Flag Friday - Happy Canada Day eh!

Happy Canada Day to all the family and friends living in Canada or outside of Canada.  Last night Jeff hang our small Canadian Flag.  The other flag I brought with me has faded so I got a small one the last time I was in Vernon, BC.  Our friends J and G will be coming over for dinner to help me celebrate today.  It was a little difficult at first to figure out what's Canadian when it comes to meals.  So instead of trying to make it true Canadian, I just picked a couple of things to make.  Our appetizer is a mini version of the French Tourtiere aka meat pie and for dessert, I made some mini butter tarts.  The rest of the menu are BBQ chicken thighs and breast, grilled corn on the cob with butter/lime/cilantro sauce, over roasted baby potatoes with garlic and rosemary, grilled pineapple.  I won't be able to show you photos of the above menu, but I took a photo of the mini butter tarts.  Maybe I won't forget to take more photos of our Canada Day dinner.  Proud to be a Canadian!

                                                 

 

Weeping Wednesday - Specially for Gino

Eight years ago today, you left without saying goodbye

Not sure what you were thinking, all I can do was sigh.

It was too much of a shock, I thought I would die

Now life has a different meaning, somehow I have to try.

The pain was excruciating but now some days I just feel numb

Was it something I said or did I do something really dumb.

It's difficult to understand why and at times I feel stumped

When I don't have the answer to why you decided to jump.

Thinking of you on Sundays, I always feel that stab in my heart

Wondering where you are on Mondays, I don't even know where to start.

When I hear your favorite songs on the radio, I sometimes fall apart

Maybe you are really in a better place, ready for a different kick start.

Whatever is that place somewhere all of us will never know

We can just hope that you are happy and things here will just flow

In time our tears and our pain will somehow eventually go

But our love for you will remain forever because you are our GINO.

A little boy cabbage patch doll name "Gino" that my daughter saw at a store in NYC.

I saw this toy at Target and it made me teary as this was Gino's favorite toy.

Satiable Sunday - Very easy to be

We are both very easy going person and I think that is why get along very well.  Like the other day after dinner I asked Jeff if he could take me to the Nail Supply Store.  His response, "Sure".  I told him about this post that I am doing today is about being satisfied.

Not just satisfied but very easy to please.  Kinda like me, he said, it doesn't take much to make me happy.  Easy, happy and satisfied.  What more could you ask in life.  As I try to finish this post, he is waiting patiently for me because, it's almost time for my evening shot.

Wait, I said, just a few more lines and so I guess, that's all for now.  Maybe I need to add

some photos and maybe a song. 

My fruits and veggies collection.

See how happy Jeff was when I took him for dinner to his favorite restaurant the day before Father's day.

 

Thriving Thursday - His and Hers plants

Just recently I was noticing my geranium plant (5 years old) and my orchid plant (1 year old) are doing so well.  I almost forgot my Asian bamboo plant (3 years old) is also thriving.  Although all these are inside the house, I have a few outdoor plants that are also doing well and I have to give to Jeff all the credit as he is in charge of watering them and if required adding a bit of vitamins.  I have to credit myself for doing all the talking to the plants, really.

This year Jeff's garden is not as big of a variety as previous summer.  Some of the plants were put in late so we are not sure if they will produce before the fall.  Most of them have started showing what type of vegetables we can expect but for now they are tiny.  On Sunday, Jeff gave me he bad news.  Remember the lone peach, well I didn't get a chance to eat it because the birds got to it first.  I was very disappointed because it looked really good the last time I checked it.

 

Now all I have is this photo to remind me that I have to wait another year

These are the new variety of succulents that we planted on Sunday.

I checked this Jalapeno plant today and there's at least 15 peppers.

Yes, can you believe that my orchids are doing so good. It's definitely a miracle.

These were the old succulents from last year and we decided to move them together.

I think they love being together as a family as they seem to grow every day.

Jeff replanted this one to a big pot located just beside the grill. I love seeing them in the morning.

Whirwind Wednesday - Too many ideas so little time

It is amazing how much work you can do on a weekend if you truly set your mind to doing whatever needs to get done.  I suggested to Jeff that we clean the deck in the backyard so we can sit and enjoy using the area.  First thing we was move some of the planters and at the same time added more flowers in a pot and another succulents group.  I did a little planting my self using the baby spider plants that I snipped and waited to root.  After a while Jeff had to continuing tidying up the left side area of the house.  I saw some pieces of wood that he was just going to burn. Wait a minute, I have an idea.  He can make a side table for our two chairs.  Jeff started cutting the wood and by the end of the afternoon, the table was finished.

Maybe in a couple of weeks I will ask Jeff to make some other item to add too the furniture in our deck.  I was thinking of a small planter stand to be used for one of the flower pot.  It will be a special one to feature a plant that is doing well.  As for me I need to repair one of the wind chimes that we have that fell and broke.  Oh I almost forgot that Jeff ordered some new solar mini lights to be added around the deck so it will look nice at night.  Some evenings we like hanging out there, maybe roasting marshmallows or cooking Jiffy popcorn.

Melange Monday - A variety of photos

The weekend went by very fast because Jeff and I were so busy with cleaning and tidying up the backyard, side area of the house as well as the front yard.  I rearrange the furniture while Jeff cleaned the area that was filled with excess wood and bamboo sticks that used to cover the roof of the deck.  Since it was a little cool on Saturday he was able to burn some of the stuff using his Chimnea.  Of course I had to make some crafty things to use as center piece for our table.  Since there were so many different flowers blooming around our neighborhood, I also took some photos for my readers to enjoy.  Aside from doing all that, I also continued sewing more potato bags and fabric wallet.  I think I would need another couple of days to complete that before I start trying to sew some little girls summer dresses.

The only Hydrangea that survived.

I have no clue what this tiny tiny purple flower is called but it's pretty.

White and pink Oleander which is nice to have but actually belongs to our neighbor.

 

Some silkwood flower growing around the neighborhood.

This was taken in front of one of the library building in our area. 

This arrangement is for our table on our deck.

This twig arrangement is on top of our fire pit.

 

Spanish Sunday - Maybe taking a class would help

It has been five and half years since my MIL and I took some Spanish classes at the Senior Center.  Although we did learn some it was not what I expected.  We never learned how to construct sentences as the teacher basically taught us a bunch of words.  I even helped the teacher with some flash cards that he was using but was a bit outdated.  I remember that I had benefited from doing all the cards while designing them.  After being in the Dominican Republic, it was a struggle to conjugate sentences so that I can get the message across.  Last Friday while volunteering at the library, I came across another Spanish English book that actually have day to day sentences that I could use. I have checked with another Senior Center but unfortunately the classes will resume in the fall.  In the mean time, I will do some studying on my own and when my BFF Percy aka BFAM (brother from another mother) comes to visit in August, I will practice with him and hopefully he can teach me some easier way to communicate some day to day verses.

Feliz dia a todos los padres.  Tenga un buen dia.  Poner los pies en alto, relajarse y tomar una cerveza.