papers…

06 Monday May 2013

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had two important papers to deal with tonight…

first one was from Krevco… it was the water test for the hot tub… when you refill it you need to take the water in to be tested to be sure that everything is balanced… filled the tub on Saturday and it took until this morning to get to 103 degrees, which is my favourite temperature…

as soon as I got home from work I took a sample in and then came home and started adding the chemicals at twenty minute intervals…  looking forward to a hot tub tonight…

results for the hot tub...

results for the hot tub…

then I headed to Ness Physiotherapy, which is quite close to home, and I think was the place that George went to off and on… it was my first time having physio so I was a little tense… Tori advised that the problem areas were the iliopsoas and tensor fascia latae… she pushed and prodded, pulled, did some fancy thing with electrical current and gave me a page with some exercises to do to strengthen the sore bits…

finally got home and had a nap and some dinner… now off to do some exercises – one reminds me of aquasize and the other of yoga, lol… and then a hot tub… which apparently is a very good thing for the above-mentioned problems…

was missing George throughout the whole process, but did put on the big girl pants and got it all done… some days that is easier than others…

went to a garden party…

05 Sunday May 2013

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the words to that song have been flitting about my head for most of the day…

this morning two of my colleagues met here and we headed downtown to attend the Women Build Habitat for Humanity Garden Party Fashion Show at the Delta… another colleague was the chair of the event… it was lovely… we had all stressed about what to wear so as not to embarrass our colleague, one another, or ourselves… of course there was every kind of outfit, from jeans to quite fancy dresses… lots of lovely prizes and a great fashion show…

The Garden Party...

The Garden Party…

once home I got to lay down for about 15 minutes before my family arrived for Sunday dinner… we spent a lovely few hours in the garden, raking, tidying, trimming, washing and getting the big pond running…

pond running...

pond running…

then we ordered pizza because we had all worked very hard, and sat out in the garden to eat it…  I was soooo happy because it really needed the tidy up and it will be lovely to sit and relax out there while contemplating what flowers will be planted this year…

the boys were at the creek and saw lots of frogs and went back with nets and pail to catch some, but were only able to bring home frog eggs, which went right into the pond…

frog eggs from the creek...

frog eggs from the creek…

moving frog eggs to the pond...

moving frog eggs to the pond…

although, my daughter pointed out that I couldn’t really plant anything until I return home from the cruise… maybe I will give them a list and have them do some of that work while I am gone, hmmmmmm….

in the garden…

04 Saturday May 2013

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was reading a blog tonight and saw a beautiful magnolia flower which reminded me of some great shots I got of magnolias when visiting Courtenay, BC a few years back…  they were in Filberg Park and were spectacular…

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful...

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful…

Magnolia blossom...

Magnolia blossom…

spent a good portion of today dealing with the hot tub… had a lovely time in it first thing this morning watching Juncos and Sparrows… then I turned it off and let the water drain…  takes quite a while for that step… during which I took back an ottoman and had lunch out at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant with my nephew and his girlfriend…

in the garden this morning...

in the garden this morning…

then home to clean and fill the tub… now it is heating up – slowly – and I am hoping that by tomorrow night I will be back in it… I took some pics of the process but my daughter stopped by and borrowed the camera, lol…

while sitting outside I got a bit of sun, but put on lotion and then stayed out of it… easy to forget how strong the sun can be early in the season… heard a variety of birdsong and also the wonderful sound of the Canada Geese flying overhead… someone new has arrived in the neighbourhood but I haven’t figured out the song just yet..

what a wonderful day… I truly am blessed…

sneaking up…

03 Friday May 2013

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the sun is streaming through the window as I sit here to write my post…

started early this morning when I headed to work in the car… sun was shining in my face and I had to put down the visor… I don’t like to do that because I do love the sunshine, but really needed to see where I was driving, lol…

the mood in the office has been brighter this week as Spring has sent us a bit of warmth, but mostly sunshine… even those who were battling colds were lighter as winter coats were tossed off and spring ones put on…

amazing how the weather can influence a person… and not just people…

I’ve been listening to the birds first thing in the morning and as the week has progressed they are singing louder and longer… and there are new voices in the choir…

yesterday’s bird question has been solved by a good friend… following her suggestion I realize that my bird friends are female Purple Finches…

this makes me smile, because I am crazy in love with the colour purple…  when I went to Grandparents’ day a little while back my grandson was wearing his purple t-shirt, just for me…

purple finch description...

purple finch description…

here’s a picture from my Saskatchewan and Manitoba Nature Guide by Krista Kagume which shows a much better picture… the backs of the birds are quite browny-red…

hope to catch some of my own pictures tomorrow…

robins…

02 Thursday May 2013

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been hearing robins for a week or so, and finally saw my first one of the year this morning… in fact, there were two of them.. I didn’t get my camera out quick enough and they flew off, but only after flying up into the air and bumping each other’s chest…

being as it is Spring (sort of) I wondered if this was a mating ritual, but after doing a bit of research I think they were fighting over territory… not sure who won, as they both flew off, leaving the Juncos happily snacking…

it was always a fun little contest for George and I to see who saw the first robin… guess I win this year, sigh…

the feeder in the garden has been visited a lot in the last few weeks and this morning there was a large crowd…

I think they were all Juncos but some of them had a decidedly reddish tinge along their backs and tails… sadly they haven’t been still when I’ve had one of the good cameras in my hand so I just got this shot with my phone…

maybe different variety of Junco...

maybe different variety of Junco…

the car…

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

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don’t drive the car much… usually ride with someone to work and back… so the kids have been using it as one of their vehicles is a little under the weather…

my ride to work is planning on doing different things at the end of the day so I have to make some alternate plans for getting home over the spring and summer months…

Baby, as we call her...

