15 Sunday Jan 2023
Posted in family, food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
Audubon, big girl pants, birds, calendar, chickadee, cold, eating, hand, memories, moments, nature, remembering, seeds, train, travel, widow
the Audubon calendar for Friday and Saturday was a chickadee…
and yesterday a memory came up on Facebook of me feeding a chickadee in Mer Bleu three years ago while I was visiting…
I had hoped to train my chickadees to eat from my hand, but so far, no luck…
I did catch this little one dashing to and from the feeder, lol…
04 Wednesday Jan 2023
Posted in family, food, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dinner, dishwasher, escargot, family, food, home, lobster, memories, moments, New Year's, preparations, remembering, steak, time, treat, widow
for years we celebrated New Year’s Eve with steak and lobster… this started with friends before we had kids;-)…
at some point it moved to New Year’s Day as the kids wanted to participate but were off celebrating on the night before…
this year I enjoyed the preparation as I worked on getting escargot stuffed mushrooms, baked potatoes, fried mushrooms and sautéed Brussels sprouts ready…
the kids arrived, got the barbecue going and then grilled the steaks and lobster tails…
dinner was delicious and we had a great time…
on Monday, as I emptied the dishwasher and put away all of the pieces we used, I revisited the fun and special moments…
and the tradition continues…
01 Sunday Jan 2023
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
blessed, coal, dark, definition, family, first footing, garden, her big girl pants, home, loss, memories, moments, remembering, tradition, widow
we have done first-footing since I was a little girl… for us, it meant that just before midnight on New Year’s Eve my dad, who had dark hair, would jump in the car and drive around to all our aunts and uncles and grandparents’ houses and take them an offering – it always included coal, bread and sometimes oranges and a little drink of something… I also remember how my dad would have to search out new coal every year because no one ever kept it from year to year, lol…
from Dalhousie Castle:
“Stemming back to the time of the invading Vikings in the 8th and 9thcentury, it is believed that the first person to enter a house, the “first foot”, can bring luck – or misfortune – for the year ahead. In Scottish tradition good luck comes in the form of a tall, dark-haired man being the first footer.” Dec 7, 2020
I spent time this morning looking back at some of the different ways it has happened for me…
my daughter being the first female to cross the threshold first when she was here in 2017…
my middle grandson taking home a bag and making sure to bring it and be the first one to cross my threshold…
my daughter arranging for friends to come by with a box of items she had sent to them…
while visiting the kids in Ottawa, having a diamond necklace in the bag because there wasn’t any coal, lol… and I did have to give it back🤪…
this morning I went out the back door in my housecoat, walked around to the front door, and first-footed myself…
those big girl pants 😂…
03 Saturday Dec 2022
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
500 followers, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, blogging, cigarette, memories, moments, remembering, smoke, stats, Technology, ten, ten years, widow, writing
Thursday marked 10 years since I started blogging…
and when I looked at my stats, they tell me I have reached 500 followers… wow…
it also means that ten years have passed since my beloved left me…
just yesterday a delivery arrived and the box smelled of cigarette smoke… haven’t smelled that for years and it reminded me of him, as he was a smoker…
I miss him all the time, but I also know he would be proud of how I have grown over these years…
08 Tuesday Nov 2022
Posted in life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
act, Audrey May Robinson, big girl pants, blessed, dad, door, Earl Walter Chase, front door, memories, mom, poppy, remembering, widow
I put a poppy on the front door…
had to search through the containers at the front door to find it as I haven’t been out anywhere recently where I could get a few…
I did this last year as well…
because I am not going out much there isn’t anywhere to wear it… seems like a small act, but the best I can do…
and I made an online donation to the mypoppy.ca campaign…
apparently I chose my mom when I did the same thing a few years ago… made me giggle because I first thought of doing one for my dad, lol… they both served during World War II…
the above information comes from Then and Now, The History of La Salle, Manitoba…
so, I went ahead and made a second donation in his honour;-)…
have to be fair, lol…
10 Monday Oct 2022
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, flowers, friends, garden, happy, memories, moments, nature, plants, pond, projects, regular, remembering, summer, sun, Technology, thankful, time, widow
so much to be thankful for…
this year my daughter was here in March and my son-in-law in August…
I spent hours in the garden…
met my friends on a regular basis in the garden all summer… previously, we haven’t met very often during that time as everyone was busy…
saw, texted, and spoke on the phone with many friends… made a new one and enjoyed getting to know them…
worked on changes in the vegetable garden… grew peas, beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes…
was visited by monarchs and swallowtails and a beautiful little hummingbird…
enjoyed bouquets of flowers all summer, thanks to a birthday subscription from the kids…
had many projects completed, in the house and the garden…
life is very good…
25 Thursday Aug 2022
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
ashes, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, creek, family, flowers, memories, moments, monarch, nature, remembering, walk, widow
today we walked by the spot along the creek where we scattered my beloved’s ashes…
it was nice to wander past…
just a moment later I spotted this monarch in a field of wild flowers…
felt like a sign from him;-)…
01 Monday Aug 2022
Posted in family, garden, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, car, family, garden, grandson, memories, moments, morphed, paper flowers, photos, pond, remembering, Technology, time, walk, widow
started the day looking at photos of my beloved…a few tears were shed in the process… we were married 52 years ago today… I still remember looking out the window of the apartment to see him dropping off the decorated car… in those days, getting the car turned out with paper flowers was the thing to do, lol…
then I had a walk around the garden… in the 49 years we’ve been in this space, it has morphed from a square green grass covered area, to a swing set with some cedars, to a small swimming pool space, to a huge sandbox with a two story playhouse, to a parking area for a camper trailer… to a space filled with ponds and lovely gardens…
thanks to the help of Hilda the Gardener, a lawn service, and the kids, it is looking wonderful and I know that he would be pleased…
I am truly blessed, but I miss him every day…
01 Friday Jul 2022
Posted in family, food, life, loss, moments, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Canada, family, fireworks, gather, learning, memories, moments, munched, Park, popcorn, reading, remembering, Technology, trees, widow
in recent years Canada day has been a much quieter event for me…
for many years my beloved and I would have a gathering with family, friends and neighbours, and end the day with huge bowls of popcorn which we would consume as the fireworks went off at the Park…
chairs for everyone would be placed out on the street and there was lots of oohing and aahing at the fireworks as we munched on the popcorn…
this afternoon, I made a bowl of popcorn and munched on it thinking of the past and dreaming of a more inclusive future…
after forty plus years, the trees have grown so much that we could no longer see most of the display and over the last few years the Park hasn’t set off fireworks due to construction happening where the staging area used to be…
last year it felt like celebrating would be an insult to our First Nations peoples and so I spent time learning more of our sad history…
today I hung an orange heart on the front door and wore an orange shirt with red leggings… I continue to learn and support in ways that I am able…
I love this country and hope that we can do better… I am finding these to be very complicated feelings and continue to struggle with them…
19 Sunday Jun 2022
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, cushions, drummers, family, Father's Day, garden, happy, home, marathon, memories, moments, remembering, waterfall, widow
began the day listening to the drummers at the Park as they welcomed runners participating in the Manitoba Marathon…
then I put out all the cushions, made breakfast and sat in the garden, listening to the drums and the waterfall…
although we only did it for a few years, I always remember the early morning trips to the UofM when the girls took part in the Marathon… it is such a wonderful reminder of what great dads do to ensure their kids get all the opportunities… and on Father’s Day, lol…
sure do miss that great dad, but am spending the day reminiscing about all the things he did to make their lives better and the life lessons he taught them…
herbiggirlpants 