The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Tuesday morning. Two more days until Easter long weekend. Two more days till the big spring cleaning begins. How are you this morning? I am okay. Woke up several times during the night. Reminded me of someone. Oh, how I miss my little buddy Alvin.

Yesterday at lunch break I took a stroll taking the route to the bus stop and back to the office. After work I went for another walk. Total walking time 45 minutes. I also grabbed my trash picker tool and the garbage bag from the small trash container on my front porch and cleaned up the trash from the street. I am always struck by how many times people will walk over or around trash and not pick it up. Then it was time to put out the trash for pickup today. We are on the spring/summer pickup. With a few more warm days the remaining trash in our neighbourhood should have dried out and will make it easier to collect. Picking up and dragging around bags filled with wet trash is not much fun. Perhaps more than 10 years ago it wasn’t as much of a deal as it is now. I can still lift it but at 65 do I really want to be lifting bags that are really heavy and struggling with them, no not really! Too bad that some of the younger people in the neighbourhood wouldn’t get out there and pick up trash or how about people just keeping their yards, the public sidewalk and street directly extending past their property clean! That would help the cause for sure. Anyway, I like a clean place to live and includes my home and neighbourhood so I shall continue to pick up trash for as long as I am living here.

Slowly this time of “grey” while the snow melts and life returns outside, I can visualize the trees budding and the grass slowly turning green. This in between time feels dirty so I call it the grey time. Soon we shall be surrounded by amazing colours. I cannot wait.

I can see that it is starting to lighten up outside. The trees to the south and the garage tops are starting to come into view. Morning time.

Coffee will taste so good this morning. I must have been dreaming or something. So need to put my energy cap on for the day.

I hope that you have an awesome day. Tues – day that is. Be well and take care and be safe.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and forgiveness.

Always, Carol & Alvin (My Forever Angel)

Second Half 2022

Good Morning All, i hope this finds you well. i had to resort to writing my daily post via my phone due to timing and circumstances. what a night and morning thus far. we had a quiet semi productive Saturday until about 8pm. one of our friends and her daughter came to the door just before I was planning to go for a walk with Alvin. She explained how she had seen a little chihuahua dog go by on the sidewalk with no human. After that people were out looking for him. They went walking and looking and I got Alvin and we went out as well. do many people were out and he was not found. I walked at different times with each of the owners. They were devastated especially one of the young men. I felt do bad. At 10:00 it was getting dark and I had to get home as I had dropped Al at home after a short walk. Signs are up in the neighbourhood, I hope they find the little guy.

So this morning we were up earlier for trip outside and then one hour later for Alvin to eat. Following we hit the sofa for extra zzz’s. we didn’t get up until after 9:00. I thought we should go for a walk before it gets hot.

I got washed and dressed and him ready and on our way. A friend was outside so we stopped to chat for few minutes before continuing on our way. We were almost at the park when Alvin managed to get tinfoil into his mouth. i managed to get it out but I was upset with myself for not picking it up on a previous walk. We continued to walk meeting a woman out with her dog. The dog was gigantic, we chatted for awhile. Dog’s name is Grizzly, appropriate for his size. The pup was just one year old. Owner said pup was very gentle as was noted when he laid down to be at Alvin’s level. I had to come upstairs and go onto the computer as I was having slowdowns on the phone.

Once home I turned on the fans to cool off the house, my neighbour Sonja had asked to use our washer and dryer as they are renovating the basement and cannot use their machines at this time. Just after she left, Alvin wanted a treat so I gave him some of his wet food and then set about to make some coffee as it was after 10:30 by this time (and now it is almost noon) when I turned and noticed that there was a pile of vomit by the fireplace on the floor. I almost started to cry. I have no idea if he actually did manage to swallow a small piece of the foil or if it was the heat or what. I am praying that it was just an one off and that this is not a repeat of last week or an underlying issue. My heart is in my stomach. I have a headache from the stress of it all. On the way back from the park, I stopped and picked up every last little piece of that damn foil and all the time wishing that people wouldn’t throw stuff on the ground and that people would clean up the garbage from their lawns. I also picked up a ice treat wrapped and stick close to our house. Man, people make me mad. What is wrong with people?

