Thursday, March 28, 2024

A Few Days in March ~ Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers.

I hope Spring is treating you well so far. It's been roller coaster weather where I live with mostly gloomy skies, cooler weather and the odd beautiful sunny day.  I'm sharing a few days this past week so you can see what I mean.

March 27, 2024



March 26, 2024



And about 30 minutes later on the same day.


March 23, 2024

 

One of the many things keeping me busy this week is patio renovation. The construction job is behind schedule over all and my patio in particular. This week they were to replace the pavers on the patio membrane. After which they will build the retaining wall and fill it with soil. I don't know yet about whether they will hire someone to replant the gardens or if we will have to re-do it ourselves. When I bought the place it came with a fully planted garden that had trees. Now I may have to replace all those plants myself but we will have guidelines this time from a landscape architect's report about what can and cannot be planted. 



No matter what the strata council decides, I'm still paying for the replanting in addition to the payments for the construction. It's just that I would prefer not to have to do all the work myself as it's not that easy hauling plants up from the ground level. I talked to the strata manager yesterday and he couldn't tell me what the timeline is for completion so I don't even know whether anything will be ready for enjoyment this summer. We are expected to have very hot weather this summer and so the timing of that will likely coincide with when the garden will finally be ready.  Once it is ready to go, we will need to power wash the pavers and make them look nice again.


Last but not least, I wish each of you and your loved ones, a blessed Easter weekend if you celebrate.




 I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Welcome to My Awesome Day

I took a walk along the waterfront on Wednesday this week.  It was one the best weather days so far since winter began.  Wednesday was the first day of Spring and everyone was out at the waterfront enjoying the sunshine.









Though I do like to people watch I usually stick to photos of the scenery. 

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today.

Thank you for stopping by.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Happy Spring 2024!

Happy Spring to you.



 Enjoy this short video from the waterfront where I spent part of Spring season's first day.

Friday, March 15, 2024

It Was a Spectacular Day! ~ Skywatch

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

It was a spectacular, sunny day where I live. It's still rather chilly from my point of view but the weather reporters keep telling us it is going to get very warm and above seasonal temperatures by the weekend. So we'll see how tomorrow goes.

I had an unexpected trip to the dentist today to a repair a tooth which broke yesterday.  I walked to my appointment and took the following photos to share with you.









Thank you for stopping by!

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

This and That on a Mid-March Day

Wednesday was a spectacular day with glorious sunshine and fluffy white clouds. The sun came out after several rainy days but the temperature was still quite chilly.

On my walk I captured some beautiful flowers outside one of the local grocery stores. I just love the flowers in the foreground and the large store window capturing a reflection of the clouds and blue sky. You can see the leaves haven't come out on the deciduous trees yet.





By mid afternoon it turned mostly cloudy again though we expect sunshine and much warmer temperatures for the next week or so.

I've been keep very busy this month with a lot of small things including sewing alterations,  reading, decluttering, cooking, appointments and so on.  

A small containers of buttons broke open and the buttons scattered all over the larger container they were in.  It spurred me on to do a little bit of a tidy up of some of the most often used sewing supplies.  This will help me as I work on other projects.

3 small containers of sewing supplies sorted and organized

I've been decluttering a bit here and there. Nothing major but it all adds up. I'm also still trying to use up old toiletries. Some of them seem to have a bottomless supply. I'm adding everything to some large recycling bags and will do a count later.

In my reading, I finished reading the 5 fictional books in the photos below and one book on style. I enjoyed all of the books. My favourite pick was Ken Follet's Armour of Light followed by The Nightingale, The Venice Sketchbook, The Cafe by the Sea and the House of Fortune in that order. The Style for Everybody Guide was a very straightforward and well written, simplified guide to clothing and style. I've read a lot of them and I liked this one a lot because it is not so overwhelming in the information it presented.


Also completed in the last few weeks.




I've started reading a few books with a spiritual theme.  Usually this kind of book requires more time for reading, reflection and retention.  I'll probably pick up another novel to read in between study.




That's all in my world for now. 
Thank you for your visit.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

A Beautiful Night ~ Skywatch March 8, 2024



Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you've had a great week! 

I took this moon shot a while back and haven't had a chance to share it yet. 

I was out for a late walk and was happy to both see and capture this moon. It was so clear and bright.

Lately it seems a lot of my Skywatch Friday shots are taken in the night. Of course it's due to limited daylight at this time of year but that should soon change.

I'm looking forward to Spring.  🌸🌸🌸

Enjoy your weekend.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday

Monday, March 4, 2024

It's March ~ Tuesday 4



Welcome to Tuesday 4 begun by Toni Taddeo.
It's March and it might be nice to talk a bit about it.
The year is going by quickly.

1. March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion.  How has it made it's debut in your area?

March 1st was a cold and it rained very heavily at times.  I stayed indoors.

2. Is St Patrick's Day something you observe?

I don't observe St. Patrick's Day. Where I live I've only ever seen it as a day for people to wear green and many go to an Irish pub for 'green' bear.  No one I know observes a special dinner on that day. In more recent years there has been a St. Patrick's Day parade and there seems to be a bit more happening each year.  There is a Ceilidh on March 15th and a concert of the Welsh Choir the next day.  There is also a Celtic Festival that weekend.  I've looked at the festival program and it seems like a lot of it is focussed on drinking so I don't participate.  Besides which the weather is usually not very nice on St. Patrick's Day.

3. Do you observe Easter? 

I do observe Easter. 

4. What will those holidays see you doing this year? 

It's usually a quiet time of reflection and gratitude for Christ's death and resurrection.  Church's here like everywhere also focus on this message.  It's also time for a holiday meal with one or two loved ones. Long ago, a much larger group of family and friends would gather together for Easter dinner but those days are long gone as are many of the people. 

This time of year most of us in the western hemisphere are anticipating the arrival of the Spring season.  So I've planted up some seeds in readiness for the garden season. Hopefully they won't sprout up too stringy and straggly.


Saturday night I took a walk to the garden to return a book called The Venice Sketchbook. It was a poignant read set in Venice, Italy during WW2. Once I got home I realized I had another book I needed to return.  It had fallen to the side of the sofa and I didn't notice it until the next day when I was vacuuming.

 



I wanted to do more 'creating' in 2024 but haven't really gotten in the groove yet. I did make a few dishcloths. I was surprised to find a skein of cotton yarn at my local dollar store. I thought it would make 2 cloths but it only made 1.5. I returned to the store to buy another skein but there were none left. I tried another store location but they had none. I'm thinking that this was a one time offering so I don't hold out hope of finding more.


Some of you who've followed me for years may know that I love plants especially tropical ones for indoors. However it has proven impossible for me to grow them indoors. It just too cold with drafts in all the wrong places and lack of natural light is also a problem. As a result, I purchased a artificial bush last year and put some fairy lights on it. When I was out for a walk the other day I found this abandoned tree sitting on a bench outside a store. It didn't look like it belonged to anyone but to make sure I enquired inside the store. They told me that it had been sitting on the bench for three days and to please take it if I wanted. So I did. It now sits beside me on the sofa and I'm very happy with it as it is just the right height without being too wide in diameter.

I took this patio photo last week. Today the workers started laying the new foundation. I think they will make a lot of progress this week.




This is how I spent the first few days in March. I'm feeling happy and content and looking forward to Spring.

Joining in with Tuesday 4 this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Countdown to Christmas ~ Tuesday 4

Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where 4 questions hopefully help us to blog, meet people and think about things...