Tag Archives: pond

evaporation…

17 Tuesday May 2016

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tonight I found some tadpoles in the pond after I finished filling it up…


very exciting because we were worried that they had just vanished… guess the fish will be staying in the condo a bit longer as we wait for frogs to be big enough not to be eaten by them, lol…

took nearly an hour to fill the pond up, which shows how low it was…


I’m starting to think that maybe it really is evaporation and the wide waterfall that is leading to the water loss…

tonight as I was working around the garden I was missing my beloved a great deal…


maybe it is Spring, not sure really… continue to feel lonely these days…

walked a few blocks on my way home and came across these lilacs which are just starting to open… brought back memories of our oldest daughter’s wedding… she loves lilacs…


looking forward to the delicious smell in the next week or so, as there are a number of lilac bushes close by…

a beautiful day with a few opportunities to spend time outside… hoping that the warmer weather stays around…

it has been so cold that I turned the heat back on in the bathroom floor…


not going to turn it off for a while…

dumplings…

08 Sunday May 2016

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up early and had a hot tub… a red squirrel came to the feeder as well as this cute little sparrow…

 

went to Rona and got $56 back from when I bought the power washer, as it had gone on sale… woo hoo…

so then I picked up a gardenia standard and three mini roses, lol…


think all of these will go into the planter at the front door… once the risk of frost is over…

saw this Canada goose as I was leaving Rona…


headed downtown to meet the kids, my sister-in-law, and two nephews for dimsum… great meal and visit…

once home, put out the cushions, had a nap and sat out in the garden… looking forward to finishing the pond remodel now that we have all of the needed rocks…


sunny and warm, with very little wind…

had a few phones calls with my Ottawa kids and made chicken and dumplings for dinner… got the dumpling recipe right this time but not sure how I feel about the whole wheat flour… may go back to white flour and just not have as many… no point making them if they don’t taste good… using almond milk instead of 2% but that doesn’t seem to affect the taste…

was a bit odd not to have supper with the kids but soccer has put Sunday dinner on hold for the next while…

hot…

05 Thursday May 2016

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just spent half an hour sitting on the deck reading… while I was there the delicious scent of the the apricot tree down the lane kept wafting over me… some years it has barely any, but this year it is filled with blooms…

  
the temperature at 8 pm was 30 Celsius…

  
crazy hot day… 

went for a walk around 2 and took this shot of one section of the pond by the Millennium Library …

  
was hoping there might be some ducks, but not so far…

happily my knee is feeling a bit better…

going to be hot for sleeping…

gardens…

01 Sunday May 2016

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always great fun to turn my beautiful Chihuly calendar from one month to the next…

  

these orbs make me very happy… remind me of the lovely purple ones that the kids gave me for Mother’s Day…

  

still have to put a bit of water in them and then silicone the small hole in each one so they will float… also think I might join the three of them together with some fishing line through the silicone…

had a decadent lunch… hard to believe that a chicken sandwich on flax bread with chips and a salad is decadent, lol… 

bread is really one of the most problematic foods for me… makes my sugar levels go up all of the next day so I have to be very careful how much of it I eat…

  
when I was shopping today the bread really jumped out… my favourite technique is to buy bread, have some, and then feed the rest to the kids when they come for dinner or take it to work the next day… that way I can have the treat but not overdo… the last few days have been quiet as I saw the kids and had dinner with them on Friday… bread’s going to work tomorrow, lol…

have been watching the information about the new Chihuly opening at the Atlanta Botanical Garden… today I came across a great article in Houzz showing pictures of a number of the installations… sure looks awesome…

  
my new frog friend is very talkative… there is a lot of noise coming from the pond area… not sure if there are more there, or whether it can throw its voice…

restful time in the garden…

  
loving the beautiful weather…

rocks…

29 Friday Apr 2016

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what a wonderful day…

met up with my son-in-law and we went in search of rocks for the pond…

we found some river stone for the bottom of the pond and eventually some nice sized fieldstone for around the perimeter as I haven’t felt the flat slate edge worked well…  
 

we also picked up a power washer…

   

came home and someone played with it for quite a while…

 

had lunch on the deck, put together the hammock, enjoyed looking at my new hibiscus, and headed out for more fun…
  

found a rain barrel on sale, some dahlias and three air plants…

  

very happy with the barrel as the garbage can I’d been using sprang a leak at the end of last year… this one is very fancy and can hold plants in the top…

picked up the boys from school and on our way back here, stopped for soft ice cream and found purple gazing balls – 3 different sizes which I think will float in the pond… and the kids bought them for me for Mother’s Day;-)… 

