well, how lucky am I;-)…
look what I got tonight…

movie popcorn… what a treat…
09 Thursday Mar 2023
Posted business, family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
in06 Monday Mar 2023
Posted family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
inTags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, difficult, eleven, family, grandson, loss, memories, moments, remembering, struggling, time, widow, writing
this anniversary of my beloved’s death has been harder than usual…
not sure if it is having someone else in the house, going through so many boxes and letting go of things… maybe it’s been seeing his writing on papers as I’ve sorted through files… maybe it is realizing I’ve been without him for a quarter of the time we were together…
you’d think after eleven years it would be less difficult…
whatever the reason, I’ve been struggling…
01 Wednesday Mar 2023
Posted business, family, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
inTags
accident, arms, big girl pants, broken, cold, family, grandson, hot tub, Krevco, moments, weather, widow
was on my way downstairs to go out to the hot tub on Friday and heard a loud noise… looked out the window to see one of the two hardcovers laying on the ground… not attached to either side of the tub…
it had slipped out of my grandson’s hands and, in the very cold weather, broke both arms that hold it on…
luckily, after we soaked for a while the two of us were able to set it back where it belonged… no single person hot tubs until it gets repaired, lol, as it will take two of us to open and close the cover…
happily Krevco had some arms available…
we will wait for a warm day to empty the tub, move it to install the arm closest to the house, put it back, connect the second arm, and refill the tub…
fun times, lol…
22 Wednesday Feb 2023
Posted business, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
inTags
big girl pants, blessed, connecting, Google Home, grandson, internet, moments, Technology, tv, weather, widow, wires
my goodness, seemed like a very long day…
MTS came around noon and spent two hours outside (in the very cold weather)… going back and forth many times between a ladder up to wires in the back lane, through the snow, and up the side of the house… eventually, they made a connection which should double the speed of my internet….
then they spent over an hour in the house changing the router and the boxes for the TVs…
none of it seemed to go smoothly, lol…
after they left, we spent another hour updating all of the Google Home devices and we still have a few that are not cooperating…
03 Friday Feb 2023
Posted business, family, garden, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
inTags
big girl pants, blessed, family, fourteen, garden, grandson, hot tub, memories, moments, remembering, stress, time, trajectory, trauma, widow, work
my youngest grandson just turned fourteen…
brought back a number of memories as his birth changed the trajectory of my life…
because I refused to miss his birth, I ended up leaving a job I had been at for ten years, as the boss wasn’t pleased that I had taken away time from my position… a lot of trauma occurred over the next while and eventually I was walked out of the office…
one good thing that came out of that was the hot tub, as I was awarded a year’s salary due to my wrongful dismissal and purchased it with some of those funds…
there was huge stress and tension and the hot tub has helped with that for many years now;-)…
after a number of months I found the perfect position where I flourished for nearly ten years before my retirement…
lots of things to sift through…
this photo was taken in 2020, when I was still keeping my distance from everyone, but it does show him and the hot tub together, lol…
hard to believe it all began fourteen years ago…
25 Sunday Dec 2022
Posted family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
inTags
banging, banging pots, big girl pants, blessed, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Day, dinner, early start, family, food, friends, gifts, grandson, kids, moments, purple, reading, relaxing, special day, Technology, treats, tree, visits, widow
I wasn’t expecting to get up early, but apparently my body remembers previous Christmas mornings, lol… although it was 6:47 am when I woke up, for many years it was often around 4… and I would eventually start banging pots in the kitchen to encourage all of the sleepers to wake up…
around 7:30 I got up, made breakfast and then read for a while in the living room enjoying the tree lights…
there were matching pyjamas, calls, texts, visits and naps throughout the day… the naps may have had something to do with the 6:47 wake-up, lol…
spaced amongst all of that were relaxing dinner preparations… beautiful mashed potatoes, delicious stuffing and tasty gravy went perfectly with chicken, turnip, ham, and previously homemade cranberry sauce…
I was absolutely spoiled with a myriad of wonderful gifts…
a lovely day… amazingly blessed, as always…
16 Friday Dec 2022
Posted business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
inTags
