24 Monday Oct 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
yesterday when the kids were over we did my Halloween decorating…
always good to do it with someone else who might have a different idea about where to put something… seems to me that I get in a rut, lol…
and it is fun to have company to get the job done…
after that they played a game on the phone…
we’ve reached a new phase where not everyone wants their picture taken, so I was happy that I caught them when they didn’t notice what I was up to…
happy to have the space ready for next Monday…
25 Thursday Aug 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, fountain, grandsons, misty, MS Society, Pokémon Go, pond, rain, sleepover, widow
misting out this morning when I got up… still had to go outside and add water to the pond…
as I left the driveway I stopped and took a picture of the fountain which we finally got going a few weeks ago…
yesterday it was sunny with a beautiful blue sky as I drove to the office… this was the view today…
the mist turned into outright rain, lol… not nearly so lovely…
picked up an A & W Teenburger for lunch to support the MS Society… wonderful treat and an excellent excuse to have one, lol…
not exactly on my eating plan…
tonight the boys have come over for a sleepover… well, really to play Pokemon Go… after supper we walked to, and around, the Park and caught lots and then had ice cream at Sargent Sundae on our way home…
now there is some hot tubbing going on and then we are off to bed;-)…
gonna sleep well tonight…
15 Friday Jul 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
ashes, big girl pants, company, dahlia, fushia, gardener, Grandpa, grandsons, pond, rocks, s'mores, walk, widow
had quite a bit of company today…
early morning meeting with my money guy…
then met my grandson for breakfast and we worked in the garden for a few hours…
he is getting to be a good gardener… finished putting the rocks around and in the pond so now none of the liner is visible… we also lifted the deck to move the cords out of sight and he cleaned up the flower bed and put rocks down…
looks very nice… made red lentil curry and rice for our lunch which is one of his favourites…
the fushia was looking beautiful today…
after he left, spent some time reading in the garden and then had a nap…
the daddy dropped the little boys off after supper on his way to work…
we had a lovely time… they came with me to water a friend’s plants…
on our way home we stopped for Dairy Queen ice cream and once we arrived at the house, we walked over to the grocery store to pick up fixings for s’mores…
on our way back we stopped at the creek where we scattered grandpa’s ashes and then there was rolling down the hill activity…
got this great shot of the dahlias blooming in the front garden as we arrived home from the store… they look like a painting…
the boys played with balloons for at least an hour, on the deck and then in the hot tub…
everyone played on their electronics for a while and then we had a fire…
they were picked up by mom and I am now enjoying a few quiet minutes before heading to bed, lol…
we never did get to the s’mores but will do that on Sunday when they come for dinner…
it is such a treat to spend some one-on-one time with them…
04 Saturday Jun 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, coneflower, garden, grandsons, pond, soccer, tournaments, widow
spent some time in the garden this morning pulling a few weeds…
trying to decide if this is really purple coneflower or a very big weed…
was picked up just after eleven and proceeded to watch four soccer games… 3 in Headingley and 1 in North Kildonan…
got to see all three boys play which was great fun…
started at Blumberg with the oldest… saw about half of his first game before having to leave for the next game… it was overcast and a bit windy… also fitted in some baby snuggles at this game with a young friend’s little one…
then the youngest, his daddy and I drove across town to his second game of the day at Anderson Park in North Kildonan… it rained for about ten minutes as his game began, but then cleared up…
got this great shot when he scored a goal… he is number 8…
the rest of the family turned up when the other game was finished…
then the two older boys, their mom and I had a pit stop at their house, checked out their new vegetable gardens, and headed back across town to the second game for the oldest, at Blumberg again…
when that game was over, we moved down a few fields and watched the middle one play his game… he is number 20…
they are all good players and it was a great opportunity for me to see them all play…
the sun came out and it was rather warm for these last two games…
when the games were all over we went out for Chinese food to celebrate…
the little boys even tried the consume and liked it…
arrived home about 9:15… the boys had a hot tub and my daughter mowed the front yard…
played with the pond a bit, maybe saw one of the tadpole/frogs, and they headed for home…
after a very busy day I am going to bed…
21 Saturday May 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
spent a good portion of the day in the garden…
finished the plant shopping with my daughter and youngest grandson…
everyone spotted at least a few tadpoles… they move through the water quickly but when sitting still they look like seed husks…
while we were shopping, the oldest helped his younger brother mow the backyard… a bit difficult due to the terrain and the great quantity of furniture in the space, lol…
when they left, the oldest grandson stayed to help me with gardening…
lots got done… he moved a lot of rocks so they weren’t blocking the path and deck…
it was very hot and he worked hard… he added more stones in the pond as well as making sure that the two plant additions won’t move from their new spots…
he evened out the gravel in the floating basket so it stays level and made sure all of the water hyacinth were right side up…
dug out dandelions and planted two empty pots so that we can change the plants going into them…
still lots to do but he made a big dent in the list…
I filled pots and baskets and watered everything… still have planting to do tomorrow but for now am enjoying the tidy space… all those disorganized rocks and stones were making me a bit crazy…
really appreciated all of their help…
15 Sunday May 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, brunch, daughter, family, feel, finches, grandsons, hot tub, orchid, roses, time, widow
up early and enjoyed time in the hot tub… missing my beloved today… not always sure why it is more pronounced some days, but have learned to just feel my way through it…
happily was able to meet the kids for brunch… really miss them when we can’t get together on the weekend…
before I left the house I took some pictures of various blooms…
