07 Sunday Jul 2024
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
03 Wednesday Jul 2024
Posted in family, health, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
art, beach, big girl pants, blessed, cottage, door, family, friends, friendship, happy, memories, moments, painting, teens, time, widow
while we were at the cottage a dear friend of my daughter came to spend the day…
they had fun visiting, walking the beach, going in the water and playing with paint…
it was lovely to see them enjoy their time together…
I was reminded of the many times they spent together, and with their friends, when they were much younger, lol…
watching them painting brought back their project when they were in their teens… three of them spent a few days painting the bedroom door of my daughter’s room…
since then the door has moved every time she has…
currently it lives in her hallway…
it is so good to see these young people maintaining longtime friendships…
29 Saturday Jun 2024
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, decimated, family, garden, happy, milkweed, moments, monarch caterpillars, nature, photos, plants, pond, twenty, widow
on Tuesday we counted twenty monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the garden…
they were all over the newest batch that was recently planted and have nearly decimated all the leaves…
they were also on the ones near the waterfall which were planted last summer… we’ve now taken out all the poppies so there is more room to be able to see the caterpillars…
there were none on the ones from last year which were located around the edge of the pond… these were the ones that I planted in a spot where I could see and photograph any butterflies, eggs and caterpillars that came along, lol…
there were some chives next to them so when Hilda the Gardener was here the other day I had her take them out… maybe the butterflies don’t like the smell…
so excited to have so many;-)…
22 Saturday Jun 2024
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, feeder, fluttering, happy, hummingbirds, moments, nature, sound, treat, weather, widow, wings
we’ve been watching the hummingbird feeder since we arrived and on Tuesday, when we were at the table eating our supper we spotted the first one… having their meal too;-)…
Wednesday, while we were eating lunch, two of them had a little confrontation over who got to eat first…
Friday, while I was on the lower deck reading in the sun, one came right up to me before flying off… once you’ve heard a hummingbird, you always recognize the sound of their wings fluttering, lol…
what a treat;-)…
20 Thursday Jun 2024
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cottage, family, happy, lake, low key, moments, nature, rain, ventured, water, waves, weather, widow
our first whole day at the cottage was low key…
the sun came out occasionally, but the wind was busy the entire day and there was a fair amount of rain…
we ventured out a few times to watch the waves and listen to the birds…
in between, we read and napped and watched nature take its course out the windows…
my daughter got this lovely shot on her new Galaxy android… between the raindrops, lol…
it take wonderful pictures…
19 Wednesday Jun 2024
Posted in business, family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butt, cacao, daughter, family, garden, happy, Hilda the Gardener, moments, nature, plants, reading, The Leaf, time, walk, widow
on Friday I put out all the cushions and pillows as it was supposed to be sunny all day…
it is a bit of a process, because I put one out at a time, which helps me get steps, particularly as I spend a lot of time in the garden on my butt, reading…
it looked beautiful… the poppies, which don’t match my colour scheme at all, were blooming and dancing in the breeze and many of the pots and planters had flowers smiling…
I was surprised when my daughter arrived for a visit… she has been staying with a friend who has a lovely guestroom, lol… we spent a lovely time in this beautiful space, talking about everything and nothing…
she left and shortly after Hilda the Gardener arrived for some maintenance… we visited as she tidied up all the beds and pathways… it looks so nice when she is done;-)…
later as I was enjoying the space my daughter called and suggested we go to The Leaf…
I walked over to the other side of the bridge and she picked me up and we headed to the biomes…
we had a fun time checking out all the growth since she was here last year and had a lovely visit with the three cacao trees;-)…
always wonderful to spend time with her;-)…
15 Saturday Jun 2024
Posted in family, garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, buds, family, flowers, garden, happy, memories, moments, nature, orange, pictures, plants, poppies, thirty-two, weather, widow, wild
the other day I counted thirty-two poppy buds…
since then twenty-six have opened… I go out every morning to take pictures and count them, lol…
they look so beautiful weaving back and forth in the breeze…
they were one of my beloved’s favourite flowers… maybe because they signalled the beginning of summer…
they decide where they will pop up and I am always so happy when they turn up each year… this time they are in the front of the garden;-)…
12 Wednesday Jun 2024
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, food, garden, growing, happy, moments, nature, planters, plants, rain, squash, vegetables, weather, widow
this was the garden when I planted the seeds on May 14…
and here are photos from today…
the black planters are coming along very nicely… the tomatoes at each end have started to flower, the peas and beans are thinking about climbing the trellis, and the cucumbers have popped through the ground…
the vegetables in the gray planter are coming along, although the squash seed has not sprouted yet…
this is rather amazing, considering all the rain we’ve had…
10 Monday Jun 2024
Posted in business, food, garden, health, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, chocolate, flowers, food, friends, garden, happy, lunch, moments, offerings, party, table, time, treat, umbrella, weather, widow
what a delightful day…
yesterday we moved the table on the deck to the middle of the space and this morning I put on the tablecloth and runner that I picked up on Saturday…
then my housemate put the umbrella back in its hole and we opened it up…
I folded silverware into napkins and brought out pretty, but unmatched, plates to put around… glasses and mugs followed… everything was upside down so they wouldn’t get dirty…
found bowls, covers, and spoons for the two salads – ham and German potato, as well as the coleslaw…
crackers went onto a wooden tray and the salt and pepper shaker made it onto the table, alongside some lily of the valley flowers from under the deck…
chair covers and cushions went out and umbrellas went up…
friends arrived with other food offerings… there were fresh veggies and hummus, devilled eggs, fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate, and custard…
there were flowers for the birthday woman…
we gathered at the table and enjoyed everyone’s delicious offerings… of course there was our usual coffee and tea to go with the fruit, custard and whipped cream, topped with a piece of chocolate and a pistachio, lol…
the bubble machine came out and was on until bubbles started to land on plates… the weather was beautiful as the sun shone with a slight breeze every now and then… conversations were free flowing and stories made us laugh…
we took a group photo, as we always do when we gather for special times;-)…
as everyone began to leave the clouds filled the sky and the temperature went down, but no rain fell…
I had a relaxing time as I cleaned up, filled the dishwasher, put away the cushions, and got the table back into its original location…
read my book as the last of the bubbles flew around the deck…
09 Sunday Jun 2024
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, bin, blessed, completed, deck, family, fence, garden, happy, moments, patched, pond, projects, repairs, widow
Saturday, a few more projects around the garden were completed…
the final board that joined the back flowerbed to the fence was replaced and one of the yardwaste bins fits perfectly there…
the broken edge board by the bathtub pond, thanks to the hanging chair blowing over and breaking it last spring, was patched…
it looks so much better over there now…
a box was built to hold the mandevilla on the top deck so that the plant won’t blow over on windy days…
and two pots were moved to finish off the area around the pond…
the garden is looking very nice;-)…
