Tag Archives: blessed

system…

01 Thursday Dec 2016

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had a conversation with someone a few days back about health, or lack thereof…

they were waiting on appointments and test results and the stress was nearly unbearable…

made me think back to some of our difficult times…

November/December 2008, when George had bypass surgery… the stress leading up to the actual surgery was huge… the struggles with the healthcare system were daunting… 

advocating for yourself or your loved one takes courage, patience and persistence… and you can’t give up… 

once we got to the actual surgery he responded beautifully… 

August 2010, when I had a procedure for a blocked bile duct which led to a very bad bout of pancreatitis and ended with gall bladder surgery… for six weeks he came to see me every morning before work and looked after everything on the home front…

now I have memories of those times and although some of them are difficult they also remind me of what a special life we have been blessed with… reminded me of this blog I wrote in February of 2013…

one step at a time…

blooming hibiscus…

autumn…

27 Tuesday Sep 2016

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so excited this morning to take a few pictures of the gardenia blossoms…

there are eight or nine buds and I can hardly wait for them to open…

autumn is coming on strong… as I was driving home tonight I stopped on a side street and got a picture of the trees…

the colours are changing daily, maybe even hourly…

and even in the cooler weather there are plants blooming like crazy…

this planter is filled with neverending begonia blooms, and some lobelia… 

took a few minutes to savour the beauty of the freshly purpled door… it is beautiful…

today marks four years since my return to work following my cancer/hernia surgery… I had been off for ten weeks… 

I am so blessed… in so many ways…

friends…

02 Saturday Jul 2016

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yesterday I discovered this plaque that a dear friend had given to me… it had come down from the bedroom wall four years ago when my older daughter arranged for her friends to come and paint the room for me before my surgery… the bedroom had been looking very worn and we knew I would be spending a lot of recovery time in it…


when I discovered it yesterday it went right down into the bathroom where it has a place of prominence…

on my walk in the Gardens at the Park today I was also thinking of friends…

often meet a friend to take this walk but she is away so I was on my own…

beautiful iris…

one of the gardeners was busy with the ongoing work in the gardens but happily answered my questions…

like why so many of the benches were tipped over… apparently some of the concrete needed repair… kind of funny, because they just put them in about two weeks ago after they had redone many of the walkways…

spotted this leopard frog having a look over its domain… that was just after a turtle slipped into the water on the other side of the pond…

my other question was about the string algae which is rather prominent in their pond as well… they are having pump troubles and also dye the water so the sunlight can’t get through and cause more algae… 

dragonflies were everywhere… didn’t even see this one on the lilypad when I took the picture…

this one posed very nicely for me…

sat on “my” bench – where George and I would often take a break on our walks through the Gardens – and the cutest teeny bunny came out from the undergrowth five or six times… but when I finally spoke to it, it left for good…

not sure why, but I have been missing him terribly for the last month or so…

as I toured around the Duck Pond I caught sight of this mallard mom and her babies having a rest in the sunshine…

while I was walking thought a lot about my friends and how blessed I am to have them…

Atlanta Day 4…

19 Sunday Jun 2016

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another spectacular day in Atlanta…


weather was great, and not too hot…


spent a few hours at the ABG and even had a glass of wine to toast the great time we’ve had… back to the hotel for a snack and nap… 


had our picture taken at the hotel since we were all dressed up… then our final visit to the garden for dinner and a final night tour…


enjoyed some relaxing time on the swings while we waited for our dinner reservation…


even had a glass of champagne… when we were done it was dark and we strolled through the gardens one last time, under a nearly full moon…


spent the last bit of time at the goddess site… apparently she was designed and built by a Montreal company, lol…

final shot was of the first installation in the garden entryway…

and then back to the hotel where we rode the glass elevator to our room for the last time…


I am so blessed to have the resources to enjoy a once in a lifetime event such as this;-)…

special…

30 Monday May 2016

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had a lovely evening…

dinner with a most special woman to celebrate our friendship…

we sat on couches on a patio in the sunshine and traded gifts with one another…

she treated me to a beautiful purple bird feeder and a solar dragonfly for the garden…


for her I’d found a compact umbrella and wrapped it with a pretty scarf… she is one of the best wrappers I have ever come across, so I was feeling a bit of pressure to do a good job, lol… she thought it looked great, yay…

had a virgin Caesar that had three olives in it… practically a meal…


followed that with a delicious pizza… tasty…


once I arrived home I found that two of the dahlias are breaking through the soil in one of the pots… very exciting…


ended the evening with three more special women… we shared stories of recent activities and had a picture presentation of one’s recent trip to the Galapagos Islands…