  

this was my first ice cream of the year… woo hoo… ordered Chinese food and while we were waiting for it to arrive, work began on cleaning and re-rocking the pond… 

  
finished filling the pond after they left and got the waterfall going… it sounds wonderful…

great to spend time in the garden… even got to sit out in the chairs for a bit…

bills…

28 Thursday Apr 2016

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seems like there have been a lot of bills that need to be paid lately…

one from the accounting folk who did my taxes… a big one for the taxes… thought we had it figured out and had the right amount being withheld to cover the taxes… not so much… maybe next year…

got my credit card statement and was surprised a bit by how much the exchange turned out to be on purchases in New York… 

spoke with the new cleaning people today and the good news is that I shouldn’t have to give them any more money until August… looking forward to seeing how the house will look when they are done…

have also had the other type of bills – money…

still have some American cash… haven’t quite decided what to do with it… maybe I should plan another trip over the border, lol…

always have some money in my purse because I don’t want to be caught without any cash on me if I need it…

received a postcard with Monet water lilies on it which we stood and admired in MoMA… 

  
I love water lilies… looking forward to seeing some in the pond this summer…

water…

24 Sunday Apr 2016

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enjoyed a lovely walk in two parks this afternoon…

haven’t walked through Truro Park for ages…  


looking up the creek as I started my walk…

 
this is the spot where we scattered George’s ashes… 

  

spent some time taking pictures of the water along my walk… this was my favourite… took it in Bruce Park… 

just love the sound of running water… makes me happy…

haven’t been this way in a while… last time I walked here regularly was when I was recovering from my surgery and talking daily short walks…

the final treat was spotting these two ducks on my way back…

  

a gorgeous wood duck and his partner…

will have to walk through that area on a regular basis so I might get to see some babies…

looking forward to getting the pond working soon so that I can hear the running water right here…

  
  

helper…

23 Saturday Apr 2016

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woke up to a cool looking sky out the window … the clouds made an interesting design…

  

had a good time with my grandson… he came over around lunchtime to help me in the garden… 

made his favourite red curry lentils for lunch and then we got to work…

  
raked up all the leaves and pulled up lots of dead grass… filled three yard waste bags…

while he finished up, I put the furniture into its usual arrangement and cleaned the tables…

then we moved the rocks that came out of the pond in the Fall…  we are going to reset them to have a better look… will probably be getting rounded rocks because the flat ones just don’t look right around the edge of the pond…

looks good back there now… hopefully the temperature will perk up and I’ll be able to sit out in the next few days…

  
he got the front yard cleaned up as well… next time we are going to tackle the front flower beds…

enjoy getting to spend time with him…

working outside reminded me of my walk through the woods yesterday…

  
similar type weather… made me think of one of the lovely cards I received for my birthday… it is a copy of a friend’s painting…

  

bit more sunshine in that picture, lol… 

  

Spring…

12 Saturday Mar 2016

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happy to open the patio door and have the warm air flow through the screen… 

  
first time it has been open since the fall I think… had the bedroom window open all day too…

spent a few minutes on the deck shovelling the snow off it… planning to sit out there for a bit tomorrow…

got a few pictures of the water in the pond… won’t be long before I am sitting out there beside it…

 
heat from the sun is melting the snow around the big rocks… 

tonight all the solar lights are on… for the last few nights some have been staying lit until early in the morning… excellent sign of Spring…

streets were pretty dry so today when I headed out I wore my sandals…

  
now we are talking;-)…

Friday…

11 Friday Mar 2016

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stunning start to the day… caught this glorious sunrise as I headed downstairs this morning…

  
really excited to see water in the pond when I arrived home tonight…  melting like crazy… yay…

happy it is Friday and Monday is my day off…

only one more Monday off, as starting in April I will be working Monday to Thursday every week… hoping the change won’t affect my bottom line too much…