Tag Archives: pond

birthday…

07 Sunday Aug 2016

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quiet morning watching Olympics… just as well as I wasn’t feeling too great…

drove to my daughter’s after lunch for the birthday party for the nearly 16 year old… 

getting much better at making the drive around the Perimeter… of course, it helps that it was bright and sunny… 


beautiful day and we were outside, which was great, because there were a lot of people there, probably around 30…

they were everywhere, visiting and playing… caught a group of friends and cousins playing a water bottle game in the garage… kept them entertained for easily forty-five minutes…


always a high point when the cake comes out… no candles, as requested by the birthday boy, but we did get to sing, lol… he cut the first piece… a tiramisu cake from Baked Expectations…


he looks like a man now, and some say he looks like George…

when I got home I added water to the pond and spotted a baby fish… will have to sit out and see if I can spot more of them…


lovely way to spend a Sunday…

sounds…

16 Saturday Jul 2016

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spent a very quiet day… well, I was quiet but not so much the air around me, lol…

the birds took turns in the garden… 

three crows were on the roof of the house for a long time this morning while chickadees flitted back and forth between the feeders and cedars… both of these groups were vying to be the loudest, couldn’t decide who won…

I was busy checking out the tomatoes…

the cherry tomato plant is dripping with fruit, although they haven’t started to turn colour just yet…

but the bigger ones are starting to change… woo hoo… soon there will be some yummy eating going on…

can hardly wait… then the chickadees and crows were gone…

a bit later the sparrows came to the garden… they ate at all three feeders, flitted from tree to tree, had drinks in the pond and baths by the waterfall…

the pond looks so great with the rocks and plants in just the right places…

love the purple flowers on this little plant that is floating in an island…

read, watched and listened to the visitors and the waterfall, ate and napped… even got in some time on the treadmill…

later in the afternoon the rain started and the sound of it hitting the windows was rather peaceful…

haven’t spoken a word today, but have done lots of listening;-)…

inside the datura…

company…

15 Friday Jul 2016

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had quite a bit of company today…

early morning meeting with my money guy…

then met my grandson for breakfast and we worked in the garden for a few hours…


he is getting to be a good gardener… finished putting the rocks around and in the pond so now none of the liner is visible…  we also lifted the deck to move the cords out of sight and he cleaned up the flower bed and put rocks down…

looks very nice… made red lentil curry and rice for our lunch which is one of his favourites…


the fushia was looking beautiful today…

after he left, spent some time reading in the garden and then had a nap…

the daddy dropped the little boys off after supper on his way to work…

we had a lovely time… they came with me to water a friend’s plants…


on our way home we stopped for Dairy Queen ice cream and once we arrived at the house, we walked over to the grocery store to pick up fixings for s’mores…

on our way back we stopped at the creek where we scattered grandpa’s ashes and then there was rolling down the hill activity…


got this great shot of the dahlias blooming in the front garden as we arrived home from the store… they look like a painting…


the boys played with balloons for at least an hour, on the deck and then in the hot tub…


everyone played on their electronics for a while and then we had a fire…


they were picked up by mom and I am now enjoying a few quiet minutes before heading to bed, lol…

we never did get to the s’mores but will do that on Sunday when they come for dinner…

it is such a treat to spend some one-on-one time with them…

appreciation…

14 Thursday Jul 2016

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on my way out of the house this morning I dug out my camera to take some pictures of the flowers that were blooming…

one of the hibiscus flowers was just opening…

the raindrops are so pretty on the blossoms… and there have been lots of raindrops recently…

the datura is very happy in its pot… one day the pot might make it to the front yard, lol…

today was Staff Appreciation Day… we came in a bit later than usual and were treated to a lovely breakfast…

then we had a great workshop on DISC, a personal assessment tool…

DiSC® is the leading personal assessment   tool used by over 1 million people every year to improve work productivity, teamwork and communication.

great to get more insight into how we can work more effectively as a team and learn a bit more about one another…

before heading out for lunch everyone got to choose a parcel and this is the one I chose…

the only one with a gift certificate to Thermea, woo hoo… I’ve been thinking about going for the last while, and now I will…

then we went to The MET for lunch on the patio, followed by the afternoon off…

returned home, turned the pump back on in the pond, and came into the house for a lovely nap…

feeling very nicely appreciated…

suckers…

08 Friday Jul 2016

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been an interesting day…

walked to the “A” for an early morning meet up with my walking buddy and my grandson…

after a great breakfast he walked here and she and I went to the Park for our usual walk through the gardens… had a lovely time together and we got to see the baby bunny again, although it has grown a bit…