Anyway, I need to have something to eat and relax. Get away from this head space. Between the missing pup and Alvin, I am ready to pull the covers up over my head and stay in bed permanently.

Likely not the best thing to do. I will recover as long as Mr. Alvin is okay. Hoping that the little dog is also found in good health. Maybe a good samaritan found him.

Well I have to go. It has been a very trying last few hours. Alvin seems to be okay. I am going to keep positive thoughts and hopefully the Universe will hear them.

I hope that you are having a good day.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: Well 16 sleeps till 65. Maybe time to get lost in a movie while drinking coffee.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Another beautiful bright sunny morning. Welcome to Sunday. We had actually a good sleep. It was about 3:30 and then 5:00 (I managed to coax him to lay back down) and then up at 6:00 for Mr. Alvin to eat and then up to stay up at 7:30. So much better. There is quite the breeze this morning. I noticed when we were outside earlier that I could see my breath, no wonder my plants are having a hard time. My tomato plants do not seem to be doing very well. I guess I should investigate further. They have a white coating on some of the leaves. Hopefully they are okay. I paid $11.99 for one of the three plants. The plants out front and the violas and pansies in the back are doing well. I cut down the geraniums and even though it has only been one day but two nights, they already seem to be doing better. Fingers crossed.

This morning as I was laying on the sofa and looking out through the open blind, I thought if I were a painter I could paint each little area separately that was showing in each section of the blind OR what if the blind were a puzzle depicting life. Each section is a day or year. My mind was turning up all sorts of wild ideas. I love my sofa, it is so comfortable and cuddled up under the blanket just being, was amazing. Alvin by that moment had jumped down and was laying on the yoga mat beside the sofa, patiently waiting for me to get my Fanny Farkle/Farkus up and get going. So I stretched and got up. I went into the basement and fetched the rest of my clothing and unmentionables that had been drying and some NORWEX cloths and Alvin’s special towels that were air drying and brought it all upstairs. The load that I left drying last night is having an extra tumble this morning to completely dry. Then the laundry is complete. After that, I opened the door and let Mr. Alvin outside while I made a pot of coffee. I can smell it already perked just waiting for me. After that, Alvin was ready to come in so I grabbed the clothing etc. and came upstairs to put it all away. Made the bed. Now writing this post. Sounds like I lead a pretty ordinary life. But isn’t that great!

At 12:30, our friend Signe is hosting Gillian’s birthday party. So I will have a couple of hours out of the house on my own. Just enough for me to have some time out on my own but not enough that I will be worried/concerned about Mr. Alvin.

Once home from the party, I will take him for a walk. After that, will see what time it is and then perhaps do a bit of gardening, take some things out to the garage. I have to sort out the garbage and see what I can fit in the big bin for Tuesday. With only having it picked up every two weeks and having filled it the one week with the garbage from the neighbourhood pickup, I don’t think that I can get it all in. I might have to ask one of my neighbours if I can put some in their bin(s).

The leaves on the trees are beginning to fill out, and it will not be too long before you cannot see through to the other side. I love leaves. Some of the trees are in flower at the moment and the scent is fantastic, so pretty. The flowering cherry trees that line one of the neighbouring streets are out in bloom. Such a short time but oh so beautiful.

Well time to head on downstairs and have that first cup of coffee. I am debating if I should get out of my pj’s first and get ready for the party but that would delay the coffee by 15 minutes. PJ’s it is. Nothing like having a cup of coffee in your pj’s. I don’t very often so this will be a treat. I want to have breakfast early as we will be having cake at noon. Usually I don’t eat lunch but this will be dessert! Cannot wait to see the girls.

Have a great Sunday. If you ever think that you are just ordinary – then think about how wonderful that is! I do. I am.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laugher, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. Alvin decided to come into the office and lay down on his bed. How sweet!

