Good Morning! I was up in good time just before 7:30. Changed bedding, gathered laundry and then got ready to go for a walk. According to my phone when I checked the temperature it said “10+” so I pulled on a light sweatshirt and my jean shorts and running/walking shoes and was on my way. I will say that one of the best inventions is the little socks that barely cover your foot and that have that non-slip material on the heel. No more having your feet so hot. No more going barefoot and getting blisters and no more wearing shorter socks that fall down. So win/win. I actually bought a few more pairs yesterday at Shoppers Drug Mart when I was taking a stroll on my lunch break. I had to pick up the office winning lotto tickets. I have not checked them but I am feeling good about them. One draw was last night and one is for tonight. Will check later.
The wind is quite strong and there are wind warnings out for later on. My heart goes out to the areas of Alberta and close to Edmonton that have wildfires burning. Most of these fires are caused from careless humans. When will we learn. The loss of wildlife can not be calculated. Insects, birds, small animals and even the large ones. Being spring the babies are at risk. Parents will not leave their babies. Can you imagine? Breaks my heart. If you happen to be a person who smokes, please extinguish your butt into a container that has water in it not on the ground. One spark when it is dry and you have people evacuated from their homes. What about all the domestic farm animals? People have to leave and cannot get all of their animals out? We have to be better. My children are close but not close enough to be evacuated. I have relatives in one of the areas that was recently evacuated. If you ever have to be evacuated from your home for any reason – please take your pets. When people were evacuated from the wildfires in Fort McMurray eight years ago, many of them left their pets behind. They are as important as family. Be prepared. Every life is important. Some of the pets were rescued by different organizations but many died because they were left behind. Another good reason not to leave your cat roaming the neighbourhood. I sure hope that these winds die down soon as this will not help the situation. I pray they calm down, the winds.
I made a detour from my story about the morning walk. It was a brisk walk and was a solid 35 minutes. I feel great. Nature was in her glory. The leaves are starting to come out looking shiny & new. My tree is a bit slow and is just budding. The sunshine glistened off of the water in the park close to my house. So beautiful. The ducks were swimming about and every once in a second one would tip over into the water to grab some food. I love watching them. When Alvin was a puppy he loved just sitting with me on the water’s edge watching the ducks and geese in the water. I remember taking him for walks by the big park/pond and he would stop to look at the water and birds. So I would just sit down on a patch of grass (this was before all of the foliage lined the pond) and he would sit on my lap and watch them swimming back and forth. No barking just intently watching them. We would do this for long periods of time and on many of our walks over the years but mostly when he was young. There were people out riding bikes, walking with and without their beloved pups. I spoke to a couple of people in passing. I saw for the first time a long-haired German Shepherd. Absolutely gorgeous. Glad he was having a walk while it is cooler out. Another gal had a little pup who is 8 and they just found out she has diabetes. My heart goes out to them. I wished the pup a long healthy life. I saw Robins. A male and a female. So great to be outside in nature. A good way to start the day, to start the weekend. Last night after work I went for a walk as well.
Time to head downstairs with my laundry baskets and start that laundry. I can smell the aroma of the freshly perked coffee as I put it on before I came upstairs to write this post.
I hope that you are safe and are having a wonderful day. Remember to go outside and take a walk in nature. Hopefully you have a green space close to your house. Take Care. Thanks for reading my posts. Very appreciated.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and forgiveness.
