcorn burns…

as I was preparing it, I remembered doing an event with my dad at his work… I was maybe twelve… he had arranged for a popcorn cart and we made the popcorn fresh for the guests… it was fun…

great memories…

comfort…

14 Saturday Mar 2020

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after yesterday’s odd day, I decided to make some comfort food…

things that have always made us feel good, or remind me of special moments;-)…

the first thing I made was a batch of cornmeal muffins… I’ve never made them before, but the idea of a tasty – bread-type – food sounded good… they were delicious and went well with the Thai Shrimp Soup that I had for lunch…

then I made macaroni and cheese… this has been a family favourite since the girls were small… I packaged it up into containers and will bake it when I want to eat it…

finally I made bacon, mushrooms and croutons… I remember my mom and dad making this for supper… it was usually served on toast, but I’ve adjusted the recipe and add croutons at the end as I don’t usually have bread in the house… the crunch is a perfect accompaniment to the soft bacon and mushrooms…

it really was comforting to spend the day in the kitchen, making these reminders of family times…

noticed…

12 Thursday Mar 2020

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had a bit of a giggle on Monday night…

while I was having a visit with my BS buddies, one of them noticed that I had a dryer sheet attached to the back of my shirt… when she took it off, there was a second one as well…

what made it particularly funny was that I had removed two sheets from the sleeves of the shirt in the morning when I got dressed… apparently that particular shirt likes to collect stuff…

I rip the sheets in half and reuse them a number of times which means that there could be a number of them in a load of laundry…

I also went out for lunch… there were no diners behind me and luckily my friend didn’t notice, I hope, lol…

the next day I put on a pair of Spring-looking leggings which I thought I’d worn before… at the end of the day I discovered they had the plastic size information still on the leg…

lucky for me, I spent the day at home;-)…

my beloved would have noticed these things…