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Happy Friday and I hope that you are doing great! The sun is shining here FINALLY and the sky is a beautiful BLUE, not grey. YAY. The long weekend is off to a great start. Oh, I am working but as far as I am concerned we are almost there. It has been one of those weeks, right! But we made it. The weather here in Edmonton is supposed to be quite nice so perhaps I will be able to plant my flowers, oregano and tomatoes that are taking up real estate on my kitchen table, window sills in the kitchen and with nestled in between my other plants.

Okay, so the vet visit yesterday. We were able to walk there are it had stopped raining. We had a nice walk there. While I was waiting in one of the exam rooms for Alvin, I could hear him crying. I wondered what was happening as he was just supposed to be getting his ears rechecked and checking his paws as I thought perhaps something else going on besides the arthritis and sure enough there was. I am not sure why I did not notice it but this is what Dr. Karen told me afterward. He had some matts in his front paws and they were in between his toes so creating some problems walking and otherwise for the poor boy. No wonder. Anyway it was tricky cutting them out and they started to bleed. The bleeding stopped. I have salve to put on every twelve hours for the next 7-10 days. I forgot to ask about walking. Then of course, he has an ear infection. I was truly mortified by how much gunk came out of his ears as I had cleaned them on Sunday. I guess I did not go deep enough. Cleaning his ears is not an easy job for one person. Anyway, he is on medicine for another yeast infection. I swear it must be a all time record for number of yeast infections in one’s life time. Poor guy. Now this sounds like I do not look after Mr. Alvin which could not be further from the truth. I started to cry when the vet was telling me about his paws. I cannot believe I had not noticed. Now his paws are dark and he does not like them being touched. Now he has no choice. I have to call back because I forgot to ask if we can go for walks during this time. The salve won’t likely help if he continually gets his paws dirty. I had to put his paws in a dish of lukewarm water after the vet visit and remove any dirt he got on them after we left the vet and then pat them dry. Well we had more water on the floor than in the bowl. I managed to clean them but wasn’t easy. Then I put on the salve which was hard to see if I was even getting on the right area. Anyway, the ear medicine prevents any cleaning for the next month so I guess that helps. So just have to concentrate on his paws. I will have to watch more carefully when I am giving him a haircut. I know that I usually have pulled hair out of his paws as he would step in some was I was cutting his hair even though I cleaned it up continually. It was raining when we were about to leave the vet so I called my friend and she came to pick us up. So grateful. Then he would not get all the extra grime on his paws from that back walkway. Which I cleaned up a couple of weeks ago and it is filled with garbage again, maybe not as much but still enough.

We did not have a great sleep but I am going to keep the faith. We have medicine.

The coffee is on and I can sort of smell it. I am very congested. The leaves on the trees.

We had a quiet evening after supper and cleanup. I am very grateful to Dr. Karen and staff for helping Alvin. We are adding to the list of his regular 5 week appointments having his paws checked for matts. How lovely!

Sorry.

I am happy that the sun is shining.

Life is good. Better for Alvin now, thank goodness.

My daughter is popping by after work to pick up something that was delivered for her. I cannot wait to see her.

Have an awesome Friday. Be well. Check your dog’s paws for matts.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.

Always, Carol & Alvin

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Happy Family Day to those places across the world that celebrate “Families” on this day. We had a beautiful sunrise around 7:30 this morning. It was so funny. Alvin woke me up about 4:15 and we went downstairs and he as per usual had his glucosamine chew and then went outside for a pee and then we hit the sofa. The next time we woke up was just before 7:30. He never sleeps that long before having breakfast. He does not seem to be out of sorts, he just slept. Back to the sunrise, it was glorious filled with an array of vibrant colours from the palette of an artist. Absolutely beautiful. The moon was out and that was the first time that I have seen the moon in a long time. Now the sky is a brilliant powder blue and the sun is shining so brightly. What a morning!

I gave Mr. Alvin a haircut yesterday. Definitely not his favourite thing in the world to do. Followed by a bath, his least second favourite thing to do. He was not really a happy little guy. I forgot until a few minutes into his haircut to give him an anxiety pill but it did not really seem to help him at all. It is only a fraction of a whole pill as prescribed by his Vet. I will have to speak to her because it did not help. I was gentle as always with him and praised him when he allowed me to trim his paws. He looks so handsome.

