afternoon…

30 Monday Dec 2019

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yesterday we had a delightful afternoon tea at Zoe’s in the Fairmont Chateau Laurier…

we dressed up a bit… nothing like when we went for tea at the Empress a few years back… at that time we even wore white gloves;-)…

the host took great care to seat us at a window with a lovely view of Rideau and McKenzie Street… we saw lots of bendy buses drive past;-)…

the settings were reminiscent of days gone by with lovely old cups and cute tea strainers… tea was delicious… between us we tried three different varieties and they were all tasty…

we shared two towers of treats and were very full by the time we were finished… we even brought home some of the dainties… our server, Dave, was extremely attentive to all of our needs and even recommended a few other places we might go…

my favourite item was the scones with clotted cream and freshly made strawberry jam…

we are having a delightful time and being treated like royalty by the kids;-)…

eventful…

29 Sunday Dec 2019

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what an eventful day yesterday was…

in the morning my daughter and I headed to Bulk Barn for bird seed and then on to Mer Bleue where it was way too slippery for a walk but we spent a lovely time feeding the birds from our hands… such fun;-)…

chickadees came and went from the surrounding trees… we saw blue jays, two types of woodpeckers, a nuthatch and maybe a partridge…

it was great fun… my daughter took the picture of the chickadee looking at me, lol…

then we picked up my son-in-law and his mom and went to the Canadian Museum of Nature where we saw exhibits about the arctic, the earth and Canadian birds… and we spent some quality time in the butterfly exhibit…

here are a few of my favourite photos…

birds AND butterflies…

finished the day off with a BeaverTail;-)…

those were for sharing, I only had half of one;-)…

meeting…

28 Saturday Dec 2019

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had a great time making Christmas dinner a few days ago…

made the stuffing, cooked a very small turnip and simmered the neck and liver for hours to make a great stock for the gravy…

after the turkey was stuffed and in the oven we enjoyed the smell as we set the table…

potatoes were mashed, gravy was made, turkey was carved, sides turned up on the counter, and dinner was served…

it has been lovely to get to spend time with Ron’s mom… in all the time they’ve been married we’ve never met… we ended the evening with some selfie fun…

celebrations…

27 Friday Dec 2019

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yesterday we celebrated Christmas… I arrived here the evening before, so we put Christmas off by a day, lol…

when we got up in the morning – not until 7 am;-)… we opened the very full stockings and then all the gifts under the tree were distributed… our family tradition is that the youngest passes out the presents and they are opened one-by-one around the circle so that we can see what everyone got…

the same process is followed for stockings (which come from Santa) and that happens first… it was a wonderful time and the gifts were all carefully chosen…

then we prepped for our Christmas breakfast… crepes, made the night before, in the crepe pan that my beloved gave the kids a number of years ago… to fill them there were scrambled eggs, cooked onions and peppers, turkey bacon, grated cheese, strawberries with whipped cream, apples and cinnamon…

delicious meal after all the fun of sharing gifts…

bubbly…

26 Thursday Dec 2019

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yesterday I travelled from Winnipeg to Ottawa to spend Christmas with my daughter, son-in-law and his mother… the flight was jam packed and I had the sweetest little person sitting beside me… if she asked why once, she asked a hundred times, lol…

when I arrived, we had a lovely dinner of appetizers… there were fancy cheeses, chocolate salami, coconut shrimp, chicken wings, many types of fancy crackers, fruit, veggies and hummus as well as a variety of home-baked cookies…

we had bubbly to celebrate my retirement…

stockings were hung on the mantle and the tree looked ever so festive with lots of gifts under it…

a wonderful start to my visit;-)…

engine…

25 Wednesday Dec 2019

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for the first time ever, I was alone on Christmas morning…

it was odd and I spent some time thinking back to so many Christmas morning celebrations over the years…

there were no stockings to open as the kids had come over on Sunday and had fun opening them then…

part way through the morning, as I was watching a Christmas movie, I heard an engine running so came downstairs to see what was going on…

it was a fire truck and ambulance parked across the street in front of a neighbour’s house… took a while to figure out which house they were at, and the good news is they took someone out who was using oxygen… they didn’t rush off, so that was also good news… I don’t know this particular neighbour and hope they are going to be okay…

did bring back some memories… some of losing my beloved, but others of some of the crazy things that have happened to us over Christmas Eves in the past, lol… from water heaters needing to be replaced, furnaces not producing heat, to sewers backing up… we went through a number of special times, lol…

but, issues would always be resolved by Christmas morning…

here is a photo of our last Christmas season with my beloved…

as I was looking back through my posts I came across this one that was also titled engine, lol… seemed to fit with the theme…

later today I am heading to Ottawa to spend time with my kids there and meet my son-in-law’s mom for the first time…

my grandson will be house sitting while I am gone;-)…

how blessed I have been and continue to be…

fastener…

24 Tuesday Dec 2019

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I’ve had this cute little bag since a visit to Alaska in 2013…

I usually use it to protect my camera in my purse… sometimes I’ve worn it cross body when I’ve needed to carry my phone, without using my hands, or if I don’t have pockets…

a few days ago I figured out how to wear it around my waist…

added another fastener to it which makes it much easier to clip on and off…

in these last few years, being on my own, I have felt it more important to have my phone close at hand in case I trip, fall, or need help for some other reason…

going to be much easier now…

integral…

23 Monday Dec 2019

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up way too early to get ready for my BS buddies who were coming over for brunch and sharing of Christmas gifts…

everyone brought something for the meal… there were avocados, breads, cheeses, jam and eggs… delicious…

lots of great conversation and some wonderful gifts were shared…

home baking, jam, eco wrap, chocolate, handmade aprons and donations… love throughout…

these women have been an integral part of my life for over 30 years… through all the good and bad times…

what a wonderful time we have together;-)…

non-traditional…

22 Sunday Dec 2019

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had Christmas dinner with the kids tonight… we’d decided to have a non-traditional meal, except there would be stuffing, lol…

we had presents, decorated gingerbread house pieces, opened Christmas crackers, enjoyed a delicious steak and lobster dinner with stuffing muffins, twice-stuffed potatoes, mushrooms, and salad… finished up with gingerbread pieces that had a lot of icing and candies on them, lol…

on Christmas Day I will fly to Ottawa to spend time with my daughter, son-in-law and his mom… looking forward to meeting her for the first time;-)…

as I remember many wonderful Christmas traditions, from the years while my beloved was with us to the years since he’s been gone, I look forward to new traditions we may start this year…

memories and moments;-)…

solstice…

21 Saturday Dec 2019

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it was beautiful inside and out…

currently the temperature outside feels like -11C at 6 pm…pretty darn warm;-)…

saw the most stunning sky to welcome the Winter Solstice early this morning…

had breakfast with my grandson, prepared potatoes for tomorrow’s dinner, made stuffing and had a wonderful visit with a dear young woman…

I also got all of my Smart pieces of technology working correctly;-)… did laundry and brought up the suitcase…

I’ve watched some horse jumping and almost had a nap…

sounds crazy busy, but there were lots of breaks sitting in front of the tree listening to Christmas music…

blessed;-)…