yoga…

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usually I take part in yoga on Friday… we have a yoga instructor come to the office and use our lunch hour for our class… we are very lucky as our workplace subsidizes this as part of our Health and Wellness program…

Friday yoga started out as restorative… since then it has also included yin and something else I can’t remember… the point is, it is more relaxed… I have been taking part for a few years and have gone through ups and downs regarding how much I have been able to do during that time with my various health issues…

for five weeks I will be having Fridays off and I decided to try Tuesday yoga to see if I might take that class so I get some exercise during the week…

Tuesday yoga is the real deal, so I wasn’t sure how it would go, but today I checked it out… I was worried but went anyway…

well, it is certainly more strenuous, lol… my classmates are amazing and when I see what they can do, I am hopeful that some day I might be more flexible… they did tell me that the class was much more difficult than usual…

at the end of the class I was in tears just thinking that last year, and even the year before, I couldn’t do downward dog for more than a second or two… today I held that pose while the others were doing something way more complicated… but the point was that I was able to hold the pose for quite a long period of time…

I have grown in strength and flexibility over these few years and look forward to more Tuesday classes… just hope they aren’t always so hard…

tonight while speaking with my daughter on the phone, I had to go see who was making all the noise in the back yard… Mr Goldfinch was singing to Mrs Goldfinch while she was having her dinner…

goldfinch singing away on  a wire just outside the back door...

Goldfinch singing away on a wire just outside the back door…

feel a bit like I was singing myself… little steps on the journey… my beloved would be so proud of me…

today’s pond construction…

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today I got home and was excited to see that more sod had been put down… to deal with the grass that was destroyed by the construction…

some of the items in the yard have been cleaned up from all the rock dust and… the bridge has been put down…

I didn’t walk over it just yet… want to be sure it is ready…

more soil has been arranged and I am looking forward to the landscaping…

the one sad thing is that the water isn’t running and I am missing the beautiful sound…

we shall see what tomorrow brings…

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what a year…

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this morning I continued working a bit in the side garden… slowly but surely I am getting it tidied up…last year at this time I wasn’t able to do much of anything due to my health… I was lucky to find a wonderful woman who came and tidied up the garden for me…

side garden after more weeding... 3/4 done...

side garden after more weeding… 3/4 done…

about this time last year I was getting my personal affairs in order, because I was expecting to die on the operating table when I had surgery in mid July…

was told on May 22nd, over the phone, that I had cancer of the uterus… I had been waiting for hernia surgery for some time and, after this diagnosis, worked with my doctors to ensure that the hernia surgery I needed would take place at the same time as the hysterectomy…

in my mind I was sure that I was going to die, and so I went about organizing all of my affairs… had a new will written, as well as power of attorney and a health directive… made sure that the money from George’s insurance policies was easily accessible… I wanted to be sure that the girls would have a simpler time with my estate because I didn’t want them to go through all the struggles I had with George’s…

it wasn’t until just the week before my surgery that I began to think I might live through it…

and here it is, nearly a year later… I am healthy, happy and enjoying life… putting on those big girl pants is not nearly as difficult as it was…

missing my beloved every day but moving forward on this journey…

laughter and lazing…

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got up at eight with the boys… they had cereal on the deck and we discussed our plans for the morning… decided to see if Daddy wanted to meet us for breakfast at the “A”… then we watered the new sod and some plants before everyone but me got bored… cartoons for them and tea on the deck for me… we did spot a goldfinch and some squirrels in the garden…

before we knew it, it was time to head over for breakfast… as we walked down the back lane by the toboggan hills I thought of George walking along holding their hands just a few years ago and how excited they were to be with him…

they ran up the hill and rolled down on our way to breakfast… lots of laughter and even spotted a red-winged blackbird for me… if you move through the pictures fast enough you can almost see the motion… should have taken a video, lol…

running and rolling 1...

running and rolling 1…

running and rolling 2...

running and rolling 2…

running and rolling 3...

running and rolling 3…

running and rolling 4...

running and rolling 4…

running and rolling 5...

running and rolling 5…

after breakfast – Mommy came too – they headed home and I had a little lay down… then did some planting and rested for most of the day…

tested out not using the air conditioning and kept the house cool by closing windows when the sun was shining on them… worked very well…

had a lovely dinner of pickerel with fresh beets and greens and potato salad… again was thinking how much George loved beets…

I have wonderful memories of my beloved

purple plus…

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had a lovely day off…

laid abed and watched a bit of tv, did some computer work and headed out for a pedicure – purple – then got my hair done to match…

water running in the pond...

waterfall running in the pond…

came home, had a short nap and then was surprised by the pond guys turning up…  they worked away, laying edging, stones and sod, and eventually they got the waterfall running… yay… it looks great… still a fair bit to do but they will be back on Monday…

bunny we spotted on our walk to get dinner...

bunny we spotted on our walk to get dinner…

Crystal and the little boys came over and she mowed the grass while the boys and I walked to Subway to pick up supper which we all enjoyed…

2 boys going up...

2 boys going up…

 

Crystal pulled some large weeds in the front flower bed and I got talked into two sleepover friends…

2 boys running down...

