06 Wednesday Jul 2022
Posted in business, family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, happy, moments, nature, subscription, Sweet Petals Farm, treat, widow
yesterday my grandson picked up my first bouquet of the subscription from Sweet Petals Farm that my kids gave me for my birthday…
it is for eight weeks of bouquets (July and August)…
he had my car and so went and collected them for me…
they are quite beautiful and smell delicious…
what a lovely treat…
01 Friday Jul 2022
Posted in family, food, life, loss, moments, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Canada, family, fireworks, gather, learning, memories, moments, munched, Park, popcorn, reading, remembering, Technology, trees, widow
in recent years Canada day has been a much quieter event for me…
for many years my beloved and I would have a gathering with family, friends and neighbours, and end the day with huge bowls of popcorn which we would consume as the fireworks went off at the Park…
chairs for everyone would be placed out on the street and there was lots of oohing and aahing at the fireworks as we munched on the popcorn…
this afternoon, I made a bowl of popcorn and munched on it thinking of the past and dreaming of a more inclusive future…
after forty plus years, the trees have grown so much that we could no longer see most of the display and over the last few years the Park hasn’t set off fireworks due to construction happening where the staging area used to be…
last year it felt like celebrating would be an insult to our First Nations peoples and so I spent time learning more of our sad history…
today I hung an orange heart on the front door and wore an orange shirt with red leggings… I continue to learn and support in ways that I am able…
I love this country and hope that we can do better… I am finding these to be very complicated feelings and continue to struggle with them…
28 Tuesday Jun 2022
Posted in family, garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, garden, hospital, memories, moments, morning glories, nature, photos, purple, special, Technology, treat, widow
as I wander around the garden every day and spot the morning glories, I am reminded of our fortieth wedding anniversary…
I spent six weeks in St. Boniface Hospital with pancreatitis and then gall bladder surgery ~ instead of a trip to BC ~ and each day when my beloved came to spend time with me, he brought photos of whichever morning glories were in bloom…
using the camera on his phone was not something he did regularly, so it was special when he brought these to me…
it also meant that he took the time to check out the garden as he knew how I loved these flowers… and they had just started to bloom after I ended up in the hospital…
a very special man, my beloved…
27 Monday Jun 2022
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, formula 1, grandson, happy, home, moments, Montreal, travel, widow
and look who is home…
for the summer at least;-)…
lots of miles have been put on and a quick trip to Montreal to see the Formula 1 race on the 19th…
had to make room in the garage so she could fit, lol…
25 Saturday Jun 2022
Posted in business, family, food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blue cedar, bonsai, dinner, family, garden, happy, irrigation, moments, nature, plants, Technology, widow
I am beyond happy…
Thursday the kids came over and we spent most of the late afternoon in the garden…
my grandson started work on a bonsai tree and it was great fun to see him trim a blue cedar into something resembling a small tree…
it is going to live in the garden for the summer…
then, we finished the irrigation system… yay… the hose was straightened, holes were punched in various places and tubes with sprinklers were connected… they had no trouble connecting the tubes to the hose, sigh… we ran a test and made sure each little piece was spraying appropriately…
we need a few more pieces of tubing, but most planters, baskets and perennials now will be watered when I turn on the tap… I am sure they will all be happy about this, lol…
so excited to see how well the garden will grow when it is watered regularly…
then we had barbecued steak and asparagus, baked potatoes and a salad on the deck…
what a treat;-)…
19 Sunday Jun 2022
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, cushions, drummers, family, Father's Day, garden, happy, home, marathon, memories, moments, remembering, waterfall, widow
began the day listening to the drummers at the Park as they welcomed runners participating in the Manitoba Marathon…
then I put out all the cushions, made breakfast and sat in the garden, listening to the drums and the waterfall…
although we only did it for a few years, I always remember the early morning trips to the UofM when the girls took part in the Marathon… it is such a wonderful reminder of what great dads do to ensure their kids get all the opportunities… and on Father’s Day, lol…
sure do miss that great dad, but am spending the day reminiscing about all the things he did to make their lives better and the life lessons he taught them…
11 Saturday Jun 2022
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, bike, blessed, car, family, garden, grandson, ice cream cone, moments, Technology, treat, widow, work
a few days ago my grandson came by to return the car before he headed to work…
a piece for his bicycle had arrived and he worked on getting it installed but ran out of time, so he ended up taking the car…
while he was here I made lunch and we ate in the garden…
then the bike sat in the dining room, waiting for his return…
when he came to pick it up, he brought an ice cream cone;-)…
yum…
07 Tuesday Jun 2022
Posted in family, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, family, garden, happy, lawn chairs, moments, rust, smelly, spray paint, sunshine, widow
Amy came by to update my lawn chairs…
she sanded rust spots… washed and rinsed all four chairs… let them dry in the sun… moved them into the garage… and spray painted them…
we had subs for lunch and a great visit on the deck… possibly we sat in the sun for too long😳…
she also painted the little frog water chimes that welcome people to the garden…
the chairs stayed in the garage for two days to be sure they were dry (and stopped smelling) and I put them out today…
they look amazing…
06 Monday Jun 2022
Posted in family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, flowerbed, friends, garden, landscaping, moments, plants, widow
got a rain barrel and new pots for the front flowerbeds a little over a week ago…
the pots were filled and planted shortly after… three were moved into their correct places and three were put along the driveway waiting for work to be done on the north side bed…
yesterday my grandson and his landscaping friend arrived to beautify the space…
they worked for five hours… removing ferns, weeds, and most of the wild rose which had taken over the space… they redesigned the shape of the bed and put down landscape cloth, laid paving stones where the pots were to go, moved a fountain and the very heavy birdbath… and lastly, dumped and spread fifteen bags of mulch…
it looks amazing…
so happy;-)…
28 Saturday May 2022
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, expedition, family, garden, grandson, irrigation, moments, repair, shopping, time, widow
what a busy day we had on Thursday… didn’t even have time for a nap, although I did manage a short sit down in the garden before my grandson arrived…
he and I spent the day getting jobs done around the yard, and even a few in the house…
we ran out and were able to get all the necessary items at Canadian Tire, so it was a one stop shopping expedition…
things came out of and went into the shed… leaking hoses were repaired… an irrigation system semi-installed… pots moved… trellises put into a planter that had a bit of paint touch up done… and the fire pit problem solved…
what a treat it is to spend time with him… I try to savour every minute;-)…
