Category Archives: nature

water…

04 Friday Sep 2015

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quite a day…

had to top up the water in the pond, so I spent a few minutes enjoying the fish… always makes me feel calm and relaxed…  

  

overcast when we headed to work… but still nice…

around two our fire alarm went off…

  
out we went, and across the street to the approved gathering spot… started to spit while we were out there… 

three fire trucks and two other fire vehicles arrived to check things out… work in the basement may have caused the alarm, so we were back inside within half an hour, once they were able to find the alarm panel and turn it off… that bell is very loud…

within five minutes of our return to the office the sky went black and the heavens opened…

  

picked up by my daughter and grandson and we went to The Burger Place for supper as the concert they were going to was cancelled due to the storm…

  
it was still raining and the puddles were amazing…

  
my daughter took this great shot of the corner where we were having our supper… one of George’s favourite places…

got home and was happy to discover that, although water had come into the basement, it had mainly been soaked up by the towels that I leave on the floor…

  
a bit had run across the floor to the drain, but nothing had gone as far as the carpet…

  

probably didn’t need to top up the pond, lol…

senior…

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

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before leaving this morning I took a few pictures of flowers in the garden…

the mandevilla is filled with blossoms and flowers…

  
it is just loving its spot in the garden and the weather…

  
looking toward the pond from the deck, got a nice pic of the canna with the waterfall in the background… happy that it is going through another set of blooms…

stopped on my way home to get my hair cut… bit short, but it will grow…

  
I always go on Wednesday because that is seniors’ day… today I mentioned that Wednesday is my day because of the savings and the woman gave me back a toonie and said I needed to tell them because she would never have thought I was a senior… should have given her a bigger tip… it did make me feel good, lol…

been talking with different people about reaching senior status… depending where you are, the number can be anywhere from 55 to 65… I have been quick to access the discounts because I am happy to have reached whatever the age is… at Perkins they have a 55 plus menu which has smaller size portions… perfect for me… at a number of attractions when I was in Ottawa, there were discounts for ages 64 and over…

looking forward to collecting Old Age Security when I turn 65… friends have had different reactions when they started collecting it… some were thrilled to be getting some additional funds and others were shocked that their lives were coming to a close, and they wondered what they had done with it…

interesting how we all see things differently… guess that’s what makes us us, lol…

 

simple…

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

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a gorgeous evening… 

  

the temperature right now is 27 degrees and I am sitting on the back deck by the pond enjoying the sounds…

well not really… as I write this an ambulance is going by and the neighbour is running his shopvac, lol… up until that point I was listening to the waterfall and chickadees flitting about the garden and watching a little red squirrel dash across the main deck…

the canna is blooming again… bright and beautiful, it was the first thing I saw when I looked out the window this morning…

  
I am continually surprised by how much happiness a blossom or two can give me…

  
on a recent walk through the English Garden at the Park I got a lovely shot of some Lisianthus…

  
next year I am going to grow some, although I’m not sure where I will find plants…

there were very few water lilies open but this one caught my eye…

  
some of them have the most interestingly patterned leaves while others are simply green…

simple things really do make me happy… 

once again, as I spend these precious minutes steeped in the beauty of a late summer evening, watching the fish swim around the pond as the light fades, I realize what a gift my life is and how blessed I am…

humid…

31 Monday Aug 2015

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it has been extremely humid here for a good portion of the summer… this is not the norm… well it wasn’t before…

for the last few weeks there has been fog or heavy dew nearly every day…

  
yesterday I took this picture of the front windows… first time it happened a few weeks ago I nearly had a heart attack thinking the seal had gone on the windows… not sure I’ve ever seen that before then…

  
this close up shows how thick the moisture covering the window was…

even though it was wet, decided to mow the grass in the garden because it was so long I didn’t want to sit out there… had the bag on and finished to discover there was nothing in the bag… had my neighbour come and look at it to see if the bag was on right… it had all stuck on the inside… so I spent quite a while scraping it off, lol… apparently I should have waited for it to dry up a bit…

the squirrels were busy… early in the day this red squirrel decided to have a snack at the front feeder…

  
later in the day either the same squirrel, or a relative, had a great time at the garden feeder while I was reading…

  
interesting because for most of the summer the grey squirrels have been the only ones I’ve seen…

felt under the weather for a good portion of the day, but was much better by the evening… certainly kept me from the gardening I had hoped to finish up…

dishes…

30 Sunday Aug 2015

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have had a few different conversations recently about doing dishes…

when we were camping I took on the dishwashing duties… often, one of the boys would dry and we would both help put things away… or I would do it all… happy to give them a break…

was doing dishes at the kids’ new house on our last camping day and my grandson advised someone that I loved doing the dishes…

