stuffies…

15 Tuesday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, kangaroos, memories, penguins, stuffies, zoo

when we went to the zoo on Sunday to visit the kangaroos we also checked out the penguins…

they are here until the end of October and it was nice to see them again… there are three and they are so cute… they were having a rest, like every other animal in the zoo, lol…

of course there is a shop where they are and we agreed the boys could look but we weren’t getting anything…

until the volunteer there advised that everything was 50% off…

at which point grandma caved and said everyone could get one thing…

the little boys and I each found something although the oldest wasn’t able to find anything… sad to think he has passed the age of wanting a stuffy…

a blue penguin that makes noise and a black and white penguin for them… and I got an igloo with a cute little penguin in it… when visiting the boys are always looking for things to stuff other things into…

great memories…

blessings…

14 Monday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, blessings, centrepiece, cheesecake, fish, good memories, no tears, raked leaves, second without my beloved, thanksgiving, winter condo

had a quiet morning, doing a bit of laundry and some final prep for tonight’s dinner…

kids came over just after noon and the house filled up with the smell of Crystal’s pumpkin cheesecake baking while Jeff, with a little help from Kyler and I, raked up the leaves and put away some lawn furniture… then the two of them caught the fish from the pond… rather easily I might add…

the big boys catching the fish…

they moved them to their winter condo in the house… the little guys came to watch the transfer, both wanting to help, but the bucket just got dumped so all they could do was feed them, lol…

pouring the fish into their winter home…

the water looked a bit murky but the tank was filled with life…

winter condo quite filled up…

turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, turnip, brussel sprouts, Caesar salad, along with home-made cranberry sauce (with the canned stuff for those who didn’t like the home-made version) and gravy filled us up… and then we had luscious cheesecake with whipped cream…

ready to eat…

last year we had a crowd, although Crystal wasn’t here… this year it was just the Winnipeg family, although we were missing our Ottawa contingent who celebrated yesterday…

after dinner Crystal took a few photos of the great centrepiece that Kyler and Tavin prepared… they found leaves outside, brought up the Thanksgiving decorations box and put everything together… we added two pumpkins from a friend and a few fresh tomatoes grown in the garden… we included the silver pheasant salt and pepper shakers that my mom brought back to my grandma from England, the bunny the boys gave to Grandpa when he had his heart surgery, and at dinner used a gravy boat from his mom… very nice…

thanksgiving centrepiece…

we shared around the table many of the things we are thankful for and they included: school, family, Grandpa, friends, Elisabeth, iPads, moms, meat, work and time with family… .

after everyone had left, I took a few pictures of the happy fish… then I talked with Cyndi, finished tidying the kitchen and am now heading for bed…

happy fish…

this is the second Thanksgiving without my beloved and during dinner I told a few stories about our parents, and Jeff and Crystal shared stories of big family dinners over the years… no tears, just good memories…

thankful…

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, dinner, FaceTime, family, home-made cranberry sauce, kangaroos, moments to remember, thankful, thanksgiving, zoo

spent a good portion of the morning preparing for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner… made the stuffing, peeled potatoes and turnips… FaceTimed with the kids in Ottawa as they were preparing the stuffing and turkey for their dinner…

this afternoon the kids and I went to the Zoo… this was one of the last few days to be able to walk in an enclosure with the kangaroos… can’t believe this has been open since the spring or early summer and we just made it on the second to last day, yikes…

peacocks were everywhere, most of them having molted and having very few tail feathers…

had a lovely time and we saw EVERYTHING… the little boys got to choose where to go and what to see and they wanted it all… it was cool when we started but warmed up quite nicely by the time we were done… the kangaroos were sleeping when we arrived so we stopped by again on our way out and they were awake and we got to see all three babies… it was a bit funny to read the sign as you went in which advised you were not to hop into any of their pouches…

beautiful fall colours as the family moves on the see the kangaroos…

came home and made cranberry sauce for tomorrow’s dinner… this time I used orange juice instead of water for the liquid… tastes pretty good…

am so thankful for my life… the beauty all around me, a wonderful active family, great friends, good work, a cozy home and a delicious dinner to look forward to…

wishing you a few moments to realize all the things you have to be thankful for…

the sky…

12 Saturday Oct 2013

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autumn leaves, beautiful place, big girl pants, fall colours, moon, morning glory blew over, pink sky, Safeway, Thanksgiving dinner, the sky, trees, windy

got up fairly early and headed to Safeway around 8… hardly anyone there at that hour so the shopping was lovely… there were people to answer my questions and help me out… got a nice turkey and turnip and a few other bits and pieces for Monday’s Thanksgiving dinner with Crystal and all the boys… we are planning to do a bit of yard work as well…

spoke with both of my girls, put everything away, did a few chores and then watched tv and napped…

it has been windy here for two or three days and today was drizzly off and on… had to put my morning glory pot back on the deck because the wind had blown it over this morning… yikes… that pot is very heavy…

beautiful pink sky and autumn leaves…

tonight I looked out the upstairs window to see a magnificent pink sky above all the beautiful fall coloured trees… got a nice pic…

then I looked the other way and got a nice pic of the moon peaking through the completely bare tree next door…

