08 Thursday Jan 2026
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
while I was at The Leaf the other day, I got some great photos of various bulbs…
the amaryllis were beautiful and there were lots of them;-)…
I also spotted a variety I had not seen before…
and then I found this lovely white hyacinth;-)…
wasn’t able to smell it, lol…
I expect that they will all be gone the next time I visit…
22 Saturday Mar 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, biomes, blessed, butterflies, cacao trees, fish, flowers, koi, moments, nature, nursery, on my own, orchids, plants, The Leaf, weather, widow, zoo staff
had a lovely wander around The Leaf on Wednesday…
I went on my own for the first time and for anyone who knows me, that is pretty good…
the cacao trees are looking a bit sad, but most of the Tropical Biome looked good…
I spent quite some time watching the fish… they were very active swimming around the pond and a number of plants have been trimmed back so they are also much easier to see;-)…
the orchids in the Mediterranean Biome are still doing very well, with tons of blooms on them…
and the biggest surprise was the Butterfly Garden, which had more butterflies flying around than I’ve ever seen here…
zoo staff were letting a good number emerge from the nursery and there were many people admiring them as well… it is always fun to hear what the keepers have to say about the butterflies… they record each one as they release it…
then I took one last walk through the biomes as I waited for my ride…
23 Friday Feb 2024
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, flowers, happy, koi, moments, nature, orchidaceae, orchids, plants, pond, The Leaf, widow
just for fun I thought I would show some of the orchidaceae that we saw at Flora of the Philippines on Tuesday…
couldn’t help myself, lol…
there were a few other things that I photographed, lol… my buddies, the fish, were swimming around the pond…
we also saw some flowers on the very top of one of the first trees you see on entering the Tropical Biome… we only saw them thanks to a recommendation by one of the volunteers;-)…
another great visit…
20 Tuesday Feb 2024
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, biomes, blessed, flags, flora, flowers, food, friends, garden, gather, happy, moments, nature, orchids, Philippines, plants, pond, Technology, trees, widow
had a fun time at The Leaf today…
went with a friend to see Flora of the Philippines…
we couldn’t figure out the new markers on many of the plants in the Tropical Biome, but eventually realized they represented the flag of the Philippines and demonstrated how many of the plants in the biomes originated there…
besides seeing where so many plants came from, there were hundreds of orchids… heaven for me…
what a treat…
after our wander through the biomes, we had lunch at Gather…
what a delightful way to spend time together;-)…
19 Friday Jan 2024
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, biomes, blessed, details, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, friends, leaves, mannequins, moments, nature, plants, The Leaf, widow
Wednesday was my third and final visit to Voyage at The Leaf…
took another friend who hadn’t been to The Leaf previously…
the parking lot was beyond crazy, apparently there was a big event on in the building… thankfully there weren’t tons of people going through the biomes…
we had a great time and a fabulous visit;-)… I keep seeing new things in many of the displays, and got a few interesting photos of details…
we had fun deciding on our favourite display, and this time I chose the Japanese display, prepared by Fache Floral… I liked the simplicity and the amount of work it must have taken to strip the colour out of the leaves…
we also found the cutest T-shirts with the saying – flowers make me happy – which happens to be the first hashtag I have used since I started on IG…
23 Saturday Dec 2023
Posted in business, family, food, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, dinner, evening, family, Gather Kraft Kitchen and Bar, grandson, koi, lush, moments, nature, night, plants, plastic, pond, The Leaf, walkways, widow
nearly a year to the day, we went back to The Leaf in the evening…
we ate dinner at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar and then wandered through the biomes…
the restaurant was very busy, but we were seated by the window at a two-person table, so were quite a distance from the other diners…
we shared chorizo spiced seitan tacos, I had pork and veal meatballs, and my grandson had a fancy hamburger and everything was tasty… we decided to skip dessert and go for blizzards after our visit to the biomes…
as we wandered through the Tropical biome it was quite amazing to see how the plants have grown… the place is absolutely lush;-)… leaves fell over the walkways in a number of spots, lol…
looking down from the bridge on the third floor it was striking to see how much everything has grown…
it was the first time since that inaugural visit that I’ve been at night… unfortunately it was too dark for my Nikon so all my photos were with my iPhone… got to see some bananas, a pineapple, coffee beans and cacao pods…
it looks like the inside of the biomes have been wrapped with plastic, and the fans in the Tropical biome were blowing rather vigorously…
it was exciting to see that there were a great number of various-sized smaller koi in the pond… babies, maybe;-)…
the next post will be about the Mediterranean biome;-)…
04 Tuesday Jul 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, cacao trees, Diversity Gardens, family, flowers, garden, gather, happy, lilies, moments, nature, plants, The Leaf, thrilled, water, weather, widow
on Friday, before my daughter left to return home to Ottawa, we went one last time to The Leaf…
we walked through the Diversity Gardens in the daylight and were happy we went early, because the temperature was rising quickly…
we checked out the Water area and were thrilled to discover water lily blooms…
then it was on to the Tropical Biome to visit the cacao trees… while there, she provided a little education for a few visitors;-)…
some of us stayed in that spot, and the rest of us checked out the other areas… we weren’t able to see the Butterfly Garden or walk on the skywalk as they were closed for the day, but it was fun to check out both biomes…
we had an early lunch at Gather, one last visit to the cacao trees and then home to nap and finish packing for the flight…
17 Saturday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, cacao trees, chocolate, dinosaur trees, family, flowers, food, gather, grown, happy, happy place, magical time, moments, nature, plants, quiet, The Leaf, waterfall, widow
Tuesday and Wednesday we spent hours at The Leaf in Assiniboine Park…
things have grown and been added since I was last there…
there was mist rising from the ground and there are now three cacao trees…
it was very exciting to see them in flower and with pods on one…
Tuesday we were there in the morning and came across some school classes and quite a few other visitors… we had a delicious lunch at Gather and went back into the biomes for a last look before heading home…
on Wednesday we went in the evening… I had hoped the lights would be on but they weren’t until after we left, lol… there were few others in the space and ample opportunities to sit quietly and reflect on the beauty of nature…
thanks to a very knowledgeable volunteer, we found the sugar cane and the dinosaur trees…
we did enjoy dessert at Gather before a quick walk through the Diversity Gardens… one treat was sitting by a fire in the Indigenous Peoples Garden…
looking forward to another visit in a few weeks… cheers;-)…
20 Friday Jan 2023
Posted in business, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, biomes, blessed, cacao, elevators, fish, flowers, garden, koi, moments, nature, photos, plants, pond, splash, Technology, The Leaf, time, water, waterfall, widow
spent an hour and a half wandering through The Leaf in the daytime…
we took ample time to search out the plants as we wandered through the tropical biome… and we found the cacao tree;-)…
the waterfall continues to over perform…
I am betting that there are people working very hard to figure out how to end up with less splash, lol…
I spent at lot of time on the bridge, watching the beautiful koi swimming around the pond… a lovely treat;-)…
there were a lot of people there, but it didn’t feel too crowded… we wore masks but the majority of others didn’t… since I was last in the space there have been large fans added, so there did appear to be a lot of noise, but once through the doors into the Mediterranean biome, it was quiet…
the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden was a much busier place with numerous butterflies flitting about… it is always fun to search for the ones that have landed and are blending in with the foliage… as visitors move through this area they are quiet and will sit and patiently watch the action…
there are two elevators to take you up to the canopy and the Butterfly Garden and only one was working… seems to slow the flow down a bit…
there was ample space for jackets in the coat room, many volunteers to answer questions and direct the flow of people, and lots of open space…
herbiggirlpants 