02 Saturday Feb 2019
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
finally had the time to take a photo of the February Chihuly calendar… the piece is called blue frog foot fiore… this installation was at the New York Botanical Garden in 2017…
was picked up by friends, went to the Nhu Quynh for a lovely lunch before we headed to PTE for this month’s show, which was excellent…
nice to spend time with friends…
29 Saturday Dec 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
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art, big girl pants, blanket, collage, colouring, crafty, crocheting, food, friends, fun, happy, knitting, widow
time with friends… had a wonderful afternoon with a very crafty group of women…
there was knitting, colouring, collage-ing, crocheting, eating, drinking, and lots of conversation…
my project…
it is going to be a blanket for my bed… I worked on it while I was there and when I got home…
this morning as I was crocheting away I realized that it was way too long, sigh… would have been great for someone seven feet tall, lol…
so I unraveled it and started over…
this time it will be about four feet wide which should work nicely on the bed…
back to crocheting;-)…
17 Monday Dec 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
been thinking of how blessed my life is…
this morning I packed up a parcel for my kids in Ottawa who are not coming home for Christmas this year…
called a courier (integrated freight and parcel solutions provider – fancy title, lol) and arranged for it to be picked up…
without much thought, was able to be sure it will be delivered in the next few days… it cost a bit more, but meant I wouldn’t need to worry about when it would arrive…
tonight we talked about how we take so many things for granted… a secure place to live… clean flowing water at the turn of a tap… warm comfortable beds to sleep in… pantries full of food… health care… safe vehicles to travel in… and friends who care for us…
12 Wednesday Dec 2018
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big girl pants, blessed, capital, Capital Broadway, friends, lunch, memories, mussels, widow
had a great lunch out yesterday…
met a friend at Capital Broadway Grill and Bar…
hadn’t heard of it although it is only a few blocks from the office…
we started with a lovely tomato and coconut soup which was one of the day’s specials… yum… I had steamed PEI mussels and fries with white wine, bacon, tomato, roasted garlic… it was very nice…
my friend had the seared rare nicoise (gf) organic greens tossed with French beans, tomatoes,olives, boiled eggs, Dijon dressing…
always wonderful to spend time with special people…
the older I get, the more I enjoy and savour the special moments in life…
11 Tuesday Dec 2018
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Tags
alone, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, friends, help, many, melancholy, memories, poinsettias, sad, stocking, widow
this can be a melancholy time of year… often we think of those who are gone and won’t be with us to celebrate… I made sure to put my beloved’s stocking out where I could see it and remember the many wonderful celebrations we had…
it also seems to be a time when people are ill or feeling alone…
I was thinking of that when I took pictures of the poinsettias…
when you glance at them from one angle it appears there is only one, all alone… but when you look at them from another point of view you see there are many of them…
when I’m sad, I often get caught up in thinking I am all alone… good to think of the many who are there to support me…
the trick is to remember and be brave enough to tell them I need them… and then to accept the help, lol…
08 Saturday Dec 2018
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Tags
1993, big girl pants, conversation, end, friends, ReImagining, special, together, widow, women
since 1993 I’ve been meeting with a group of women regularly (nearly monthly) to discuss all kinds of things from religion, to spirituality, to politics, to healthcare, to family life… we’d have supper, check-in with one another, and then spend some time focussed on a topic of interest…
the size and membership of the group has changed over the years but there are a few who were there from the very beginning…
today we met to possibly end our gatherings… we had a wonderful lunch of chicken souvlaki, lemon potatoes, Greek salad and fresh buns… one of the meals we have enjoyed many times over the years…
we’ve met in one another’s homes, made food from scratch, brought food in from fancy shops, and ordered meals… it has always been about being together, more than what we were eating, lol… although we do love to eat;-)…
it was lovely to have the conversation about how important the group has been to everyone…
we’ve decided to continue to meet on a less regular basis, either around the equinox/solstice or a few times a year…
happy to know we will still gather as these are very special people to me… you don’t find women like this just anywhere…
02 Sunday Dec 2018
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Tags
angels, beloved, big girl pants, Christmas, decorating, friends, glitter, lustre, ornaments, purple, reindeer, santas, silver, snow people, snowflakes, trees, widow
for the last few years a dear friend has come over to help me with the Christmas decorating…
I’ve always loved Christmas but since the loss of my beloved it has lost a bit of its lustre…
this year I’ve been working away on my own to decorate… I decided to try some different options… took me a few weeks but it is done now…
have put my tree collection in the dining room where my pottery usually lives… and even passed along some pieces, yay for me;-)…
put up a new tree with purple and silver decorations and hung up the glass balls on either side of the picture above the sofa…
put the snow people up the stairs…
got a garland going along the ledge in the dining room… final piece was to put the glittery trees on the fish tank…
still might have my friend come by to check it all out…
then going to go through the rest of the Christmas boxes and maybe pass some decorations along to others…
there are the reindeer, the snowflakes, the nativities, the angels, the santas…
19 Monday Nov 2018
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banana, big girl pants, bourguignon, breakfast, carrot cake, dessert, dinner, food, friends, Kitchen Sync, lunch, Modern Plate Catering, salad, shortbread, widow
pretty darn fine eating day…
started out with Rice Krispies, almond milk and half a banana… still giggle when I hear the snap, crackle, pop…
was at Kitchen Sync at lunch and had a delicious salad, beautifully plated with a large slice of cheese, and the most amazing beef bourguignon with bacon… food was by Modern Plate Catering…
then to end the day on a good note, was treated to supper at Yafa Cafe… shared some hummus and pita and had red lentil soup… ordered some falafel but ended up bringing them home…
thought that was the end of it, but at our BS gathering shortbread turned up and a super delicious carrot cake…
yummy day;-)…
17 Saturday Nov 2018
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Tags
big girl pants, birthday, BS, friends, goat, Little Goat, lunch, memories, widow
yesterday my BS friends and I went out for a birthday lunch… wasn’t really sure whose it was as we are way behind in our celebrating, lol…
only to discover it was my birthday lunch…
what a wonderful time we had… my first time at Little Goat on Portage…
I had moules et frites… very tasty…
such fun spending time with these amazing women…
we have a tradition that the birthday person gets their card in a very old gift bag that we put a photo of us into many years ago… it is rather delicate now after years of travelling from one person to the next…
part of the deal is that you are in charge of the bag once you get it and have to remember where it is for the next time it is needed…
how lucky am I to have these very special women in my life…
15 Thursday Nov 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
a while ago I discovered a new chocolatier in Winnipeg – Amanda Green of Melt Chocolate Co…
I messaged her and ordered some of her bonbons and she delivered them;-)… wow…
they are quite lovely to look at…
and very tasty… shared some with my BS group on Monday and everyone enjoyed them…
happy they could assist in the eating as I might have eaten every one…
think I will be purchasing some more, lol…
herbiggirlpants 