08 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, dinner, family, pictures, prep, thankful, thanksgiving, widow
had fun setting the table over the last few days for Thanksgiving dinner…
spent some time printing pictures of things that I am thankful for… then had some fun making word art…
had a lovely afternoon and delicious dinner with family and a new friend…
everyone has gone, dishwasher is going, soup is on, and I am resting;-)…
06 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, bread, butter, cranberry, dinner, family, moments, muffins, onion, prep, remember, sauce, stuffing, thanksgiving, widow
my family loves the stuffing that I make…
it is a simple recipe… butter, onions, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, water and torn up bread…
while the butter was melting I used the mandolin to dice up the onion… while they cooked I added the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper… once the onions were soft I added in the water and let it simmer for a few minutes…
once the liquid is poured over the bread, I stir it in… then I put it into the bread bags and it goes into the fridge…
I make a lot because it is so popular, lol…
some goes into the turkey, some goes into muffin pans, and if there is any left it will go into a casserole dish with the turkey neck, or some other poultry part…
the kids really like the stuffing muffins;-)…
I made it today so there is less to do on Monday for dinner…
also made fresh cranberry sauce…
some of the family prefer the kind that comes in a can so I have that available as well…
really enjoy getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner… reminds me of all the times that my beloved and I prepared for special meals…
19 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, chicken soup, curry, lunch, prep, smug, widow
had some fun in the kitchen today…
made chicken soup from last night’s leftovers…
late this afternoon also made red lentil curry with rice…
feeling rather smug now that I have lunch organized for the whole week…
15 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, camaraderie, candy, dad, family, flowers, Good Friday, prep, screen, widow
been thinking of my dad a lot over the last few days…
he was ill my entire life and his last four years were really a gift…
he died on Good Friday nearly thirty years ago… I don’t remember the date but it was in March that year… I had been called to the hospital and realized he really was dying… I left for a short while to pull myself together and after talking with a friend went back and sat with him as he moved from this world to the next… a privilege to share those moments with him…
always amazes me how something brings back the sadness and grief, even after all this time…
he was a special man and taught me so much about being a kind and gentle person and always seeing the good in people…
I remember the times he would sit on the deck and enjoy visiting with family and friends…
today I put the screen into the upstairs hall window, which looks out on that deck… over the winter I take it out so that I can take better pictures, lol…
feels like it is Spring now that the screen is in and the window is open… had the screen door open and enjoyed the gorgeous weather while I was cooking and doing prep work for tomorrow’s Easter dinner…
dad always had candy in his pocket… you could almost hear the wrappers rubbing against one another when he walked, lol…
and as I prepared the space and table I was missing my beloved… he was so good at helping me get ready for special meals… he would have picked up the flowers and anything else needed and looked after a good portion of the cleaning as I worked in the kitchen…
I miss that camaraderie…
I have been, and continue to be, blessed with the men in my life…
28 Wednesday Dec 2016
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
last night we spent some time preparing chocolate tasting packages…
we prepared six of them… two for us and four to do with some of the kids’ friends while they are here…
it is a bit of a process… first my daughter chose which bars to use… first tasting was chocolate from Central and South America…
then we wrote down which bar was used and wrapped a few small pieces of each type in foil… because you usually taste five or six pieces they don’t need to be big… so the bars go a long way…
numbered them and put them into bags…
then we had our tasting… we paired it with a California Square red wine… in the end, the wine wasn’t that great a match, but the chocolate was delicious…
it was also great fun to do the prep work…
going to look into finding a better wine to pair with the next batch of chocolate…
24 Saturday Dec 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, Christmas, Christmas Eve, cranberries, dinner, kids, potatoes, prep, tree, turnip, widow
