collection…

12 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

family and friends have all heard the sad tale of the vanishing sea shells…

now I have some from Cuba and Florida…
  
they are a great addition to my few originals and the whack load of Dollar Store purchases…
maybe once the weather is warmer we can find the original box in the garage that has been packed up for ten or fifteen years… think it is somewhere up in the rafters…
George was very good at packing away things he didn’t have much use for, lol…
I know that many of them will be too big to fit into the table, but would love to spend a bit of time looking the collection over and remembering where they came from…
yesterday caught this squirrel on the garage roof…
  
wonder if this was one of the ones that teased George, lol…
odd weather today… overcast and warm, then rainy and windy… and finally a beautiful sky filled with clouds…
  

gardening…

11 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

it was beautiful this morning and I was very excited to open the screen door for the first time this year…

sadly my son-in-law was working days this weekend so I knew he couldn’t come and help me in the garden…

called my grandson and he and a friend came over and spent the day… they raked the garden and put out furniture while I cleaned up the planters from last year and washed a number of tables… then we moved to the front where we cut back wild roses… got rid of grass…   

laid wet newspaper, and put down 16 bags of rubber mulch… 

was so happy to get this done… bought the first ten bags of mulch last summer… ran over and got more as we worked… slurpees for the boys on our way home from Home Depot, a short rest and they then spent a couple of hours working on the pond…  they had lots of fun…

the little boys arrived just before 5 and they trimmed the Virginia creeper…

had a short visit from my sister-in-law and nephew in the tidied garden…

had pizza for supper when the daddy arrived and he changed my tires so now the car has the pretty wheels on it again…

everyone headed home and I am laying on the bed watching tv…

opened the screen door at 8:30 in the morning and closed it twelve hours later… yay…

busy, warm and very productive day…

smell…

10 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

there’s a lovely smell in the house these days…

last week when I picked up the tulips I also picked up a hyacinth…
was hoping for purple but it turned out to be a white one…
  
every time I walk into the house it smells like spring… even smell it when I am walking down the stairs…
recently had a lovely walk in the spring weather with someone I don’t get to visit with much…
had a cup of tea at Starbucks, where she had to point out the area where the milk and sweetener were located… 
I laughed as I mentioned how I was always embarrassing my girls by not knowing where things are located…
the peace lily is beautiful right now…
  

soup…

09 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

made pea soup with the ham bone from Easter dinner… a lot of soup… was a bit worried because it was quite thin…

then I remembered that I was on for Souper Thursday this week…

saved and froze the fabulous buns from our Homer’s dinner on Monday… I do not freeze bread of any kind, but wanted to keep them fresh…

took the car and brought the soup to the office… went over well, and tasted good… we also had cheese, hummus, veggies and various chips… many of my colleagues have only used dried split peas whereas I use frozen green peas…

  

brought home a little bit and will have to call my son-in-law to pick some up… he loves pea soup too…

when I got home I could hear robins singing in the backyard, even thought I couldn’t see them…

had a good swim and a great time with my friend…

look…

08 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

can you believe this crazy weather…

  

this morning everything was covered in a light dusting of snow… really, sigh…

dull and overcast for most of the day… sun finally came out about 4:15 but it wasn’t out for long…

walked part way home and saw my first robins of the year… three of them… they moved too fast so I couldn’t get a picture… wonderful to hear their song though…

looked out the back window and saw this little guy…

  

he was eating some of the bird feeder sunflower seeds… there’s been another squirrel hanging around… got red and gray ones this year…

amazing what you can see if you take a moment to look…

geese…

07 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

sitting at a light a few days ago I watched about a dozen Canada geese fly overhead…

I love the sound as they fly over in spring and fall… always a sign that the weather is improving…

  
took a photo of the Canada goose on the wall… my mom drew it… 
she started writing, drawing and painting when she was well into her adult years…
she was very good but as a perfectionist she always thought they could be better… 
I’ve been working on overcoming perfectionism for quite a few years now, lol…
we didn’t get on for many years but once I left home I began to appreciate her… we had a wonderful last few years before she died…

tonight I just looked out the window to see white covering the garden… snow again… 
maybe spring is a little further away than first thought, lol…

toes…

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

started the day with a walk to the grocery store to pick up some dishwasher soap… sadly I had none and was having company for dinner so needed to get the current dirty dishes washed… 

decided to walk to get my exercise and it was sunny and warm out, so away I went… sign on the door of the store advised that their internet was down and they were only taking cash… usually I have sixty or eighty dollars in my wallet, but when I checked there was only a ten dollar bill… luckily the soap was only $7, phew…

I’ve been doing a lot of big girl pants activities recently and thought I deserved a treat, so called and booked an appointment for a pedicure…  

had to wait for my time slot but really enjoyed the pedicure… had a lovely young woman who was very gentle and gave me a wonderful foot massage which is my favourite part, lol.. pretty toes now…    

picked up some sushi and tried to get the car washed, but there was a huge lineup so I just kept driving…

had a rest, tidied the house and waited for friends to arrive for dinner…

had a wonderful evening…  

Easter…

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

saw a lovely tablescape on a TV program a few days ago and decided I would do something similar for Easter… rather pleased that I had the energy to take it on…

went to three Dollar stores to get all the bits…

  

used a beach mat, three very cute cut out placemats, a bamboo fence and the cutest little bunnies… also picked up a few paper lanterns and some tulips… final touch was some gingham napkins…  

had a great time putting it all together… even found some shells to fill up the coffee table and put a bunny and a hyacinth on it…  

kids arrived and then a young friend stopped by with her adorable twins… eggs were hunted and a pail filled with treats…

  

 

snuggles were shared all around…

ham, hashbrown casserole, Parmesan asparagus, sparking cider and a variety of cheesecakes for supper…

such fun… 

looking forward to dinner with my ReImaging friends here tomorrow night…

sardines…

04 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

busy day… out and about early to get groceries and a few things for tomorrow’s dinner with the kids…

picked up sardines for lunch with some lovely herb and garlic bread…

made me think of my dad… he loved sardines and would mash them and put them on crackers…

he died on Good Friday in 1988… interesting that I would be thinking of him today…

 he was a very special person… in my entire life I never heard him raise his voice to anyone… you knew if he used a certain voice that you were in serious trouble… 

he looked after my mom who struggled with depression for the greater portion of her adult life… and he looked after us for many months of the many years she was in the hospital… 

I still remember driving him to and from work every day as he became more and more affected by emphysema…

he taught me that every individual ‘s effort should be celebrated… he had been a great athlete in his early days and we spent many hours at the arena watching sporting events where we always cheered for everyone’s performance… 

I still love to watch many sports on TV, lol…

lovely memories…

treat…

03 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in health, life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

up early… of course I would be on a day off, lol…

treated myself to a homemade hot cross bun made by one of my friends… every time I eat one my blood sugar skyrockets… must be the candied fruit because she uses whole wheat flour when she makes them… this was the last one so there won’t be any more temptation…

spent time thinking of friends who are struggling… sad that you can’t really empathize with someone until you have gone through a similar situation… life can be very painful…

watched tv and then did a few chores around the house… tidied the dining room getting ready for Easter dinner with the kids and put a few shells I found into the table… still haven’t found the ones that were in it before Christmas, sigh…

decided to treat myself to supper and ordered thali from Clay Oven through SkipTheDishes…

  

it was delicious and I ate every bite… 

hoping for a sleep-in tomorrow…