Category Archives: moments

enjoying…

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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saw the most amazing sky tonight as I was walking through the house…

it always amazes me when I just happen to look out and see a gorgeous sunset or sunrise… there are so many moments that we miss because we aren’t looking, lol…

here is one of the photos that I took, just before my camera advised me it was exhausted…

I am feeling that a pattern is appearing in my days… I am getting up around eight or nine and then having a relaxing breakfast… today I had some chicken soup I’d made a few days ago in the Instant Pot… I hadn’t tasted it when I made it so was pleased with it this morning… I’d woken up with a stuffy nose, so chicken soup seemed like a great start to my day…

for my lunch I had some of the Mexican Chicken Soup I’d made at the same time…. I will make this again as it is very tasty…

a bit later I spent some time working at cleaning out a kitchen drawer… even went as far as putting a liner in as well… took a while for everything to dry and be ready to go back into the drawer and a number of things hit the garbage and pass-me-over box…

reading, watching tv, tidying, napping and cooking take up the rest of the day…

so far I am enjoying the relaxed quiet days…

decluttering…

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

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had a very productive and enjoyable day…

spent time in the morning decluttering, deep-cleaning and reorganizing a rolling cupboard that my beloved built many years ago…

felt very pleased with the outcome… got rid of some stuff and made space for the Instant Pot;-)…

then had a delightful visit and some treats with a dear friend…

followed by some reading and a few phone calls… caught this sun dog as I looked out the window;-)…

enjoying the moments in this new portion of the journey;-)…

sauté…

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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a few days ago, after doing a lot of research, including a conversation with my Ottawa kids, I went out and picked up a wifi Instant Pot…

I decided to cook a whole frozen chicken… it didn’t go quite as well as hoped, but eventually the chicken was cooked… I boiled some potatoes to go along with it as they had gotten a bit soft and were growing eyes while I was away, lol…

yesterday the wifi connected rather easily… now I can turn it on, off, or give it directions from my phone, lol…

my grandson and I plan to have dinner together on Monday evenings as he will be using my car on Tuesdays for the next while… we’ve decided to try Instant Pot recipes every week…

last night we made chicken thighs with baby potatoes… next time I’d use a bit less liquid, but it was tasty and moist… and we had fun using the sauté option on the Pot;-)…

today I picked up a recipe book as it didn’t come with one… eventually we should be able to find recipes online but this Instant Pot Bible is going to be helpful as we learn more…

looking forward to some fun dinners…

misbehaving…

13 Monday Jan 2020

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went into the kitchen late last night and heard something dripping… thought it was outside, but then realized it was in the basement…

ran down to discover a ceiling tile on the floor, two wet couches, soaked carpet and water pouring down…

when I could move, I found towels and pails to put down and moved cushions into the basement bathtub…

went upstairs to the main floor and tried to figure out what was leaking… opened the front door to see if something was happening outside….

it was the pump in the fish tank… water was pouring out of it… I turned it off and put down more towels there and moved the pump to the main floor bathtub…

more towels on the floor and then up and down to be sure that all the dripping had stopped…

made for a stressful couple of hours… not sure what caused the problem, but had to leave it for the night…

must have run up and down the stairs a dozen times checking to be sure that no water was misbehaving…

tonight my grandson and I figured out that somehow the pump had tilted and the water had run down the back of it… we put a towel in the back and it has been working perfectly fine for five hours;-)…

insta…

12 Sunday Jan 2020

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I’ve seen lots of ads for the Instant Pot, but felt that I didn’t need another appliance in the kitchen…

and now that I’m retired I have all day to prepare food…

but… my daughter showed me hers and told me all the things it can do which made me think about it more seriously…

apparently, it could replace my egg cooker (which is currently not working), be a rice cooker (which I’ve wanted), act as a crockpot (which I have, in purple), act as a steamer, sauté things, keep things warm, and even be a sterilizer…

we made salmon (from frozen) and smashed potatoes with spinach in about half an hour… and it was delicious…

we also made white and wild rice with chicken thighs (again from frozen) in about 45 minutes from start of prep to eating…

and mushroom soup, and risotto…

think I just might have to buy one now that I am home…

reflecting…

11 Saturday Jan 2020

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had a lovely time while I was still at my daughter’s sorting and taking photos of my Christmas gifts…

