Good Morning ALL! How are you today? I, we are really good. Bed later as someone was watching a Christmas movie and then I read for a bit before lights out around 11:30 p.m. Mr. Alvin woke up about 1:00 but I coaxed him back to bed and we slept until 4:00 and then we were downstairs and outside. It was cool but the sky was amazing. The glitter of the stars as they surrounded the moon in the night sky. If I could have laid down on the deck, I could have watched the stars for hours. Then back into the house and we slept until 7:00 a.m. (can you believe that Mr. Alvin did not fuss about his breakfast before then?). I gave the boy his breakfast and decided that we should just stay up and not lay back down. Plus when we went outside I noticed that Humphrey & Bogart’s parents were up. So up we stayed. I have gathered the laundry, changed our bedding, got dressed and am doing this post now. Feels like I have accomplished so much and it is not even 8:00 a.m. One can always have a nap in the afternoon if needed. I am going to try and get up earlier on the weekends. Usually we have been getting up between 8-830. I guess it depends if you are a morning person or a night person, right! Some people I know get up at 6:00 a.m. every single day no matter what time they go to bed. I used to get up between 4:30-5:00 a.m. when I was working at the office and now it is 6:45 a.m. What a difference no commute makes? I am sure grateful that I am able to work from the comfort of my home. Alvin is grateful as well. What are your mornings like? Do you get up at 6:00 and go for a walk, exercise, have coffee and breakfast, write a post, clean the house, do laundry or perhaps all. I have quite a few things that I would like to accomplish this weekend with the big items being laundry and Christmas Cards. This time I would like to write up the cards that I hand deliver. If I get them ready this weekend, I will have them ready to deliver once I get the cookies baked next weekend. I usually give some homemade cookies / baking to some of my friends and neighbours. People that I can physically walk and deliver to but I also have some delivered. I love this time of year.
Yesterday, we went for a full walk at my lunch break. It was SO NICE outside. The air felt warm. There were a few icy patches but nothing serious and we both stayed upright the whole walk. I had to coax Mr. Alvin to stay on the public sidewalk when we approached his best friend Teddy’s house as he always turns at their driveway and pulls me up the steps to the house. Sometimes I cannot hold him back as he is still pretty strong. I guess he is hopeful that his friend is at home. I know he misses him a lot. We don’t seem them too much these days as they are back and forth to the farm. What a true friend. Teddy’s Mom said that they could have another sleepover soon. I know that Alvin will love having his friend over for the night. We all need friends no matter who you are!
I had a craving for some popcorn, the good stuff, the Kirkland brand from Costco so I reached out to my girl friends. My friend lives two minutes away so I walked over to pick up the popcorn. We had a chat in her entranceway catching up as time seems to zing by. It felt like forever since I had seen my Newfoundland Friend (she was born in Newfoundland, Canada). I was so grateful when she handed me four packages of popcorn, the good stuff. So happy. We were talking about Christmas, shopping and the state of affairs in our grocery stores. I have not been for weeks so I had no idea that there were bare shelves in our grocery stores. Our Save-On-Foods stores have their main office in British Columbia and a lot of the produce comes from B.C. and with the recent flooding and drought this past summer, the farmers are suffering with crop failure and loss so it then is passed on to the consumer. Not by choice, but that is how it works. So they are starting to bring in more produce from the U.S. I can only imagine how the pricing is going to increase even more than it has already. Anway, I was saying about getting low on produce and before you knew it, my friend was saying that she had two red peppers that she could not eat before they spoiled, could I use some potatoes as they were begin to sprout and that she was going to bake some banana bread and would bring me some later.
I was so grateful to my friend for the popcorn, some fresh banana bread and some other food items. My “stores” were getting low and with payday next Thursday, we had some time to wait before restocking the produce. I was out of fresh fruit, only had carrots left but we were not starving. There are sometimes when you want to clear out the pantry (thank goodness I had things in the pantry and freezer) and make sure that you use those items but it is always the fresh produce that goes first and those are the foods that I love the most. Let’s face it there is just so much you can do with chickpeas, lol. So I am grateful to my friend for hooking us up with some fresh produce, thank you. I felt like I had won the lottery. Please understand that we all run into times when might need a bit of help from someone and that is okay. I will be there when she needs me. That is what friends do.
Okay it is now after 8:00 a.m. and I hear the laundry calling me to take it to the basement and start it washing. I really would love a cup of coffee this morning. The sun is coming up. It is a good day.
Sometimes when you are in a moment of feeling low, someone comes along and brings sunshine to your cloudy sky. So grateful. The sky is clear and I feel wonderful.
Have a great day. Do me a favour, keep an eye on your neighbours and friends, sometimes people do not like to ask for help and sometimes, just sometimes, someone needs your help!
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, understanding, love, laughter and gratitude.
Always, Carol & Alvin
P.S. I do love chickpeas and eat them weekly.
My New Life @ 51 