So what to do on this day. I really did not have anything planned. Although I could always clean out a closet or cupboards or even one or both of my pantries. I guess the closet in this room, the office would be a good choice. At this very moment, I have no desire to clean anything but then again I have not had my morning coffee. I can smell the aroma wafting up from the kitchen and perhaps after coffee and breakfast, I will tackle the office closet. I will have to gather up the trash and take out for tomorrow. Have to check the schedule to see if it is a garbage day with recycling OR food scraps with recycling day? I don’t put mine out every Tuesday as I never have enough to bother. But it has been a couple of weeks so I will put out whichever needs to go out. We had some fresh snow last night. Just before the snowfall my neighbour was out with his leaf blower clearing the fresh light snow from our sidewalks. Then a short time later there was another light blanket. There is no keeping the walks clean this winter.

I watched some good movies last night. On PRIME I watched “About Time” which was a heartwarming comedy about love and time travel with Rachel McAdams. It was so good. Even a bit teary eyed at parts. I loved it. Definitely “thumbs up.” The other one I watched was “5 Flights Up” with Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman. It was so good. I do not remember if that was on PRIME or NETFLIX. But definitely another good one to watch. Usually I am into action/drama but comedies seems to be on the menu last night. It is also nice to watch new movies, something that I have not watched before. I do tend to watch movies over and over and over again. Not sure why other than if I like/love them, then it is worth seeing them multiple times.

Well time to go and have that mug of coffee.

Enjoy your day.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities.

P.S. I am a money magnet. Money comes to me easily and effortlessly.

Keeping the flow.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Another Sunday morning. It is snowing. We sure have a lot of snow. I was out shovelling on the deck and I am running out of places to put the snow. It felt heavy but it is likely because it was morning and I had just got up and gone out with Mr. Alvin. On the plus side, it feels warmer. When I look outside the sky is white, the ground is white, the rooftops are white and snow is falling. We are literally covered in snow.

Yesterday I finally cleaned the area rug in my bedroom. I love my Bissell Crosswave, it works like a charm. Man was the water ever dirty. So happy to have that job done. I also cleaned the hallway rug as well. Lots of laundry was done yesterday as well. Looks like I have shovelling in my near future and I will round up the garbage and put in garage so that it is ready for Tuesday. With all of the pee pads from Cookie’s stay I may have to wait to put all of the garbage out. Oh well, not the end of the world.

Alvin is waiting patiently in the hallway, I believe as I cannot see him from my home computer as I moved it to the desk closest to the window and have my work computer near the door to the office. Today will be a quiet day for us. I am so excited for this week as with warmer temperatures we can go for walks. Our neighbours adopted an 8 month old female pup named Addy and she will be younger sister to Humphrey and Bogart. Her new very excited parents brought her over to meet us yesterday. She was very well behaved. Alvin barked once at her but I think it was a bark to say “okay young one, this is my house and I am the senior here.” Both did well together considering she is a puppy. I cannot wait to see her again. She was outside in the backyard with her Dad a few minutes ago. He went into the garage and she waited patiently outside the door.

Well I suppose I should get going and make some coffee before heading out to shovel, doing one last laundry as I forgot to wash Alvin’s sweater and he will need it this week when we walk. He has a jacket but it will be too small and the sweater covers all of him and keeps him warm. He does have a big warm jacket but he doesn’t like to wear it much. Actually it is almost too big for him. Perhaps I should see if it would fit Addy. I will see.

Have a great day. Be kind and respectful to yourself and to ours. We have to do better this year, we must. There is something about 2022 that tells me that. Something about the number.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning All! I hope this finds you well this morning and it is Thursday. Second last day of the work week for me. Then of course, there is work to be done around the house and yard. I cannot believe we are coming up to the final week of October 2021. Fast approaching the end of another year and the promise of perhaps our best year in a long time. 2022, I think may be off to a slow start but by summer we will all be in a much better place physically, mentally, spiritually and financially. That is going to be my mantra.

