31 Monday Oct 2022
Posted in family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, decorations, family, grandsons, halloween, memories, moments, neighbourhood, official, tradition, widow
walking in the neighbourhood I’ve spotted a few cool Halloween decorations…
and came across a few fun memories from Facebook…
for many, many years, the kids came over on Halloween before heading out to collect candy, so we could get official pictures… too old for that now, lol…
no snow this year, and it is a balmy 8 degrees Celsius…
10 Thursday Mar 2022
Posted in business, family, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Build-A-Bear, bunnies, bunny, bypass, family, grandsons, heart, memories, moments, remembering, shopping, surgery, Technology, widow
this morning I watched a couple of bunnies on the deck looking for something to eat, so I tossed out a few carrots that I broke up for them…
I checked back a bit later and discovered one enjoying the treat…
reminded me of the bunny in the den… it is one of those Build-A-Bear animals that the boys and I had made when my beloved had his heart surgery…
the staff in the cardiology unit had recommended a pillow for him to hold against his chest when he coughed and we thought the bunny would be great… it worked well and he liked it;-)…
it wears scrubs, although a few pieces of the clothing have gone missing, lol…
it is a sweet reminder of a difficult, but special, time…
26 Saturday Jun 2021
Posted in business, family, food, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, books, Dairy Queen, family, garden, grandsons, ice cream cone, moments, nature, pond, son-in-law, treat, vaccinated, widow
Wednesday was a busy day…
got the bathtub pond up and running…
then climbed into the main pond to clean out the pump…
after lunch my son-in-law and middle grandson came by… one levelled the waterfall stone so that water doesn’t leak out and need to be replaced as much… he also spread soil in the front, filled containers and tidied up the dirt pile…
the other mowed and whipper snipped the front and garden, including along the lane (sometimes we forget about that area)… he also helped with the soil cleanup…
they left, and the oldest grandson arrived to take me downtown where I got vaccinated for the second time;-)… as a treat we got ice cream cones on the way home;-)…
once home he changed a leaky hose and carried many boxes of books to the front step for pickup… we put them in plastic bags because they weren’t being picked up until Friday, but were too heavy for me to move, lol…
really was a busy one…
28 Sunday Mar 2021
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
bag, big girl pants, blessed, bunny, crafty, Easter, family, fun, grandsons, moments, paper bag, treats, widow
spent a little time preparing some Easter treats for my grandkids…
was watching tv and saw a cute bunny made from a paper lunch bag, and dug some out of the storeroom…
it was such fun crafting them… not hard, but enjoyable… filled them with a few goodies, found ribbons and made nametags…
sorry I can’t show you what is inside, lol, but who knows who might see this post;-)…
they look very sweet and are waiting to be picked up and delivered for next Sunday…
27 Saturday Feb 2021
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
accomplished, big girl pants, blessed, dinner, food, grandsons, light, lightstrip, moments, painting, plants, Technology, widow
busy day yesterday…
in the morning I attached the Philip’s lightstrip that I got for Christmas from my grandsons… I had played with it a bit the day before…
I am pleased with how it turned out…
moved around more plants and made a meal that needs to sit for a day…
after that I finished with making a dozen cards from the watercolour painting I’ve been doing…
felt very accomplished, lol…
22 Tuesday Dec 2020
Posted in family, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, chocolate, Christmas, elves, family, fish, gifts, grandsons, Indi, moments, nature, presents, shopping, snow, weather, widow
today my two older grandsons came by… one got dropped off so he could shovel, while the other went out for a few last minute items I needed… the main one being food for the fish;-)…
while he was out and about, the younger was shovelling… there was a lot of snow and it was heavy… put out some hot chocolate to warm him up…
the shopper returned and the elves loaded up the car with presents and goodies for their house…
a bit sad to see Indi with snow on her… she doesn’t have a garage for protection these days…
good news is that all the gifts have been sent on their way;-)…
10 Saturday Oct 2020
Posted in family, food, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dinner, family, grandsons, meal, memories, moments, preparing, stuffing, usual, widow
the usual family dinner is not happening this weekend…
this year I decided to cook a special dinner just for me;-)… will use some technology to eat with my Ottawa kids…
