31 Friday Jan 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, chickadees, giggle, happy, memories, moments, mug, nature, widow
had a bit of a giggle the other day…
as I pulled out my newest mug in the morning – the chickadees – I looked up at the kitchen display and saw that it was showing a photo of the first time I took a photo of the mug;-)…
I particularly enjoy the fact that this mug shows two chickadees, one on each side so that I can see the bird, even as a leftie;-)…
seemed a bit serendipitous…
30 Thursday Jan 2025
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cap, crystals, garden, hot tub, ice, icicles, moments, nature, snow, Technology, weather, widow
Monday night I went out for a hot tub…
it had been warm during the day and there were a ton of icicles over the tub, so I sat in the opposite corner from usual so nothing could fall onto my head, lol…
as I stepped outside I could hear the ice crystals falling so I grabbed my cap to protect my glasses…
it was a bit chilly for anything above the water as the ice crystals continued to fall…
I am still having trouble with the Ring light, which I have to turn off from the garage, no matter what I try on the app…
I was out for quite a while and when I came inside I realized how much snow had come down, lol…
25 Saturday Jan 2025
Tags
artists, big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, coat check, designers, displays, family, FDV, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, gardeners, gather, koi, lunch, moments, nature, orchids, The Leaf, violin, widow
on Wednesday, my daughter and I spent six hours at The Leaf…
upon arrival we were surprised and delighted to discover a coat check for members… my coat was free and we paid $2 for my guest…
we were a bit early and shared a Rice Krispies square and hot chocolate while we waited for our entry time to the Biomes…
we had a great time in the Tropical Biome where we came across the head gardener and had an excellent conversation about the cacao trees and chocolate…
we visited the Mediterranean Biome to see the Fleurs de Villes displays and met and talked with at least four of the designers…
lunch at Gather was a delicious tomato bisque and grilled cheese focaccia for me, and duck poutine for my daughter…
for dessert she had the honey cake and I enjoyed the squash creme brûlée, which was delicious, lol…
back to visit both biomes where we learned about orchids from a regular gardener talk in the Tropical Biome, talked with two of the zoo staff who shared lots of information about the butterflies and the 52 koi in the pond…
we also got to hear a few violin pieces by Gwen Hoebig, who was one of the models for the FDV displays… my daughter took this photo…
it was hard to pick a favourite, but this time I chose the hoop dancer…
21 Tuesday Jan 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, details, display, exhibition, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, friends, memories, moments, nature, plants, Technology, The Leaf, treat, widow
Monday was another delightful day at The Leaf…
our group went to view the Fleurs de Villes display after our birthday lunch at Gather…
as always, a walk through the Tropical Biome is rejuvenating…
we had such fun as each of us shared different points of interest as we wandered through the lush vegetation…
we visited the cacao trees, saw coffee beans, enjoyed new vistas of the fish, chatted about the banyan tree, spotted many heliconias, and got dripped on a few times, lol…
we moved on to the Mediterranean Biome for the Fleurs de Villes exhibition…
all of the mannequins (that represent the arts in the city) were very nicely done… we met two of the designers and spotted things we liked at every display… it was amazing to see the details that had been included…
after we’d been around once, most of us went around one more time, as we each made a decision on our favourite and filled out the ballot which we received as we entered the space…
the Fleurs de Villes exhibition is always stunning and such a delight to have had here two years in a row;-)…
one more visit to the exhibition in a few days…
18 Saturday Jan 2025
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bunny, early, feeders, health, moments, moon, nature, sky, tail, weather, widow
woke up early, and for whatever reason, decided to look out the front window…
the moon was still up and shining brightly, and at the bottom of the bird feeders I spotted a bunny friend…
it was busy eating the seeds that had blown out of the feeders during all the strong winds over the last day or so…
I stood watching it for quite a while, before heading back to bed… it is very interesting to watch the way they move…
and I love that cute little white tail…
17 Friday Jan 2025
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventure, backtracked, big girl pants, blessed, blizzard, blowing, moments, nature, shovelling, snow, weather, widow
at 6 am, it looked great out the window… when I woke up again at 8, the window was covered with snow and it was blowing like crazy outside…
but my buddy and I went on an adventure anyway, lol…
when I started down the sidewalk I realized how deep the snow was, so backtracked and went down the driveway, which was clear…
as soon as I arrived home, I shovelled the sidewalk… some places were six inches deep…
didn’t do anything else as I assumed it was still going to blow more snow around…
looked good, especially from in the house, lol…
we will see how it looks tomorrow;-)…
15 Wednesday Jan 2025
Posted in life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blossoms, ending, flowers, losing, moments, nature, orchid, plants, starting, widow
as the last couple of orchids are losing their final few flowers, I am watching four plants which have begun new buds…
two are quite a way along…
one is a bit further behind…
and the final one has just barely begun…
most of them are in the den, which is interesting, as I would have expected the ones in the front rooms to do better…
looking forward to the new flowers;-)…
12 Sunday Jan 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
another fish tank pump cleaned…
I think that I’ve been feeding them too much as there is a lot of gunk when the filters are rinsed…
I have come a long way with cleaning the tanks… now it is just another job on the list, lol…
31 Tuesday Dec 2024
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, end of year, moments, nature, pink, sunset, weather, widow
last sunset of the year…
lots of pink…
what a beauty;-)…
24 Tuesday Dec 2024
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, display, family, lights, moments, nature, plants, poinsettias, Technology, The Leaf, widow, wreaths
made it to the most recent display at The Leaf…
we went around 7 so it was fairly dark in the Tropical Biome… a great time to go as there weren’t many visitors…
there were a few lit up flamingo topiaries and throughout the space there were lit signs about various birds…
there was also a cute Christmas tree made from individual plants…
the display in the Mediterranean Biome had lots of trees, lights, and poinsettias…
I also spotted a few amaryllis… some just starting to open, others in full bloom…
the trees were filled with ornamental birds and some birdhouses…
only spotted one of the seven succulent wreaths…
my plan is to go again in the daytime to see how it looks in the light;-)…
always a treat…
herbiggirlpants 