Yesterday was again windy. I am not sure what that is all about but you almost have to tie everything down. Even my garbage cans that sit on the deck by the fence not too far from the back door blew over in the wind. There has been cardboard boxes, papers, plastic bags and anything else that can fly zooming around the neighbourhood. It is a reminder to please secure your garbage. Sometimes people leave things out near their garages unsecured and this is what may happen. Tuesday was our garbage day and all recycling is to be in blue bags except for cardboard which is to be folded flat, bundled and placed under the blue bag(s). Doesn’t always happen. Also I had a thing with my garbage in our new black bin, I guess I forgot to share. Anyway at noon on Tuesday I went out to see if the bins had been emptied. Tuesday was to be garbage, recycling and green bin pickup. I had it all. Just as I opened the garage door – I came face to face with the green garbage truck whose driver was trying to get around the corner of the back lane. He had to backup and inch forward several times before getting around the corner onto my part of the back lane. I can tell you he seemed to be more “oh well” than frustrated. I would have been frustrated. I can tell you when the planners were coming up with back lane access to semi detached garages – they did not think things through very well. Anyway when he was finally in place, he brought down the big arm to pick up my garbage bin (first time I had seen it up close). Up it went and when over the open part of the truck it flipped over ….. couple of bags came out but not the one with styrofoam. The arm shook the bin and nothing and finally the driver put it back down and got out of the truck. We said Hi. He loosened the bag. I said I am sorry (because that is what I do). The driver hopped back into the truck and the arm lifted the bin backup to dump the bin. It took a couple of attempts but then success. The bin was on the ground and the lid stays open. I waved to the driver as he left onto the next house. When I went to close the lid on the garbage bin – I noticed that the lid was bent. I was kind of mad as these bins are new, not quite two months old. I could just see pests and bugs getting into the bin. I put the bin back into the garage and went back into the house. In the house I texted my daughter in my anguish. She texted back to call 311 and that is what I did. I spoke to a nice young man who explained that I could put in a maintenance claim and the Supervisor would come out. If it would be fixed, it would be otherwise they would replace it. We did not discuss money and I feared that I would have to pay a large sum of money (they are not cheap). Anyway then a bit later it was back to work. This was the windy day that we did not walk at noon. After work Alvin and I went for a walk. When we got home I fed Alvin and then went to the garage to pull in the green bin. I found that the lid on the garbage can had closed properly. Someone was watching over me. I could not believe my eyes. It was perfect. Magic lid. So happy. Somehow it had regain its’ original shape. I did a happy happy dance.

Now it is getting late, that was a long story. Alvin is barking and perhaps has to go pee or something else. The sun will start to rise in a bit, still dark for the moment.

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday.

Alvin has a regular vet appointment at 3:30 today so I will be taking off from work at 3:00 so we can walk over there. Walking seems to take us longer now. After that grocery time.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, understanding, love, laughter and gratitude.

