25 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in family, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cliff, cliff deck, family, happy, moments, nature, power, read, Technology, water, waves, weather, whitecaps, widow, wind
spent a good portion of my day on the cliff deck… it was sunny…
in the morning, it was a little breezy, but by the afternoon, it was very windy…
watching the whitecaps and waves pounding the shore reminds one of the huge power of nature…
23 Friday Jun 2023
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, experiment experience, family, food, fun, happy, lake, learning, missing, moments, recipe, tasty, Technology, treat, waffle maker, waffles, widow
came by a waffle maker not long ago and we decided to bring it with us to the lake and try making some…
this particular one had no instructions, so we went on YouTube to figure out the process…
not sure why, but I’ve never had, or made, homemade waffles, so it was a fun learning experience… a friend sent me their favourite recipe, which I printed off before leaving home… what I didn’t do was actually read the recipe, lol… so, we went to the store here to pick up a few of the necessary ingredients, like regular milk and baking powder, but we couldn’t find cake flour, so made do with plain…
it was fun searching the kitchen to find the items we needed for the process…
once everything was gathered, it didn’t take long to produce some rather tasty waffles.. we had fresh strawberries and also picked up whipping cream…
delicious and fun, although it does take a while to make them, lol…
a great experiment, and maybe supper will be chicken and waffles…
already thinking about other things that it might make;-)…
12 Monday Jun 2023
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, chocolate, computers, daughter, dueling, family, fudge, garden, grandson, moments, Technology, time together, treats, widow, work
last night my daughter arrived from Ottawa… it was wonderful to see her in person…
the flight was early and my grandson picked her up at the airport and brought her home…
there were a number of thoughtful gifts which I will enjoy, including a delicious chocolate bar which reminds me of the amazing fudge that my dad used to make, a ceramic dragonfly, and the cutest little butterfly bowl which I will use to hold my pills…
I am looking forward to our time together over the next few weeks…
an evening in the garden ended with dueling computers… it was nice not to have to call her to discuss the piece of work we were doing, lol…
and then, an early night…
looking forward to many fun activities while she is here;-)…
11 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
battery, big girl pants, blessed, charger, doorbell, google, key, moments, smart home, Technology, widow
on May 25th the new doorbell arrived…
no time to sort it out until that Sunday when I was able to charge it…
on Monday, the 29th, we managed to get it up onto the doorframe and working…
since then it has worked on and off… the battery is supposed to last for three weeks, but late on Saturday it advised it turned itself off and needed to be charged…
I found the special key to remove it from the door, then the charging cord, charged it, and was able to hook it back up…
woohoo;-)…
21 Sunday May 2023
Posted in business, food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beefsteak, big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, flowers, garden, happy, iPhone, Jonathan’s Farm, Lily Stone Garden, moments, morning glories, plants, Technology, tomatoes, veggies, weather, widow
Saturday was another glorious day in the garden…
and I started planting… yay… I added compost and fresh soil to the veggie gardens and then planted seeds as well as a pepper, some squash, cucumber and the beefsteak tomatoes… the seedlings came from Jonathan’s Farm and were in great shape…
excited to see if anything grows up and over the arch…
brought out the dahlia tubers and got them into planters as well as the new dahlia that I got from Lily Stone Gardens… it has been growing very fast… and finally put in a number of the morning glory seedlings that have been growing in the house…
19 Friday May 2023
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bunny, burbling, garden, goldfinch, happy, home, moments, nature, pond, quiet, Technology, water, weather, widow
early Tuesday morning I was sitting on the back deck, listening to the burbling of the pond, as a bunny came right up next to me… we chatted, well I chatted and the bunny twitched its nose for a few minutes, before it hopped away… pleased that it felt comfortable as I sat there reading quietly… well, maybe it didn’t notice me, lol…
reminded me of how truly blessed I am… and what a wonderful life I lead…that I can sit in the sunshine and shade in my garden and enjoy the nature around me – the birds, and squirrels, and bunnies, and bees – every day that I want…
and while I was there, to hear about the ducklings that hatched yesterday, and today crossed a busy street with their momma, (protected by two different people families) in Ottawa to find a swimming pool to start the next portion of their journey…
later in the day I stood up from a chair on the upper deck and spotted a goldfinch at the feeder… it flitted about nervously for a few moments and then, when it felt safe, called its partner to come and eat… they were happy for a while, until a squirrel came and chased them away…
if I hadn’t stood up at just that moment I would have missed them… a lovely treat…
made chicken soup from the leftovers of Sunday’s dinner and tested out a few new purchases which arrived at the door…
nice…
16 Tuesday May 2023
Posted in business, family, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, connections, cushions, deck, family, fence, fish, food, friends, garden, meals, Merlin App, moments, most, nature, neighbours, pond, sound, sparrows, Technology, time, weather, widow
Sunday, spent the entire day in the garden… it was warm and sunny…
set out all the chair cushions and even brought out the decorative ones…
then, most of the fish came outside… a few just wouldn’t be caught, lol… apparently a project for another day…
tea, reading, and bird watching took up a good part of the day… I am loving the sound portion of my Merlin App… it has come in especially helpful for me to identify the many sparrows that come and go…
White-Crowned, White-Throated, Harris’s, Song, and Chipping Sparrows have all been around for the last week or so…
checked out the fence with the little person and his daddy on one side, as I contemplate the style of the new fence that is in the works, and had tea and snacks with the ones on the other side… they enjoy sitting by the pond and the sound of the running water…
ate all my meals on the deck, breakfast and lunch on the back, and supper on the upper…
phone calls, emails, in-person visits, and text messages came throughout the day…
truly, I am blessed;-)…
13 Saturday May 2023
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, chairs, cushions, Custom Repair & Stitchery, furniture, garden, green, moments, nature, Stitchery, Technology, upholstery, weather, widow
Wednesday morning we went to Custom Repair & Stitchery and ordered new cushions for the garden chairs… we looked through the fabric options and chose a green similar to what is currently in the garden… and there will be zippers so the covers can come off the foam to be washed…
I have been wanting them for ten years or so, ever since the last ones faded and lost their comfort level…
and so, since then, we have used two square cushions on each chair, which have been okay, but they have been getting a bit old as well…
I was also interested to see a newer version of Square than I’d seen before… I do love technology…
can’t wait for the new ones to arrive;-)…
12 Friday May 2023
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, garden, in the garden, listening, Merlin App, migration, moments, nature, sounds, sparrows, Technology, weather, white-throated, white-throated sparrows, widow
sitting on the deck I listened to a couple of the white-throated sparrows calling to one another from here and the neighbours’ trees… that was after Merlin confirmed which birds they were, lol…
a lovely treat…
and I got a few photos…
the last one was having a bath;-)…
05 Friday May 2023
Posted in business, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, early, easier, giveaway, hardest, health, landfill, moments, stuff, Technology, widow
I’ve been thinking about all of the stuff I’ve given away over the last six months…
it makes me so happy to be able to share with others and not add unnecessarily to the landfills…
it is also getting easier to let go of stuff… and the simple way to arrange a pickup by going online is also helpful…
currently the hardest part is to remember to get up early enough to get all of the boxes onto the front steps…
herbiggirlpants 