134/354 Yard Work

This is my progress so far. I am trying to clean all the brush from under the trees. I would be out there today but the winds are gusting to 90km/hr so I will just take a photo of what I should be doing. 

 133/365 Soccer

It is soccer season and boy are we seeing improvements in Jesse's soccer playing. He is showing us new moves we didn't know he had. He also seems to really get the game and some strategy this year. Still, always amusing to watch five year olds play soccer.

 132/365 Root Beer Floats

Sooooo yummy! 

 131/365 The Sun

I was face timing Isla at my painting desk since she loves to talk painting and I mentioned that I didn't have a 365 shot of the day. She suggested I take a photo of the sun but I explained that would be difficult to do. However that suggestion did inspire me to look up from my phone to notice the evening sun streaming in the window. So today's 365 is a photo of the sun inspired by Isla. 

 130/365 Celebration

 129/365 Regimental Sergeant Major

Chief Warrant Officer Mark Cortens officially assumes the appointment of Regimental Sergeant-Major of 38 Signal Regiment — one of the highest leadership appointments within a Canadian Army regiment.

 128/365 Haworthia (Zebra)

This 8 year old succulent had long outgrown its good sized pot. It not only had numerous babies, it had great, great grand babies. So today I  pulled the whole thing out of the pot and spilt it up into 5 still good sized pots (this is just one of them)..... We will see over the next month how they survived me breaking  up the clan. 

 127/365 Hello Carson

The kids find it amusing when Carson climbs the edge of the pool, comes out of the water, peeks over the edge at us and then disappears back into the water. Silly Carson. I will try to get a photo of him peeking up over the top but here he is climbing.  

 126/365 Carson

Meet Carson working at 8 feet deep. He is our pool vacuum who we truly appreciate. He cleans well even when the pool is a frigid 6 C. Lucy named him and there is no story behind his name. She just picked Carson. We find it a whole lot easier to just say "Did you put Carson in the pool?". 

He has been busy at work since yesterday and we have been too, scooping leaves and debris from a long winter. The pump is on and the main filters are also working hard. 

Now if the weather would cooperate we would be in business. 

 125/365 Happy Painter

Starting them young!

 124/365 Painting

They love to paint and I love that they love to paint. 

 123/365 Crocus

Spring is arriving! 

 122/365 Reflections on the Pool

 121/365 Frozen

It is May but the pool is adamently hanging on to its top layer of ice. Today we hit some double digit numbers so it should soon melt and we can get to cleaning out the leaves and debris. 

 120/365 Chives

Despite freezing temps and very cold single digit days, the chives is pushing thru. It knows that May arrives tomorrow! 

 119/365 Sprinter

This is a little disheartening. I guess the pool ice is not melting today.  

 118/365 Frozen in Time....for now. 

 117/365 Cribbage

One of the perks of retirement is lazy breakfasts playing cribbage. He skunked me royally! Who gets dealt four 3's or two 7's and two 8's and then a 9 gets turned up = 24 pts!!  Crazy!! He did the dishes...

 116/365 Rootbeer Float.

Soooo good! 

 115/365 Kneading

Jesse made the dough for our pizza tonight and with Mom's help, learned how to knead the bread as well. I love that Jesse loves to be in the kitchen. 

 114/365 New Growth

There are signs coming up in the back yard. As soon as we get past the next cold week, hopefully we will be in full on spring mode. 

 113/365 Lucy graduates Gymnastics

I got to watch Lucy's last day of class gymnastics demonstration and certificate award today.  She has done very well and absolutely loves gymnastics. I was going to remove that huge bruise on her knew but nope - this is a mark of hard work and courage! 

 112/365 Lunch

It was a hot one today. Temps hit 24C but I am sure it was much warmer on this south facing deck. Spent the morning on the yard again and enjoyed our first lunch on the deck this year. The snow is almost completely gone and the pool tarp will be off soon. 

 111/365 Bird Bath

Another afternoon in the back yard cleaning up, trimming and cleaning out the bird bath. The birds have returned. 

 110/365 Soon!

We were out in the yard for a few hours yesterday and will be for more today. Expect lots of yard photos. 

 109/365 Flour

Jesse turned the mixmaster on high right after adding flour. It went everywhere and was pretty funny.

 108/365 Finished

We gave Lucy this lego set for Christmas. Every time she comes over she works on it a bit....then Emma takes a bit of it apart and Lucy works on it some more. Today it is officially finished and Lucy is feeling pretty good about that. It will now take its place on the large window ledge in the basement with her other lego sets adding to her village - playground, candy store and now hospital with an elevator and helicopter with landing pad. 

I love lego! So good for the mind. 