I absolutely love my soft purple blanket, and was happy to examine all of the other wonderful treats I received…

a few purple items, lol – socks, facecloths, gloves, tins, toothbrush, reusable sponge, phone holder… and quite a variety of chocolate – pistachio, Lindt, turtles, raspberry (my favourite), chocolate covered sponge… a tea and chocolate pairing that was flavoured with orchids, reusable bags, a Chihuly 2020 calendar, colouring books and pencils, a magazine on gratitude, a hand printed towel… plus a few more I can’t even remember…

yikes, so many gifts… I certainly am blessed…

the sun was shining into the room as I was gathering them for the photo… it was very meditative and I was able to reflect on each gift and the person who gave it to me… and the fun we had as we opened and shared our delight over each parcel…

a wonderful way to extend the joy of Christmas morning…

now that I’m home, I’ve found a spot for each one…

as I use each item I will be sure to spend a moment to remember the giver with gratitude in my heart…

hosts…

10 Friday Jan 2020

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recently I flew home from Ottawa… I spent the majority of the trip with my eyes glued to the window… it was like the entire sky was filled with a sunset for the entire flight… what a gift…

I had the most wonderful visit with my daughter and son-in-law… also had a fun time meeting and getting to know his mom…

it was quite a different Christmas for me… flew out on Christmas Day and celebrated New Year’s there as well… his mom was with us for a week and then I spent another six days with the kids…

had so much fun… the kids are wonderful hosts* and offer up all kinds of interesting things to do… I stayed in their AirBnB room which was very cozy…

while I was there we ate great home cooked meals, fed birds out of our hands, went to see butterflies, had afternoon tea, went to the Market and restaurants, spent a day at the spa, had a photo shoot, and two chocolate tastings…

and enjoyed great conversations…

now I am home and able to begin retirement living…

*AirBnB Cozy Blue Room Ottawa

spa…

09 Thursday Jan 2020

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for my last full day in Ottawa, we went to Nordik Spa in Chelsea… it is the parent of Thermea, where I was, just days ago…

but it is so much bigger… there are whole sections for quiet activities, as well as silent ones… every time I go they have added something new… this time it was Quonset hut saunas… the light reflecting on the ceiling was gorgeous…

we started in one of the warm glass beds and moved to warm pools, saunas, hot pools, had scrubs, and sat around fires in huts…

we drank tons of water and had a delicious lunch… we chatted with strangers, just ourselves, and we spent time in silence…

they don’t allow photos on site so these are a few I took: leaving home as the snow fell, the view as we stood in line to get our bracelets, and a picture my daughter took as we were leaving…

it was a wonderful relaxing and rejuvenating day, and a great way to end my visit…

we drove home in the dark, after watching the moon rise from various pools, and had a simple supper before all three of us watched a movie…

we didn’t want to go to bed because she had to work the next day and I would be packing and flying home;-(…

market…

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

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on Sunday we had breakfast out at Stan’s Diner, which seems to be similar to the “A”…

then a trip to pick up mushrooms, maple syrup, bread, a raspberry scone, and squash…

we also tasted truffle butter and truffle ice cream;-)…

then home for a relaxing day…

Atelier…

07 Tuesday Jan 2020

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what a wonderful treat it was to go to Atelier for dinner…

my daughter took me to celebrate my retirement… her hubby acted as chauffeur for the evening;-)…

it is a twelve course tasting menu and every course is more impressive than the last…

we also shared a wine pairing… this worked well as I only wanted a sip of each offering…

our appetizer was on a plate which rotated while we were enjoying the three different bites… it was very cool…

one of my favourite courses was the sable fish… it was very tasty…

every course came on a different plate… apparently the chef collects dishes from all over… many of the ones we had this time were different from the last time I was there… because the restaurant is intimate they don’t need tons of each dish…

at the end of our meal, we had the opportunity to meet with Marc Lepine, chef/owner of Atelier…

next time I’m in Ottawa I will be sure to check out his new offering – Thru… it is only open on Tuesdays and has seating for six with a menu of 50 items… it uses QR code’s to order… sounds very fun…

what a special gift… it was a magical evening;-)…