Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Another blast of winter this morning before starts to slowly warm up. I just hope that the weather is good and the highways for travel over the Christmas weekend and holidays. Fingers crossed. If you are travelling long distances this holiday season, please ensure that you have an emergency bag in the car filled with warm clothes and boots, waterproof blankets or even a tarp, flares, batteries, chocolate, water, first aid kit and booster cables for the vehicle. Also make sure that someone always knows which road you are taking and your projected time of arrival to your destination. If you should stray from that schedule/route, please let someone know. When living in Canada or any other country on the planet where the weather gets bitterly cold at this time of year it is always important to be prepared. Check your local weather station for updates on the weather before and during your trip. Ask questions. Do not take anything for granted. Keep your gas tank on full. Check your tires before leaving and make sure that you have a spare in the trunk along with the tools.
I am so grateful that I am able to work from home today and tomorrow. So great being able to sleep in for a little while. After work I will have time to get some things done around the house preparing for Christmas. Last night I hung up another string of Christmas cards. The house looks so Christmasy.
COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: Just t-w-o sleeps until Christmas Eve. I am so excited. Cannot wait. The pups: Alvin, Aspen and Milo will spend Christmas Eve afternoon/early evening with me while Mom & Dad go to St. Albert to see the other side of the family. They will come back later in the evening and then we will open Christmas gifts. I am looking forward to cuddling with the pups.
I hope that you have a wonderful Thursday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.
Always, Carol & Alvin
P.S. I get to have perked COFFEE this morning ……….
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and with Remembrance.
Good Morning ALL! I hope this finds you doing very well on this Monday morning. Both Alvin and I are doing great. For now the second day we had 7 hours of consecutive sleep.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian Family & Friends here in Edmonton, back home in Regina and all over the world. The sunrise was so beautiful this morning. We hope that you have a wonderful day surrounded by family and friends with good food.
Flowers still bloomingOur DoorSurnise this morningBeautiful coloursThe sky was amazingClouds rolling inOUR TREE
Earlier this morning the sunrise was amazing chalked full of oranges, pinks and yellows. Absolutely breathtaking.
Yesterday when Alvin and I were out for our walk we came across Jamie and Sadie. We chatted for quite a long time before heading back towards home together. I had planned to put away the patio furniture today but will wait until next weekend. The remaining outside work to do is putting away the furniture (will honestly will take about 15 minutes), clean our the remaining three plant pots, and that is it. Today I am going to give Mr. Alvin a trim and a bath, put away laundry that is air drying in the basement, wash one load of laundry, sweep where BOBI (robot vac does not go) and then later make my own Thanksgiving Dinner with roasted sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, stove top stuffing with cranberries with pumpkin pie for dessert. I walked to the store yesterday at noon and cashed in my winning lotto tickets (free plays), picked up a pumpkin pie, cucumbers and strawberries.
I am grateful for this day at home with Mr. Alvin. I guess tomorrow is garbage day as well.
I hope that you have a great day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, and coffee.
Always, Carol & Alvin
PS: also have to drop off house key to my friends who will be watching Mr. Alvin on Wednesday-Friday.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing great. Best news – we turned out the lights at just after 10:30 p.m. last night and Alvin did not wake up until 5:46 a.m., feeling on top of the world. We were up and did our early morning thing including feeding Mr. Alvin and going outside. So great to actually get more than 3-5 hours in a row. We had about 7 hours of continuous sleep. So happy.
So today is Sunday. We had a great Saturday. I did laundry, we went for a walk and I took photos with my new phone. My daughter and her husband upgraded their phones and she gave me her old one which is the equivalent of an iPhone 10. The new phone sure did the upload of photos quickly. Amanda did the transfer from my old phone to the new one yesterday morning before she left for home. So I have a new phone. Costs a bit more but that is okay. Everything has gone up – I do not expect things to be less expensive or perhaps I should give that more thought, lol. I also moved the “spring/summer” ornaments to the basement (store until next year) and brought up my fall/Thanksgiving/Halloween ornaments. More Halloween than anything but it looks good and my opinion is really the only one that matters. Not like there are others in the household that care, do you care Mr. Alvin? He says “nope.”
Playing with my new phone. Photos from our walk yesterday. On the way home we stopped, well Alvin stopped when he noticed that Humphrey looking out of the front door. They are so cute. Nose to nose and I did not react quickly enough to take photos. Next best thing, Humphrey came over for a visit.
AlvinHumphreyFront yardMy attempt at a selfieOh, the colours of fallFav shotLove the background
We had a great walk. The weather has been glorious. If I could have held Mr. Alvin in my arms and taken a photo of us, I would have. Perhaps I should have placed him on one of the benches or sat down beside him. Next time.
