thermostat…

07 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by sulis303 in family, health, life, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather

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big girl pants, blessed, changing, cold, eco, family, moments, Technology, thermostat, weather, widow

my Nest thermostat is ticking me off…

for the last few weeks it has been telling me that it is figuring out the best way to be eco friendly for the winter season…

at bedtime it goes down to 16.5°C instead of the 18° where I want it to be…

although at night that isn’t such a problem, lol…

during the day, if I sit reading for too long, it drops the temperature by a couple of degrees… makes it rather chilly when it is cold, sigh…

a few nights ago, we changed a few things and it appears that it has made a difference… it looks like it won’t go below 21°C during the day;-)… woohoo…

coyote…

03 Monday Feb 2025

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

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big girl pants, coyote, den, garden, moments, nature, solar lights, strong, stunned, sunlight, tarp, weather, widow

I’ve been watching the solar lights in the garden over the last few days and have noticed that they are lighting up, having not been working for the last few months…

clearly the sun is getting much stronger, even though it has been cold…

so, tonight I was trying to get a shot of the solar light on the deck working and was stunned to see a coyote cross the pond and go behind the tarp which covers the outdoor furniture…

of course, I wasn’t fast enough to catch it in a photo…

I am a bit worried that it might be using the tarp as a den, so we will have to check into that in the morning 😬…

mug…

31 Friday Jan 2025

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big girl pants, blessed, chickadees, giggle, happy, memories, moments, mug, nature, widow

had a bit of a giggle the other day…

as I pulled out my newest mug in the morning – the chickadees – I looked up at the kitchen display and saw that it was showing a photo of the first time I took a photo of the mug;-)…

I particularly enjoy the fact that this mug shows two chickadees, one on each side so that I can see the bird, even as a leftie;-)…

seemed a bit serendipitous…

crystals…

30 Thursday Jan 2025

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big girl pants, blessed, cap, crystals, garden, hot tub, ice, icicles, moments, nature, snow, Technology, weather, widow

Monday night I went out for a hot tub…

it had been warm during the day and there were a ton of icicles over the tub, so I sat in the opposite corner from usual so nothing could fall onto my head, lol…

as I stepped outside I could hear the ice crystals falling so I grabbed my cap to protect my glasses…

it was a bit chilly for anything above the water as the ice crystals continued to fall…

I am still having trouble with the Ring light, which I have to turn off from the garage, no matter what I try on the app…

I was out for quite a while and when I came inside I realized how much snow had come down, lol…

FDV…

25 Saturday Jan 2025

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artists, big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, coat check, designers, displays, family, FDV, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, gardeners, gather, koi, lunch, moments, nature, orchids, The Leaf, violin, widow

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…

Uber…

23 Thursday Jan 2025

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app, big girl pants, blessed, family, handy, learning, moments, nature, ride, snow, Technology, Uber, weather, widow

had my first Uber rides in Winnipeg…

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…

freaked…

22 Wednesday Jan 2025

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big girl pants, chimney, freaked, hot water tank, leaking, moments, Next-Gen, problems, solutions, stress, weather, widow

Wednesday morning I went downstairs to do some laundry and found water following a path between the carpets in the back room…

the water was coming from under the hot water tank…

this freaked me out as in 2013 a leaky hot water tank flooded the basement… drywall had to be cut out, huge fans brought in and everything in the basement put into boxes and moved out while the remediation company returned the basement to normal…

two technicians arrived from a neighbourhood company and spent a day and a half in the basement and up a ladder to the top of the chimney…

after numerous issues – the wrong type of tank being delivered, too short a ladder, screws sticking out all the way down the chimney –

finally the new gas water heater is installed and working… throughout the process the technicians continued to find new ways to deal with the problems…

I am pleased with the final result;-)…

exhibition…

21 Tuesday Jan 2025

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

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big girl pants, birthday, blessed, details, display, exhibition, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, friends, memories, moments, nature, plants, Technology, The Leaf, treat, widow

Monday was another delightful day at The Leaf…

our group went to view the Fleurs de Villes display after our birthday lunch at Gather…

as always, a walk through the Tropical Biome is rejuvenating…

we had such fun as each of us shared different points of interest as we wandered through the lush vegetation…

we visited the cacao trees, saw coffee beans, enjoyed new vistas of the fish, chatted about the banyan tree, spotted many heliconias, and got dripped on a few times, lol…

we moved on to the Mediterranean Biome for the Fleurs de Villes exhibition…

all of the mannequins (that represent the arts in the city) were very nicely done… we met two of the designers and spotted things we liked at every display… it was amazing to see the details that had been included…

after we’d been around once, most of us went around one more time, as we each made a decision on our favourite and filled out the ballot which we received as we entered the space…

the Fleurs de Villes exhibition is always stunning and such a delight to have had here two years in a row;-)…

one more visit to the exhibition in a few days…