Good Morning ALL! What a beautiful morning. We slept until 4:15 and then back to sleep until 6:07 and then well, I fell into a sleep where I was dreaming all sorts of things until 8:30 a.m. I guess I needed the sleep. I have an exciting day ahead. So excited. But first back to yesterday. So it was a warm sunny day. Alvin and I went for a walk at noon. We have started walking to our friend’s house which is about halfway and then turning around and heading home. It takes us about the same amount of time. Mr. Alvin seems to be slowing down and truly smelling the “roses” or in his case each “blade of grass.” He is definitely in the moment and does not want to be rushed. So in order not to be rushed and worry about getting back to work late, we only walk part way. I have found that I am enjoying the walk more this way. We saw the geese in the distance yesterday with their “babies” who by the way are no longer babies. They are getting so big. Sooo cute. The trees and grass are so green. The dandelions have made a yellow blanket across most of the grass near the water and trees in our park. The houses with yards that back onto the park are trying desperately to keep the grass near their homes and their lawns free of the little yellow flowers. If the dandelions stayed in flower and did not go to seed so quickly it may be a different story but alas they do not and people are not happy. I love the little yellow flowers but not so much when they are ready to sail away and seed the world. I had a productive day at work. When it was almost 4:00 p.m. – I received a phone call from my neighbour – advising that she was not going to need her car after all – I could borrow it if I wanted to. So I changed my grocery shopping back to Thursday after work. Once I was finished work which was a few minutes after 4:00 p.m., I made sure that Alvin had a drink of water and went “pee.” Gathered my list and bags and purse, of course and was on my way. The store was definitely more busy than I thought but everything seemed to go quickly. When I was finished picking up and paying for my groceries, I noticed that the Lotto Max Jackpot was up to $70 million again so I decided to pick up a ticket. I waited for a Cashier as they were all busy at the grocery tills. It was only a few minutes before I had the nicest young person. She was so polite and friendly. While she was getting my tickets and I was paying she told me that recently she had two men who had won some money. One had one $800 and one $25,000 – both had said if they won they would be back. Well they came back to “collect” and were kind of rude to her. She said that maybe she had brought them luck and one said no, he bought the ticket? the other said he bought a car. I told her I will be back and I will give her something. I understand the $800 winner but the $25,000? Why could they have not bought her a coffee at the very least. Would have been kind. Oh well, I don’t know their situations and perhaps they could not or even maybe did not want to share their winnings.
Well I have to get the show on the road. My friend Pauline is picking me up at 12:30. We are heading the Bird sanctuary which is across the road from the Botanical gardens where we hope to see a garden filled with lilacs. The scent is supposed to be enchanting. I cannot wait. This will be my first time to the Bird sanctuary and third or so to the Botanical gardens. Cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon.
In the meantime, I need to get my photos downloaded from my phone to the computer and that could take a bit of time and then delete more from my phone so that I do not run out of memory when I am snapping photos and make sure my phone is 100% charged. Also the shower and get ready time.
Last night at the store I picked up three wave petunias and planted them last night. I cannot wait for them to be grow and bloom. So pretty.
I hope that you have a great Friday. Enjoy the weather.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Always, Carol & Alvin
P.S. I am so grateful for wonderful friends and neighbours. I helped Sonja with an unwanted house guest last night. A wasp had come into her house. She is terrified of them. I am not. I am however allergic to their sting as I had a bad experience as a teenager and have tried to keep my distance since I was stung. Anyway, I sprayed some water on it to confuse it before I apologized for having to take its’ life and then swept it up in a paper towel. I do not have to tell you the rest. I do not like taking a life even a bug.
Good Morning ALL! Happy Monday morning. I hope that you are well this morning. Alvin and I had a great sleep, yes we did. Lights out just after 10:00 as I was reading and still did not finish the book that I am reading. This will be the third time that I have read this book so I know the ending. I am re reading the Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella. They are a nice light read and always make me smile. Rebecca or Becky as she is affected referred to, is just one of those characters that you can one minute shake your head in disbelief that someone would do that and in the next one you are feeling so sorry for her or so happy. She also reminds me of me in some aspects. I think she would likely remind most of the population of themselves. If you have never read the series, please do so. I am certain that you would them very most enjoyable. The characters are so well done. I hope that Sophie writes another new one soon. Maybe she has and I just have not heard. Reminder to check.
