came home with three goldfish… a white one with a bright patch of red close to its tail and two gold with black dots all over them…
set them in the pond in their travel bag for nearby an hour… it is fairly cool in the pond with all this cold weather we’ve been having…
once they were released, I spotted this little one and got a quick photo… then they vanished under the bridge… since then, I’ve spotted the white one, but so far not the other two;-)…
went to the grocery store first thing on Friday… good time to go as it wasn’t busy and I got my shopping done in less than thirty minutes…
once home and everything was put away, I set out the cushions and spent a lovely time reading…
received a call from a friend driving through and invited them for supper… then I spent the next while preparing my world famous, (well family and friends anyway), macaroni and cheese;-)…
once that was done, I went back to my book…
my company arrived, we had a short visit in the garden, ate the delicious mac and cheese, and off they went… all inside an hour;-)…
had a plan to take a photo of the finished pot, but forgot, lol… did remember to take a picture of my plate… packed up the leftovers for another day;-)…
tidied up and enjoyed the garden as I read outside until it got dark…
today, we celebrated one of our group’s birthdays by spending the afternoon at Pine Ridge Hollow…
we drove out in a hybrid electric car and spent a couple of hours wandering through all the shops…
we followed that up with an excellent dinner at the restaurant…
our meal started with beet chips and goat cheese ranch dipping sauce, oh my, so tasty…
four members of the group had pickerel piccata while I had the lamb shank…
my lamb was braised and flame-grilled, came with tabbouleh, fennel slaw, whipped labneh, and a drizzle of chermoula… I had to look up a number of the items on Google but they made a delightful combination;-)…
everyone’s meal was delicious and just a touch different than expected…
the birthday “girl” had schmoo, while others enjoyed the frozen lemon meringue…
we conscripted a fellow restaurant member as they were leaving to take our traditional photo…’you can see we were having a lot of fun;-)…
a leisurely drive home ended another of our special days…
today we celebrated two birthdays with a drive out to Rosenort and High Tea at Lilystone Cafe;-)… it is becoming an annual tradition as this was our third visit…
and to top it off, we were there on this exact day last year… how cool is that…
this photo was from our last visit…
today we enjoyed the items on the menu and had a variety of delicious teas to go with the tasty treats… I had one of everything, lol…
my tea was Peach Apricot which I just love…
we’ve always found the staff happy to deal with our food issues, and eager to please…
even though it was 38°C, (crazy weather we are experiencing) the room we were in was very comfortable…
such a lovely way to spend an afternoon with this amazing group of women;-)…
began Saturday morning with my usual cup of tea in the living room…
the house was very quiet after all the activity over the week…
Monday, my group attended The Leaf and Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar to celebrate a birthday and view the Fleurs de Villes display, so that was a busy day…
it was nearly midnight when we picked up my daughter at the airport and we stayed up late (early!) catching up and eating Baked Expectations deadly chocolate mousse…
Tuesday we went for pedicures, stopped for lunch at a local coffee shop, picked up a few groceries and then returned home… I also learned the ins-and-outs of Uber… my housemate made us a delicious supper and lots of visiting happened…
Wednesday, we went to The Leaf and spent the entire day there doing all-the-things as she would say… in the evening she went to MTC with a friend while I took it easy, lol…
Thursday, after a quiet morning, she headed to The Forks for coffee with other family and later my middle grandson arrived for a visit and supper;-)…
Friday, we started our morning at Stella’s on Portage for breakfast and then spent four hours wandering through the WAG/Quamajuq… it was my first visit since the new addition and I was impressed with how great it turned out…
every day she brought out gifts for me🤗, what a treat…
it was a wonderful week and I enjoyed every single minute…
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…
went from home to Total Wrapture spa for pedicures, then on to San Vito for lunch, followed by a return trip home from Foodfare…
it was the perfect day for it as it was very cold, snowy, and windy…
one of the vehicles had automatic sliding doors, which was kind of fun…
after being trained in the process of ordering the ride, and other information on the app, I tried to sign up for it, but it was using my old email address, so we have to get that sorted out and then I will try it on my own…
a great experience, particularly with how quickly they pick you up after contacting them…
ten years ago I was floating over Gatineau in a hot air balloon… along with dozens of other balloons;-)…
I’d been waiting over twenty years for this experience… for my fortieth my beloved bought us tickets to fly at home, but the company ran away with the money…
it was everything I imagined and a very special moment in my life… the memory continues to be bright;-)…
herbiggirlpants 