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Sunday morning? Both Alvin and I are well and it is warm in the house despite having the windows open to let in the cool air. Alvin and I both slept until 5:30 a.m. and then we were up to stay. I cannot believe it. I gave the boy his glucosamine chew and then his breakfast. Following that I brushed my teeth, washed my face and got dressed and then filled up Mr. Alvin’s water bottle. I grabbed the harness and chased him around the table (actually he was under the table) and then he broke free and ran upstairs, with nowhere to go, I managed to get his harness on him. Back downstairs, grabbed shoes and keys. We were about 1/2 block or so away from the house before I realized that I had forgot to grab my sunglass clips. ARGH. I do not like being out in the sunshine without them. Anyway I kept my eyes pointed down. As we reached the park I noticed in the middle of the sidewalk a bright blue item, oh I knew exactly what it was, a disposable face mask. They are all over the place. I used a poop bag as a glove and carefully picked it up and threw it in the garbage can a short distance away. Not sure why this happens so much. Anyway. We took our time and as we walked I picked up using another garbage bag as a glove multiple cigarette butts, some plastic and a huge ziploc bag. At one point Alvin got something in his mouth and as I saw him start to chew, he spit it out and I saw it was a cigarette butt. My heart sank. So thankful that this time he actually spit it out. So grateful. They can do so much damage to the internal organs of an animal even causing death. The butt was in the grass so I did not see it. As we walked the birds chirped and the sun shone. What a glorious morning. As we were exiting the park we saw a rabbit, I called him Jack and up the way I noticed another rabbit, I called her Jill. No idea if they were a male and female, two males or two females. But they hopped away and it was not much further and I noticed another bunny. Must have been a convention of the rabbits before the humans are out and about. We carried on enjoying the walk. It wasn’t actually until we got all around and back to the entrance to the park that we saw any human life. A woman walking into the park wearing a dress and boots. I saw her yesterday in a dress and boots with a man. Boots just don’t seem very comfy for walking or in this heat. Mind you perhaps that is all that she has to wear, so no judgements. Another woman was on a bike. Oh, I got out another poop bag and picked up a Tim Horton’s iced drink plastic cup and more cigarette butts. Thankfully I carry several poop bags with me. I sure wish that people would be responsible and dispose of their garbage and that includes cigarette butts. I guess that some people have no idea and really do not give any consideration or thought to what they are doing. My thoughts anyway. We arrived home and once inside I quickly turned on the fans. Anyway I guess I did some more community service this morning by picking up the trash on our walk.

I also noticed it appeared that someone dug up some of the roses at the entrance to the park. Pretty sure there were taller ones by this certain tree yesterday and the days before but they were gone this morning.

Oh, I googled “how to keep your dog cool.” In the house you can add ice cubes to their water dish and you can soak a towel in some cool water and then wring it out and place over them. Alvin absolutely loved it. He laid on the sofa with a wet towel for a long time and then when we went to bed, I soaked another towel and covered him. Worked like a charm and he slept from just after 10:15 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. ……. that was amazing. Personally it was likely that the heat plum tuckered him out but I would like to think that he was comfortable and just slept. It was easy to remain up when you had a continued sleep. Fingers crossed that it will continue.

So today, not much on the agenda. Just bring up the clean clothes that are air drying in the basement. Perhaps rearrange the basement a bit. OR not. Oh, I have my second vaccine this afternoon. YAY, then I am done.

I hope that you are doing well wherever you are and keeping cool if the temperatures are hot.

Please stay safe and be careful.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, understanding, love and gratitude.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

Ready to grind some beans and have a mug of coffee and maybe even on the deck before it gets hot.

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you doing on this rainy Tuesday, June 8th, 2021? Both Alvin and I are great. We, Alvin slept through until 5:00 a.m. – that is amazing. So at least I feel as though I had a decent sleep. It is raining as I alluded to in my opening sentence. It just started raining about half an hour ago. I have to run out and ensure that the downspout is turned the right way and clean up you know what from a little while ago when Alvin was out. The forecast is for rain off and on for the next couple of days. There were points yesterday where the sun did shine. Last night I made an executive decision to put most of my flower pots in the garage and the others close to the garage and to the house for some shelter as they do not require that much moisture. Also yesterday one of the girls on my work team let us know that it was hailing at her home. So decided not to take the chance. I cannot do anything about the plants in my flower beds but at least I can help out the flower pots. I very much want them to last until say October. So I watch the weather – if it looks like a huge downpour / hail is in the forecast I move them into the garage or to some shelter. The garbage guys just picked up the trash. I love when I can look out of my office window and see green. The trees are full leaved now and are beautiful.

Yesterday my kids made a quick stop to drop off some items that they picked up at the freecycle and some items they no longer wanted and that I could use. I got a chair that I am using in my bedroom, two chairs for the kitchen and a desk and a flower pot. The flower pot is an exact match to a ceramic one that I acquired a few years ago. Sweet deal. We had a short visit and then they were off.

