shower…

02 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by sulis303 in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized

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Baby, beloved, big girl pants, friends, gifts, party, shower, special people, widow

what a lovely time tonight… a group of sixteen gathered to celebrate the coming birth of a baby… pretty cool timing, eh…
had a cup of tea and looked over the space before everyone arrived…

we had lots of fun, conversation, good food and there were some great gifts as well…

this was the first big party that I’ve hosted since my beloved left me…

it might have been here, but there were many others who helped make it a success… from the planning team who decided on each step of preparation, to the friends who came and helped with Christmas decorating, to the ones who set up the planter, to the ones who made the centrepieces, to the ones who came at noon and helped with salad prep, to the ones who picked up the pasta and organized the kitchen… to the ones who brought various bits and pieces of yummy treats and gifts, to the ones who cleaned up and left the house the same as it was before anyone arrived…

my life is filled with such special people…

system…

01 Thursday Dec 2016

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big girl pants, blessed, bypass, health, healthcare, moments, stress, struggles, surgery, system, widow

had a conversation with someone a few days back about health, or lack thereof…

they were waiting on appointments and test results and the stress was nearly unbearable…

made me think back to some of our difficult times…

November/December 2008, when George had bypass surgery… the stress leading up to the actual surgery was huge… the struggles with the healthcare system were daunting…

advocating for yourself or your loved one takes courage, patience and persistence… and you can’t give up…

once we got to the actual surgery he responded beautifully…

August 2010, when I had a procedure for a blocked bile duct which led to a very bad bout of pancreatitis and ended with gall bladder surgery… for six weeks he came to see me every morning before work and looked after everything on the home front…

now I have memories of those times and although some of them are difficult they also remind me of what a special life we have been blessed with… reminded me of this blog I wrote in February of 2013…

one step at a time…

blooming hibiscus…

lost…

30 Wednesday Nov 2016

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Advent, Advent Elf, big girl pants, boxes, empty, lost, open, suitcase, widow

last night this box of empty Advent boxes left the house to be filled…

my daughter finds things throughout the year and then arranges for the items to get here… this year her good friend was there last week and when she came home she brought all the stuff to fill the boxes… they were in her suitcase, which was lost for two days… thankfully it arrived in town night before last;-)…

tonight the Advent Elf came by with a box of filled boxes…

they look wonderful… it is always such fun to open one each morning…

but box number one is missing;-(… too funny considering the suitcase had been lost too…

the Elf came back and now all of the boxes are here and I have one to open tomorrow morning…

so exciting…

planter…

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

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big girl pants, container, designer, greenery, planters, Shelmerdine, widow

great fun tonight… quick trip to Shelmerdine to pick up greenery to make a planter for the front step…

here’s the designer and the container before she started work… then she spent an hour using her magic fingers…

and here’s the gorgeous result…

looking forward to taking a few shots on the front steps in the daylight…

wreath…

28 Monday Nov 2016

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big girl pants, pictures, purple, snow, widow, wreath

started the day with a picture of the front of the house…

just a dusting of snow on the ground…

the wreath looks wonderful… it took a lot of time and two people to get it just right, lol…

so happy with the freshly purpled door… looks lovely with the snow…

decorations…

27 Sunday Nov 2016

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Advent, big girl pants, bubbles, Christmas, decorations, feather, friends, glitter, pottery, purple, trees, widow

what a wonderful afternoon… two dear friends came over to help me put up my Christmas decorations… one focussed on the living room and the other made the pottery on the dining room wall sparkle… we had such fun and great conversation as we worked away… well, mostly they worked, and I sat on the couch… my knee was not happy with the fall yesterday…

one tree went into the bay window inside one of my favourite sleighs… two of the drawers in the table were filled with silver and purple ornaments…

the second tree went across the room next to an angel and a large purple glitter ball…

purple feather trees and a family-made nativity lamp go together beautifully…

the stunning glitter trees with glass reindeer are lovely on the fish tank… of course there is glitter everywhere on the main floor now, lol…

these bubbles have lived in the dining room window at Christmas for the last three years… love how they look with the various ribbons that hold them up…and they reflect so nicely…

and all the pottery looks beautiful, newly organized in the nooks…

things can look so different from another viewpoint…

now all that’s needed are my advent boxes;-)…

progress…

26 Saturday Nov 2016

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big girl pants, breakfast, ChefsPlate, Christmas, errands, hot tub, internet, list, progress, purple, smoothie, widow

knew I had lots to do today so was up early and made bacon and eggs with rösti and spinach… smoothies make up my morning meals on weekdays, so I always enjoy having time to make something special on the weekend…

made a list to be sure I remembered everything that needed to be done…

paid some bills, ordered a few things on the Internet and then headed out to do some errands…

picked up the cutest purple magnetic white board and put it up on the cabinet door by the stove…

then I spent quite some time emptying, and then filling, the hot tub… it is a process… first I had to check if I needed any chemicals, then had to pick up a filter… empty the tub which takes at least a few hours… wipe it down, put in the new filter and fill it up… when I restart the pump sometimes it takes a while for the jets to work… only had to reset it once tonight… it was getting dark as it filled up and I went flying when checking the water level… the deck had become slick as the temperature dropped…

now it is a waiting game as it warms up… always like to have a fresh filter and water for when my daughter comes home… she really enjoys the hot tub…

made supper with one of my ChefsPlate meals and used the new magnetic board… worked perfectly to hold the recipe out of the way, but handy…

exactly what I was hoping for… supper was good too…

made a lot of progress on my Christmas list, which makes me happy…

containers…

25 Friday Nov 2016

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big girl pants, bowl, ChefsPlate, containers, flowers, harissa, popcorn, purple, salmon, vase, widow

had fun making my supper tonight… another ChefsPlate meal which went into the new bowl I picked up at the Chinese market last week…

Mediterranean Salmon with sun tomatoes and pearl couscous pilaf… also learned that Harissa is a hot sauce… not so wise to dip a finger in it to taste, lol… I like pearl couscous…

enjoying my flowers at home, as well as the ones at the office…

did giggle when I saw how the water in the vase had turned purple…

tonight’s final treat was a bowl of popcorn…

always have popcorn in my fish bowl…

funny how we like certain things in certain containers…

greenery…

24 Thursday Nov 2016

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alyssum, big girl pants, deck, greenery, squirrels, tree, widow

as I was leaving the house this morning spotted this on the deck…

thinking that the squirrels were looking for a snack and pushed the alyssum, that was still blooming, off the deck… sad because I really liked that pot…