instead of putting out the big air mattress, I brought up the lounge chair, put two cushions on it, brought out a quilt, a throw and a pillow and settled down for the night…
the space station was going to be visible at 3:22 a.m. so it seemed like a good idea;-)…
I did wake up around 3, but the sky was covered in clouds so I went back to sleep and when I woke up this morning it was clear again…
as I lay there I could feel the squirrels running over the deck beside me, lol…
up early, put out all the cushions and had my breakfast in the garden… lots of visits from the house finch couple and the chickadees…
went into the pond to clean the pump and filled half a pail with string algae… waterfall is looking better now and the flow is much stronger…
then a good friend came over for a garden visit and we had a lovely time… the garden is looking nice and there are still five or six caterpillars to search out on the milkweed…
she had just left when the lawnmowingservice (the middle grandson) arrived… we had a visit before he started and just as he was done the chauffeur (oldest grandson) arrived with a new umbrella which will provide shade in the afternoon sun… we couldn’t put it up as we are waiting for the base to arrive…
then, before I knew it, they were all gone and I was back in the peace and quiet;-)…
lots of reading and nature watching for the rest of the day…
as I still had to plant the last few alyssum and couldn’t find a container I liked, I decided to brave the shed and choose something from in there… it is a mess and needs someone to clean and tidy it up and that would have been something he would have done, likely tossing things I thought we should keep and keeping things I thought were junk, lol…
anyway, I moved the recycling bin and opened the door… it seemed to catch on the Virginia creeper, which needs to be trimmed, and I was waving the vines away from my head when I heard lots of buzzing… and as I looked up I spotted many wasps flying around my head… I stepped back and saw a softball sized nest on the inside of the door…
lucky for me, I wasn’t stung… yikes…
my beloved would have sorted that nest out no problem… I found spray in the house, consulted with my son-in-law on the best time to use it, but can’t yet as it is too windy… guess that door is going to stay open until tomorrow, lol…
I moved away and found a container in the garage and finished the last bit of planting…
for my lunch I had leftover pork and beans and because it was so hot, ate them cold… he often ate them that way… the other way he liked them was warmed up with a fried egg on top, euuuwwww…
many years ago, when the girls were little, I started the tradition of singing happy birthday to them, the number of times as they were old… so if you were ten, you would get happy birthday sung to you ten times…
might have been a mistake, because they still expect that even when they are turning big numbers, lol… and they still ask for it…
last night I set an alarm for this morning so I could sing before the birthday boy headed to work, lol…
this past year, I have sent emails and texts with pictures and just a few calls…
might not have been my most brilliant idea, lol… but it has been fun…
just after my friend left yesterday a monarch butterfly flew through the garden and spotted the milkweed… it landed on it a number of times… I was thrilled…
it flitted all around the space as well as flying over the house and into the neighbour’s yard…
I sat and watched for the longest time… at one point I squished the oranges on the deck so the juice might be appealing, but no luck…
after looking closely at my photos, it looks quite beaten up…
in the evening, I spotted some eggs on the milkweed… I am reminded of the year that I got some wonderful pictures of the caterpillar to butterfly stages…
so very excited… can hardly wait to see if we get caterpillars;-)…
this morning I was up and about fairly early so that I could get the garden ready for a visit with a friend…
I’ve been quite lazy lately and have only put out a few chair cushions rather than all of them, but today I brought all of them out, including a few decorative ones that have been living on the couch, lol…
the garden looked great, freshly mowed and whipper snipped…
the veronica is blooming and the bees are all over it… the daisies are mostly open and the dahlias have buds on them… the lobelia is thinking of trailing and alyssum is growing nicely and starting to scent the air…
baskets are doing well and both ponds are flowing beautifully…
on warm days, visits need to happen before noon as there is little shade for the remainder of the afternoon…
the weather was perfect and finches and squirrels dropped by… we had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely;-)…
so nice to spend time with friends… going to organize some more of that;-)…
after the busy day yesterday with the boys here, today I spent a fabulous time in the garden…
the grass is beautifully manicured and the sound is quite wonderful… the waterfall looks great and I am so happy to have it running at full capacity again thanks to my son-in-law… even the rocks have been placed perfectly to cover the new pump…
the pump in the bathtub pond looks and sounds lovely as well… it was a little cool but the wind wasn’t blowing so it felt calm…
to top things off, a house finch couple stopped by for lunch…
because I am not leaving the house, this time in the garden is even more special and I am enjoyed reading and listening to the sounds in the garden…
I’ve been thinking a lot about all those who are missing that special person… the one who fits as the father figure… whether a father, husband, brother, son…
it is over eight years since I lost my beloved… you’d think that enough time had passed that it wouldn’t be hard, but today is hard… time doesn’t matter…
this picture popped out in my photos the last week… I’ve been going back to it ever since, lol…
he had many of the same traits as my dad… honest, accepting, caring, hard working, supportive, kind, generous…
good traits for everyone;-)…
if you know someone who has lost their special person, check in with them;-)…
I really enjoy technology and am always on the lookout for new ways to do things…
for a few years I’ve been adding smart technology to the house piece by piece and that has been a fun and learning experience…
I often check out new apps for my phone and currently have done research into using video conferencing and computer programs…
a few days ago, I discovered, completely by accident, that if I swipe left on my lock screen it takes me to my camera… very funny…
on my lock screen there is a small camera icon, which I have clicked on from the beginning…
reminded me of the line “you don’t know what you don’t know”… when I worked I would spend time with each person on staff as they worked at their computer… I would often learn some tip or trick that they used and assumed everyone else already knew, but didn’t…