107/365 Pease Lily (Spathiphyllum)

I was about 15 years old (almost 55 years ago) when my sister Tanis, who was very, very sick with cancer, asked me to buy a Christmas present for Mom. My Mom was her 24/7 caregiver for a few years thru her treatments and it was a very difficult time. Tanis wanted to have something special for Mom for Christmas but she was pretty much bedridden. She handed me some cash and I headed down to The Bay to find something and all I could really find in budget was this small Peace Lily.  Tanis was happy and my Mom very touched Christmas morning. Mom nurtured that plant and it grew to be a beautiful large plant that faithfully bloomed and I suppose served as a memory of the daughter she lost. That plant moved with Mom across Canada to Victoria and over the next 50 years, each of us surviving 6 siblings enjoyed pieces of it from time to time. I could never keep mine alive but I sure admired Mom's when visiting her in Victoria. 

This fall my brother arrived at our new home here in Oakbank with another piece of the original plant. This is probably a piece of a piece if a piece of the original bought in the basement of The Bay. I was nervous at first because I have killed a couple of these. However, I am no longer homeschooling 4 kids or working and I have time. Time to water it with filtered water and to carefully feed it. Time to figure out I need to keep it away from the heating vent or the cold window and protect it from my penchant to overwater. I am trying. 

And this week it bloomed! 

 106/365 Oreo Cookies

How do you eat your Oreo cookies??

 105/365 New Planter

Excited to get this new planter filled with tomatoes, herbs and a few other vegetables. 

 104/365  How can this be?

Yesterday I was back there in a sweater raking up leaves and cleaning out flower pots. This too shall pass.  

 103/365 Artist in the Making

 102/365 French Toast

Jesse made french toast for the gang for supper tonight. He said he felt like breakfast for supper so french toast it was. He cracked open 7 eggs and not one shell got in there. He was so proud! Me too! 

 101/365 Superfood

I am making home made yogurt with superfood probiotic L Gasseri today (and other probiotics to help it along). It will percolate in the cooker on "proof" ~ 100 F for 36 hours. It needs that long to really grow and do its thing. 

 100/365 Bowling

While the rest of the fam are watching the Artemis crew return to Earth! 

And here we are on the 100th day of 2026. 

 99/365 Painting

 98/365 Just Do It

Colonoscopy today. If you are over 60 it would be wise to make this an every five year event. :) Not a big deal. Snapped this with my iPhone just before they wheeled me away. Almost posted a snow photo (2 inches last night) but this was much more creative and I am rather done with snow!! 

 97/365 Cedar Waxwing

There is an ornamental cherry tree just outside my office window. It was covered in dried berries until the cedar waxwings arrived - about 300 of them - and ate all the berries. 

 96/365 Robin

Spring is here despite a little snow yesterday.

 95/365 Happy Easter! 

 94/365 Solid Potato Salad

Lucy has been wowing us with her gymnastics moves - she is soooo flexible. So Grandpa had to show them this 1944 video performed by the Ross sisters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oMSKJHPzxc

By the time they left our house Lucy had her back walkover down pat! 

 93/365 Waiting for our Robin to return

Last year we watched her raise four babies. Spring is such a wonderful time of year. 

Today is Good Friday because our Saviour went to the cross for us. He suffered for us. he paid a debt we could never pay for us. That is Good! 

 92/365 Lucy  ~ Sweet, caring, compassionate and feisty all wrapped up in our creative, blue eyed redhead. I now have an updated portrait for the dining room wall of love. 

 91/365 Easter Tree

Emma decorated and undecorated our easter Tree several times today....

 90/365 Amazon

I really do appreciate Amazon. It is super convenient when needing an item, to find it on my computer and then have that item on my doorstep a day or two later. Does it make me shop more? Probably. It is particularly convenient since moving to a rural location. Our trips into the city are efficiently planned. 

At the same time, I acknowledging the valid concerns others have about Amazons corporate practices - treatment of employees etc.  I would much rather support a local business, and I do when I can.

While the criticisms regarding labor and market dominance are important conversations to have, the practicality and efficiency of Amazon cannot be denied. I like to think I balance the convenience and ease with a conscious effort to support local shops when possible. 

That said...there is a little excitement when the Amazon driver pulls into my driveway. It reminds me of Mr. Telerico delivering our vegetables every Wednesday am when I was a little girl. My eyes got pretty big when he pulled that wad of bills out of his pocket. Or the milkman giving us a little piece of dry ice so we could put it in water and watch it smoke up. Home delivery was very common. My Mom didn't have a car or drive and she had nine mouths to feed so when Tomboy delivered, it was very much appreciated. Remember the Eaton's catalogue and those big blue trucks? 

On another note, it is the last day of March and it is snowing. No blizzard thankfully. 

And I really like that my office in our new house gets to watch the house build across the street and all the kids heading to the school bus....and the park....and the Amazon van arriving.

 89/365 Norah

 88/365 Post Banana Split Laughs

 87/365 Eva

 86/365 Diving Board

Trying to be patient here but surely waiting for the day all this snow is gone! I have to remind myself that it is still March and she came in like a lamb.