19 Wednesday Mar 2025
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, carbs, family, food, meatballs, moments, remembering, sauce, spaghetti, supper, widow
this morning I dug meatballs out from the freezer…
then I made a sauce to go with them and decided to add the spaghetti to cook in the sauce…
once it was cooked, it went into the fridge to cool down which helps reduce the carbs…
when I reheated half of it for my supper, it was delicious;-)…
10 Monday Mar 2025
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
backs, big girl pants, blessed, family, fireplace, grandson, housemate, memories, moments, Technology, widow
the fireplace made its way to the garage on October first…
it stayed there for quite awhile… during that time my housemate put it on a few for sale sites…
there were very few inquiries, but we weren’t in any rush to get rid of it…
recently, a woman came, measured it, and arranged to pick it up when she found some strong backs to help with lifting/carrying, lol…
she arrived a few days later, with a helper, and with my housemate’s assistance, got it into her vehicle…
its new home will be at her dad’s cottage where it will be installed outdoors;-)…
06 Thursday Mar 2025
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, framed, friends, fun, installation, matting, memories, moments, nature, photos, pictures, project, remembering, slipped, water lilies, widow
had a fun time remembering the “installation” which a friend helped me install a number of years ago as I was making adjustments to them…
the installation consists of twenty-nine photos of water lilies which I had taken…
over the years a number of the pictures had slipped in the frames and I finally got around to removing them one by one and taping the photos to the matting before reinstalling them on the wall…
there had been wine and a lot of laughter as we worked away to get all the pictures up on the wall, lol…
this time my housemate was able to help with the pieces I couldn’t reach, lol…
happy to have this project completed…
05 Wednesday Mar 2025
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, death, family, grumpy, love, March, moments, remembering, time, weather, whacked, widow
I’ve been a bit off, and grumpy, for the last little while, and it wasn’t until I was talking with my daughter that I realized the cause…
I hadn’t been paying much attention to the calendar as most of the time feels like Saturday or Sunday now that I am retired, lol…
it has been thirteen years to the day since my beloved passed…
feels a bit like it snuck up on me although in the past month I have had several dreams about finding him in the hospital with a disconnected breathing tube in his mouth… no one had told me he was dead…
seems strange that after all this time I can still be whacked with the grief…
the good news is that once I figure out what has been causing the discomfort, it usually passes and I am able to move forward in a more positive frame of mind…
I don’t forget him, but can get back to remembering all of the wonderful times we had together and make new memories of the wonderful life that I do have…
this photo of trees is one of the last I took with him… we had taken a drive through the park to see the hoarfrost…
so many wonderful memories;-)…
02 Sunday Mar 2025
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blanket, blessed, book, chair, cooperative, cushions, deck, family, feeder, garden, micro-climate, moments, nature, reading, weather, widow
spent a delightful hour on the deck in the sunshine…
last evening my housemate dug out one of the deck chairs from under the tarp so there would be a place to sit when the weather is cooperative…
I found a set of cushions in the garage and brought out my Assiniboine Park blanket…
pulled over a small table and put my current book on it…
I did have my winter jacket on, but the sun on my face as I was reading was wonderful;-)…
there is still lots of snow in the garden, but the deck is always its own little micro-climate…
I even filled up a few bird feeders…
01 Saturday Mar 2025
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, deliveries, doorknob, family, house, housemate, moments, repair, tool, weather, widow
the other day, as my housemate was leaving the house, the handle for the front door came off in his hand…
he wasn’t able to fix it then and when he got home we discovered that we didn’t have the correct tool to make the repair…
happily, no deliveries arrived and I didn’t have to go out the next day, lol…
once he had the right implement, it only took a few minutes to fix the problem;-)…
now I’m not afraid to open the door;-)…
27 Thursday Feb 2025
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, garden, moments, nature, pattern, solar power, Spring, strength, sunshine, Technology, weather, widow
to continue with the strength of the sun, I got this photo of one of the solar-powered lights…
it is one of four that I received from the Ottawa kids… I had put three away, but left this one out…
rather excited to see the lovely pattern of light on the deck;-)…
spring is really coming…
25 Tuesday Feb 2025
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, burner, cooking, element, family, moments, mother-in-law, repair, stove, Technology, widow
my favourite, and most used, burner on the stove stopped working all of a sudden…
I called Hameed Appliances, was sent a form to complete, and got an appointment the next day…
Ron, who has been here previously, arrived and had a look… to replace the piece with a new element was going to cost $500, so I am waiting to see if they might have access to a used element…
otherwise, I am going to leave it, thinking of my mother-in-law, who used to cook on a little stove that only had two usable burners… she could produce a meal with 3 vegetables, potatoes, and a roast, without any problem, lol…
we will see what I can do;-)…
21 Friday Feb 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
1200, amaryllis, arches, Babs Asper Display, big girl pants, blessed, Blooms in Winter, family, flowers, garden, grandson, moments, nature, orchids, plants, Technology, The Leaf, widow
as you enter the Mediterranean biome there are dozens of amaryllis in various stages… some nearly done, while others are fully open… many with multiple petals…
absolutely gorgeous…
and then you step into the Babs Asper display area… twelve hundred orchids in one place;-)… heaven…
the Blooms in Winter display is so lovely, a perfect place to enjoy the beauty of orchids…
there are a number of arches to walk through and benches to sit on and enjoy the views…
orchids everywhere, beautiful shapes and sizes…
what a delight;-)…
can’t wait to go back;-)…
18 Tuesday Feb 2025
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, gift, grape, happy, hyacinth, moments, nature, plants, tulips, widow
my housemate treated me to fresh flowers…
lovely white and pink tulips, and a pot with daffodils, tulips, primrose, grape hyacinth and regular hyacinth…
sock a wonderful treat;-)…
flowers really do make me happy…
herbiggirlpants 