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;-)…
23 Sunday Jan 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
activity, big girl pants, blessed, bunnies, garden, learning, moments, nature, photos, snow, squirrels, tracks, weather, widow
one of the things I enjoy after a snowfall is seeing the tracks that the bunnies, squirrels and birds make…
it is fairly obvious that one or more bunnies are living under the deck… they climb a snowbank and then head underneath… there is lots of space under there…
the squirrels have been running around on the deck… likely the red ones are chasing the other squirrels and birds away from their stash…
soon the bunnies will be able to eat directly from the front feeders because the snow is getting so high, lol…
it is wonderful to have such a great view of nature just by looking out the windows…
21 Friday Jan 2022
Posted in business, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dug, moments, nature, neighbours, shovelling, snow, snow plows, weather, widow
as I was watching a show last night I heard a noise in the driveway and discovered my next door neighbour shovelling… there was a ban on street parking so he cleaned two-thirds of the driveway to make room for their cars…
a bit later, as I was getting my last steps in, I watched the snow machines go up and down the street clearing the snow…
they do a great job and also are efficient at leaving the bottom of the driveway accessible… for years my beloved would have to shovel the end of the driveway before being able to get the car out…
unfortunately, in the process of being sure the driveway and fire hydrant are clear, they dump a bunch of snow over the front sidewalk…
this morning I went out and dug through an area about three feet long and two feet deep… there was a blowing snow warning but I’ve learned that it needs to happen as soon as possible…
it had been blowing and snowing and the snow on the path was already packed… I managed to get a narrow path cleared…
the neighbour on the other side came a little later and did the main part of the sidewalks…
it is quite a bit wider than what I managed, lol…
18 Tuesday Jan 2022
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
out this morning to shovel the sidewalk…
it was still snowing but I thought it better to clear it a few times if needed…
only did it once… the snow stopped shortly after I finished, but the wind is going to be strong overnight so I will decide tomorrow if it needs to be done again…
later in the day the sun came out and I got some lovely photos…
so interesting how the view changes from moment to moment… I am so happy to have the time to observe the changes…
17 Monday Jan 2022
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, deep, front, moments, nature, photos, pictures, sky, snow, sunrise, weather, widow
today I woke to this view of the sky…
and a bit later I took this photo of the front yard to show someone how much snow was on the ground…
a tiny bit of snow had fallen yesterday and overnight and we are waiting for a storm tonight so I expect there will be more to shovel tomorrow…
12 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in food, garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, chickadees, cold, garden, moments, nature, seeds, shovelling, sidewalk, snow, sunflower seeds, walk, warm, weather, widow
spent time in the garden on a beautiful warm day… we’ve been under extreme cold warnings for what seems like forever… shovelled a path to the garbage can and back gate… also cleaned the area around the hot tub…
finally cleaned off a good portion of the upper deck so I can get to the bird feeder… it was difficult to get the snow and old seeds out of the feeder, but I managed…
and just a few minutes later the chickadees were back for fresh snacks…
that made me happy…
31 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, cleaning, extreme, first footing, layers, moments, nature, plow, purple, snow, weather, widow
this morning there was an extreme cold warning, so I put on two pairs of pants, a vest, my purple Canada Goose jacket, mitts, and headed to the end of the sidewalk…
last night the snow plows cleaned the street so there was quite a pile of snow left at the street end of the sidewalk…
it must have been about two feet deep and two feet across… I was thrilled to discover that it wasn’t full of ice chunks and had not frozen into a solid clump…
once again, they did a great job of the driveway… it didn’t need any touching up at all…
only took ten minutes and I was rather proud of my work…
hoping the mail carrier would bring me some fun mail;-)…
and should there be anyone first footing tomorrow, the sidewalk will be clear;-)…
29 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in family, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, family, hot tub, mitts, moments, nature, runners, shovel, sidewalk, snow, weather, widow
my middle grandson arrived yesterday afternoon to do some shovelling…
he made a path from the house to the garage… and then to the back lane… all around the hot tub… and the top deck…
there was a lot of snow and it hadn’t been touched since Thursday…
he, of course, arrived with runners on his feet, lol… he had good gloves but his hands got cold, so for part of the job, he used grandpa’s garbage mitts that I had brought outside…
the driveway got a quick shovel as well as the sidewalks… they had been shovelled and snow blowed twice by the neighbour…
25 Saturday Dec 2021
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, family, food, garage, gifts, happy, joy, memories, moments, remembering, sadness, sleigh, vacillating, weather, widow
today I’ve been vacillating between joy and sadness…
joy at spending time this morning online with the kids in Ottawa as we opened our gifts;-)… they were in the sleigh, lol…
sadness that I am here alone, even if at my own choice…
joy, at spending time with my grandson and his girlfriend in the garage around the fire pit exchanging presents…
sadness that my beloved isn’t here…
joy, that my dinner was delicious… my favourite roast chicken, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and turnip…
it looked a little beige, but tasted delicious…
sadness that I wasn’t able to see the rest of my Winnipeg family…
and back to joy as I remember I am home safe and healthy on this Christmas Day…
yup, up and down…
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…
herbiggirlpants 