16 Friday Jun 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bloom, excitement, flowers, garden, moments, nature, pond, shock, sunshine, treat, water lilies, weather, widow
great excitement around here…
two water lilies are going to bloom at the same time… don’t think this has happened before;-)… what a treat…
this was one of them yesterday afternoon…
and this is how they both looked today…
I think if the sun had come out they might have both been completely open…
maybe tomorrow;-)…
14 Wednesday Jun 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
back lane, big girl pants, blessed, building, family, fence, garden, gates, goldfish, happy, interest, moments, neighbours, pond, tour, waterfall, widow
it has been fun watching neighbours check out the construction of the new back fence…
from stepping into the lane to see what was happening, to offering advice and tools to aid in the process, to checking out the ponds when they were easy to see without any obstacles in the way, to sweeping up some of the final debris…
I met a few that I hadn’t known before and enjoyed a tour of one of their gardens… wow, it certainly puts mine to shame, lol… flowers everywhere and dear little wooden items they build to add to the beauty of the garden…
it is quite amazing what can be found behind garden gates;-)…
13 Tuesday Jun 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, buds, flowers, garden, moments, nature, overwinter, plants, pond, shock, surprise, treat, water, water lilies, weather, widow
Saturday morning I was surprised and amazed to spot a water lily flower popping up in the pond…
the reason I am surprised is that this water lily was in the pond all winter…
when I closed up the pond in the fall, just before I put a tarp over it, I was only able to bring out two lilies… this one was so stuck in the bottom I couldn’t remove it…
when I uncovered everything this spring, before I put water in, it had already started to sprout a bit, but was purpley-red…
it stayed that colour for weeks and only recently turned green… some of the leaves still have the purple colour around the outside edges…
and there is a second bud now… two buds at once has never happened before;-)…
what a shock…
so this fall I am going to leave all of them in the pond and see what happens, lol…
04 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, forest, friends, further, garden, gardens, geese, moments, nature, pond, time, trees, walk, widow
met up with a friend and went for a walk at the Park… great to visit and catch-up;-)… and get some exercise at the same time…
need to get back to a regular routine of walking over and around the Gardens…
I may have gone just a bit further than I should have… one of my feet was just a touch irritated with me… but so wonderful to enjoy the Gardens…
22 Monday May 2023
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bridge, clean, fish, garden, goldfish, happy, moments, nature, pond, pump, water, widow
happy that the fish have finally decided to come out from under the bridge during the day;-)…
climbed into the pond as the pump that went into it last week was barely running…
after taking all the bits out, washed them in a pail, and then went back into the pond to return them…
when I turned it back on, it burbled just like when it first went in…
always careful when I go into the pond, but it also makes me happy;-)…
19 Friday May 2023
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bunny, burbling, garden, goldfinch, happy, home, moments, nature, pond, quiet, Technology, water, weather, widow
early Tuesday morning I was sitting on the back deck, listening to the burbling of the pond, as a bunny came right up next to me… we chatted, well I chatted and the bunny twitched its nose for a few minutes, before it hopped away… pleased that it felt comfortable as I sat there reading quietly… well, maybe it didn’t notice me, lol…
reminded me of how truly blessed I am… and what a wonderful life I lead…that I can sit in the sunshine and shade in my garden and enjoy the nature around me – the birds, and squirrels, and bunnies, and bees – every day that I want…
and while I was there, to hear about the ducklings that hatched yesterday, and today crossed a busy street with their momma, (protected by two different people families) in Ottawa to find a swimming pool to start the next portion of their journey…
later in the day I stood up from a chair on the upper deck and spotted a goldfinch at the feeder… it flitted about nervously for a few moments and then, when it felt safe, called its partner to come and eat… they were happy for a while, until a squirrel came and chased them away…
if I hadn’t stood up at just that moment I would have missed them… a lovely treat…
made chicken soup from the leftovers of Sunday’s dinner and tested out a few new purchases which arrived at the door…
nice…
17 Wednesday May 2023
Posted in business, garden, health, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, friends, garden, gather, Lily Stone Cafe, memories, moments, nature, pond, reminisced, summer, sun-tea, Tea, together, widow
Monday was our group’s first gathering in the garden this year…
we started out by the pond and when it got too hot and sunny, we moved to the upper deck… I am going to put out a few more umbrellas next time…
there was sun-tea, snacks and lots of conversation… I didn’t take a single picture, not even of the garden, lol… I did find this one of the five of us after our fancy tea…
we reminisced about our fabulous High Tea at Lily Stone Cafe the week before and began considering where we might go next;-)…
one of the loveliest things that has happened over the last few years is that we have been able to meet throughout the summer… for many years, everyone would have places to go and things to do, so we wouldn’t gather from July until September… now it has worked out that we are able to be together for most weeks of summer…
what a treat these women are…
16 Tuesday May 2023
Posted in business, family, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, connections, cushions, deck, family, fence, fish, food, friends, garden, meals, Merlin App, moments, most, nature, neighbours, pond, sound, sparrows, Technology, time, weather, widow
Sunday, spent the entire day in the garden… it was warm and sunny…
set out all the chair cushions and even brought out the decorative ones…
then, most of the fish came outside… a few just wouldn’t be caught, lol… apparently a project for another day…
tea, reading, and bird watching took up a good part of the day… I am loving the sound portion of my Merlin App… it has come in especially helpful for me to identify the many sparrows that come and go…
White-Crowned, White-Throated, Harris’s, Song, and Chipping Sparrows have all been around for the last week or so…
checked out the fence with the little person and his daddy on one side, as I contemplate the style of the new fence that is in the works, and had tea and snacks with the ones on the other side… they enjoy sitting by the pond and the sound of the running water…
ate all my meals on the deck, breakfast and lunch on the back, and supper on the upper…
phone calls, emails, in-person visits, and text messages came throughout the day…
truly, I am blessed;-)…
14 Sunday May 2023
Posted in business, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, clean-up, condo, cushions, garden, goldfish, happy, Hilda the Gardener, moments, nature, pond, water lilies, widow, working
Friday was a great day in the garden…
first time this year I took the time to put out all the cushions… and then Hilda the Gardener arrived and began cleaning up the space… yay…
while she was working away, I climbed into the pond to reset the second pump and cover the cords…
next I brought out the water lilies from the tanks in the house and set them in the pond…
finally I caught and put three goldfish into the pond to see how they fared… maybe next week the rest will move out of the condo…
all in all a great day…
03 Wednesday May 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
begun, big girl pants, blessed, garden, happy, moments, nature, photos, pond, pump, reading, Spring, sunshine, tarp, tarpaulin, water, wet-vac, widow
spent Tuesday in the garden… the first part on the deck reading in the sunshine…
there was no wind, so I was able to flatten out and fold up the tarpaulin…
then I moved to the back deck and did a bit of reading before starting to remove the last of the leaves and water from the pond with the wet vac… it took a number of trips to get it done… but, I did it, yay…
next, I found the hose, hooked it up and started the water running… finally I hooked up the pump and finished filling it…
so happy when the waterfall started up… worth all the work…
what a treat to sit, watch and listen to the sound;-)…
garden season has begun…
herbiggirlpants 