26 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, flowers, growing, happy times, harder, memories, moments, nature, photos, plants, purple, treat, weather, widow
recently I wandered around my space and took photos of all the blooming or nearly blooming things…
January and February are often harder months for me and having flowers blooming really lifts my spirits…
so much beauty in this space and I am grateful;-)…
07 Friday Jan 2022
Posted in family, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cook, curry, family, gifts, instant, Instant Pot, lentils, moments, red curry lentils, Technology, treat, widow
got a text from my grandson advising he would be dropping a few things off for me today… he was supposed to let me know the day before he was coming, lol…
I had promised to make red curry lentils so I got started…
usually I put the uncooked lentils into the sauce to cook slowly as they simmer, but as I wanted to be sure they were cooked in time, I did them separately…
while the sauce and lentils were cooking, I made the rice in the Instant Pot…
felt a little more rushed than normal, but I had everything cooked and in containers in about an hour…
he picked the containers up along with some other treats when he dropped off items he had collected for me;-)…
he also brought a couple of gifts from my younger grandsons… an Indigo gift card and a monopod for my camera;-)…
lovely to get a few late gifts…
30 Thursday Dec 2021
Posted in life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, camera, Christmas, fade, flowers, friends, gift, moments, nature, photo shoot, pictures, purple, sunshine, Technology, treat, widow
had a photo shoot with my bouquet of flowers…
I’m happy that I’ve taken lots of shots since I received them as they are starting to fade…
got out the actual camera and had a fun time… light was good and tunes were playing…
flowers make me happy;-)…
24 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, dragged, flowers, happy, moments, nature, Technology, time, treat, visit, warm, weather, widow
a few days ago I shovelled a path to the garage and then moved a chair and table inside it… also put cushions on a few chairs in the space…
a bit later I dragged the propane fire pit from the deck, down the steps, across the lower deck, and into the garage…
took a few minutes to get the flames going, but eventually I figured it out…
just before my friend arrived, I took out a few blankets and got the fire started…
we had a lovely visit, distanced, masked and fairly warm… eventually my feet got cold – no socks – and she headed off…
she brought me an amazing bouquet of flowers that isn’t just beautiful, it smells delightful…
I had been thinking that we wouldn’t be able to visit, as I am not having anyone in the house for the next few weeks, so it made it a particularly special time…
23 Thursday Dec 2021
Posted in life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, fairy, garage, garden, grandson, hose, hot tub, moments, nature, neighbour, shovel, snow, snowblower, Technology, treat, water, weather, widow
it snowed quite a bit overnight and when I looked out the bedroom window this morning I thought I had best get out and clear the sidewalk… particularly after my learning earlier about not leaving the snow to get stuck, lol…
when I arrived in the living room the sidewalk was clear;-)… obviously the snow clearing fairy had come by…
that was nice and I sent a text to my neighbour, who may have been that fairy…
later I went and shovelled the deck and hot tub area as the tub needed water… I hadn’t realized how much snow had fallen…
I am so pleased with my extendible hose as it makes adding water much easier…now the hose runs up the stairs and out the back door, instead of through a vent in the wall…
then, while the tub was filling, I shovelled as far back as the garbage can…
a bit later, while I was eating lunch, I heard a snowblower going and thought it was the neighbour behind doing his driveway, but when I checked my garage camera discovered it was the snow clearing fairy cleaning my driveway…
what a generous gift;-)… the driveway is long and this will save my grandson’s back when he stops by for a short garage visit in a few days…
what a kind Christmas gift…
10 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, feathered, feeder, happy, house finch, moments, nature, reading, sunshine, treat, widow
had a delightful afternoon reading and watching my feathered friends at the window feeder…
I was reminded of the quote on yesterday’s Christmas card:
“The joy of retirement comes in those everyday pursuits that embrace the joy of life.” ~ Byron Pulsifer
having the time and space to just sit and watch the birds, and read in between their visits, was and is a real gift…
and the beauty of the House Finch couple made me happy…
02 Thursday Dec 2021
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
Advent, big girl pants, blessed, bonbons, Canadian Chocoholic, Decadence Chocolates, family, moments, treat, widow
last year I had a great advent calendar and when it was finished I saved the wooden box it came in…
Canadian Chocoholic made inserts for it and mine came last week… it took me a good portion of an afternoon to construct the paper drawers… lots of folding and bending, lol…
my grandson took the calendar to Decadence Chocolates and Helen filled it with her bonbons…
got it back yesterday and had my first bonbon… yum…
what a lovely treat;-),,,
09 Tuesday Nov 2021
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, happy, leaves, maple, moments, nature, running shoes, treat, walk, weather, widow
well, today I put running shoes on instead of my sandals…
always a sad day for me as I would be happy to wear sandals all year long, but once it gets cold and I am going to be walking for a while, the shoes come out…
I walked in a different area today and came across maple leaves all over the sidewalk… they are very cute;-)…
in our neighbourhood we don’t see them so it was a treat…
31 Sunday Oct 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, garden, grandson, halloween, moments, nature, rain, snow, treat, tricks, weather, widow
so, there were some Halloween tricks, but no treats…
the kids were over this morning and we were working in the garden…
just after they left I was in the dining room and looked out the window to see this…
that would be snow pelting down like crazy…
of course, it is Halloween…
and a short time later it looked like this…
eventually it all melted…
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;-)…
herbiggirlpants 