07 Sunday Nov 2021
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fall back, grandfather clock, light, moments, nature, reset, sunshine, time, widow
I stopped the grandfather clock at 4 pm and set a timer to remind me to restart it at 5…
the only other clocks that had to be reset were the stove and microwave;-)…
it is always a bit of a giggle when I wake up trying to decide what time it really is, lol…
06 Saturday Nov 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, empty, garden, hose, hot tub, moments, pump, refilling, tense, time, water, widow
the weather was delightful and I spent a good portion of the day emptying and refilling the hot tub…
I got a new pump in the summer to use for removing the water from the tub… the hose was a bit on the short side, so had to use a table to get the water into the grass… it took 3 hours, including using a pail and dumping bucket after bucket… may be getting something that works a bit quicker next year;-(…
once it was empty, I ran the extendible hose up from the basement, through the screen door, over the deck, and filled the tub in just over an hour…
a few tense minutes when the electricity on the tub didn’t seem to want to start… but, at last, it started and will now be heating up for a few days…
won’t have to change the water out until Spring… glad that job is done…
17 Sunday Oct 2021
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
be kind, big girl pants, blessed, celebrate, chocolate, dad, flowers, friends, generosity, happy, ingrained, memories, moments, nuts, remembering, thank you, time, treat, widow
I’ve been thinking about generosity quite a bit lately…
recently a friend treated me to dinner and another one to lunch… such a gift;-)…
when I think of generosity, I think of generosity of spirit, kindness, and sharing the wealth as much as possible…
I think of my dad, who taught me to be kind and treat people nicely… he would have given anyone the shirt off his back…
I remember whenever he or my mom were sick and in hospital, it would be my job to fetch nuts and chocolates from Morden’s to share with the staff… that was something we did to thank individuals and groups for their help…
many years ago a colleague suggested that I did nice things for others to get attention and compliments… they were not able to understand that this generosity habit was part of who I am…
thanking those around me just seems to be ingrained in me…
for many years I would treat colleagues to flowers, chocolate and/or nuts, or something else I made, to celebrate special events… often my anniversaries or birthday… it was always great to see their enjoyment of whatever the treat happened to be…
it also brings much happiness and always reminds me of my dad…
nowadays, I am working toward sharing with others in as many ways as I can…
what makes you generous;-)…
05 Tuesday Oct 2021
Posted in business, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, busy, celebrate, Feast Bistro, food, friends, garden, happy, moments, nature, reminisce, special people, sun, time, treat, weather, widow, wind, women
well, I must say I am tired… but what a delightful day it has been…
got up early and set about preparing for the day… moved 14 bags of mulch, a wheelbarrow and compost can, used the leaf blower to clean the garage floor, set up a table with a tablecloth in case it was too windy to sit outside, put out cushions and rearranged lawn furniture, prepped some fruit and whipped cream… cleaned leaves out of the pond, set out dishes, made coffee and sun tea, wrapped a gift and wrote two cards…
sat and read in the garden for half an hour and then welcomed four of the most wonderful women into the space…
visited, ate some delicious food from Feast Bistro, enjoyed the nature around us, laughed, shared stories and celebrated one another with some delicious options…
nearly lost one umbrella to the gusts of wind, but the weather was quite amazing for early October…
when they left, I finished tidying up and got ready for dinner with another wonderful woman…
when she arrived we had fish and chips (which I love), more stories and laughter… what a great visit…
it is dark now and I just finished a bowl of strawberry shortcake with whipped cream as I sit on the deck (quite comfortable in shorts and a sleeveless shirt) and reminisce about all the great parts of the day…
hope you had a good day as well…
29 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
afternoon, big girl pants, blessed, fish, friends, garden, happy, moments, nature, pond, sun, time, together, visitors, weather, widow
what a delightful afternoon yesterday…
put out all the cushions and the umbrellas…
next I made coffee and had a few moments to read while I waited for my friends to arrive…
we decided not long ago to meet in the afternoon when it is warmer, as we continue to meet outdoors…
one had something else on, another connected by phone… the rest of us gathered in person…
it was a beautiful day and we sat close to the pond… both pumps were turned off to make it easier to hear one another, lol…
there were lots of visitors while we were meeting… a variety of sparrows, blue jays, squirrels, a cat and we even spotted a mouse racing through the grass… the fish swam around where we could see them as well…
strange to have such warm weather, but we certainly enjoyed it…
13 Monday Sep 2021
Posted in food, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, food, friends, fun, lake, memories, moments, nature, time, vacation, walk, water, widow
recently home, following a two day vacation, which easily felt like four days…
drove up to the cottage with a friend one morning and returned home the next evening…
we had a wonderful time… we sat on the beach for a while, spent time walking and beachcombing, spotted numerous mushrooms, watched a wonderful display of pelicans and cormorants, ate great food, relaxed, and talked by the fire…
what a delightful break…
09 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
I went for a walk… outside… in the neighbourhood… no idea when I did that last…
walked with my daughter in my ear…
didn’t go too far, up to and around Bruce Park… it was lovely to see flowers, the creek, and get some photos…
felt fine at the end… only met a few people and they weren’t close to me…
18 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, deck, friends, garden, happy, laughter, memories, moments, nature, Technology, time, widow
had a lovely in-person gathering with my BS buddies…
Monday evening is our usual time to gather, and we’ve been doing that for many years…
since the lockdown we’ve been connecting via Skype, but for the last number of weeks we’ve been meeting on the deck in the garden, unless the weather doesn’t cooperate…
it is wonderful to be together again… we sit apart, but are able to enjoy each other with a cup of tea or coffee…
laughter fills the air…
13 Friday Aug 2021
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, food, friends, garden, moments, nature, Pho Hoang, pond, rain, rainfall, sky, time, weather, widow
Sunday to Wednesday life was very busy…
Sunday, a friend, her husband and daughter came over for lunch… the garden looked beautiful and we had a lovely visit…
lunch was a delightful collection of goodies from Pho Hoang… everything was tasty…
on Monday morning I had an early meeting in the garden and the rain held off just long enough for us to finish…
Tuesday morning, when I woke up after the storm in the night, I discovered that the hibiscus and dahlia planters were both tipped over from the strong wind… when I looked at the neighbour’s yard I discovered a large branch had fallen right next to their house… thankfully, nothing was damaged…
Wednesday morning a friend stopped by and we had a great catch-up…
in the evening my grandson came for his birthday dinner… delicious steak, lobster, mushrooms and twice-stuffed potatoes were on the menu…
once again, great timing… as we were cleaning up the sky turned very dark… we just got all the cushions inside when the wind and rain arrived…
we have certainly appreciated the rainfall;-)…
27 Tuesday Jul 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, coffee, deck, friends, garden, moments, nature, solar lights, Technology, time, together, treat, weekly meeting, widow
together at last;-)…
last night I made coffee, set out cushions on the deck, and watched some Olympics while I waited for my BS friends…
everyone is now two weeks since being double vaxed and we met outdoors… one was away, but everyone else turned up in person…
it was the first time we’ve been physically together for our Monday evening gatherings in more than eighteen months…
I was pleased that the coffee turned out as it had been a very long time since I’d made any, but apparently the muscle memory was there, lol… and they told me it was good;-)…
we’ve been meeting via Skype each Monday, but it just hasn’t been the same…we’ve also found that we could only meet in that manner for about an hour as it is so much more tiring…
what a treat to be together… we had snacks, laughs and lots of chat…
after everyone left, I took a wander around the garden as the solar lights came on…
a delightful evening…
herbiggirlpants 