Well yesterday was a GREAT day. The to do list remains the same as I strayed greatly. Started out with the girls coming for coffee. We had a “muffin” day as everyone brought muffins in addition to my banana pumpkin with orange zest loaf. We had carrot cake muffins with cream cheese icing and then a mix of blueberry, chocolate chocolate chip, and raisin bran. I also had some oranges, (two kinds). We had a lovely visit. I just love these girls. I am so blessed to have such good friends near and far. After the girls left for home, I just settled down on the sofa with Alvin for some snuggles and to finish my coffee. In the end I watched a movie. Afterwards we went for a great walk. Mr. Alvin is feeling better and seems to have rounded the corner of concern and coming out the other side. In the afternoon, I tended to my flowers in the house, ended up trimming back and pulling one of my old bushes from the back garden. The bush used to be so pretty and then at some point it has turned into a thorn bush. I was tired of getting pricked all of the time so I trimmed it back and pulled most of the roots. I had to wear two sets of gardening gloves and the second pair on top were a heavy duty glove. Anyway, I was happy that I got it trimmed back and mostly out. I will need to get a small shovel and dig out the remaining roots. We just had a quiet afternoon for the most part. I made myself a big supper of pork chops and baking sheet of vegetables including sweet potatoes and carrots and onions and brussel sprouts. So good. After supper there was some action outside. A woman that I did not recognize looked like she was herding something as she moved about with her hand in the air. I looked out the window to see that a goose with two goslings was walking down the street. She was stopping traffic so that she could get the geese to safety. When I looked closer and actually went outside as were some of my neighbours, I saw two adult geese with the goslings. Little fluffy balls of cuteness. Nice of this stranger to get out of her car (someone else was driving) and help the geese. She herded them to the back lane which is busy enough but definitely more safe than our busy street where people drive insanely fast. I was happy to see kindness for the innocent birds. They will live to see another day and that is so wonderful.
The sky this morning is overcast. Not cold outside. I am happy that I decided to plant my flowers later.
After the geese were saved, I decided to take Mr. Alvin for a walk to the park. We bumped into another neighbour walking with her two dogs so we chatted and walked home together from the park.
Perhaps that is why we slept so good. FRESH AIR in the evening. Perhaps I will change our after work walk to after supper. Might be better for Mr. Alvin.
Time to go and have my first cup of coffee and start this day.
I hope that you have a great Monday. Be well and safe. I hope that there is something for you to laugh about today. Laughter is truly the best medicine.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilties.
Always, Carol & Alvin
P.S. thanks Val for the text last night …….
P.P.S. to Pluto ….. I howled at the moon last night even though it was not visible at that time.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this Wednesday morning? Wow, does it ever seem as though I just said those very words. The sun is shining brightly and the sky is a mix of clouds and clear blue sky. Kind of a ripple effect happening this morning in the sky. But the sun is shining and for now that is all that matters. Gone is the blanket of snow from yesterday morning that covered the ground. The snow incredibly stayed until late morning. It was pretty cool outside but warmed throughout the day. We went for a walk after work and it was okay. Definitely warmed than our previous walk. The temperatures are to be warming and that means only one thing, I CAN PLANT THE FLOWERS THAT I BOUGHT ON MOTHER’S DAY. Hopefully that means on the weekend. The flowers/plants are doing well as they have a nice southern exposure window and are warm and I have water ready for when they need a drink. My kitchen table has never looked more pretty. The lavender smells amazing even though I am congested with allergies. The begonias, pansies, violas, impatiens are all looking so beautiful. There are another two flowers that I do not remember their names. Pops of colour. Orange, Yellow, Purple, Pink and White. My tomato plants are doing well. I need to start thinking about where to plant all these beauties. Some out front while others in pots.
The buds on the trees are turning into leaves, the most exquisite green and even the grass is turning green. I sure wished that our front lawn was green instead of brown. It definitely needs a boost. Even the backyard is green in more places than not.
Soon we shall be seeing the goslings out and about with their Mamas and Papas. They are so cute. Baby ducks, or ducklings will be hatching soon, I think. Spring turning into summer.
I really need a cup of coffee this morning. Mr. Alvin was up and down all night. Quite possibly he may have an ear infection or his paws are really bothering him. I will check his ears and really wished that I could smell better. Poor guy and poor momma with not much sleep.
I hope that you have an awesome day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilties.
