…thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/03/15/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-neighbors/
Neighbours mean the world to us. Not only do we help each other out in times of need or to carry out a goal, we also have become friends and celebrate special times in our lives together.
Trish and I picked up garbage in the neighbourhood for a month when COVID first hit. It was her idea but I was right there with her for 30 days.
….celebrating my Dad’s birthday
On Monday my father turned 93. He’s quite amazing. He lives with us but in his own apartment where he does all his own cleaning, laundry and cooks all his meals. He recently acquired a motorized scooter that he uses to get around and do his shopping.
Twice a week he goes to the senior’s centre where he plays cards and he enjoys walking to the lake where he feeds the birds and sits and takes in his surroundings. He speaks to everyone and loves to engage in conversation.
This year our daughter-in-law picked the restaurant because that’s what she wanted for her birthday which was in July. It happened to be a seafood restaurant and my father loves his shrimp so we decided to celebrate both birthdays on the same day. It turned out to be a perfect evening. The food was amazing, the scenery over the marina was serene and the service was delightful. Both the birthday boy and girl were treated to a special dessert on the house.
I love this last photo of my father and me. Just as my daughter was about to take the shot I noticed that my Dad had spilled some food on his sweater and I grabbed his serviette and held it over the spill. In that split second we both burst out laughing over the irony of the situation.
….according to the Persian calendar the new year begins on the first day of spring
Iranians and Persians around the world are celebrating the new year on March 20. The day changes according to the positions of the sun. Nowruz is the day of the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Nowruz literally means ‘new day’. I’m not sure where my son got the number 1395 because Nowruz has been celebrated for over 3000 years. For more history about the Iranian New Year go here.
Last night our son and his fiancé sent us photos of their New Year’s Eve celebration with a group of Iranian friends in London. Clearly fish is a major part of the festivities.
Happy Nowruz!
…..the celebrations started two weeks ago and continued last Sunday, Monday and today
Most people celebrate their birthdays on one day. This year my birthday stretched out over two weeks. I wrote about going out with my friend D two weeks ago when we had lunch at Merryberry and then went to the Riverdale Farm. Lunch turned out to be my birthday present from D and today I received a beautiful card from her in the mail as well.
Last Sunday my sister from Chatham came over to celebrate her birthday and mine and my daughter G and her husband joined us for dinner. K made us a beautiful dinner of grilled salmon, green beans and baked plums.
On Monday I met my friend A, downtown and we spent the afternoon at the Elmwood Spa. We started with lunch on the fourth floor and despite a few hiccups with the reservation and my first meal we ended up enjoying a very visually appealing and tasty lunch.
After lunch we went to the water therapy room where we had a steam and then I went for a 50 minute aromatherapy massage. I’ve never had such a good massage. I felt my legs were getting a great workout and it made up for the fact that I hadn’t run that morning. Once the session was over I went up to the pool and swan some laps and then enjoyed a few moments in the hot tub.
A bought me a beautiful black jersey top and we decided to go the store where she bought it and see if I could get the matching pants. The store is called Endz and it carries absolutely gorgeous designer clothes and accessories. I bought the pants and am looking forward to my next visit to this wonderful store.
When I got home on Monday a parcel was waiting for me from my sister in Calgary. The box was quite heavy and when I opened it I was delighted to see a glass box with a scrabble motif. As some of you know I love to play scrabble and I play with both my sisters on line. That, however, was not the entire gift. When I opened the lid I found a set of fine paint brushes. In an earlier conversation my sister had hinted that for her birthday she’d like one of my paintings. I guess I have no excuses now.
Today started off with coffee in bed, the scarf from husband,
a morning run and then a wonderful breakfast prepared by my husband. I went to work and was greeted by numerous birthday wishes from my colleagues and my friend L gave me a beautiful crocheted and beaded necklace.
When I returned home from work I was greeted with a bouquet of flowers from my father that had been delivered to the house. My cousin from Germany called me to wish me a happy birthday and my neighbours down the street appeared on our doorstep and sang Happy Birthday to me and presented me with a bottle of wine.
I wish I could have invited them in for a drink but K had made reservations for dinner at Bloom and we were running a little late. When we got to the restaurant my daughter A and her partner J were already waiting for us. The staff was extremely friendly and the food was out of this world. We had been to this restaurant for our anniversary and the service and food were so outstanding that we knew that we would return.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get better the staff at the restaurant presented me with a complimentary dessert, decked out with a sparkler and ‘Happy Birthday, Carol’ written with chocolate sauce on the rim of the plate. Our waiter started singing Happy Birthday and the restaurant patrons joined in. Even my husband was surprised because he hadn’t said anything when he made the reservations. The four of us shared the dessert before I could take a picture of it but I did manage to save the design on the rim of the plate.
All day I’ve been receiving birthday wishes from fellow bloggers, facebook friends and phone calls from family. I am so blessed and want to thank all of you for my making my day so special.
Tomorrow I have to phone my sister in Calgary and my father in Oshawa and thank them for their thoughtful gifts. The only thing that I’m sad about is that I missed several calls from my family. I hope that I can connect with them tomorrow.
Mama Cormier 