19 Sunday Nov 2023
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, dad, family, father, memories, moments, remembering, special, Technology, time, widow
I don’t always remember, but first thing yesterday I realized it would have been my dad’s birthday…
my father was a special person and although he’s been gone a very long time, I still miss him…
a bit later in the day his picture came up in my Facebook memories…
this photo was taken not too long before his death…
11 Saturday Nov 2023
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cancer, family, memories, moments, mother, remembering, Remembrance Day, strong, time, widow, WREN, WWII
I’ve been thinking of my mom a lot in the last few days…
she spent the last months of her life at Princess Elizabeth Hospital, in the final stages of esophageal cancer…
I was blessed with the time to be able to spend those final days with her…
they were hard but so important…
she was a WREN during WWII, a survivor of mental illness, a caregiver for her husband, a poet, a proud Legion and Army and Navy member, and a participant in the organizing of the Women’s War Memorial by the Legislature…
she was strong, but it took me many years to really understand that;-)…
30 Monday Oct 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, breaking, cold, fish, garden, goldfish, grandson, ice, moments, nature, plants, pond, pumps, snow, time, water, weather, widow, winter
Saturday, late in the afternoon, after breaking the ice on the pond, we caught twenty-one of the goldfish…
the pond water was filled with leaves and was rather brown and murky…
it was quite the job as, at one point, my grandson went into it barefoot with his pants rolled up to cut down the water lilies and grasses (I think it was about -12°C in the air)…
but that really helped catch a bunch of them that had been hiding under the lily leaves… they were moving slower in the cold, but still snuck out of the net… also, some of the catching was in the dark, lol…
then they sat in pails in the house for hours before getting moved into the three tanks…
we were careful to be sure to keep size and numbers similar in the tanks so that there is sufficient space for all of them…
we thought we had them all, but on Sunday we discovered five more, woohoo…
now, the pumps have been removed from the pond, and it is apparently going into the winter with water in it, lol…
28 Saturday Oct 2023
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, colours, home, look out, memorable, moments, nature, photos, sky, time, weather, widow, window
the sky today has been a beautiful canvas of colour and light…
woke up and saw this gorgeous view… had to run back and get my iPhone so I could take a few pictures…
this was just after eight am;-)…
and tonight around seven pm…
both memorable;-)… what a treat to spend a few moments enjoying the beauty…
22 Sunday Oct 2023
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blower, feeder, garden, grandson, irrigation, leaves, moments, nature, prep, pump, put to bed, stacked, time, weather, widow
spent the morning in the garden…
we blew out the irrigation system, and put the caps in a clear bag on the side of the fridge so I can see them and remember where they are come spring, lol…
we stacked lawn furniture and got it ready for the tarp which will go over it in the next week or so…
we used the leaf blower to move many of the elm leaves into the flower beds so bugs and other things have a place to over-winter…
we moved flower pots under the deck and into the shed… and took apart the hammock stand to go in there as well…
two umbrellas came down, but because it had rained not long before we started our work, they went into the garage open to dry before making their way to the shelves…
we hooked up one of the bird feeders so I can get to it from the deck once the snow starts…
the pump came out of the bathtub pond and made it into the house, was cleaned and is ready for storage…
phew…
17 Tuesday Oct 2023
Posted in food, garden, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blower, cake, deck, food, friends, garden, gathering, happy, home, leaves, moments, nature, October, sun, sweeping, time, treat, weather, widow
because it was another gorgeous day, our Monday gathering took place on the deck for one last time…
I moved the furniture, swept all the leaves off, cleaned the glass table, and put cushion covers on the chairs…
as I was sweeping the lower deck, it occurred to me that I could have used the leaf blower, lol… oh well, good exercise, lol…
and, we were treated to a freshly baked Bundt cake;-)… yum…
the sun shone and it did cool off a little, but we were very comfortable… what a treat in the middle of October…
07 Saturday Oct 2023
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, celebration, food, friends, fun, happy, lifeline, lunch, moments, Park Cafe, time, treat, walk, weather, widow
had a great time on Monday, when I met with my BS buddies at the Park Cafe for a celebration lunch…
it was amazing because it was the birthday person’s birthday, lol… we don’t often have the celebration on their actual day…
we were there for a few hours…
the restaurant wasn’t too full, we had a lovely waitperson, the meal with very tasty, and we had lots of laughs and conversation (as always)…
these women have been my lifeline for over thirty-five years…
21 Thursday Sep 2023
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
Armstrong & Small, big girl pants, blessed, colleague, eye doctor, eye glasses, glasses, memories, moments, simpler, Technology, time, vision, widow
went for my annual eye exam, and while I was waiting, saw a former work colleague…
had a lovely catch-up…
I went through the gamut of tests and then got to spend time with my doctor… I’ve been going to him for ten years and they’ve been gathering data on my eyes over all that time… I don’t mind waiting, because when he is with me, there is no rushing through the explanations and all questions are answered…
eyes are in good shape and I learned a new way to clean my glasses while I was there…
will give it a try and see if it makes cleaning them simpler;-)…
02 Saturday Sep 2023
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, flowers, friends, garden, happy, hummingbird, moments, nature, nectar, plants, shade, time, weather, widow
had a wonderful day Monday…
it was overcast but I put out all the cushions and set up the chairs for the afternoon gathering with my buddies…
then I sat quietly in the garden as a sweet little hummingbird flew around gathering nectar from a few flowers… it particularly liked one of the hanging baskets that has deep purple flowers… it came and went a number of times before heading off to its next destination…
of course I didn’t have the camera out so the photos I got with my phone were pretty bad, lol…
after lunch my friends arrived and we had a great visit together… these days I make suntea and we always have pistachios as a snack, maybe with some chocolate;-)…
once everyone left, I followed the shade around the garden, enjoyed my book and the visit from one of my bunny friends…
I am certainly savouring these beautiful days in the garden…
29 Saturday Jul 2023
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blossom, flower, flowers, garden, happy, hibiscus, hopeful, moments, nature, plants, time, widow
I am so happy that the hibiscus has a flower on it… this is the first one since the tree came outside…
it is so pretty and I am hopeful that there will be more in the near future…
these pictures were taken about two hours apart on Friday…
herbiggirlpants 