Category Archives: retirement

provisions…

16 Sunday Aug 2020

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one of the gifts I received for my retirement was a gift certificate to Black Market Provisions…

a few days ago I ordered one of their Care Packages… it arrived right at supper time the next day and included the most delicious salad with beets, goat cheese, chicken, and greens… I also enjoyed some garlicky bagel crisps…

there were a few frozen items, more crackers and some delicious looking cookies…

I am excited to taste all of these as well…

zebra…

10 Monday Aug 2020

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we had wonderful times at the beach and in the water… the area is quiet so that means the beach is too the majority of the time…

I did watch kids from a few cottages over as they kneeboarded and that was fun…

we went in the water often and it was refreshing… we floated on pool noodles and had deep conversations and lots of laughter…

we also found tons of zebra mussels… only a couple the first few days, but after a really windy evening that blew into shore there were many clusters under our feet… one day we spent at least an hour or so feeling them with our toes and then having someone lift them up with their feet so we could collect them and bring them to shore to be disposed of… it was great exercise…

they are very sharp and all three of my companions ended up with cuts on their feet that had to be taken care of to be sure that no infections occurred… I nearly always wore my water shoes so happily was able to feel the clumps or sticks or rocks with them on and not get injured…

it was rather concerning to see so many…

fed…

10 Monday Aug 2020

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for five days I have been fed by others… what a wonderful treat… the majority of time I am fine with cooking, but some days I particularly miss my beloved, because he would often take a turn preparing our food…

the variety and complexity of meals was amazing… we had crepes, with freshly made blueberry sauce; spatchcock chicken with potato salad, pan stuffing and green beans; sausages and toast; hot dogs with onions; steak, baked potatoes and salad; bacon, eggs and toast; pork tenderloin, rice and roasted cauliflower; homemade enchiladas with guacamole and homemade sour cream; and the most tasty almond bars and Rice Krispie squares… plus many snacks…

my friends are both excellent cooks and they had nearly as much fun preparing the food as we had eating it…

my contribution was dishwashing, lol… and they use Dawn, which makes bubbles if you squeeze it;-), which I did, numerous times… I may have to switch to Dawn because the bubbles bring me such happiness…

I am glad to do dishes because it doesn’t involve any complicated activity and saves the cooks from cleanup after all their work to produce a meal;-)…

fence…

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

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the neighbours have been building a new fence…

I’ve watched the process… once the fence came down between our yards it seemed very exposed…

they cut down two volunteer elm trees that have been growing next to my garage and took all the junk to the dump…

then a company came, dug the holes for the posts, and installed them… the neighbour and a friend put up the frame and then they got most of the boards installed…

that looked very nice and he then worked on the gates and the cap;-)… pretty sure their puppy was happy when it was all done and she could get off the rope…

pleased to have it back up which makes me feel much less on display, lol…

command…

18 Saturday Jul 2020

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I’ve been thinking a lot about all of my technology recently…

I love seeing my most current photos on the Google Display in the bedroom and kitchen…

it is great to be able to give a command from basically anywhere in the house and have it happen…

the light strip on the stairway can be bright or just barely on, like a nightlight…

I’ve now got a few routines, depending on the time of day, that get the lighting just how I want it…

I continue to learn new things that can be done, and that is fun… recently I figured out how to put grocery items on my OurGroceries app… as long as you ask with the exact wording, lol…

my grandson also has access and occasionally when he’s here he will change something and surprise me, lol…

I have two new switches, but need to get the electrician in to hook them up…

more fun;-)…

happily…

14 Tuesday Jul 2020

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enjoying time in the garden…

the dahlias are doing well and happily they are opening at different times so there should be some blooming throughout the weeks, rather than all at once and then nothing…

when I planted them I put the plastic bag they came in into the pot and now I can’t read the name, lol…

so far a purple one has bloomed next to the house…

and then a delicate white with purple tones bloomed… 3 flowers last week and 3 are blooming right now…

I cut them and put them in a vase to enjoy in the house…

currently that plant has 4 more buds on it… looks like another white one is starting to open… looking forward to how beautiful it will look when it is completely open…

that leaves two still to develop buds… can’t wait to see what colour they turn out to be… when I ordered them I asked for purple and white varieties…

with my retirement, I am enjoying the ability to spend each day in the garden all summer long…

seriously…

11 Saturday Jul 2020

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the morning glories are opening everywhere… and everyday…

as I was looking back in my posts I noticed that the first morning glory of 2018 was on August 8… planting them from seeds early has made a huge difference as the first one this year was June 27;-)…

they look amazing… as I am home all the time I get to enjoy they more than when I worked as they would be closed by the time I got home at the end of the day…

had to giggle when one went right between two of the boards on the bench around the deck… it seriously wanted to get to the other side, lol.. so cute…

irises…

29 Monday Jun 2020

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a few days ago a great friend came by for a garden visit…

she brought me some gorgeous dark purple Japanese irises and a branch of lovely mock orange blossoms…

we had a nice time as we checked out everything growing in the garden and then watched the birds for ages… she knows lots about birds so I even learned a little, lol…

the house finch couple came by to visit and the house sparrows had a feeding frenzy as the parents and babies flew around and parents fed some babies and encouraged others to find their own seeds…

it was such fun to watch the way the youngsters fluttered their wings… and tried to land in various places… a few times I thought they were going to land right on us…

the sound was amazing as everyone was chatting and calling their family members, clearly wanting to be recognized, lol…

great fun to spend time with someone else who can happily listen to the water and bird watch for hours at a time;-)…

cushions…

24 Wednesday Jun 2020

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this morning I was up and about fairly early so that I could get the garden ready for a visit with a friend…

I’ve been quite lazy lately and have only put out a few chair cushions rather than all of them, but today I brought all of them out, including a few decorative ones that have been living on the couch, lol…

the garden looked great, freshly mowed and whipper snipped…

the veronica is blooming and the bees are all over it… the daisies are mostly open and the dahlias have buds on them… the lobelia is thinking of trailing and alyssum is growing nicely and starting to scent the air…

baskets are doing well and both ponds are flowing beautifully…

on warm days, visits need to happen before noon as there is little shade for the remainder of the afternoon…

the weather was perfect and finches and squirrels dropped by… we had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely;-)…

so nice to spend time with friends… going to organize some more of that;-)…

garden…

23 Tuesday Jun 2020

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after the busy day yesterday with the boys here, today I spent a fabulous time in the garden…

the grass is beautifully manicured and the sound is quite wonderful… the waterfall looks great and I am so happy to have it running at full capacity again thanks to my son-in-law… even the rocks have been placed perfectly to cover the new pump…

the pump in the bathtub pond looks and sounds lovely as well… it was a little cool but the wind wasn’t blowing so it felt calm…

to top things off, a house finch couple stopped by for lunch…

because I am not leaving the house, this time in the garden is even more special and I am enjoyed reading and listening to the sounds in the garden…

what a blessing retirement is proving to be…