yesterday I had one of the chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters that were part of my Christmas present from the kids in Ottawa…
for fun, I went and found one of the little dishes that we took to Hawaii when we went in April of 2019… it looked very cute with the nut cluster on it…
so happy that we were able to go, and have such wonderful memories from our time there…
as I ate the chocolate I spent time remembering the same chocolates that we enjoyed throughout our trip;-)…
had a quiet day yesterday… spent time taking photos of ornaments on the tree and the orchids…
a friend dropped off the fixings for turkey dinner which I warmed up at supper time… it was a lovely treat and made for a relaxed and enjoyable meal… ended the day with hot lemonade in my new mug and gifted shortbread…
this morning the living room looked lovely and I enjoyed the serenity as I sat in the quiet and enjoyed the lights…
the Ottawa kids and I Skyped and we opened our presents together… following our usual pattern, in this unusual time, we opened the gifts one at a time… it was great fun… they liked all their gifts, which made me happy…
one of my gifts from them was all the fixings for my New Year’s Eve dinner… usually on New Year’s Eve we have steak and lobster, although for the last number of years that meal has happened on New Year’s day… there was beef carpaccio, lobster, truffle chips, olives, red peppers, cookies, a lovely glass of wine (with gold in it) and a festive cracker…
there were also gifts from a number of friends, filled with goodies… I am blessed…
a bit later the Winnipeg kids FaceTimed as they opened the gifts I had sent over… I didn’t do so good with their gifts as two of them had received the same gift from their parents, lol…
yesterday I peeled potatoes and turnip, made stuffing, and produced Thai Shrimp soup so that there wouldn’t be too much to do today… I had decided that, even though I would be here alone, I wanted a proper Christmas dinner… it was delicious;-)…
today I got a lovely surprise when the doorbell rang and a bouquet of flowers was delivered…
I have been missing fresh flowers and they were even on my christmas list…
they were from a dear friend, and I have spent a good portion of the day taking photographs of them…
I have moved them from area to area as the day has gone on…
often I look up words to see if I have already used them for a post title, and today I found this post… it was for an event that this friend and I were both working on, lol…
yesterday I woke up to a world covered in snow… so beautiful, particularly as I didn’t have to go anywhere or should leave the house…
my grandson arrived in the morning to collect Indi’s winter tires and get them put on, and he brought me a beautiful orchid… he works for a store that, as of yesterday morning and the lockdown, couldn’t sell many of their items, so they gave the orchids to staff… such a lovely treat…
just before he left, he shovelled the sidewalk for me… I like to keep it clear for our mail carrier…
I went outside early, cleared the path to the garage, and moved a few chairs and other items, so he would be able to get to the tires without touching anything else… it was nice to see him, even if we didn’t get within 10 feet of each other…
later in the afternoon, I shovelled the deck so that I can get to the feeders I have set up… although, not sure I will be able to obtain sunflower seeds for them now that everything is locked down…
the other day I received a Google Nest Mini in the mail… it was a gift for joining a program…
after thinking about it for a short time, I decided to put it in the den… the other option was the laundry room, but I’ve been spending more time watching TV in the den, so we will see how it goes…
I didn’t even have to read the how-to instructions to set it up… the process is easy and it connects with all the others seamlessly…
two very large goldfish… a white one and an orange one…
they came from a family who plan to move to fancier fish… the grandma brought them over with the oldest grandson’s Nanny, who connected us…
they left them with me once they put the bags in the water… after the fish acclimatized for about half an hour I freed them so they could meet everyone else…
once they were safely in the pond, I took some pictures to send to the family, via Nanny, so that the grandkids could see they were in a good home…
the pond and fish bring me such peace… what a lovely gift;-)…
one of the gifts I received for my retirement was a gift certificate to Black Market Provisions…
a few days ago I ordered one of their Care Packages… it arrived right at supper time the next day and included the most delicious salad with beets, goat cheese, chicken, and greens… I also enjoyed some garlicky bagel crisps…
there were a few frozen items, more crackers and some delicious looking cookies…