09 Sunday Jul 2023
Posted in business, food, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cupcakes, food, friend, friends, garden, High Tea Bakery, home, moments, pond, sharing, time, treat, walk, weather, widow
enjoyed the sun in the garden on Saturday and had a visitor who brought cupcakes from High Tea Bakery…
we shared two of them and they were very tasty…
really, there is nothing better than spending time in the garden with a good friend;-)…
06 Thursday Jul 2023
Posted in business, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cacao pod, cacao trees, fell, fish, flowers, friends, garden, Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar, koi, moments, nature, plants, The Leaf, time, waterfall, weather, widow
had another lovely visit to The Leaf…
visited the cacao trees and took a few photos for my daughter, lol…
had a good time watching the koi and even got a few reasonable shots;-)…
met my buddies for lunch at Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar and it was tasty, as always… our server, Camille, had served us on Friday when we were there last and remembered me;-)… she did a great job to ensure our meal and time there went well…
after lunch I spent a bit more time with the fish;-)… and then sat and wrote this blog as the water fell in front of me;-)…
great way to spend time;-)…
04 Tuesday Jul 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, cacao trees, Diversity Gardens, family, flowers, garden, gather, happy, lilies, moments, nature, plants, The Leaf, thrilled, water, weather, widow
on Friday, before my daughter left to return home to Ottawa, we went one last time to The Leaf…
we walked through the Diversity Gardens in the daylight and were happy we went early, because the temperature was rising quickly…
we checked out the Water area and were thrilled to discover water lily blooms…
then it was on to the Tropical Biome to visit the cacao trees… while there, she provided a little education for a few visitors;-)…
some of us stayed in that spot, and the rest of us checked out the other areas… we weren’t able to see the Butterfly Garden or walk on the skywalk as they were closed for the day, but it was fun to check out both biomes…
we had an early lunch at Gather, one last visit to the cacao trees and then home to nap and finish packing for the flight…
26 Monday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beach, big girl pants, blessed, bread, cookies, family, memories, moments, sandwich, snack, treat, village, Village Green Bakery, widow
Sunday morning we made sure to be up in good time to get to the Village Green Bakery at Victoria Beach…
they have the most delicious bread and yummy cookies…
you don’t want to be late or the good stuff might all be gone;-)…
we picked up a loaf of bread, a smile cookie, a coconut and oatmeal cookie, a double chocolate cookie, and two sausage rolls…
we sat in a lovely park and had a snack of some of the goodies and then checked out their beach…
home for a sandwich and then some reading and napping… couldn’t wait to take a picture of the whole loaf, lol…
23 Friday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, experiment experience, family, food, fun, happy, lake, learning, missing, moments, recipe, tasty, Technology, treat, waffle maker, waffles, widow
came by a waffle maker not long ago and we decided to bring it with us to the lake and try making some…
this particular one had no instructions, so we went on YouTube to figure out the process…
not sure why, but I’ve never had, or made, homemade waffles, so it was a fun learning experience… a friend sent me their favourite recipe, which I printed off before leaving home… what I didn’t do was actually read the recipe, lol… so, we went to the store here to pick up a few of the necessary ingredients, like regular milk and baking powder, but we couldn’t find cake flour, so made do with plain…
it was fun searching the kitchen to find the items we needed for the process…
once everything was gathered, it didn’t take long to produce some rather tasty waffles.. we had fresh strawberries and also picked up whipping cream…
delicious and fun, although it does take a while to make them, lol…
a great experiment, and maybe supper will be chicken and waffles…
already thinking about other things that it might make;-)…
19 Monday Jun 2023
Tags
beefsteak, big girl pants, blessed, butternut squash, cucumber, food, garden, growing, moments, nature, pictures, squirrel, strawberry, tomato, vegetables, widow
I am so pleased with how the garden is coming along, even with this rather changeable weather…
there are teeny little cucumbers starting to grow… at least one butternut squash has started, and there is a lovely beefsteak tomato…
the beautiful strawberry got eaten… and not by a human;-(… not sure if it was a bird or a squirrel, but I’m leaning towards squirrel, lol…
17 Saturday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, cacao trees, chocolate, dinosaur trees, family, flowers, food, gather, grown, happy, happy place, magical time, moments, nature, plants, quiet, The Leaf, waterfall, widow
Tuesday and Wednesday we spent hours at The Leaf in Assiniboine Park…
things have grown and been added since I was last there…
there was mist rising from the ground and there are now three cacao trees…
it was very exciting to see them in flower and with pods on one…
Tuesday we were there in the morning and came across some school classes and quite a few other visitors… we had a delicious lunch at Gather and went back into the biomes for a last look before heading home…
on Wednesday we went in the evening… I had hoped the lights would be on but they weren’t until after we left, lol… there were few others in the space and ample opportunities to sit quietly and reflect on the beauty of nature…
thanks to a very knowledgeable volunteer, we found the sugar cane and the dinosaur trees…
we did enjoy dessert at Gather before a quick walk through the Diversity Gardens… one treat was sitting by a fire in the Indigenous Peoples Garden…
looking forward to another visit in a few weeks… cheers;-)…
12 Monday Jun 2023
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, chocolate, computers, daughter, dueling, family, fudge, garden, grandson, moments, Technology, time together, treats, widow, work
last night my daughter arrived from Ottawa… it was wonderful to see her in person…
the flight was early and my grandson picked her up at the airport and brought her home…
there were a number of thoughtful gifts which I will enjoy, including a delicious chocolate bar which reminds me of the amazing fudge that my dad used to make, a ceramic dragonfly, and the cutest little butterfly bowl which I will use to hold my pills…
I am looking forward to our time together over the next few weeks…
an evening in the garden ended with dueling computers… it was nice not to have to call her to discuss the piece of work we were doing, lol…
and then, an early night…
looking forward to many fun activities while she is here;-)…
07 Wednesday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, crackers, dill pickle soup, family, food, friends, fun, memories, moments, Premium Plus Salt Topped Crackers, remembering, Taverna Rodos, treat, widow
today, as I was enjoying the dill pickle soup that I didn’t eat when we were at Taverna Rodos on Monday, I remembered a lovely story shared by a friend…
with the soup, they included some Premium Plus Salted Top Cracker look-alikes… because the box is pretty big I haven’t had them in a very long time, so it was a nice treat… my favourite way to eat them is as a little sandwich, with butter or margarine…
my friend and their family really enjoy food, so they had quite a variety of crackers in their home…
one day one of the kids came home and advised that they had just had the most delicious crackers and that the family should get some…
it took a while, but eventually they were able to name them as Premium Plus Crackers…
so funny that with all the fancy crackers they had, the kids had never had the Premium ones…
such a chuckle, particularly as in my home that was the only type of cracker we ever had;-)…
06 Tuesday Jun 2023
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, BS, celebrate, food, friends, fun, liver, lunch, memories, moments, Taverna Rodos, treat, weather, widow
on Monday our BS group went to Taverna Rodos for lunch to celebrate an upcoming birthday… it was very hot so we chose the inside and had a great time…
I had liver and onions with gravy, along with a salad and French fries… it was wonderful and I enjoyed every bite…
other dishes included lemon rice soup, souvlaki, steak sandwich, and a chicken and Caesar salad… and maybe a few desserts;-)…
fun times as we considered how long we’ve used the birthday bag and the photo on it, lol…
lots of sharing, laughter, and some singing…
herbiggirlpants 