19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
had some fun in the garden…
my grandson came over and worked at cleaning out the side garden… already looking much better…
the canna which over wintered in the house and looked rather sad this spring is blooming beautifully…
the Japanese Maple is very happy behind the waterfall…
caught these two butterflies flitting about…
they landed for an instant…
found two caterpillars and put them in the parsley… hope they are still there tomorrow…
13 Saturday Aug 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, ducks, frogs, grandson, Leo Mol Garden, peaceful, Pokémon Go, quiet, swarm, weddings, widow
in the last few days I’ve been to the Gardens three times…
twice I wasn’t able to get to my favourite spot as there were weddings taking place…
but the biggest oddity was the huge number of Pokemon Go hunters who are swarming the area around the tropical lily pond in the Leo Mol Garden…
at one point I counted 36 people sitting on the edge of the pond, and not one of them was looking at the lilies or statues…
did find this a bit sad… such a beautiful place and it seems as though many of those present weren’t even looking…
although there were many of the hunters, it appears that about half of the people today were there to admire the Gardens… I spent a while waiting for my kids by the Boy with the Boot and was happy to see so many visitors who were excited and taking lots of photos as they entered the English Garden area…
my youngest grandson and I were able to spot a few frogs…
and also had some fun checking out the Duck Pond…
he’s at a phase where he doesn’t want his picture taken but he didn’t know I was taking this one, lol…
and then his daddy gave a little assist for this one…
had a few minutes to focus on some beautiful leaves… the colours were amazing…
the purple waterlilies are still my favourite…
happy that my usual time to visit is early in the morning, when the Gardens are quiet and peaceFULL…
10 Wednesday Aug 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
today my oldest grandson turned sixteen…
he is a lovely young man and we’ve been able to spend a portion of our Fridays in the garden over the summer… I have really enjoyed having this time together…
took this shot on Sunday at his birthday party… I’d got him the newest Harry Potter book… he enjoys reading and we’ve both been fans since the first book came out… looking forward to reading it once he’s done…
all of a sudden he looks like a man, not a boy… his grandpa would be so proud of the kind young person he has become…
the day he was born changed my life… in two ways…
being a grandparent is by far one of the most amazing things that has happened to me… grandchildren are such a gift to be enjoyed and we’ve been privileged to have our grandkids here and be able to spend time with them on a regular basis since they’ve been born…
it also brought my daughter and I together… before he was born I was not one of her favourite people… we were connected, but her daddy was much more important to her… well, that never changed, lol…
I hadn’t been invited to the hospital as they prepared for the baby’s birth, and was waiting at home with baited breath to hear results of how they were doing and when the baby would be born…
then the phone rang, and my daughter was calling asking me to come to the hospital… from that moment we have had a much better relationship…
so, this young man has been a gift in more ways than one…
what a wonderful sixteen years it has been… and how lucky am I…
08 Friday Jul 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, breakfast, friend, goldfish, grandson, leeches, pond, rocks, suckers, walk, wasps, widow
been an interesting day…
walked to the “A” for an early morning meet up with my walking buddy and my grandson…
after a great breakfast he walked here and she and I went to the Park for our usual walk through the gardens… had a lovely time together and we got to see the baby bunny again, although it has grown a bit…
I walked home and went out into the garden where my grandson was pulling weeds and was swarmed by wasps… only two bit me before we both dived into the house… it appears that a cantaloupe sized nest fell to the ground as I stepped onto the deck… after getting advice on a remedy we decided to work on the pond which was further away from the wasps…
my grandson did a great job… he removed the slate from one side of the pond and replaced it with fieldstone…
then he used some of the slate to cover the pond liner completely… seeing it has been a pain…
he, like his father, and grandfather, likes to get right into the pond, lol… he was happily working away when he discovered a bloodsucker on his foot…
at which point he got out and worked from the path…
but look what a spectacular job he did…
my beloved was absolutely the best when it came to putting the rocks in just the right spot and that knack seems to have been passed down…
then we went in and caught the fish… well, with the help of my son-in-law, who arrived at just the right time, and with stuff to spray on the Yellowjackets’ nest…
after they left I put the fish into the pond…
they swam around, headed under the water hyacinth, and I haven’t seen them since…
after a nap friends came by, sprayed the wasp nest a bit more, and we went to their place for a Chinese food dinner… a wonderful treat…
pretty good way to spend a Friday…
24 Friday Jun 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
up early, took a walk to the Park, and had breakfast and a walk through the Gardens with a friend…
arrived home about the same time as my grandson… we worked in the garden for hours…
mowed, dug, planted, weeded… ended up with a lot of yard waste…
ran out for lunch with my daughter and son-in-law and then back to work… pulled out tons of string algae from the pond…
then we tackled one of the front flower beds… we cut down just about everything… I have to pick up something to deal with the grass and next week we will put down landscape cloth and mulch…
