dancing…

since then it has been rather irritated with the weather… the leaves were all hanging down as though it was thirsty, but watering it didn’t seem to make any difference…

finally, a few days ago the leaves had perked up and it looks happy again…

the hibiscus has also forgiven me for bringing it outdoors… it had enjoyed being under the cedars but was miffed when it was moved out to the edge of the pond… where it proceeded to get a bit of a sunburn;-(…

the two of them are looking very nice now…

rosa…

23 Monday Jun 2025

Posted by sulis303 in garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather

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big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, moments, nature, neighbour, plants, remembering, rosa, rose, weather, widow

happy to discover that the red rose bush in the front garden has begun to bloom…

it came from my neighbour (and very good friend) who lived next door for many years…

it always makes me smile and remember the good times we had together over the years;-)…

brought a few in and put them in the den…

complaint…

22 Sunday Jun 2025

Posted by sulis303 in business, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather

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big girl pants, blessed, complaint, expanding, garden, grass, happy, hose, kink, moments, plants, widow

sometime back, we picked up a new hose as the old one had sprung a leak…

we ended up with a different type… not an expanding one…

I have used it and discovered that it didn’t work for me… it was 100 feet long, like the old one, but it seemed to kink more and the water flow seemed to come and go…

I’ve been sharing my complaint about it for weeks, so finally, we picked up the type I’d had before;-)…

it isn’t exactly the same as the old one, but is much better and lighter than the one I’ve been using…

now it is much more fun to water the plants and grass;-)…

obelisk…

21 Saturday Jun 2025

Posted by sulis303 in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather

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big girl pants, blessed, fabric, garden, moments, morning glories, obelisk, planter, plants, umbrella, weather, widow

the other day I removed the fabric from a squirrel-eaten umbrella…

I expected it to be difficult but it was simply a case of removing some nuts and the top and then pulling the fabric off…

my housemate cut off the bottom of the stand for me…

today, I topped up a planter and added the umbrella frame as an obelisk… then I planted some of the new morning glory seeds…

next year this obelisk will go into one of the larger pots;-)…

volunteer part 2…

20 Friday Jun 2025

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Ambassador, APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, Conservatory, feet, heavy horses, learning, mentors, moments, nature, The Leaf, volunteer part 2, volunteers, weather, widow, zoo

once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…

the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…

I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…

and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…

the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…

part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…

I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…

my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…

it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…

then we practised in three different areas…

I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…

so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…

I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…

say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…

discourage…

19 Thursday Jun 2025

Posted by sulis303 in food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather

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big girl pants, birds, blessed, discourage, food, fresh, garden, happy, moments, nature, plants, snack, squirrels, strawberry, strawberry plant, treat, weather, widow

excited this morning to spot the strawberry that was ripe enough to eat… and pleased that the birds and/or squirrels hadn’t beaten me to it…

I did paint those rocks red and put them around the plant to discourage thieves, lol… maybe they worked…

the strawberry was delicious;-)…

this plant was purchased two years ago and lives in a pot over the summer…in the fall it is transplanted back into the bathtub garden to overwinter;-)…

larvae…

16 Monday Jun 2025

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bathtub, bathtub pond, big girl pants, blessed, garden, larvae, moments, nature, pond, pump, weather, widow, working

this morning I finally got around to sorting out a working pump for the bathtub pond…

I had switched the two pumps between the main pond and the bathtub, but not long after that change the pump in the tub stopped working completely…

and because there are no fish in that pond, the chance of mosquito larvae growing in it was a problem…

happily, the first extra pump I came across worked, although it didn’t have a piece extending out of the water… luckily that doesn’t matter as the water just needs to move to ensure no larvae can survive…

hopefully this one will continue to work…

happy to get that job off the list…

Rotary…

15 Sunday Jun 2025

Posted by sulis303 in business, food, garden, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather

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bibs, big girl pants, blessed, Charleswood Rotary Club, delicious, dinner, fixings, food, friends, fun, garden, housemate, lobster, moments, party, pond, relax, rest, Rotary, sunset, Technology, time, weather, widow

Friday was a delightful day… the sun shone and the temperature rose to 25°C…

throughout the day, I prepped for a dinner party… between organizing and setting the table on the deck, there were plenty of opportunities to sit, read, and relax…

preparing a space or food for special people is always enjoyable for me as I think about those who I am doing this work for and how important they are to me…

for this gathering, it was mainly about making the space comfortable and considering what dishes we would need as the food was being picked up from a Charleswood Rotary fundraiser…

they provided a whole lobster, baked potato, fresh bun, coleslaw, brownie, small bottle of wine, with a bib and a lobster fork;-)… each person received a shopping bag with all of the goodies in it… I added a few fixings for the potatoes, warm facecloths with lemon for our fingers, and garlic butter in warmers…

once the food was warmed up, we had a lesson in how to eat the whole crustacean… I was a bit slow, lol, so had to keep having information repeated…

the weather was perfect, well, except that the wind kept blowing out some of the butter warmers… lots of conversation and story telling kept us busy throughout the meal…