13 Saturday Dec 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, colleagues, commemorated, memories, moments, retirement, Technology, widow, work
Facebook reminded me that yesterday commemorated my last day of work six years ago… it was a special and fun day…
I spent the day saying farewell to my colleagues and had lunch out with a former colleague…
surprising to think that so much time has passed… and how much I have enjoyed these past years of retirement;-)…
13 Friday Dec 2024
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, five years, garden, hermit, last day, memories, moments, retirement, staff, widow, work
hard to believe yesterday marked five years since my last day of work before retirement…
I remember what a special day it was… I did all the things I wanted to do, the way I wanted;-)…
it was always fun to gather the group for a photo, kind of like herding cats, lol…
since then I’ve travelled a bit, enjoyed being a hermit through Covid and beyond, spent hours in the garden, read a ton of books, and enjoyed every minute… I truly am blessed;-)…
it’s a wonderful life…
03 Thursday Feb 2022
Posted in garden, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, design, garden, hot tub, light, moments, nature, photos, retirement, shadows, snow, weather, widow
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about moments… as in, how easy it is to miss one…
this morning, the sun was shining through the patio doors and created a beautiful design on the side of the microwave… I spent time enjoying it and took a few photos… the shadows reminded me of the pictures I took during a photography class a number of years ago…
just a few minutes later I was in the kitchen and the design was gone… happy that I wandered in at just the right moment and had the chance to enjoy the sight;-)…
a bit later, I was walking on the spot and got to see a bunny running around the backyard… such a treat…
when I was in the garden, I spotted these lovely designs through the pergola and on the hot tub…
we won’t talk about the large amount of snow covering the hot tub;-(…
I am so blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy these…
26 Monday Jul 2021
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, breakfast, early, food, fun, garden, happy, memories, moments, Olympics, overkill, remembering, retirement, sports, streaming, Technology, weather, widow
I love the Olympics and have watched them for years… I remember a trip we took once and how we had to have access to TVs at the end of each day so that I could keep up with what was happening, lol…
I like to watch in real time so that means reorganizing my sleep schedule to get the best results…
for these ones I couldn’t decide how I felt about them going ahead this year… but now they are happening, I am in… I usually get a Canada Day t-shirt and had purchased one a while ago, but on July 1st I decided not to wear it… as the games began, I put it on;-)…
on Friday I was up at 5:30 am to watch the opening ceremony and ordered McDonald’s for breakfast so I didn’t have to stop watching to make something…
at one point during the first day I was switching between tv channels and streaming on my phone at the same time and I considered turning on the laptop as well… in the end I decided the laptop would be overkill…
I have slowed down slightly… apparently I need a bit more sleep these days…
the great thing about streaming is that I can watch some of the sports that I enjoy most but which don’t always get shown on tv…
the surfing, gymnastics and dressage have been lovely to watch, even if not exactly as they happened…
I’ve even taken the laptop out into the garden so that I can enjoy the weather and not miss anything, lol…
so happy to be able to watch whenever and wherever… retirement is a lovely thing;-)…
27 Sunday Jun 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, book, flowers, garden, moments, moving, nature, pond, purple, retirement, shade, sun, widow
I’ve spent most of the last week in the garden…
I have watered the grass and the plants and even done a bit of deadheading and weeding…
watched birds, bunnies, baby squirrels, and the goldfish…
and I have read at least one novel a day as I move around the garden to find shade…
retirement is quite a lovely thing;-)…
16 Sunday Aug 2020
Posted in business, food, health, life, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, Black Market Provisions, blessed, delivery, food, friends, gift, gift certificate, provisions, retirement, salad, shopping, treat, widow
one of the gifts I received for my retirement was a gift certificate to Black Market Provisions…
a few days ago I ordered one of their Care Packages… it arrived right at supper time the next day and included the most delicious salad with beets, goat cheese, chicken, and greens… I also enjoyed some garlicky bagel crisps…
there were a few frozen items, more crackers and some delicious looking cookies…
I am excited to taste all of these as well…
14 Tuesday Jul 2020
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, flowers, garden, happily, happy, memories, moments, nature, plants, purple, retirement, The Dahlia Expert, time, widow
enjoying time in the garden…
the dahlias are doing well and happily they are opening at different times so there should be some blooming throughout the weeks, rather than all at once and then nothing…
when I planted them I put the plastic bag they came in into the pot and now I can’t read the name, lol…
so far a purple one has bloomed next to the house…
and then a delicate white with purple tones bloomed… 3 flowers last week and 3 are blooming right now…
I cut them and put them in a vase to enjoy in the house…
currently that plant has 4 more buds on it… looks like another white one is starting to open… looking forward to how beautiful it will look when it is completely open…
that leaves two still to develop buds… can’t wait to see what colour they turn out to be… when I ordered them I asked for purple and white varieties…
with my retirement, I am enjoying the ability to spend each day in the garden all summer long…
11 Saturday Jul 2020
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, memories, moments, morning glories, nature, pictures, purple, retirement, seriously, widow
the morning glories are opening everywhere… and everyday…
as I was looking back in my posts I noticed that the first morning glory of 2018 was on August 8… planting them from seeds early has made a huge difference as the first one this year was June 27;-)…
they look amazing… as I am home all the time I get to enjoy they more than when I worked as they would be closed by the time I got home at the end of the day…
had to giggle when one went right between two of the boards on the bench around the deck… it seriously wanted to get to the other side, lol.. so cute…
23 Tuesday Jun 2020
Posted in family, garden, health, life, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, garden, house finch, manicured, memories, nature, pond, pump, retirement, son-in-law, sound, sun, waterfall, widow
after the busy day yesterday with the boys here, today I spent a fabulous time in the garden…
the grass is beautifully manicured and the sound is quite wonderful… the waterfall looks great and I am so happy to have it running at full capacity again thanks to my son-in-law… even the rocks have been placed perfectly to cover the new pump…
the pump in the bathtub pond looks and sounds lovely as well… it was a little cool but the wind wasn’t blowing so it felt calm…
to top things off, a house finch couple stopped by for lunch…
because I am not leaving the house, this time in the garden is even more special and I am enjoyed reading and listening to the sounds in the garden…
what a blessing retirement is proving to be…
16 Tuesday Jun 2020
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beforehand, big girl pants, bird feeder, birds, blessed, friends, garden, gift, moments, purple, retirement, weather, widow
this afternoon I had a lovely visit with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time…
it was very hot in the garden and had rained for a short period beforehand, so I had to put all the cushions away and then bring them back out, lol… thank goodness it stopped as I am still not having guests in the house…
she brought the most adorable purple bird feeder and the sweetest card as a retirement gift;-)…
I have filled it with food for the finches and hung it next to the garage door… will see if it is too close to the house…
what a treat;-)…
herbiggirlpants 