29 Thursday Oct 2026
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, daughter, family, flight, making art, moments, The Leaf, volunteering, widow
we ended our visit at The Leaf…
my daughter wandered around while I worked my volunteer shift…
besides enjoying the biomes she spent time making art;-)…
when my shift was over we enjoyed a meal at Gather and then I drove her to the airport for her flight home…
so happy to have had this time with her🤗…
28 Wednesday Oct 2026
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
the surprise of my daughter’s visit was delightful…
she had booked a pedicure for us once she arrived home and we had a lovely time at one of our favourite haunts…
dark blue and mauve toes ended our visit there…
27 Tuesday Oct 2026
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
art, big girl pants, blessed, bookbinding, caked, daughter, deadly chocolate mousse cake, family, food, moments, treat, widow
a picture came up on my photo frame… it was of my daughter and housemate in front of Baked Expectations a few days ago…
she’s been in the city attending a bookbinding workshop…
this picture came up in my memories from Oct. 22, 2025… almost always when she comes home there is deadly chocolate mousse from Baked Expectations…
this trip she had cake when she arrived in the city, but was staying with a friend and was all caked out by the time she arrived here, lol…
she did bring her art supplies with her…
what a wonderful gift to have her here at home for a few days…
20 Sunday Sep 2026
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, daughter, family, moments, mountains, new friends, train, trip, VIA Rail, widow
we booked a train trip from Winnipeg to Vancouver on VIA rail… these trips are so popular, you have to book (and pay for the entire trip) nine months ahead…
the start of the trip was a bit stressful as we were expecting to leave at 9:30 pm and ended up leaving the city at 5:11 am…
it was amazing to see how every inch of space was used… during the day we had two chairs to look out the window and at night the space turned into an upper and lower berth… I got the bottom one, lol…
we found guests from all over and loved hearing laughter and voices speaking numerous languages throughout the days…
we’ve discovered that train travel is completely different here than across Europe, for example… and not necessarily to the good🤪…
the food was delicious and we enjoyed meeting new friends at mealtimes…
we spent a lot of time in the observation car and the morning the mountains came into view, I took two pictures and then just sat and soaked up the beauty😊…
and then we were there😳…
it has been a fun learning opportunity for me, and I see my beloved more and more every day in my daughter, who makes friends wherever she sits, or stands, or, just is🤗… what a delight…
11 Friday Sep 2026
Posted in business, life, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, daughter, family, moments, pampered, pedicure, sparkles, time, toes, widow
my daughter arrived from Ottawa recently…
one of the things we try to do when we are together is get a pedicure, and I was able to arrange one the day after she arrived…
we went to a local spot and had fun while we were being pampered… I hardly twitched or giggled through the process… she was proud…
I chose purple for my colour and she chose orange… we may be a bit boring, as we almost always choose those colours 😊… but I did get sparkles on mine, thanks to her suggestion…
and now we have pretty toes…
15 Wednesday Apr 2026
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, birthday treat, blessed, daughter, family, gift certificate, Julia, moments, paraffin, pedicure, purple, Technology, Total Wrapture Spa, widow
decided that the first treat of my birthday week was a pedicure at Total Wrapture…
I’ve been going there for many years, but haven’t been for months…
when I arrived, I was handed a gift card… my daughter had called and paid for my pedicure…
what a lovely surprise…
Julia did a wonderful job… she was very gentle and her foot and leg massage was excellent… I also had a paraffin wax treatment before the colour was put on;-)…
and guess what colour I chose, lol…
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;-)…
01 Sunday Dec 2024
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Advent calendars, big girl pants, blessed, boxes, daughter, family, magnets, moments, purple, treat, various, widow
going through my Facebook memories on December first is a great reminder of the various Advent Calendars I’ve had over the years…
they started a number of years ago, when I received 24 decorated magnets that went on 2 muffin tins… the items to go into them were provided and a colleague filled them;-)…
since then I have received fancy chocolate calendars, a repurposed frame with purple inserts that my daughter made, and individual boxes that have been refilled numerous times…
I’ve also received handmade cards with daily readings…
this year a Walker’s Shortbread calendar was delivered;-)…
I am blessed…
30 Saturday Nov 2024
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
advent calendar, art, big girl pants, blessed, contemplate, daughter, family, gift, handmade, moments, purple, quotes, widow
one of my previous Advent Calendars, which my daughter gave me, is a lovely set of 24 hand painted cards with interesting quotes…
although it isn’t Advent yet, I have been choosing one each day to contemplate;-)…
it is fun to spend some time each day thinking of the quote…
14 Thursday Nov 2024
Posted in family, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cacao trees, daughter, doorbell, family, koi, moments, nature, ring, surprise, Technology, The Leaf, time, treat, widow, Yasuragi
what a wonderful surprise I received this morning;-)…
as I was taking my poached eggs out of the water, I heard the doorbell ring… I was expecting a parcel so wasn’t surprised, but when I opened the door, my daughter was standing in front of me…
she had come to town to attend a concert with one of her friends and had planned to include a day with me;-)…
what a super treat…
we quickly booked a trip to The Leaf so she could see her beloved cacao trees… we had a great time there, checking out the trees, watching the koi, and realizing how much growth has taken place since we were last there together in June…
she was able to get a few nice shots of the koi which she shared with me.
we enjoyed time in the Yasuragi display and read up on all the bonsai, including new ones which hadn’t been there the last time I visited… the stories behind them are very interesting…
spent a few minutes with the butterflies…
it is sad that they are still in the netted enclosure and not flying freely around the space…
one last wander to see the cacao trees and koi, a bit of fun in the gift shop, and then we headed home…
some relaxing time together and then I dropped her off at the airport to head home…
I am blessed;-)…
