saje…

19 Sunday Jan 2020

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actually went outside for the first time in at least a week…

walked to the “A” and met my grandson for breakfast… had a lovely meal and conversation…

from there we headed out to do some errands… bought some rollers at Saje… been trying to get there since I got back from Ottawa… picked up Sleep Well, Peppermint Halo and Pain Relief… I used the first two while I was away and will give the third one a try for some of the pain I’ve been experiencing in my knee…

was able to replace a Google Hub to get the correct colour… it was one of my Christmas gifts… but I did see a Lenovo Smart Display 10″ with Google Assistant… going to look into that a bit more in case it would do more of what I want than the Hub…

Indi finally had a bath and a few groceries were purchased, including a cute new plate…

I have been enjoying using different plates to eat from and I think this one will be a great addition…

home, put away the groceries and my grandson took the car… the plan was that he would come back tomorrow for dinner…

then it was afternoon nap time, lol…

signing…

18 Saturday Jan 2020

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recently I spent an hour with my finance guy signing what felt like a million papers… felt sorry for all the trees we destroyed…

complicated business to start collecting locked in RSP money… of course I didn’t remember to take a pic of the very large pile of papers that were taken away, lol…

these are just a few of the ones that were left for me…

good thing he understands this stuff and can explain it so well…

I will be thanking my beloved every day as the reason I am able to retire is due to his pension which came directly to me on his death…

slightly…

17 Friday Jan 2020

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I’ve been waiting for a slightly warmer day to top up the hot tub…

it has been running low since I got home and I haven’t been out to sit in it because when it is low it sprays all over me which isn’t that nice…

around noon I removed the dryer vent and put the hose through it… then I went outside and slid between the hot tub and the pergola so I could reach the hose and put it into the tub…

back downstairs to turn the water on and then seven long minutes out in the cold as it filled up;-)…

actually the seven minutes went by quickly and I was able to pop back into the house to turn the water off, return to the outdoors to remove the hose from the hot tub and get back into the basement to collect the hose and replace the vent in the hole in the wall that was letting in a fair bit of very cold air, lol…

now for the waiting game… it will likely be a few days before it warms back up to 103, my favourite temperature… it takes so long because the tub is only plugged in using a regular outlet…

maybe a Sunday hot tub…

enjoying…

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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saw the most amazing sky tonight as I was walking through the house…

it always amazes me when I just happen to look out and see a gorgeous sunset or sunrise… there are so many moments that we miss because we aren’t looking, lol…

here is one of the photos that I took, just before my camera advised me it was exhausted…

I am feeling that a pattern is appearing in my days… I am getting up around eight or nine and then having a relaxing breakfast… today I had some chicken soup I’d made a few days ago in the Instant Pot… I hadn’t tasted it when I made it so was pleased with it this morning… I’d woken up with a stuffy nose, so chicken soup seemed like a great start to my day…

for my lunch I had some of the Mexican Chicken Soup I’d made at the same time…. I will make this again as it is very tasty…

a bit later I spent some time working at cleaning out a kitchen drawer… even went as far as putting a liner in as well… took a while for everything to dry and be ready to go back into the drawer and a number of things hit the garbage and pass-me-over box…

reading, watching tv, tidying, napping and cooking take up the rest of the day…

so far I am enjoying the relaxed quiet days…

decluttering…

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

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had a very productive and enjoyable day…

spent time in the morning decluttering, deep-cleaning and reorganizing a rolling cupboard that my beloved built many years ago…

felt very pleased with the outcome… got rid of some stuff and made space for the Instant Pot;-)…

then had a delightful visit and some treats with a dear friend…

followed by some reading and a few phone calls… caught this sun dog as I looked out the window;-)…

enjoying the moments in this new portion of the journey;-)…

sauté…

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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a few days ago, after doing a lot of research, including a conversation with my Ottawa kids, I went out and picked up a wifi Instant Pot…