Thank you for reading my blog over the last decade plus. I cannot believe I have been writing these posts since April 2010. Time flies.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Alvin and I had a good sleep. (10:00 pm – 5:15 am). Of course, it was back to the sofa after he ate and went outside. Most of the big dump of snow has now melted, thank goodness. Looking more like spring than winter at this point. There are a lot of birds returning as you can see them flying and hear their songs whenever outside. I am concerned about the news about some of the snow geese carrying/having the Avian Bird flu. I wonder if animals can catch it from eating bird poop. I guess that is a good question for “google.” Hopefully not, I did and continue as always to keep all the pups in my care from eating that nasty looking stuff.
Well this was the shortest working week on record for me (at least in recent times). Two days. I am so incredibly grateful that I have been able to continue to work from the comfort of my home. The time that I have for myself and with Alvin has increased by hours each and every day. I do hope that our employer decides that we can retain this work schedule and only go to the office maybe one or two days each month. Fingers crossed. Over our work lifetimes we give so much to our work. Time being the biggest. I know that we are compensated by salaries and health benefits but those things do not cover time. As we age, time is so important. Anyway, I love and am grateful that I am able to work from my home.
I am always amazed that I can look out of the windows facing north and the sun was shining brightly with clear blue sky, and now as I glance out of the office window which faces south there are clouds. There is a breeze. It would appear that wind is going to be a factor in our everyday lives, something to get used to and not necessarily love.
The house is so quiet without Miss Aspen and Mi-Mi. My daughter said that they miss us, too. Aspen was loving her big chair with a window view. At this point in time, she does not have it at home. I can hardly wait to see photos and hear all about their trip.
Oh, yesterday I was watching one of the daily shows that I record “The Good Dish.” They had this young man on who has these really good hacks (because that is the new word) for ideas/short cuts/information, anyway, please check him out on Instagram – @creative_explained
He had so many good ideas for keeping produce fresher longer. In this day and age with the prices of food, we can all use some “fresh ideas.” Check him out. I believe his first name was Armand (not sure if I spelled it correctly, sorry if I did not. He also has ideas for cleaning products as well. He told the hosts on The Good Dish that he researches everything.
Well time to head on downstairs and put on the coffee and start my last day of the work week. I am grateful today is Friday.
Have a wonderful day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! How are you on this Easter Monday morning? I am happy that I remain on vacation till Thursday. The sun is shining brightly. Alvin and Mi-Mi are in the office with me while Aspen remains on the big brown armchair resting and looking out of the window. I cannot believe that their time with me is fast coming to an end. Hard to believe almost one week since they arrived. We have had a great time. The pups have all got along. I have enjoyed our walks. There has been a lot of relaxing time for me and the pups. I guess that I must have needed to be more still.
After I have coffee and do a couple of things I am going to give Mr. Alvin a haircut and bath followed by my shower and then I will start taking the pups for a walk. First Miss Aspen for our 45-60 minute walk and then the boys for about 25-30 minutes. I should be getting mobile and taking Miss Aspen for another walk during the day but I just do not have the get up and go to do so. I know that she would love it. I appreciate that she is so good and I feel badly that I am not being a better Grandma.
The temperature is supposed to be double digit plus temperatures today so that will be great and hopefully it will be calm.
Yesterday on our walk, the walk with Miss Aspen, we came across geese. She immediately goes into “hunting mode” with her head down and just looking intensely at the birds. The birds were right in the middle of the sidewalk by one of the nearby ponds. We could have turned around and gone back the way we came from but I was determined that we would walk all the way around the big pond. I held her close with the leash and said close. I also told her “good girl.” Although every instinct in her body was fighting to run, she held still and listened to her Grandma. What a good girl she is! That was the closest we have been to the geese. We came across more but they were up on the grass a bit away from the sidewalk so it was okay. She still had that look. Kind of scary and thank goodness she listens so well. We even stopped for a little boy just learning to walk – give her a pet. She is good with children. Most times if we come across other dogs, I just give them a wide berth.
I just got a text from my daughter and they are on their way to Red Rock Canyon for the day. It is so beautiful there. They will certainly love it. Great photo op. I took only a million, lol.
Well time to head downstairs and have that first cup of coffee calling my name. Get the counter cleaned of and prepare for Mr. Alvin’s haircut. I wonder if he will be more calm with the pups here. I am hoping so.
