12 Thursday Aug 2021
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
on Monday the slinky arrived in the mail…
we’d been looking for a while and apparently everyone has been buying them as there were none available nearby…
this one was ordered on Thursday and turned up just four days later…
once the rain stopped I put it on the bird feeder pole…
I didn’t pin the bottom down as I read that this wasn’t required…
we will see if it keeps the squirrels from getting to the feeder…
11 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
on Sunday night I slept for 8 hours…
now that the Olympics are over I can turn the tv off at night and get a great sleep…
well, I could have turned it off during the Olympics, but that just wasn’t in the cards, lol… I would slide in and out of sleep to watch whatever might be getting the announcer excited…
retirement has certainly made watching middle of the night events easier…
8 hours;-)… woohoo…
04 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in food, garden, health, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
basil, big girl pants, blessed, food, garden, grape tomatoes, happy, moments, nature, pearls, plants, widow
very excited to gather some of the ripe cherry tomatoes to add to my lunch…
also picked basil to go along with the bocconcini pearls that have been waiting in the fridge…
a delicious fresh lunch;-)…
03 Tuesday Aug 2021
Posted in garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, critters, dragonfly, dry, garden, happy, moments, nature, pond, struggle, widow
was watering the plants when I spotted movement in the pond…
when I looked more closely, I realized that a dragonfly was struggling in the water…
I was able to get it out of the water and set it down where it could dry out…
it wasn’t moving so I thought that it took too long to lift it out…
I checked on it a few times and it was very still…
later I went over, and happily, it had flown away;-)…
yay;-)…
02 Monday Aug 2021
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fun times, garden, grandson, happy, hot tub, lifesaver, memories, moments, photos, remembering, treat, water, widow
came across this photo yesterday… it is one of my all time favourites…
it was taken twenty years ago (so it isn’t quite as crisp as I would like) in a rented hot tub in our yard…
for a few years we would rent a hot tub for our anniversary weekend… it was such fun and a wonderful treat… so lucky to now have my own hot tub to use whenever I want;-)…
the lifesaver is so cute and his little face is adorable;-)…
our grandson just loved it then, and he still enjoys using hot tubs…
makes me smile to remember special times…
01 Sunday Aug 2021
Tags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, everyday, family, garden, George, hands, happy, health, memories, moments, morning glories, pond, purple, remembering, widow
the Olympics have been a distraction as this day has come closer – what would have been our 51st wedding anniversary…
I’ve spent the day thinking of some moments with my beloved…
the everyday things: changing up the configuration of the ponds; working in the garden as it changed over the years; caring for his lawn, trimming the Virginia creeper, fixing whatever needed attention; making the world’s best French fries, fried egg sandwiches and salads; driving the girls and I everywhere; reading and playing with our grandsons; cleaning the garage, packing the car, barbecuing; the strength of his hands that could wring out a cloth so it was dry, massage a sore neck, scrub a pot perfectly clean, and gently hold my hand when we were out walking…
so many little things…
I’ve been remembering our 40th anniversary… I was in the hospital for an extended period of time and he came every day and brought me pictures he had taken of whatever morning glories had opened on that particular day… I took this photo just yesterday…
he also sent me a basket filled with 40 roses… each night they had to be moved into the hall because their scent was so strong I couldn’t sleep with them in the room, lol…
a friend recently lost his partner and has decided to refer to their anniversary as the first celebration of their 41 years together… what a lovely way to describe it…
today I am also enjoying the sentiment of this beautiful card which I recently received in the mail…
what a blessed life I have lived;-)…
28 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, cucumber, flowers, food, garden, growing, happy, moments, nature, plants, prickly, sweep, weather, widow
this is the first time I have planted/grown cucumbers and I’ve been surprised at how prickly they are…
the cucumber plants had a ton of flowers on them, but no actual cucumbers…
I read online that I should take a broom and sweep over them… this is supposed to help with pollination…
I decided to give it a try the other day… found one of my beloved’s brushes and brushed over as many of the flowers as I could… that was on Saturday…
today, this is what I spotted… plus two others…
not sure if it was the brushing or whether I just had to wait a bit longer, lol…
but I am absolutely thrilled…
26 Monday Jul 2021
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, breakfast, early, food, fun, garden, happy, memories, moments, Olympics, overkill, remembering, retirement, sports, streaming, Technology, weather, widow
I love the Olympics and have watched them for years… I remember a trip we took once and how we had to have access to TVs at the end of each day so that I could keep up with what was happening, lol…
I like to watch in real time so that means reorganizing my sleep schedule to get the best results…
for these ones I couldn’t decide how I felt about them going ahead this year… but now they are happening, I am in… I usually get a Canada Day t-shirt and had purchased one a while ago, but on July 1st I decided not to wear it… as the games began, I put it on;-)…
on Friday I was up at 5:30 am to watch the opening ceremony and ordered McDonald’s for breakfast so I didn’t have to stop watching to make something…
at one point during the first day I was switching between tv channels and streaming on my phone at the same time and I considered turning on the laptop as well… in the end I decided the laptop would be overkill…
I have slowed down slightly… apparently I need a bit more sleep these days…
the great thing about streaming is that I can watch some of the sports that I enjoy most but which don’t always get shown on tv…
the surfing, gymnastics and dressage have been lovely to watch, even if not exactly as they happened…
I’ve even taken the laptop out into the garden so that I can enjoy the weather and not miss anything, lol…
so happy to be able to watch whenever and wherever… retirement is a lovely thing;-)…
21 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
aquarium, babies, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, happy, lilies, moments, nature, overwinter, pictures, plants, pond, shubunkins, watching, water, widow
was very surprised to see a water lily flower in the pond a few days ago…
I’d been watching for buds, but hadn’t spotted any… these two lilies had overwintered in the aquarium so I wasn’t sure how they would do, which made it even more thrilling…
I took many, many pictures trying to get just the right one… it is difficult to take one that shows the yellow in the centre of the flower correctly…
eventually, I put down a cushion and laid on it taking pictures and then watching the fish…
the waterfall has been off for a few days and they seem to come out from under the bridge more often…
I must have laid there for half an hour watching to see if I could spot the babies…
so far, I’ve seen two shubunkins (the multi-coloured ones) and at least two goldfish… the goldfish (yellow) are hard to spot as they look black… I tried to get pictures but they hide really well and are also very quick…
but what a fun time watching…
15 Thursday Jul 2021
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fun, grandson, happy, horse, memories, moments, motorcycle, purple, remembering, ride, widow
yesterday I went for a short motorcycle ride with my grandson…
he got his licence last summer, but just recently passed the test which meant he could have a rider behind him…
not too long ago he said he would give me a ride, after he practiced a bit more with friends…
today he dropped by and told me to put on jeans and a jacket so we could go for the ride…
I had a bit of trouble getting up behind him… the backseat is much higher that the one on the motorcycle I rode on when I was sixteen, lol…
the funny part is that the young man I was going out with at the time, and who had the motorcycle, lived down the very street I currently reside on…
took a few minutes to get up… felt a bit like getting onto a horse, and I was worried I would pull him over if I held onto him tightly…
eventually I made it and off we went… it was a short ride and it felt like he was speeding like crazy, but at most he was doing 55…
I am pretty sure my thighs are going to be aching because I was gripping the sides of the bike hard, lol…
maybe we will do it again… I think it was fun;-)…
herbiggirlpants 