Tag Archives: beloved

orchids…

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

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this morning before I left home I took some pictures of the October orchid… the one I got from IKEA last October… which has been blooming since I brought it home… except for a few weeks… it has been amazing… 

it almost looked artificial as the blooms stayed perfect for months at a time… when it finally dropped the last blossom, a new branch emerged and these blossoms have been open for months as well…

my beloved brought me orchids on a fairly regular basis… some for home and some for my work space as well…

he also picked them up for some of my colleagues…

one of my colleagues is away this week and I am orchid-sitting… can’t remember if this is one that he picked up for her… anyway it has seven blossoms on it…

have made sure the light is on in the office and the blinds open… even put the heater on for a while…

it has been so long since it bloomed that we can’t remember what colour it is going to be…

very exciting, although I do hope it waits until her return before opening…

fleeting…

11 Sunday Sep 2016

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what a lovely ending to my vacation…

enjoyed a walk to and through the Park before a breakfast date with my sister-in-law, nephew and his girlfriend…

after breakfast we took a quick tour of the Gardens…

she lives in Calgary so it is always great to spend time with her when she comes to town…

had just pulled my camera out to take a picture of a butterfly bush when this butterfly decided to land on it… and pose…

surprised how this picture turned out with the light and dark from my shadow…

I love this spot and often sit here for long periods of time… a favourite place where my beloved and I would rest when we walked through the Gardens…

and my kids came for supper… soccer is over, yay… we had a great time, Pokemon-ing and visiting… everyone enjoyed the food and there were leftovers to share for a few meals this week…

kitchen is tidy, laundry is done and I am ready for my return to work after a fun and fleeting break…

I think I enjoyed every moment of the ten days… lots for the memory banks…

lucky…

30 Tuesday Aug 2016

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this morning I had a memory on Facebook of my youngest grandson, as a baby, swinging in a park close by… there was also a picture of he, his older brother and my beloved on the back deck that same day…

just last Friday, when the boys were here, we talked about swinging in that very park…

today, the kids came downtown, spent a few minutes playing Pokemon Go at the Millennium Library Park, and then picked me up for lunch…

we went for dimsum at Kum Koon Garden, our favourite…

they have a stunning salt water fish tank and my grandson took a few pictures for me…

he had my phone because we share a Pokemon Go account so whenever we’re together he is checking out the game, lol…

the point of this story is how lucky I am to have the opportunity to spend time with my kids and grandkids… and how lucky we both were to be able to make memories with our grandchildren…

crawler…

22 Monday Aug 2016

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been missing my beloved recently…

this morning a very big spider was on the kitchen counter… George would have come running when I screamed and dealt with it… he always saved me from bugs and spiders…

now, I don’t bother to scream… just went and got the fly swatter and tried to get it…

this is where it was… but it got away… still somewhere in my kitchen… ugh…

looks like there is only one caterpillar left on the parsley…

tomorrow I will search and see if I can find the chrysalis…

tonight a cricket came in as the patio screen door was opened… was able to catch and deal with it…

lots of creepy crawlers today…

15,193…

01 Monday Aug 2016

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today marks 46 years since we were married…

did the math and it has been 1,609 days since my beloved died which means we were married for 15,193 days…

spent my day recovering from our camping trip and remembering many of the special times during those 41 plus years…

was in the garden for the morning… we moved into this house three years after we were married and have spent many hours in the garden…

it has changed from a lawn to a playground, to a garden filled with ponds and decks… when I spend time in the garden it feels like he is close…


this morning Mr and Mrs Goldfinch stopped by and I caught a picture of him… she flew off before I took the shot… thought it was cool that they came as a couple on this day…

for the rest of the day it rained and was overcast so I took it very easy, did a few chores and thought about many of the special moments in our life together…

and so it began;-)…


memories, light the corners of my mind...

 

repair…

18 Monday Jul 2016

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four years ago today I went into surgery for a hysterectomy due to cancer, and a hernia repair… I had two different surgeons involved to get everything done, basically at the same time…

just four months after George died I had been to accountants, financial experts and lawyers to put my affairs in order… I wasn’t sure I would wake up…

I remember that morning, as I lay on the stretcher, my heart pounding, wondering if I had done everything needed so that my girls wouldn’t have too much trouble dealing with my stuff if I didn’t make it… I didn’t want them to struggle the way I had when my beloved died…

