nature…

18 Sunday Aug 2013

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this morning I got up, put out the cushions in the garden and had a hot tub… it was lovely and the sun was shining… by the time I had searched for my book, the sky was overcast and after a short time we had a big thunderstorm…

water came into the basement again, but I now keep towels on the floor and because of the direction of the rain anticipated the problem… all cleaned up now but it does make me think that I will need to get someone in to look at this, sigh…

waited for quite a while before going out to do some shopping because I wanted to be sure everything stayed dry downstairs…

squirrel jumped from garage to tree, couldn't believe it...

squirrel jumped from garage to tree, couldn’t believe it…

 

saw a squirrel jump from the corner of the garage to one of the trees along the fence… have never seen that before…

went to a number of stores… BestBuy was one because the wireless mouse on the laptop just stopped working on Friday, and I really dislike using the mouse pad… got me a beautiful white one with some lovely purple on it… working very well…

then I went to the Apple Store looking for a genius because I’ve been having a couple of issues with my iPhone 5… pictures that I send to myself from my phone are all of a sudden embedded in the email and no longer attached… this is quite a pain as I often take pictures for the blog with my iPhone… have a short term solution but no one really seems to know why this happens…

second problem is that I can’t iMessage one of my girls… works fine for everyone else, except her all of a sudden… they couldn’t figure that one out and have sent a request to the engineers to see if they can figure it out…

barbecued steak for my dinner...

barbecued steak for my dinner…

this evening had barbecued steak for dinner, which doesn’t sound like that big a deal, except that I did the barbecuing… first time since George’s death… it was excellent and I was able to get it going without a problem…

those big girl pants…

first morning glory buds, one of my favourites...

first morning glory buds, one of my favourites…

wandered around the garden and spotted some buds starting on the Morning Glories and the Hibiscus has finally got a couple as well…

first buds on the hibiscus as well, very late in the season...

first buds on the hibiscus as well, very late in the season…

the pond is murky from the storm… will see if it is clear tomorrow…

more visiting…

17 Saturday Aug 2013

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slept on the porch in a swinging couch… it was very lovely… could hear the wind blowing through the trees during the night…

had a wonderful fire on the deck along with glow bracelets and sparklers...

had a wonderful fire on the deck along with glow bracelets and sparklers…

got up, had a wonderful breakfast and then we hit the road to get back for various activities people were involved in…

early morning breakfast of boiled eggs, bacon, toast and fruit...

early morning breakfast of boiled eggs, bacon, toast and fruit…

message on my machine which led to lunch out at The Park Cafe with a good friend… had a lovely visit and then walked home from the park…

discovered bad potatoes and had to throw them out and clean out the drawer they had been in… yucky… barely had to put on the big girl pants…

then I napped off and on for the remainder of the day… it was very windy here but I think the wind has finally died down…

at the beach

16 Friday Aug 2013

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happily finished work at 3 and headed home to gather up my stuff and make the rounds to pick up three of the BSers…

we hit the road at about 4:15 and arrived at The Boardwalk in Winnipeg Beach at 5:30 where we met up with the fifth member of the group…

a swim, stroll along the Boardwalk… dinner from Johnees and Valentino’s at a picnic table… a drive along the beach and a sleepover…

pretty fine way to celebrate a birthday…

birthdays these days are celebrated by the birthday person choosing an activity that we can do together… not like any of us need stuff…

usually food is involved:-)…

it’s been around 30 years since we met and we have been gathering regularly in all that time…

talk about being blessed…

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parents…

15 Thursday Aug 2013

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have spent some time recently thinking about parents…

remembering that time in our lives when we were dealing with kids and parents who needed our support, and how difficult that was…

my dad died in 1988 and my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer about six months later… at the time I wasn’t working and so was able to spend the last four months of her life with her daily in the palliative care ward at Princess Elisabeth Hospital… a very difficult time but also amazing for me… my mom and I had not been close until after my dad’s death and those days we spent were wonderful and we got to really learn about each other…

it reminded me then, and has since then, how important it is to spend the time with your parents or significant family friends… life is so short, and you can’t get that time back…

I wonder how it is for my kids… if they are happy to spend time with me or if it is a chore they feel required to do…

our elders taught us so much… I think of the life lessons George and I learned from ours… his dad and mom, my parents, our dear friend Margaret…

we were blessed with time and the realization that the time with them was so special… even when some of the times were difficult…

enjoy the moments with your elders…

here are my Mom and Dad

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nearly blooming…

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

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had a little wander around the garden tonight…

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white...