moon through the bare branches of the tree next door…

what a beautiful place I live in…

colour…

11 Friday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, colour, Dairy Queen, drive-thru, happy memories, ice cream cone, leaves, leaves flying like rain, neighbours

this afternoon I got to leave work a little early and decided to stop at Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone… George and I would stop occasionally on our way home if he picked me up… I don’t think I’ve been to this particular store since he died… they have done a complete overhaul and besides looking very nice inside, they now have a drive-thru – for ice cream, I can’t believe it…

ice cream cone from Dairy Queen…

we would sit in the car in the parking lot and talk about our day and the kids… I sat there for a few minutes in my new car thinking about how much fun we got to have together… no tears, just happy memories…

trees from the living room couch…

when I got home I sat in the living room and talked with Crystal on the phone for a few minutes while looking out the window… it was overcast and the wind was picking up, but the leaves across the creek were very lovely with many shades of green and yellow…

evergreen next door…

got closer to the window and got a shot of my neighbour’s tree and some beautiful leaves on a little waif close to their house…

stunning elm to the left…

went onto the deck and got a few lovely shots of the elm in the other neighbour’s yard… what leaves are on it are a gorgeous shade of yellow and as I took the pictures, leaves were flying through the sky like rain…

not long after that the rain started and apparently will continue through most of tomorrow…

bunny…

10 Thursday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, bunny, flowers, garden, sunset, walked home

last night I got dropped off at the end of the street and walked the rest of the way… it was gorgeous and I was happy to spend a few minutes in the fresh air…

was thinking about the bunnies that I have been seeing lately and looked up to see one sitting in the road, right in front of the house…

bunny from a few months ago,,,

I think they are very cute and enjoy having them on the street and in the garden… apparently I don’t plant anything that they think is yummy so I haven’t felt any desire to get rid of them…

I do have friends though who have a big problem with bunnies eating their vegetables and flowers…

but, for now, I just think they are cute…

as the light left the sky I stood still and watched the little fellow as it watched me… finally a car came down the street and away went the bunny…

friends…

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, busy day, friends, great time, multiple emails, new car, Technology, The Captain's Table, wonderful women

had a busy day today…

got dropped off at work and dealt with a couple of technology issues that staff members were facing…

kids delivered my car to me just after noon with the right tires on (much prettier that the ugly winter rims, lol)… showed it off to a couple of people… that was fun…

our BS dinner reservation didn’t work out so emails flew through the airwaves as we tried to sort out an actual location, time and method of arriving at the chosen spot… many, many emails went back and forth, lol, but eventually a spot was chosen, time was decided on and rides were arranged for all…

prepared name tags (which went better than expected) for an event tomorrow morning and headed home in time to be picked up for the BS birthday dinner…

had just enough time to put things in the glove compartment and various other spots in the car so that it feels organized…

appetizer tonight at The Captain’s Table…

had a lovely dinner with these very wonderful women to celebrate one of us turning 65… great time with great friends…

so long…

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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big girl pants, celebratory dinner, exhausted, George and I chose together, insurance and registration, kept old license plates, photos of the car, sleepover, so long, winter tires

when I got up this morning I decided to take a few photos of the car before leaving… took one in the garage, the driveway and part way down the street… there were a few tears in my eyes as I drove to work for the last time in the car that George and I had chosen together, and which was also the last place where he was alive…

last time in the driveway…

Crystal and Kyler met me at the office after work and we headed to Woodhaven to get my new car…

the process always takes a long time… we met with Courtney, who went through the reams of paperwork… m fingers were cramping by the time I wrote the last signature… then we walked over to Ranger Insurance to get the new registration and fill out more paperwork… did get to keep the old plates so still have a remembrance of George on the car…

back to Woodhaven where we waited a while for Courtney, and then Nelson came along and we went through the tips and tricks of the new car…

unfortunately, they had put on the winter tires, which I had decided not to do for another month or so, and they didn’t have anyone there who could change them back to the pretty all purpose ones… made me rather sad as they are a big feature of the sporty look…

new car with my plates on it…

drove home again with a few tears welling up, picked up Chinese food for supper and met up with Jeff, the little boys and our friend Jackie… had a nice celebratory dinner and Crystal is sleeping over so she can take me to work and take the car in to have the tires changed first thing in the morning…

I feel exhausted… been a long, and stress-filled day…

groups…

07 Monday Oct 2013

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begonia, big girl pants, groups, groups of women, regular basis, unique women, wisdom

after work I headed over to a friend’s for our group that meets more or less monthly… we’ve been meeting since 1998 on a fairly regular basis… we take turns hosting the gathering, providing the food and preparing the program… usually we meet from about five to nine or ten… we had a lovely home-made dinner with chicken and tomatoes, with rice and crescent rolls, followed by a delectable carrot cake made with a healthy flour that tastes just like white flour… sadly I like white flour…

tonight I only stayed for dinner and the check-in portion… our Monday night BS group was going to have everyone in physical attendance so I decided to come home to be part of that group…

we meet at my house at eight for a couple of hours… our friend who is currently living and working out of Saskatchewan was planning to be in town…

in the end she called and we had a short conversation over the phone as things are a bit crazy in her life just now…

it is always wonderful to gather with all of these women… there is deep wisdom and love in both groups, and as we have known each other for so many years, there is always safety which allows us to say whatever needs to be said…