30 Tuesday Dec 2025
Posted in garden, health, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
today, I finished my hundredth book of 2025…
I am very happy… I would have done better except for one book which I didn’t like, so kept on putting reading off, lol… but I did finish it…
so many of the books were enjoyed in the garden over the spring, summer, and fall;-)…
I need to work on putting a book aside, without finishing it, if I don’t like it, lol…
29 Monday Dec 2025
Posted in life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, door, door handle, family, fixed, grandson, housemate, loosening, moments, oven, widow
went to finish the chicken soup, and noticed the oven was on, so I tried to open the door and the handle came right off…
it had been loosening before and I would just tighten it…
my housemate and I couldn’t put the handle back on because the oven was hot… we left it to cool and then tried again…
when we went to open it, the inside sort of separated… I was hoping this allowed us to get to the window that we could clean…
unfortunately, it was not the one, although we did clean this portion…
next he went out and bought some loctite to make sure the handle stayed on… we weren’t able to get to the really messed up window, but the important thing was to get the handle back on the door, which was being held closed by the stepstool…
now it is fixed… we will see if it comes loose again…
28 Sunday Dec 2025
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
appetizers, big girl pants, blessed, busy, Christmas, family, food, grandson, mid-day, moments, shrimp, weather, widow
my grandson usually arrives here on Christmas day around noon…
our current tradition is to have appetizers for our mid-day meal as he may have already had breakfast and will be heading out for dinner a bit later in the day…
we had wandered the aisles at the grocery store picking up things that looked fun…
we had shrimp dumplings, fancy cheese fries, tempura shrimp, wontons, veggies and dip, sausage rolls, and a shrimp ring… lots of shrimp on that list, lol…
this year we did stockings for each other, which was great… it has been many years since I had a stocking…
it was filled with a great many treats…
then the second round of presents were opened, and I was royally spoiled;-)…
although he only had a few gifts he was very pleased with them…
we sat around and visited before he had to leave for his next engagement, lol…
I truly am blessed to have this thoughtful young man in my life;-)…
27 Saturday Dec 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
adventure buddy, big girl pants, blessed, driver, Elf - The Musical, mesmerized, moments, MTC, volunteered, widow
this week my adventure buddy and I volunteered at MTC a couple of times… both shows were sold out…
it was the first time either of us had done this and we enjoyed the experience… there are around 20 volunteers at each performance and you have the opportunity to choose which of the spots you would like to work at…
there were people from every age and even the littlest kids were mesmerized;-)…
we saw the show from both sides and were pleased because it was so different depending on the side, and who was in front of us, lol…
we were especially lucky to have our own personal driver for both shows…
kind of look like twins;-)…
26 Friday Dec 2025
Posted in food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas morning, dripped, moments, strawberries, waffles, whipping cream, widow
on Wednesday I made waffles to have on Christmas morning…
of course a few were too filled and the batter dripped out around the edges, lol…
most went into the freezer, but two stayed out for the morning…
fresh strawberries were sliced into a jar and a teaspoon of sugar went in as well…
in the morning, the cream was whipped with the immersion blender and one waffle went onto a baking tray to warm in the oven…
then, everything was combined for a delicious breakfast;-)…
25 Thursday Dec 2025
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, Christmas Eve, face-to-face, family, memories, moments, Technology, treat, video, widow
all the jobs were done and the living room set up for our morning video call when I went to bed at 11 pm on Christmas Eve…
put my head down thinking I might nap for an hour and then have a Christmas hot tub around midnight…
woke up at 5:15, yikes… apparently no hot tub for me…
laid back down, didn’t really sleep, and got up at 6:30, lol…
made tea and texted a video of me banging pots and slamming doors, (possibly like I used to do when the families would be here overnight, so they would get up), to the kids in Ottawa…
we met and had a lovely time opening gifts and enjoying all of the loot…
what a gift to be able to meet with them face-to-face…
such a lovely Christmas morning;-)…
24 Wednesday Dec 2025
Posted in food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
baton, big girl pants, blessed, cookbook, family, famous, moments, spinach dip, Technology, widow
had a bit of a giggle this morning when I went to make my ‘famous’ spinach dip…
I haven’t made it in ages and decided to check the recipe to be sure I remembered it correctly… took me ages to find where that particularly recipe was located… NOT in the recipe book I’d prepared a few years ago…
eventually I remembered that it was in the Baton cookbook that I’d help prepare when the girls were maybe ten and twelve🤪…
hadn’t forgotten anything and it turned out great 😊…
looking at that cookbook now reminds me how much things have changed in thirty years… at the time it was very well done… now I think it looks rather dreadful… although the recipes are excellent, lol…
20 Saturday Dec 2025
Posted in life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
19 Friday Dec 2025
Posted in business, garden, health, life, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Fleurs de Villes, fourth, gift, moments, nature, Technology, The Leaf at Assiniboine Park, weather, widow
a few days ago I booked my fourth visit to Fleurs de Villes at The Leaf in January;-)…
it is always wonderful to see and I have given a number of friends tickets to go (with me of course)…
seems like a perfect Christmas gift for anyone who appreciates art, flowers, nature, and creativity… especially after looking out the window and seeing this, lol…
18 Thursday Dec 2025
Posted in family, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
Advent, big girl pants, blessed, boxes, Christmas, family, instructions, moments, purple, widow
I’ve been enjoying my Advent calendars for these past eighteen days…
the boxes for the one have been on the stairs with a few elsewhere when all 24 wouldn’t fit…
as they’ve been opened I’ve rearranged them until now there aren’t any on some of the steps…
they have been filled with items from paper clips, a label maker, seeds, purple and handmade items, as well as a favourite chocolate bar ;-)…
the ones on the wall are turned once opened and I’ve enjoyed all the treats in them as well… from a variety of nuts to a few with chocolate in them;-)…
these are the hands that have filled all of them, some with instructions from far away, lol…
herbiggirlpants 