07 Sunday May 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
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Assiniboine Park, baby whisperer, big girl pants, breakfast, nap, sweetie, walk, widow
spent a wonderful morning with this little sweetie…
we had breakfast together at the “A” where my talent as a baby whisperer was once again demonstrated… happy to know I’ve still got it as I haven’t been around little ones much recently…
managed this shot while she was napping in my arms…
after breakfast we went for a lovely walk around the Gardens and Park…
what a treat…
05 Friday May 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, daffodils, emerging, garden, hot tub, nap, Park, walk, widow, wonderful
had the most wonderful day off…
got up early, had a cup of tea, and went for a walk to the Park… it was a beautiful morning…
I’ve never seen debris up against the bridge before…
had breakfast on my own and watched geese and ducks while I enjoyed my meal…
then I wandered through the English and Leo Mol Gardens with my camera in hand…
plants are springing up and the daffodils were blooming… haven’t been for a while and happy to spend time in the Gardens and see the life emerging…
got home, had a nap and lunch… then I went out for a hot tub and enjoyed watching the waterfall…
air dried on a lounger in the sun and spent some time reviewing my photos from the morning…
watched a bit of tv… had another nap and made one of my ChefsPlate meals…
finished the day with chocolate and chips…
couldn’t have been better…
23 Sunday Apr 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, buds, early sunshine, family, reading, the "A", walk, widow, wind
lovely walk to the “A” and back this morning…
my grandson was with me on the way there… we caught a few Pokémon and saw the mallard couple in the creek… it was a bit chilly because of the wind, but the sun was shining…
I had been up and made tea for the daddy who arrived after his overnight shift at work… he had a nap for an hour or so before we went for breakfast… on Sunday the “A” doesn’t open until 8… he and I have learned this the hard way…
he and the youngest drove over… was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of my meal, lol…
after breakfast they headed to their house and I walked back home…
warmer with the wind at my back… had to stop and take a few pictures of the buds starting on the big tree, maybe some kind of willow, just before I reached the house…
had a short nap and read in the sunshine in the living room for the remainder of the day…
my daughter and the younger boys came for dinner and a visit and I went back to reading when they left…
listening to the ducks flying over on their way back to the creek… love the sound of ducks and geese as they travel…
30 Friday Dec 2016
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
the out-of-town kids have been staying elsewhere but a few days ago they slept over and in the morning we walked to the “A” for breakfast…
had to get a picture of them walking down the street holding hands…
my beloved and I held hands whenever we were out and about… it is one of the things I miss the most…
the “A” is my son-in-law’s favourite place for breakfast and George really liked it as well… we often had breakfast there on weekends….
breakfast was lovely and we enjoyed our walk back to the house…
with the cold and snowy weather I haven’t been out walking nearly as much as usual…
26 Saturday Nov 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, ChefsPlate, Christmas, errands, hot tub, internet, list, progress, purple, smoothie, widow
knew I had lots to do today so was up early and made bacon and eggs with rösti and spinach… smoothies make up my morning meals on weekdays, so I always enjoy having time to make something special on the weekend…
made a list to be sure I remembered everything that needed to be done…
paid some bills, ordered a few things on the Internet and then headed out to do some errands…
picked up the cutest purple magnetic white board and put it up on the cabinet door by the stove…
then I spent quite some time emptying, and then filling, the hot tub… it is a process… first I had to check if I needed any chemicals, then had to pick up a filter… empty the tub which takes at least a few hours… wipe it down, put in the new filter and fill it up… when I restart the pump sometimes it takes a while for the jets to work… only had to reset it once tonight… it was getting dark as it filled up and I went flying when checking the water level… the deck had become slick as the temperature dropped…
now it is a waiting game as it warms up… always like to have a fresh filter and water for when my daughter comes home… she really enjoys the hot tub…
made supper with one of my ChefsPlate meals and used the new magnetic board… worked perfectly to hold the recipe out of the way, but handy…
exactly what I was hoping for… supper was good too…
made a lot of progress on my Christmas list, which makes me happy…
07 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
bark, big girl pants, breakfast, chocolate, flight, gifts, home, Ottawa day 7, packing, Pokémon, PokeStops, stash, widow
well, spent the morning in Ottawa and flew home this afternoon…
started out with an egg on an English muffin, with a side of pistachio/coconut bark, all made by my daughter…
we said our goodbyes and she headed off to work… took a bit of effort to get my bag packed… apparently the gifts for my daughter’s friends filled up my suitcase, lol…
then finished taking a few pictures… of the chocolate stash…
final job was to wash the last of the dishes… this is becoming my trademark whenever I am with my kids… but really, fairly easy to manage, lol…
had my bags at the front door when my daughter surprised me by coming home for an hour before I left…
while I waited for my flight caught a few Pokemon and collected items from three PokeStops which were right at the gate…
