skating…

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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spent quite a few hours over the weekend watching figure skating…

brought to mind my dear friend and former neighbour Ellen… for many years we would call one another to be sure the other knew that there was some skating event taking place on tv… often if George or her husband answered they would try not to pass on the message as neither of them wanted to watch…

got to be quite the game… just recently I heard that her husband died as well… feels like an era is over…

yesterday I stopped and purchased a new battery charger for my camera because mine had vanished… today I went to pick up the phone in the kitchen and what do I spot, but the charger… can’t believe I have been walking past it as I searched all through the house for it… maybe George moved it, lol…

spent some time working on a little project and had a lovely visit with a friend…

had hoped the kids might rake up the leaves while they were here today, but they weren’t able to make it over so I had a roast dinner on my own… but I do have some leftovers for the week…

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family fun…

26 Saturday Oct 2013

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went to a dog park with the kids this afternoon for some family photos… I had never been to this particular place before, but did find my way… wearing the new blue jeans and hoodie…

there were lots of trees to climb… everyone listened very well and lots of photos were taken… even I climbed a tree, although could not make it far enough out on the trunk to be in the group shot, lol…

boys standing on a stump...

boys standing on a stump…

took my camera and got a few shots behind the scenes as the fun was being had… Jamie Noordman Photography did a great job…

nice shot of Jeff and Crystal...

nice shot of Jeff and Crystal…

there were lots and lots and lots of dogs there… most of them loose… one nearly knocked me over, but on the whole they were very well behaved… including the two with us…

watching the group...

watching the group…

things went very well, until one of those other dogs grabbed the special stick that one of the little guys had found, right out of his hand…

Jeff and Phoenix while Browny looks on...

Jeff and Phoenix while Browny looks on…

that doesn’t sound like that big a deal, but it was the end of cooperation for picture taking… even Grandma’s Skittle treats couldn’t save the day…

on our way home we stopped for hot chocolate at Starbucks and then went our separate ways… sadly I got a little lost, but then found the right road…

ended up stopping at Henry’s to buy a new charger for my phone because the old one has vanished…

stunning sky tonight, caught with my iPhone...

stunning sky tonight, caught with my iPhone…

watched some tv and caught this absolutely gorgeous sky when I happened to look out the window…

eventful day filled with lots of fun and special moments… I am truly blessed…

weather…

25 Friday Oct 2013

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I know I am tired when the alarm goes off and rings for 15 minutes before I wake up… this is extremely rare… my usual pattern is to wake up about five minutes before the alarm – which is Michael Buble singing Everything – goes off…

glad that tomorrow I cal sleep in… although usually that means I wake up early anyway, lol…

strange weather day… it was cool and fairly windy this morning when I headed off to work and stayed windy throughout the day… a colleague went for a walk around two and it was lovely, even with the wind… the sun was shining and it felt quite warm…

left the office at 3:30 to get to the hair salon and it was cool and windy… as I drove the sky was amazing, with the sun behind some clouds casting some wonderful sunbeams through some lovely blue sky… quite breathtaking and I was able to enjoy it for much of my trip…

while inside at the salon, apparently it clouded over and rained, and when I left it was still raining a bit… once in the car I looked up at the moon roof and had to take a picture of the beautiful design the raindrops had made…

rain pattern on the moon roof...

rain pattern on the moon roof…

blustery on the way home and after getting in the house looked out the front window to see the sun coming through the clouds even as it was raining… took a few pictures…

sun coming through the clouds as the rain was still falling...

sun coming through the clouds as the rain was still falling…

it is still blowing out there, but I expect it will calm down in an hour or so… usually when I head out to the hot tub around 11 the wind has died right down… we will see…

sushi…

24 Thursday Oct 2013

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got a call a few days ago talking about getting family pictures taken this Saturday…

wasn’t sure I really wanted to participate, but decided to get a haircut just to be on the safe side… after that I realized that all the purple is gone from my hair, so I made an appointment to get purpled…

the pictures are going to be taken in the park, and when I ask what people will be wearing I’m told – blue jeans…

here’s something you may not know about me… I don’t think I have ever worn blue jeans… for sure not in the last 50 years… this past summer I was talked into a pair of blue jean shorts, which I wore out about three times – when I was with my daughter, lol…

so, after talking with Cyndi, this morning I asked Crystal if she was available to go shopping with me after work… we went to Reitman’s which is where daughter number one suggested they might have something in their Petite line that I would like…

after trying on a couple of pairs Crystal picked one which I didn’t mind too much… then we went to Addition Elle and picked up a hoodie type top to go with them… Crystal had to text her sister to let her know the exciting news… she is waiting for pictures…

tempura and edemame...

tempura and edemame…

after that, to celebrate, we went out for sushi for our dinner… funny because I’ve been thinking about sushi for days and when I asked Crystal what she wanted the first thing out of her mouth was sushi…

sushi rolls...

sushi rolls which we gobbled up…

after our lovely dinner we went to Chapters where she picked up a book and I found a few for the little boys for Christmas… since Cyndi was born we have given each of the kids a book for Christmas and their birthdays… that has followed through with the boys – husbands and grandsons…

finally home after another busy day…

so, now I am ready for family pictures…

pumpkins…

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

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the kids picked me from the office and we went to get our Halloween pumpkins…

snow falling and lifting a BIG pumpkin...

