It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning and Welcome to January 1st, 2020.

I was thinking that I have to come up with a new “title” for my morning posts and all I can think of at this time is “It is a NEW YEAR.”

Can be subject to change.

Alvin and I stayed up until after midnight.

Some of our neighbours (not real close by) were setting off fireworks which for second time gave Mr. Alvin a start.

Actually just before bed, I opened the back door to let him out to the backyard and there was a loud bang which startled both of us.

I was kind of happy that I had slept a bit longer yesterday as I normally do not stay awake / up until after midnight.

Actually we even on most weekends are in bed no later than 10:00 p.m.

Last night we both brought in the New YEAR, 2020.

I wanted to be awake for that first second of the New YEAR.

It was great to hear Bryan Adams sing.

These are the photos that I took on December 31st, 2019.

One of our neighbours and friends stopped by to give Mr. Alvin a Christmas gift.

Is he not the luckiest boy/dog on the planet?

He opened it like a pro.

My photos that I put together for our NEW YEAR WISHES on social media (ok, just facebook).

Fireworks in Edmonton at the Legislative Buildings …. I snapped the photos from the comfort of my home (via television).

Today is the first day of our New YEAR, a new decade.

Perhaps a time for new beginnings.

 

Happy New YEAR Everyone.

Me and Alvin are just going to hang out together on this beautiful day.

We were already outside and it is beautiful so a great day for a walk.

Perhaps a longer walk if Mr. Alvin is up for one.

Back to work tomorrow so will get my clothes together and make a lunch.

 

Wishing you all the most glorious New Year.

The best of all things for 2020.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

P.S. now when to take down the Christmas decorations, I cannot decide (but not today) and time to start planning Mr.Alvin’s 11th birthday party.

Also this is going to be a pancake breakfast kind of first day of the New Year.

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

Well what is there to say about the weather.

Really it has been sunshine then overcast ….. overcast then break with bit of sunshine.

Repeat …. repeat and repeat.

On the upside ALL is green but now we do require some of that bright lovely sunshine.

Alvin and I had a glorious long weekend.

Most of it was spent with each other however there was a sprinkling of family and friends at times.

Despite Mother Nature’s many attempts we did manage to walk at least once each day.

 

I must admit that I spent quite a lot of time this weekend thinking about life.

Thinking about where I am at this point in time.

So where is that exactly?

Well I am good in my own skin so to speak.

Comfortable with the day to day decisions.

Comfortable with my voice.

Comfortable knowing that I do the best that I can most days.

 

I feel relatively good.

Sometimes with all of the rain, I feel a bit drained not as energetic.

 

I work full-time.

I write part-time.

I am surrounded by great people.

 

But somehow there seems to be something missing.

Something is not quite right.

Quickly approaching 62, next month.

 

I remind myself not to compare myself to others my age.

Because we do not all have the same stepping off place.

Life is not the same for us all.

Food for thought.

 

So where do I want to be?

What do I want to be doing?

Good, no great questions.

Definitely I need to be doing some hard thinking to uncover that piece of something in my life that seems to be missing.

 

I shall do just that.

 

Well my carpool is on vacation so will be catching the bus today.

As it is cooler, I am wearing long pants, shoes and socks.

Yes and a top, you silly.

Coat and carrying an umbrella.

The house is cool this morning so I feel the need to bundle up.

Temperature to be only 17 degrees today.

 

Happy Tuesday.

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you are doing that you know what you want at this stage of your life.

Life is complicated …

Better to simplify.

That is for sure.

 

I love this planter from outside my office.

Sometimes you just need to see something beautiful…….

 

 

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 22nd day of October, 2018.

Well here we are back and Monday once again.

I guess that is a good thing compared to the alternative.

What a beautiful afternoon we had yesterday.  SO wArM.

I had an interesting and not quite as planned yesterday afternoon.

My friend came over to help/assist me in replacing two of the upper boards on my fence.

Upon further inspection (meaning when he went to pull off the boards) …. he found that some of the vertical boards were rotten.

Part of this comes from the way that the fence was built.

They left a opening at the top where all of the moisture could sit and eventually rot the wood.

SO yay.

Decided that as I did not have the boards to replace them right away that it would be a spring project.

My friend secured the boards that had loosened, the ones that we were going to replace with screws.

So Project #1 for next spring.

Then we set to work, well actually he set to work on making a trap door on the deck to access the dryer vent.

He loosened the board closest to the house so that he could find the exact location of the vent.

Voile located it.

Next step was to saw a couple of boards and ended up making a trap door.

So nifty.

The handle is off to the side behind one of the posts that hold up the pergola.

The handle is made with a screw.

When our friend first turned on the saw …. Alvin started to go to him as he thought he was in danger.

I quickly snagged Mr. Alvin as that would not have been a good scene.

I ended up with a cool trap door.

My friend’s wife ended up coming over and we chatted throughout the door making process.

Also found a few screws on the deck and tightened them.

We chatted about the other side of the fence which is leaning in to my side due in part to the stone/dirt garden wall on the other side and because they did not properly anchor the posts.

Project #2.

Project #3 will be replacing most of the deck closet to the house.

Project #4 will be clear staining the deck (suggested by my friend).

Inside of a couple of hours, I have my spring all lined up with projects.

Will have to work hard at petting sitting, selling Steeped Tea and NORWEX to pay for all of these projects.

But they will have to be done.

No doubt about it.

I am so grateful to have such good, no great friends.

 

After that outside, my friend looked at one of my kitchen chairs as one of the legs has loosened.

He will fix it later.

Then up to the bathroom to fix the drain assembly.

He had an extra assembly in the van (imagine that) but it needed one little part that was not included.

So that will be another day.