Happy Easter Monday.
Be well and enjoy your day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning All. What a beautiful Saturday morning. The grass is wet, shiny and so green from the rain overnight and earlier this morning.
There are yellow leaves littering the ground beneath the tree in the front yard. Fall has arrived early? Most of the trees in the neighbourhood remain green but there are definite signs that falls is upon us. Every weekend now there are more flower pots to pull the dead plants from as the weeks pass.
Most days I hear flocks of geese honking as they fly by. The flocks increase in size over the days and weeks.
Always lots to do around the house and yard at this time of year.
Still blooming
I have a few flowers and plants that are doing well. The Marigolds are blooming should have taken a photo.
Time to get this day going.
Enjoy your Saturday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, patience, compassion, understanding, love and gratitude and laughter.
Good Morning ALL! How are you doing this GREAT Saturday morning? Alvin and I are well. Going to head out for a walk after I write this post. Now I am wishing when we were up earlier that I had actually got my butt up off the sofa but sometimes you just want to snuggle under a warm blanket especially when you know that you do not have to be at work just a few steps away, lol. Anyway, no matter, a decision was made actually several times as we were up and down since about 4:35 a.m. That is the state of our household. A hot mess, most mornings. We manage to get through it and each day. The sun is shining and has been since earlier. There is a breeze but thankfully not gale force winds. So grateful for that. Getting bad when the wind blows over your flowers pots on the deck, okay only one but it was not light. I love looking at the sky. There are clouds which appear to be forming on the southern horizon and actually are taking the shape of mountains, how cool is that? Absolutely beautiful. I believe that the forecast is for 22 degrees celsius today with cloudy periods. So perhaps now would be a good time to go for a walk. The laundry and house cleaning can wait. Yesterday we walked twice which was great. We spotted the families of geese in the park snacking on grass by the trees close to the water. The goslings are no longer little fluff balls but are beginning to get their feathers. I am quite sure that I heard or read somewhere that young geese / goslings are not able to fly until they get their “flight feathers.” No wonder the adults stay close by.
There are 997 lovely souls that are now following this blog. WOW, I cannot believe it. The number has grown so much in the past year and I am grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to read my posts. It brings me immense joy. I wish you great joy, much love and laughter and abundance. Thank you.
Well tomorrow is Father’s Day and the official First Day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Two huge events.
I am going to sign off for now. Get out there and get one or two with nature and get some exercise. Getting older has done nothing for my waistline, lol.
Have a wonderful Saturday. Enjoy the day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude.
Always, With much thanks and gratitude, Carol & Alvin
Good Morning ALL! How are you this Saturday. We are happy that today is Saturday and the weekend. We had a good sleep last night and in less than two hours we are going to have company for coffee/tea on the deck. I am so excited to spend precious wonderful time with two of my dear friends. Today is supposed to be 18+ celsius so hopefully by the time they arrive the temperature is warm enough to sit on the deck. It should be as it was a few weeks back on a sunny winter/early spring day we say outside on the deck in the morning sipping on our coffee and even had to take off our coats. The sun is not shining but appears to be slightly overcast. There was no mention of rain in the forecast. The sun will be shining by 10:00 a.m. – yes it will. Positive thinking. Thoughts become things.