Well time to head downstairs as I have been working on these photos for some time now and I need a cup of coffee. Alvin is patiently waiting or me outside the office.
Have a wonderful Sunday. Tomorrow is officially Thanksgiving Day but for most of Canada the whole weekend is celebrated. Family time and lots of food. Which reminds me I have not had pumpkin pie. Oh, how I wished that I had some pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.
Good Morning ALL! How are you on this rainy Saturday, July 2, 2022? Both Alvin and I are rested. You are likely wondering about that statement. So here is the story: last night we went to bed well after 10:00 closer to 10:30 and then I read for awhile. I do remember getting up once (me) to go to the bathroom and then back to bed, Mr. Alvin did not stir. The next time I looked at the time, it was 6:52 a.m., wow, can you believe it? I really had to look at the time more than once. It was not until I got up that the boy stirred. Up, he had his food and “medicine” and we went outside, gladly it was only raining lightly. Then back in the house. I was wondering how he managed to sleep for almost 8 hours in a row. Likely it was due to the walking and spending over 1.5 hours outside in Pauline’s garden and then a little while later having a haircut and bath. The haircut and bath are two of his least favorite things to being doing and he was clearly stressed, anxious about having it done. So he may have been exhausted. As of me, well I have not had 8 hours of continuous sleep in likely 8 years or more. Except for the few times that Alvin has slept over at his sister’s house. He doesn’t like car travel so does not happen often. He is quiet this morning but he is not usually loud anyway. It is raining outside now so I guess watering the flowers was not necessary but who knew, it would really rain. They needed a drink of water. Anyway, I did not over water them so all is well. I had watered my plants, too. Yes, I remembered to move the lavender plant so that she will not get even more wet. She is still drying out and I hope that her roots are not rotting from all of the water. The soil is slowly drying out. I guess time will tell. So that is the story. Oh, I remembered to take my phone and snap some photos of my friend’s beautiful flowers but alas I am experiencing technical difficulties and they are not uploading. But I will get them posted. You have to see her gardens, absolutely beautiful. I even snapped some photos of the roses at the entrance to the park. It was a great couple of hours that spent outside yesterday. On top of all of that, I managed to do several loads of laundry, clean out some kitchen drawer, made some small changes with a few pieces of furniture in the living room. I honestly only sat down for the time that I had late breakfast at like noon and then for supper so maybe 30 minutes and we were up at 7:00 so that would account for me being pooped. Even after supper I was running up and down the stairs with laundry. The stress of Alvin’s haircut goes onto me, as well. All in all, it was a wonderful day.
We are happy to live in this house, in this neighbourhood, in this city, in this province and this country. This whole world – every country has a story that they are not proud of and I would hope that in 2022 we are doing better at being kind and respectful to others, not just human beings but all living creatures and the environment but sadly that is not the case. Just remember this, it is not the actions or feelings of the average everyday citizens that are making these decisions it is the so called leaders. I am not the past leaders, political or religious and not the current ones. I am a good person, I treat everyone with respect and kindness. So when people make blanket comments about all of this, it hurts my heart. I try to do the best that I can in my world. My actions reflect who I am. I was not what I would deem to be privileged but perhaps that word is being used with a more broad meaning. I do not blame my upbringing nor do I blame certain people for my lot in life, I can make choices. It is my choices that have brought me to this place. I just wanted to say something and perhaps I am not the most eloquent “speaker” or “writer” in the world. Sorry for the severe change in topic. But yesterday and all the yesterdays for awhile, I have been thinking about Canada and her past. I love my country despite her past. If we gave up on “people” for their pasts, there would be nothing. I am disappointed that in 2022 there are still wars and that we are not working together for the common good.
I hope that you have a great Saturday. There is always food for thought. We can always do better. It is raining harder now. My coffee is ready and I need it this morning.
Photos to follow.
Continuing to live this life with respect, kindness, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! It is another beautiful morning out there. We were just outside a few minutes ago as Alvin was just finished breakfast ( I know, right!) and I wanted to move my plants back into the sunshine. We had storm clouds brewing yesterday late afternoon and I did not want to take any changes so I moved them in shelter of house and garage. We ended up getting only a few drops of rain and some wind. We were lucky. Someone would have been hit as they were scary looking clouds. There are a few clouds that look like they want to develop into something more but I am going to hold onto the moment and see beautiful blue sunny sky in my mind’s eye.
Today is an extra special day. My dear Cousin Lorette celebrates her birthday, my long time friend Deanna and her twin sister Lynn celebrate their 65th birthdays (we went to school together) and a young friend Frances Blue from my Bath & Body Work Days celebrates a birthday today. Happy Birthday to all these special women. I wish you good health, love, abundance and laughter.
