Category Archives: family

duo…

12 Monday Oct 2020

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yesterday I prepared a lovely chicken dinner, one of my favourite meals… set up a time and had dinner via Google Duo with the kids in Ottawa…

it was delicious… mashed potatoes and cauliflower, turnip, green beans, stuffing, gravy, cranberry jelly and roast chicken… I had tried a few new ways to prepare and everything turned out well… for a change I added mushrooms to the gravy and really enjoyed it…

although it was as much effort as when the family comes over, it felt less stressful as I worked to produce this dinner… and I really enjoyed eating it, lol…

set the table with a leaf tablecloth, a few decorations, and the laptop, lol…

had a great meal together and then I tidied the dining room… after that a nap may have been involved, lol… put away the leftovers and enjoyed my dessert – a chocolate covered caramel from Hummingbird Chocolate…

this morning I started the chicken stock and enjoyed the aroma of soup throughout the day…

usual…

10 Saturday Oct 2020

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the usual family dinner is not happening this weekend…

this year I decided to cook a special dinner just for me;-)… will use some technology to eat with my Ottawa kids…

today I made stuffing muffins for my grandsons… one of their favourites… the smell was delightful and a reminder of what makes a meal special… the eldest grandson will pick them up…

I also prepared potatoes and cauliflower for cooking… I tried something different as I prepared them because, if it doesn’t turn out, I’m the only one eating it, lol… I also cooked a small turnip and made fresh cranberry jelly…

usually as I am preparing for a special dinner I am thinking of those who will be enjoying the meal… today I thought about what a sunny day it was outside, even if it was chilly… and how blessed I am to have the food I want and a place to eat it safely…

doable…

08 Thursday Oct 2020

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while I was working in the garage yesterday – a job I’ve been putting off for eight years – I realized that it was doable and wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined…

my system is to take the garbage bin into the garage on Thursday’s and fill it up with various bits and pieces…

today I also brought a table in to lay things out in piles of things I need, things I don’t really know what their purpose is, and things my son-in-law may want to use or for scrap, things to give away and garbage..

I also found some useful items which were put away in the new spots I’ve decided on…

seems like I spend a little over an hour at a time working but I am seeing improvement and actually found some counter space on the workbench;-)…

dust…

02 Friday Oct 2020

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we finally got the dust to deal with the 3 wasp nests we have discovered around the yard… I had spoken with someone at Poulin’s and they recommended we try this before having someone come out and basically do the same thing, lol…

my grandson picked it up and sprayed it in all the places…

we will wait and see if this works…

fingers crossed…

backpack…

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

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my personal shopper arrived with a few items I had missed from my grocery order the other day…

he came by motorbike and luckily I only needed a few items as he had to fit them all in his backpack…

he brought eggs, mushrooms, and the margarine that I use which is hard to find…

I am so thankful to have this wonderful young man in my life…

stuff…

20 Sunday Sep 2020

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yesterday and today I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the garage…

I haven’t done anything with it since my beloved died… and that was eight years ago, sigh…

I still don’t know where stuff is or even what stuff is in there…

last month I had the roof reshingled and now I’ve decided to make cleaning and sorting it out my fall project…

it is going to take a lot of time, but for now my plan is to fill the garbage can each week with junk and set aside things I want and things I can give away…

this picture might look like a before, but it is actually the after of yesterday’s effort…

three shelving units were cleared off, the garbage can was filled, the next door neighbour took some firewood and the neighbour behind took the fancy woodworking wood that I discovered…

boxes were set up and put on the shelves for gardening, pumps, plants, bubble makers and fish supplies… and I found a couple of things I can use… brought one item in for another little project, and gathered scrap metal for my son-in-law…

today my middle grandson finished emptying the final few shelves, loaded up boxes with bits of wood to take home for their fire pit, washed down all the shelves, put the items back on the shelves and mowed the grass…

the oldest moved the ladders, picked up items at various stores, trimmed the Virginia creeper and loaded the wood into the car…

it is kind of exciting to really know where some stuff is…

looking great;-)…

blackcurrant…

18 Friday Sep 2020

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months ago I ran out of my favourite tea – Twinning Blackcurrant… I was very sad… I went online to see if I could order it direct from the company, but they no longer carried it…

about a month ago my Ottawa son-in-law came across a site in Europe that appeared to have it… I went online and ordered one package as the photo looked slightly different and I didn’t want to get a ton of tea I might not like…

Tuesday a very sad package arrived in the mail in a ginormous plastic bag…

the big plastic bag was an apology from Canada Post regarding the state of the parcel…

thankfully the plastic covering the box of tea was still intact and the tea bags were fine…

I made a pot of tea and it is the right kind;-)…

so happy… I then went back online and ordered 12 boxes… yay…

wet-vac…

16 Wednesday Sep 2020

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my grandson came by to get the fish tank ready for the goldfish to come into their condo…

the pump had stopped working in the spring and we hadn’t dealt with it over the summer… he ran it over to the fish store and they discovered the problem and it is fine now…

the tank had lots of dirty water in it and we tried various disgusting methods to empty it… after a number of ideas failed, we brought in the wet-vac and it worked great…

it is now empty and all of the bits and pieces have been scrubbed and are waiting to go back in… next week he will bring some new purple gravel and we will get it set up…

likely around Thanksgiving we will bring the fish in;-)…

tasting…

13 Sunday Sep 2020

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received a chocolate tasting package from my daughter months ago…

we finally got together via Google Duo and did the tasting together… the last time I participated in one was over Christmas in her dining room… it was set up beautifully…

this one was certainly different… I didn’t think to put them on a pretty plate, but did have them lined up and with the note pages… in the end I felt very happy and enjoyed what I had learned… she really helped me discover the different notes of the five pieces of chocolate;-)…

my favourite was a Qantu 70% Chuncho bar…

next time it would be fun to have a few other people participate and hear their thoughts;-)…

nowadays…

11 Friday Sep 2020

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had my quarterly doctor’s appointment yesterday…

nowadays it involves a bit of organizing… once I have the date, I have to go a week beforehand for my blood work… which means that my grandson and I have to sort out when I can get the car back twice…

yesterday morning he brought it early and went for a bike ride while I went for my appointment…

we met up at home and there was just enough time for him to run out and pick up breakfast for me before he headed off… a nice treat…

it is a bit of a pain to sort out when I need the car, but his having it and doing any shopping that I need is so helpful during these COVID times…

he’s planning to come over on Sunday, clean the aquarium and run out and replace the dead pump so it is ready for the fish to move in… time seems to be flying by…

we are also going to have lunch;-)… talk about being blessed…