31 Thursday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
band, big girl pants, concert, grandparents, grandson, growth, memories, moments, widow
tonight I attended my eldest grandson’s final band concert…
when I think back to his first few performances it is amazing how far he has come…
what a treat to be able to participate in these memory-making moments…
watching these kids grow and hone their skills in music, sports and life has been such a gift…
grandparenting is one of the best jobs ever…
26 Saturday May 2018
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arranged, big girl pants, garden, Grandpa, grandson, hot tub, mowed, planted, pond, talk, widow, worked
well, what a busy day… woke up at 4:20 am and went out for a very early morning hot tub… the sky was already getting lighter so I could barely see the last of the stars…
when I woke at 7:25 I went out and set up the cushions on the chairs and loungers, had a smoothie and tea… beautiful morning… arranged for my middle grandson to come and help me in the garden and then spoke with my Ottawa daughter, who was in Kingston…
the kids arrived and we went to the “A” for breakfast… then my grandson and I walked around Bruce Park to catch a few Pokémon and headed home…
we worked in the garden for the rest of the day with sitting and water breaks as well as a quick trip to pick up subs for lunch… we drove, even though it is only a few blocks away, because we were both hot and tired, lol…
often when we are together we share stories about Grandpa… today we remembered how he could be a bit scary when he lost his temper, how he liked to keep busy in the garden, would pull weeds and toss them on the ground and have to go back to pick them up and put them in the yard waste bags… that is the preferred method for my grandson as well, lol… we also talked about how long we have lived in this house and some of the fun times we’ve had… we shared things that make us nervous and traits that we both have…
we spotted a chipping sparrow having a bath and earlier I had seen a small frog hopping in and out of the pond…
the garden is taking shape… we cleaned out one flower bed, filled fourteen planters, mowed the front and back, brought out the hibiscus and put everything we had used away… whew…
by the end we were both hot and exhausted but had a blast together;-)…
he was picked up by my son-in-law who fixed one of the pumps while he was here… once they left I sat and read for a while…
going to have a hot tub soon and maybe head to bed early…
04 Friday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
this morning I went for breakfast at the “A” with my grandson which was a lovely treat…
as we walked there he mentioned something about my having an opportunity to ride in a police car…
it reminded me that I had ridden in the back of a police car when they came to the door and drove me to the hospital when George died…
I don’t really want to do that again;-(…
there are still many days when the loss seems so fresh…
later in the day I spent some time in the garden… first opportunity to enjoy the warmth and sunlight… starting to look pretty good after the work done this week…
a squirrel came right up beside me while I was quietly reading in the sunshine…
still need the pond cleaned, the pump installed and the beds tidied…
much to do…
23 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Conservatory, family, flowers, fun, garden, grandson, heron, moments, museum, Ottawa, Ottawa Outing, sunshine, taxi, trees, walk, widow
our plan was to go to the newly opened Science and Technology Museum today as my daughter had to work and it is within walking distance…
this morning, when I checked their hours, I discovered they weren’t open on Mondays, apparently like many of the museums…
eventually we decided to go the Central Experimental Farm… very round about taxi ride finally got us there and we had great fun checking out the animals, especially the sheep…
the babies were very cute…
we visited the other exhibits and had the snack that we’d packed in the backpack…
we then walked over to the conservatory through a big field where we came across this giant tree that was planted 107 years ago…
the conservatory was tiny but had a few flowers blooming…
then we walked to Dow’s Place where we called a taxi and spotted a heron while we were waiting… we saw some cute flowers as we walked…
when we got home computer games and napping took place…
out for burgers on our last evening here…
home for a movie before bed…
19 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
airport, Baked Expectations, beavertails, big girl pants, blessed, family, flight, games, grandson, kids, moments, Ottawa Outing, widow
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…
30 Friday Mar 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
artistic, big girl pants, brunch, Conservatory, dinner, display, grandson, lamb, moments, Park Cafe, shells, widow
my middle grandson came over this morning to spend the night…
first thing we did was change the display in the living room table… took out the Chihuly bits and put in shells, books and rocks…
he has an artistic streak so it was fun to watch as he decided what needed to go where…
off to the Park, where we had brunch, walked through the Conservatory, and stopped by the Zoo to see if his toque had turned up in the lost and found…
sadly, no toque…
home for a rest and then some roasted lamb for our supper…
it was cooked perfectly…
lovely day filled with special moments…
18 Sunday Feb 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
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big girl pants, chocolate, grandson, meals, muffins, Olympics, shortbread, smoothie, stuffing, widow
the weekend sure makes watching the Olympics easier…
wake up around 4 am, watch whatever is on and go back to sleep for another few hours… rise and have a relaxing breakfast and watch what I might have missed earlier… nap if needed, and repeat…
I ate especially well today, as I knew there was roast chicken dinner on the menu…
breakfast smoothie and hard boiled eggs with shredded cucumbers for lunch…
ran out for a quick grocery shop and then back to the Olympics…
prepped the stuffing for the chicken and was sure to have enough to make stuffing muffins for my youngest grandson… they are his favourite, lol…
sadly, he wasn’t feeling well so didn’t have any dinner but he did take some home for later…
ended my day with a couple of shortbread cookies that a friend made for me and a small piece of dark chocolate… the cookies reside in the freezer and this was the first time I’ve had any… mmm, delicious reminder of Christmas…
now to watch the ice dance short program…
15 Thursday Feb 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, conversation widow, driveway, grandson, Olympics, shoveler, snow, supper
well that was nice…
texted my grandson, the shoveler, to say that there was a bit of snow on the driveway and sidewalks… it was quite beautiful as I looked out this morning before and after footprints were made…
we met at the office after work, stopped for gas and picked up some chicken wings for our supper… made a salad and we watched some Olympics…
then he went out and cleared away the snow… hot chocolate and a bit more Olympics and off he went to catch the bus home…
I really enjoyed having someone to discuss the performances of the various athletes we watched;-)…
05 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
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…
14 Sunday Jan 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
assistance, big girl pants, breakfast, family, grandson, shopping, shoveling, sleepover, snow, widow
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…
herbiggirlpants 