05 Friday Sep 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
bendy bus, big girl pants, blessed, dentist, drive, family, memories, moments, morning, Ottawa, small, widow
such small things give me joy;-)…
this morning, on a drive downtown to the dentist’s office, I spotted two different bendy buses;-)…
since I first saw one in Ottawa, while visiting my kids, just seeing one brings me happiness, lol…
great start to the day…
25 Thursday Jul 2024
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventure, big girl pants, blessed, buddy, delicious, drive, food, friend, fun, lunch, moments, Pineridge, Pineridge Hollow, restaurant, shopping, treat, weather, widow
it was a beautiful day for an adventure yesterday… and we hadn’t been on one for awhile…
my adventure buddy and I drove out to Pineridge Hollow for lunch and a wander around the new shops that are there…
we had a lovely drive out and only got a little lost, lol…
we were just in time for our lunch reservation so we ate first… we shared a number of things…
rosemary and salt beet chips with a goat cheese ranch dipping sauce… my oh my, those were addictive…
next we shared a small Pineridge salad with mixed greens, apples, candied pecans and smoked Gouda tossed in a maple Dijon dressing… I forgot to take a photo before we dived in, lol… the small was more than enough for the two of us… and it was delicious… actually it was my favourite of all we ate…
she had the pulled pork tacos and I had the carpaccio – seared beef tenderloin, pickled rhubarb, strawberry gastrique, fresh herbs, arugula, pistachios, and a garlic scape aoli…
it was fun to try something different;-)…
and because we hadn’t eaten enough, she had schmoo and I had panna cotta with haskap berries…
we could have just had the beet chips and salad, maybe with a bit of chicken in it…
but we enjoyed everything and had leftovers to bring home…
from there we wandered through the shops and picked up a few items before heading home for naps, lol…
15 Wednesday Nov 2023
Posted in business, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
ache, big girl pants, blessed, blood pressure, doctor, drive, good news, health, moments, shingles, Shingrix, walk, weather, weight, widow
went for my second Shingrix shot… wasn’t looking forward to it as the first one made my arm ache for days…
I knew that I would also be getting weighed and have my blood pressure checked which was a bit of a stress… happy to see a new scale that digitally records weight, in both kilograms and pounds… should be more accurate, lol…
the good news is that I’ve lost five pounds (with another ten to go) and the blood pressure wasn’t too bad…
I always park as far away from the clinic as possible so I can get extra steps, and enjoyed my walk to and from the office…
what a beautiful day… 5° Celsius, on November 14th, woohoo…
12 Tuesday Sep 2023
Posted in business, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventure, big girl pants, buddy, car, drive, food, fresh veggies, friends, hot tub, moments, nature, plants, shop local, somewhere, Technology, veggies, weather, widow
went for a drive with my adventure partner…
drove just outside the city to Jonathan’s Farm to collect the veggies we both ordered online…
it was a sunny day and the drive was relaxing…
there was no one around when we arrived although I spotted someone in the field way down the way, lol…
we gathered up our produce and headed home…
the one thing we noticed was all the crazy drivers on the road, lol… Friday and everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere 🤪…
looking forward to some delicious meals…
31 Thursday Aug 2023
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, drive, eavestrough, extension, friend, garden, grandson, happy, Home Hardware, moments, Selkirk, shopping, sunburst, water, widow
went for a drive to Selkirk with a friend and found the eavestrough extension that I’ve been looking for…
once at home we extended it, drilled holes in the bottom, and laid it out along the back of the pond garden…
a few twist ties and the trough portion came down straight along the sun’s rays and then was hooked into the extension…
we might straighten it out a bit more once everything dies back in the garden, but by next spring it won’t be visible at all and will put rainwater all along the garden;-)…
27 Sunday Aug 2023
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
barn, big girl pants, blessed, cats, chicken and dumplings, drive, Dugald, moments, requests, roasting chickens, tasty, widow
drove out to Dugald on Thursday to pick up some roasting chickens from a new place – Hoogies Ranch…
it was a lovely drive and the weather vacillated between sun and cloud…
besides two dogs wandering the yard, these cute barn cats were very friendly…
so far, we’ve had one of the chickens and it was delicious… there was lots for supper, a chicken salad is in my future, and chicken vegetable soup with dumplings has been requested;-)…
I’m sure we will order from them again…
26 Wednesday Apr 2023
Posted in business, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
art, big girl pants, blessed, Connie Bart Hamel, drive, friends, fun, happy, ice cream, lunch, moments, mushrooms, nature, Roxy’s, sunshine, Syl’s, treat, widow
Tuesday we went to aquasize as my buddy had an appointment on Thursday…
from there we drove to Oak Bluff, where we had lunch at Roxy’s Restaurant & Lounge… I was very excited to find battered mushrooms on the menu, so we started with those… and they were delicious;-)… then I had a tasty beef dip with Caesar salad… the service was excellent, the food good and it was a nice spot…
onward to Carman where we visited the Golden Prairie Arts Council to see an exhibition by Connie Bart Hamel which was filled with a variety of mediums… she is very talented and a neighbour of my friend…
we stopped at Syl’s for ice cream and had a lovely drive home in the sunshine…
wonderful day;-)…
15 Friday Jul 2022
Posted in business, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, car, drive, friends, Fry-Day’s, fun times, horses, hybrid, moments, nature, widow
went out for lunch on Monday with my BS buddies…
we took a drive in a couple of cars to Teulon for lunch and had a great time at Fry-Day’s… the battered mushrooms are absolutely delightful… we had hoped to eat on the patio but the sky did not cooperate, so it was inside for us…
on our way home I was able to catch a few photos of some sweet horses…
it was the first time I’ve ridden in a hybrid car and it was enjoyable… we stopped and picked up a few fresh veggies and I ended the day with some delicious beet greens…
good times with great people😊…
17 Friday Jun 2022
Posted in business, food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, drive, fun times, garden, Lilystone, Lilystone Cafe, Lilystone Gardens, lunch, moments, nature, poppies, retail, treat, widow
what a delightful day… got up, dressed, put out all the cushions and had breakfast on the back deck, admiring the ten or so poppies waving their lovely heads in the flower bed…
Hilda the Gardener arrived and started weeding and tidying everywhere…
a friend picked me up and we drove to Rosenort to eat and do a little shopping…
we had a delicious lunch at Lilystone Cafe, where we both picked up a few treats to bring home for later… I was happy to see them making great use of technology to take orders and prepare the bills… staff were friendly and treated us like family…
then we headed over to Lilystone Gardens, where we engaged in a bit of retail therapy, including a Christmas present… they are just now recovering from flooded fields and roads…
after an enjoyable return drive to the city we stopped at her house to check out some recent work and her very lush garden…
home, a wander around the garden to admire how tidy it is, and a sit down on the deck with a cup of tea and my book…
;-)…
18 Friday Mar 2022
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, drive, family, hoarfrost, memories, moments, nature, pictures, rime, sky, trees, weather, widow
I was surprised this morning when I looked out the window and spotted the hoarfrost on the trees…
it is such a gift of nature and looks so delicate (apparently like feathers)… I spent some time researching the difference between rime ice and hoarfrost, once I came across the term, lol… still not a hundred percent sure I understand…
hoarfrost always reminds me of my last drive with my beloved… he drove me around the Park and a few neighbourhoods so that I could take pictures of the beautiful designs that morning…
it was just a few days before his death…
but now, the sight of hoarfrost on the trees reminds me of wonderful times together;-)… I truly am blessed…
herbiggirlpants 