big girl pants, blessed, dessert, dinner, family, food, garden, gather, grandson, lounge, meal, moments, nature, photos, pork tenderloin, restaurant, risotto, tasty, Technology, The Leaf, treat, widow
once we left The Leaf biomes, we checked out the gift shop and then were able to get a table in the lounge portion of Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar…
the space looks fresh and has some very cool lights…
we were happy to get in because online it appeared there weren’t any spots available until January 😳…
the food was good as was the service… I had pork tenderloin and my grandson had the risotto…
they were both tasty, although I found the pickled carrot purée a bit spicy, lol… the risotto was very tasty…
we ended the meal with two desserts which we shared, lol… I chose the flour-less chocolate fudge cake and my grandson the chocolate mille-feuille…
in the end we liked what the other person ordered best😂…
had a great time and enjoyed the entire evening… can’t wait to go back again…
15 Thursday Dec 2022
Posted business, garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
inTags
big girl pants, biome, blessed, Conservatory, flowers, garden, grandson, koi, moments, nature, photos, plants, poinsettias, pond, Technology, The Leaf, treat, tropical, waterfall, widow
last night we went to The Leaf at Assiniboine Park…
I’ve been waiting ages for it to be finished… the Conservatory closed in April 2018, which feels like a long time ago… this was our view as we stepped into the space… possibly the waterfall is splashing a bit more than expected as there are a few areas that are wet, lol…
it didn’t disappoint;-)… the tropical biome is lovely and I expect it will look even more beautiful as times goes on…
the technology always interests me and they have done a great job of hiding the fire extinguishers but making them easily available…
the space is big and bold with the tall waterfall and large pond…
we spent a lot of time watching the koi… they were beautiful colours and huge… I was struggling with a bit of fish-envy…
I am looking forward to visiting next in the daytime…
the Mediterranean biome was reminiscent of the CMHR building with lots of stone… and it was possible to touch most of the plants;-)…
the display area was cute with many poinsettias, seasonal decorations and places for group photos…
the poinsettias were a sweet reminder of the old Conservatory at Christmas time…
the view looking down from the catwalk was wonderful although I felt a bit nervous with the height, so my grandson took all the pictures, lol…
the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden at the top of the building was nice…
it was late and dim so we only spotted a couple of butterflies that were resting… I definitely need to visit it in the daytime as well…
it wasn’t too full of visitors, and there were a number of staff (likely many were volunteers) to get you in and around the site…
there was a place to leave your coat (unattended) before entering the biomes, which was great as the space is warm;-)… there is ample parking and you can purchase tickets online or as you enter… you need your membership card, with ID, just like at the zoo…
a wonderful treat and I can hardly wait to visit again😊…
10 Saturday Dec 2022
Posted business, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
inTags
big girl pants, blessed, Canadian Tire, eventually, family, grandson, moments, out and about, shopping, Subway, Technology, water shoes, widow
out and about today!
well, I went to Canadian Tire and Subway, lol…
my grandson picked me up and once we were in the store we asked for help finding the water shoes I was looking for… the young man we dealt with didn’t seem to be having a good day… he appeared a bit unfriendly, but eventually did produce the shoes…
then, in another section of the store, the woman helping us was very knowledgeable and friendly and found what I needed quickly;-)…
and the cashier was pleasant, so all in all a good experience… and the store wasn’t crazy busy…
at the sandwich store, the young woman we dealt with was very helpful even though we caused her some confusion with our order, but she figured it out…
we enjoyed our subs when we got home…
a couple of jobs around the house and off he went;-)… then I had a nap😂…
21 Monday Nov 2022
Posted business, family, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
inTags
big girl pants, blessed, cooked, family, food, grandson, moments, nature, parcel, shopping, shovel, snow, supper, Technology, texted, widow
had a lovely day on Saturday…
started with six beautiful hibiscus flowers smiling at me;-)…
my grandson texted to say they were going to pick up some groceries and a parcel for me so we decided to have supper together…
I had a good time making stuffing and mashed potatoes, cooking mushrooms for gravy, and getting a chicken ready to roast…
in between those activities I watched speed skating and a Christmas movie, lol…
when the kids arrived we enjoyed a great visit and delicious meal… then he shovelled the driveway, decks and sidewalks… I truly am blessed…
it is always a treat to spend time with them;-)…