last night my grandson came over just after dark to bring me a few items and do some jobs around the garden… here he is arriving, thanks to my new camera…
and the goodies he brought… I’m excited to try the purple popcorn…
he took the pump out of the pond, moved the heavy furniture onto the back deck, and then we spent time trying to catch fish…
two cellphone flashlights lit up the pond as he searched for the fish… amazingly he caught one of the shubunkins… quite a feat as they look mainly black in the pond and by then it was very dark out, lol…
I’ve been masking up now whenever he is over because of where he works… last night I ended up taking off my glasses as they kept fogging up, so I was trying not to fall into the pond… which was a feat as there are a bunch of rocks that have been pulled out of the water and are all over the deck, lol…
because I knew he was coming I had made our favourite red curry lentils and packaged up some for him to take home, along with a couple of items for the others… he was sad to hear he had to share the lentils;-)…
we often get a bit of snow before Halloween, but it usually disappears… not sure that is going to happen this year…
I went out to the garden, dug the shovels out of the garage and shovelled off the top deck and by the hot tub… I set up a few spots for bird seed…
this winter I am going to keep the top deck clear so that I can feed the birds… last year the kids didn’t come by to shovel and my guy only does the bottom so the deck became impassible… still need to figure out how to attach a feeder to the deck…
with retirement, I can clean the deck whenever it works best for me, or a little at a time, lol…
this afternoon I spent three hours outside with the hot tub technicians while they emptied, moved, opened all eight panels, filled, found two small leaks, repaired them, emptied, replaced the panels, moved back, refilled and turned the tub on… it was cold and windy…
now waiting for the two days it will take to heat the water and hoping that this has fixed the problem…
since then I’ve been trying to warm up… finally, about half an hour ago – after five hours – I don’t need any additional blankets and have taken off my sweater…
yesterday I prepared a lovely chicken dinner, one of my favourite meals… set up a time and had dinner via Google Duo with the kids in Ottawa…
it was delicious… mashed potatoes and cauliflower, turnip, green beans, stuffing, gravy, cranberry jelly and roast chicken… I had tried a few new ways to prepare and everything turned out well… for a change I added mushrooms to the gravy and really enjoyed it…
although it was as much effort as when the family comes over, it felt less stressful as I worked to produce this dinner… and I really enjoyed eating it, lol…
set the table with a leaf tablecloth, a few decorations, and the laptop, lol…
had a great meal together and then I tidied the dining room… after that a nap may have been involved, lol… put away the leftovers and enjoyed my dessert – a chocolate covered caramel from Hummingbird Chocolate…
this morning I started the chicken stock and enjoyed the aroma of soup throughout the day…
our lives have changed so much in the last months… and I’ve spent time considering many of the things I am thankful for…
my retirement at the end of December has been a huge change… I had worried that if I retired I would turn into a hermit, lol… and so I did…
during these crazy covid times I have been able to find businesses that deliver groceries, books, technology, plants, meals…
I am in touch with friends through various applications, and have enjoyed many garden visits during nice weather…
I have found help with projects and my neighbours are available if I have issues…
my grandson has my car and picks up items on a regular basis when I can’t find them any other way… the younger ones have looked after maintaining the grass and helped with the pond…
time spent in the garden, following the shade, soaking up the peace and serenity has been amazing… watching flowers bud and open, birds and squirrels at the feeders, and fish, frogs, plants and blossoms in the pond have whiled away the spring, summer and now fall…
the majority of the plants in the garden and front yard have been hit by the frost…
I had been waiting to bring in one of the daturas but I couldn’t decide which one to use…
this morning the decision was made for me as two of the three plants I had been looking at were dead, lol…
I went out and was able to lift the remaining planter and then carefully moved it step by step into the house… then I put it onto a towel, lifted a portion of the carpet, and dragged it to the window…
we finally got the dust to deal with the 3 wasp nests we have discovered around the yard… I had spoken with someone at Poulin’s and they recommended we try this before having someone come out and basically do the same thing, lol…
my grandson picked it up and sprayed it in all the places…