Friday fun…

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

put out the garbage and watched a bit of tv… then spent the morning working in the front flower beds with two great helpers… got a lot done… the wild roses are gone for now and we moved the woman water feature into one of the beds…

the side bed got weeded and we divided and moved a hosta… then after they left I sat in the garden and read for a while… spent the rest of the day waiting for someone to come and fix the bathroom door in the basement… never did show up…

my lovely young carpenter friend came by to put a last coat of paint on the closet that George started four or five years ago… Sunday we are going to pick up doors for him to install and he is going to put the trim up around the back door too…

then the kids arrived and Jeff got the water running in the fountain… he headed to work and we headed to their house for a sleepover… picked up a few groceries and a new umbrella for the deck…

now to bed, I’m tired:-)…

20130719-205301.jpg

20130719-205313.jpg

a year…

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

it is a year today since my hysterectomy and ventral hernia repair…

I can remember the fear, and the relief when I woke up… my sister-in-law coming to be with me and spending the night because I was afraid to be alone following the surgery and having to leave early the next morning to catch a plane to get her to work on time…

frst night at the hospital...

frst night at the hospital…

and I also remember the excellent care I received and the wonderful doctors I dealt with… and how my friends rallied around me with shifts as my support in the hospital, and then at home as I slowly recovered…

I remember the problems with the drugs and how I made the decision to stop taking them just hours after the surgery… the pain was severe but my body was so happy not to have all that stuff in it… drugs just really aren’t my friend…

it was a difficult time but also very healing as during those ten weeks before I was able to get back to normal living I had the opportunity to grieve the loss of my beloved…

thinking back to all the company that came and delivered food, sat with me, and did the things I couldn’t… Dobby who stayed for a week and tempted me with wonderful tidbits to encourage me to eat… organizing the fridge and freezer so when she left I would be able to manage on my own… my nephew staying with me for the first two days after they sent me home early, picking me up and sitting with me through the pain… friends who came by to water the plants because I couldn’t lift anything… my girls doing everything possible for me…

maybe that is what I have been struggling with this week…

now I am healthy and doing well… I can water my own plants, make my own food and do my own chores…  what a difference a year can make…

as someone put it today it seemed like a very long time ago, or was it just a few months?!?!?

roses to celebrate a great year...

roses to celebrate a great year…

remote…

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

had to giggle when the light was installed in the pond…

came with a remote…

George loved remotes… he had quite a fabulous one for all his equipment in the basement… I couldn’t even get the tv to turn on with it, lol…

now I have this cute little waterproof job which I am stroll trying to figure out…

the solar lights I put around the pond are looking very nice…

took a few pictures of the light in the pond but it is hard to get a good representation… maybe I’ll try with the actual camera tomorrow…

20130717-223026.jpg

20130717-223111.jpg

20130717-223153.jpg

sadness…

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

as I drove home from work tonight a wave of sadness overcame me…

I haven’t been able to shake it… I have been missing my beloved so much this last week or so… don’t know if it is the pond… he always gave me action about the ponds but he loved to look after them, and the fish, even as he complained…

was talking with someone about having the roof reshingled and thinking how he would have known who to talk to and sort out the best people to do the work, and even whether we needed the work done…

even talking with my kids couldn’t lift the sadness…

well, I am going for a short hot tub and then to bed… tomorrow is another day and a great opportunity to remember good times and let the sadness float away…

smiling as I was taking his picture...

smiling as I was taking his picture…

three surprises…

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

three lovely surprises today…

our Mexico Vacation books arrived this afternoon… they are lovely and show all the fun we had when we were there… we have one for each family to keep… it is nearly six months since we were there, and the book brings back lots of memories of the fun times we had when we were all together…

Mexico Vacation book...

Mexico Vacation book…

when I got home I checked the pond out and realized that someone had been by and watered the hydrangeas – one of which is looking exceptionally sad…

checked the phone and had a message telling me that a light had been installed in the waterfall portion of the pond and that it had a remote control and could change colours…  I tried to take a picture of it purple, but it was a bit too dark to see anything but the purple light…  will have to take another picture tomorrow night before it gets too dark…

then one of our BS group who has been living in Regina and popping into and out of Winnipeg arrived in person for our Monday night gathering… another of the group made it as well while the two remaining members were off to the lake and out for dinner…

we had a lovely visit on the deck and enjoyed the breeze while we chatted…

all in all, a wonderful day…

 

visitors…

14 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

had breakfast with some bird friends this morning…

the goldfinch couple are regulars and often announce themselves with some lovely singing…

goldfinch having breakfast...

