wild things…

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

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Assiniboine Park Zoo, butterflies, Hudson, Journey to Churchill, polar bear, Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden, water, wild things

Journey to Churchill… the newest addition to the Assiniboine Park Zoo… it opened on July 3rd, but I haven’t had an opportunity to get there, particularly as it has been very busy on the weekends…

the last time I was there was in May and there was still lots of work to be done… the worst thing was the paths as they were filled with potholes and water… we had been going through a very rainy time… the other thing that has been a pain for over a year is that you had to walk all the way around on one side and then retrace your steps and go all the way around the other side… both of those issues have been resolved… the path is great – level and easy to walk on… and, at last, you can walk all the way around the zoo, woo hoo…

it is stunning…

muskox through the rocks…

the polar bear area is wonderful… there are lots of glass water viewing spots…

great viewing spots…

a few places to sit and watch for a while, and a wonderful tunnel under the water where you can see the bears swimming, and see all the way to the sky…

glass tunnel…

we found the seals swimming in a lovely spot where they were very easy to view…

seals cavorting…

the vistas into the space make you feel like you could step right into the beautiful setting…

vistas…

sadly, the early afternoon is often when the bears are napping, but we did get to see Hudson…

Hudson…

he was napping, but right by an open spot where he could see people… there were two interpreters there as well, answering questions… Kaska and Aurora, the two females, and Storm the other male, weren’t around…

great picture of one of the inukshuk’s with some of the group… a bit bigger than the one in my garden, lol…

little break at an inukshuk

we checked out other animals and finished up at the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden…

resting butterfly, maybe a viceroy…

we got a group photo just before heading our separate ways…

wild things…

a wonderFULL time… I am looking forward to going back very soon to see it all again…

sandwich…

15 Tuesday Jul 2014

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George, parent, protected, sandwich, support, switch, taken care of

was talking with someone a while ago about so much illness around us…

reminded me of the switch when the girls went from being the ones we supported to the ones who supported us…

our final parent, George’s mom, died and we were all together at the hospital… we came home and the girls organized pizza for supper…

they then proceeded to see what we needed… how they could help us…

up till that time we had been there to support and protect them…

but we moved from being the protectors to being the protected…

both George and I saw and felt the change and we talked about it quite a bit…

from then on they took on the role of supporters…

we went from being the meat in the sandwich to being the bread, lol…

since then, they have been looking after us…

and now they are looking after me… from checking in and seeing how I am, where I am, what I’m doing, what I’m eating, to calling one another and sharing how they think I am doing…

I am one lucky woman to have such wonderful kids…

technology…

14 Monday Jul 2014

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aquasize, database, nap, salt water tank, Skype, Technology

seemed like a busy weekend, so when I got home from work I had a little nap…

then I had supper and watched a bit of tv… tried to set up a new Skype address but technology wasn’t working with me… been a bit of that lately…

although I must say that I am really understanding our database at work… a colleague and I were discussing some new information we had received, and we both knew exactly what it was all about… great to realize that we have learned a lot about the system in the last year or so…

had a great visit by phone with one of my BS buddies… we used to go to aquasize together but she moved away and we’ve only gone a few times when she’s home… we just made two dates to go in the next month or so, which will be great fun… she will be back here on a more regular basis and we are looking to swim more regularly… looking forward to that…

when we were out for dim sum on Saturday, I got this picture of the beautiful salt water tank at the restaurant…

salt water tank at restaurant…

busy…

13 Sunday Jul 2014

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big girl pants, busy, full moon, goldfinches, hot tub

got up and had a hot tub just before the rain started… I sat there very still as the goldfinches were flitting about, as well as a couple of squirrels running around the fence and into one of the feeders, while the blue jays were flying through the garden… rather busy…

then, while one boy finch was at the feeder I thought I saw another yellow something fly past… wasn’t positive…

girl and boy goldfinch eating…

went for breakfast with the kids in St. Boniface, wearing those big girl pants again, and on to a few stores, including one where we got Jeff his belated birthday and Fathers’ Day gift – a new barbeque…

