22 Tuesday Feb 2022
Posted in garden, life, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
14 Monday Feb 2022
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, charcuterie, dinner, family, memories, Michael Buble, missing, moments, red, steak, sun, sweatshirt, treat, treats, widow
today I wore a red sweatshirt that my beloved bought for me many years ago on a trip to Banff…
I also wore my leggings that have maple leaves down the side for our team members…
I’ve enjoyed a few treats over the last few days and for lunch finished the charcuterie board that came on Saturday… the board itself is lovely…
for supper I made a steak using a method my daughter recommended… no barbecuing as I haven’t cleaned the path to the garage yet and there is a big drift in front of the door, lol… baked a potato earlier in the day and heated that up to go with it… finished with a cucumber salad… a nice treat as I haven’t had steak for a while…
missing my beloved, but as I sat in the sun, listening to Michael Bublé, enjoyed lots of wonderful memories…
what a great guy;-)…
13 Sunday Feb 2022
Posted in business, family, food, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Fairmont Winnipeg, food, grandson, memories, moments, Olympics, remembering, snow, Tea, tea-to-go, treat, Valentines, weather, widow
a number of months ago, on Mother’s Day, I had a tea-to-go from the Velvet Glove at the Fairmont Winnipeg…
it was delightful and the presentation was beautiful…
recently they posted on social media that they were having another for Valentine’s Day… I was quick to check with my grandson to see if he would be able to pick it up for me, and once I received his confirmation, I called and ordered it…
upon arrival it looked just as good as last time…
the sandwiches were delicious… I enjoyed each one, but my favourite was the cream cheese and cucumber;-)…
next were the desserts… little bites of delight…
the tea I had was Flora’s Berry Garden and there is some Earl Grey to have later…
it was lovely to enjoy this lovely lunch, watching the Olympics, as the snow was falling again…
I was so full, I couldn’t eat the last few bites of dessert, but I devoured them after supper, lol…
my beloved was a great romantic and special treats like this bring back so many wonderful memories of previous Valentine celebrations…
I have been, and continue to be, blessed…
12 Saturday Feb 2022
Posted in business, food, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, charcuterie board, chocolate, cookies, delicious, flown, food, memories, moments, nest, not-for-profit, Oak Hammock Marsh, supper, treat, Valentine's Day, widow
I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day… from getting flowers from my beloved, to making heart shaped sugar cookies for the girls’ classrooms for years, to taking roses to my colleagues…
in later years, once the girls had flown the nest, we would have a special dinner… often steak and lobster…
this year I ordered a charcuterie board from Oak Hammock Marsh, one of our local not-for-profits, for my dinner tonight…
it was delivered to my door and looked festive…
there were cheeses, olives, crackers, cold cuts, fruit, nuts, herbs, even a bit of chocolate… and it came on a nice wooden board…
tonight I enjoyed half of it, and will finish it either tomorrow or Monday…
was thinking of my beloved as I enjoyed this treat…
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…
herbiggirlpants 