As it was raining at noon we did not go for a walk and in the morning we were reeling from lack of sleep so our walk waited until after work. It was actually quite nice at that time. I wore a light spring jacket as it was a bit cooler.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I went from 3000 photos on my phone to 285. I went through most of them. The ones remaining are a few that I choose to keep and the remaining are ones to be uploaded to my computer. YAY, me. Feels so great.

I cannot remember if there was anything else that I was going to tell you or not. Oh, last minute ….. Master Teddy is coming at 10:00 a.m. to spend the day with us. His parents are going to the farm for a bit and Kobi is going to the groomers. So Teddy will come and hang out with me and Alvin. Alvin will have company while I work. He will be happy.

Well time to get going. I want to check on the downspout and do the other thing in the backyard …. starts with p and ends p ….. three words. Can you guess? Think about it. I gave you some clues in my post.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Continuing to live this life day by day with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

P.S. one more thing. Yesterday the doorbell rang so we went to the door to find this gray-haired older man standing on the bottom step holding a sign. The sign was from Canada Roofing. The guys that are going to do our shingles. Only thing is they have not confirmed this and I have not signed a contract as yet. Kind of out of order, I would think. Anyway just wanted to share. I am excited to finally have new shingles on our home.

2021

Good Morning All! How are you doing this Sunday morning? Did you sleep well last night? We slept straight through for six hours and then up and then back to the sofa. Nice to have a solid amount of sleep. The skies are overcast this morning. We managed to get all of our housework completed yesterday. Only have to bring up the clothes that are air drying from yesterday and put them away. I think that I may clean out my bathroom cabinet. It wasn’t long ago but I feel it could be better organized. Likely time to put away the winter coats and things as well. But perhaps I will do that on the Easter long weekend as I will have four days off and a project or two is always good to have. There will be time for lots of walks and if the weather remains dry – I may get out to do a neighbourhood trash pick up. I have been picking up trash everyday now for awhile. It blows in front of my house or onto the lawn. Trash sticks in the storm drain grates and in the gutters. Garbage is everywhere. Seems to be so much this year. I cannot remember if I mentioned this when we walked to Alvin’s vet appointment on Wednesday there is a walkway. In the bushes on the walkway were what seemed like a hundred disposable coffee cups from McDonalds, Starbucks and Tim’s and others. I wanted to cry. It was obvious that people were finished their drinks and then tossed them into the bushes. What is wrong with people? Now this almost 64 year old woman who was appalled by their actions has to take her time and garbage bags to go and clean up their messes. On the bright side it is exercise for me. Also there are blue disposable masks everywhere and I mean everywhere. Come on people! Are you neighbourhoods like mine? People cannot say that it is only the old or poor neighbourhoods that are dirty and filled with trash for that is definitely not true. I am truly disgusted by some people. I wish that people would just carry their cups and masks and what have you to the nearest garbage bin or home. Also another reason for trash blowing about in our ‘hood is the lack of proper placement when putting out their garbage. Most especially the recycling. When Alvin and I are out for our walks, I see people put papers, egg cartons loose in a blue bin or cardboard box and what happens when the wind comes up ….. they end up at my house or on the street for me to pick up. So many people just leave crap laying on their lawns, in the gutters and on the sidewalks in front of their homes. They sometimes even walk around items instead of picking them up and putting said trash in their garbage bin. There is hope coming for garbage as we will eventually all have bins with lids and then garbage cannot blow about. Also will help keep the crows, ravens and magpies out of the trash. Hopefully it won’t be another decade until we have bins for recycling. I guess that is a heavy duty rant for a Sunday morning as I smile.

Well I guess someone needs a cup of coffee or three. Alvin is impatiently waiting at the office doorway giving me that look. What look? That look ….. impatience. Perhaps he has to go back outside. He went before we can back upstairs for me to have a shower. Oh well, old bladder, I get that. LOL.

I hope that you all are having a great weekend. I am looking forward to our walk this afternoon.

Have a wonderful Sunday. May you have some quiet relaxing time throughout this day.

Remembering to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience (always working on).

ALLways, Carol & Alvin