Category Archives: loss

escargot…

04 Wednesday Jan 2023

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for years we celebrated New Year’s Eve with steak and lobster… this started with friends before we had kids;-)…

at some point it moved to New Year’s Day as the kids wanted to participate but were off celebrating on the night before…

this year I enjoyed the preparation as I worked on getting escargot stuffed mushrooms, baked potatoes, fried mushrooms and sautéed Brussels sprouts ready…

the kids arrived, got the barbecue going and then grilled the steaks and lobster tails…

dinner was delicious and we had a great time…

on Monday, as I emptied the dishwasher and put away all of the pieces we used, I revisited the fun and special moments…

and the tradition continues…

first-footing…

01 Sunday Jan 2023

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we have done first-footing since I was a little girl… for us, it meant that just before midnight on New Year’s Eve my dad, who had dark hair, would jump in the car and drive around to all our aunts and uncles and grandparents’ houses and take them an offering – it always included coal, bread and sometimes oranges and a little drink of something… I also remember how my dad would have to search out new coal every year because no one ever kept it from year to year, lol…

from Dalhousie Castle:

“Stemming back to the time of the invading Vikings in the 8th and 9thcentury, it is believed that the first person to enter a house, the “first foot”, can bring luck – or misfortune – for the year ahead. In Scottish tradition good luck comes in the form of a tall, dark-haired man being the first footer.” Dec 7, 2020

I spent time this morning looking back at some of the different ways it has happened for me…

my daughter being the first female to cross the threshold first when she was here in 2017…

my middle grandson taking home a bag and making sure to bring it and be the first one to cross my threshold…

my daughter arranging for friends to come by with a box of items she had sent to them…

while visiting the kids in Ottawa, having a diamond necklace in the bag because there wasn’t any coal, lol… and I did have to give it back🤪…

this morning I went out the back door in my housecoat, walked around to the front door, and first-footed myself…

those big girl pants 😂…

endings…

31 Saturday Dec 2022

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been thinking of those in my circle who are struggling… sometimes it is hard to remember that not everyone finds joy at this time of year…

holidays are often a time filled with grief and pain for many… and often it comes out of the blue…

maybe the rush to get everything done and perfect adds to the stress that then can bring on ill health or sad memories…

as one year is ending and another beginning let’s all sit in the moments and enjoy as many as we can;-)…

blessings to all…

murky…

29 Thursday Dec 2022

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it has been a quiet few days here…

time has been spent watching bunnies and birds and squirrels through various windows…

but in the house there has been a problem with one of the fish tanks… it has been very murky… I’ve tried a few things without success…

Wednesday was spent taking about a quarter of the water out of the tank, deep cleaning the pump and filters and finally, adding fresh water…

yesterday I could see the difference… and I was very pleased with how clear the water is so far…

excited to see if it gets even better over the next few days…

stain…

14 Wednesday Dec 2022

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I’ve been taking the time to enjoy the moments…

one of those moments was my delight at finally getting a stain out of this sweater;-)…

seems like a little thing, but I had tried for ages to get it out… particularly as I have been wearing more long sleeved warm tops…

reminded me of my mom, who loved doing laundry, and could just about remove any stain…

parcels…

13 Tuesday Dec 2022

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been wrapping presents and in the process, making a bit of a mess, lol…

things are now ready to pop in the mail and the finished parcels have found their way into the living room…

Christmas is coming and things are getting organized;-)…

almost ready;-)…

turnover…

06 Tuesday Dec 2022

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Sunday we celebrated my beloved’s birthday…

the kids in Ottawa ordered A&W and I ordered it here… this was as close as we could manage to get burgers which were one of his favourites, lol…

ordering and having the meal delivered makes it easy to meet and eat at a specific time without going crazy in the kitchen trying to get separate meals ready…

we met online and enjoyed our burgers and chatted about him…

whenever we meet up we like to “cheers”… in person or over screens…

after we finished our call, I had one of their apple turnovers… he loved apple pie;-)…

it was a low key and enjoyable way to remember him…

ten…

03 Saturday Dec 2022

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Thursday marked 10 years since I started blogging…

and when I looked at my stats, they tell me I have reached 500 followers… wow…

it also means that ten years have passed since my beloved left me…

just yesterday a delivery arrived and the box smelled of cigarette smoke… haven’t smelled that for years and it reminded me of him, as he was a smoker…

I miss him all the time, but I also know he would be proud of how I have grown over these years…

ten…

01 Thursday Dec 2022

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today marks 10 years since I started blogging…

and when I look at my stats, it tells me I have reached 500 followers… wow…

it also means that ten years have passed since my beloved left me… ten years…

just yesterday a delivery arrived and the box smelled of cigarette smoke… haven’t smelled that for years and it reminded me of him, as he was a smoker…

I miss him all the time, but I also know he would be proud of how I have grown over these years…

this photo includes a wooden angel that he made for me;-)…

ten years…

plugged…

29 Tuesday Nov 2022

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the trees made their way up the stairway…

found the box and had some fun placing them…

have one that needs to be plugged in, so I need to figure out how to get it connected…

the rest look great… Facebook told me I had done the same thing on this date two years ago… and I was thinking it was kind of early, lol…

a final few went onto a table by the front door… these include a few that my beloved made many years ago…

I like how they look, and they are connected to Google;-)…