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Tag Archives: big girl pants

today’s pond construction…

08 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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big girl pants, bridge, pond, pond construction, rock dust, see what tomorrow brings, sod, soil, water not running

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…

20130708-213146.jpg

what a year…

07 Sunday Jul 2013

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able to work in the garden, affairs in order, beloved, big girl pants, cancer of the uterus, enjoying life, expecting to die on the table, happy, healthy, hernia surgery, hysterectomy, journey, money easily accessible, what a year

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…

06 Saturday Jul 2013

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big girl pants, breakfast at the "A", fresh beets, George, goldfinch, kept house cool, laughter and lazing, my beloved, planted, red=winged blackbird, running and rolling, squirrels, without air conditioning, wonderful memories

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…

the pond…

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

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big girl pants, calla lilies, chose plants, clematis, construction, disaster area, George, ground cover, hydrangeas, Jensens, lilac, muddy mess, pergola, pivotal stage, the pond, water hyacinth, waterfall

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…

02 Tuesday Jul 2013

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big girl pants, colleague, electrical, hmmm, kitchen sink, landscape, mow the lawn, plumbing, purple finch

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…

weeding…

29 Saturday Jun 2013

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big girl pants, closet, George, hot tub chemicals, missing my beloved, planters, Rona, weeding

spent a good portion of this beautiful day in the side garden…

started weeding just after nine… worked for a bit, had a rest, worked a bit more, and so on and so on…

before weeding...

before weeding…

at one point I stopped to show someone the closet that needs doors… nice to have a little break… set out a chair and cushion on the back deck which has been moved forward about a foot and a half… wasn’t going to sit out there, but decided it would be lovely to sit in the shade…

after weeding for half an hour...

after weeding for half an hour…

filled three pails with weeds… probably have another three to go…

after an hour of weeding...

after an hour of weeding…

George worked really hard in that garden, sigh…

DSCN0519after an hour and a half

I was missing him all day as I was wearing those big girl pants…

ran to Rona and got a few more things to plant… there are two planters on the wall that need something in them and a couple of other things jumped off the shelves into my cart, lol…

then I had the water tested, ran a few errands, came home and added the necessary chemicals to the hot tub…

dinner…

28 Friday Jun 2013

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air conditioner, appies, big girl pants, busy week, dinner, great ending, long weekend, The Keg

started the long weekend off with appies on the patio at The Keg… that was my dinner…

brie and tiny toasts...

brie and tiny toasts…

the sun shone, birds flew by, wind blew, rain came down gently amid the sunshine… all in a couple of hours, lol…

chicken wings...

chicken wings…

a lovely interval…

cute little hot dogs...

cute little hot dogs…

enjoyed the warm Brie and tiny toasts and the salt and pepper chicken wings… cute little hot dogs and the always popular stuffed mushrooms…

stuffed mushrooms...

stuffed mushrooms…

then home for a nap…

put on the big girl pants last night and got the air conditioner going… ran it all night to be sure everything was working… temperature has been around 28C last few nights when I got home… bit too warm…

great ending to a busy week…

more flooding…

23 Sunday Jun 2013

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big girl pants, can you believe it, missed party, more flooding, plants into pots, poured rain, pump into pond, towels, water running across the floor, worked in the garden

worked for quite a while in the garden this morning… had a lovely time… got the last of the purchased plants into pots… pulled some weeds, although it is really hard to tell…

two more pots planted...

two more pots planted…

tidied the bed beside the garage and got a pump going in that pond… hopefully that will help with the mosquitoes…

pond and bench...

pond and bench…

then the skies opened and it poured rain for quite a while… for some reason, I went downstairs to check for water and found some about two feet from the new carpet…

put towels down and stopped it… it was coming in from the back corner, likely from under the air conditioner outside… kept changing towels and ringing them out and eventually the rain stopped and the water dried up…  since then it started to rain a couple of times, but it was lighter and nothing seems to be coming in…

Jeff stopped by to pick up potato salad and spinach dip that I had made for the 8 year old’s birthday party, which I decided to miss, just to be sure nothing else leaked…

have been downstairs at least twenty times to check… washed and dried the towels so they will be ready if needed again… hope to sleep through the night, although I might just put some towels down for safety…

can you believe it…

blooming…

21 Friday Jun 2013

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beloved, big girl pants, blooming, clematis, filled with rain water, pond, wild roses

took a picture of the pond this morning, filled with the rain from last night… they haven’t been to work on it for a few days but they are waiting for the slate and pump to come in…

pond after rain storm...

pond after rain storm…

as I was driving out of the garage I stopped and took a quick pic of the clematis ready to bloom…  we must have planted a dozen clematis over the years, but this one seems to be happy…

clematis ready to bloom...

clematis ready to bloom…

and the wild roses at the front of the house, in the right bed… once they bloom will need to cut them back… they really like to take over, lol…

wild roses in front bed...

wild roses in front bed…

couldn’t manage to get those big girl pants on today… really missing my beloved…

pond day 4…

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

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basement work, big girl pants, gravel, plants, pond, Service Masters

eager to arrive home each day to see what has happened with the pond…

today I found a fellow out front moving the dirt, sand and rocks onto a trailer… went into the back yard and saw this…

pond, construction day 4...

pond, construction day 4…

wasn’t very happy because there was a lot of gravel around the outside of the pond where I thought there was going to be soil and plants…

spoke to the fellow and he contacted Doug the person in charge of my project…  Doug called and came right on over…

we talked about the gravel which I did not want and the fact that I couldn’t see any flat spots in the pond for plants… and we agreed to some changes which will look after my concerns…

it was great to meet him in person and no doubt we will meet again to check out mulch and other things…

then I met with Mike from Service Masters and signed off on the basement work… busy day…

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