 

After they left for home, we left for a walk.

Whew what an afternoon.

Some projects finished but most outlined for the fall.

YIKES.

 

Well it is almost time to leave for work.

It was not easy getting up this morning.

Too much dreaming.

 

Have an awesome day.

So grateful for good friends.

Are you?

 

Special Hello to: my little brother who is setting off on new projects…..happy blogging.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 11th day of May, 2017.

A glorious morning ….. I can see the sunrise …… so beautiful.

Blue sky …… YAY…..

Doing the happy dance.

 

This has been a week full of little surprises.

All good.

Last night my youngest brother called me.

So nice to chat with him and catch up.

 

Life has a way of getting away on a person.

Sometimes you just have to take the time and catch up.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

May it be full of promise and fulfillment.

Happy Thursday everyone.

 

Special Hello to: my siblings ….. looking forward to seeing you all this summer.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 3rd day of September, 2015.

It is beginning to get light …. sun starting to rise in the east.

We had some rain last night ….. actually coming down quite hard just as we were going to bed.

Our walk was dry and beautiful earlier in the evening.

Well it is Thursday ….. payday for some of us.

It is only two more sleeps until my friend arrives at my house.

I am so excited …..

Do you have days when no matter how much you try to remain calm and focused you cannot?

I have been having them as of late.

I have chalked it up to the time of year.

My body just wants to sleep but responsibilities get me up and going for the day.

Sometimes there are those people that no matter how hard you try … they just get to you.

Today I am going to try not to take things personally and just do what needs to be done.

Sometimes it can just be someone annoying on the bus that make me crazy.

Sometimes not.

Oh, well I guess I am only human.

I can laugh and cry about it all.

Today I chose to laugh.

My life is pretty great so when someone crosses my path that pushes my buttons,  I must take it in stride and do my best to reflect my blessings in the kindness and respect of my actions.

Does that make sense?

Moving on …..

I am so grateful that Alvin came into my life.

He has brought me love and laughter.

He shows me patience and respect.

He is a good guy.

Sometimes even the good guy comes across someone that even he “growls at.”

Well I hope this all makes some sort of sense.

I feel fall in the air and actually even though I want to sleep, I love this time of year.

So on this Thursday I am going to repeat to myself:  “I am happy and thankful for all of the joy in my life.”

Let us try it.

Cannot hurt …. always positive affirmations.

Happy Thursday everyone.

Thank you for reading my blog ….

Special Hello to: all of the folks out there who try their best everyday …. you rock.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 31st day of August, 2015.

The last day of August ….. coming into my favourite season.

Just a few weeks until it is official.

The weather is changing although the weekend was warm.

Great time to be outside.

Alvin and I spent quite a bit of time outside ….

I am so grateful that my guy is feeling better.

The morning sky to the south as I gaze out the office window is a beautiful hue of mixed blue, pink and white.

Or at least that is what my eyes are seeing ….

How wonderful.

This week is supposed to be a bit more seasonal but still beautiful.

Almost forgot to pick up my bus pass …. better do that after work.

We had a great Saturday and Sunday despite the tree deal.

I am so sad that I will have to chop down my tree in the front yard.

It is so beautiful but alas cannot have the roots going into the basement or that will be another set of problems.

We chopped the roots that were getting near to the house and then will decide in spring the next course of action.

I am sad …. never nice to have to do something like this.

Breaks my heart …..

I love trees …. I love my tree.

Soon the leaves will begin to turn yellow …. they are such a pretty yellow.

I will enjoy them even more this year.

Well I guess it is time to get downstairs and gather my lunch and put on my shoes.

Get on my way to work.

I hope that you have an amazing Monday.

Enjoy this last day of August, 2015 …..

Special Hello to: my friend “P” who is coming to visit in just a few sleeps …. so excited.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 15th day of July, 2014.

It is a beautiful sunny morning here in Edmonton with a nice cool breeze.

Forecast:  HOT.

Thank goodness for central air conditioning.

The puppies will stay cool and happy.

 

I would like to share a story from our walk last night.

We generally walk around the park in our neighbourhood that has three smaller man made “lakes” with homes surrounding them.

While we were walking we said hello to this “Grandma and little Girl” ….. they said hello.

Of course, Mr Alvin ran toward their fence to greet them.

They came down to the fence.

We live in a very multi-cultural neighbourhood which is very cool.

This Grandma speaks only some English but enough that we could have a conversation.

She commented on “how beautiful Alvin was” and if “a boy or a girl”?

I told her boy and that his name was Alvin and she initially could not say Alvin but more like “Albin” but then she got it.

We had a giggle and the little girl squealed with delight over Alvin.

But the cute part of the story was this:  “She said the beautiful ones get more love.”

I said very true.

Isn’t it funny that we all have that idea planted in our minds.

Perhaps we need to love each other no matter our appearance.

Well time to go to work.

Just wanted to quickly share that story.

Keep in mind ……. everyone deserves love and respect.

I love my neighbours …..

Special Hello to: my family and friends …

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day …..

RECIPE FOR A GREAT DAY

Arise with a smile on your face feeling like you have just been told the best news ever.

While you are washing the sleep from your face, look into the mirror and say to yourself  “My goodness you are one beautiful human being”.

Walk around the house saying “thank you” …..

To every living being you meet greet with a big hearty HELLO with a SMILE on your face.

While you are washing the day from your face, look into the mirror and say to yourself “My goodness you are one beautiful human being.”

While you are lying down to sleep – give thanks for such a great day, and for tomorrow.

I guarantee this will work and makes for the best day.

Also if you are blessed enough to have a pet or more and some children in your life …… well that is another great recipe……

Take Care and HAVE A GREAT DAY !!!