bliss…

28 Monday Sep 2015

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slept in a bit this morning which was lovely…

  
had breakfast and did a few chores to get ready for my company this evening…

then I headed off to the Spa for a pedicure… chose one that has a hot stone massage and a paraffin treatment…  

soothing music played, there were few clients, and I was able to relax and barely even twitched while Melinda worked on my toes… this is unusual as I have very sensitive feet…  
when we were done, I was able to fit in a sports manicure… I don’t like polish on my fingernails because it always seems to chip and look messy, so was happy that they have something for people who just want their nails clipped and filed…
  
while I was there I saw a beautiful purple purse but it had gold metal on it which I am not a fan of… I did think about it a lot, but didn’t let myself be swayed…

came home and finished making some chicken soup, which I then had for lunch…

had a nap and watched a bit of tv while waiting for my company to arrive…

  
had a wonderful time with them… supper was delicious and our conversation was excellent…
chose dates for our next few meetings and everyone headed out..
  
tidied up and am on my way to bed…

blissful day…

sounds…

27 Sunday Sep 2015

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yesterday got a pretty good shot of the Canada geese flying over the zoo…

  
they certainly announce themselves when they head out… there are a lot of them there… as we walked we had to pay attention to where we were putting our feet, lol… the sound always stops me in my tracks…

saw a few of the bears while we were there… 

  
this one was eating something from the pond… not quite sure what it was, but it kept it entertained for a long time… 

started out rainy at the beginning of the day… heard a new birdsong, but couldn’t place it… we looked out and saw a ton of junkos chattering away on the driveway having a snack…

 this was just before we headed to the grocery store… they were very busy… they are back for their trip down south… usually see them early in the spring as they head north…

by the time we came out of the store the sky was clear and we put  the cushions out in the garden…

the boys were picked up around three and I sat out in the garden for a while longer…

bunny stopped by…

  
stayed around for a while… 

only sounds in the garden were the chickadees and the waterfall…

we were all enjoying the quiet, lol…

missing…

26 Saturday Sep 2015

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up early and headed out for breakfast after we woke up the teenager…

on our way, stopped by the spot where we scattered George’s ashes as the middle one had asked about it a few weeks ago and we weren’t able to get there because his brother was sick…

wasn’t sure if the other two would want to, but they both said yes and away we went…

found the spot and played on the rocks and talked about that morning and how the oldest had scattered the ashes and they had gone out to the river and on to the lake… all places that Grandpa loved…

when we were sitting down for our breakfast we had a toast to Grandpa…

 
while we were waiting for our food to arrive we talked about our breakfast that morning and how it would have been better to have grandpa with us…

late in the afternoon we went across the street and the boys spent some time climbing a tree by the creek… it was just at the time that my friend’s ashes were being scattered in another part of the city… 

sat and thought about her as they climbed away… special moment…

  
missing a lot of people today…

special…

25 Friday Sep 2015

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looking out the window at the nearly full moon… so beautiful…

when I arrived home the boys were already here…

we walked over to Subway and chose sandwiches for our supper… on our way back I got a picture of the three of them…

  
some were eager to get home… besides the subs there were cookies in the bag… another wasn’t so excited, although there were chips, lol…

after supper the boys had a hot tub…

  
they love the lights but the water level was very low so there was lots of water shooting out of the tub, right where I was sitting… after they got out I added water… hope it warms up by tomorrow night…

snack of popcorn and a bit of tv before bedtime for the two littlest, with the other one ensconced in the basement…

  
excellent start to our weekend…

tomorrow is a celebration of my friend and colleague’s life… I am not able to attend, but with others organized desserts for the event… this afternoon we filled up the back of a car with treats to be delivered…

 
will be thinking of her, her family and friends in the evening… recently someone commented how impressed they were with the way we still include her in our thoughts and stories… 

she loved yoga and I spent our practice today remembering her… 

special people…

yesterday…

24 Thursday Sep 2015

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yesterday the clouds were lovely throughout the whole day…

  
stopped at the end of the street on my way to work and got this picture…

  
had an opportunity, at a light, to shoot the sky toward downtown…

  
enjoyed the clouds reflected in one of the buildings on my arrival at the office…

  
view over the new police headquarters…

like the clouds particularly when there is still some blue sky visible, lol… 

and finally, on the drive home, got this picture of the church steeple and sky…

  
sadly I was in some dreadful traffic at the time and had ample opportunity to check out the sky…

not sure why I have been so struck by clouds recently, although we have certainly had more dull overcast days over the last few years… way more than we used to have…

maybe that is why I love the morning glories which look like they are lit with sunlight from within…

