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;-)…
19 Tuesday Aug 2025
Posted in business, garden, life, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Blue Morpho, butterfly, espaliered, magnolia, moments, nature, scent, The Leaf, tickle, widow
such fun today when I was at The Leaf…
in the Mediterranean biome I took a few photos of the stunning magnolia flowers… there are two trees… one is high up and the second is one of the espaliered trees along the windows;-)… sadly, too far away to enjoy the scent…
when I was in the Butterfly Garden a friend decided to visit me and tickled my neck for a few minutes…
great day;-)…
17 Thursday Jul 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
APC, big girl pants, blessed, koi, learning, moments, nature, pond, professionals, The Leaf, tropical biome, water, widow
had a lovely few minutes in the Tropical Biome watching one of the animal care professionals feeding the koi ;-)…
they check on the fish a few times each day to feed, as well as count, them and do a quick overview to make sure they are all doing well…
it is always great to spend a few minutes and learn something new at each opportunity;-)…
20 Friday Jun 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Ambassador, APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, Conservatory, feet, heavy horses, learning, mentors, moments, nature, The Leaf, volunteer part 2, volunteers, weather, widow, zoo
once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…
the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…
I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…
and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…
the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…
part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…
I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…
my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…
it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…
then we practised in three different areas…
I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…
so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…
I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…
say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…
18 Wednesday Jun 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, learning, moments, nature, orientation, process, Technology, The Leaf, volunteer part 1, widow, zoo
for quite some time my family have been encouraging me to volunteer at The Leaf…
I considered it and eventually decided to apply… the application process begins in March and starts with an online form… I still find it difficult to talk about my qualities…
after a few weeks I was invited to register for an in-person meeting, which I did… I got a message two days before the actual meeting time saying they were expecting me that morning, about 40 minutes from when the email arrived… yikes… thankfully I called and was told the email was an error and my appointment was when I expected… took a few moments for my heart to settle down, lol…
I arrived for the meeting right on time and had a lovely half hour with a volunteer who shared information and also asked a few questions… it was interesting to learn about some of the opportunities that are available…
next was an email with four modules to review and then register for an in-person orientation…
the four online modules were informative and straightforward and once they were completed, I signed up for a three-hour orientation to take place somewhere at APC…
the first one was cancelled due to illness, so I ended up at one a few weeks later… we met in one of the zoo camp classrooms…
there were twenty of us in the class and we learned together in small and large groups… it was a great opportunity to meet with others who wanted to help out as volunteers…
after nine more hours of training, I will be an APC volunteer…
part 2 to come;-)…
28 Wednesday May 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
arborist, big girl pants, blessed, cold, gardens, moments, nature, plants, Technology, The Leaf, tree, weather, widow
had a surprise visit to The Leaf last week…
I was supposed to meet my adventure buddy for a walk around the English and Leo Mol Gardens… it was cold and windy and I may not have had the warmest clothes on, lol…
I walked over and found a tree trunk down across the path between the walking bridge and the entrance to the Gardens…
reported it to one of the gardeners who was working close to the entrance and they were going to notify the arborist…
once we met up, we decided to walk around The Leaf instead;-)… got the tickets online as we drove over and headed in…
it looked as though the gardeners had done a big pruning job and made a bit of space around the Tropical Biome… views of the water had been trimmed up nicely…
I often take photos of the same things, lol…
fun time, as always;-)…
13 Sunday Apr 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterflies, flora, flowers, koi, Mediterranean, moments, nature, plants, pond, solo, The Leaf, trees, tropical, weather, widow
had another solo visit to The Leaf on Friday as I’d read that the flowering trees in the current display area were nearly finished blooming due to the heat…
I was surprised at how many people were there as I expected everyone to be outside enjoying the 17° C gorgeous weather…
as I entered the Tropical Biome I had to stop and wait a minute for the fog to clear from my glasses, lol…
happy to see the tiny flowers on two of the three cacao trees…
everything looked lush amidst the cooling mist that seems to be keeping the flora happy… quite surprised at how much the plants have grown… just last week it was easy to see all the way to the waterfall and now it is blocked again…
fun to watch one of the zoo keepers feeding the koi as I don’t often get to see that;-)…
the Mediterranean Biome had many flowers and the Babs Asper Display area held lots of plants, flowers, small trees, topiaries, and a truck filled with tulips…
the Butterfly Garden was busy with butterflies flitting about happily as they enjoyed the sunlight… the misting machines were also busy adding to the humidity and it felt very warm, lol…
so lucky to have this amazing place to visit;-)…
herbiggirlpants 