goldfinch having breakfast…

they have come to accept me as long as I move around the garden slowly, otherwise they fly away, but they always return later when it is quieter in the garden…

the purple finch couple have been coming quite regularly as well, but they are much more shy, and if I move more than quietly picking up the camera, they are gone and it takes a while for them to return…

purple finch couple...

purple finch couple…

the blue jays fly through the garden but don’t stop and the crows fly past now and again… haven’t heard any geese for a while…

got a shot of the waterfall today with the Olympus and notice that it shows the water a bit differently…

waterfall taken with the Olympus...

waterfall taken with the Olympus…

a neighbour stopped by with some degreaser to see if it would lift the oil what was spilled on the deck over the winter… will see what it looks like tomorrow…

did some weeding, and quite a bit of reading, today…

beautiful day…

13 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

had a wonderful day in the garden…

the weather was hot but a breeze blew for most of the day, making it comfortable…

weeded along the driveway and finally planted the two tomato plants… one of them has fruit that is heart shaped…

continued with planting some purple and white coneflowers that I picked up yesterday…

watered the sod and dug up quite a few dandelions which were trying to take over the yard during the construction… consulted with a neighbour about how to raise the level where the sod has been put down as it is a little low and I keep tripping when I walk over it, lol…

in amongst all that, I finished book 3 and started on book 4 of Game of Thrones…

had a nap and a lovely dinner of Goldeye and Caprese salad with my fresh basil…

lots of time remembering fun in the garden with my beloved, particularly when I was trimming the Virginia creeper by the hot tub:-)…

20130713-214059.jpg

parsley…

12 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

I buy parsley to plant every year in the garden… and I buy two or three plants of it… but, it’s not for me or my family to eat… I plant it for the caterpillars… particularly swallowtails…

this one turned up about a week ago and the boys were busy watching it… it was very small when they were here that day…

yesterday it was crawling around the top of the pot and had grown by leaps and bounds… and the parsley has been decimated… so I put another pot with some in it right beside the empty one, lol…

caterpillar crawling around the parsley pot...

caterpillar crawling around the parsley pot…

this morning, I thought it was going into its cocoon, but when I got home later it was gone so I’m not sure what the deal is… will keep watching…

caterpillar hanging from the step this morning...

caterpillar hanging from the step this morning…

fish family…

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

stopped on my way home and picked up a bunch of feeder fish, as well as two lovely shubunkins…

once home fifty went into the big pond along with the two shubunkins… that pond how has fifty-six fish in it…

spent some time with the pond next to the garage and got it filled and put another ten feeder fish into it…

then spent the rest of the evening beside the big pond, enjoying the sound, watching the fish and reading…

waterfall running...

waterfall running…

funny thing is that it looks like there might be a dozen fish in it, lol…

 

spectacular day…

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

the day started with an early morning hot tub while one of the neighbourhood squirrels yelled at something in the lane for about ten minutes…  made me think of George…

pond this morning...

pond this morning…

he and a particular squirrel had quite the relationship… the squirrel had taken up residence in the garage and George couldn’t get him out of there no matter what he tried… it got so that whenever George walked out into the backyard, the squirrel would start chattering at him… not a problem if I was out there, but the minute that George stepped out of the back door or out of the garage the squirrel would start yelling…

eventually we caught him and drove him out to the Silver Heights forest and let him go there… we hoped he wouldn’t be able to find his way back… and we don’t think he did, lol…

after the hot tub I got ready and headed to the office… it was our staff appreciation day, so we were starting late…  as I drove down the little lane next to our building I was pleased to discover that the GIANT potholes had been repaired, at last… wonderful…

then we were treated to breakfast and had some training on new technology, followed by gifts for everyone and lunch out on the patio at The Met… very well appreciated we were…

gifts and boxes with appreciation notes...

gifts and boxes with appreciation notes…

we left early and when I got home my pond was done… there were a few tiny things that needed to be adjusted, but the guys stopped by shortly after I arrived and fixed everything up…  I am very happy with the whole thing…

pond at 2 pm...

pond at 2 pm…

the kids came over and we ran out and did a bit of shopping and came home for Chinese food to celebrate the lovely backyard…

I hung baskets and planted a few things that I had waiting… Jeff and the little boys went out in search of feeder fish, but only found a couple of shubunkins which they added to the pond and they also brought out the two fish from their winter condo…

pond at 9 pm...

pond at 9 pm…

what a wonderful day…