The second day of our garage sale brought in a few people and a few sales. We closed it down at 3:00 with giving a nearby family some items and they bought a few items as well, win/win. We spent a bit of time reorganizing and then last night I went out and repackaged the like items that are going to be donated into manageable garbage bags. One of the girls will run them there this week. We all made a bit of money and disposed of some things. I am going to post some items on community groups as time allows. But I am happy.
I cannot believe that Friday is July 1st, 2022. There is so much talk of “celebrating” Canada Day but you know what – despite the fact that our history was less than perfect – that does not mean that our present and future have to be. Unfortunately in world history very few countries or continents treated any of their peoples with respect. Someone was always at war with someone. So instead of dwelling on things and blaming anyone – let us recognize what was done and show all the people living today – that we do not have that mindset and just be better. Be kind and respectful and compassionate to all peoples and living creatures. Who cares how you dress, how you identify as a human being or the colour of your skin or even your age – we are all HUMAN BEINGS and should be treated with kindness and respect and compassion. How about we finally live in PEACE!! This is 2022 for pity’s sake. We all make the world turn. We are all important. We are all HUMAN BEINGS! Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all worked together in peace and harmony! Okay there may be the odd heated debate or discussion.
On that serious note, I have to go to work. Coffee is brewed. I am grateful that I have friends that are not all “like me” if you will. We should learn from each other and be better as a result.
Have a wonderful Monday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. The sunrise seems to be faint in the distance but I can see very light colours of orange and pink. That is a good sign. The night sky has diminished and the lighter blue of the morning has taken over. It is windy this morning. As I look out of my office window, I see mostly dirty snow banks what is left of them and bare ground. The windrows of snow that line the front public sidewalk have decreased in size by more than three-quarters. Those that remain are dirty as they are filled with sand and gravel that once covered the ice on the streets. It does not look pretty but yet there is some likeable about the scene. Perhaps it is because we know that the renewal of spring lies just ahead with the buds on the trees and the green blades of grass that peer out from the snow on the lawns, the first perennials start to bloom (tulips). It is perfection. So I shall be patient with the somewhat drab appearance of nature at this moment. Drab but still beautiful. We will be happy that to have no snow and ice. It will be great to be able to go for a walk and not have to worry about ice and snow and outerwear. Yesterday we walked twice once again for a total of 50 minutes. I am starting to feel less of the winter me and more of the spring me. Does that make sense? I think we are somewhat different over the different seasons. Makes sense, somehow. Just like a child at Christmas waiting for Santa to make an appearance. I am grateful to live in Canada where we have four distinct seasons. One of them is much longer than the rest but we have different ones all the same.
Can you believe that it is Thursday, March 31, 2022 already? April tomorrow.
Speaking of March 31st, today is the birthday of an longtime friend of mine, I have known her since the early 1980’s. Happy Birthday Polly. Alvin and I wish you a great day and may your days ahead be filled with much love, laughter, good health and abundance.
I don’t have much to say this morning. Sometimes when the sun is not shining I feel quiet with not many words to share. Not that I am not thinking but my mind is more quiet than usual. Perhaps the clouds or less than bright sky is Mother Nature’s way of having us slow down, be quiet onto ourselves. Just a thought.
Time for coffee and then to work.
Have a wonderful Thursday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! Welcome to Wednesday, March 9, 2022. How are you today? Alvin and I are well. Running on time for a welcome change. The sky is filled with a mix of ribbons of clouds in dark blue and orange. So pretty. Honestly I could sit by the window or lay on the ground and just gaze upon the majesty of the sky all day long. The night is lifting and it is light outside at this time. On this coming weekend not only does my beautiful daughter celebrate her birthday but the time changes. We move our clocks forward in the early hours of Sunday, March 13, 2022. So one hour ahead. Usually the time changes take us at least a couple of weeks to adjust.
Yesterday after work my daughter delivered our Costco order. It was good to catch up with her before she headed home after a long busy day at the office. Her job is very busy. So she is always happy to go home.
We had a bit of snow last night but only a little. The next couple of days are going to be colder than normal for this time of year. Spring is just around the corner. Easter is later than usual.
I am sending as much good energy and thoughts as possible to the people of Ukraine and of Russia. Not everyone in Russia is wanting to be fighting a war. We want this over soon before any more loss of life and property. Always the rebuilding is difficult afterwards. People losing family and homes and businesses. We always forget about the animals and the environment when there is a war. I am grateful that there are counties including Canada that are taking in the Ukraine people that are able to flee their homeland. In 2022, it is very sad that this is happening. There are no words. It is like history repeating itself. I think that future generations will read our history books and shake their heads in disbelief.
