recently had a phone call with a friend… she was stressing about getting gifts for Christmas… I suggested she do a bit of online shopping although she hasn’t done much of that…
made me think about all the items I have purchased online over the last month in preparation for the big day…
and how I learned from someone else that I could order from IKEA and have items delivered directly to my house…
very happy to replace my broken measuring cup and think this steamer will work well in my Instant Pot…
I have ordered from many places I didn’t even know existed… and have also been able to get some local items delivered across the country…
it would have been my beloved’s 72nd birthday tomorrow… we’ve commemorated it a number of ways over the years and this year I plan on dinner from Modern Plate Catering, with my Ottawa kids on Google Duo…
we’ve had some wonderful birthday celebrations over the years…
one of my favourites was his 61st birthday… he was recovering from quadruple bypass on his 60th, so we couldn’t do anything special, lol… on his 61st we had dinner out at Fusion Grill with his boy friends and their partners…
during his illness he had three particular friends who went for walks, coffee, talks and visits with him on a regular basis… it was such fun to spend time with them all together… it was a great surprise for him and everyone had a lovely time…
last night I spent ages searching for this picture and did not find it… this morning it came up in my Facebook memories, lol…
fun to remember some of those special times… makes the days happier;-)…
had a lovely front yard visit with a friend who dropped off some items from an online fundraiser…
before she arrived I put one of the deck chairs out by the bird feeders… she sat there and I sat on the steps… luckily, we each had our own tea, so that kept us warm…
got two poinsettias and a swag for the front door…
after she left, I spent quite some time hanging the swag on the door… there is quite a bit of fishing line holding it up, lol…
it was nice to have a face-to-face with another person…
a friend dropped off an item she had picked up for me and we had a short chat… she by her car, and I on the steps with my mask on…
time online on the laptop searching and ordering various things… maybe even some Christmas presents…
had a lovely conversation with my Winnipeg son-in-law who then FaceTimed me and maybe got the timer working, lol… fingers crossed…
and it worked… I had read the directions and tried it a few times before talking with him… he is the timer-whisperer, lol…
also spoke with my Ottawa son-in-law who helped me out with a different issue…
I was on a call and the bell rang… my neighbour brought me a cute little tin filled with fresh baking;-)… woo hoo… and I gave her some books which were needing a new home;-)…
I am now answering the door with a mask on all the time, not that the doorbell rings very often, lol…
final event was a delivery from Save-On-Foods with needed groceries… early in the pandemic, it was taking 2 weeks to get groceries once ordered… then it was down to the next day, but now that we are going back into a more serious lockdown, it is taking 4 or 5 days… so blessed to have this option… now I just need to plan a little further ahead…
our lives have changed so much in the last months… and I’ve spent time considering many of the things I am thankful for…
my retirement at the end of December has been a huge change… I had worried that if I retired I would turn into a hermit, lol… and so I did…
during these crazy covid times I have been able to find businesses that deliver groceries, books, technology, plants, meals…
I am in touch with friends through various applications, and have enjoyed many garden visits during nice weather…
I have found help with projects and my neighbours are available if I have issues…
my grandson has my car and picks up items on a regular basis when I can’t find them any other way… the younger ones have looked after maintaining the grass and helped with the pond…
time spent in the garden, following the shade, soaking up the peace and serenity has been amazing… watching flowers bud and open, birds and squirrels at the feeders, and fish, frogs, plants and blossoms in the pond have whiled away the spring, summer and now fall…
last night, preparing for our weekly BS Skype call, I moved the monitor on my desktop computer… and it went black;-(…
tried checking the cords but the picture would not return…
I ran downstairs and brought up the laptop for the meeting… of course I had to run back to get the cord as it was nearly exhausted…
it worked well and I was able to see everyone… I’ve been trying to use the computer room to see if being closer to the router and internet link would mean less dropped videos…
this morning I was able to jiggle cords and when I pushed the start button it turned on, updated a million things and then worked perfectly…
yay, I don’t want to be having tech people in the house if I don’t have to…
I have the nicest neighbours… they are basically all new(ish)… when we first moved here we became good friends with a number of neighbours, but they are all gone…
since then there have been a few inhabitants of various houses who we didn’t chat with very much…
today, the neighbour across the street came over and fixed a piece of siding at the peak of the house that had come loose during the big wind storm a while back… we had a lovely chat as he tried to get it hooked back in… he had volunteered to fix it for me, via his wife, who I had chatted with the other day when the fire trucks raced down the street… he helped me last winter when Indi got stuck at the bottom of the driveway and I couldn’t get her up the slope…
the tomatoes I’ve been eating came from the next door neighbours on my right… they have been in the house for a few years now and remind me of our friends who used to live there… he spends a lot of time tinkering in the yard and garage, lol… they spend time at the lake and moved here to help with their grandchildren and have them over on a regular basis… they got a dog a few months ago… not sure what type he is, but he is small and learning not to bark when he sees me in my garden…
the neighbours behind have been there for ten or so years so knew my beloved and they would chat over the fence all the time and share tools… the other day he offered to help with the garage cleanup…
the neighbours on the left are the newest addition… they are a young couple who also have a new puppy, which is going to be fairly large… they have both offered to pick up anything I might need when they are out and about…
I think back to the gatherings we used to have on the deck… weekend breakfasts, dinners and visits… those days are long gone…
and of course, nowadays the only visiting we do is at a distance…
still, it is lovely to know that if I need urgent help I could call on any of them…
recently I spent a good portion of the day in the computer room tidying…
I’ve been dumping empty boxes in there for months and there were about 10 boxes of books that were packed up before the pandemic but hadn’t made it to the fire station…
when I am on my Skype calls with my BS buddies I keep losing video of them, so I thought I’d try a call from the main computer which is hooked up directly to the internet… hope that helps…
so, I had to clean the room up so when I was on the call I wouldn’t be horribly embarrassed, lol…
this morning I carried all but one of the boxes of books out to the garage and put them on the newly emptied shelves… they weigh a lot… the last one is way too heavy for me…
for tonight’s call, one person wasn’t available, one person couldn’t get her camera working and in the middle of the call, my computer decided it was going to upgrade, so I was off the call for ten minutes or so…
herbiggirlpants 