lock…

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by in life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I really enjoy technology and am always on the lookout for new ways to do things…

for a few years I’ve been adding smart technology to the house piece by piece and that has been a fun and learning experience…

I often check out new apps for my phone and currently have done research into using video conferencing and computer programs…

a few days ago, I discovered, completely by accident, that if I swipe left on my lock screen it takes me to my camera… very funny…

on my lock screen there is a small camera icon, which I have clicked on from the beginning…

reminded me of the line “you don’t know what you don’t know”… when I worked I would spend time with each person on staff as they worked at their computer… I would often learn some tip or trick that they used and assumed everyone else already knew, but didn’t…

wonder what I will discover next;-)…

ceramic…

17 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by in garden, life, moments, nature, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

one of the pots around the pond was a black pail that I had put a dahlia in and then a butterfly bush as the dahlia didn’t grow… could be the problem was no drainage…

a few days ago, I pulled a ceramic pot out from under the deck and repotted the butterfly bush into it along with one of the pansies that had been in too much shade…

looks much better, I think.. hope the plants like this one better…

cats…

17 Wednesday Jun 2020

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

there has been lots of activity in the garden recently…

these critters were photographed over the last few days…

today the forecast mentioned thunderstorms and rain but I decided to put out all of the cushions anyway… it ended up sunny and hot for most of the day…

looks very quiet, lol…

but this morning there were red and gray squirrels, the frog, chipping sparrows, a bunny that shot across the garden, dragonflies and two cats, one that I haven’t seen previously…

and during that entire period a robin, that I couldn’t see, sang…

I am enjoying every moment that I spend here…

beforehand…

16 Tuesday Jun 2020

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

this afternoon I had a lovely visit with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time…

it was very hot in the garden and had rained for a short period beforehand, so I had to put all the cushions away and then bring them back out, lol… thank goodness it stopped as I am still not having guests in the house…

she brought the most adorable purple bird feeder and the sweetest card as a retirement gift;-)…

I have filled it with food for the finches and hung it next to the garage door… will see if it is too close to the house…

what a treat;-)…

rogue…

15 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by in family, garden, life, moments, nature, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

had lots of company yesterday…

a friend found white alyssum and brought it over for me, as well as some other plants from her garden… I have been searching for alyssum for ages…

spent some happy time planting this morning… and still have some left…

while she was still here, my middle grandson was dropped off so he could mow and whipper snip the garden…

he even cut down a rogue elm tree in the back lane, lol… after he got the work done we had a lovely conversation before his brother arrived for a short visit and to pick him up…

I certainly am blessed…

toppled…

14 Sunday Jun 2020

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

the wind has been blowing a lot in the last few days…

today, it was so strong that it toppled the elephant ear plant in the pond… I had thought it was secure, but all of a sudden it blew over… dug out my water shoes, found some very large rocks, and climbed in and stood it back up, circled it with the rocks as well as adding a few on top of it…

the rocks were so big, it raised the water level and a few of the lily pads went back under the water, lol…

I didn’t spot the frog, but a number of house sparrows and a few chipping sparrows stopped by to drink and have a bath…

the chickadees have returned and two of them were really looking around… I was wondering if they were searching for a spot to nest as I hadn’t seen this particular behaviour previously…

froggie…

12 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by in garden, life, moments, nature, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

saw the frog a number of times yesterday while I was listening to a program on my iPhone…

it has hopped past me a few times over the last while but never when I have a camera in my hand…

yesterday froggie was out sunning on the rocks around the edge of the pond… when it jumps in it swims across in just a few seconds…

according to research it appears to be a common frog… interesting, as for the last few years we had leopard frogs…

got some nice pictures;-)…

and another exciting thing is that the water lily leaves are just starting to rise above the water… this first photo was from last night and only the top corner of one lily pad was peeking out of the water…

now four lily pads are above water on one plant and two on the second plant…

outing…

11 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by in food, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized, weather

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

just home from a wonderful gathering with my best buddies… we haven’t been together since my birthday in April, when they came and wished me a happy birthday at a distance with signs and a card…

this was the first time that I have left the house, and driven the car, since mid-March…

everyone brought their own dishes, silverware and mugs, and I even brought my chair, which worked out really well as it has a little table attached where I could put my tea and camera…

we sat – physically distancing, of course – around a lovely fire in our host’s backyard, celebrating another birthday and enjoyed a visit while eating lemon cake with fresh raspberries which she had baked for us… (cake photo from the chef)…

we talked about birds, celebrations, family and wind chimes… and we learned that wind chimes can have different sounds attributed to them… the ones we were listening to were the song of a meadowlark…

it was cool, but we all brought warm clothes and were quite comfortable… a bit crazy that gloves were needed…

it was an excellent first outing and I felt good about getting out for the first time since the pandemic began, although I did wash my hands as soon as I got into the house, lol…

thanks for the picture Pat

my clothes smell like a campfire… what a treat…

fluff…

09 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by in garden, life, moments, nature, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

started one of the sticker pages in my book… and worked on it between tasks in the kitchen…

I chose the dandelion because as I sat in the garden yesterday the fluff from the cottonwoods made it look like it was snowing…

not sure where the tree or trees are, but they sure are producing a lot of fluff, lol…

when I look out the front window it would be easy to imagine that it is the seeds from the dandelions…