On this Wednesday I am grateful that I live in a country where even though not all people are happy with our Prime Minister at least he is not a person wanting to take over the neighbouring country no matter the consequences. We should think about that. We are so blessed in so many ways. We have so much.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Monday Morning ALL! How are you this morning? It is still dark outside so I don’t know if we will see the sunrise or if it will be overcast. I think that it might have been raining overnight. It would appear to be so with the icy covering on parked vehicles that I could see out the front window earlier. The streets will be super icy so if you are driving and in our area, please be careful. Always better to err on the side of caution especially in the winter time. Perhaps you are reading this post from a sunny warmer climate and that is wonderful. Winter in Canada is serious business. Our weather can change in a heartbeat from sunny skies and warm temperatures to blowing snow or freezing rain. We had warm temperatures yesterday although it was overcast a good portion of the day. Unfortunately we were not able to walk. Looking at the ice out there made me cringe and after our short walk to the park on Saturday, I was not really looking forward to doing that again. We did see some friends and neighbours which was good but slipping and having to walk so carefully is not really much fun. So we stayed put.
I did go out and chip away more of the ice and we have an area carved out that the water can run to the drain. That took some doing but certainly has helped with the water/ice problem.
One of my girlfriends was going to Costco yesterday morning so she picked up a couple of things for us. I was so happy that she had time to stop in for a coffee and visit. She only had 1/2 hour as she had to pick up one of her sons from his Rock Climbing Class. I think RC would be so much fun. Can you imagine scaling a small mountain / hill? It was funny that I made extra coffee with the thought that perhaps she may be able to stay for a bit. YAY.
I got through my utilities and sorted that out for tax time. One of the things about having a small business. Keeping records and then finding where you put them, is another. Anyway all ready to go or at least pretty close.
Well almost time to start work, a few minutes away. I always like to get my computer turned on and be settled before the actual start time. Being prepared. I am not a fan of rushing at the last moment.
Mr. Alvin did get some fresh air outside with me on the deck when I was removing some ice from parts of the deck.
I wish you a wonderful Monday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are well. Ready, to begin a new week. The temperatures are warming up and that is so exciting. The possibility of walks at noon break and after work are making me feel wonderful. It has been weeks or likely over a month now since we went for a walk outside. Both Alvin and I are feeling the effects of not much exercise. So this will be good for the both of us, for our bodies and for our minds and souls. What do you do for exercise in the coldest months of the year? Perhaps you live in a place where the coldest months just mean switching sweatpants or some full length pant and a light jacket for going outside OR do you live somewhere with no changes in your weather or very little OR do you live in the Northern Hemisphere where we need to have several different types of outerwear. In Canada, in Western Canada where I live, we actually need multiple winter coats and even sometimes need to wear snowpants (lined outer pants that go on top of your regular pants). We need warm toques to cover our heads with a hood on our coats, warm scarves and warm mitts or gloves in addition to the coats and pants. During our winter months our temperatures can range from plus 10 celsius (not normal but happens) to minus 50 degrees celsius and then there can be the windchill factor. So sometimes the actual temperature outside is minus 20 celsius with the windchill it can feel like minus 30 celsius. We are going from minus 30 temperatures to minus 4 to plus 2-4 this week and into the next week. Now those figures may change. But you see the difference. So obviously you need different outerwear / apparel. I have found that it is a good idea to have your coat a size larger so that when it is so cold outside you can layer sweaters underneath. Not everyone in this country has the means to have so many different pieces of outside clothing so sometimes you have to use common sense or even your imagination. Also winter boots are very important. You have to keep your feet warm. Again, sometimes better that your boots are a little loose to add another layer or socks. Most people have a pair for those cold days and then another pair for those REALLY bitterly cold days. Everything should be waterproof if possible – especially your boots. I have several kinds of mitts and gloves. Another important part of the body to keep warm. The elements in Canada can be brutal in winter and it is easy to get frostbite if you are not careful. Listening to the weather reports before you go outside is also very important. I hope that this does not frighten those folks who read this and are not living in Canada. We have the best country on the planet. Of course, it is not perfect here but pretty darn close. One thing I heard on the weather channel last night that kind of did frighten me a bit was climate change and how much it is affecting Canada. They said two times more than any other country on the planet. I do believe that we are doing serious damage and perhaps even irreparable damage to our beautiful blue planet. On that note, I am going to sign off for today. Food for thought. Do what you can. It is time. If we all work together there is hope that we can save our home, our planet. It is worth the extra work, don’t you think?
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
My New Life @ 51 