Category Archives: family

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…

smile…

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

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recently read a quote on my Seize the Day calendar that said “Peace begins with a smile”…

brought a few things to mind…

a woman who I worked with for a number of years always smiled before answering the telephone… she felt, and I think it was true, that the smile made her sound more friendly and caring to the person on the other end of the phone… she credited her mother with the reminder;-)…

my daughter used peace love and happiness as her logo for many years and when I would see it, it always made me smile… found this on one of her old greeting cards…

it is hard to be angry with someone who is smiling…

cap…

09 Monday Mar 2020

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had quite the giggle this morning…

last night I had rolled up the toothpaste container and then put a bulldog clip on it to keep the toothpaste closer to the top…

this morning when I unscrewed the cap, the toothpaste shot out… clearly there was a bit too much pressure, lol…

reminded me of how I always blamed my beloved for the messy toothpaste tube… amazingly, even after he was gone the tube sometimes gets messy;-)…

strange…

eight…

05 Thursday Mar 2020

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today commemorates eight years since my beloved left me… he walked with me longer than I walked alone before and since his death…

I miss him… every day and in every way… I have grown so much since that day… and continue to as I move forward…

I’ve been thinking of many of the fun things that we did during our forty-plus years together… from camping in tents and pop-up trailers, to zip lining and riding up a mountain in a chairlift (for 2 people afraid of heights)… from Grand Beach to Goose Spit… from gardening to bathroom renovations… from family meals on the deck to dimsum in restaurants…

this morning I received a parcel from the kids in Ottawa… 3 cute plants in a wooden box… a great addition to the forest, lol…

the outdoors looked stunning after a night of snow, but the delivery person had to make a path to get to the door…

also received some earbuds in the mail that I had ordered from our AirMiles account, so it was like a gift from my beloved… took me a while to figure out how to connect them…

made steak, potatoes and mushrooms for my dinner… he would have grilled it, but I cooked it in the oven, lol…

poppyseed…

04 Wednesday Mar 2020

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was recently enjoying a Sweet Kale salad… I’d picked up a large bag at Costco and had been eating it over a week or so…

it comes with a poppyseed dressing and reminded me of the first time I had poppyseeds…

my beloved and I had announced our engagement and his best friend’s parents invited us over for a special dinner…

the first course was a poppyseed soup… it was the only item I remember from the entire meal… can’t even remember if it was cold or hot, lol…

my taste buds did not enjoy it at all and I can remember struggling to get it down, because in those days, when someone made you something special you ate it, lol…

I don’t think I’ve eaten anything else with poppyseeds in it until this particular salad, which I’ve been eating for a few years and quite enjoy…

trim…

02 Monday Mar 2020

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finished tidying the house this morning and then spent time reading while I waited for my cleaners…

once they arrived I got dressed and walked over to the hairdresser to get a trim… we both noticed that my hair seems to be growing a bit more quickly right now… once it was cut there was still a tiny bit of purple remaining…

it was a nice stroll there, a bit breezy, but on the way back big snowflakes were coming down and the wind was blowing sideways… happily my son-in-law picked me up part way home…

cleaners had gone, I made tea and we had a visit before he was off to his next activity…

finished the afternoon reading;-)…

snow finally stopped and it looked so quiet and peaceful out there…

friends came by for coffee and a visit, and when they left it was snowing again;-(…

watercolour…

29 Saturday Feb 2020

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over the last week or so I’ve been collecting things so that I can do some watercolour painting…

yesterday I gathered up all the equipment and sat down to paint…

when I did some of this at Christmas in Ottawa it was more difficult than I’d imagined it would be…

here at home I think it was even more difficult without my daughter’s mentorship, lol…

it was a fun hour, although I need to practice more;-)…