02 Saturday Jun 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
having a hard day… been ages since I’ve had one this bad…
a few things have happened over the last week which have made me wish my beloved was here with me… he was always my biggest supporter…
never know when the grief will overwhelm you, sigh…
spotted these yesterday… he loved alliums…
01 Friday Jun 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, bill, call, customer, expensive, helpful, iPhone, loyal, phone, reward, ridiculous, widow
this afternoon I spent half an hour talking with a few people at the phone company…
we have been customers for forty-eight years and use all of the services that they provide…
the last bill was ridiculous, especially for one person…
when I was travelling in April I had added unlimited calling to my cell phone so I wanted to have that taken off…
while I was talking with Ella she found things we could change that would bring my bill down by around $30 per month…
then she put me on the line with Melanie to see if they could do anything to reward me for being a loyal customer…
she found a few items and my bill will be reduced by over $75 for the next six months…
seems to me they might consider a permanent reduction, but for now I have marked my calendar and will call them again in six months… rather frustrating that I have to be on top of this all the time…
I must say the two women I spoke with were very helpful…
31 Thursday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
band, big girl pants, concert, grandparents, grandson, growth, memories, moments, widow
tonight I attended my eldest grandson’s final band concert…
when I think back to his first few performances it is amazing how far he has come…
what a treat to be able to participate in these memory-making moments…
watching these kids grow and hone their skills in music, sports and life has been such a gift…
grandparenting is one of the best jobs ever…
30 Wednesday May 2018
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Tags
bag, big girl pants, electricity, GFI, pond, rain, storm, widow
late yesterday afternoon it poured in St. James… apparently not necessarily in other parts of the city…
it was coming down so hard when I arrived home that I put a large IKEA bag that I found in the garage, over my head…
I took a video of the downpour but it wouldn’t upload…
the pond filled to overflowing and then the pumps stopped… there was so much rain that it tripped the GFI… once the weather improved I went out and pulled the plug out, reset the button and plugged the cord back in… happily the pump started and the waterfall began running… and I wasn’t electrocuted… I texted my son-in-law to say I was still alive and he laughed… hmmmmm…
same thing when I got home tonight… poured like crazy for an hour or so in the late afternoon… we need the rain, but I would like it to rain during the night…
was going to wait till the morning to get it turned back on, but just ran out and got it going again..
29 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
went and got my hair purpled last night…
last time I had it done was before Christmas… a few folks have mentioned that it was fading, lol…
the street my stylist lives on was blocked with numerous dump trucks, piles of pipes and gravel, but I was able to make it to her house… her hair was purple this time;-)…
once she had finished with the colour she did a cut… she’s always happy when my hair is a bit longer as it makes the colouring process easier…
I could sit for hours while someone plays with my hair, lol…
28 Monday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
early start to the day with a dentist appointment for a filling…
usually my teeth are in great shape and the regular cleaning and check-ups keep any cavities away…
unfortunately last time I was in, she noticed a broken piece on one of my back molars… I hadn’t been wearing my mouthguard as much as I am supposed to, which might have been the problem…
let me tell you I’ve been wearing it every night since… don’t want any more broken bits, sigh…
this morning she was sad when she realized which tooth it was, because I gag easily, so doing work at the back of my mouth is always stressful… for me and for her… she doesn’t want to cause any unnecessary stress or strain on me if at all possible…
whenever she does a procedure on my teeth she works quickly and takes frequent breaks so I can breathe… this is one of the reasons that I found a dentist who dealt with “chickens”… and they love purple;-)… at the water station they have the cutest little purple cups…
today it went well until they were removing some of the stuff they had stuck into my mouth, lol… but, I survived…
I don’t have dental insurance and usually what I pay for 3 cleanings and check-ups is less than the insurance… today’s bill was more than anticipated, but worth it to stop any further decay…
once I got to the office I had a blueberry smoothie, which was purple too…
27 Sunday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
barbecue, Barbie, baskets, big girl pants, cushions, flowers, garden, groceries, mandevilla, reading, relaxed, widow
much more relaxed day today…
started the day with a hot tub in the mist… while I was sitting there, looked over to see I had left cushions on one of the chairs, lol… luckily that chair was under one of the cedars…
happy to find a white mandevilla along with a couple of pretty baskets when I was out shopping…
picked up a few groceries, came home and had a short nap… spent the remainder of the day in the shade reading…
because it was so lovely out, I chose a steak for dinner… and I brought Barbie out of the garage to make it… usually I don’t bother unless the kids are over and they do the barbecuing, but did a great job of the meat and the asparagus… even cooked the mushrooms out there… forgot to take a picture of them on Barbie, lol…
delicious dinner…
26 Saturday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
arranged, big girl pants, garden, Grandpa, grandson, hot tub, mowed, planted, pond, talk, widow, worked
well, what a busy day… woke up at 4:20 am and went out for a very early morning hot tub… the sky was already getting lighter so I could barely see the last of the stars…
when I woke at 7:25 I went out and set up the cushions on the chairs and loungers, had a smoothie and tea… beautiful morning… arranged for my middle grandson to come and help me in the garden and then spoke with my Ottawa daughter, who was in Kingston…
the kids arrived and we went to the “A” for breakfast… then my grandson and I walked around Bruce Park to catch a few Pokémon and headed home…
we worked in the garden for the rest of the day with sitting and water breaks as well as a quick trip to pick up subs for lunch… we drove, even though it is only a few blocks away, because we were both hot and tired, lol…
often when we are together we share stories about Grandpa… today we remembered how he could be a bit scary when he lost his temper, how he liked to keep busy in the garden, would pull weeds and toss them on the ground and have to go back to pick them up and put them in the yard waste bags… that is the preferred method for my grandson as well, lol… we also talked about how long we have lived in this house and some of the fun times we’ve had… we shared things that make us nervous and traits that we both have…
we spotted a chipping sparrow having a bath and earlier I had seen a small frog hopping in and out of the pond…
the garden is taking shape… we cleaned out one flower bed, filled fourteen planters, mowed the front and back, brought out the hibiscus and put everything we had used away… whew…
by the end we were both hot and exhausted but had a blast together;-)…
he was picked up by my son-in-law who fixed one of the pumps while he was here… once they left I sat and read for a while…
going to have a hot tub soon and maybe head to bed early…
25 Friday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, cleats, clouds, home, ice cream, soccer game, sunlight, sunshine, through, widow
the sun has been shining through clouds a lot lately but I haven’t been able to get any pictures…
last night, while we were waiting for the soccer game to start, I had the chance to get a few…
also excited to catch the moon in amongst the clouds too…
after I was dropped off I took a few pics of the clouds out the front…
in the end there was no game as the lightning kept coming, although we did get to have ice cream…
but look at these amazing soccer cleats;-)…
24 Thursday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
flowers make me happy and I haven’t had any around the house for the last little while…
yesterday I was at the grocery store and picked a bunch up…
I always put them in a seatbelt when I have them in the car… it keeps them upright so they don’t fall over with any sharp turns or quick stops, because we all know I drive like a maniac (not really)…
overnight they were in water and this morning I packed most of them back up to take to work… I did leave a few at home in a vase…
made two bouquets at the office and put mine at my desk…
had to laugh when my colleague came over to see if I was okay, because she knows I like to have flowers around as they help relieve stress… when she saw so many flowers she thought something really big and bad was going on…
she was very happy when I advised that one bunch was a treat for someone else, lol… I was touched that she was worried about me;-)…
herbiggirlpants 