yesterday, for Valentine’s Day, I wore a lovely red pullover that my beloved got me in Banff, many, many, years ago;-)… it is one of the few pieces of red clothing that I own…
a lovely reminder of him and how romantic he was, particularly at Valentine’s…
I received an early phone call from my daughter and had my breakfast in a heart-shaped bowl…
lunch was a heart-shaped pizza, yum…
all of which was quite lovely…
ended the day with a hand-delivered card from my little buddies next door;-)… what a treat;-)…
began Saturday morning with my usual cup of tea in the living room…
the house was very quiet after all the activity over the week…
Monday, my group attended The Leaf and Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar to celebrate a birthday and view the Fleurs de Villes display, so that was a busy day…
it was nearly midnight when we picked up my daughter at the airport and we stayed up late (early!) catching up and eating Baked Expectations deadly chocolate mousse…
Tuesday we went for pedicures, stopped for lunch at a local coffee shop, picked up a few groceries and then returned home… I also learned the ins-and-outs of Uber… my housemate made us a delicious supper and lots of visiting happened…
Wednesday, we went to The Leaf and spent the entire day there doing all-the-things as she would say… in the evening she went to MTC with a friend while I took it easy, lol…
Thursday, after a quiet morning, she headed to The Forks for coffee with other family and later my middle grandson arrived for a visit and supper;-)…
Friday, we started our morning at Stella’s on Portage for breakfast and then spent four hours wandering through the WAG/Quamajuq… it was my first visit since the new addition and I was impressed with how great it turned out…
every day she brought out gifts for me🤗, what a treat…
it was a wonderful week and I enjoyed every single minute…
on Wednesday, my daughter and I spent six hours at The Leaf…
upon arrival we were surprised and delighted to discover a coat check for members… my coat was free and we paid $2 for my guest…
we were a bit early and shared a Rice Krispies square and hot chocolate while we waited for our entry time to the Biomes…
we had a great time in the Tropical Biome where we came across the head gardener and had an excellent conversation about the cacao trees and chocolate…
we visited the Mediterranean Biome to see the Fleurs de Villes displays and met and talked with at least four of the designers…
lunch at Gather was a delicious tomato bisque and grilled cheese focaccia for me, and duck poutine for my daughter…
for dessert she had the honey cake and I enjoyed the squash creme brûlée, which was delicious, lol…
back to visit both biomes where we learned about orchids from a regular gardener talk in the Tropical Biome, talked with two of the zoo staff who shared lots of information about the butterflies and the 52 koi in the pond…
we also got to hear a few violin pieces by Gwen Hoebig, who was one of the models for the FDV displays… my daughter took this photo…
it was hard to pick a favourite, but this time I chose the hoop dancer…
we had prime rib… for many years we would have steak and lobster with twice-stuffed potatoes…
so this was fun to try… cooking the prime rib was interesting… first, it had to sit on the counter for six hours to reach room temperature, then it went into the oven at 500°F for half an hour, and finally the oven was turned off and it sat inside it for two hours…
quite the process, but it came out perfect for those of us who enjoy rare meat;-)…
there were mashed potatoes, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts with carrots, little Yorkshire puddings, and gravy…
herbiggirlpants 