Tag: beauty

Daily Food Diary – Day 66 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

I am  66 Days into tracking and reporting everything that I eat and drink in a day.   Generally, this is getting easier as I go.

Using the Lose It! app has made tracking calories and nutrients easier so that has helped.  Being retired has made it easier to take the time to do a blog every morning.  Using habit building skills that I have been utilizing for years, definitely helps me to be consistent without a lot of effort.

On another note… Today is International Women’s Day.    Of course,  I am celebrating the women in our family.

Daughter Jennifer with her daughters….Genie,
Maddy, and Prim  
Daughter-in-law Amanda with daughter Gabby

All of the women in our family – young and not so much,  are strong, independent, intelligent, capable, caring, adventurous, ambitious and so much more. It is easy to celebrate them. 

However, I have to admit that I am disappointed that we are still at a point where we need a special day to celebrate women,  a special day to fight for women whose lives are made harder simply because they are women, a special day to show respect and appreciation for women who deserve respect and  appreciation every day of the year.  

In my mind men and women are different in many ways, but as humans they are equal – and  they should just be treated as equals, in the workplace, in the home, in the news, at the ballot box – everywhere and every day.   😏

Food Diary – Day 66 of 365

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2) (.3)

(1) c Honeynut Cheerios (147) (2.7)

(1/4) c milk (31) (2)

Snacks:

(24) oz water

(1) c Lemon Ginger tea

(2 1/2) oz fresh coconut (175) (6.8)

(2) tbsp Chocolate topping (129) 2)

(1/2) c sunflower seeds in shell (360) (12)

Supper:

(1/3) Tray Nachos (865) (31.7)

(12) oz carbonated water

Total calories:  1707

Total Protein: 57.5 grams

Daily protein goal: 46 to 58.5 grams

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ☺️❤️

Garden Update

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2023

Our yard is coming together, so I thought I would share a few random photos. From day one this year, we have had smoke drifting in and out from Alberta wildfires and I have been fighting off a lung infection that just doesn’t want to let go. Most of the outside work has fallen on husband Dan. If you compare our yard this year with how it has been in the past, there is a clear winner when it comes to landscaping around here. (It isn’t me 😂).

I bought the new rosebush but Dan planted it by the freshly cleaned pond.
It is hard to see, but Dan created the cutest fencing around this corner flowerbed. 💞
Got a little too magical with the gold paint but I love this old plaque and love where Dan put it.
Workout corner – Dan is still working on getting the big punching bag setup together. 🤛
Some cleanup and a fresh coat of paint to the planters coming along – soon!
More detail of the ‘Keep Molly Out of the Garden’ fence that Dan installed. So far so good. 👍

That is about it for today. I will have more photos to share as the season progresses.

Take care and have a beautiful SUNDAY! 🌞💞

February 24th – Words of Wisdom

by annemariedemyen, posted in Updates - February 2022

Last June, I dedicated my entire month of blogging to ‘Accentuating the Positive’. Lately with everything happening in Canada and so much of it originating in Saskatchewan, I have been struggling to stay positive. So… I thought this would be a great post to review and focus on today…

https://seclusion101withannemarie.com/2021/06/22/day-22-words-of-wisdom/

More uplifting words of wisdom from brilliant minds throughout the ages…

“Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” – Harold S. Kushner

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” – Kahlil Gibran

“When you have come to the edge, faith is knowing you will be taught to fly.” – Anonymous

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” – Jonas Salk

“Love is a choice you make from moment to moment.” – Barbara De Angelis

“Be happy, not because everything is good but because you can see the good in everything. – Unknown

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day. 💞

February 11th – For the Love of Trees

by annemariedemyen, posted in Updates - February 2022

Back in June of 2020, I shared a post dedicated to the trees around our neighbourhood. For my update today, I give you – more trees!

https://seclusion101withannemarie.com/2020/06/17/for-the-love-of-trees/

There is nothing more perfect than the beautiful imperfection of trees. 🌲

That’s all for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞

November 7th – Nature

by annemariedemyen, posted in Wisdom - November 2021

It takes a wise person’s words, to match the wisdom of nature. I think that I come close with the ones I have chosen.

In nature everything is perfect and nothing is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.

– Alice Walker

We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

– Native American Proverb

“Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.

– Louie Schwatzberg

If you love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.

– Laura Ingalls Wilder

The best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

– Frank Lloyd Wright

The amen of nature is always a flower.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Take care and enjoy what remains of this beautiful day. 💞

July 29th – Winged Magic

by annemariedemyen, posted in Magical Moments - July 2021

I couldn’t do an entire month of magical blogs without dedicating one day to the enchanting butterfly family.  I am not a close up, in person fan of most creepy, crawly, blood sucking bugs but I do make an exception for butterflies. 

Despite planting an assortment of butterfly attracting plants and having water features, we get very few butterflies around our yard.  When we get the opportunity, we do visit any butterfly houses that we happen upon in our travels.

These are a few butterflies that I have been able to capture photos of over the years. Enjoy the magic! 🦋

Transformation, beauty, peace, hope and freedom – I think butterflies should be the official symbol of retirement!

