09 Monday Mar 2020
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
had quite the giggle this morning…
last night I had rolled up the toothpaste container and then put a bulldog clip on it to keep the toothpaste closer to the top…
this morning when I unscrewed the cap, the toothpaste shot out… clearly there was a bit too much pressure, lol…
reminded me of how I always blamed my beloved for the messy toothpaste tube… amazingly, even after he was gone the tube sometimes gets messy;-)…
strange…
08 Sunday Mar 2020
Posted in business, life, moments, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, empowering, equal, Famous Five, flowers, friends, hands, International Women's Day, leader, matriarch, memories, mentor, moments, Ottawa, raise up, remembering, support, widow, women
I have been so impressed with the responses to International Women’s Day this year…
businesses and individuals have made concerted efforts to share information about the number of women in their organizations or focussed on amazing women they know or work with… watching women lifting up other women is so empowering… there is much to do, but a positive sign as we continue to raise one another up and work toward an equal world…
this has made me think of the women in my life who have been excellent role models, mentors and friends…
the matriarchs in my family: my great grandmother Josephine, my grandmother Violet, my mother Audrey… the women who have lived through life with me: Janice, Naomi, Marlene and Pat… those who I have spent time and learned from and with over twenty-five years as we studied and reimagined the church, religion and spirituality…
my neighbours: Ellen, Lorraine, BA and Lynn… the wide range of women I have worked with over the years who have demonstrated what it means to be a leader… the young women in my life who have taught me so much…
as I was searching for just the right photo I found these three… the first is hands working together… the second is from the Famous Five statue in Ottawa… the last portrays all of those who circle me with their knowledge, support and love…
Happy International Women’s Day…
05 Thursday Mar 2020
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, earbuds, eight, family, garden, George, loss, memories, moments, purple, snow, Technology, treat, widow
today commemorates eight years since my beloved left me… he walked with me longer than I walked alone before and since his death…
I miss him… every day and in every way… I have grown so much since that day… and continue to as I move forward…
I’ve been thinking of many of the fun things that we did during our forty-plus years together… from camping in tents and pop-up trailers, to zip lining and riding up a mountain in a chairlift (for 2 people afraid of heights)… from Grand Beach to Goose Spit… from gardening to bathroom renovations… from family meals on the deck to dimsum in restaurants…
this morning I received a parcel from the kids in Ottawa… 3 cute plants in a wooden box… a great addition to the forest, lol…
the outdoors looked stunning after a night of snow, but the delivery person had to make a path to get to the door…
also received some earbuds in the mail that I had ordered from our AirMiles account, so it was like a gift from my beloved… took me a while to figure out how to connect them…
made steak, potatoes and mushrooms for my dinner… he would have grilled it, but I cooked it in the oven, lol…
01 Sunday Mar 2020
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on bend…
Tags
bend, big girl pants, blessed, carnations, flowers, fun, happy, memories, moments, movement, purple, Safeway, tulips, widow, windy
part of the reason I shopped at Safeway yesterday was to be able to get some flowers… they almost always have something I like;-)…
I picked up tulips and a few carnations…
instead of making one arrangement, I divided them… one for the living room, one for the dining room, one for the bathroom and one for the bedroom…
the photos above were from yesterday… tulips move in their vase on a regular basis so they are fun to watch throughout the day…
so far today they have opened up and started to bend over in the light…
I’ve enjoyed watching them as I was reading, particularly as it was a bit overcast and very windy out today…
29 Saturday Feb 2020
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, happy, home, memories, mentor, moments, practice, purple, water, watercolour, widow
over the last week or so I’ve been collecting things so that I can do some watercolour painting…
yesterday I gathered up all the equipment and sat down to paint…
when I did some of this at Christmas in Ottawa it was more difficult than I’d imagined it would be…
here at home I think it was even more difficult without my daughter’s mentorship, lol…
it was a fun hour, although I need to practice more;-)…
28 Friday Feb 2020
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on address…
Tags
address, big girl pants, colleagues, iPhone, memories, moments, photos, retirement, selfies, Technology, widow, work
on my final day of work I took a selfie with each person on staff…
I’ve since used those photos to update their contact and address information in my phone…
at first I was cropping myself out of the pictures, but then I realized how nice it was to see us together;-)… so I’ve left them as I took them…
it is lovely when I am sending a text or email to see their faces;-)…
27 Thursday Feb 2020
Posted in food, health, life, moments, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on sort of…
Tags
adjust, big girl pants, blessed, cookbook, delicious, memories, moments, pancakes, potato pancakes, purple, recipes, Shrove Tuesday, sort of, widow
this week was Shrove Tuesday and I decided to make pancakes… I sort of followed my recipe, but cut it back by two-thirds and adapted the ingredients…
took the page from my new cookbook and stuck it up on the message board so I could read it easily…
as I’ve typed the recipes, for many of them I’ve added two sets of quantities so there is less likelihood of messing up the ingredients… I will redo this one with the smaller amount for next time, lol…
I used to make this recipe for the family and would take the last few tablespoons to mix with grated potatoes to make potato pancakes for me…
worked out well with the adjustments and they were delicious…
usually I’d use sour cream, but this time I used Greek yogurt and it worked well…
there were a few pancakes left for breakfast;-)…
26 Wednesday Feb 2020
Posted in life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
bevels, big girl pants, blessed, floor, light, Maui, memories, nature, purple, rainbows, remembering, sunshine, vacation, widow
recently I was checking out the rainbows on the kitchen floor… there has been lots of sun;-)…
thought they were coming through the patio door, but then I figured out they were coming from the back door window which has a number of bevels on it…
brought back memories of our time in Maui where there were rainbows all the time…
one day there were seven different rainbows within about an hour… it was amazing…
I do love rainbows…
25 Tuesday Feb 2020
Posted in family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, breakfast, family, memories, moments, relish, shopping, son-in-law, the "A", time, widow
had a lovely day…
my son-in-law arrived and we had breakfast at the “A” before we headed to Costco…
I really enjoy spending time with him and relish every moment… lots of great conversation as we talked about their upcoming vacation…
off to Costco where we picked up a few things and renewed my membership as well as used my annual refund towards paying the bill… this time when the renewal notice arrived, the cheque was on the first page, lol… last time it was on the second page and I didn’t see it… maybe I wasn’t the only one who didn’t see it…
I always appreciate when one of the kids come shopping with me… once we were back home, he helped put everything away and we had a cup of tea before he left to get his errands done…
19 Wednesday Feb 2020
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, birds, blessed, grandson, grateful, Japanese Maple, memories, moments, nature, orchid, rainbow, reminder, sunshine, widow
this morning my Seize the Day calendar reminded me to start each day with a grateful heart... it was a good reminder…
I am grateful for the birdseed in the feeders in the front and back yards… thanks to my middle grandson who filled them all on Saturday…
so far only the squirrel has found the one in the front, I had a quiet time watching for the birds through the window as I sat in the sunshine…
both birds and squirrels have found the one in the garden…
I am grateful for an early morning rainbow on the kitchen floor, new leaves on the Japanese Maple, and sunlight shining on orchids…
I am grateful for time to read, food to eat, a comfortable home to live in, and wonderful memories…
sometimes a reminder is just what’s needed…
