we used to meet in the evening when we all worked, lol… since we are all retired now, we’ve moved to the afternoon… for some of the pandemic we met online and since the spring we’ve been meeting in the garden… then we moved into the garage for a while…
we moved into the house in the fall… for a number of weeks, I left the front and back doors slightly open and we wore our masks until everyone was sitting down…
now, the doors are closed and we no longer wear masks, but I still bring the coffee into the living room, where we gather;-)…
everyone drinks decaf, except me and my tea…
we often have pistachios and sometimes folks bring other treats… a great time of conversation and sharing…
hadn’t shovelled for a few days so went out on Saturday morning to do the sidewalk so people knew I was alive, lol…
wow… a lot of snow had come down…
besides doing the front sidewalk and a space towards each of the neighbours’ yards for the mail carrier, I also shovel a single path along the driveway to get to the vents for the furnace…
I want to be sure they aren’t plugged with snow, which stops the furnace… not a good look😳…
last night we went to The Leaf at Assiniboine Park…
I’ve been waiting ages for it to be finished… the Conservatory closed in April 2018, which feels like a long time ago… this was our view as we stepped into the space… possibly the waterfall is splashing a bit more than expected as there are a few areas that are wet, lol…
it didn’t disappoint;-)… the tropical biome is lovely and I expect it will look even more beautiful as times goes on…
the technology always interests me and they have done a great job of hiding the fire extinguishers but making them easily available…
the space is big and bold with the tall waterfall and large pond…
we spent a lot of time watching the koi… they were beautiful colours and huge… I was struggling with a bit of fish-envy…
I am looking forward to visiting next in the daytime…
the Mediterranean biome was reminiscent of the CMHR building with lots of stone… and it was possible to touch most of the plants;-)…
the display area was cute with many poinsettias, seasonal decorations and places for group photos…
the poinsettias were a sweet reminder of the old Conservatory at Christmas time…
the view looking down from the catwalk was wonderful although I felt a bit nervous with the height, so my grandson took all the pictures, lol…
the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden at the top of the building was nice…
it was late and dim so we only spotted a couple of butterflies that were resting… I definitely need to visit it in the daytime as well…
it wasn’t too full of visitors, and there were a number of staff (likely many were volunteers) to get you in and around the site…
there was a place to leave your coat (unattended) before entering the biomes, which was great as the space is warm;-)… there is ample parking and you can purchase tickets online or as you enter… you need your membership card, with ID, just like at the zoo…
a wonderful treat and I can hardly wait to visit again😊…
felt a bit like I was getting a cold, so I dug in the freezer for some chicken and made chicken soup…
just the making of the soup is always relaxing… you can’t really do it quickly… slow and steady;-)…
I also decided on Mom’s dumplings to go with it… that reminded me of the time I took chicken soup with dumplings for my colleagues… a few hadn’t had dumplings, so I made very small ones which I thought would work well… NOT… they were gummy and yucky, sigh… clearly not the way to serve them… so funny, lol…
six o’clock came and I enjoyed a bowl filled with delicious broth, veggies and dumplings…
felt way better🤗…
and then there were a couple of meals ready in the fridge…
herbiggirlpants 