I was so thrilled to wake up and learn that the surgery had gone well and the prognosis was excellent…

my body has always reacted poorly to any drugs and the pain meds they gave me kept me from sleeping and made me slightly crazy… eventually (within 8 hours) I was able to convince the doctors and nurses to stop all medication… I have always felt it easier to deal with the pain than the side effects of medication…

so, it was painful for a while, but my head was clear and I knew the pain would subside as my body repaired itself… 

and I was so happy to be alive, that helped too…

every step of my recovery was supported by family and friends… people sent me flowers, brought me food, sat with me, walked with me, ate with me, called me every day, stayed with me, and did chores around the house and yard that I couldn’t manage – for the first six weeks I couldn’t lift anything over a pound… what an amazing group… 

fast forward to today… I am healthy, able to lift and carry, have lost around 40 pounds, walk regularly and eat carefully… I am managing my diabetes with diet and exercise and feel pretty darn good…

still have the most amazing group of people in my life… 


I just realized a few days ago that there are no morning glories in the garden this year… made me a bit sad… we’ve had them in the garden for many years… I just love their beauty, the surprise in the morning when they open, and the inner glow they seem to have… when I was in hospital in 2010 for a six week stint, I remember George taking pictures each morning before he came so he could show the blooms to me…

I miss my beloved each and every day but know I truly am blessed as I continue down this new path…


life is fleeting…   enjoy every moment…

complete…

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

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recently had a conversation with someone about having that person at home you can tell anything to and they will immediately take your side…

this is one of the things I miss about being on my own… my beloved would listen to my version of whatever it was and be ready to go and do anything needed to sort out the situation… so often I would then have to calm him down, lol, but just knowing that he was always in my corner was so wonderful…

I miss him in different ways on different days… he really did complete me…

in these 1590 days I have continued to learn things and gain strength each step of this new journey… I am braver, stronger, healthier and maybe smarter… maybe…

mandevilla bud…

suckers…

08 Friday Jul 2016

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been an interesting day…

walked to the “A” for an early morning meet up with my walking buddy and my grandson…

after a great breakfast he walked here and she and I went to the Park for our usual walk through the gardens… had a lovely time together and we got to see the baby bunny again, although it has grown a bit…

I walked home and went out into the garden where my grandson was pulling weeds and was swarmed by wasps… only two bit me before we both dived into the house… it appears that a cantaloupe sized nest fell to the ground as I stepped onto the deck… after getting advice on a remedy we decided to work on the pond which was further away from the wasps…

my grandson did a great job… he removed the slate from one side of the pond and replaced it with fieldstone… 


then he used some of the slate to cover the pond liner completely… seeing it has been a pain…

he, like his father, and grandfather, likes to get right into the pond, lol… he was happily working away when he discovered a bloodsucker on his foot… 

at which point he got out and worked from the path…

but look what a spectacular job he did…


my beloved was absolutely the best when it came to putting the rocks in just the right spot and that knack seems to have been passed down… 

then we went in and caught the fish… well, with the help of my son-in-law, who arrived at just the right time, and with stuff to spray on the Yellowjackets’ nest…


after they left I put the fish into the pond…


they swam around, headed under the water hyacinth, and I haven’t seen them since…

after a nap friends came by, sprayed the wasp nest a bit more, and we went to their place for a Chinese food dinner… a wonderful treat…

pretty good way to spend a Friday…

skatepark…

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

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so far this evening I’ve been to a soccer game… after the game there were treats…


partly because he said that grandma must be about 50… seemed like that deserved ice cream, don’t you think…

a skatepark…

where the new scooter was tested out at last… he got it way back yesterday… he also had his BMK for a bit of variety, lol…


the soccer player was doing great on his bike… it was late in the fall when he actually started to ride…

it sure is wonderful to be able to attend their events and get to see them having fun…

ran home at lunch, was picked up, taken back to the office and picked up at the end of the day… then, when we arrived at their house, supper was waiting for us… what a treat… another example of how blessed I am…

I sure miss having my beloved look after making a meal, and arriving home to the lovely odours of food cooking…

murse…

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

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as I was heading out of the driveway took a shot of the roses which are just starting to open…


rather funny because the flower bed they are in is nearly completely overgrown with grass… hoping to get some help soon to clean this bed up… but great to see the blooms, lol…

caught sight of this just before reaching the office…

a man with a very lovely murse, or man purse… not a great pic because I took it through the front window of the car…

reminded me of my beloved… he carried a murse for years… well before it was the cool thing to do… used to drive the girls crazy, particularly when they were teenagers…

looking at the rest of the garden today I am really missing him… he loved the garden and worked in it all the time… much harder worker than I out there… can see that now…