27 Friday Feb 2026
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, moments, nature, roosts, The Leaf, widow
had some fun today during my shift in the butterfly garden;-)…
there were a number of butterflies flying around as they were heading off to their night time roosts…
also enjoyed a trip through the Mediterranean Biome…
24 Saturday Jan 2026
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, favourites, Fleurs de Villes WONDER, flowers, moments, The Leaf, treat, visits, volunteer, widow
Fleurs de Villes WONDER… what a delight;-)…
since January 15th I have done three volunteer shifts, visited four times with friends, and once on my own…
every time I went through the displays, I spotted more interesting details;-)…
we are so blessed to be one of the locations that Fleurs de Villes chooses to display at…
each year has been different than the previous one… it is also such a great opportunity for our truly talented Manitoba artists…
it was interesting to hear what visitors enjoyed the most on their visits, and how many felt it was nearly impossible to pick a favourite, as they were all special…
hope that we get the opportunity again next year…
I felt connected to three pieces immediately and by the end of my eight visits, I had voted for all of the three…
truly a gift;-)…
21 Wednesday Jan 2026
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, friends, laughs, moments, The Leaf, time, weather, widow
had a wonderful time today with friends at The Leaf…
we travelled together and had a lot of laughs in the process, then checked out all of the displays, and had one of the volunteers take our photo…
ended the day with a lovely lunch and visit at Gather;-)…
dropped off one of us and had a short visit…
what a fun time we had;-)…
20 Tuesday Jan 2026
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, buddies, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, friends, gift, moments, nature, The Leaf, widow, wonder
had a lovely visit to Fleurs de Villes WONDER at The Leaf…
for Christmas I had given my buddies tickets to the show… such a great gift which adds another celebration for everyone…
we had lunch at Gather to celebrate our January birthday woman before the tour;-)…
we had dropped our birthday person at the back entrance, which is much closer for anyone with walking issues and then drove around and parked at the front…
for this visit, we skipped the Tropical biome and moved right into the Mediterranean biome to see the fifteen displays…
every time I walk through the area I spot details I hadn’t noticed before;-)…
I’ve volunteered twice, and visited three times so it is quite astonishing that I keep discovering new things…
the group enjoyed all of the displays and it was fun as each person made their choice of favourite piece…
I keep vacillating between three, lol…
16 Friday Jan 2026
Posted in business, life, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
adventure buddy, big girl pants, decisions, Fleurs de Villes, flowers, moments, nature, orchids, The Leaf, widow
spent time this morning at Fleurs de Villes, at The Leaf, with my adventure buddy;-)…
what a treat…
each display had many gorgeous flowers and lots of very interesting details… it was hard to decide which one I liked the most…
so many orchids caught my attention;-)…
decisions, decisions;-)…
then we headed to Myer’s Delicatessen for lunch… yum, our first visit, and we look forward to another…
08 Thursday Jan 2026
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
while I was at The Leaf the other day, I got some great photos of various bulbs…
the amaryllis were beautiful and there were lots of them;-)…
I also spotted a variety I had not seen before…
and then I found this lovely white hyacinth;-)…
wasn’t able to smell it, lol…
I expect that they will all be gone the next time I visit…
11 Thursday Dec 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, display, enjoy, holiday display, lights, moments, nighttime, shift, Technology, The Leaf, volunteer, widow
so happy that my volunteer shift went until six…
got to see the new display when it was completely dark outside…
and the new hanging lights add such a delightful effect…
it is beautiful in the day, but if you have the opportunity to see it at night as well, go for it…
23 Thursday Oct 2025
Posted in business, family, food, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, cacao, cake, daughter, family, food, moments, Ottawa, short, The Leaf, time, treat, visit, widow
had a wonderful, but short, visit with my Ottawa daughter over the last few days…
she had been to Calgary for an event and stopped here on her way home…
lots of time together as we caught up in person… late nights and early mornings while she was here… and lots of laughter…
always cake from Baked Expectations when she arrives;-)…
we spent a lovely morning at The Leaf noticing the growth since she was last here and counting cacao pods…
she also spotted the first chileo on the second tree… made me laugh cause I’ve been looking for ages trying to spot one on that tree…
we visited the butterflies although they weren’t very active as it was cool and overcast but it was fun to see them together… the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, currently has a butterfly display as well so we often compare which butterflies we each see, lol…
we worked on a plan for our next trip together and did lots of research on the computer…
dinners in and out as we ate some of her favourites and then we were headed back to the airport for her flight home…
always a treat;-)…
20 Saturday Sep 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Assiniboine Park Zoo, big girl pants, blessed, doors, food, moments, plants, swag, The Leaf, training, weather, widow, zoo
I’ve been enjoying taking any training that I can to learn more about the Leaf and Zoo…
spent an hour Thursday morning to see how volunteering at the front of the zoo works…
afterwards I went to Volunteer Services and collected all the swag I have earned over the last four months…
what a haul;-)…
I was also able to purchase a volunteer hoodie which is going to be well used as the weather gets colder…
I’m thinking the entrance area will be chilly with the doors opening and closing all day…
lunch out, and then a shift at The Leaf…
it was a rather full day…
28 Thursday Aug 2025
Posted in business, garden, health, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, garden, moments, nature, plants, terrace, The Leaf, walk, water, water feature, widow
this warm sunny morning, as I was walking up to the Leaf, I took a quick walk through the new water terrace which is located just outside the front area, between the Leaf and the Gardens at the Leaf…
I am looking forward to a longer visit next time I am there…
there are no fish, but the frogs have already made it their home;-)…
and look at the size of these pumpkins in the Kitchen Garden;-)…
herbiggirlpants 