what a treat the evening has been… 

I continue to be blessed with so many special people in my life…

listening…

23 Monday May 2016

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woke up just after midnight wondering what I was hearing…

took me a minute to realize it was rain pounding against the open window… once what I was listening to sank into my brain, I jumped up and closed the windows and patio door… then I went downstairs to see if it was coming in the corner of the basement, but it was dry…

when I got up in the morning it was fresh and green outside and the rain had stopped… after grocery shopping I took this picture out the front window…


always interesting how the rain can green everything up so nicely, much better than watering can…

sat out in the garden for a good portion of the day enjoying the beauty and finishing a novel…

kids came for dinner and we had our first meal of the season on the deck…


lovely, because often by dinner time it is already cooling off and we end up in the dining room…

afterwards there was some hot tubbing and visiting and I took this shot of the sky with some beautiful  clouds floating by…


the family stayed later than usual which was nice, and I am enjoying a last few minutes of quiet in the garden before heading in…

will be going to bed early tonight after a busy, but productive, long weekend…

I truly am blessed, having my family around me and the health to be able to enjoy working and spending time in the garden…

thinking…

21 Thursday Apr 2016

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today would have been my friend’s forty-eighth birthday…

she would have loved my new Fitbit bracelet…

sure do miss her…

a week ago I was finishing packing for our trip to New York…

 

Central Park, New York…photo J Noordman

 
brought to mind all of the people who have gone from my life – parents, in-laws, friends… my beloved…

been thinking about how each of them have influenced and shaped me into who I am…

how blessed I’ve been to have such special people in my life…

Japanese Maple ready to go into the garden…

touch…

10 Thursday Mar 2016

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got a great shot of a squirrel yesterday morning having a snack in the garden…

  
this morning I was up even earlier and watched a bunny crossing the street but didn’t get a picture… the exciting thing was that it was light out when I headed downtown at seven…

did take a few pics of the orchid which still looks pretty good… trying not to touch it which might cause one of the blossoms to drop off…

  
have spent a fair amount of time over the last few days remembering the day of my beloved’s memorial service… it was four years ago today…

all of us getting ready together was rather stressful… 

making it through the gathering was painful and I was barely able to move as my body reacted to the distress of the day and my health issues…

having the opportunity to speak with everyone who came to celebrate his life was awe inspiring and very comforting…

arriving home to discover that someone had hit a borrowed vehicle and driven away without even leaving a note…

can’t actually remember the evening…

such a painFULL time… 

am pleased with how well we have come through these days/months/years… each of us is moving forward and supporting one another…

we  talk about George/Daddy/Grandpa often… I don’t want anyone to forget him and his impact on us and everyone who he touched…

we are and have been blessed…

season…

16 Saturday Jan 2016

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got home a few minutes after five last night and took this picture of the front street to show the light…

  
was quite excited to realize that it was light out… we are now on the side of the season where it is brighter every day… yay… 

always feel more positive when there is more light and sunshine… I take vitamin D and usually use a SAD light, but haven’t taken the time to turn in on in the morning for the last few weeks…

took this shot focussed tighter on the trees across the creek…

  
not really sure what happened, but it came out more like a painting than a photograph…

today I have done very little… changed the bed and then planted my behind on it for the majority of the day… feels wonderful to be doing nothing, lol…

happy to be able to take the time to recuperate from the crazy hectic weeks I’ve been experiencing…

recently I have been thinking about what good shape I am in these days compared to just a few years ago… I can lift things and walk without any problems… and I have no discomfort of any kind… 

I am blessed…

fixed…

13 Sunday Dec 2015

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made breakfast when my daughter arrived this morning… she had been on a work related check-in close by… then she helped me with the printer which had started to misbehave about 11:30 last night, right in the middle of a project… 

once it was fixed she laid down for a nap and I proceeded to finish the project… 

realized last night how much has to happen before the kids arrive from the East and West on Friday and Saturday… made me a bit nervous, but I wrote a list and checked off a few items today, which made me feel better…

it has been a long time since the two of us have spent the day together, and I enjoyed it all… we met two dear friends for lunch and had a great time… special moments…

tonight my son-in-law fixed two different timers so that the various Christmas trees turn on and off without my help… yay… need to get about three more timers so that everything can be automated…

here are the bigger trees with presents under them now (one of the items checked off the list)…

 
tonight’s supper was a lovely treat… Chinese food, so all we had to do was set the table, lol… and eat…

now everyone has gone home and I am enjoying the quiet beauty of the living room…

 how blessed my life is…