snow falling and lifting a BIG pumpkin…

by the time we got there it was a bit windy and the snow was flying…

everyone's choices in the wagon...

everyone’s choices in the wagon…

each of the boys got to choose the pumpkin they plan to carve… that takes a while… when they were done the little ones ran all over while the grown-ups chose some different squashes…

a flash going by...

a flash going by…

I like to get quite a few as they last a really long time… already have some so got a few more small acorns and a funky looking one that is like the acorn…

then we stopped at the Dollar Store and I got a few new decorations… purple spiders and bats and a couple of good-sized skeletons for the door, and a lovely purple witch’s hat…

yummy supper at their house, putting up Halloween decorations and a ride back to the office to get my car and then home…

phew…

steak sandwiches…

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

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tonight on my way home I stopped and got some items for work tomorrow, and picked up the makings for steak sandwiches and broccoli coleslaw for my supper…

had gone in to get my hair cut and had to wait half an hour so ran over to the grocery store…

got back to Ultracuts to have her come up and call my name… perfect timing…today I had Maureen, who has cut my hair many times and knows just what I like… we talked about how it hadn’t been that long since I’d been there and that the new hairdresser hadn’t cut it short enough… Maureen did a great job and in record time…

steak sandwiches and coleslaw...

steak sandwiches and coleslaw…

don’t think I’ve had steak sandwiches since George died… we used to have them every couple of weeks or so with some version of a coleslaw…

skeletons…

21 Monday Oct 2013

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yesterday afternoon the boys brought up the Halloween box and then proceeded to decorate…

it was really lots of fun because they had no preconceived ideas about where things should go… after all these years, I tend to put things in their place… not so the boys… there are ghosts hanging from lights, the front window and between the living room and dining room… a mobile is hanging over the mirror at the front door and looks great there…

last year the spiders had to go in an inconspicuous spot because the littlest guy was a bit afraid of them… and we didn’t even get to put out the skeleton because he was terrified of it…

this year, he happily helped his brothers put that skeleton on the window and arranged the spiders all over the place…

witches gathered up the stairs...

witches gathered up the stairs…

he was also in charge of the witches and put most of them on the stairway…

what a difference a year makes, lol…

think we are going to pick out a few pumpkins one night this week…

tacos…

20 Sunday Oct 2013

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this morning I prepared the meat for tacos for tonight’s dinner…

then I headed over to pick up a few items that were still needed for tonight… fairly busy at Safeway but I ran in and out and got everything…

after I got home I also made some Amish Friendship bread… I had been given the starter over a week ago… thought it was going to be an actual bread but it turned out to be more of a dessert loaf…

ready for dinner...

ready for dinner…

the boys love tacos and tonight they gobbled them up… one of the reasons I make them is the fact that everyone eats them… not always easy to find something that they all like…

taco inside a taco...

taco inside a taco…

it is always fun to watch them put them together… A soft taco gets sour cream on it and then it wraps around the hard taco before getting filled with all the goodies…

one likes them best with cheese and lettuce…

my taco...

my taco…

they also liked the loaf…

finally, the boys put out the Halloween decorations while I finished tidying up in the kitchen… now to get some candy…

Saturday…

19 Saturday Oct 2013

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spent a quiet day… mostly overcast with a bit of rain here and there… didn’t have any urge to go out anywhere…

Crystal came by to pick up and drop off the car, which she was borrowing for a few errands…

reorganized the kitchen a bit by moving the recycling box under the counter… made chicken and dumplings for my dinner which got me thinking about my mom… the dumpling recipe I use is one she always used… these days I am cutting it in half as I don’t want to be eating dumplings for days, lol…

when I made the turkey stock the other day, I roasted the bones first and I am not sure if I like the flavour or not…

put chemicals in the hot tub, watched some tv and cleaned out my closet… even managed to put a few clothing items into a box to give away…

felt like I just did what I wanted which was very nice…

had to unplug the pump in the pond because it appeared to be running out of water… which leads me to think that the leak is still not fixed… I am going to have to deal with that again this week and also need to rake both the front and back yards as the trees have very generously donated leaves everywhere… sadly the tree next door still has lots of leaves on it, so no doubt we will have to rake again…

got this shot of the full moon the other night as I was arriving home from my dinner out, and the hour-long drive home… the lights on the new baby are much brighter than on the last car…

full moon over the garage...

full moon over the garage…

dinner…

18 Friday Oct 2013

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for my dinner tonight I had leftover salt and pepper chicken wings, cactus cut potatoes and Caesar salad… it was quite yummy…

they were the remainder of my dinner last night… I went out with a lovely young friend who I hadn’t seen in ages… we had a great visit, got caught up on our families and I got to show her the new baby (car, I’m talking about!)…

when I go out now, I often order enough to have as leftovers the next day… this was particularly good tonight as I always find Friday a night when I really don’t want to have to cook dinner…

fish in the winter condo...

fish in the winter condo…

sitting here with only one light on and can’t see the fish in the tank, but earlier I made sure to feed them… there are 13 of them and they are fairly big, so I want to be sure they get enough to eat… there are also a few water hyacinth plants in the tank, but they won’t last for very long in the house… they do best outside in the heat…

water hyacinth blooming in the pond this summer...

water hyacinth blooming in the pond this summer…