26 Friday Jul 2024
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterfly, discovery, eggs, flowers, garden, milkweed, moments, monarch, nature, plants, treat, widow
recently, I wrote about all the caterpillars and the butterflies that emerged and my hope that, as the milkweed has new leaves, another monarch mother might stop by and leave a few eggs…
well, on Thursday, this happened;-)…
I was very excited and after she left, and a bit of searching, made the discovery of at least four eggs…
babies, here we come;-)…
25 Thursday Jul 2024
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventure, big girl pants, blessed, buddy, delicious, drive, food, friend, fun, lunch, moments, Pineridge, Pineridge Hollow, restaurant, shopping, treat, weather, widow
it was a beautiful day for an adventure yesterday… and we hadn’t been on one for awhile…
my adventure buddy and I drove out to Pineridge Hollow for lunch and a wander around the new shops that are there…
we had a lovely drive out and only got a little lost, lol…
we were just in time for our lunch reservation so we ate first… we shared a number of things…
rosemary and salt beet chips with a goat cheese ranch dipping sauce… my oh my, those were addictive…
next we shared a small Pineridge salad with mixed greens, apples, candied pecans and smoked Gouda tossed in a maple Dijon dressing… I forgot to take a photo before we dived in, lol… the small was more than enough for the two of us… and it was delicious… actually it was my favourite of all we ate…
she had the pulled pork tacos and I had the carpaccio – seared beef tenderloin, pickled rhubarb, strawberry gastrique, fresh herbs, arugula, pistachios, and a garlic scape aoli…
it was fun to try something different;-)…
and because we hadn’t eaten enough, she had schmoo and I had panna cotta with haskap berries…
we could have just had the beet chips and salad, maybe with a bit of chicken in it…
but we enjoyed everything and had leftovers to bring home…
from there we wandered through the shops and picked up a few items before heading home for naps, lol…
22 Saturday Jun 2024
Posted in family, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, feeder, fluttering, happy, hummingbirds, moments, nature, sound, treat, weather, widow, wings
we’ve been watching the hummingbird feeder since we arrived and on Tuesday, when we were at the table eating our supper we spotted the first one… having their meal too;-)…
Wednesday, while we were eating lunch, two of them had a little confrontation over who got to eat first…
Friday, while I was on the lower deck reading in the sun, one came right up to me before flying off… once you’ve heard a hummingbird, you always recognize the sound of their wings fluttering, lol…
what a treat;-)…
17 Monday Jun 2024
Posted in family, food, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Airbnb, big girl pants, blessed, cottage, deck, family, groceries, moments, nature, plants, Technology, treat, unpack, water, widow
well, after grocery shopping and packing up what felt like tons of stuff, we set off on our adventure…
we have returned to the superb Airbnb that we spent a week at last year…
it took about two and a half hours from leaving the house to sitting on the deck with tea and a refresher…
didn’t take very long to unpack the groceries and our personal stuff… then we headed to the upper deck to enjoy the scenery and our drinks…
as I sat there I listened to the waves gently lapping the shore, and heard the warblers, vireos, and sparrows singing in the trees nearby… and we’d already watched a couple of ducks working on their afternoon snacks as a pelican fly by…
what a delightful treat this time together is;-)…
10 Monday Jun 2024
Posted in business, food, garden, health, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birthday, blessed, chocolate, flowers, food, friends, garden, happy, lunch, moments, offerings, party, table, time, treat, umbrella, weather, widow
what a delightful day…
yesterday we moved the table on the deck to the middle of the space and this morning I put on the tablecloth and runner that I picked up on Saturday…
then my housemate put the umbrella back in its hole and we opened it up…
I folded silverware into napkins and brought out pretty, but unmatched, plates to put around… glasses and mugs followed… everything was upside down so they wouldn’t get dirty…
found bowls, covers, and spoons for the two salads – ham and German potato, as well as the coleslaw…
crackers went onto a wooden tray and the salt and pepper shaker made it onto the table, alongside some lily of the valley flowers from under the deck…
chair covers and cushions went out and umbrellas went up…
friends arrived with other food offerings… there were fresh veggies and hummus, devilled eggs, fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate, and custard…
there were flowers for the birthday woman…
we gathered at the table and enjoyed everyone’s delicious offerings… of course there was our usual coffee and tea to go with the fruit, custard and whipped cream, topped with a piece of chocolate and a pistachio, lol…
the bubble machine came out and was on until bubbles started to land on plates… the weather was beautiful as the sun shone with a slight breeze every now and then… conversations were free flowing and stories made us laugh…
we took a group photo, as we always do when we gather for special times;-)…
as everyone began to leave the clouds filled the sky and the temperature went down, but no rain fell…
I had a relaxing time as I cleaned up, filled the dishwasher, put away the cushions, and got the table back into its original location…
read my book as the last of the bubbles flew around the deck…
18 Saturday May 2024
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
adventures, big girl pants, blessed, friend, humorous, ice cream, moments, PTE, Sargent Sundae, season, treat, weather, widow
this afternoon we attended our last PTE theatre program of the season…
it was a well done discussion of a complex issue with lots of humour… we are looking forward to next season…
afterwards we went for ice cream at Sargent Sundae to mark the event;-)… it was delicious…
now we are planning other adventures over the summer…
14 Tuesday May 2024
Posted in business, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, garden, hanging baskets, happy, holler, moments, nature, petunias, plants, purple, shopping, treat, white, widow
for Mother’s Day I got four beautiful hanging baskets;-)… so far they have been going into the garage on cooler nights…
two are purple and white petunias…
the other two have white petunias and (maybe) lantana in them…
it is lovely to have flowers all over the garden…
and the morning glories are popping up;-)…
the garden is beginning to holler spring…
13 Monday May 2024
Posted in business, food, life, moments, retirement, travel, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, delicious, friends, Lily Stone Cafe high tea, moments, quiche, sweet, treat, weather, widow
we had another wonderful time at Lily Stone Cafe in Rosenort…
it was just over a year since we were last there, and it was as delightful as it had been previously…
once again, we had a room to ourselves…
we had a variety of teas and a tasty assortment of sandwiches and dainties…
my favourite savoury items were the the cucumber sandwiches and the quiche…
surprisingly, my favourite sweet was the decadent Kit Kat cheesecake, considering that I am not that fond of cheesecake, lol…
we were stuffed and happy when we left and weren’t rushed out the door, even though it was their closing time;-)…
the drive there and back was not too long and although it was overcast we only encountered a few drops of rain on our way home…
but, it still amazes me that there seems to be traffic everywhere and at all times these days, lol…
04 Saturday May 2024
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Canadian Tire, deer, geese, light, moments, nature, nice, shopping, treat, weather, widow
two lovely things today…
we went to Canadian Tire for a few things and when we got back to the car, we spotted these two cuties;-)…
reminded me of the two deer that walked down the street on Monday afternoon;-)…
and this was the sky tonight at 9:00 pm…
so exciting to have the light at this time of night….
nice treats…
23 Tuesday Apr 2024
Posted in business, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
this morning I had some fun with the bouquet I purchased last Wednesday for my birthday…
I divided it into five small containers…
they went into the bathroom, kitchen, den, and bedroom…
it is always such fun to be able to make new arrangements and then take photos of them;-)…
herbiggirlpants 