I walked home and went out into the garden where my grandson was pulling weeds and was swarmed by wasps… only two bit me before we both dived into the house… it appears that a cantaloupe sized nest fell to the ground as I stepped onto the deck… after getting advice on a remedy we decided to work on the pond which was further away from the wasps…

my grandson did a great job… he removed the slate from one side of the pond and replaced it with fieldstone… 


then he used some of the slate to cover the pond liner completely… seeing it has been a pain…

he, like his father, and grandfather, likes to get right into the pond, lol… he was happily working away when he discovered a bloodsucker on his foot… 

at which point he got out and worked from the path…

but look what a spectacular job he did…


my beloved was absolutely the best when it came to putting the rocks in just the right spot and that knack seems to have been passed down… 

then we went in and caught the fish… well, with the help of my son-in-law, who arrived at just the right time, and with stuff to spray on the Yellowjackets’ nest…


after they left I put the fish into the pond…


they swam around, headed under the water hyacinth, and I haven’t seen them since…

after a nap friends came by, sprayed the wasp nest a bit more, and we went to their place for a Chinese food dinner… a wonderful treat…

pretty good way to spend a Friday…

outside…

07 Thursday Jul 2016

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seemed like the outside was front and centre today…

woke up early to a strange noise outside and when I went out to see what it was, discovered that the pond was nearly empty…


spent the next 45 minutes topping it up…

as I was backing down the driveway looked to my right and spotted this guy snacking on the neighbour’s lawn…


I must have sat there for five minutes watching… fun start to the day… I do love bunnies…

by the school, as I was waiting for the light to change, I watched a couple of kids waiting to cross the street going to the school… summer school, maybe…


as I drove up to the house at the end of the day I discovered this on my front step…


didn’t move while I went back to the car to get the phone to take a picture… sat there while I took out the garbage, recycling and yard waste… four trips back and forth… didn’t move…

finally sauntered off the step when I opened the door from the inside to see if there was any mail… apparently that carpet is cozy…

been watching the squirrels fight over the feeder for the last few hours… they are unable to share, so one tosses the other off every few minutes, lol… not clear to me if the same one is always the one left…

treasures…

27 Monday Jun 2016

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started the day with this beautiful orchid…


so lovely and perfect… a friend says it looks artificial…

on my way out to the car, got this great picture of the datura, which is opening up more every day…


this morning at work a colleague brought me this adorable purple African violet… what a wonderful way to start the week…


tonight a couple of my BS friends came over and we spent time in the hot tub… it was delightful…

while we visited, the goldfinch and his partner came and ate at the feeder right where we could watch… when he first arrived, he sang a song to his lady to come over…

a wonderful moment in time to treasure…

ended the evening sitting by the pond as the lights began to come on, writing my blog post…


didn’t make it till the post was finished because the mosquitoes chased me into the house…

landscape…

24 Friday Jun 2016

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up early, took a walk to the Park, and had breakfast and a walk through the Gardens with a friend…


arrived home about the same time as my grandson… we worked in the garden for hours…

mowed, dug, planted, weeded… ended up with a lot of yard waste…


ran out for lunch with my daughter and son-in-law and then back to work… pulled out tons of string algae from the pond…


then we tackled one of the front flower beds… we cut down just about everything… I have to pick up something to deal with the grass and next week we will put down landscape cloth and mulch…

put some of the pots in it to get them out of the way for now…


after he left and I’d done a bit more weeding, I took a break and got to spend a few minutes enjoying how much better the space looks…

excellent day…

story…

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

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just yesterday a colleague and I were discussing how best to look after orchids…

I was sharing the story of my IKEA orchid which I purchased in October… it bloomed until about a month ago and now a new stem is blooming…


I treat orchids like cut flowers… well, basically that’s how I deal with all plants…

I water them sparingly on Saturday… some people use an ice cube weekly to be sure they don’t overwater… my orchids have all liked being in the sun for a good portion of the day…

if they last longer than a bouquet that’s great, if not they get tossed…

way less stress and I am often pleasantly surprised when they last a long time… 

I have a bamboo which one of my daughter’s friends brought me when I had surgery in 2010… still going strong…

tonight I was sitting outside while the pond was filling and admiring the daisy explosion in the garden…


they are everywhere…

flowers inside and out… what a treat…

Veronica…

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

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arrived home, started dinner and checked out the garden while I was topping up the water in the pond… sadly it has a ton of string algae… going to have to put some peroxide in to see if that will get rid of it…

the Veronica blooms are taking over the garden… it looks wonderful…


got a nice close up…


these little white flowers are very happy but for the life of me I can’t remember their name…

and finally the daisies were blooming…


they are my older daughter’s favourite and I get to see her tomorrow so it was fun to see them…