Category Archives: family

taste…

05 Tuesday May 2020

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someone recently talked about taking the time to enjoy eating, whether it is a snack, a meal, a treat…

tonight I had shrimp with cocktail sauce for my dinner…

while I was eating, I was remembering…

many years ago I flew to Florida with a dear family friend on vacation… I was there in case she had any problems with her health… we had a wonderful time and I enjoyed every minute with her…

one of the things you could do there was order cooked shrimp while shopping at the grocery store… while you shopped they were boiled and bagged for you to take home fresh… many evenings we peeled these delicious cold shrimp for our dinner as we discussed our day and life in general…

the other special memory was when we were in Hawaii last year and went to Shrimp Hale… it was a little restaurant in a strip mall just a short walk from where we were staying that we just happened upon…

the shrimp were boiled, butter, garlic and fresh lemon were added, and it was brought hot to the table in a plastic bag… we were given plastic bibs and gloves… the shells just went onto the paper on the table… it was such fun and so delicious…

such wonderful and special moments and memories… how blessed I am…

made my dinner taste even better…

internet…

23 Thursday Apr 2020

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today I had some computer fun…

I was watching a program on TV and they were talking about better ergonomics while at home… one suggestion was to use something under your laptop to raise it to eye level which made sense, except typing would be a problem, lol… after a bit of testing, I discovered that three of my resource books have produced what might be the perfect height…

the second recommendation was to plug in a keyboard, duh… I dug one out and plugged it in and am so happy with the more traditional keyboard which I am used to… remembering a dear colleague, I found an elastic and wrapped up the extra cord behind the laptop… she would be proud:-)…

I’ve also been having constant issues with my internet connection… mainly on the laptop… I figured out the program that seemed to be stopping my connection and set up a phone call with my son-in-law (the computer geek) to get his input… it had something to do with VPN, and although I did research, it was still too confusing for me to go ahead and do something on my own…

after less than five minutes with him, I had uninstalled the problematic piece of software and it looks like everything is working beautifully… yay…

always a good day when the technology works or is improved!

 

messages…

18 Saturday Apr 2020

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this morning I started my day with the last bag of Twinning Blackcurrant Tea…

texts, phone calls, and Facebook messages came throughout the day…

and the biggest surprise was my BS buddies singing happy birthday on the road with a sign on a six foot pole so that the two holders wouldn’t get too close… what a treat…

seeing friends, even at a distance, brought such warmth to my heart… thanks to my buddy for sharing her photo;-)…

took Barbie (the BBQ) out and grilled steak and lobster for my dinner… ate with my Ottawa kids via Google Duo… they had McDonalds, lol…

very different from last year, but certainly this birthday will be remembered…

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…