05 Monday Jan 2026
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, crochet, dishcloths, hook, imperfect, learning, moments, purple, Technology, widow
I ordered and received a skein of cotton and a fancy crochet hook last week…
since then I’ve tried to make a circle or square without success…
the plan is to make dishcloths for the kitchen, lol…
now I am making straight rows and hoping that will work… the good news is they don’t need to be perfect 🤩…
24 Thursday Jul 2025
Posted in business, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cacao, fruit, gardener, learning, mango, moments, nature, plants, tropical biome, widow
had fun in the Tropical Biome today checking on all the fruit…
saw cacao pods just beginning to grow…
also spotted jackfruit, star fruit, two bunches of bananas, and many breadfruit…
also spotted flowers on the mango, but a gardener advised the tree is too young to produce fruit, so likely they will die off…
I learn something new every time I am in the space;-)…
17 Thursday Jul 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
APC, big girl pants, blessed, koi, learning, moments, nature, pond, professionals, The Leaf, tropical biome, water, widow
had a lovely few minutes in the Tropical Biome watching one of the animal care professionals feeding the koi ;-)…
they check on the fish a few times each day to feed, as well as count, them and do a quick overview to make sure they are all doing well…
it is always great to spend a few minutes and learn something new at each opportunity;-)…
20 Friday Jun 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Ambassador, APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, Conservatory, feet, heavy horses, learning, mentors, moments, nature, The Leaf, volunteer part 2, volunteers, weather, widow, zoo
once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…
the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…
I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…
and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…
the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…
part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…
I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…
my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…
it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…
then we practised in three different areas…
I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…
so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…
I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…
say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…
18 Wednesday Jun 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, learning, moments, nature, orientation, process, Technology, The Leaf, volunteer part 1, widow, zoo
for quite some time my family have been encouraging me to volunteer at The Leaf…
I considered it and eventually decided to apply… the application process begins in March and starts with an online form… I still find it difficult to talk about my qualities…
after a few weeks I was invited to register for an in-person meeting, which I did… I got a message two days before the actual meeting time saying they were expecting me that morning, about 40 minutes from when the email arrived… yikes… thankfully I called and was told the email was an error and my appointment was when I expected… took a few moments for my heart to settle down, lol…
I arrived for the meeting right on time and had a lovely half hour with a volunteer who shared information and also asked a few questions… it was interesting to learn about some of the opportunities that are available…
next was an email with four modules to review and then register for an in-person orientation…
the four online modules were informative and straightforward and once they were completed, I signed up for a three-hour orientation to take place somewhere at APC…
the first one was cancelled due to illness, so I ended up at one a few weeks later… we met in one of the zoo camp classrooms…
there were twenty of us in the class and we learned together in small and large groups… it was a great opportunity to meet with others who wanted to help out as volunteers…
after nine more hours of training, I will be an APC volunteer…
part 2 to come;-)…
06 Thursday Feb 2025
Posted in health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, friends, happy, learning, moments, pistachios, platforms, social media, Technology, visit, widow
had a great time preparing for a visit from a dear friend…
dug out some shortbread from the freezer, a few Russian Mints… and put out the pistachios in their special dish, which hasn’t been out since before covid…
we had a lovely visit and even did some learning with one of our social media platforms…
always fun to learn something new, and spend time with important people in my life;-)…
23 Thursday Jan 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
app, big girl pants, blessed, family, handy, learning, moments, nature, ride, snow, Technology, Uber, weather, widow
had my first Uber rides in Winnipeg…
went from home to Total Wrapture spa for pedicures, then on to San Vito for lunch, followed by a return trip home from Foodfare…
it was the perfect day for it as it was very cold, snowy, and windy…
one of the vehicles had automatic sliding doors, which was kind of fun…
after being trained in the process of ordering the ride, and other information on the app, I tried to sign up for it, but it was using my old email address, so we have to get that sorted out and then I will try it on my own…
a great experience, particularly with how quickly they pick you up after contacting them…
30 Friday Aug 2024
Posted in life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, boccia, Gem, learning, moments, Paralympics, Technology, widow
I’ve been watching the Paralympics and enjoying every sport I’ve seen…
so far I’ve watched the opening ceremony, swimming, running, and rowing, learned about Boccia and wheelchair rugby, and look forward to learning more about other sports as the events go on…
this time there are way more hours of programming, which makes me very happy…
see you later, lol…
03 Saturday Aug 2024
Posted in health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, casting, learning, live, moments, night, Olympics, Technology, tv, widow
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the bedroom, lol…
during the Olympics I try to watch as many live events as possible… so this year that means quite a lot of middle of the night viewing…
and, if what is on isn’t one of my favourites, I cast shows to the tv… currently that only happens on the bedroom tv…
I do love casting… particularly as I’ve finally figured out how to do it easily, lol…
I’ve been able to watch surfing, sailing, equestrian, rowing, and trampoline that way…
I am sure I could win a medal if watching the Olympics was a sport🤪…
18 Thursday Jan 2024
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, first time, Fleur de Villes, friends, Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, learning, lunch, memories, moments, nature, plants, restaurant, The Leaf, treat, tropical biome, voyages, weather, widow
Monday I had another wonderful visit to see Voyages by Fleurs de Ville at The Leaf…
it was a treat to share this special place with friends, some of whom hadn’t been before…
every time I am there I see something different or learn something from the gardeners or volunteers… we had searched all over for the name of this flower/plant…
this trip I learned that this gorgeous flower is a heliconia, thanks to one of the gardeners;-)…
we wandered through the Tropical Biome and then enjoyed the Voyages exhibit in the Mediterranean Biome…
seeing the displays in person is so very different than looking at photos…
this time I chose a different favourite display, lol… I loved the sweetgrass hair and the birch bark bodice…
it was nice to see so many people enjoying the exhibition and learning about The Leaf…
from there we moved into Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar for a lovely lunch to celebrate a birthday…
what a wonderful way to enjoy a freezing cold day… it is always a treat to spend time together and make memories;-)…
herbiggirlpants 