Category Archives: life

smell…

10 Friday Apr 2015

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there’s a lovely smell in the house these days…

last week when I picked up the tulips I also picked up a hyacinth…
was hoping for purple but it turned out to be a white one…
  
every time I walk into the house it smells like spring… even smell it when I am walking down the stairs…
recently had a lovely walk in the spring weather with someone I don’t get to visit with much…
had a cup of tea at Starbucks, where she had to point out the area where the milk and sweetener were located… 
I laughed as I mentioned how I was always embarrassing my girls by not knowing where things are located…
the peace lily is beautiful right now…
  

soup…

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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made pea soup with the ham bone from Easter dinner… a lot of soup… was a bit worried because it was quite thin…

then I remembered that I was on for Souper Thursday this week…

saved and froze the fabulous buns from our Homer’s dinner on Monday… I do not freeze bread of any kind, but wanted to keep them fresh…

took the car and brought the soup to the office… went over well, and tasted good… we also had cheese, hummus, veggies and various chips… many of my colleagues have only used dried split peas whereas I use frozen green peas…

  

brought home a little bit and will have to call my son-in-law to pick some up… he loves pea soup too…

when I got home I could hear robins singing in the backyard, even thought I couldn’t see them…

had a good swim and a great time with my friend…

look…

08 Wednesday Apr 2015

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can you believe this crazy weather…

  

this morning everything was covered in a light dusting of snow… really, sigh…

dull and overcast for most of the day… sun finally came out about 4:15 but it wasn’t out for long…

walked part way home and saw my first robins of the year… three of them… they moved too fast so I couldn’t get a picture… wonderful to hear their song though…

looked out the back window and saw this little guy…

  

he was eating some of the bird feeder sunflower seeds… there’s been another squirrel hanging around… got red and gray ones this year…

amazing what you can see if you take a moment to look…

geese…

07 Tuesday Apr 2015

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sitting at a light a few days ago I watched about a dozen Canada geese fly overhead…

I love the sound as they fly over in spring and fall… always a sign that the weather is improving…

  
took a photo of the Canada goose on the wall… my mom drew it… 
she started writing, drawing and painting when she was well into her adult years…
she was very good but as a perfectionist she always thought they could be better… 
I’ve been working on overcoming perfectionism for quite a few years now, lol…
we didn’t get on for many years but once I left home I began to appreciate her… we had a wonderful last few years before she died…

tonight I just looked out the window to see white covering the garden… snow again… 
maybe spring is a little further away than first thought, lol…

toes…

06 Monday Apr 2015

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started the day with a walk to the grocery store to pick up some dishwasher soap… sadly I had none and was having company for dinner so needed to get the current dirty dishes washed… 

decided to walk to get my exercise and it was sunny and warm out, so away I went… sign on the door of the store advised that their internet was down and they were only taking cash… usually I have sixty or eighty dollars in my wallet, but when I checked there was only a ten dollar bill… luckily the soap was only $7, phew…

I’ve been doing a lot of big girl pants activities recently and thought I deserved a treat, so called and booked an appointment for a pedicure…  

had to wait for my time slot but really enjoyed the pedicure… had a lovely young woman who was very gentle and gave me a wonderful foot massage which is my favourite part, lol.. pretty toes now…    

picked up some sushi and tried to get the car washed, but there was a huge lineup so I just kept driving…

had a rest, tidied the house and waited for friends to arrive for dinner…

had a wonderful evening…  

Easter…

05 Sunday Apr 2015

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saw a lovely tablescape on a TV program a few days ago and decided I would do something similar for Easter… rather pleased that I had the energy to take it on…

went to three Dollar stores to get all the bits…

  

used a beach mat, three very cute cut out placemats, a bamboo fence and the cutest little bunnies… also picked up a few paper lanterns and some tulips… final touch was some gingham napkins…  

had a great time putting it all together… even found some shells to fill up the coffee table and put a bunny and a hyacinth on it…  

kids arrived and then a young friend stopped by with her adorable twins… eggs were hunted and a pail filled with treats…

  

 

snuggles were shared all around…

ham, hashbrown casserole, Parmesan asparagus, sparking cider and a variety of cheesecakes for supper…

such fun… 

looking forward to dinner with my ReImaging friends here tomorrow night…

sardines…

04 Saturday Apr 2015

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busy day… out and about early to get groceries and a few things for tomorrow’s dinner with the kids…

picked up sardines for lunch with some lovely herb and garlic bread…

made me think of my dad… he loved sardines and would mash them and put them on crackers…

he died on Good Friday in 1988… interesting that I would be thinking of him today…

 he was a very special person… in my entire life I never heard him raise his voice to anyone… you knew if he used a certain voice that you were in serious trouble… 

he looked after my mom who struggled with depression for the greater portion of her adult life… and he looked after us for many months of the many years she was in the hospital… 

I still remember driving him to and from work every day as he became more and more affected by emphysema…

he taught me that every individual ‘s effort should be celebrated… he had been a great athlete in his early days and we spent many hours at the arena watching sporting events where we always cheered for everyone’s performance… 

I still love to watch many sports on TV, lol…

lovely memories…

treat…

03 Friday Apr 2015

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up early… of course I would be on a day off, lol…

treated myself to a homemade hot cross bun made by one of my friends… every time I eat one my blood sugar skyrockets… must be the candied fruit because she uses whole wheat flour when she makes them… this was the last one so there won’t be any more temptation…

spent time thinking of friends who are struggling… sad that you can’t really empathize with someone until you have gone through a similar situation… life can be very painful…

watched tv and then did a few chores around the house… tidied the dining room getting ready for Easter dinner with the kids and put a few shells I found into the table… still haven’t found the ones that were in it before Christmas, sigh…

decided to treat myself to supper and ordered thali from Clay Oven through SkipTheDishes…

  

it was delicious and I ate every bite… 

hoping for a sleep-in tomorrow…

celebration…

02 Thursday Apr 2015

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quite the day weather-wise… started out warm and sunny, snowed for a long time and then the sun came back out…

when I left for the doctor’s office it took me about ten minutes to clear the snow off the car… by the time I got into the car after my appointment much of the remaining snow had melted off the car…

  

here’s what it looked like out the window when I got home…

  

had a great appointment… blood tests showed my A1C test came back at 6.2 which was good news… she was pleased with my food diary and blood sugar records… and, my blood pressure was perfect in her words…

I don’t have to go back for three months and can start to eat a bit more protein at meals… I do need to eat more fish and maybe get a bit more exercise as my good cholesterol is low, although the LDL number is much better than the last test…

wanted to celebrate and considered ordering something for supper… then decided I would make the supper I had planned in the morning…

rather proud of myself, lol… but I did have a few chips and a little glass of Baileys…

lots to celebrate this week…

bingo…

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

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had a Health and Wellness contest at work where we had to get a blackout bingo…

it was filled with exercise and eating some healthy food items as well…

only three items could be marked off each day…

I was doing very well until I got sick, which put me behind as I wasn’t able to get all of the exercise in…

last Friday after yoga I was able to fill in the last square on my card…

this morning at our staff meeting I received one of the prizes for getting bingo…

   

 healthy snack bars and dark chocolate… yum… 

will have to eat the chocolate in very small portions…