yesterday and this morning got the food prepped for Christmas dinner…
peeled and cut up potatoes and turnip… my dad insisted on turnip water to make the gravy… felt it added just the right flavour… so I cook turnips for every holiday meal, lol… a few of us even eat the turnip…
thought I was done and then remembered the stuffing… broke up the bread while watching tv and then finished it while I was making my supper…
this morning I cooked and blended the cranberries…
picked up the Ottawa kids and now we are at my daughter and son-in-law’s house for a Christmas Eve sleepover…
quite a few presents under the tree…
I’m home with the kids… the big boys are out watching the new Star Wars movie and the girls are doing last minute shopping…
08 Saturday Oct 2016
Posted in family, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, company, garden, ghosts, grandson, halloween, happy, ladybugs, orchids, prep, visit, widow, yard work
the orchids are happy, and of course, that makes me happy…
had a great time with my grandson who came over to do some yard work for me…
he mowed the grass, cleaned eavestroughs, put away outdoor furniture, treated weeds in the front flower bed, emptied and put away flower pots… such a relief to have his help…
while he was doing all that I got the potatoes, cauliflower, turnip and stuffing ready for tomorrow… we had lunch and a good visit…
after he left I worked on the Halloween goodies…
rocket lolly pops that look like ghosts;-)… have done about 120… haven’t quite decided whether to add black dots for eyes…
lately the ladybugs have been everywhere… the other day my youngest grandson counted 20 at the front door…
tonight one came to visit me… nice to have company throughout the day and evening, lol…
19 Saturday Dec 2015
Posted in health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, Christmas, dinner, pedicure, prep, sleepover, snow, sports, stuffing, toes, visitors
we got up early so my daughter could call her husband to be sure he was up… he was spending the day flying to get here… quite a circuitous route… we didn’t want him to miss his ride…
it was beautiful outside and I got this shot of the snow hanging from the neighbour’s roof…
made breakfast and then we popped out to get a few last minute groceries… my Winnipeg daughter picked us up and we went for pedicures…
pretty toes for everyone… mine are purple…
nice time… one child went off visiting and the other headed home…
I had a nap and then got some prep done for our Christmas dinner tomorrow night…
started with the stuffing… my favourite… then turnip and potatoes… put some of the stuffing into muffin tins… the rest will go into the turkey…
had a lovely time watching some luge, skiing, and show jumping in between the prep work… haven’t had the opportunity to watch much sports so really enjoyed the time this afternoon…
food is ready for cooking now and first thing in the morning I will get the table set…
going to watch a few shows and then head to bed… the visitors are sleeping over with the grandkids so I will see them later tomorrow…
quiet evening:-)…
10 Saturday Oct 2015
Posted in health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
spent time in the garden today…
first thing was emptying the hot tub…
takes quite a while to drain…
then, while it filled, I emptied pots and baskets… also cut back, and cleaned off the dahlia tubers as I prepped the garden for winter, sigh…
brought in the last of the flowers and blooms from the dahlias… hope they continue to bloom like the canna has…
put out a few Thanksgiving decorations, set the table for Monday’s dinner, and watched some tv…
made stuffing… tomorrow I will prepare the vegetables, which makes it much more relaxing on Monday…
I looked out the window at one point and the light looked odd so I ran downstairs and checked the front and back windows…
the sky was spectacular…
out the back…
through the front… just a few minutes later this is what I saw…
have been blessed to have caught so many gorgeous views of the sky in the last while…
so much to be thankful for…
30 Thursday Oct 2014
Posted in life, nature, Uncategorized
this morning I prepared for an afternoon memorial service as I got dressed… chose a purple top and a special scarf so that I could leave right from the office…
saw these geese as we were driving…
they were everywhere… sadly I didn’t get a shot of them flying overhead…
here’s a picture of my afternoon snack…
took the smallest plate because it had purple on it…
today the sky went from dark and filled with clouds, to sunny and clear as we drove home…
after supper I prepared the goodies to give out tomorrow… I put together 30 medical gloves filled with candy and 3 sets of Halloween gloves for my boys…
herbiggirlpants 