16 Tuesday Dec 2025
Posted in health, life, retirement, Uncategorized
23 Thursday Oct 2025
Posted in business, family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, cacao, cake, daughter, family, food, moments, Ottawa, short, The Leaf, time, treat, visit, widow
had a wonderful, but short, visit with my Ottawa daughter over the last few days…
she had been to Calgary for an event and stopped here on her way home…
lots of time together as we caught up in person… late nights and early mornings while she was here… and lots of laughter…
always cake from Baked Expectations when she arrives;-)…
we spent a lovely morning at The Leaf noticing the growth since she was last here and counting cacao pods…
she also spotted the first chileo on the second tree… made me laugh cause I’ve been looking for ages trying to spot one on that tree…
we visited the butterflies although they weren’t very active as it was cool and overcast but it was fun to see them together… the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, currently has a butterfly display as well so we often compare which butterflies we each see, lol…
we worked on a plan for our next trip together and did lots of research on the computer…
dinners in and out as we ate some of her favourites and then we were headed back to the airport for her flight home…
always a treat;-)…
17 Tuesday Oct 2023
Posted in food, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blower, cake, deck, food, friends, garden, gathering, happy, home, leaves, moments, nature, October, sun, sweeping, time, treat, weather, widow
because it was another gorgeous day, our Monday gathering took place on the deck for one last time…
I moved the furniture, swept all the leaves off, cleaned the glass table, and put cushion covers on the chairs…
as I was sweeping the lower deck, it occurred to me that I could have used the leaf blower, lol… oh well, good exercise, lol…
and, we were treated to a freshly baked Bundt cake;-)… yum…
the sun shone and it did cool off a little, but we were very comfortable… what a treat in the middle of October…
03 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, cake, cherry pie, chocolate, delicious, pie, pistachios, sugar, sweet, widow
had a sweet snack tonight…
pistachios and a few pieces of a Lindt chocolate bar…
just this morning someone commented about how well I am watching my sugar intake…
and then I ate cake at lunch;-(… it was a small piece, but I ate the whole thing…
I don’t care much for cake… my mom always made cherry pie for my birthday, lol… but this cake was amazing…
30 Sunday Dec 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, breakfast, cake, Christmas, Facebook, family, grandsons, hot tub, lonely, memories, missing, snow, tasty, widow
I’ve been a bit lonely over the last week or so… most Christmases my older daughter and her husband have come home… it didn’t work out this year…
was out in the hot tub this morning, first time in ages… a bit later these two pictures came up in my Facebook memories…
the first is deadly chocolate mousse cake, her favourite… I always make sure to have it in the house when she comes… in fact whenever I go to visit her, I take some as well… we always have the cake for breakfast, which the grandsons think is amazing;-)…
the second is of our water boots from last Christmas… she loves the hot tub and our usual pattern is a late night dip before bed…
it was my other son-in-law who suggested water boots many years ago… they work perfectly so that my feet never get cold or snowy…
today I spent some time cooking… turkey and dumplings, and mashed potato and garlic soup…
they both came out pretty tasty, although I am not going to be able to have the potato soup for work lunches because it reeks of garlic, lol…
12 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, cake, difficult, half pipe, reimagine, thoughtful, vegan, widow, women
had a lovely evening with some women who I haven’t seen for months…
what a treat… delicious dinner – a meat stew and a vegan one as well – and thoughtful conversation…
there was cake for dessert, but I waited till I got home and had some dark chocolate and almonds while watching the men’s half pipe;-)…
we talked about the many difficult things happening in the world and how we might reimagine ways to deal with them… what we might do in our small corner…
a lot to think about…
25 Monday Dec 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, cake, cookies, Deadly Chocolate Mousse, family, health, obsess, sugar, treats, widow
took my doctor at his word today, when he said…
don’t let obsessing over food keep you from living a happy life…
while we were opening our presents I had a couple of sugar cookies which my daughter had made… they were delicious… when they were younger I made sugar cookies for every special celebration, so it is fun to eat cookies that the kids make…
once presents had all been opened and we’d had a lovely vegetable quiche we had some cherry surprises… a treat that our next door neighbour would make and share at Christmas… and which my younger daughter has perfected…
finished the day off with Deadly Chocolate Mousse from Baked Expectations, after a very well-balanced turkey dinner…
hope that your day was filled with fun moments…
31 Thursday Aug 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
2017 Ottawa Day 1, big girl pants, cake, chocolate, family, iPhone, memories, travel, vacation, walk, widow
well, today I’ve travelled in cars, planes, boats and on foot… all of it very good…
on my flight I watched a movie through WestJet Connect… first time I’ve used Connect and also the first time I’ve watched a movie on my phone… sadly the flight ended before the movie… apparently you can purchase internet access… might have to try that another time…
was picked up at the airport and we went to visit all the Ottawa signs and in the process wandered through Byward Market… just love how beautifully the produce is set out…
first actual stop was for a Beavertail… we shared a garlic and cheese one… yum…
then stopped and took pictures at every Ottawa sign downtown, lol…
walked over the bridge to see MosaiCanada which was very cool…
I will post more pictures of that later…
took a water taxi back to the Locks and walked along Sparks Street till we came across Bier Markt where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of mussels, duck wings and a Brussels sprout and kale salad…
back home for tea and a sliver of Baked Expectations Deadly Chocolate Mousse which I brought from Winnipeg…
now to bed…
30 Wednesday Aug 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
activity, Baked Expectations, big girl pants, cake, Captain's Table, Dairy Queen, fire, grandson, ice cream, packing, treat, widow
all kinds of activity today…
a big fire kitty corner from our office… a colleague took the picture with the flames and a few seconds later I took the one with the smoke as they extinguished it…
my grandson picked me up at the office and we went and picked up a few slices of cake to take to my daughter…
treated to fish and chips for dinner and then home to finish the packing…
final treat of the night was a quick trip to Dairy Queen…
now off to bed… going to be a full day tomorrow;-)…
25 Sunday Jun 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
babies, Baked Expectations, big girl pants, birthday, cake, chocolate, family, fun, gift, grandsons, memories, party, snuggles, widow
well this was fun…
two tiny babies turned up at the birthday party today…
I patiently waited my turn and then held this little bundle of snuggles for about an hour;-)… can still put any baby to sleep… it’s a gift… thanks to my son-in-law for taking these pictures as I was busy…
always fun when everyone gathers and it’s time to open presents…
it is different these days… at this age all they want, and get, is money… apparently he is wanting a game system… amazed that there is one they don’t have…
the gift from Aunty and Grandma was money for the big brother to drive all the boys to Baked Expectations for dessert… chocolate cake for breakfast is one of Aunty’s specialties;-)… can’t believe they are so grown up…
he is looking forward to a Paintball party, so really loved his paintball cake…
herbiggirlpants 