Tag Archives: treat

pain-free…

10 Monday Feb 2020

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today, I walked to the Park, had lunch with friends, and walked home without any pain in my knee…

it is the furthest I’ve walked in months…

the weather was cool, a bit breezy, and snow fell gently as I walked… I left in lots of time for my lunch date so I didn’t have to rush… I’m finding that as long as I don’t try to walk too quickly I am good…

and what a treat to have lunch and a visit with two wonderful women…

good to get out and move… was very happy and pleased that the sidewalks were clear and not icy/slippery…

looking forward to more pain-free walks…

bonbons…

08 Saturday Feb 2020

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a few days ago I received my second Advent All Year parcel from my daughter… (here’s the story of the first one)…

in it were a beautiful handmade card; my favourite Raspberry Chocolate bar (including one for my grandson, who also loves it); and a box of bonbons she chose from a recent visit to Soma chocolatemaker… the box had the coolest extra packing paper as she mentioned she would be mailing it…

one thing I’ve learned from her is that great bonbons need to be eaten quickly before they expire… particularly when they are made with only fresh ingredients…

so, every morning I’ve been choosing one and eating it before I have my breakfast…

such a delicious way to start the day when my taste buds aren’t muddied with other flavours…

I am blessed;-)…

theatre…

02 Sunday Feb 2020

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dinner and the theatre… well, more like lunch and the theatre, lol…

tried out PF Changs before we went to PTE…

it is a nice spot although a bit loud… we were treated to a dynamite shrimp cocktail while we waited for our lunch… it was delicious…

we ordered and shared two items… Crispy Honey Shrimp and Kung Pow Brussels sprouts… both were good…

there was an issue with our bill but the manager was able to sort it out and offered us a dessert the next time we go…

from there it was off to PTE, where we saw Ghost Light… it was very well done with a minimal set… it was both funny and poignant…

I do enjoy our theatre dates;-)…

expedition…

29 Wednesday Jan 2020

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went out on a shopping expedition today with a friend…

checked out the Fromagerie Bothwell on Provencher… I thought it was just a cheese store, but it isn’t… it has all manner of other locally produced goodies as well… I picked up some De Luca’s pasta sauce, a pepperoni and cheese snack, soft goat cheese, and some of their marble cheese…

from there we went along the street to Chocolatier Constance Popp where I picked up some coconut dark chocolate macaroons (delicious), a sugar-free bar, a coconut and lime bar and finally a Manitobar to send to my daughter… that was fun…

back to St. James to check out Winners/Homesense… found a number of items which had been on my shopping list for a while… a cute little backpack, thermal socks, salt for my grinder, a soap dish, a lemon squeezer and a small container for my bedside table…

great fun…

keychain…

26 Sunday Jan 2020

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Friday I received a parcel in the mail…

in it was the cutest handmade keychain…

a gift from my daughter… she is planning to send me something regularly throughout the year — instead of an Advent calendar that just comes in December;-)…

how lovely is that…

I love all the pieces it is made of, but the little bird is a reminder of the wonderful morning we spent at Mer Bleue feeding the chickadees…

my goal for the Spring is to train my chickadees to eat from my hand… this is a wonderful reminder…

I am very excited to get working on this…

trivets…

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

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Monday is our usual night to gather… we have been doing this for years… last week we got to talking about Chinese food and decided to have supper together this week… Monday evenings are already blocked off in everyone’s calendars, lol, so changing the time was fairly simple…

we each offered up our favourite dishes, a menu was circulated by email, adjustments were made and a person chosen to order and pick up the dinner… times were chosen and rides were organized…

we had hoped that my grandson would join us as he was expected to be here to collect Indi to use on Tuesday… unfortunately things changed and he couldn’t join us…

it was wonderful to have the time to prepare for dinner… I had fun digging through my dishes and finding tea pots and cups; a variety of chopsticks and stands; and various trivets to put the food on when it arrived…

we had a lovely dinner and tons of great conversation… it was a wonderful treat to share a meal… finished the evening with more conversation, coffee and a lemon cake…

life is good…

 

spa…

09 Thursday Jan 2020

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for my last full day in Ottawa, we went to Nordik Spa in Chelsea… it is the parent of Thermea, where I was, just days ago…

but it is so much bigger… there are whole sections for quiet activities, as well as silent ones… every time I go they have added something new… this time it was Quonset hut saunas… the light reflecting on the ceiling was gorgeous…

we started in one of the warm glass beds and moved to warm pools, saunas, hot pools, had scrubs, and sat around fires in huts…

we drank tons of water and had a delicious lunch… we chatted with strangers, just ourselves, and we spent time in silence…

they don’t allow photos on site so these are a few I took: leaving home as the snow fell, the view as we stood in line to get our bracelets, and a picture my daughter took as we were leaving…

it was a wonderful relaxing and rejuvenating day, and a great way to end my visit…

we drove home in the dark, after watching the moon rise from various pools, and had a simple supper before all three of us watched a movie…

we didn’t want to go to bed because she had to work the next day and I would be packing and flying home;-(…

Atelier…

07 Tuesday Jan 2020

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what a wonderful treat it was to go to Atelier for dinner…

my daughter took me to celebrate my retirement… her hubby acted as chauffeur for the evening;-)…

it is a twelve course tasting menu and every course is more impressive than the last…

we also shared a wine pairing… this worked well as I only wanted a sip of each offering…

our appetizer was on a plate which rotated while we were enjoying the three different bites… it was very cool…

one of my favourite courses was the sable fish… it was very tasty…

every course came on a different plate… apparently the chef collects dishes from all over… many of the ones we had this time were different from the last time I was there… because the restaurant is intimate they don’t need tons of each dish…

at the end of our meal, we had the opportunity to meet with Marc Lepine, chef/owner of Atelier…

next time I’m in Ottawa I will be sure to check out his new offering – Thru… it is only open on Tuesdays and has seating for six with a menu of 50 items… it uses QR code’s to order… sounds very fun…

what a special gift… it was a magical evening;-)…

Tulip…

05 Sunday Jan 2020

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I always try to work in some public transportation while I am visiting my kids, lol… I love bendy buses and for the longest time we didn’t have any in Winnipeg… they also have double decker buses here… and recently the train has been added…

so, took a bus and the train to get downtown where we had lunch at Tulip, in the Hilton Garden Inn…

the modern decor is amazing… tons of purple and beautifully done… delightful space to be in…

we had two appetizers… polenta and tuna, both were delicious…

our mains were not as exciting, or a tasty, and unfortunately they didn’t have the dessert we had been looking forward to, but we had a wonderful time together and fun with buses, trains and even a bit of walking to finally get home;-)…

lights…

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

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a few nights ago we took a drive to Taffy Lane in Ottawa…

my oh my… those people are serious about decorating for the holidays, lol… so many lights…

such fun… there were very few cars so we were able to take it slow and admire all the lovely scenes…

my daughter took this shot of one of my favourites, with a dinosaur and penguin in it;-)…