Category Archives: life

orchid…

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

got a lovely surprise today…

my friend brought me a gorgeous purple orchid…

IMG_0481
it was a thank you for using my car… I’m happy to lend it to her… it always comes back filled with gas and freshly washed… I still don’t like to take it to the car wash…

during the winter I don’t take it out much so it is always happy to get a drive in, lol…

I was so happy because I’ve been trying to get out and pick an orchid up for the house… they are wonderful because they flower for a long time…

I do tend to treat flowering plants like cut flowers… enjoy them until they die off…

was particularly lovely, as I had spent the day at home… still wasn’t feeling well so gave in and climbed back into bed this morning…

had a hot tub in the afternoon and watched the squirrel come down through the trees like they were stairs… didn’t see any birds even though the sun was shining… it shone for a good portion of the day which was also very nice as it has been dull for ages…

hoping to feel much better in the morning…

IMG_0480

faces…

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

I have a similar picture to this on my computer sign in screen at work…

orchid... do you see a face...

orchid… do you see a face…

recently a colleague had been at my desk and took a few moments to admire the picture and advised me that she felt it looked just like a face…

made me think of George, who was always bringing me orchids… for home and the office…

I was missing him tonight as I was sitting in the hot tub… not feeling that great and remembering how well he took care of me when I was sick…

I always felt I was a much better patient than he was, lol…

he nearly always knew what I would like to eat and would organize it… often fried egg sandwiches would be on the menu… he really made the very best ones…

this picture is from 2011… around this time that year a couple of us took a photography class… we had such fun… it is great to go back and remember some of the great things we have done…

snow on the deck in January 2011...

snow on the deck in January 2011…

a reminder of how blessed I am and have been…

daffodils…

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

spent some time this morning getting a few shots of the daffodils I picked up on Sunday when Jeff and I went grocery shopping…

IMG_0458
so happy to have fresh flowers in the house… even took a few to the office today… brightened up my desk nicely…

had a wonderful call with a friend tonight… haven’t connected for a while so it was lovely to have the opportunity to catch up…

both of the kids here called me tonight to let me know about the boil water advisory in the city… made me think that they consider me fragile… and maybe I am, sigh… have heard from other friends by email and Facebook…

IMG_0459
bought this gorgeous cup when I went looking for a cream and sugar I had seen on Facebook… sadly they weren’t the correct colour but I was excited to see this cup… had first seen these pieces when we were at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights over Christmas…

usually I gravitate toward blues and purples, but this earthy tone took my fancy…

I find that drinking water out of pottery makes it taste better… still not that fond of water for drinking, but I am working at it and getting more down…

connecting…

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

a while ago I finally read the manual that came with my blood sugar meter…

I discovered that there was a cable that could connect the meter and the computer and with a piece of software you could download all the readings… which I had to get…

of course you have to call the company between nine and five on a weekday to order the cable…

finally got through and had to give them all my information and the meter’s serial number before they could arrange to ship the cable…

gave them my work address for delivery as there is always someone able to accept a parcel there…

but I did find the parcel hanging from the the doorknob on my front door…

then I had to download the software and appropriate drivers…

eventually I was able to connect the meter and the computer and get all of the readings…

this is wonderful as I have been recording the readings three times a day in a note app on my phone…

2015/01/img_0405.jpg
lots of hooking things up to get the required data…

looking forward to printing out the reports next time I see the doctor…

frames…

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

mostly a quiet day…

watched tv and then worked on the picture frames to go on the staircase wall…

been planning and thinking about these frames for a number of months…

purchased the frames from IKEA and they have been sitting on a shelf waiting…

while the kids were here at Christmas, we decided to use water lily pictures which I have taken over the years… took quite a while to come to that decision because I have taken many flower pictures and couldn’t decide which ones to choose…

in the end the water lilies called to me as they are in water – one of my favourite things, and have beautiful flowers…

then I had to choose fifteen… well I think I ended up with about twenty five, lol…

was going to have them printed at Staples but decided a few days ago to print a few at home and see how they looked…

this morning I finally dug out the pliers so that I could open the back of the frames and put a couple in…

slow process, as I had to move each picture around to see the best view… then I had to print them a few at a time…

eventually I chose five pink, five white and five purple…

finished them just before the kids arrived…

next step will be to hang them…

2015/01/img_0429.jpg
hope that doesn’t take as long as the previous part of the process…