put some of the pots in it to get them out of the way for now…
after he left and I’d done a bit more weeding, I took a break and got to spend a few minutes enjoying how much better the space looks…
excellent day…
01 Wednesday Jun 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
worked a bit late and while I was still there got a call from my oldest grandson…
he wondered if I wanted to go to his band concert tonight…
we figured it out, they picked me up from the office, and off we went…
they are very good… this is the grade 10-12 band…
here is the grade 9-10 jazz band… the music was excellent… their director tells a story/joke when she introduces each piece… they are always very funny… although we never get them because she tells them in French, lol… tonight I think the person beside me was translating for the person on the other side of her…
always so pleased when I can fit this type of thing in… he is growing up so fast and when you look at him now you see a young man, not a kid anymore…
very happy he called and we were able to make it work…
23 Saturday Apr 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, cleanup, clouds, furniture, garden, grandson, helper, lentils, pond, rocks, sky, widow, yard
woke up to a cool looking sky out the window … the clouds made an interesting design…
had a good time with my grandson… he came over around lunchtime to help me in the garden…
made his favourite red curry lentils for lunch and then we got to work…
raked up all the leaves and pulled up lots of dead grass… filled three yard waste bags…
while he finished up, I put the furniture into its usual arrangement and cleaned the tables…
then we moved the rocks that came out of the pond in the Fall… we are going to reset them to have a better look… will probably be getting rounded rocks because the flat ones just don’t look right around the edge of the pond…
looks good back there now… hopefully the temperature will perk up and I’ll be able to sit out in the next few days…
he got the front yard cleaned up as well… next time we are going to tackle the front flower beds…
enjoy getting to spend time with him…
working outside reminded me of my walk through the woods yesterday…
similar type weather… made me think of one of the lovely cards I received for my birthday… it is a copy of a friend’s painting…
bit more sunshine in that picture, lol…
26 Friday Feb 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
had a lovely day focused on family…
met my daughter for lunch at The MET… first time she’s been there… beautiful architecture, but also light and airy…
I beat her there and had a cup of tea while I waited…
we both had fresh mussels and frites… I asked that they leave the cheese off mine… delicious… ate every single bit…
I ordered the mixed salad for us to share but ran out of time so brought my portion back to the office and gobbled it up around four…
after work I walked to her office and we went over to the RBC Convention Centre where my grandson was meeting us with his other grandparents… then we watched his band play in the Optimist Clubs of Winnipeg International Band Festival…
they did a great job and the adjudicator/ conductor had fun as he shared a few ideas with them… it was amazing to watch and hear them adapt and improve with his conducting and stories… his final comment was you are a very good ensemble and if you work on each note on the page you will be amazing…
lots of adapting today as I hadn’t even heard about the band festival until lunchtime… happy to have the salad to eat before I headed out… important that I eat at appropriate times now…
reorganized my schedule and had a great time… those big girl pants, lol…
08 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in family, health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, chili, grandson, lentils, palate, paths, shovelling, snow, supper
it snowed on Thursday and Sunday… and there was lots of blowing yesterday… my shoveler wasn’t able to get over, so tonight he met me at work and rode home with me…
he cleaned the paths and driveway after a short hand warming break…
looks great after it had all been tidied up… also happy to see that the solar lights are getting enough sunlight to turn on at night…
then we had supper together and a short visit before he took the bus home…
supper was the leftover chili which I had made for our family dinner last night, but the kids ended up staying at home…
I had listened to a show on chili making and decided to make this chili with kidney beans, mushrooms and some ground veggie burger with onion and diced tomato… used garlic, cumin, oregano and chili powder… just tossed things into the pot without measuring…
came out very nice… he liked it, even when I told him it was veggie burger meat… he has quite an adventurous palate… sent him home with a bag of red lentils… the last time we had dinner together he loved a red lentil recipe I’d made and wanted the recipe, lol… now he can make it at home for the family…
nice to spend time with him…
22 Friday Jan 2016
Posted in family, health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, daughter, drive, grandson, lentils, pink, shovel, sky, treat, vanish, visit, walk
on my way out to the car this morning — with my hands full of various bits and bags for work — I had to stop and take a picture of the pink sky…
my driving buddy thought I’d fallen as it took me a few extra seconds to get to the car, lol…
took lots of pictures as we drove downtown… you never know, when the sky is so beautiful, when it will vanish…
at lunch I went for a walk with my daughter as our yoga class was cancelled… did well, particularly as I hadn’t planned on walking… had a spare jacket to put under my coat and pulled up my hood… only my legs got cold…
then my grandson met me at the office and came to shovel… afterwards we had leftover lentils with brown basmati rice along with roasted brussel sprouts and mushrooms…
he chose the menu and prepped the veggies… we had a lovely visit and he headed home on the bus…
what a treat…
herbiggirlpants 