had a fun time with camera and the birdies at the front window…
there were house finches, chickadees, the nuthatch and a downy woodpecker…



even used the remote control feature on my phone with the camera, lol…
04 Tuesday Jan 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, Uncategorized, weather
had a fun time with camera and the birdies at the front window…
there were house finches, chickadees, the nuthatch and a downy woodpecker…



even used the remote control feature on my phone with the camera, lol…
02 Sunday Jan 2022
Posted in business, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
anticipation, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, happy, moments, nature, plants, quarter, turn, waiting, widow
received three more amaryllis bulbs and got right to getting them in the soil…
used a coffee filter in the bottom of the pot and then added the soil that came with each one…

they look cute all lined up in the sunshine;-)…

as with this one in the living room, which has a bud on it now, they will have a quarter turn each day…

25 Saturday Dec 2021
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, food, garage, gifts, happy, joy, memories, moments, remembering, sadness, sleigh, vacillating, weather, widow
today I’ve been vacillating between joy and sadness…
joy at spending time this morning online with the kids in Ottawa as we opened our gifts;-)… they were in the sleigh, lol…

sadness that I am here alone, even if at my own choice…
joy, at spending time with my grandson and his girlfriend in the garage around the fire pit exchanging presents…

sadness that my beloved isn’t here…
joy, that my dinner was delicious… my favourite roast chicken, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and turnip…

it looked a little beige, but tasted delicious…
sadness that I wasn’t able to see the rest of my Winnipeg family…
and back to joy as I remember I am home safe and healthy on this Christmas Day…
yup, up and down…
24 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, dragged, flowers, happy, moments, nature, Technology, time, treat, visit, warm, weather, widow
a few days ago I shovelled a path to the garage and then moved a chair and table inside it… also put cushions on a few chairs in the space…
a bit later I dragged the propane fire pit from the deck, down the steps, across the lower deck, and into the garage…

took a few minutes to get the flames going, but eventually I figured it out…
just before my friend arrived, I took out a few blankets and got the fire started…
we had a lovely visit, distanced, masked and fairly warm… eventually my feet got cold – no socks – and she headed off…
she brought me an amazing bouquet of flowers that isn’t just beautiful, it smells delightful…

I had been thinking that we wouldn’t be able to visit, as I am not having anyone in the house for the next few weeks, so it made it a particularly special time…
20 Monday Dec 2021
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, celebrate, Christmas, DeLuca's, elves, food, friends, happy, lunch, moments, treats, widow
had a wonderful time with my BS buddies to celebrate Christmas, even after the decision to stop gathering in person…
this morning a charcuterie board arrived from DeLuca’s and I divided it into five along with a veggie tray, crackers and pistachios… there was ranch dip with it and I made some fresh hummus to go along with all the other goodies…

a couple of elves fetched gifts and then dropped them off at other locations with the boxes of food…

shortly after that we gathered by Skype and enjoyed our meal… there was lots of conversation and laughter… eventually we went around the rectangle and opened gifts…
lots of thought had gone into each offering… there were cozy things, handmade goodies, items for the kitchen, donations and love;-)…

we slid back into Skyping without a hitch… we had only been meeting in person since the end of July…
these are some of the most special people in my life…
I am blessed…
16 Thursday Dec 2021
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, booster, Christmas, family, friends, gathering, happy, moments, pharmacy, surprise, vaccine, widow
got a great surprise today;-)…
I’ve had a booster shot scheduled for the second week of January at my doctor’s office and had checked with a nearby drugstore to see if I could get one sooner as the rules recently changed… unfortunately there were no appointments left at the moment…
got a call this morning from a friend as one of them wasn’t able to get the vaccine today and they offered me the spot, after checking with the pharmacy…
left home at 10:30, wearing my KN95 mask and was back, all boosted, by 10:50;-)…

just last night I heard that this mask is currently the best protection…
very relieved to have all 3 shots as there are plans for a small gathering on Christmas…
what a great feeling…
15 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Advent, big girl pants, birds, blessed, Christmas, fortunate, happy, living room, moments, nature, reading, weather, widow
I’ve been thinking a lot about how blessed and fortunate I am… and I’ve been taking time to focus on gratitude…
yesterday I spent a few minutes enjoying this sunrise from the bedroom window…

it was so pretty and the fact that I had the time to enjoy it is such a gift…
today I spent a good portion of the day sitting in the living room, beside the Christmas tree, reading a book by one of my favourite authors, and watching the various birds come and go from the feeders… even though it was foggy outside it was a lovely way to spend time…
I took this photo this evening…

most presents are wrapped, nearly all cards are written, and advent treats have been opened for the day…
now it is off to bed I go;-)…
12 Sunday Dec 2021
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, car, Christmas, family, grandson, groceries, happy, Indi, lunch, moments, pillow, shopping, tags, widow
what a lovely day…
my grandson came over with a bunch of things I’d asked for…
one of which was this cute tree pillow to go with the Joy pillow from the other day…

we had a delicious lunch of roast chicken, potatoes, gravy and carrots…
a lovely visit and off he and Indi went…

then I spent time wrapping a number of presents… such fun… and I used some of my recent Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers gift tags…

those tags have come in very handy;-)…
10 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, feathered, feeder, happy, house finch, moments, nature, reading, sunshine, treat, widow
had a delightful afternoon reading and watching my feathered friends at the window feeder…
I was reminded of the quote on yesterday’s Christmas card:
“The joy of retirement comes in those everyday pursuits that embrace the joy of life.” ~ Byron Pulsifer

having the time and space to just sit and watch the birds, and read in between their visits, was and is a real gift…

and the beauty of the House Finch couple made me happy…
01 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
Advent, big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, found, fridge, get ready, happy, list, magnets, memories, moments, purple, remembering, widow
a week or so ago, I cleaned all of the various bits and pieces off the front of the fridge…
put the container with the 24 magnets on it ready for Advent… my daughter sent them to me years ago… they covered two muffin tins and each held a tiny treat as they were opened daily during Advent…
then I put them away carefully🤪… and I didn’t find them until last year, lol… I am happy to use them this year, especially as I still knew where they were…

I think I might start with the 24th and then count back until Christmas;-)…
guess I better turn the magnets around, lol…
this morning I put up the first one…