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white…

the mandevilla is just about ready to bloom… I had been hoping that it might have been open for the Bubble Party which was over a week ago and it is still waiting…

purple dahlia...

purple dahlia…

the dahlia has been getting ready for days but now I can see a few purple petals ready to burst open… it is nearly as tall as me… some of the others are just getting buds on them… I purchased most of them when I was in Courtenay…

dry waterfall...

dry waterfall…

the pond is still losing water, even with the waterfall turned off… got a few good pics of the fish and a great shot of my purple float from Seattle…

fish under the water hyacinth...

fish under the water hyacinth…

watered a few baskets and plants and then had a nap…

my hand blown purple float...

my hand blown purple float…

looking forward to a quiet week and weekend as I continue to recover from all the excitement over the last few weeks…

seeing and hearing, or not…

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

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last night I sat in the hot tub watching for the meteor shower, although it wasn’t very likely I would see it as it was in the direction of a very bright street light…

was thinking how George may have been able to see some activity in the sky… he had much better eyes than I and could always spot the satellites and shooting stars…

tonight I arrived home to a quiet backyard as the pond folk had been in and turned off the waterfall as they attempt to find the leak in the pond…

amazing how much one gets used to a certain sound… reminded me of the goldfinch that stopped by to sing for us as we were eating our dinner on the deck last night…

goldfinch having breakfast...

goldfinch…

still in recovery mode from all the recent activity here and after I ate my dinner I spent the rest of the evening sleeping…

going out for a short hot tub and then back to sleep for the night…

when I went to write this blog the computer wouldn’t connect to the internet and, rather than get rattled, I tried a few things and all of a sudden it was working again…

those darn big girl pants, lol…

oh how I miss my beloved…

ReImaginers…

12 Monday Aug 2013

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raced home from work, although I did stop to top up the gas tank… it was on less than a quarter of a tank, which makes me nervous… all filled up now… didn’t even seem like that big of a job, as I continue with those big girl pants I am getting used to some of the things that I had never done previously…

even this morning when I drove downtown and parked in a different parking lot and used my credit card to pay for the day I didn’t worry about it at all…

got home and put out the cushions on the chairs in the garden and the first of our group arrived… tonight there were six of us… we can go up to 11 or 12…

had a lovely dinner from Homer’s on the deck, with delicious mini cupcakes from the Cupcake Corner, yum…

dinner on the deck and then we moved inside for our program...

dinner on the deck and then we moved inside for our program…

we read about Celtic August celebrations and talked about what we hungered for and what filled us up…

these wonderful women continue to amaze me with their insight and depth… when we are together there is always laughter, and often tears, but this is a safe place where we can be our true selves and no one judges… we are there to support one another in whatever way is needed at the time…

the garden was admired with the new pond and the plantings, as well as the bubbles around the space from the party… now I will take the decorations down and hopefully have it all done over the weekend…

wonderful evening… I am filled up…

ready…

11 Sunday Aug 2013

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well I’m as ready as I’m going to be for tomorrow’s company for dinner and the evening…

it has taken quite a while to get everything cleaned up from the party… but it was fun as I remembered different things that took place while we prepared or during the party…

deck tidy and ready should we decide to eat out there...

deck tidy and ready should we decide to eat out there…

the dining room is ready, the kitchen is tidy and the deck and garden look lovely…

mirrors and bubbles hanging as a reminder of the party...

mirrors and bubbles hanging as a reminder of the party…

I spent a bit of time out there watering and reattaching some of the mirrors that had come down…

sadly I noticed one of the glass balls broken in the bottom of the pond…

pond beautiful for its debut with this group...

pond beautiful for its debut with this group…

got laundry done as well as napping and TV watching… lots of resting amongst the getting ready, lol…

the travellers have all arrived, some to a hotel in Ottawa and the others back home from camping…

tomorrow the cleaner comes so not only will it be tidy, it will be clean…

missing my beloved today… he would have helped me make sure everything was perfect for tomorrow and we would have talked about how great the party was as we put things away…

 

easy day…

10 Saturday Aug 2013

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took it very easy today…

got up and then watched TV for quite a while, in between naps… then I cleaned up the kitchen from the party, family dinner and kids being here… just a bit at a time… playing some tunes as I went about the clean-up…

moved on to the dining room and dealt with quite a few things… put away bowls and dishes and tidied up sparklers and glow-in-the-dark sticks… and various other things…

cleaning up dining room...

cleaning up dining room…

spent quite some time trying to take apart the chocolate fountain… I think George was always the one who dismantled it… eventually I figured it out and got it apart and clean… will put it away in its box in the morning…

watered some plants outside and put chemicals in the hot tub…

had a glass of champagne and a few chocolates when I took a break this afternoon…

one set of kids have made it to their next destination on their trip to Ontario and sent me a picture of Lake Superior, and the others sent me a picture of a gorgeous sunset…

a lovely and rest-filled day which reminds me of how blessed I am…

quiet…

09 Friday Aug 2013

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well I was right… it is very quiet and maybe a bit lonely here…

got home, slept for a couple if hours… had some leftovers from last night and then slept for another couple of hours…

going to have a little snack and then go to bed, lol…

Cyndi and Ron have arrived at their next destination and Crystal and all the boys have set up their spot at the lake…

I have a beautifully clean car thanks to Cyndi and Ron, which is lovely… usually it is tidy but after I had that little plant purchase and filled it up completely it has really needed a good vacuum and I haven’t had the chance to get it done…

looking forward to a quiet weekend of putting the house back together so it will look great on Monday when a group of friends will be over for the evening… and enjoying the Gerbers that had been in Cyndi and Ron’s room…

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