04 Friday Jul 2025
Posted in health, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
33°C, big girl pants, blessed, clouds, hot, moments, nature, pink, sky, Technology, weather, widow
it was a hot one…
right now, at 9:50 pm, the temperature is 28°C and feels like 33°C…
looked out the window to see these beautiful clouds;-)…
and just a few minutes later, they were gone…
so happy when I catch a lovely moment;-)…
03 Thursday Jul 2025
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, blooming, coneflower, family, flowers, garden, memories, moments, nature, plant, remembering, weather, weed, widow
the coneflower has finally bloomed… this one was planted on the south side of the house, next to the furnace vents… I think this is a much better spot than the pergola garden…
whenever the hose has been put out it has gotten water and has been growing nicely since it was planted…
not too long ago it produced a bud and it has slowly been opening over the last few weeks…
the petals still need to bend completely, but it is looking pretty good now;-)…
seeing it reminds me of how every year I would buy one, we’d plant it in the garden, and then in the spring my beloved would pull it out thinking it was a weed, lol…
memories 😉…
01 Tuesday Jul 2025
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, blooming, flowers, garden, giggling, growing, moments, morning glories, nature, purple, weather, widow
been giggling a bit…
I planted many morning glories and have been watching for the first blooms…
yesterday I spotted the first one… it was blooming under the bench of the butterfly chair, lol…
nearly impossible to see…
today I saw the second bloom, on the bench this time and with another bud preparing to open;-)…
hope more will open higher up, lol…
29 Sunday Jun 2025
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, bucket, garden, hot, moments, nature, pea pod, reading, relaxing, rest, virginia creeper, weather, widow
it was a hot one yesterday… spent most of it in the garden…
started out with breakfast and a book while it was still cool…
then I took a break and trimmed virginia creeper which had gone crazy with the rain we’ve had recently…
after half an hour I’d filled my bucket between the garage door, entry pergola, and hose area…
back to relaxing;-)… after lunch and a rest in the lounge chair, the time came to move into the house to cool off for a while…
brought in all the cushions as there was a threat of a thunderstorm…
I watched an F1 qualifying session and headed back outside, where there had not been a storm or any rain, lol… had a wander around the vegetable garden and spotted the first pea-pod…
more reading on the deck, followed by a lovely steak for dinner…
finished my book and watched a bit of tv before bed;-)…
24 Tuesday Jun 2025
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, garden, hibiscus, irritated, leaves, lemon, moments, nature, outdoors, plants, weather, widow
well over a week ago, the lemon tree made its way from the house into the garden…
since then it has been rather irritated with the weather… the leaves were all hanging down as though it was thirsty, but watering it didn’t seem to make any difference…
finally, a few days ago the leaves had perked up and it looks happy again…
the hibiscus has also forgiven me for bringing it outdoors… it had enjoyed being under the cedars but was miffed when it was moved out to the edge of the pond… where it proceeded to get a bit of a sunburn;-(…
the two of them are looking very nice now…
23 Monday Jun 2025
Posted in garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, moments, nature, neighbour, plants, remembering, rosa, rose, weather, widow
happy to discover that the red rose bush in the front garden has begun to bloom…
it came from my neighbour (and very good friend) who lived next door for many years…
it always makes me smile and remember the good times we had together over the years;-)…
brought a few in and put them in the den…
21 Saturday Jun 2025
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, fabric, garden, moments, morning glories, obelisk, planter, plants, umbrella, weather, widow
the other day I removed the fabric from a squirrel-eaten umbrella…
I expected it to be difficult but it was simply a case of removing some nuts and the top and then pulling the fabric off…
my housemate cut off the bottom of the stand for me…
today, I topped up a planter and added the umbrella frame as an obelisk… then I planted some of the new morning glory seeds…
next year this obelisk will go into one of the larger pots;-)…
20 Friday Jun 2025
Posted in business, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
Ambassador, APC, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, big girl pants, blessed, Conservatory, feet, heavy horses, learning, mentors, moments, nature, The Leaf, volunteer part 2, volunteers, weather, widow, zoo
once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…
the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…
I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…
and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…
the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…
part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…
I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…
my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…
it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…
then we practised in three different areas…
I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…
so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…
I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…
say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…
19 Thursday Jun 2025
Posted in food, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, discourage, food, fresh, garden, happy, moments, nature, plants, snack, squirrels, strawberry, strawberry plant, treat, weather, widow
excited this morning to spot the strawberry that was ripe enough to eat… and pleased that the birds and/or squirrels hadn’t beaten me to it…
I did paint those rocks red and put them around the plant to discourage thieves, lol… maybe they worked…
the strawberry was delicious;-)…
this plant was purchased two years ago and lives in a pot over the summer…in the fall it is transplanted back into the bathtub garden to overwinter;-)…
16 Monday Jun 2025
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
bathtub, bathtub pond, big girl pants, blessed, garden, larvae, moments, nature, pond, pump, weather, widow, working
this morning I finally got around to sorting out a working pump for the bathtub pond…
I had switched the two pumps between the main pond and the bathtub, but not long after that change the pump in the tub stopped working completely…
and because there are no fish in that pond, the chance of mosquito larvae growing in it was a problem…
happily, the first extra pump I came across worked, although it didn’t have a piece extending out of the water… luckily that doesn’t matter as the water just needs to move to ensure no larvae can survive…
hopefully this one will continue to work…
happy to get that job off the list…
herbiggirlpants 