Tag Archives: family

Ottawa Outing Day 3…

21 Saturday Apr 2018

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slept much better on my own in the basement on an air mattress, lol…

we were up, dressed and ready to go before nine… drove out past Almonte to Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Shack for breakfast and to learn a bit about how maple syrup is made… had lots of fun and it was a lovely day for a drive…

from there we stopped at Aquatopia to check out the plant sale… they had some lovely koi and water features, but no water plants, which I had been hoping for…

then it was over to check out the Diefenbunker… a long way underground… lots to see, read and touch, lol…

from there it was home for a nap… afterwards three of us went to see the Rideau Falls, visit the Hilton in Gatineau to see the Chihuly chandeliers, return back to Ottawa for frozen yogurt and macarons in Byward Market, buy Montreal bagels and then pick up groceries for dinner…

prepared homemade macaroni and cheese, along with a Caesar salad for dinner, while the kids played cards, then we watched a Netflix show and everyone headed to bed…

been a busy day…

Ottawa Outing Day 2…

20 Friday Apr 2018

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it was a long night, what with my buddy, the bed hog… not only does he hog the bed, but he snuggles right up… and he’s hot…

up early and checked out a few feeds on my phone… my grandson got up about half an hour later and we had some quiet time while the others slept…

when they got up, we had omelettes for breakfast and tried to get tickets to go up the Peace Tower, but is was closed for the day due to a protest…

we drove to Bayshore Mall because my daughter said we needed to go there… and discovered a beautiful show of mannequins dressed in flowers… had a wonderful time wandering around and taking pictures while the boys did other things…

then three of us took a bendy bus, train and double decker bus to get home;-)… lots of fun…

home for a nap, a quick hair trim and then the boys dropped us off for a fancy meal while they went out for dinner and a movie… and even remembered to take the picture I asked for;-)…

we went to Atelier and had a magnificent fourteen course dinner… here are a few of the courses…

they also brought us each an adorable micro mini cake with a chocolate candle that burned…

an excellent day;-)…

Ottawa Outing Day 1…

19 Thursday Apr 2018

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when we left Winnipeg I was just wearing a t-shirt and pants… had put a jacket in my suitcase… it was a warm and sunny day, finally… the longest part of the process always seems to be the waiting, lol… we kept busy playing games on the flight and watching the view out the window… we were happily surprised to find both of the Ottawa/Kingston children waiting for us…

the Baked Expectations Deadly Chocolate Mousse survived the trip nicely and I was pleased to hand it over;-)… likely someone will be eating that for their breakfast…

when we arrived it was around 1 degree and very chilly… particularly as we headed right to Byward Market from the airport for BeaverTails… which were delicious;-)…

ordered Chinese food for dinner and settled in… great to be here…

deal…

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

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the recent problem with my knee has reminded me of some of the health issues I’ve overcome in the last ten years…

in 2010 I spent six weeks in hospital with pancreatitis and gall bladder surgery… during that time I was constantly throwing up – one of the things I most hate to do… I remember being so scared when we drove away from the hospital, wondering if I would ever feel better… at that time I still had a drainage tube in my side and felt nauseated all the time… but I had my beloved by my side as I slowly recovered…

in 2012 I spent 3 days in hospital when I had a combined hysterectomy and hernia repair… within eight hours of the surgery I had stopped taking any medications… the pain was easier to deal with than the crazy reactions I had to the drugs… this was just a few months after the loss of my beloved… I remember the drive home which was excruciating as we drove over potholes… I couldn’t lift anything for six weeks, had moved into the main floor bedroom and had friends come to stay to look after me… recovery was a slow painful process…

thinking of the events above has pointed out to me that this knee business is really not a big deal, lol…

sometimes looking back can help deal with the present…

what I have learned is that I need to take care of myself when I am not 100%…

patterns…

08 Sunday Apr 2018

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weather has been rather silly recently…

Thursday afternoon the sun was shining and there were puddles on the streets as I drove home… looked out the window in the evening and snow was falling…

Friday morning I took some pictures of the snow and the cool patterns that have formed as the snow melts…

since then there’s been lots of sunshine but temperatures have been below normal… today when the kids were here for dinner, the boys went down the street to play football in the field…

maybe, just maybe, Spring is coming…

six…

05 Monday Mar 2018

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two thousand one hundred and ninety-one days since my beloved left me…

you would think that six years would make it easier…

some days it does seem a little easier… many days it doesn’t…

I do things that I’d never done before and I do them well… those big girl pants and all… but I would much rather have him beside me…

I continue to try to remember the good times and focus on them rather than feel sorry for myself… although there are certainly times when I wallow…

I’ve learned to feel those moments and sit in them and not push them aside… I believe that has helped me move forward…

as I write this the tears fall… over the last few weeks I’ve have been reminded of the days when George died and the memorial that followed… it has been very stress-filled as I have been reliving the hours and days immediately following his death…

thinking back to the police arriving at the door and my friends going with me to the hospital… not being told he had died, but walking into the room where his body was… calling my girls, and others… signing a form so that they could harvest his organs… going home to a house without him…

hard days… but today I got chocolate in the mail and bought myself a bouquet of flowers to make me smile;-)…

one step at a time on the journey…

pieces…

24 Saturday Feb 2018

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recently I’ve been thinking of my dad…

many in my circles are struggling with parental illness and loss…

which has brought me to the place of thinking of the end of my dad’s time on earth…

he was a very special person and I loved him to pieces…

he was in Deer Lodge Hospital for quite a while as Mom couldn’t care for him properly at home any longer…

I visited him every day… the hospital is close to home so it just took minutes to get there… it was a busy time in our lives… the girls were in elementary school and I spent a great deal of time volunteering as well as looking after them…

when I think back I can remember very little of what happened… I was with dad when he died… I remember that… I don’t remember much else of the next few days… I think I went to pieces inside, although that wasn’t visible on the outside…

I do remember that the afternoon of his memorial the kids were in the car on their own, which they weren’t supposed to do, and it rolled down the driveway and across the street hitting our neighbour’s classic car… thank goodness no one was hurt because it was a beautiful spring day and there were tons of kids playing out there…

interesting because that’s all I can remember…

this is the last picture that we took of him…

without his teeth in, lol…

party…

05 Monday Feb 2018

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happy that my grandson made it over on Sunday to shovel…

he drove his brother to a birthday party and then came to get the job done…

it was really cold out… it was -27 when I wrote this but quite a bit colder while he was here…

a few days ago it snowed for most of the morning, but lightly, so there wasn’t too much to remove… I was very happy because it is always nice to have the sidewalks and driveway clean for everyone…

after he finished, we had lunch, he studied and I read, until he had to go back and pick up the little guy…

assistance…

14 Sunday Jan 2018

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started the weekend watching skating as the various teams get ready for the Olympics…

on Saturday my son-in-law and two youngest grandsons came over and we went shopping at Costco and Save-On-Foods… I love it when we shop together because there is ample assistance to bring in all the items, lol…

we prepped ribs, baked them and then my son-in-law finished them off on the bbq… supper was delicious with rice, asparagus and Caesar salad…

when they left, the middle grandson stayed behind for a sleepover and we watched some skiing before bed…

this morning we woke up to fresh snow on the ground… snow pants on both of us, we decided to walk to the “A” for breakfast… wasn’t too cold going as the wind was behind us…

after breakfast we walked around Bruce Park to collect poke balls… the wind came up now and again so it was a bit chilly on the way home…

he shovelled and then helped me package up meat for the freezer… then we put away the last of the Christmas decorations…

he was picked up around noon and then I went back to watching sports and napping for the remainder of the day…