Category Archives: life

weeds…

28 Sunday Jun 2015

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quiet day spent mainly in the garden… off to the left is the bucket I filled with weeds and spent blossoms which I pulled…

lots of wildlife again… saw at least three goldfinches which reminded me of the day last summer when there were five males at the bird feeder at the same time and I saw them and got a picture… that really was a spectacular moment…

  
laughed for ages after one of the little red squirrels fell out of a feeder, landed in the pond, jumped out and ran through the yard at warp speed… think it was surprised and maybe a bit embarrassed…

 
my bunny friend is spending lots of time here… this afternoon she was suntanning while I was reading… knows that I won’t do anything to hurt her I think, as I can move around without causing her to charge off…
  
planters are looking very nice… hard to believe that June is nearly over…  

as I sit here, ending my day in the garden, I am missing my kids as they weren’t able to come by for dinner tonight… 

also missing my beloved… never know when those moments will surface…

odd…

27 Saturday Jun 2015

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very odd weather day…

got up and went outside first thing… it had been sunny but by the time I got out it was starting to cloud over…

decided to only put out the cushions for the chair I was sitting on… which turned out to be a good plan, lol…

there was so much activity that I couldn’t stay focused on the book I was reading…

  
the bunny stopped by and dealt with a number of dandelions… good thing because I never did manage to get any weeding done…

   
 

the goldfinch family were all over as were the sparrows…

  
there were at least three squirrels in the garden at the same time… beside these gray ones there was one cute little red squirrel…

  
seemed like they all wanted to get as much food as possible before the weather changed…

and change it did… rained, cleared, rained, there was thunder, rained, cleared and so on for most of the day… eventually about four it seemed to have settled down…

  
just a little while ago it got instantly dark followed by thunder and lightning and then the hail came down…

  
yikes…

change…

26 Friday Jun 2015

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worked this morning but was home by 12:30… changed and walked over to the Park to meet my BS friends for a birthday lunch on the patio at The Park Cafe…

walked under this tree which seemed to have flowers and berries on it at the same time…

  

gorgeous day and enjoyed the walk…

we had a wonderful time together…I had a burger with coleslaw on a pretzel bun…

  
yummy… not sure when I last ate a burger but that was what I wanted today…

am always amazed at the depth of our conversations, even after twenty-five years… today we talked about our end of life wishes as well as how we had dealt with our elders’ transitions from life to death… there is a deep well of wisdom within these women…

after lunch I took a quick trip around my favourite gardens before heading home…

was very surprised to see that all the lilac bushes have been removed from two areas… they had been there since the gardens opened… it was just a few weeks ago that I had rested under a canopy of lilacs enjoying the beautiful scent…

  
removing them has certainly opened up the garden… and I’m sure that I will get used to the new look…

change is always happening, whether I am ready for it or not…

evening…

25 Thursday Jun 2015

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what a wonderful relaxing evening I have spent in the garden…

on my walk home I met up with this bunny…

  
this was the precursor for the rest of the evening…

while my dinner was cooking, I sat outside on the deck by the hot tub to watch for the goldfinch family… and look who turned up…

  
after supper, had a short nap and came back out to finish my book and have spent the last hour or so enjoying the antics of a little red squirrel…

  
he started out on the bench by the bird feeder…

 
happily snacking on fallen sunflower seeds, he spent some time on the bottom deck…

  

moved over to the planters on the main deck and happily posed for me by the flowers…

under the deck and onto the steps where some leaves were the meal of choice…

  
sparrows have been cleaning up the leftovers under the feeder right beside him and everyone has just gone about their business…

he’s been back and forth just a foot from me for the whole evening, clearly not considering me a threat of any kind…

what a wonderful treat to have the time and opportunity to enjoy the antics in the garden…

  

Cirque…

24 Wednesday Jun 2015

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after work I met my daughter at Rudy’s Eat & Drink… we had a lovely supper during which time the sun shone, the sky darkened, it poured, and the sun shone again…

did I mention we were sitting on the patio???

