16 Saturday May 2026
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, circulating, family, garden, moments, music, pond, prep, pumps, widow, working
started work on the pond…
first step was to empty out the water… that was done last Saturday…
on Wednesday, after using the wet-vac and vacuuming the leaves and other crud out of the bottom, the pumps were set in place…
then the water flowed in and the pumps started circulating… which also means the waterfall began making wonderful music…
what a treat…
24 Monday Nov 2025
Posted in business, family, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, grandson, greenery, moments, planter, plants, prep, purple, thaw, weather, widow, winter decoration
bought a few tree greens while at the grocery store…
dug out two birch branches, some small white twigs, and a stem of red berries from the shed…
went through a Christmas box and brought out some large ornaments…
last week I’d brought in the planter from the top step so it could thaw out so all the dead plants could be pulled out…
took the planter into the garden, removed all the dead plants and added in the greenery…
after everything was included, it was carried to the front steps…
added some solar lights…
looks good…
14 Saturday Jun 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, fixed, happy, kitchen tap, local business, loose, moments, neighbourhood, nerves, Next-Gen, prep, timing, widow
Thursday evening I discovered that the kitchen tap was very loose…
I was concerned that it might pop off, start spraying water, and cause another flood…
my housemate worked late and didn’t have a chance to look at it, but the next morning, as I started prepping for a special gathering, I decided to get help…
I called around 9:30 and my friend Al (I have made way too many calls to these folks, lol) turned up around 12:15… this local business is located on the street corner four minutes from my house, so it is very handy …
he tightened the nut holding the tap to the sink, fixed the loose handle, and advised that there wouldn’t have been a flood if the tap completely disengaged…he filled out paperwork and was gone…
amazing what a quick response could do to settle my nerves and let me continue my preparations for the evening’s gathering;-)…
thanks Next-Gen😁…
05 Sunday Jan 2025
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dressers, drywalling, family, grandsons, laundry room, lighter, moments, mudding, prep, sanding, widow
my middle grandson came over on Friday to do some drywalling in the laundry room…
earlier, I took a few photos to have a before and after…
first they moved the dressers out of the space…
a large cable was moved, insulation was installed, and plastic added…
then the drywall was measured and screwed onto the walls…
finally the screw holes and joints were filled with mud, tape went over the seams, and more mud added…
that was it for the day as the mud needed to dry before the next steps…
this morning my housemate sanded, vacuumed, and wiped down the new drywall…
in the afternoon, we shortened one dresser, sanded the bottom of it (with a new Christmas present), and then returned both of them to their usual location… and with the one being shorter we now have access to the plug that was hidden behind it;-)…
I am amazed at how much brighter it looks;-)…
we plan to reorganize the drawers and I think I will find some nicer containers to hold the various cleaning products…
22 Sunday Oct 2023
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blower, feeder, garden, grandson, irrigation, leaves, moments, nature, prep, pump, put to bed, stacked, time, weather, widow
spent the morning in the garden…
we blew out the irrigation system, and put the caps in a clear bag on the side of the fridge so I can see them and remember where they are come spring, lol…
we stacked lawn furniture and got it ready for the tarp which will go over it in the next week or so…
we used the leaf blower to move many of the elm leaves into the flower beds so bugs and other things have a place to over-winter…
we moved flower pots under the deck and into the shed… and took apart the hammock stand to go in there as well…
two umbrellas came down, but because it had rained not long before we started our work, they went into the garage open to dry before making their way to the shelves…
we hooked up one of the bird feeders so I can get to it from the deck once the snow starts…
the pump came out of the bathtub pond and made it into the house, was cleaned and is ready for storage…
phew…
16 Monday Oct 2023
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, disconnected, garden, moments, nature, plants, pots, prep, taps, tubers, weather, widow
Sunday was a beautiful fall day…
we disconnected the hose at the tap, undid the three connections to the pond, irrigation system, and hose (which was then hooked up in the laundry room for the winter)… still have to blow out the irrigation lines…
then I spent quite awhile digging out the three dahlias and repotting the begonia… will see if it will act like a houseplant over the winter…
put the dahlias in an empty pot and will leave them in the garage for a few more days to dry out before relocating them into the basement…
moved pots off the steps and deck… that big pot was interesting to move, but I got it done… once the garage has been tidied up the obelisk will move there…
then I spent a few hours reading in the afternoon sunshine;-)…
happy to have accomplished more of the “w” prep, lol…
18 Tuesday Oct 2022
Posted in food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
applesauce, big girl pants, blessed, chili, food, freezer, homemade, moments, muffin tins, prep, widow
my neighbour brought over a container of chili and asked if I would like more apples…
a month ago they had given me a large bowl full and I made applesauce…
I used small baggies in a muffin tin and it worked well…
this time, I put the sauce directly into the tins, put them in the freezer, and when they were frozen, packaged and popped them back into the freezer…
they were a little difficult to remove from the cold metal, but this will save excess plastic and also take up less space…
16 Sunday Oct 2022
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
autumn, big girl pants, blessed, flipped, frozen, garden, memories, moments, nature, prep, rain, rain barrels, water, weather, widow, winter
went outside and flipped the two rain barrels… one in the garden, and the new one next to the front flowerbed…
although we had drained both, they still had water inside, but once they were turned over, it poured out through the screen…
now they are ready for winter, sigh…
I learned a few years ago that not flipping them can cause serious consequences… lucky for me, the bottom of the one in the garden has returned to flat, lol…
24 Thursday Feb 2022
Posted in food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
spent some quality time in the kitchen recently…
I made Thai Shrimp Soup from leftover shells and shrimp that I had a few days before…
I cooked enough spaghetti for three meals and then prepared a mushroom and chicken sauce which will go with two meals of the spaghetti…
finally, I produced a grilled cheese and onion on sourdough sandwich for my lunch…
I enjoy working in the kitchen, particularly when I can assemble a number of meals for the coming days…
23 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
busy time in the garden…
last night we moved the filing cabinet raised bed from the garage to the side garden…
today on this beautiful, mostly sunny, day, I lifted and repositioned a number of the rocks in that area to sit around it… some of them were rather large and heavy, lol… I have collected them from all over Manitoba…
I think the area looks good and plan on filling the raised bed with bits of wood and soil to get it ready for spring…
herbiggirlpants 