I headed to Safeway for groceries and when I got home and was looking out the window I saw two boy goldfinches at the feeder… yay…. didn’t get a picture, but will be trying to do that in the next few days…

last night the moon was full and very beautiful… spent a bit of time and got this photo…

full moon last night…

was rather pleased with the outcome…

construction…

12 Saturday Jul 2014

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bedside table, big girl pants, construction, dim sum, George, IKEA, Kum Koon Garden

went to IKEA with the kids this morning and they bought a bedside table for me that I’ve been looking at for a while… I saw it online but they didn’t have one put together in the store so that we could see what it really looked like… we’d searched for it last time we were there but couldn’t find it… today it jumped off the shelf as we walked by…

stopped at Rona for a few things for their kitchen and then on to Kum Koon Garden for dim sum with a young friend, who then dropped me at home…

had a nap and did a bit of housework…

after which, this box and four hours produced a very cute bedside table…

woo hoo, way to go me and my big girl pants…

there are many tools in the garage and a couple of toolboxes in the basement, but I used my tools… this hammer, which was made by George in shop class, and a small pink screwdriver that has multiple heads… George wasn’t allowed to use them and so they never got lost, lol…

rather happy with my project… and it fits perfectly…

leaving…

11 Friday Jul 2014

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cancer, cold turkey, George, leaving, mom, palliative care, valium

had a conversation recently with someone about my mom…

we weren’t very close as I grew up… she spent a lot of time in hospital and was on Valium for years which made her confused and disconnected…

she decided to stop taking the drugs when I was about sixteen and she quit cold turkey… not the way most people would stop, but she had made up her mind… it made a huge difference for all of us…

my dad died when the girls were eight and ten, and within months she was sick… eventually they discovered esophageal cancer and moved her to a palliative care facility which was across town from where she, and we, lived…

for four months I spent every day with her… we had the chance to work through all our differences and become good friends… at that time I was a stay-at-home mom and so was able to spend the time…

it was horrible and wonderful… not often does the opportunity come to spend such quality time with another person…

dying slowly is hard on everyone, the person who is dying and all those connected with them… it was a privilege to take that journey with her and know that we had sorted through all our difficulties… there was nothing left unsaid…

over the years George and I have supported a number of other family and friends as they left us slowly and as difficult as his death was, I was thankful that he didn’t go through days, weeks, months of pain and suffering…

if I think back, I can remember the last day, when I climbed into her bed and held her during the last hours… but mainly I remember the good times and how much she loved our girls…

she would have loved all our boys, old and young…

nature…

10 Thursday Jul 2014

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dragonfly, garden hose, moon, nature, watered

this morning I ran around the garden watering all the baskets and plants… I could not believe that they were thirsty, but they were…

I am loving the new hose… works beautifully, isn’t heavy and doesn’t kink…

sadly it won’t work with the water barrel… clearly not enough pressure, so I will still do some hand watering when there is time… the plants really like the rain water best…

when I arrived home and walked into the garden from the garage, a very large dragonfly flew up and landed on my purse… stayed there while I pulled out my phone and opened the camera… then it flew away before I could get a picture…

just looked out the window a few minutes ago and saw this lovely moon…

will be completely full on Saturday…

been a day filled with the wonderful nature around me…

paperwork…

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

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benefits, George, insurance, paperwork, strong, surgery

today I was reminded of the couple of times that I was off work for a few months at a time, and another when George died…

once was four years ago when I ended up in hospital with pancreatitis and then had my gall bladder removed… we were supposed to have flown to BC but instead I spent six weeks in the hospital and eight weeks recovering at home… George was with me throughout the whole process and supported me as I dealt with all of the paperwork as I struggled to get some benefits from Service Canada… eventually I jumped through all of the hoops and got a little support… we celebrated our 40th anniversary while I was in the hospital…

then, when he died I went through the process of filling out numerous forms, terrified that I might do something wrong which would mean I wouldn’t get his insurance benefits…

two years ago next week I went through another serious surgery… this time without George… besides having to get through the surgery and recovery on my own, I had to go through the process again to get funding… it was not any easier the second time around…

all of those experiences were very stressful… particularly when already going through a difficult situation…

as I look back on them I realize how strong I actually was… but still remember the fear every time I had to fill out one of those forms…

lobster…

08 Tuesday Jul 2014

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hibiscus, IKEA, kitchen, lobster, Red Lobster, shopping, slushy drink

went shopping at IKEA after work with Crystal and Jeff, to order their kitchen… it was very exciting… couldn’t believe how many people were there on a Tuesday night, but kitchens went on sale yesterday so there was a crowd…

to top it off, they paid with cash, which kind of shocked the young woman at the register… I do wonder how long it is going to be before places won’t accept cash… she had to call a supervisor to double count the money… after all that, she forgot to make change, lol… luckily Jeff remembered before we left…

then, to celebrate, we went out for dinner at Red Lobster…

had very nice slushy drinks, those amazing biscuits, and lobster… saved just enough to have for lunch tomorrow…