Baby, as we call her…

one of my colleagues is off work for quite a while following some surgery so I arranged to use their spot while they are away…  so I will be taking the car to and from work for the month of May…  a bit ahead of schedule, but for the last few days I’ve brought it to work due to various other circumstances…

today, I had to go to my doctor… I finally broke down and made an appointment as my side hasn’t been recuperating as fast as I had hoped and there aren’t that many days until I leave for the cruise…

the thing is, he agreed with what I thought was wrong, but diagnosed it as a groin injury… this is particularly funny as one of my grandsons had a similar injury on the weekend… so now I have to take drugs at bedtime and spend some time having physiotherapy…  but the good news is that it should be all better by the time I leave…

not sure if I will be liking driving the car to and from work or not… I guess we’ll see how those big girl  pants are fitting…

brings to mind hearing a colleague say something the other day about borrowing my big girl pants, lol…

taxes are done…

29 Monday Apr 2013

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been a fairly slow process to complete taxes for George and I for this year… there was CPP, EI, transferred RSPs, pension monies and I can’t even remember what else..

nothing to do with my fabulous accountant, lol…

thought I had collected the paperwork very well, until I sent her everything.. then realized that all of last year’s tax info hadn’t made it into the package…

thought I had everything done, but then discovered I had to send in the medical insurance information before the taxes could be completed…

finally that got sorted out, although they sent me three different letters which included two different cheques for a very tiny portion of what I had claimed… and then I had to go through all the receipts to see what didn’t get paid…

then she discovered that I hadn’t included the Notices of Assessment so I had to search through that pile on the computer room desk… took a while, but eventually I found them…

still stacks of paper on the desk...

still stacks of paper on the desk…

had trouble with the scanner before I could get those off…

finally she had everything, yay…

then she discovered that one of the companies had duplicated information about George’s pension monies that had been rolled over to me… so my finance guy and the accountant had to sort out what was wrong, contact the company and get new T somethings completed…

yikes…

last week I found out how much I had to pay and how much the estate will get back… but of course one can’t be credited to the other, so I had to set up an account with CRA through my credit union and pay my outstanding amount… now we will wait to see how long it takes them to send the over payment for George…

today I received the final package with all the information beautifully organized with a couple of pages to sign and return…

thankful that is done… next year I will only have to complete my own form…

hmmmm, that doesn’t really feel like that great a deal…

 

spring clean-up…

28 Sunday Apr 2013

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yesterday I tidied the deck a bit – moved light things off it and washed a table – before I sat out for a while…

this morning I sat on the lower deck in the sun for quite a while looking over the garden… wondering when and how I am going to get all the spring jobs taken care of… I was up a number of times with back pain and had two hot tubs during the night… so I wasn’t able to do any yard work today… as the day goes on and I sit and stand more my back feels much better…

take my picture Grandma...

take my picture Grandma…

last year I couldn’t do anything in the garden because I was waiting for, and then recovering from, surgery… I had a wonderful woman come in who did a great job but about the time I came home from my surgery she wasn’t able to continue…

this year I think I need to look for a gardener to come and do the main clean up and then help me with some of the planting… at least I will be able to water… not being able to lift anything over five pounds really slowed me down last summer…

construction...

construction…

the boys were over for a while and built a lair with garbage/recycling/yard waste containers and anything else small that they could move…  they also put a few things in the garbage for me…

the completed lair...

the completed lair…

had the water tested and the hot tub needs to be emptied and refilled but I am hesitant as it has been a great help to my back and it takes a couple of days to get the temperature back up after being filled…

what to do, what to do…

 

Alaska…

27 Saturday Apr 2013

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have a cruise booked with Cyndi and Ron…  we booked it in October I think…  lots has gone on since then – Christmas, Mexico vacation with the whole family, anniversary of George’s death and my birthday…

we booked hotels and activities for the week following the cruise a while ago, to be sure we would get the things we wanted…

last week Cyndi and I talked about the excursions on the cruise and which ones we might like to take…

there are lots of options so she is doing more research and checking with Ron to see what is at the top of his list…

I don’t believe I’ve spoken to a single person who has taken an Alaskan cruise who didn’t love it… I am looking forward to spending time with the kids and seeing some wonderful scenery…

today I got to spend some time out on the deck in the sun… finally the temperature was warm enough… I have been sleeping in this lounger (n the house) for the past week in an attempt to help my back…

lounging on the deck...

lounging on the deck…

it made me wonder if I would be sitting on the deck of the ship with a blanket on the cruise…