2 boys running down…

they are headed to bed, as am I… been a full day and I expect that we will be up early in the morning…

memory stone…

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I have the most amazing friends…

at Christmas I made a donation in their honour and had a memory stone produced…  last year Cyndi and Ron had two made and it was just such a lovely gesture…

a colleague at work, who is exceptionally good with words, helped me to get the wording just right… there are only a certain number of lines and a certain number of letters on each line… bit of a puzzle really…

then I sent off the money and wording and waited… I didn’t mention anything to the two groups of women because I wanted it to be a visible surprise for them…

just recently I was thinking that I hadn’t heard anything about when the stone was being laid and the very next day I received an email confirming that it had been installed at the Park by the Duck Pond…

email re stone placement...

email re stone placement…

went over and found it very easily… the last ones were quite difficult to find, lol… had a bit of a giggle because of all the stones in the area, it was the only one that had been blessed by the ducks/geese…

view of the Pond right next to the stones...

view of the Pond right next to the stones…

took some pictures and sent a note to my friends to let them know where they could see it and letting them know how important they are to me…

for my friends...

for my amazing friends…

don’t know if anyone has seen it in person yet, but many have been quite touched… as was I to be able to do this for them…

 

the pond…

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been thinking about those tv shows were they don’t let the family see what is going on with the construction…

we are at a pivotal stage in the construction I think… the yard is a muddy, wet, rock dusty mess… the waterfall looks too short… the pond doesn’t look like it is going to hold enough water… every part of the area is filthy… even my plants, deck and back door are covered…

sand and dust...

sand and dust…

it looks like a disaster area… I’m starting to think I just shouldn’t look back there until it is done…

trench for edging...

trench for edging…

tonight, I met with a couple of the staff at a landscape garden to choose plants to go around the pond… apparently we are getting close to the end…

waterfall rock at the back...

waterfall rock at the back…

I got completely lost and had to drive up and down McGillivray a couple of times before I eventually found the place…  once I finally got there, it was great to wander around and choose shrubs and other items to fill up the space…

there will be white hydrangeas, purple clematis, a white lilac, a wavy grass, some purple spiky things whose name escapes me right now and some white ground cover…

full view with the deck back in place...

full view with the deck back in place…

I already have water hyacinth, some other edge plants which were in the pond pre-construction and a couple of callas I bought last week…  a few baskets are also ready to be hung from the pergola that George built…

must go looking for a couple of water lilies to finish off the collection…

hmmm…

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first thing this morning I spotted a purple finch at the front bird feeder… from there the day went downhill a bit…

Purple Finch...

Purple Finch…

the kitchen sink appeared to be blocked, even though I thought I had unblocked it on Sunday, what with the big girl pants and all…  my son-in-law came over to check it out and discovered it was actually broken and leaking when the tap was running… he found George’s plumbing supplies and picked up a few things and thought he had it fixed, but not so… so he contacted a plumber friend of his to stop by and see if he can sort it out… now the plumber needs to come back in the next few days to fix it, sigh…

Jeff couldn’t even mow the grass while he waited, because the pond guys were busily working and had blocked the entrance to the shed where the lawnmower lives…

trying to sort out the landscaping for the new pond area seems to be a bit difficult as well… not sure exactly what plantings are included so look forward to getting this sorted out…

and their electrical guy is very busy so I am trying to connect with my guy to see if we can get this piece done in the next few days…

feels like the money is flying out the doors and windows, lol…

good news is that my colleague is back from a few days away and another colleague who has been off for a few months has also returned…

Canada Day…

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lovely day spent in the garden…

last night I slept on the deck under the stars… Sadly there were lots of mosquitoes…

goldfinch boy...

goldfinch boy…

this morning I planted and repotted and rearranged… and sat in my chair in the shade…

goldfinch girl...

goldfinch girl…

had beautiful visitors… the goldfinch couple and a lovely purple finch and a mostly black butterfly… the neighbours’ cat stopped by a few times for a drink and to wander through the garage…

purple finch...

purple finch…

had a nap, watched some tv and got dinner ready for the kids who came in from a day of boating in Gimli…

kids having a hot tub...

kids having a hot tub…

great dinner, then we walked to Sargent Sundae’s for ice cream, and got home just in time for the fireworks…

everyone is gone and I am heading to bed…

the Park…

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this morning I got up and headed over to the Park to see if I could find the Memory Stone that I had commissioned at Christmas time…

it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the walk over… there weren’t many people about and it was easy to soak up the peace and serenity…

waiting for Canada Day crowds...

waiting for tomorrow’s Canada Day crowds…

found the stone without too much trouble… happy they had done a good job… it did make me laugh a little though, because obviously a duck or goose had left a little memento, right on my stone, so I had to clean it off with my shoe before taking any pictures…

while I was there I got a few cute shots of some ducks sitting all in a row…

ducks lined up all in a row...

ducks lined up all in a row…

there was a group of men on the other side of the pond with their motorized boats and I took a few pictures of them…

the Park was clearly waiting for Canada Day… tents were all over the big field and there were rows on rows of port-a-potties just waiting for the crowds…

port-a-potties waiting...

port-a-potties waiting…

I walked through Bruce Park on my way home and encountered woodpeckers, squirrels and bunnies…

to top things off I stopped at the “A” for breakfast on my own… it was very difficult and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I sat down, ordered, and ate my breakfast… this was one of the spots that George and I would have breakfast on a Sunday morning and I have only been there once since he died…

on the walk home I held back tears and worked at remembering the fun we had when we went for breakfast there… he would usually drive and I would walk and he would already have the tea ordered by the time I got there… he wasn’t supposed to eat bacon, but that would be the one day that he would get to and we always teased one another about it…

today as I sat listening to couples talking, I hoped they knew how lucky they were to have time together..