had a quiet day yesterday… spent time taking photos of ornaments on the tree and the orchids…
a friend dropped off the fixings for turkey dinner which I warmed up at supper time… it was a lovely treat and made for a relaxed and enjoyable meal… ended the day with hot lemonade in my new mug and gifted shortbread…
this morning the living room looked lovely and I enjoyed the serenity as I sat in the quiet and enjoyed the lights…
the Ottawa kids and I Skyped and we opened our presents together… following our usual pattern, in this unusual time, we opened the gifts one at a time… it was great fun… they liked all their gifts, which made me happy…
one of my gifts from them was all the fixings for my New Year’s Eve dinner… usually on New Year’s Eve we have steak and lobster, although for the last number of years that meal has happened on New Year’s day… there was beef carpaccio, lobster, truffle chips, olives, red peppers, cookies, a lovely glass of wine (with gold in it) and a festive cracker…
there were also gifts from a number of friends, filled with goodies… I am blessed…
a bit later the Winnipeg kids FaceTimed as they opened the gifts I had sent over… I didn’t do so good with their gifts as two of them had received the same gift from their parents, lol…
yesterday I peeled potatoes and turnip, made stuffing, and produced Thai Shrimp soup so that there wouldn’t be too much to do today… I had decided that, even though I would be here alone, I wanted a proper Christmas dinner… it was delicious;-)…
three different present deliveries to me today… and one last night…
only spoke with each person for a second… it was chilly out there, but such a joy to have a socially distanced word with each of them… and these days that is an exceptional treat…
on Wednesday I ordered sushi for my dinner from Sei Sushi... it was so nice, although I missed my grandson who is my usual sushi partner, lol…
yesterday, I spent time in the morning making mashed potatoes so that when I warmed them up at supper they were better for me… I even made gravy to go with the chicken… it was delicious… although a more colourful vegetable would have looked prettier…
today I had a charcuterie board from Modern Plate Catering for my lunch… it was fun to set all the bits out on a tray and make it pretty…
my morning schedule is to put on the kettle for my tea, choose my Advent treat for the day, feed the fish, and prepare my breakfast…
when I get to the calendar, which is on top of the fish tank, the fish are running back and forth to make sure I know they are there… and starving...
I can practically hear them, lol… later in the day, they will rush over as I enter their space to see if they can convince me that they haven’t been fed…
I figured I didn’t need thirty plates available at my fingertips for feeding all my company so I moved a number of plates and bowls and added a few Christmas ones where I can reach them;-)…
interesting how long it took me to let go of that stack… also moved some of my favourite dishes off a counter to fit in with the rest..
this morning I went into the garage and put birdseed into pails and a bin… I was very happy because the woman from Preferred Perch who delivered it last night put the bags on the table for me…
the bags weigh 50 pounds so that made it easier to fill the pails and bin and there is still one entire bag left…
I think there will be enough to last for quite a while…
with everyone learning how to connect with family and friends over the last six months or so, my daughter reminded me that we have been doing this for years…
just today, a Facebook memory was of a gathering we had eight years ago… my daughter was in BC, my son-in-law was in northern Alberta, and the rest of us were here…
technology has come a long way since then and there are many ways to connect… the main ones I currently use are Skype, Google Duo and FaceTime… I’ve been using Skype Organize a Conference Call without going through my Skype account, but over the last few weeks going through my account is working much better… I think I need to learn a bit about Zoom…
it would have been my beloved’s 72nd birthday tomorrow… we’ve commemorated it a number of ways over the years and this year I plan on dinner from Modern Plate Catering, with my Ottawa kids on Google Duo…
we’ve had some wonderful birthday celebrations over the years…
one of my favourites was his 61st birthday… he was recovering from quadruple bypass on his 60th, so we couldn’t do anything special, lol… on his 61st we had dinner out at Fusion Grill with his boy friends and their partners…
during his illness he had three particular friends who went for walks, coffee, talks and visits with him on a regular basis… it was such fun to spend time with them all together… it was a great surprise for him and everyone had a lovely time…
last night I spent ages searching for this picture and did not find it… this morning it came up in my Facebook memories, lol…
fun to remember some of those special times… makes the days happier;-)…
the first was from La Belle Baguette and included croissants, butter tarts and sourdough bread… I was hoping for scones, but they aren’t baking those just now…
I am so happy that they are doing deliveries on Fridays and Saturdays now that we have been shut down again… I shared the croissants and enjoyed my chocolate one… it was delicious, as always…
I had other things planned for dinner, but decided on a grilled cheese with onion and bacon… yum… the rest of that loaf will be cut up for stuffing and popped into the freezer…
the butter tarts were put into the freezer, either as a treat for me, or something to have should anyone drop anything off and I want to send something home with them…
a bit later in the day, my groceries from Save-On-Foods arrived… these days it takes four or five days for delivery and more items are out of stock… but, nearly everything gets here…
I am blessed to have these options available… and happy to do a bit of local purchasing where I can…
herbiggirlpants 