Sunday, a friend, her husband and daughter came over for lunch… the garden looked beautiful and we had a lovely visit…
lunch was a delightful collection of goodies from Pho Hoang… everything was tasty…
on Monday morning I had an early meeting in the garden and the rain held off just long enough for us to finish…
Tuesday morning, when I woke up after the storm in the night, I discovered that the hibiscus and dahlia planters were both tipped over from the strong wind… when I looked at the neighbour’s yard I discovered a large branch had fallen right next to their house… thankfully, nothing was damaged…
Wednesday morning a friend stopped by and we had a great catch-up…
in the evening my grandson came for his birthday dinner… delicious steak, lobster, mushrooms and twice-stuffed potatoes were on the menu…
once again, great timing… as we were cleaning up the sky turned very dark… we just got all the cushions inside when the wind and rain arrived…
the Olympics have been a distraction as this day has come closer – what would have been our 51st wedding anniversary…
I’ve spent the day thinking of some moments with my beloved…
the everyday things: changing up the configuration of the ponds; working in the garden as it changed over the years; caring for his lawn, trimming the Virginia creeper, fixing whatever needed attention; making the world’s best French fries, fried egg sandwiches and salads; driving the girls and I everywhere; reading and playing with our grandsons; cleaning the garage, packing the car, barbecuing; the strength of his hands that could wring out a cloth so it was dry, massage a sore neck, scrub a pot perfectly clean, and gently hold my hand when we were out walking…
so many little things…
I’ve been remembering our 40th anniversary… I was in the hospital for an extended period of time and he came every day and brought me pictures he had taken of whatever morning glories had opened on that particular day… I took this photo just yesterday…
he also sent me a basket filled with 40 roses… each night they had to be moved into the hall because their scent was so strong I couldn’t sleep with them in the room, lol…
a friend recently lost his partner and has decided to refer to their anniversary as the first celebration of their 41 years together… what a lovely way to describe it…
today I am also enjoying the sentiment of this beautiful card which I recently received in the mail…
for some reason I do not like hosta flowers, even though they are purple… odd, because I like the plants…
I got my pail, gloves and pruners and tidied up each of the hostas that had flowers hanging over them… the most difficult was the one behind the waterfall… it is a bit tight in that corner and I didn’t want to fall into the pond again, lol… they look so much tidier now…
I moved a couple of impatiens from a spot where they weren’t visible into a pot that the squirrels had dug up and destroyed a plant… I also repotted a dahlia corm that was in a pot and hadn’t done anything…maybe it was planted too deep… if it doesn’t peek through in the next week I will put something else in the pot…
been wishing that I didn’t have to climb behind the planter every time I need to turn the waterfall on and off…
I decided to look online to see if there was something I could use outside to control the plug…
I was so excited to find a KASA TP-Link outdoor plug… KASA is part of my Google Home system, and the plug was reasonably priced…
my grandson picked it up for me and it was easy to add to my Google Home… well, he added it, lol… I can even add another item to the plug as it has two outlets…
this is going to make dealing with the waterfall so much easier, and I’ve been having fun turning it on and off;-)…
hot and partly overcast today, but not nearly as smokey…
and lots of activity in the garden…
must have counted six squirrels at one time and took a few pictures of different ones eating… none of the gray squirrels wanted to have their photos taken, lol…
there was also a great deal of bird action… dozens of house sparrows, numerous finches and chickadees, as well as at least one nuthatch…
such a wonderful way to spend the day;-)…
the water lily bloom continues to open with the light and close as the evening arrives…
was very surprised to see a water lily flower in the pond a few days ago…
I’d been watching for buds, but hadn’t spotted any… these two lilies had overwintered in the aquarium so I wasn’t sure how they would do, which made it even more thrilling…
I took many, many pictures trying to get just the right one… it is difficult to take one that shows the yellow in the centre of the flower correctly…
eventually, I put down a cushion and laid on it taking pictures and then watching the fish…
the waterfall has been off for a few days and they seem to come out from under the bridge more often…
I must have laid there for half an hour watching to see if I could spot the babies…
so far, I’ve seen two shubunkins (the multi-coloured ones) and at least two goldfish… the goldfish (yellow) are hard to spot as they look black… I tried to get pictures but they hide really well and are also very quick…
herbiggirlpants 