Category Archives: technology

ID…

24 Friday Jun 2022

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I am really enjoying a newer feature on the Merlin Bird ID app… it lets you record bird sounds and then, nearly instantly, tells you what bird you are hearing… I’ve used this free app regularly to help identify birds that stop by the garden to eat or drink…

this new option is great for times, a lot recently, when the birds aren’t coming to the feeders and you want to ID them…

in the last day, there’s been a house wren here, and this morning the house finch and chipping sparrow seem to be chatting, lol…

fun to know who’s around, even if you can’t spot them…

Lilystone…

17 Friday Jun 2022

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what a delightful day… got up, dressed, put out all the cushions and had breakfast on the back deck, admiring the ten or so poppies waving their lovely heads in the flower bed…

Hilda the Gardener arrived and started weeding and tidying everywhere…

a friend picked me up and we drove to Rosenort to eat and do a little shopping…

we had a delicious lunch at Lilystone Cafe, where we both picked up a few treats to bring home for later… I was happy to see them making great use of technology to take orders and prepare the bills… staff were friendly and treated us like family…

then we headed over to Lilystone Gardens, where we engaged in a bit of retail therapy, including a Christmas present… they are just now recovering from flooded fields and roads…

after an enjoyable return drive to the city we stopped at her house to check out some recent work and her very lush garden…

home, a wander around the garden to admire how tidy it is, and a sit down on the deck with a cup of tea and my book…

;-)…

test…

25 Wednesday May 2022

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started my day with a Duo call from the kids in Ottawa… they have been without power since the wild storm on Saturday…

they were at the Canadian Science and Technology Museum testing wifi as she had a video meeting… the Museum is just a short walk from their house, has plugs all around the outside of the building (technology), and the wifi gave an excellent video call, so that was very handy… I was the test for the meeting, lol…

while they waited for the phones to charge she was teaching him how to play Rummy… it was the card game we played for hours as we sat in the hospital with my mom as she was dying… we laughed about him needing to know how to play when they sit at my deathbed… way in the future…

we talk most days, but don’t often video call… it is always lovely to see their beautiful faces… and it was fun to show them the garden…

wonderful way to begin the day…

iNaturalist…

21 Saturday May 2022

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I watched a Ducks Unlimited webinar a few days ago on dragonflies and damselflies…

it was interesting and I learned some new things about them… I also learned more about iNaturalist, a free app that I have on the phone…

up until now, I’ve usually used Merlin to search out a species, whether birds or other creatures… going forward I will try to use iNaturalist to record what I find… and I will be what they call a citizen scientist, lol…

recorded this little flycatcher… first time I’ve seen one of them;-)…

constant…

17 Tuesday May 2022

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it is very quiet in the house…

the fish moved outside last week and a few days later I turned off and cleaned out both pumps and left them to dry…

the sound of the pumps has been a constant all winter, much like the grandfather clock, lol…

now it seems as though there is something missing…

happily, I’ve been playing music and the radio a lot on Google Home;-)…

I can listen in each room or on all of them at the same time… like stereo;-)…

forests…

22 Friday Apr 2022

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this morning I received an email from the David Suzuki Foundation about Healing Forests…

forests are one of my favourite places and I had already been thinking of Cathedral Grove and the banyan tree in Lahaina on Maui…

as a matter of fact I chose a tree mug for my tea…

for years I have walked through a portion of the forest at Assiniboine Park on my way to the English Gardens…

after making a donation to the Healing Forests, I came across an IG Live as they were broadcasting a ceremony from The Bay where it was transferred to the Southern Chiefs Organization…

the project looks amazing and is supported by all levels of government…

I have always found forests, whatever their size, to be restorative and healing, so these two things that came to me on Earth Day made me very happy…

happy earth day 🌏🌍🌎…

portal…

14 Thursday Apr 2022

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technology is a wonderful thing…

a while ago I gathered all my donation documents and printed them so I would have them ready to go with my tax documentation…

then I got a notice reminding me I could upload everything to their portal…

after that I had to consult with my computer geek to sort out where scans went once they made it past the printer, lol… he even put a link on my desktop so I would be able to find them, lol…

I scanned and named all of the pieces of information… at last I got everything uploaded and then waited…

before long I heard back by email that there were documents for me to review…

once I’d reviewed, signed and scanned them, I uploaded them to the portal…

and before you know it my taxes had been submitted…

always makes me think of how tax time was so stressful for my beloved and how much easier it is now to get them done…

charcoal…

04 Monday Apr 2022

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a year ago my daughter sent some gifts for a friend to drop off to me on January 1st…

amongst the items was a bar of charcoal hair shampoo… I have really enjoyed it and it is now a sliver, lol…

apparently the company may have closed, and the shampoo doesn’t appear to be available…

I went online and found something that might work, ordered it and it arrived last week…

not sure if it is going to work… it has a fairly strong smell so I have set it out on the window ledge in the bathroom and will see if the smell dissipates…

then I will try it on my hair and see how it goes…

Build-A-Bear…

10 Thursday Mar 2022

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this morning I watched a couple of bunnies on the deck looking for something to eat, so I tossed out a few carrots that I broke up for them…

I checked back a bit later and discovered one enjoying the treat…

reminded me of the bunny in the den… it is one of those Build-A-Bear animals that the boys and I had made when my beloved had his heart surgery…

the staff in the cardiology unit had recommended a pillow for him to hold against his chest when he coughed and we thought the bunny would be great… it worked well and he liked it;-)…

it wears scrubs, although a few pieces of the clothing have gone missing, lol…

it is a sweet reminder of a difficult, but special, time…