Friday…

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thank goodness it is Friday…

seems like it’s been a very long week…
difficult times for friends, technology issues and possibly a cold coming on…

some good news… an appointment made, conversations with my girls and my grandson getting into a great program…

have enjoyed some lovely times in the hot tub as the weather has improved…

my violet is getting ready to bloom again… this is what it looked like the last time…

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events…

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was thinking about going to events such as funerals… a friend had just been to the first one since her mom died… we talked about how often it is about your own journey, as much as that of the one recently departed…

made me think of the first funeral I attended after George died and how emotional it made me… thankfully I was with good friends who passed Kleenex and hugged me throughout the service… hadn’t expected that it would be so hard

will be attending a funeral on Saturday and will be thinking of my friend as she takes the necessary steps to keep moving through the process…

feels like many people I know are struggling with health and loss these days… as I think of them, it reminds me of what a good place I am in most of the time… I am well, safe and have friends and a good work environment… pretty darn lucky…

this morning I took this picture of the backyard… lots of snow on the deck…

backyard this morning...

backyard this morning…

tonight I took a picture from the same spot…

backyard this afternoon...

backyard this afternoon…

the deck is nearly clear of snow… very exciting as I am hoping to sit out there for a bit if the sun shines in the morning on the weekend… the deck can be 3 or 4 degrees warmer than the surrounding area when the sun is out…

I am looking forward to getting some work done in the garden and being able to sit out there and enjoy the pond and birds…

soon… all part of wearing those big girl pants

 

sunshiny day…

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sun was shining all day long… perks me up… every day it is getting warmer as it shines into the yard, or through the windows…

on my way out to the car this morning I took this picture of the sidewalk and snow…

20140408-205353.jpg you can see how one side is still covered in snow, but the other side shows lots of grass and the snow bank is much smaller…

every night when I get home the backyard seems to have less snow in it… there is lots of dirt coming into view… these are the spots where the landscapers tried to put down soil and grass seed to see if they could level out some of the dips they created during the pond construction… doesn’t look very grassy just yet, lol…

tonight I baked chicken thighs, made some basmati rice and prepared a glass of carrot juice… haven’t cooked a proper supper during the week for a while and really enjoyed it… there’s enough for lunch tomorrow…

feels like I will be sitting out on the deck before you know it…

giggling…

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this morning I put on a jacket that I bought here with my daughter before heading to the West Coast for the cruise to Alaska…

it made me giggle as I remembered packing to go to the airport and discovering the security tag still attached… it was very late and I was heading to the airport early the next morning… I couldn’t figure out how to get it off and worried that it would set off the alarms… had picked it up particularly for the rain I anticipated we would run into on the trip, so I didn’t want to leave it behind…

20140407-214143.jpg thank goodness my son-in-law came by after he got off work at eleven that night and figured out how to remove it…

tonight I got to have a few lovely macaroons which my nephew brought back from his trip to Ottawa… very tasty…

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had a great visit with one of my friends and saw some pictures of her new granddaughter… so sweet…

when she left I stood at the window and waved, as I always do…

reminded me of my Aunty Vi… she died many years ago… she and my Uncle Don lived in a tiny little house filled with knick knacks… she loved to make things such as pottery, knit things of all types, food that she would share with all of her family… she made me laugh…

she always stood at the door to wave everyone off… my dad’s sister, she was very special…

lovely to remember her tonight…

sunshine…

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had brunch out with friends and then walked home in the sunshine

wore a light jacket and took a few pictures along the way…

this was the pool that was at the end of the street…

20140406-205125.jpg had to do a bit of fancy footwork to make my way around it, lol…

spent some some cleaning out the last bit of a closet upstairs and I was able to divest myself of a box full of books and other bits and pieces… also cleaned up a corner of the computer room and put my collection of gift bags and tissue paper into the closet… more space in the room, yay…

later in the day the sun was shining into the living room and I got this shot of the couch and cushion glittering…

20140406-205655.jpgmy daughter and her boys came for dinner and we had tacos… the most exciting thing was that the littlest guy had meat on all of his tacos… maybe we are moving out of the no meat phase…

finally, I took this shot of the Japanese Maple, which at Christmas time, didn’t have a single leaf on it…

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another sign that Spring might really be coming…

warming…

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a beautiful day… had a lovely nap in the warm sunshine this afternoon…

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the neighbour had his motorcycle out…

when I was outside, in my bare feet on the deck, putting chemicals in the hot tub, I could hear the snow melting from the garage roof… you can actually see the snow melting away…

had windows open for the first time for a good portion of the day… very nice…

just had a wonderful hot tub… finally the temperature feels like Spring…

wondering when all the snow will be gone…

highs and lows…

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this morning I heard about the birth of friends’ first grandchild… they have been waiting for a while now as she was a little bit late… very cute, she looks just like her daddy… my friends are “over the moon” as they start down the path of the new and amazing world of grand parenting… so much more fun than parenting, lol…

at the end of the day, got some very disturbing news as another friend discovered that she has some serious medical issues to overcome… not even sure I heard all of the information, as my head stopped processing at the beginning of the conversation…

daffodils from a friend...

daffodils from a friend…

what can I do for my friends… completely different events, but likely will need the same types of support… listening and celebrating each step of their new journeys, sending prayers and healing vibes…

really, where would we be without our friends

 

sorting…

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this morning I put out two large bags and two boxes filled with pass-me-overs…

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it is always so great when you can let go of stuff you don’t need…

I’d been gathering bits and pieces for a few months but hadn’t dealt with the collection… now I feel a bit lighter

of course there is still tons of stuff to sort and pass along to others…

I hope they came this morning as this afternoon the snow came down again, can’t believe it…

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the depths…

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tonight I stopped and picked up some fish and chips, which I have been craving for weeks… didn’t even put away my things when I got home… it was delicious…

have been really down for a while and it wasn’t until tonight when a friend called that I realized what the problem was…

another friend is turning 65 on Friday and tonight their family were having a come-and-go to celebrate…

when the invitation arrived I faced the fact that George would have been 65 last December… it didn’t mean much at the time, but this celebration kind of kicked me in the gut… don’t get me wrong, I’m glad our friend is having a great special birthday, but I’ve been stuck in my own pain…

we were invited to add a note to an online card and include a picture of our family… didn’t know what to do about that either… should the picture be of my family now or what my family used to be… In the end I sent a picture of our group… that seemed to take care of the request, but I am still trying to figure out who my family is…

20140402-211358.jpg things seem so mixed up right now… April second and the garden is filled with snow… I remember the year George died and how we were out working in the garden raking the grass in the middle of March, just a few weeks after…

apparently, you never know what will bring on the pain… as another friend said, likely I will have days like this for the rest of my life… hopefully they will come less often as time goes by…