19 Tuesday Nov 2013
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last night on my way out for a hot tub, I got this picture of the moon with my phone…
moon rise last night..
spent quite a bit of time in the tub as my head was very unhappy…
this morning I got this shot of the moon with my camera on the tripod…
moon set this morning…
head is still not happy… gonna try the hot tub again…
18 Monday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, Canada Manpower, candies in his pockets, gone for 26 years, lovely mmemories, organization, remembering my dad, taught me life lessons
today would have been my dad’s 91st birthday… he’s been gone for 26 years…
he was an amazing man who taught me many life lessons… he was always my sounding board… for many years I drove him to and from work and he introduced me to some amazing people… he worked for Canada Manpower and spent his days helping people to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives… we spent a few years in the north where he opened Manpower offices and taught me to help set them up and organize them… maybe that’s were I got my love for organization…
throughout their marriage I never heard him be rude or raise his voice to my mom…
he looked after her for many years as she spent nearly half of each year in the psych ward and he looked after us on his own during all that time…
a rare photograph of mom and dad…
when the girls were little they could always find candies in his pockets…
some lovely memories today…
17 Sunday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, blooming, boots, dim sum, hot tub, little dusting, shovelling, smartphone gloves, snow, winter tires, yoga outfit
well, I was wrong… that little dusting of snow turned into a lot of snow… although, as a number of people have mentioned, it did look beautiful…
here’s what I saw when I got up this morning… and isn’t that cactus just blooming away..
lots of snow out there…
the snow fell all day and finally quit around 4…
we went for dim sum and because my winter tires weren’t on yet, and I didn’t feel like putting on the big girl pants, Crystal and the boys came and got me… we had a lovely time and the boys even tried a few new things… they didn’t really like them, but did try…
then it was off to find some boots and three pair were discovered and purchased… I got some purple gloves that can work my phone and a yoga top and pants… a few groceries and then home…
while I put stuff away Crystal shovelled the sidewalk and the driveway, with a bit of help from the boys… she ran across and shovelled a neighbour’s sidewalk and had a little visit with her…
winter tires on the car… not as pretty as the all purpose ones…
when Jeff got here, he and Crystal put on the winter tires for me… yay…
Jeff and the boys had a hot tub… which now means putting on slippers, taking out a towel for the steps and wearing toques… what a difference a day makes, lol…
Sunday dinner with everyone…
we enjoyed a very nice supper and all the boys helped clean up before they headed home…
I am very happy about the winter tires as I will be driving to work tomorrow as I have a late meeting…
a lovely day, all in all…
16 Saturday Nov 2013
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bedroom, big girl pants, decluttering, early rising, hot tub, obsession with rocks, snow, thinking of George, tidying
spent most of the day in the bedroom, changing bedding, cleaning and reorganizing… ran a couple of loads of laundry and got it all put away…
put on the blanket on the bed that George loved… will be thinking of him when I climb into bed tonight…
took my time and watched tv and read as well so that I wasn’t worn out…
decluttered by getting rid of some books, clothes and a few bits and pieces…
mementos…
moved my rocks/gems/shells to a different container – actually a winnowing basket from an event in 1993, and got my little fountain going… looks very nice… not sure if I’ve mentioned my obsession with rocks/stones… from my visits to Cyndi and Ron’s in BC I have brought back a good portion of Goose Spit, lol…
am always happy when I can get rid of stuff and be happy in the process… hope to continue on a bit tomorrow in the dining room…
added chemicals to the hot tub throughout the afternoon and was headed out there tonight when I discovered that the deck and ground were covered with a dusting of snow… the young man next door is having a party and I don’t usually go out but had decided it would be nice before bed… when I discovered the snow, it just seemed like a sign…
so, am writing my blog and going to bed… looks like the snow might be gone by morning so I will have a tub when I get up, which hopefully won’t be at 6 am like this morning…
15 Friday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, bloomimg, cactus, flowers, over-watered, pond
this morning I took out the garbage and recycling… wasn’t sure if I would be able to get them out to the back lane because the pond guys had over seeded a good portion of the area and I didn’t want to drive the bins through the dirt, or soil as my mom would say…
then I discover that it has rained/snowed overnight and the lids are frozen shut… took quite an effort to get them open…
once I got back inside I took a few pictures of the cactus as it was blooming… very interesting because it looks very miserable… can’t decide if it is over- or under- watered…
nice to start the day enjoying a few moments with flowers…
13 Wednesday Nov 2013
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beloved, big girl pants, leaking pond, memorial, plans to fix problem, pond, reference, swail, waterfall
on Friday I wrote the email that had been sitting waiting for me to make a decision about…
I had been asked to provide a reference to the people who built my new pond…
pump out…
the pond is still leaking and I finally took the pump out of the water as I didn’t want it to freeze…
wasn’t sure how to respond to this request, so spent nearly a month thinking about it… finally wrote to the owner mentioning the things that hadn’t gone well, beside the fact that the pond was still leaking…
I copied the person who had sent the reference request, as well as the person who has been trying diligently to fix the leak…
