Category Archives: Uncategorized

rime…

07 Saturday Jan 2023

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the trees have been stunningly beautiful over the last while…

quite a bit of that time the sky was gray so even though it was lovely, it didn’t make for any great photos…

the last few days the sun has been shining brightly…

this frost appears to be rime frost…

from Weather Lab:

“With rime, the moisture comes from freezing fog water droplets that turn directly from a liquid state to a solid state, or through direct freezing. On the other hand, hoar frost occurs on a clear, cold night where water vapor sublimates: transitioning immediately from a gaseous state to a solid state.” Jan 5, 2021

we have certainly had a lot of fog recently…

scraggly…

06 Friday Jan 2023

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spent some time trimming the hibiscus now that most of the buds have opened…

here it was before the haircut, kind of scraggly…

and after, being careful not to cut off any of the remaining buds;-)…

I think it looks much tidier and it is much easier to walk past it, lol… and then it had another bloom;-)…

here it is five years ago… so tiny…

and since then it has lost one whole stem…

stairs…

05 Thursday Jan 2023

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spent Tuesday putting away the little trees…

now the stairs look a bit naked…

the front trees are put away but that space looks filled with the plants that returned from the den…

I’ve been trying to add a new tree to the collection most years, but didn’t manage it this year… maybe next year;-)…

escargot…

04 Wednesday Jan 2023

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for years we celebrated New Year’s Eve with steak and lobster… this started with friends before we had kids;-)…

at some point it moved to New Year’s Day as the kids wanted to participate but were off celebrating on the night before…

this year I enjoyed the preparation as I worked on getting escargot stuffed mushrooms, baked potatoes, fried mushrooms and sautéed Brussels sprouts ready…

the kids arrived, got the barbecue going and then grilled the steaks and lobster tails…

dinner was delicious and we had a great time…

on Monday, as I emptied the dishwasher and put away all of the pieces we used, I revisited the fun and special moments…

and the tradition continues…

land…

03 Tuesday Jan 2023

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started the year off with a lovely hot tub…

the trees were covered in hoarfrost and looked so nice…

I finally got a photo of the icicles hanging along the edge of the house…

I think they are there because of where the hot tub is located and I no longer sit at that end because I don’t want one to land on my head…

Audubon…

02 Monday Jan 2023

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January first was new calendar day…

for many years we have had Chihuly calendars… either my daughter or I would get two and give one to the other person;-)…

one year I even made one filled with photos from our trip to see his installation in Atlanta…

this year I changed it up…

I found an Audubon calendar online that shows a different bird each day… ordered two and sent one off with the other Christmas presents…

took down the old one and put up the new one…

I think I will learn a bit and maybe it will even help me with bird identification in the garden…

first-footing…

01 Sunday Jan 2023

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we have done first-footing since I was a little girl… for us, it meant that just before midnight on New Year’s Eve my dad, who had dark hair, would jump in the car and drive around to all our aunts and uncles and grandparents’ houses and take them an offering – it always included coal, bread and sometimes oranges and a little drink of something… I also remember how my dad would have to search out new coal every year because no one ever kept it from year to year, lol…

from Dalhousie Castle:

“Stemming back to the time of the invading Vikings in the 8th and 9thcentury, it is believed that the first person to enter a house, the “first foot”, can bring luck – or misfortune – for the year ahead. In Scottish tradition good luck comes in the form of a tall, dark-haired man being the first footer.” Dec 7, 2020

I spent time this morning looking back at some of the different ways it has happened for me…

my daughter being the first female to cross the threshold first when she was here in 2017…

my middle grandson taking home a bag and making sure to bring it and be the first one to cross my threshold…

my daughter arranging for friends to come by with a box of items she had sent to them…

while visiting the kids in Ottawa, having a diamond necklace in the bag because there wasn’t any coal, lol… and I did have to give it back🤪…

this morning I went out the back door in my housecoat, walked around to the front door, and first-footed myself…

those big girl pants 😂…

endings…

31 Saturday Dec 2022

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been thinking of those in my circle who are struggling… sometimes it is hard to remember that not everyone finds joy at this time of year…

holidays are often a time filled with grief and pain for many… and often it comes out of the blue…

maybe the rush to get everything done and perfect adds to the stress that then can bring on ill health or sad memories…

as one year is ending and another beginning let’s all sit in the moments and enjoy as many as we can;-)…

blessings to all…

shelf…

30 Friday Dec 2022

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on Wednesday I took all the ornaments off the trees in the living and dining rooms… the dining room one looked a little lonely and empty as it sat on the table…

the ornaments ended up on two tables and are still there, lol… but I have washed out a bin and it is drying as I write this…

Thursday I brought up the box that the trees live in and was able to squash them in…

then I taped it closed and was able to get it downstairs but not onto the shelf where it lives… will have to wait for someone else to lift it up;-)…

murky…

29 Thursday Dec 2022

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it has been a quiet few days here…

time has been spent watching bunnies and birds and squirrels through various windows…

but in the house there has been a problem with one of the fish tanks… it has been very murky… I’ve tried a few things without success…

Wednesday was spent taking about a quarter of the water out of the tank, deep cleaning the pump and filters and finally, adding fresh water…

yesterday I could see the difference… and I was very pleased with how clear the water is so far…

excited to see if it gets even better over the next few days…