growth…

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I am very happy it is Friday…

seems like it has been a long week… think that last weekend was a huge emotional drain on my mind and body and I am not yet recovered…

then I was out for two evenings and had the little flood in the basement…

looking forward to some quiet time and lots of recuperating…

this morning I took this shot of the planters on the front step…

20140620-212642-77202579.jpghere’s the shot I took on June 8…

20140620-212907-77347139.jpgamazing how much they have grown in just under two weeks…

much easier to see the growth in the garden, than in oneself…

rainy…

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this morning it was overcast but there were a number of poppies blooming…

20140619-203807-74287158.jpgoff and on throughout the day the rain came down…

had a great visit over the lunch hour while we shared a fabulous salad…

after work, went out with a few colleagues and it was only spitting, but when we headed home it was pouring

went to the basement and discovered the water had come in through the back corner…

20140619-204139-74499706.jpgthankfully it hadn’t gone into the carpeted area and the towels should keep it from getting there…

20140619-204253-74573427.jpggoing to have to face the fact that someone will need to come in and suggest ways to fix it… hopefully they can do something from the inside, sigh…

handy…

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had done everything we could ahead of time on Father’s Day to be sure Jeff didn’t have to do anything

he is my main handy person… within the last month or so he has built a home for the chair cushions, a shelf in the garage, got a pond running, mowed the lawn and helped me take the capstone to be engraved…

on Sunday morning I looked out into the garden and realized that although there was lots if water – the rain had been coming down for nearly 24 hours – the waterfall in the pond wasn’t going… the electricity was on but I checked the garage and the electrical panel and everything was fine… plug seemed to be in properly so I came in out of the rain and sent an email to my pond guy… then I went back out and unplugged everything because I didn’t want the pump to burn out…

when the kids arrived Jeff went out and got it going… apparently it is on a GFI plug… after he showed me how to reset it I felt kind of silly but if it goes again I will know what to do…

20140618-203952-74392741.jpgI sure have the two best sons-in-law possible…

technology…

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while the kids were here we visited Best Buy and Future Shop a number of times and Ron was kept busy…

we picked up a USB hub…

20140617-205125-75085988.jpgand went back for a new card reader…

both of these items made me very happy… now I can finally plug in a USB stick and my camera memory card at my desktop… for months I haven’t been able to, which means I have basically had to write my blog on my phone… if I had a photo on the camera, I had to take a picture of the photo with my phone…

20140617-212404-77044058.jpgthen we got a new power bar which also has USB ports in it and that got put up on the wall… it is very handy and now there aren’t cords all over the floor… and I am going to be able to plug in my phone or fitbit in the living room…

best of all we picked up an additional router so that I can access wifi in the garden… all that work the MTS guy did, didn’t solve the wifi problem at all…

even the loaner laptop was fixed… apparently the date on it was wrong and that was causing it to refuse to go to any website… I can now access my email as well…

20140617-213301-77581594.jpgall the technology is working beautifully…

we won’t talk about the electronic frame which, just this morning, is telling me there are no photos on it, sigh…

friends…

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after work I was picked up and went to meet with my Reimagining friends

we had a lovely dinner of chili and left-over salad and delicious butter pecan tarts…

our program consisted of some readings from Celtic Devotional by Caitlin Matthews who has a wonderful way with words… we read bits and pieces about Beltane (the season of summer) and talked about the natural world around us and taking the moments to see and hear what is going on around us…

wonderful opportunity to stop, and feel the joy of friendship…

arrived home in time to take a few pictures in the garden… the first is of the poppies that bloomed today… they are a bit worse for wear this evening, but quite a few were blooming…

poppies at the end of the day...

poppies at the end of the day…

my pansies are very happy…

basket full of happy pansies...

basket full of happy pansies…

life is good…

rain…

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it has been raining since yesterday morning…

feels a bit like tears, of which I have been shedding many this weekend…

this morning I was checking Facebook and realized it was Father’s Day… rather funny because we had spent time planning a special dinner for Jeff…

I think I’ve been focused on getting through yesterday and was a bit taken aback this morning…

on our way to breakfast we watched some of the marathoners as they ran along Portage Avenue, in the pouring rain… for many years I have spent Father’s Day morning sitting/standing and cheering on the runners… for a number of years when the girls were in elementary school George would drive them to the U of Manitoba where they took part in one of the fun runs… talk about a dedicated dad, lol…