  

fall…

23 Wednesday Sep 2015

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spent the evening making soup for Souper Thursday at the office… seemed like making soup on the first day of fall was good timing… 

  
decided on two types so there are offerings for a variety of dietary issues… 

first one is zucchini basil… simple, easy and tasty… 

  
my daughter found the recipe on Pinterest when her garden kept producing multiple zucchini along with lots of basil…

  
tastes very nice… hope everyone likes it as much as I do… 

I sure do love my purple immersion blender… it makes finishing soup so easy… using the regular blender is much more time consuming and messy, lol…

  
second one is really a made-up butternut squash soup… read a few recipes but really just went off on my own with what I had in the fridge and pantry…

  
this one was based on a crockpot recipe but I made it in my soup/pasta pot… squash, Granny Smith apple, onion, potato, chicken stock, spices and coconut milk… even put some red pepper flakes in it…

  
tastes pretty fine, with a bit of a bite…

as always when I’m cooking, I spend the time thinking of the people I’m going to feed as I work… makes the whole process much more meaningful for me…

for years I cooked for many – for various family, friend and catering events… these days it is usually for my kids, so I enjoy the opportunities to prepare something for others…

only down side is the fact that the dishwasher is on the fritz… hoping my son-in-law can come and clean out the spray arms which should fix the problem…

well, all done and in the fridge ready to go… lunch should be good…

like…

22 Tuesday Sep 2015

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had a bit of a giggle when I got this badge the other day…

  
seems like a strange number for an award, lol… maybe 1000, or 1250, or 1500… but 1337?

still enjoy every like, follow and comment that I get…

Thursday I took a picture of the leaves starting to turn on a tree on the street…

  
took this picture of the same tree tonight as I walked down the street…

  
colours have seriously changed… not sure that I like that…

a small group of us met tonight and had a great conversation… 

these women are an amazing sounding board and have been there to support one another for many years… truly blessed with such friendship…

orange…

21 Monday Sep 2015

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first thing this morning I took a picture of the Mandevilla… it is a lovely shade of pink…

  
then I spent a bit of time putting a few new plants on the steps at the front of the house…

  
came out pretty nice… hope they last until the cold comes…

been noticing orange things as I remember my friend Susan… she loved orange… on my walks in the Park I have been drawn to the orange flowers… I’ve been working on a project and have noticed I’ve been gravitating to orange there as well…

missing my beloved lately as well… interesting how time can go by and then all of a sudden I miss him tremendously…

tonight the sky was beautiful again…

  
pinky orange, lol… amazing sunsets lately…

final picture tonight is one of the gerbers that are part of the bouquet from the kids…

  
flowers make me happy…

sunset…

20 Sunday Sep 2015

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odd day…

went out and ran a couple of errands… came home, put away a few groceries and had a nap…

watched a bit of TV and sat outside and read…

wandered by the living room window this evening and saw this…

  
stunning sunset…

always find it amazing how I will just happen to look out a window and there will be something special happening…

  
truly blessed…

chores…

19 Saturday Sep 2015

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lovely Saturday…

the morning glories didn’t realize I was home all day and started opening early, lol…  

they looked like velvet today…

 finally moved the bed and found the missing dragonfly… tidied up the bedroom and had breakfast watching some of my PVRed shows…

  
did a number of chores around the house and spent some time reading an actual paper book out by the pond…
  
napped and got dinner in the oven as the kids were coming over… able to spend a bit more time outside with the book as I waited for their arrival…

morning glories stayed open quite late in the day…

  
the little boys are so cute… they remember our conversations about the garden and were excited that the flowers were still open, even though it was supper time…

after supper they watched tv while we sat out in the garden…

  
getting a bit cool in the evening… the Virginia creeper is changing colour and many of the leaves have already dropped…

we are looking forward to next weekend when the boys will all be staying with me while their parents go out of town…