today I made stuffing muffins for my grandsons… one of their favourites… the smell was delightful and a reminder of what makes a meal special… the eldest grandson will pick them up…
I also prepared potatoes and cauliflower for cooking… I tried something different as I prepared them because, if it doesn’t turn out, I’m the only one eating it, lol… I also cooked a small turnip and made fresh cranberry jelly…
usually as I am preparing for a special dinner I am thinking of those who will be enjoying the meal… today I thought about what a sunny day it was outside, even if it was chilly… and how blessed I am to have the food I want and a place to eat it safely…
20 Sunday Sep 2020
Posted in family, garden, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, cleaning, family, garage, garden, grandsons, moments, stuff, widow
yesterday and today I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the garage…
I haven’t done anything with it since my beloved died… and that was eight years ago, sigh…
I still don’t know where stuff is or even what stuff is in there…
last month I had the roof reshingled and now I’ve decided to make cleaning and sorting it out my fall project…
it is going to take a lot of time, but for now my plan is to fill the garbage can each week with junk and set aside things I want and things I can give away…
this picture might look like a before, but it is actually the after of yesterday’s effort…
three shelving units were cleared off, the garbage can was filled, the next door neighbour took some firewood and the neighbour behind took the fancy woodworking wood that I discovered…
boxes were set up and put on the shelves for gardening, pumps, plants, bubble makers and fish supplies… and I found a couple of things I can use… brought one item in for another little project, and gathered scrap metal for my son-in-law…
today my middle grandson finished emptying the final few shelves, loaded up boxes with bits of wood to take home for their fire pit, washed down all the shelves, put the items back on the shelves and mowed the grass…
the oldest moved the ladders, picked up items at various stores, trimmed the Virginia creeper and loaded the wood into the car…
it is kind of exciting to really know where some stuff is…
looking great;-)…
07 Tuesday Jul 2020
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, caterpillars, family, fish, flowers, friends, garden, grandsons, memories, moments, nature, pond, purple, stronger, sunshine, widow
another busy day…
up early, put out all the cushions and had my breakfast in the garden… lots of visits from the house finch couple and the chickadees…
went into the pond to clean the pump and filled half a pail with string algae… waterfall is looking better now and the flow is much stronger…
then a good friend came over for a garden visit and we had a lovely time… the garden is looking nice and there are still five or six caterpillars to search out on the milkweed…
she had just left when the lawn mowing service (the middle grandson) arrived… we had a visit before he started and just as he was done the chauffeur (oldest grandson) arrived with a new umbrella which will provide shade in the afternoon sun… we couldn’t put it up as we are waiting for the base to arrive…
then, before I knew it, they were all gone and I was back in the peace and quiet;-)…
lots of reading and nature watching for the rest of the day…
31 Sunday May 2020
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Chinese food, dredged, family, fish, frog, garden, grandsons, leaves, lunch, moments, mowing, nature, pond, supper, treat, visit, water, widow
sitting by the pond after my visitors have left and enjoying the last bit of sunlight…
my water shoes are on the deck because I went into the pond once again and dredged up another pailful of leaves… the fish are still not coming out, but I did see the frog hop by earlier in the day…
all three of my grandsons came by just after noon… I made them grilled cheese sandwiches with the wonderful La Belle Baguette whole wheat sourdough that was delivered yesterday…
the oldest left, the middle one mowed the grass, front and back, while the youngest watered plants and pulled weeds…
some days it is hard to realize he is eleven and can reach and do more things…
after the work was done, relaxing happened and visiting took place…
this was the first time I’ve had people in the house and the system was they had access to the basement for cooling down and using the washroom and I had the main floor… worked perfectly…
we ordered Chinese food for supper and it arrived just before the daddy, who had been at work all day… afterwards my downspout got fixed, a stair board tightened and then off they went…
it was a treat to see them and I enjoyed every minute… I missed my nap, but plan on making it an early night;-)…
herbiggirlpants 