George was a great dad and grandpa and Father’s Day is just another reminder that he is gone…

this afternoon the eight of us went to the movies and came back for ribs for our supper… we’ve had lots of family time over the weekend which is wonderful…

after we ate, the Winnipeg family went home and the Ottawa family packed their bags and jumped on a plane…

house is feeling just a bit quiet and empty tonight…

20140615-202853-73733233.jpg

scattered…

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this morning we laid my beloved to rest for the final time…

lovely place by the creek to rest...

lovely place by the creek to rest…

with family we walked down to a spot by the creek just across from our home of over forty years, and deposited his ashes to move out to the two rivers it joins, and then Lake Winnipeg…

I was amazed at how difficult this was… we have been working toward this event since last August when we had the discussion that Dad needed to have a place

a few of his ashes had been placed into necklaces… a date was chosen, flights were booked… a brick from around the pond was engraved… the spot for the scattering was decided… the house and yard were cleaned and tidied for the event…

the plan had been to have a bonfire in the garden last night, and over wieners, baked potatoes and s’mores, share some of our memories of dad/grandpa… unfortunately the weather was uncooperative and we ended up crowded around in the living room looking through old photo albums… the boys were quite surprised at the photos and how different grandpa looked as a younger man, lol…

all the kids slept over and we got up early, met with the rest of the group and walked to the chosen spot… my grandson and I had decided not to have any readings, just send grandpa on his way… I shared how we had made our decisions about what we would do… told the story about how we were going to make a paper box for his remains and then discovered yesterday it wouldn’t dissolve, the last minute conversations with various professionals to decide on plan B…

scattering complete, now on to breakfast...

scattering complete, now on to breakfast…

George loved the creek, and had spent many hours there with our girls and then the grandkids, finding frogs and checking out critters, so it was a fitting place for him…

once his ashes were scattered in the creek, everyone dropped a daisy or two into the stream to travel with him… then we walked over to the “A” for breakfast, which used to be one of our weekend activities, particularly over the last three or four years… nearly everyone had the special – George’s favourite – and we had a great visit with one another…

we all had breakfast, sort of together...

we all had breakfast, sort of together…

home for a last few minutes and then folks moved on to the rest of their day… although we did have a few dad memories before they all left…

gathered tonight for a celebratory dinner…

celebratory dinner, steak and lobster with a "dad" salad...

celebratory dinner, steak and lobster with a “Dad” salad…

feeling a bit scattered myself… many memories came flooding back about the day of his memorial service, at which I was going through some serious health issues and had blocked out much of the events that took place…

the final step has been taken… my beloved

the first poppies of the year, today...

the first poppies of the year, today…

 

peace…

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started the day with breakfast from Tim Horton’s, tea and a peaceful visit in the garden…

20140613-230711-83231287.jpgthen we moved at the speed of sound for the rest of the day… ran numerous errands, bought a myriad of items and finally spent an amazing few hours at Ten Spa having a hammam… weren’t sure what to expect but it was very nice…

came home, had supper and then spent some time with our Winnipeg, Ottawa and Calgary family, looking at photo albums filled with pictures of George and family times…

had hoped for a bonfire and s’mores but rain dampened the plans…

we did get to see the memory stone which we put into the garden… looks good even in the rain…

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leaky…

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sadly, the water level in the pond is falling

since the uv filter was installed the water flow has been slower and there has been a bit of leaking…

my pond guy came by and fixed the flow but now it is seriously leaking…

20140612-211620-76580186.jpgyou can see where the water is going…

20140612-211756-76676229.jpgmy hand-blown purple float does look good in the garden…

been getting jobs done at a rapid rate today… picked up wine, bug spray and groceries… had hot tub water tested and picked up a couple of other things…

going to have a short nap and then pick up the kids just before midnight…

changes…

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last night I went outside to sit and watch the stars and enjoy my new mobile…

20140611-214720-78440405.jpgthe kids had given me a couple of them a few years ago, but they did not handle the winter weather so I ordered more and they just arrived… didn’t stay out very long because the mosquitos were out in full force…

when I got home today I noticed that the purple iris in the back of the garden had opened, so I took a picture…

20140611-220324-79404698.jpgearlier today my camera advised that it had run out of memory… a bit like me today… then I had to delete pictures so I could finish taking the ones I was working on…

only got a couple of jobs done to prepare for the kids’ arrival tomorrow night, but that was all I could manage… still feeling rather tired these days…

guess I am going to have a lot to do tomorrow, lol…