04 Wednesday Sep 2024
Posted in business, life, loss, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, floating, hot air balloon, memory, moments, remembering, time, weather, widow
ten years ago I was floating over Gatineau in a hot air balloon… along with dozens of other balloons;-)…
I’d been waiting over twenty years for this experience… for my fortieth my beloved bought us tickets to fly at home, but the company ran away with the money…
it was everything I imagined and a very special moment in my life… the memory continues to be bright;-)…
02 Friday Aug 2024
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, furniture, garden, grandson, grass, irrigation, memories, moments, nature, pressure, remembering, sorry, supper, treat, weather, widow
yesterday I woke up feeling a bit sorry for myself…
it would have been our 54th wedding anniversary, but instead it is the 12th year without my beloved…
I went out early and watered the grass as we’ve been working on adding some to bald spots in the garden… my beloved loved it when the grass looked good, lol…
I also ran the irrigation system at the same time… first time I’ve done that and it worked fairly well… the pressure for the grass watering portion was not as strong as usual, but it meant that I could get all the watering done at once…
I turned the PVR on so I wouldn’t miss any Olympics, lol…
then I reorganized the lawn furniture… took a bit of effort to get the lounger where I wanted, but I think it should work for the next while… all of the cushions came out…
while there was still shade, I filled up the four bird feeders and then I sat on the back deck to read and enjoy the garden before it got too hot…
later we went out for supper as a treat from the Ottawa kids;-)…
was feeling much better by the end of the day…
31 Wednesday Jul 2024
Posted in family, garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, construction, garden, gate, grandsons, memories, moments, nature, pergola, photographs, remembering, time, waterbed pond, widow
a friend sent me some photographs recently and in amongst them was this picture of my beloved in front of the just finished pergola/gate…
it had the cutest fastener on the gate… I can’t remember when we put all of the pergolas in, but at that time – many moons ago – we still had the waterbed pond beside it…
then I dug out this one from July, 2009 (a bit fuzzy), when he added a shelf for stuff to sit on while we were in the new hot tub… that was fifteen years ago🤪…
and this is how it looks today;-)…
I showed the original picture to my grandsons and it took them a minute to recognize it, lol…
it does need a trim so that the Virginia creeper isn’t overpowering it and the gate could have a prettier fastener…
time flies…
18 Thursday Jul 2024
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, family, health, hernia, hysterectomy, memories, moments, remembering, surgeons, surgery, widow, without
it was twelve years ago today that I had surgery for a hernia and a hysterectomy… it took a while to get organized as two different surgeons were required to work together so that both issues could be taken care of at the same time…
it was particularly difficult because it was the first time I went through a serious health issue without my beloved there to support and look after me…
thinking back to that time, I realize how far I have come and how well I am doing now…
I still miss him every single day…
15 Saturday Jun 2024
Posted in family, garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, buds, family, flowers, garden, happy, memories, moments, nature, orange, pictures, plants, poppies, thirty-two, weather, widow, wild
the other day I counted thirty-two poppy buds…
since then twenty-six have opened… I go out every morning to take pictures and count them, lol…
they look so beautiful weaving back and forth in the breeze…
they were one of my beloved’s favourite flowers… maybe because they signalled the beginning of summer…
they decide where they will pop up and I am always so happy when they turn up each year… this time they are in the front of the garden;-)…
27 Wednesday Mar 2024
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, blink, family, friends, journey, loss, memories, moments, nature, pivot, remembering, time, widow
this month commemorated the twelfth anniversary of my beloved’s passing…
it is always a reminder of how one’s life can change in the blink of an eye… mine certainly did at that time and again when I was diagnosed with cancer, and later diabetes…
the thing I have learned is that we can pivot and move forward, even if in a slightly different direction…
I have spent time remembering what a wonderful life we had together and how blessed I have been been and continue to be…
thinking of those who are at that pivot point in their journey…
08 Friday Mar 2024
Posted in business, family, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
accountant, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, complete, documentation, happy, memories, moments, preparation, taxes, Technology, widow
have spent time over the last week gathering and preparing all of the information required to complete my 2023 taxes…
getting the documentation ready always reminds me of how difficult doing this work was for my beloved… he really disliked getting the bits and pieces collected…
for the last few years of his life we had others complete the paperwork, although it was still a problem to put it together…
it still surprises me how simple it is for me now… for the first few years after he died, I would gather up paper bits and courier them to my amazing accountant, who would then process everything…
then she connected me to this great technology where I was able to upload all the information and they complete and submit it all online…
it still takes a bit of work to scan, save, and upload everything, but I am getting better at it each year…
and, it is done;-)…
06 Wednesday Mar 2024
Tags
"A", beloved, big girl pants, blessed, breakfast, family, food, grandson, health, memories, moments, passing, routine, slippery, snow, treat, walk, weather, widow
went for a walk on Sunday morning… the front steps were covered with slippery ice pellets, so we walked carefully…
the temperature was around 0°C and it felt like -8°C… not bad and the wind was behind us as we walked towards Portage…
we arrived at the “A” and had a lovely breakfast…
it has been many months since I’ve been there and it was a nice treat…
breakfast here used to be one of our regular activities on the weekends… I would walk over and my beloved would drive… after breakfast we would head out in the car to do errands or take a drive…
it was nice to eat here this week as we come to the anniversary of his passing…
I sure do miss him…
04 Sunday Feb 2024
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, moments, nature, orchid, phalaenopsis, plants, purple, widow
I’ve been waiting patiently for this phalaenopsis orchid to open…
here it was on Friday…
Saturday…
and today…
it is beautiful and different from the other one that has been open for awhile…
in my mind I was thinking they might turn out to be the same, lol… but not;-)…
whenever I look at my orchids I always think of my beloved, who brought them to me all the time…
02 Friday Feb 2024
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, donation, family, friends, health, Heart and Stroke Foundation, hearts, house, love, memories, moments, remembering, touched, widow
first thing I did on Thursday was put the heart wreath on the front door…
a little later, I brought down the rest of the love items and set them around the house…
that was fun;-)…
February is Heart and Stroke month and a time when I make a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation in memory of my beloved and those who have been touched by heart disease…
lots to think about…
herbiggirlpants 