15 Wednesday Jan 2025
Posted in life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blossoms, ending, flowers, losing, moments, nature, orchid, plants, starting, widow
as the last couple of orchids are losing their final few flowers, I am watching four plants which have begun new buds…
two are quite a way along…
one is a bit further behind…
and the final one has just barely begun…
most of them are in the den, which is interesting, as I would have expected the ones in the front rooms to do better…
looking forward to the new flowers;-)…
24 Tuesday Dec 2024
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, display, family, lights, moments, nature, plants, poinsettias, Technology, The Leaf, widow, wreaths
made it to the most recent display at The Leaf…
we went around 7 so it was fairly dark in the Tropical Biome… a great time to go as there weren’t many visitors…
there were a few lit up flamingo topiaries and throughout the space there were lit signs about various birds…
there was also a cute Christmas tree made from individual plants…
the display in the Mediterranean Biome had lots of trees, lights, and poinsettias…
I also spotted a few amaryllis… some just starting to open, others in full bloom…
the trees were filled with ornamental birds and some birdhouses…
only spotted one of the seven succulent wreaths…
my plan is to go again in the daytime to see how it looks in the light;-)…
always a treat…
22 Sunday Dec 2024
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, blessed, bridge, cacao, cacao pods, cacao trees, favourite, happy, koi, moments, nature, plants, The Leaf, tropical biome, two, widow
I have two favourite spots in the Tropical Biome…
I always stop and visit with the cacao trees to see how they are doing, particularly as my daughter loves to visit them when she’s in town, lol…
and then there are the koi… standing on the bridge watching them swim around is such a joyful time for me…
they move much slower at night as many of them as sleeping, but I got a nice picture of this one… it is usually difficult to get good photos because of the light reflecting in the water so I was pleased with this one…
we are truly blessed to have this wonderful spot to visit all year round;-)…
10 Tuesday Dec 2024
Posted in business, family, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, hopeful, housemate, Japanese Maple, moments, nature, plants, solar lights, Technology, weather, widow, wrapping
I came up with the idea of wrapping my Japanese Maple with some solar lights…
so, my housemate lifted the plant onto the living room table and then I spent an hour walking in circles with the string of lights…
had to stop occasionally when I got a bit dizzy, lol…
it came out nicely, although I had to wait a day so that the power in the solar panel had a chance to charge…
I am hopeful that I can leave the lights on, even in the summer when the Maple moves outside;-)…
13 Wednesday Nov 2024
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dirt, fern, garden, lemon tree, mess-making, moments, nature, plants, pot, transplant, widow
Saturday’s project was to transplant the lemon tree and the fern…
had to run out to the garage to get gloves and into the basement for a pail and spoon, lol…
after a bit of digging and mess-making the two plants were in their new pots, trimmed, fertilized, and watered…
the fern was absolutely jammed into the pot and took quite a bit of work to get it thinned out, cut back and set into its new home…
it was much simpler to put the lemon tree into the larger pot and add some soil… it looks good;-)… I cannot remember when I started this, maybe this spring or last spring, lol…
hopefully they will both thrive…
06 Wednesday Nov 2024
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
almost-open, big girl pants, blessed, bloom, blossom, flowers, food, hibiscus, mandevilla, moments, nature, plants, surprise, treat, widow
in the process of moving the hibiscus and mandevilla, an almost-open bloom fell off…
the next morning I discovered that it was starting to open, even though it was laying in the dirt…
I grabbed it and put it in water and then spent the day watching as it opened and then began to close…
what a lovely treat…
I also found at least five buds on the plant… can hardly wait to see more flowers…
05 Tuesday Nov 2024
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, clinging, corms, dahlias, dirt, flowers, garden, moments, nature, paper bags, plants, tubers, weather, widow
brought the dahlia tubers up from the basement to finish putting them to bed for the winter…
I cleaned off the last of the dirt that was clinging to them, separated them by type, cut off miscellaneous bits, and divided them up…
once they were in paper bags, they went into a box to be stored in the basement and the leftover bits and dirt made their way to the garbage bin…
happy to get that job done and hopeful they will all start to grow come spring;-)…
03 Sunday Nov 2024
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, happy, hibiscus, light, mandevilla, moments, monstera, moves, nature, plants, switch, widow
moved a few plants around in the living and dining rooms…
the mandevilla made its way to the dining room…
and the hibiscus moved to the living room and it might still switch with the monstera…
it will be interesting to see if they will be happy in these new spots as the hibiscus has always lived in the dining room…
12 Saturday Oct 2024
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, digging, dry, flowers, garden, moments, nature, plants, varieties, weather, widow
finally got around to digging up the dahlias…
took some time because many of them were root bound and did not want to get out of the pots, lol…
I brought in a container with the three varieties in it…
they will sit and dry for a few days before I try to separate them before packaging in brown paper bags and putting away for the winter…
brought one last blossom in to enjoy;-)…
02 Wednesday Oct 2024
Posted in business, family, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, busy, cleaning, family, garden, gardening, grandson, lively, moments, moving, mudding and taping, plants, Technology, weather, widow
Wednesday was a lively day…
started off with an early breakfast and quick inspection of the house to make sure everything was tidy as the cleaners were coming at nine…
it was raining out when they arrived so I headed up to the computer room to get out of their way… while there I filed paperwork, put items in a pass-along box and tidied the desk… it always surprises me how that desk can get cluttered, all by itself, lol…
as they left, Hilda the Gardener arrived for a final cleanup of the garden… pots and planters were emptied in preparation for our next season, irises were planted around the garden, and the strawberry plant went back into the ground to overwinter…
while she was here, my grandson’s grandfather arrived to work a bit on the newly drywalled sections of the basement…
as they were working inside and outside, I began bringing in the plants that will live indoors during the next few seasons and setting them up in their winter locations…
this year I have set up a few grow lights in the spot where the small fish tank had been located… it will be an interesting experiment to see how they will do in this location…
so, the inside and outside of the house are both lovely, tidy, clean and organized…
then I had a nap;-)…
herbiggirlpants 