these are the last two flowers on the orchid which came from IKEA in October… was so thrilled to see a new stem starting with tiny buds on it…
then I moved the mandevilla and mini roses to the dining room table, where the light shone on them nicely…
decided to start walking to the restaurant and meet the kids on the way… lots of yellow flowers happily growing everywhere I looked, lol…
also saw quite a few blooming bleeding hearts on my walk…
once we got home took a few shots of the boys…
while we were visiting, my daughter spotted these feathered friends at the feeder…
very exciting… maybe the weather is going to warm up and we will see more of them…
ended the day with a phone call from my Ottawa daughter…
family is so special… happy to have opportunities to spend time with them…
15 Tuesday Dec 2015
Posted in life, technology, Uncategorized
last school concert of the season… this one at the little boys’ school…
this one looked so cute all dressed up… this is his last concert at this school as he will be moving to middle school next year…
where does the time go…
every time the little one saw our cameras, he posed, lol…
great performance with the chimes… kids were very focused to come in at the correct time… this guy likes music but is planning to focus on his art at the next school…
lovely shot of big brother and youngest focused on the performance…
we’ve never landed such great seats where we could actually see our kids without a zoom lens… the school had a great raffle and the winner got front row seats with assigned parking… too bad I didn’t know about that beforehand… maybe next year…
got a shot of all the gifts under the trees… looks lovely…
30 Monday Nov 2015
Posted in health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
Advent, big girl pants, calendars, chocolate, diabetes, drugs, food, grandsons, Lindt, plan, Star Wars, treadmill
tomorrow is the beginning of Advent…
yesterday I sent home Advent calendars for everyone… there was a Starbucks one for my daughter… Kinder Surprise ones for the little boys… a Lindt one for the oldest grandson, and a box of Russian Mints for my son-in-law…
usually they have to share so the little boys were very pleased…
I arranged for a friend of my daughter in Ottawa to pick up a fancy Lindt calendar for her…
and we also got a Star Wars one for my son-in-law there…
great fun to arrange the surprise for her because she sends calendars to a number of people every year… she has been sending them to me since she moved away… I’m still looking for the magnetic covers that go on top of muffin tins that she sent four or five years ago… I put them away very carefully, sigh…
this year the little boys got a parcel in the mail from her so they will have chocolate and another treat each day…
on Saturday the youngest helped fill up the drawers in my reindeer calendar with chocolate raisins… this year I won’t be having any of these, so when they come over on the weekends they will share all of the days that have passed… one in particular is very large, so they are already anticipating opening up that one, lol…
last year I got a lovely collection of different sized boxes, which I managed to save and remember where they were… they were picked up on Saturday and I am hoping that the Advent fairy comes by tonight with the collection of filled boxes…
a friend recently asked how I was managing my new food regime… and wondering what I was missing most… as I thought about it I realized that I’m not really missing anything… I still have chocolate, just much less often, and in smaller amounts… I eat everything, but try to plan the not-so-good items a bit farther apart than previously and in smaller quantities… the biggest change I have made is to plan my meals out the day before… this helps me keep on track and I don’t get surprised with a meal arriving and I haven’t got any idea, so make poor choices… and finally I eat lots of vegetables at every meal… most days it works great… now and then, not so much…
I don’t want to take drugs for diabetes if I can possibly manage it, so that really encourages me to eat well and get on that treadmill or take a walk every day…
25 Friday Sep 2015
Tags
big girl pants, celebration, desserts, grandsons, moon, special, Subway, yoga
looking out the window at the nearly full moon… so beautiful…
when I arrived home the boys were already here…
we walked over to Subway and chose sandwiches for our supper… on our way back I got a picture of the three of them…
some were eager to get home… besides the subs there were cookies in the bag… another wasn’t so excited, although there were chips, lol…
after supper the boys had a hot tub…
they love the lights but the water level was very low so there was lots of water shooting out of the tub, right where I was sitting… after they got out I added water… hope it warms up by tomorrow night…
snack of popcorn and a bit of tv before bedtime for the two littlest, with the other one ensconced in the basement…
excellent start to our weekend…
tomorrow is a celebration of my friend and colleague’s life… I am not able to attend, but with others organized desserts for the event… this afternoon we filled up the back of a car with treats to be delivered…
will be thinking of her, her family and friends in the evening… recently someone commented how impressed they were with the way we still include her in our thoughts and stories…
she loved yoga and I spent our practice today remembering her…
special people…
30 Sunday Aug 2015
have had a few different conversations recently about doing dishes…
when we were camping I took on the dishwashing duties… often, one of the boys would dry and we would both help put things away… or I would do it all… happy to give them a break…
was doing dishes at the kids’ new house on our last camping day and my grandson advised someone that I loved doing the dishes…
I shared that I don’t mind doing the dishes, but that it is something I can do to be helpful… he was surprised…
was talking with someone else and they also found doing the dishes a great way to free up time for others to do things that need to happen…
yesterday I had lots of dishes to do after making walnut pesto…
fresh basil out of the garden…
with walnuts, garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil…
finished product… yummy, even froze a bit…
when we were first married neither of us liked cleaning up in the kitchen so it would get rather piled up before we’d finally do the dishes, lol… as the years have passed it seems easier to clean up as the mess is being made…
usually do the dishes when I’m in Ottawa too…
hmmm, maybe I do love doing them… uh, no…
spent a few hours on the deck the last few nights and got a couple of good shots of the full moon…
guess I better go and do my supper dishes, lol…
herbiggirlpants 