Category Archives: nature

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06 Tuesday Oct 2015

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took this picture first thing of one of the cannas which was blooming… had cut the two spent blooms off when it came into the house on Sunday…

  
stuck the stalks into another pot to let them finish drying so I might be able to plant some seeds in the spring… then I spotted this…

our election is coming up and everyone was supposed to receive a voting card in the mail…

I haven’t received one…

have lived in this house for over forty years… have voted in every election since I was old enough… always had the appropriate documentation for each of those elections…

went online to see if I could figure out what to do in this situation… checked the voters list and I am on it… but couldn’t find a phone number to speak with a live person, or an answer to my question about what to take to the polls to be sure I can vote…

tonight I found this in my mailbox…

  
hope I have read it correctly… planning to vote at the Advance Poll on Friday as I am off, and it is at the Community Club which is just a few blocks from the house… 

will take my ID and go early in case there are any problems…

tonight I took another picture of the same flower…

  
beautiful with the light shining on it…

looking forward to voting and making my voice heard… hope everyone else who is eligible makes use of this right…

news…

05 Monday Oct 2015

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good news… my eyes are in good shape… saw the eye doctor this morning… surprised me with a field test… thankfully it came out okay… always nervous when taking one… 

sky was changing every time I came out of a business…

  
met with my finance guy and my investments are doing fine as well…

then off to pick up a few groceries… had a lovely wander around at Costco… didn’t even buy much that wasn’t on my list, lol… finished up at Safeway where I picked up the other items for Thanksgiving dinner on the weekend…

on the drive home the sky changed yet again…

  
at least there was a bit of blue in it…

had a nap after all the groceries were put away, and then made a couple of pita pizzas for dinner…

  
delicious…

now to plan what I will eat tomorrow…

transitions…

04 Sunday Oct 2015

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early this morning the sky was beautiful with some lovely clouds…

  
checked on the morning glory and mandevilla… still trying to bloom even though it is getting colder as we transition into the fall season…

  
not long after that, caught a Flicker at the pond getting a drink…

  
the weather wasn’t so great and for the rest of the day, it was overcast with a bit of rain now and again…

when the kids came over, the boys worked to catch and bring in fish…

so far we have four or five fish who have made the trip into their winter condo… the rest were doing a great job of hiding… there must be at least a dozen left out there…

  
lovely to have some buddies in the house…

the guys also brought in some of the pond plants and they look nice in the front window…

 
will be interesting to see if they make it through the winter… 

busy…

03 Saturday Oct 2015

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worn right out…

worked on a project first thing…

  
my daughter picked me up and we went to IKEA to purchase a table and chairs for their new house…

  
it is a housewarming, anniversary and Christmas gift… 

rushed over to the other side of the city for a volleyball game…

  
had to get reacquainted with the rules, but enjoyed watching it… bonus was that they won this one…

stopped off for a few groceries after the game and picked up a basil plant… going to keep this one in the house… the ones that were on the deck didn’t do well with the frost last week…

  
had a lovely barbecued steak for dinner at the new table…

  
I don’t get much cooked on the barbecue these days, so really enjoyed it…

after dinner we sat around their new fire pit… beautiful end to a very busy day…

  
my son-in-law drove me home and I am headed to bed…

  

velcro…

01 Thursday Oct 2015

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yesterday was filled with lovely messages from my colleagues…

among them came an email with an ezine article from Pauseworks.com…

it talked about how we act like we are covered with teflon when given compliments… we tend to brush them off… 

and we treat negative comments like velcro… letting them stick…

this certainly rang true for me… 

I remember years ago, having performance reviews that were filled with positive comments… but a single, not so positive, one would gnaw at me and I would forget or ignore all the good stuff…

for some time now I have been working hard to accept positive affirmation without putting a but into my response…

yesterday I accepted all of the comments… and soaked them up…

then I added them all to my comments folder in Outlook… great place to pop into and read when a day isn’t going so well…

  
the sunrise this morning was lovely…

  
sunlight on the top of the trees on the other side of the house…

just happened to look out at the exact moments to catch the beauty…

grateful…

30 Wednesday Sep 2015

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today I celebrated six years at my current work… I was so excited that I barely slept last night…

  
had been thinking for weeks about what I could make as a thank you gift for my colleagues…

