30 Friday Jul 2021
Posted in life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
anthurium, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, gift, memories, moments, nature, plants, plastic, purple, widow
I’ve been so focussed on the garden I forgot to share the excitement in the dining room…
this anthurium, which I received as a birthday gift five years ago, flowered once last year after not blooming for four years…
on July 7th I spotted this new bloom;-)…
now it is open and beautiful… although it looks like plastic, lol… once open it lasts for ages…
nature truly is amazing…
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;-)…
24 Saturday Jul 2021
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Facebook, family, forty-two, health, hospital, memories, moments, octopus, recovery, rowing, surgery, Technology, widow
Facebook brought up some interesting memories on this day from the last number of years…
eleven years ago it was a mention of spending the night at the hospital and having a procedure the following day… it doesn’t say that would be the first of forty–two days that I spent in that same hospital…
ten years ago we were in Courtenay, BC learning how to cook octopus, as we gathered fresh shrimp for our supper…
nine years ago, I was home recovering from a big surgery unable to lift even a couple of pounds, with a friend staying over to look after me;-)…
four years ago, I was watching my grandson participate in his first rowing competition…
quite the variety, lol…
17 Saturday Jul 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
bated, big girl pants, blessed, breath, butterflies, eggs, flowers, garden, memories, moments, monarchs, nature, plants, purple, weather, widow
I’ve been watching the monarchs fly around the garden for the last while…
I sit with bated breath, hoping they will find the rather puny milkweed supply… and occasionally they do find it…
I’ve moved the planter, with the milkweed, and a very fast growing morning glory in it, so I can watch from my favourite spot by the pond…
now there are a few eggs on it to watch;-)…
they have even found the butterfly bush…
I have had so many opportunities to remember how blessed I am as I sit and enjoy the nature around me…
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;-)…
14 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in food, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beach, big girl pants, blessed, food, friends, health, memories, moments, nature, remembering, restored, sand, sunrise, time, treats, vacation, water, widow
I spent five glorious days with friends’ at their beach cottage…
the first thing I always do is jump out of the car and run down to be sure the beach and lake are still there, lol…
what a wonderful time it was… delicious food (that I didn’t have to prepare); wonderful conversations, stories, and laughter; listening to birds and the waves; lots of time on the beach and in the water; relaxing, reading and sleeping…
what more could you ask for;-)… I am restored…
such a gift…
06 Tuesday Jul 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, bloom, buds, flowers, garden, hardened, hibiscus, leaves, memories, moments, nature, plants, red, remembering, sunburn, weather, widow
my hibiscus only bloomed one time over the winter… usually it blooms at least twice…
I have had this one for at least three years and usually it loses its leaves when it comes into the house in the fall, and when it comes back into the garden in the spring…
this year I hardened it off and then put an umbrella over it so it wouldn’t get a sunburn…
it didn’t lose many leaves, but it also didn’t look like it was getting any buds…
a week or so ago, I spotted a few just starting…
yesterday, I spotted something red when I looked outside and there they were… the first two flowers…
yay… and there are lots more getting ready;-)…
24 Thursday Jun 2021
Posted in family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, disintegrate, family, flowers, garden, lazy, memories, moments, nature, plants, purple, turntable, widow
we’ve had a turntable on the table on the deck for at least twenty years…
the rolling piece finally disintegrated over the winter… my grandson found a different replacement part for it and it looks and works perfectly…
I also had him pick up an old Bundt pan… with help from the neighbour we cut out a slightly bigger hole in the centre and a young friend painted it for me…
while Hilda the Gardener was here the other day, she planted it and then I put it on the table…
it looks great and I can’t wait to see it filled out…
22 Tuesday Jun 2021
Tags
. soup, big girl pants, blessed, curry, family, flavours, food, lunch, memories, mom, moments, scent, widow
today, as I was eating my cauliflower soup for lunch, I was thinking about my mom…
she loved curry… at that time it was not one of my favourites, but yesterday I popped some into the soup…
tasted pretty good and the smell certainly brought back memories of times with her;-)…
21 Monday Jun 2021
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, difficult, family, Father's Day, guy, happy, love, memories, moments, remembering, widow
I’ve been thinking of many special Father’s Days and missing this great guy…
interesting how difficult holidays can be sometimes… used to be such a wonderful time… pleased that most years I am able to focus on the special times that have taken place…
still happy that the day is over…
herbiggirlpants 