touch down… home…
had a wonderful, crazy busy, and memorable week…
05 Monday Sep 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, bus, ByWard Market, Ottawa Day 5, SkipTheDishes, sleep-in, Technology, widow
had a lovely sleep in… my daughter made me breakfast… first sit down for our morning meal since I arrived, lol…
we played on our electronics, visited for a bit, and then took back the rental car…
forgot to take a photo of the whole car… took this one when we got it so we’d be able to recognize it in a parking lot…
jumped on a bus to downtown where we shopped for shoes and technology, and enjoyed wandering around the Rideau Centre which has lots of new shops since I was last here…
got a picture of us on the bus… strange that I’ve been here this long and this was our first bus trip…
this is my daughter’s usual mode of transportation…
I find it fun to travel on the bus with her… she is trying to convince me to take the bus to and from work at home, as I have just lost access to reasonable parking…
had a lovely lunch on the patio at Social in Byward Market… we were under the shade of this lovely tree…
tasty beet, nut and ricotta salad…
think I got a Pokemon we haven’t caught before… sent an email to my grandson, but haven’t heard back from him… just makes my girl laugh… she keeps sending pictures of me playing to my oldest grandson…
also picked up this sparkly new phone case…
it will be an excellent reminder of my time in Ottawa…
back home on the bus, followed by a quiet restful time… ordered supper using SkiptheDishes… beef ribs from The Smoque Shack…
yummy, but a little spicy…
then we did a chocolate tasting… what fun… will write about that tomorrow;-)…
14 Thursday Jul 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
appreciation, big girl pants, breakfast, colleagues, datura, DISC, hibiscus, patio, pond, raindrops, staff, The Met, Thermea, widow
on my way out of the house this morning I dug out my camera to take some pictures of the flowers that were blooming…
one of the hibiscus flowers was just opening…
the raindrops are so pretty on the blossoms… and there have been lots of raindrops recently…
the datura is very happy in its pot… one day the pot might make it to the front yard, lol…
today was Staff Appreciation Day… we came in a bit later than usual and were treated to a lovely breakfast…
then we had a great workshop on DISC, a personal assessment tool…
DiSC® is the leading personal assessment tool used by over 1 million people every year to improve work productivity, teamwork and communication.
great to get more insight into how we can work more effectively as a team and learn a bit more about one another…
before heading out for lunch everyone got to choose a parcel and this is the one I chose…
the only one with a gift certificate to Thermea, woo hoo… I’ve been thinking about going for the last while, and now I will…
then we went to The MET for lunch on the patio, followed by the afternoon off…
returned home, turned the pump back on in the pond, and came into the house for a lovely nap…
feeling very nicely appreciated…
08 Friday Jul 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, breakfast, friend, goldfish, grandson, leeches, pond, rocks, suckers, walk, wasps, widow
been an interesting day…
walked to the “A” for an early morning meet up with my walking buddy and my grandson…
after a great breakfast he walked here and she and I went to the Park for our usual walk through the gardens… had a lovely time together and we got to see the baby bunny again, although it has grown a bit…
I walked home and went out into the garden where my grandson was pulling weeds and was swarmed by wasps… only two bit me before we both dived into the house… it appears that a cantaloupe sized nest fell to the ground as I stepped onto the deck… after getting advice on a remedy we decided to work on the pond which was further away from the wasps…
my grandson did a great job… he removed the slate from one side of the pond and replaced it with fieldstone…
then he used some of the slate to cover the pond liner completely… seeing it has been a pain…
he, like his father, and grandfather, likes to get right into the pond, lol… he was happily working away when he discovered a bloodsucker on his foot…
at which point he got out and worked from the path…
but look what a spectacular job he did…
my beloved was absolutely the best when it came to putting the rocks in just the right spot and that knack seems to have been passed down…
then we went in and caught the fish… well, with the help of my son-in-law, who arrived at just the right time, and with stuff to spray on the Yellowjackets’ nest…
after they left I put the fish into the pond…
they swam around, headed under the water hyacinth, and I haven’t seen them since…
after a nap friends came by, sprayed the wasp nest a bit more, and we went to their place for a Chinese food dinner… a wonderful treat…
pretty good way to spend a Friday…
13 Friday May 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, English Garden, Leo Mol Garden, path, runners, snow, sun, tulips, walk, widow
strange weather today… had planned to meet a friend for a walk around the Gardens at the Park…
sky was lovely when I was first up at 6:45…
if you look hard, you might see the robin in the tree… then this…
all those white dots – snow, sigh… so we decided to meet for breakfast instead…
actually wore runners because I didn’t want to get my toes wet and the temperature was around zero…
after breakfast I went for a walk to and around the English Garden…
couldn’t get into the Leo Mol portion but was excited to see they are replacing the gravel path with bricks… they have replaced other paths in the Garden as well… looks very nice and will be easier to walk on…
the tulips are just starting to open… glad I went over today… hope to get there next week to see them in full bloom…
finally, about 6, the sun came out… crazy day, lol…
