Tag Archives: The Leaf

garden parties…

14 Monday Sep 2026

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started the garden parties with a visit to The Leaf…

after a private tour of the Biomes, with me as the tour guide, we had lunch at Gather…

we shared these…

I’d never had burrata before so was eager to taste it… it went nicely with the peaches and pistachios, but unfortunately, the peaches were under ripe… would likely have been delicious otherwise…

we had them put the blueberries on the side as neither of us really like them, lol, and I quite enjoyed this salad, which was different from what I had had on previous visits…

then it was outside to check out the Water Terrace and the Outdoor Gardens… had a lovely stroll and found monarch butterflies and happy bees everywhere…

had some fun picture taking… by this time it was getting rather hot, so we headed home…

next garden will be on Vancouver Island 😁…

lizards…

27 Thursday Aug 2026

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one of the fun things about volunteering at The Leaf has been seeing how many little lizards we can spot on a shift…

one of our colleagues has eagle eyes and knows all the spaces where they might be… that has encouraged many others to search for them as we move through the biomes…

I had a great day recently and spotted six, all in the Tropical Biome 😊…

the last one is teeny tiny and I’ve spotted it a number of times…

and a colleague spotted a cute frog the other day🙂…

prairie…

15 Monday Jun 2026

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had a good time checking out the new display at The Leaf… it is titled Prairie Picnic and lived up to the name…

as you walk up there are at least five little hot air balloons turning in the air…

the space is open, without a lot of height, just like the prairies…

picnic tables with place settings filled with plants, picnic baskets throughout…

and an adorable circular pergola with succulent cushions…

so cute…

pin…

31 Sunday May 2026

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after my shift at The Leaf on Friday, I headed over to the zoo to go to the Volunteer Centre…

it was very hot out and it had been hot in The Leaf as well… the car was boiling, lol…

I was excited to get my one year as a volunteer pin;-)…

I now have four pins, one for working at The Leaf, one for being a volunteer, and one to let visitors know that I’m trained to assist those with Hidden Disabilities… that last one is a bright yellow sunflower…

and now the one year as a volunteer pin;-)…

t-shirt…

08 Friday May 2026

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last week I bought a lovely scarf at The Leaf…

today, while I was working my shift at the Mediterranean Biome exit spot, I watched a woman unfold a purple t-shirt in the Gift shop which is just outside the exit and perfectly in my view, lol…

so at the end of my day, I went and found one for me…

it is lovely and I know I will enjoy wearing it this summer;-)…

I may have to stop looking through those doors, lol…

a bit later, after I got home, a friend stopped by with a delicious piece of cake… we’d talked earlier in the week about this exact dessert… a lovely treat and visit…

I did share it with my housemate;-)…

pretty fine day…

brioche…

20 Monday Apr 2026

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had dinner at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar on Friday after my volunteer shift to celebrate my birthday eve…

the new menu looks great and we enjoyed everything we had…

we shared the brioche with butter and honey… the bread was warm and the butter soft… delicious… the look on my grandson’s face reminded me of the cartoon dog Snuffles, that rose into the air after eating something tasty…

then we had the potato paillassons, which were also delicious… yum…

I had the beef tartare… really enjoyed it with the bread…

my grandson had the grilled octopus, with paella rice, saffron aioli, and chervil, and noted how nicely it was cooked…

every bite was delightful… and I am looking forward to the next visit to try some of the other items…

fleece…

16 Thursday Apr 2026

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was able to get to the Volunteer Resources Centre at the Zoo… so excited to have earned my fleece jacket which required 200 hours… I’ve done 211 hours in just under a year… woohoo…

it took a few tries, but in the end we were able to find one that fit me nicely…

I took it to the tailor to get the sleeves shortened, but the rest fits beautifully…

contemplating having my name embroidered on the right side… need to find a place around here that does that… hmmm…

volunteering…

10 Friday Apr 2026

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it’s been nearly a year since I began volunteering at The Leaf…

since that time I have only come across four people that I know 🤪…

the first person was in the summer, not long after I’d started…

since then I hadn’t seen anyone I know until last week when I met a friend I hadn’t seen for a very long time… luckily I was able to do a quick catch up with them…

then today, I came across two people I knew…

one was early on in my shift and the other as I was moving from one spot to another…

how crazy is that and a great treat 😊…

Fleurs de Villes WONDER…

24 Saturday Jan 2026

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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;-)…