Yesterday as you know my daughter was picking me up to take me to the office for the day. While it was great to see the handful of folks that were working on the floor – in the area where I was stationed; I truly missed the comfort of my home. My beautiful plants that line my workspace. I missed Mr. Alvin. I missed our walk at lunchtime. Our workspaces are small with barely enough room to turn around so having my space at home is wonderful. I am grateful that I am able to work remotely from home and am wishing with my whole heart that I am able to continue this. Alvin was more than excited to see me and although our neighbour had come over and spent time with him, took him out for a pee and gave him some treats – he still had to spend time alone. He is 12 years old now, a senior. Well I am so relieved that I had someone able to come in and look after him for a bit. I do have the absolute best neighbours. My daughter brought me home with a quick stop at the grocery store. Thankfully we were home by 4:30 p.m. First thing I did was to let Mr. Alvin outside after his quick hello and mad dash to the back door. We had a visit with my daughter before she left for home. As I had already fed the boy after my daughter left for home, we got ready to head out for a walk. OH my gosh, it was so lovely. The sun was shining down on our neighborhood so gloriously. I had changed into some capri type sweats, tank top and light sweater pushing up the sleeves and some light shoes with no socks, harness on Alvin (after spending a few moments trying to catch up to him as he ran back and forth under the table before he finally ran to the back door, where I was able to put on the harness) and then we were on our way. Yes, I had some poop bags in my pocket, along with the house keys and I put on my sunglass clips. We decided to walk around the ponds by our house. Life is beginning to stir around the ponds. I noticed a few days ago that two geese are strutting around the grassy area by the ponds (park area). Likely Mr. and Mrs. and perhaps they have already laid their eggs. I cannot wait for the goslings to be born. Soon there will be buds and leaves on the trees. The grass is beginning to turn green in spots. We walked by our friend Pauline’s house but she was not outside. I love our visits in her backyard or over the fence when we are out for walks. We continued on our way until we were coming up on Alvin’s BF’s house; at the neighbours they were having some roof work done (fixing and replacing shingles) and there was a huge truck parked partway in the street and covering the sidewalk so we had to cross the street before Teddy’s house. Alvin kept pulling like mad as if to say “why are we going away from his house.” When it was safe to cross, he pulled with such great force, he almost pulled me over. He pulled like mad to go to Teddy’s house so we went and as it was late, I thought we would catch them in the middle of supper. I was fully prepared and when Teddy’s Mom answered the door, the first words out of my mouth were “I am sorry, Alvin just had to come in.” We both giggled as Iris said “I had just called you to see if you guys were up for a walk.” I then said Alvin must have extra good intuition. So we went for a walk. Three pups and two humans. Alvin and I made up for missing our lunchtime walk. It was nice to catch up with her. Once back home, I made my supper and by this time it was after 6:00 p.m. so needless to say it was late when I had supper. But by just after 9:00 p.m., I was ready for bed. Pooped, one may say! What a busy day.
Well the time is passing and the girls will be here in just over one hour and I need to hit the shower. I found after being in the office and surrounded by paper (as I was doing a massive mail out), I just felt grungy. Fresh hair will feel good.
The other night when I was cleaning out one of my pantries, I found a box of bulbs that Teddy’s Mom gave me in the winter time or maybe it was last fall. Anyway they should have been planted by now so will plant them and hopefully they will grow and bloom, even if it is late.
Wishing you a great Saturday.
Remembering to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience. It is easy to “fall off the truck” so to speak as we are human but what makes us better is that we get right back up and do better. When you have a moment like I do, like we all do. Own it, say it and just get back to living with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.
Good Morning ALL. How are you today? I/We are doing great. Getting used to the time change and actually getting a bit more sleep than the past few weeks. Happy for that.
Alvin and I enjoyed a wonderful walk yesterday afternoon. All throughout the day we saw many of our friends, neighbours and others out walking with family, with their doggies and some on their own. We all need fresh air, to connect with nature, to have some exercise and to refresh our mind/body/souls. I am so grateful that we are now able to get back to our daily walks. This week is supposed to be quite nice. YAY.
We watched most of the GRAMMYS last night. I noticed that most of the nominees appeared to be young. I won’t even ask the question as I know the answer. Surprisingly, I knew some of the younger artists. I really liked a new group called “BLACK PUMAS” …… they were really good. I would buy their music for sure. Also I really enjoy BILLIE EILISH. Music is always good to listen to and learn about …..
I do not have a lot to say this morning as Mr. Alvin stares at me from the doorway. Likely I should just call it a post and say that I will be back tomorrow. Sometimes the mind is silent. Is that even possible?
Hoping for sunshine today for our walk or at least not rain although moisture would be good to clean the dirt. I also noticed lots of trash laying about which is a reminder for me to go and pick it up.
Wishing you a wonderful Monday.
I can hear some geese honking in the distance. Spring is here!
Living with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.
My New Life @ 51 