I shared that I don’t mind doing the dishes, but that it is something I can do to be helpful… he was surprised…

was talking with someone else and they also found doing the dishes a great way to free up time for others to do things that need to happen…

yesterday I had lots of dishes to do after making walnut pesto…

  
fresh basil out of the garden…

  
with walnuts, garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil…

  
finished product… yummy, even froze a bit…

when we were first married neither of us liked cleaning up in the kitchen so it would get rather piled up before we’d finally do the dishes, lol… as the years have passed it seems easier to clean up as the mess is being made…

usually do the dishes when I’m in Ottawa too…

hmmm, maybe I do love doing them… uh, no…

spent a few hours on the deck the last few nights and got a couple of good shots of the full moon…  

  

guess I better go and do my supper dishes, lol…

gardening…

29 Saturday Aug 2015

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made myself bacon and eggs for a treat this morning… used Campfire brand bacon which reminded me of our breakfast around the campfire just last Saturday…

then I headed out into the garden where I spent most of the day… the morning glories were lovely, although the large ones didn’t open today, lol…

  
dragged out the lawnmower and mowed… what an improvement… looked like an overgrown meadow before… this new Black and Decker model is battery powered and plugs in when done… had to scrape down the inside when I was done because it had been damp earlier…

put seed in the feeders… trimmed back some of the sad looking plants and pulled out others in overgrown areas… the birds were happy with new snacks…

  
took out a pail full of water hyacinth from the pond…

  
now I can see the fish again… and discovered five baby fish… 

  

maybe there have been two or three batches of them because there is one black one which is the biggest with two coloured ones about the same size and finally another teeny black one… the black ones are actually gold but appear black in the water…

spent time relaxing after the gardening… read my book, watched the birds and had a lovely nap to the sound of the waterfall…

  
also made chicken soup and walnut pesto…

  
wonderful summer day…

light…

28 Friday Aug 2015

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early this morning I was forced to turn on lights because it was dark, sigh… as I was getting ready for work, thunder and lightning were filling the sky…

  
a few minutes before I had to leave, I ran outside and got this picture of the morning glory blossoms…

  
apparently the storm did a number on them…

got a nice picture of the dahlia… been thinking I might cut them and bring them into the house… so beautiful…

  
after work sat outside and was checking my phone when something crossed my vision and hovered in front of the basket of flowers just four feet from me… took a few seconds to realize what it was… a tiny hummingbird… it moved and hovered over the hot tub for another few seconds before flying off… needed to go in and finish dinner, but couldn’t leave the chair in case it came back…

  
finished off the day with a light ice cream cupcake… it’s been in the freezer for a couple of weeks and really felt like I needed to get it out of there…

ten to nine and it is dark…

going to have to take my SAD light to the office next week and start turning it on…

but, it is the weekend and I am going to enjoy every minute of it…

creepy…

27 Thursday Aug 2015

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started the day with a lovely photo of the pond… spent some time talking with a friend about possibilities for this area as I am still not happy with how it looks…

  
had a lovely lunch out and supper at IKEA…

very happy because I also picked up some of the potato pancakes they have… I love them and had run out…

also picked up a couple of plant pots…

  
on our way home the sun was quite lovely with a bit of a haze…

 
was having a lovely phone conversation with my daughter in Ottawa when I felt something brush against my arm… 

I looked down thinking it might be a ladybug only to discover a huge spider which was on the side of the couch…

screamed a bit and ran around trying to figure out how to deal with it… tried a Kleenex which didn’t work and then lost sight of it… finally found it again on the side of the couch… took a shoe and didn’t care if it was going to leave a mark because I wanted to be rid of it…

thankfully my daughter stayed on the phone, even if she was laughing… felt much better having someone with me…

still feeling kind of creepy…

outdoors…

26 Wednesday Aug 2015

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first thing this morning took pictures of the big morning glory… apparently they are never going to open on a day when I am home and can see it when it is fully open, lol…

  
interesting colour on it… also took this one of the mandevilla… there are lots of blossoms on it…

  
on a walk at lunch I spotted some kids climbing on Emptyful… they were having a great time as the spray blew over them… 

 
beautiful day… on the way home enjoyed the lovely weather as I walked…

  
got a shot of the morning glory when I arrived at the house… bit of a hybrid I think…

  
got a pretty good shot of it as it was starting to close up…

finished off my day with fresh corn on the cob which was delicious…

  

walk…

24 Monday Aug 2015

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spectacular day…

up early and walked over to the Park… the Assiniboine is lower than I’ve seen it in many years…

  
had a wonderful breakfast with a dear friend at the Park Cafe… quite like their Black Bean Benedict…

  
cool but sunny… we had a leisurely walk through the zoo… quiet, and enjoyed a wonderful time in Journey to Churchill…

  
this is one of the three newest baby polar bears…

  
enjoyed the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden and found some cute caterpillar friends…

  
spent a fair bit of time with my camera taking pictures of butterflies and flowers… my friend was very patient, lol…  

I took a wander through the Gardens before walking home…

  
finally had a chance to see the new statue just inside the entrance to the English Garden… nice…

  
borders are at their best right now…

  
caught a frog by a purple water lily…

spending time in the Gardens brings such relaxation and peace… reminds me how lucky I am to live within walking distance of such a special place…