2015/01/img_0430.jpg
maybe one day I will put this one up on the wall…

water…

24 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

lovely day… woke up fairly early and watched a bit of TV…

did some chores around the house and then was picked up by my daughter and a friend and went to Thermea (a Scandinavian-type spa)… it just opened this month and we wanted to check it out… packed a bag with robes, flip flops and a toque…

one of my favourite places is the Kingfisher, on Vancouver Island…this spa reminded me a bit of their hydropath…

one nice thing about Thermea is that you can spend the whole day moving from the saunas to the hot tub and cool tub and the cold pool and waterfall…

2015/01/img_0406.jpg
there were dry and wet saunas (a eucalyptus one and an orange one)… usually I don’t last long in them, but found it much easier today… must be those big girl pants…

even encouraged the girls to try the polarer pool… name kind of says it all… the temperature in that one is 10 C… just a bit refreshing…

we had a lovely snack and even had a mimosa before we hit the water…

the relaxation spaces were lovely… one had heated marble benches which were very nice… we also sat around a fire in a roofless log cabin… my hair still smells like a campfire, lol…

hardest part of the day was not talking… all the sauna and relaxation areas are quiet zones… after a while hearing people talking was a little irritating:-)… we did pretty well…

I do love the water… it was a lovely treat…

2015/01/img_0409.jpg
glad I was talked into going…

sky…

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

the sky has been outstanding the last few weeks…

tonight, as we left the office, it was so pink and blue that it was hard to take my eyes off it…

when I got home I dropped my stuff at the front door, turned and got this shot…

2015/01/img_0394.jpg
just stood and enjoyed the beauty… it was also ridiculously warm so it was easy to stand and watch the sky…

then, when I got upstairs and looked out the window, I had to take another picture…

2015/01/img_0393.jpg
to top off the day I brought home my beautiful flowers and put them on the coffee table…

2015/01/img_0392.jpg
think the fish like them as well…

life is good…

presents…

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

I love presents… I’ve always loved them which anyone who knows me knows, lol… George would always be bringing them home…

yesterday I received the beautiful bouquet of white hydrangeas and purple mums…

today I got two presents…

a friend gave me a gorgeous scarf…

2015/01/img_0370.jpg
it was from she and her sister to thank me for something I had given them, which they are both enjoying…

the second was supper from my swimming buddy…

2015/01/img_0371.jpg
not sure what the official name was but it was a stew of chicken with chickpeas and potatoes and it was delicious…

it was perfect as I had struggled with a sad tummy all day and was wondering what I might make for dinner…

should have gone to Aquasize but just wasn’t up to it…

went out for a hot tub… it is plus 3 right now… bizarre for the third week in January… but lovely…

the final treat was to discover my solar dragonflies were lit for a few hours… they haven’t been on for a couple of months and I was thinking maybe they were broken…

2015/01/img_0368.jpg
this is a sure sign that the sun is shining longer and stronger every day and that it shone today… we have really been suffering from lack of sun this winter…

I really am blessed…

flowers…

21 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

had a rather hectic day…

in amongst all the activity these beautiful flowers arrived…

2015/01/img_0351.jpg
they were a surprise from my colleague, who is admiring them in the picture…

I love flowers and have been missing them the last few weeks… George always made sure I had live flowers during January and February to help make the winter easier… so far I haven’t been able to pick any up as it has been too cold to have them in the car… he would warm the car up and then pop the flowers in and rush home, lol…

on our way out of the office I had to stop and take a picture of the gorgeous sky…

2015/01/img_0350.jpg
it was still light at 5:03… that is very exciting…

made dinner, had a nap and then walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes…

snacks…

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in health, life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

figuring out snacks isn’t always easy these days…

seems like thinking and planning meals and snacks takes up a lot more of my time…

have to be sure I have fresh vegetables and appropriate meat…

every morning I have to sort out, and then eat breakfast…

next I have to figure out what I will take for lunch and a possible snack at the office…

finally I need to get something out for supper…

seems like a lot to do first thing in the morning…

this morning I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer…

cheese and celery or almonds are often snacks at the office…

tonight I made popcorn… figured out how to make it in the microwave in a Tupperware measuring cup that has a lid… a bit of oil and salt and voila:-)…

2015/01/img_0326.jpg
took out the meat for tomorrow’s supper tonight, lol…