both the owner and the worker were back in touch with me in about half an hour and we set up a meeting…
this afternoon I met with the owner and the person who has been doing most of the work trying to sort out the leakiness…
area where swail will be built…
they plan to put a swail in so that rain water will run toward the cedar and away from the pond… they will over seed the low spots and put in additional pieces of slate if necessary to make sure the path is flat… they are coming tomorrow to get this done…
waterfall in pieces…
they are hoping to re-position the waterfall and add water tomorrow and check the leak… if they can’t do proper testing because of the cold, they will come back in the spring to open the pond and make sure the fix has worked…
I am feeling much more hopeful and sorry that I wasn’t in touch with them sooner so the weather would have been better for them to get the work done… that water is very cold, and quite hard in some places…
this pond is supposed to be a bit of a memorial to my beloved… I will be happy when it is fixed…
11 Monday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, fancy sandwiches, George's dad, hot tub, limo ride, military, poppies, remembering, Remembrance Day, Women Veterans of the Two World Wars
slept poorly last night and did not feel at all well for most of today…
so, I did very little… watched the live ceremony from Ottawa, and think I may have seen my son-in-law marching by… spent some time in the hot tub, remembering…
reminded me of George’s dad, who had served in the military… he had a heart attack on November 11, 32 years ago… he died shortly after that and I remember making fancy sandwiches with my mom and dad for the family gathering following his funeral… it was the first time I rode in a limo and I will always remember that… I think George always thought about his dad especially around Remembrance Day…
I remember how George’s mom was so worried about me as I was pregnant with Crystal and Isabel hovered over me the whole time, worried that something was going to happen to the baby…
I think of my dad’s health… he was a great athlete, but after the war his lungs didn’t work very well, something to do with sleeping in wet foxholes the entire time he was overseas, which moved to emphysema… from the time I was young he struggled with his lungs and his health… of course smoking didn’t help…
I remember the work my mom did to ensure that there was a statue by the Legislature to commemorate all of the women in the Armed Forces who went to war, but were rather invisible… she spent the war in England touching up photos of ships before they went to the media, so that it wasn’t possible to see where they were, or exactly what they looked like… not the kind of work anyone would do today, lol…
so many people, who have gone, to be thankful for…
poppies in the garden…
the poppies in our garden always reminded us of these and so many other special people… wondering if there will be any next summer after all the pond construction that took place this June…
10 Sunday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, broiled steak, George bbq, got lots done, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, productivity, quiet supper, shredding, sort mail
got lots done today…
finally got working in the computer room… spent the morning there sorting, filing and shredding…
still looks a mess, but there is no paper hanging around that has to be dealt with… tomorrow I will continue by filling up some boxes to give away…
still messy but no papers in sight…
I keep telling myself that I will deal with the mail immediately as it comes into the house and shred things right away, but can’t seem to do it… thinking about how I can get the shredder down by the front door… hopefully that will make it much easier to open, review and then shred all in one step…
thought the kids were coming for dinner tonight, but one of them has the flu so they didn’t make it… the plan is they will come tomorrow, but we will see how they are all feeling… luckily I hadn’t got the meat sauce ready yet, so will do that tomorrow…
am writing this as my potatoes cook and my steak broils… looking forward to a lovely quiet supper… the potatoes are going to be mashed with cauliflower and onion and I am warming up some corn to go with…
had George been here, he would have faced the cold and barbecued the steak… decided broiling would be fine tonight, lol…
09 Saturday Nov 2013
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watered some plants, tidied the kitchen, made myself something to eat… that’s about all I accomplished today…
had big plans to spend some time in the computer room cleaning it up, but never made it… did go through old mail, tossed some and put some aside for shredding…
spent some time sitting in the living room looking out at the wet landscape… last night it snowed a bit, but it melted this morning and throughout the day snow/sleet fell off and on…
chickadee in the middle of the feeder…
watched a chickadee family come to the feeders for some dinner….
chickadee working to get the seed…
in one of the pictures you can see the wind blowing the bird’s feathers…
hope the sun comes out tomorrow…
08 Friday Nov 2013
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this morning I was stopped in my tracks when I saw a beautiful sky… had to run, get the camera and take some pictures, because it was just sooooo beautiful…
sunrise…
within five minutes the beauty was gone and as I drove to work it was just a dull overcast sky… amazing that I had that moment to enjoy…
tonight I went shopping with Crystal, who starts a new job on Tuesday and needs more business-office outfits.. we had success at three stores and stopped for a bite in the Food Court…
while I was sitting at a table waiting for her, I watched a couple, maybe ten years younger than me, finish up their supper together and then get up and move on with their evening…
reminded me of George and I having supper out and discussing whatever… then heading off to do the next thing on our list…
I miss him so much… it would have been nice to have him there to see that lovely sky…