I decided to cook a whole frozen chicken… it didn’t go quite as well as hoped, but eventually the chicken was cooked… I boiled some potatoes to go along with it as they had gotten a bit soft and were growing eyes while I was away, lol…

yesterday the wifi connected rather easily… now I can turn it on, off, or give it directions from my phone, lol…

my grandson and I plan to have dinner together on Monday evenings as he will be using my car on Tuesdays for the next while… we’ve decided to try Instant Pot recipes every week…

last night we made chicken thighs with baby potatoes… next time I’d use a bit less liquid, but it was tasty and moist… and we had fun using the sauté option on the Pot;-)…

today I picked up a recipe book as it didn’t come with one… eventually we should be able to find recipes online but this Instant Pot Bible is going to be helpful as we learn more…

looking forward to some fun dinners…

misbehaving…

13 Monday Jan 2020

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went into the kitchen late last night and heard something dripping… thought it was outside, but then realized it was in the basement…

ran down to discover a ceiling tile on the floor, two wet couches, soaked carpet and water pouring down…

when I could move, I found towels and pails to put down and moved cushions into the basement bathtub…

went upstairs to the main floor and tried to figure out what was leaking… opened the front door to see if something was happening outside….

it was the pump in the fish tank… water was pouring out of it… I turned it off and put down more towels there and moved the pump to the main floor bathtub…

more towels on the floor and then up and down to be sure that all the dripping had stopped…

made for a stressful couple of hours… not sure what caused the problem, but had to leave it for the night…

must have run up and down the stairs a dozen times checking to be sure that no water was misbehaving…

tonight my grandson and I figured out that somehow the pump had tilted and the water had run down the back of it… we put a towel in the back and it has been working perfectly fine for five hours;-)…

insta…

12 Sunday Jan 2020

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I’ve seen lots of ads for the Instant Pot, but felt that I didn’t need another appliance in the kitchen…

and now that I’m retired I have all day to prepare food…

but… my daughter showed me hers and told me all the things it can do which made me think about it more seriously…

apparently, it could replace my egg cooker (which is currently not working), be a rice cooker (which I’ve wanted), act as a crockpot (which I have, in purple), act as a steamer, sauté things, keep things warm, and even be a sterilizer…

we made salmon (from frozen) and smashed potatoes with spinach in about half an hour… and it was delicious…

we also made white and wild rice with chicken thighs (again from frozen) in about 45 minutes from start of prep to eating…

and mushroom soup, and risotto…

think I just might have to buy one now that I am home…

reflecting…

11 Saturday Jan 2020

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had a lovely time while I was still at my daughter’s sorting and taking photos of my Christmas gifts…

I absolutely love my soft purple blanket, and was happy to examine all of the other wonderful treats I received…

a few purple items, lol – socks, facecloths, gloves, tins, toothbrush, reusable sponge, phone holder… and quite a variety of chocolate – pistachio, Lindt, turtles, raspberry (my favourite), chocolate covered sponge… a tea and chocolate pairing that was flavoured with orchids, reusable bags, a Chihuly 2020 calendar, colouring books and pencils, a magazine on gratitude, a hand printed towel… plus a few more I can’t even remember…

yikes, so many gifts… I certainly am blessed…

the sun was shining into the room as I was gathering them for the photo… it was very meditative and I was able to reflect on each gift and the person who gave it to me… and the fun we had as we opened and shared our delight over each parcel…

a wonderful way to extend the joy of Christmas morning…

now that I’m home, I’ve found a spot for each one…

as I use each item I will be sure to spend a moment to remember the giver with gratitude in my heart…

hosts…

10 Friday Jan 2020

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recently I flew home from Ottawa… I spent the majority of the trip with my eyes glued to the window… it was like the entire sky was filled with a sunset for the entire flight… what a gift…

I had the most wonderful visit with my daughter and son-in-law… also had a fun time meeting and getting to know his mom…

it was quite a different Christmas for me… flew out on Christmas Day and celebrated New Year’s there as well… his mom was with us for a week and then I spent another six days with the kids…

had so much fun… the kids are wonderful hosts* and offer up all kinds of interesting things to do… I stayed in their AirBnB room which was very cozy…

while I was there we ate great home cooked meals, fed birds out of our hands, went to see butterflies, had afternoon tea, went to the Market and restaurants, spent a day at the spa, had a photo shoot, and two chocolate tastings…

and enjoyed great conversations…

now I am home and able to begin retirement living…

*AirBnB Cozy Blue Room Ottawa