 
thankfully I had my rain jacket with me… there was a cover over the patio, but, for a while, the wind was blowing the rain onto me, not my daughter, lol…

she checked the weather which said that it wasn’t going to rain and then all of a sudden there was a weather warning…

  
then we went to the opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai…

she got this great shot…

 
saw my first Cirque show in Montreal a year or so ago and really enjoyed it so was excited to see this one… it was excellent and we both had a great time…

the day started at 5:30 am with a loud thunderstorm which lasted for a short time… again, the sun came out shortly after and I took this picture of water drops on a hosta…

  
the sun shone for the entire middle of the day…

active…

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

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walked home from the grocery store after work…

beautiful evening so I sat outside while my supper cooked…

lots of activity in the garden… 

goldfinches were flirting back and forth to the feeder…

cutest little bunny wandered by…

 
and sat beside the garbage can for the longest time…

a squirrel came right up to me on the deck and gave me a good look… I advised it that this was my deck at which point it turned and scurried off, lol…

a fair bit later, possibly after a nap, I went outside and took this picture of the sky…

 

darkening early as it is getting ready to rain… the garden is quite dark… really enjoying how the white flowers pop in the evening…

  
thinking about a hot tub but may depend on whether there is a downpour…

  

searching…

22 Monday Jun 2015

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met with my ReImagining friends tonight…

wonderful group of women who continue to search for new ideas and share deep thoughts and feelings…

  
lovely supper and check-in before we had a great conversation about soup and how it could be a metaphor for life…

had a request for spiral fabric… so once I got home, I dug through my stash to see what I had… 

for years my fabric has been referred to as rags following a comment by a former colleague who once referred to my numerous pieces as rags… made me giggle considering how much I had spent over the years on my collection… and so the name stuck…

I don’t sew or quilt, I collect fabric… used for all types of things, but mainly as a decoration to make spaces look better, prettier, more comfortable…

found a few pieces…

  
hope they will work for the project…

daisies…

21 Sunday Jun 2015

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the daisies have taken over the path by the pond…

  
I don’t actually think there were any planted in this garden, lol…

there have been daisies in the backyard for at least twenty-five years…

for many of those years they have travelled back and forth across the garden…

they would be on one side of the yard and within a few weeks would move through the grass… whenever George mowed they would bloom right at grass height and then move a little bit further before he mowed again…  

 

these pictures are from either end of the pathway… the daisies are everywhere, lol…

they are so bright and happy looking… 

  
final bonus today are these jolly jump ups that self seeded…

  
so cute…

 

watching…

20 Saturday Jun 2015

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first thing this morning I moved a chair on the deck so that I could watch the bird feeder… I had seen the cardinal from the bedroom window and was wanting a closer view…

  
sat quietly while the kids slept watching for it… nothing…

after they were up I spent time finishing up the garden area…

  
cut down some small trees and cleaned out lots of weeds beside the cute little barn-shaped shed… the raised beds are looking very nice…

enjoyed breakfast, packed my bag and had a nap…

made a little lunch and sat on the deck for my last meal before coming home…

  
the female cardinal came by while I was eating… amazing because the first time I saw the male was when I first arrived… I’d been standing on the deck and he flew through…  never saw him again although I was watching… she sat at the bird feeder the entire time I was eating… felt like a lovely farewell gift…

bus to the airport and a goodbye wave from my daughter…

 
 

Montreal…

19 Friday Jun 2015

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up at 5 this morning to catch a 6:30  train to Montreal for the day…

began our day at Bota Bota for the water circuit… dry or wet sauna, plunge pool, hot tub, lounge chairs… which we repeated three times… very relaxing… sun was shining, we were on the water, and there was a slight breeze… great fun… they don’t allow pictures but we had permission to take this one by a cool art installation…

  
It is on a boat right on the water so you sit in a sauna or the hot tub and watch the waves lap up to the boat…

  
had a bit of trouble finding a cab, but eventually got one to Prohibition restaurant where we had a lovely lunch… the service was exceptional…

 
we heard from a friend that this was the place to go for food in Montreal… my salads lever du soleil was very tasty and my daughter’s French toast with fried chicken was delicious…

they called a cab for us and our final destination was the Montreal Botanical Gardens... I had been wanting to see the outdoor gardens as last year we only made it through the conservatories… the gardens were lovely…

the Rose Garden was amazing and we spent quite a bit of time in it…. there were some lovely water lilies in the Water Garden and a number of the ponds were filled with lily blooms…

 
enjoyed the Japanese Garden which is still under construction…

 

you could see the Olympic Stadium in the background…

after a lovely afternoon of wandering around and taking pictures to our hearts’ delight we headed back to the train station and into the Business Class Lounge…  well, this is the way to travel… comfy chairs and unlimited snacks as we waited for the train… plush, spacious seats with a table between on the train… alcohol, hot supper and chocolate to end the dinner, served on China with real silverware… 

wonderful end to a very memorable day….