Tag Archives: family

losing…

16 Saturday May 2020

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I’ve been watching the pond since a week ago Friday, when my son-in-law got it running…

for the last few years when the waterfall is going water vanishes from the pond in a slow but steady manner…

same thing this year… Tuesday it was quite low, but the temperature was near zero so I was afraid to use the outside hose to top it up, but I was also afraid to turn it off in case water froze in the pump and wrecked it…

it was still cold Wednesday, but I had to do something otherwise the pump was going to be sucking air and then die…

after removing a connector which had broken over the winter and reattaching the hose to the main tap, I was able to get the hose running slowly and then more quickly once I was sure it wasn’t full of ice…

took quite a while to fill the pond, but I sat in the sun with a jacket on and watched for birds, lol…

then I placed a thin rock behind the waterfall so that the water would fall directly into the pond and not onto the pads behind it…

I was very excited, because I think this might make a difference to the vanishing water…

yesterday I topped it up again, but it is losing water way more slowly…

going to watch and see what happens…

comfort…

13 Wednesday May 2020

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had a bit of a giggle when I told my daughter that I had mushrooms and bacon with croutons for my supper recently…

she wondered if it was an actual meal…

I shared how it was certainly a meal when I was a teenager although then when my mom or dad made it, it was on toast, not with croutons…

so, for me it is comfort food… I feel that we are eating a lot of comfort food these days as we try to figure out what our next steps will be…

so many of the meals we ate a long time ago might not have been considered as nutritious as what is being eaten these days… I think of corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes, spaghetti and meatballs without any vegetables, macaroni and cheese on its own, lol… a lot more fresh veggies are part of our meals today…

but it is fun to remember, and recreate some of those old recipes…

rims…

10 Sunday May 2020

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had the loveliest surprise on Friday… my son-in-law and two of my grandsons arrived in my garden… the oldest grandson was picking up my car so that the winter tires can be removed and replaced with the summer beauties – they have wonderful rims…

I stayed on the deck and they stayed on the grass… it was wonderful to see them and we had a nice visit…

while they were here my son-in-law got the pump running in the pond… I am so happy to hear the water cascading over the rocks… there was ice in the water as it has been below zero for a couple of nights…

they got the tires into their vehicle and we had to ask the moving truck that was parked right at the bottom of my driveway to back up so the car could get out…

too funny considering I haven’t taken the car out in 52 days, and the one day it needed to move, there was a truck in the way, lol…

it was great to see them as we haven’t been together since just before Christmas…

internet…

23 Thursday Apr 2020

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today I had some computer fun…

I was watching a program on TV and they were talking about better ergonomics while at home… one suggestion was to use something under your laptop to raise it to eye level which made sense, except typing would be a problem, lol… after a bit of testing, I discovered that three of my resource books have produced what might be the perfect height…

the second recommendation was to plug in a keyboard, duh… I dug one out and plugged it in and am so happy with the more traditional keyboard which I am used to… remembering a dear colleague, I found an elastic and wrapped up the extra cord behind the laptop… she would be proud:-)…

I’ve also been having constant issues with my internet connection… mainly on the laptop… I figured out the program that seemed to be stopping my connection and set up a phone call with my son-in-law (the computer geek) to get his input… it had something to do with VPN, and although I did research, it was still too confusing for me to go ahead and do something on my own…

after less than five minutes with him, I had uninstalled the problematic piece of software and it looks like everything is working beautifully… yay…

always a good day when the technology works or is improved!

 

options…

13 Monday Apr 2020

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played with some technology so that I could have Easter dinner with the kids in Ottawa…

we tried two or three options and ended up using Google Duo… worked nicely, once we got it figured out after my son-in-law found it, lol…

they got a bit fancier with their table… I was focussed on getting the computer set up, lol…

I had roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turnip, asparagus and cranberry jelly… they had homemade pasta, salad and chocolate bunnies:-)…

everything was delicious and it was a nice treat to eat with others…

deadhead…

30 Monday Mar 2020

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Monday is now plant watering day… used to be Saturday, but this new schedule is working well…

was talking with someone about their friend who, whenever they visited, would walk around and deadhead all the plants in the house…

as I was wandering around the living and dining room this morning I was reminded of my mom and mother-in-law and how they both did that in my house… they were both gardeners and certainly had green thumbs, actually – hands, lol… the plants always seemed happier after they had been over…

I think of my friends who are also amazing with plants… right now I am working on growing an avocado following one of their directions;-)… hope it works…

I also spent a bit of time enjoying the newest blooms…

flowers sure do make me happy…

started…

27 Friday Mar 2020

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at least two weeks ago I started to clean out the kitchen junk drawer…

started, as in I took a bunch of stuff out of it and left all of it on the kitchen counter…

finally, today I finished the job… yay…

some things went into my toolbox in the basement… some went into a box to go upstairs to the computer room… and some went back – neatly – into the drawer…

I even tidied up the next drawer, which mainly has my collection of technology in it…

the counter looks much better as well;-)…

happy to have that done, although apparently I wrote about it before, lol… not sure what happened;-)…

envelope…

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

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mail…

yesterday I received an envelope with a beautiful card and goodies in it…

another of my Advent All Year packages from my daughter…

a nice treat in this time of staying at home…

the card had a butterfly and flower on it and there were cute leaf stickers and two very cute camera paper clips inside…

thinking of where I am going to use those paper clips…

such a pleasant surprise…

changes…

23 Monday Mar 2020

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I’ve noticed a few things during this time of social isolation…

but I do think that sheltering in place – words used in the US by many – feels like a kinder description, although maybe not as clear for those who are not paying attention to the seriousness of the situation we are all in…

I have been isolating since I returned home from Ottawa in January as I recovered from a very intense final six months before I retired… of course I was still able to go out, but mostly I stayed home…

I did get to see my boys a few times, so that was lovely…

one of the things I’m pleased to see is a family that has been playing street hockey in front of my house a couple of times… haven’t seen kids (and their parents) out on the street getting some exercise for years;-)…

the other thing is about being told to stay at home and how it makes you want to go out… this reminds me so much of times when I’ve been told what I should and shouldn’t eat, and how all I could think about were those things!

when our girls were little I had to have access to the car, although I rarely went out in it… just knowing I could made being at home much easier…

we must stay home to protect everyone…

comfort…

14 Saturday Mar 2020

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after yesterday’s odd day, I decided to make some comfort food…

things that have always made us feel good, or remind me of special moments;-)…

the first thing I made was a batch of cornmeal muffins… I’ve never made them before, but the idea of a tasty – bread-type – food sounded good… they were delicious and went well with the Thai Shrimp Soup that I had for lunch…

then I made macaroni and cheese… this has been a family favourite since the girls were small… I packaged it up into containers and will bake it when I want to eat it…

finally I made bacon, mushrooms and croutons… I remember my mom and dad making this for supper… it was usually served on toast, but I’ve adjusted the recipe and add croutons at the end as I don’t usually have bread in the house… the crunch is a perfect accompaniment to the soft bacon and mushrooms…

it really was comforting to spend the day in the kitchen, making these reminders of family times…