Wishing everyone a magical, butterfly kind of day! See you tomorrow. 💞 🦋 💞

July 19th – Monday Magic

by annemariedemyen, posted in Magical Moments - July 2021

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!  Dan went golfing yesterday, but while he was gone I had a couple of unexpected visitors.   Son Mark came by with his son Dom.   We were so busy visiting, and snacking, and splashing in the pool that I forgot to take any photos. 

Our day is beginning a bit cooler and overcast today.  I started my meditation outside in my special place under our big spruce tree, but it started to sprinkle a bit so decided to come inside.  I got comfortable and we had the wildest crash of thunder!  I thought the upgrader outside of town had exploded.  Then it rumbled on for a bit and there were no sirens, so it was obviously just thunder. 🤷

I have a few new photos of our yard to share.  I hope you enjoy!

Between our cucumbers and our tomatoes, I almost need a machete to get around our garden.
Anything but portulaca fries in this planter on the east side of our garage, but, the portulaca thrives all summer.
We have two lemon trees that we started from seed about three summers. They spend the summer outside and winter inside. They are both going nuts this summer. At some point, wintering them in our house is going to become problematic. 🙄
First sunflower to bloom and it is twins!
I have no idea what these are but they are suddenly thriving. 😉
Our money tree finally decided to come back to life. Yay! 👍💵🥂
This begonia has been struggling but it is starting to come back, as well. 💞

That is all I have for today! I hope all is well with everyone. There’s a full moon this week, so if you are prone to moonly disasters you might want to lay low and hide your electronics. 😉

Take care and see you tomorrow💞

July 1st – Magical Moments Begin

by annemariedemyen, posted in Magical Moments - July 2021

In June, I had a great time ‘Accentuating the Positives’ in my life (current and past). For July, I have decided to embark on a new mission! This month, I am going to celebrate those magical moments that make my difficult days better and my better days beautiful. I will be sharing these moments with you on this blog. I hope that when you stop by over the course of the month, that my magical moments will add a smile to your day.

This may not seem like an overly ambitious mission, but I do plan to go out of my way to find magical moments to share. There are any number of places in and around Regina that I plan to visit plus I am tentatively planning a road trip for Kat and I. (If Dan goes on his annual golf trip this month). We would be visiting, Gravelbourg – the town where my parents were born and where they returned for their retirement years. I want to check their gravesight and bring them some new flowers. I also know, there will be much magic to be found and shared in Gravelbourg as it is a uniquely French town for this province (for any province outside of Quebec). As a bonus, I would also stop in Moose Jaw to visit Mac the Moose and a few other magical sites.

Plus, there are a couple of dates that Dan and I celebrate at the end of July, so they will be magical blog worthy. The first is my sixty-sixth birthday! 🥳 The second is Dan and my twenty-second wedding anniversary. 🥂💞

I hope you will enjoy sharing in my July ‘Magical Moments’. If you missed out on June’s ‘Accentuate the Positive’ posts, you can click here and scroll through them at your leisure.

Keep safe and have a great day! If you are Canadian, Happy Canada Day! This year, many of the celebrations will be scaled back and subdued but I am trusting it can be a happy, healing, hopeful day for all of us. 💞

My little cactus did not disappoint this morning. Magical moment #1

Patience

by annemariedemyen, posted in life

I have struggled for years to overcome stress and anxiety. In the past couple of years, I have turned things around and have learned to focus on living a life of inner peace.  This has made all the difference in the world.   My life has become so much easier and better in so many ways!

I have, for the most part, learned to appreciate the NOW.  This present moment.  I have released the pain and grief of the the past.  I have released the fear of the future.   I do my best to make each day, hour, each moment a peaceful oasis. 

One of the aspects of this new lifestyle is a tendency to be far more positive and hopeful than I have ever been.  Now is good, so I know that there are even better days to come!

With this positivity, a new devil is spawned.   My patience is being sorely tested as never before!  One cannot be truly at peace NOW when one is totally focussed on the future – regardless of how bright and beautiful that future may be.

Today I awoke to a new cactus blossom. It is spectacular, if only for today. I checked on my little seedlings and they are growing larger and stronger by the day. I watched Kat bounce out to the yard to chase the birds and harrass the squirrels.

It is a good day! It is a great day! But wait…. Soon the the grass will turn green, the trees will leaf out, our garden will thrive, flowers will bloom and temperatures will soar. We will spend countless hours outside. Days will be spent walking Kat along meandering paths and floating in our pool. Evenings will be spent barbecuing on our patio and sipping wine as we relax on our deck chairs.

But we have to wait. 🤦 We have to appreciate today. And we have to be patient. Summer will get here – eventually!

Summer days to come💞

March 8 – International Women’s Day

by annemariedemyen, posted in life

Happy “International Women’s Day” to all successful, intelligent, beautiful, kind, caring, talented, sensitive, strong, charming, and resilient women!

Happy “International Women’s Day” to all who respect women, appreciate women, support women, and empower women.

Happy “International Women’s Day” to all elderly women, young women, in-between women, and the girls who will one day become women!

My Mom with Rory and Genie💞
My daughter, Jen. Back in the days of Saturday morning lunch💞
Genie 💞
Prim & Maddy💞

Happy “International Women’s Day!