the mattress had gone upstairs on Saturday, and the tables and couch put back in their usual space… I also changed the orchids on the sofa table, putting the ones that are blooming onto the dining room table and the ones that aren’t into the den…
it wasn’t until Monday morning that the carpet and coffee table made it back into their spots… my housemate had to lift the couch so I could slide the carpet under the feet to hold it in place…
I’ve now added a tray on the side table to keep it from getting scratched and added some flowers…
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…
went from home to Total Wrapture spa for pedicures, then on to San Vito for lunch, followed by a return trip home from Foodfare…
it was the perfect day for it as it was very cold, snowy, and windy…
one of the vehicles had automatic sliding doors, which was kind of fun…
after being trained in the process of ordering the ride, and other information on the app, I tried to sign up for it, but it was using my old email address, so we have to get that sorted out and then I will try it on my own…
a great experience, particularly with how quickly they pick you up after contacting them…
Wednesday morning I went downstairs to do some laundry and found water following a path between the carpets in the back room…
the water was coming from under the hot water tank…
this freaked me out as in 2013 a leaky hot water tank flooded the basement… drywall had to be cut out, huge fans brought in and everything in the basement put into boxes and moved out while the remediation company returned the basement to normal…
two technicians arrived from a neighbourhood company and spent a day and a half in the basement and up a ladder to the top of the chimney…
after numerous issues – the wrong type of tank being delivered, too short a ladder, screws sticking out all the way down the chimney –
finally the new gas water heater is installed and working… throughout the process the technicians continued to find new ways to deal with the problems…
our group went to view the Fleurs de Villes display after our birthday lunch at Gather…
as always, a walk through the Tropical Biome is rejuvenating…
we had such fun as each of us shared different points of interest as we wandered through the lush vegetation…
we visited the cacao trees, saw coffee beans, enjoyed new vistas of the fish, chatted about the banyan tree, spotted many heliconias, and got dripped on a few times, lol…
we moved on to the Mediterranean Biome for the Fleurs de Villes exhibition…
all of the mannequins (that represent the arts in the city) were very nicely done… we met two of the designers and spotted things we liked at every display… it was amazing to see the details that had been included…
after we’d been around once, most of us went around one more time, as we each made a decision on our favourite and filled out the ballot which we received as we entered the space…
the Fleurs de Villes exhibition is always stunning and such a delight to have had here two years in a row;-)…
herbiggirlpants 