decided on coasters with some of my photos on them… 

  
had a hard time choosing the pictures… going through my albums I needed thirteen but picked about fifty… decided to make them all, lol…

  
that was a good plan because I wanted everyone to be able to pick one they liked, not get stuck with something that didn’t speak to them…

spent time on Pinterest looking for a good process and then spoke with my daughter about best practices…

  
tried Modge Podge on a few, but that didn’t work… was very nervous about trying the resin but it was very simple once I got the hang of it…

as I worked, I thought about which person would choose which picture… I was right for about half…

  
my workplace is pretty special… I have been able to expand my “job” to fit my skills and likes and that is quite wonderful…

my colleagues are all great people who care about one another and the people we work with… 

in my work life I have been blessed… I haven’t really seen my positions as work, more as a calling… and this position has been no different… 

I am forever grateful to have these people in my life…

dumplings…

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

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made the chicken soup yesterday… been waiting all day for my supper because it was chicken soup with my mom’s dumplings… and they came out exceptionally well…

  
yum… I may have had two bowls full, lol… 

I am doing a good job of planning my meals the day ahead so I don’t have to make last minute decisions, which might not be the best food choices… because I was having the dumplings tonight I was careful not to eat any bread products today…

started the day with a lovely view out the front window…

  
the trees are changing colours and dropping leaves at a very rapid pace… 

it went below zero last night and a few plants in the front flower bed were hit, but it looks like the mandevilla and morning glory survived…

  
happy about that…

bliss…

28 Monday Sep 2015

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slept in a bit this morning which was lovely…

  
had breakfast and did a few chores to get ready for my company this evening…

then I headed off to the Spa for a pedicure… chose one that has a hot stone massage and a paraffin treatment…  

soothing music played, there were few clients, and I was able to relax and barely even twitched while Melinda worked on my toes… this is unusual as I have very sensitive feet…  
when we were done, I was able to fit in a sports manicure… I don’t like polish on my fingernails because it always seems to chip and look messy, so was happy that they have something for people who just want their nails clipped and filed…
  
while I was there I saw a beautiful purple purse but it had gold metal on it which I am not a fan of… I did think about it a lot, but didn’t let myself be swayed…

came home and finished making some chicken soup, which I then had for lunch…

had a nap and watched a bit of tv while waiting for my company to arrive…

  
had a wonderful time with them… supper was delicious and our conversation was excellent…
chose dates for our next few meetings and everyone headed out..
  
tidied up and am on my way to bed…

blissful day…

sounds…

27 Sunday Sep 2015

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yesterday got a pretty good shot of the Canada geese flying over the zoo…

  
they certainly announce themselves when they head out… there are a lot of them there… as we walked we had to pay attention to where we were putting our feet, lol… the sound always stops me in my tracks…

saw a few of the bears while we were there… 

  
this one was eating something from the pond… not quite sure what it was, but it kept it entertained for a long time… 

started out rainy at the beginning of the day… heard a new birdsong, but couldn’t place it… we looked out and saw a ton of junkos chattering away on the driveway having a snack…

 this was just before we headed to the grocery store… they were very busy… they are back for their trip down south… usually see them early in the spring as they head north…

by the time we came out of the store the sky was clear and we put  the cushions out in the garden…

the boys were picked up around three and I sat out in the garden for a while longer…

bunny stopped by…

  
stayed around for a while… 

only sounds in the garden were the chickadees and the waterfall…

we were all enjoying the quiet, lol…

missing…

26 Saturday Sep 2015

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up early and headed out for breakfast after we woke up the teenager…

on our way, stopped by the spot where we scattered George’s ashes as the middle one had asked about it a few weeks ago and we weren’t able to get there because his brother was sick…

wasn’t sure if the other two would want to, but they both said yes and away we went…

found the spot and played on the rocks and talked about that morning and how the oldest had scattered the ashes and they had gone out to the river and on to the lake… all places that Grandpa loved…

when we were sitting down for our breakfast we had a toast to Grandpa…

 
while we were waiting for our food to arrive we talked about our breakfast that morning and how it would have been better to have grandpa with us…

late in the afternoon we went across the street and the boys spent some time climbing a tree by the creek… it was just at the time that my friend’s ashes were being scattered in another part of the city… 

sat and thought about her as they climbed away… special moment…

  
missing a lot of people today…