Last Half 2022 – August

Good Morning ALL! How are you? Alvin and I are doing well. Up and at it at 6:00 a.m. for the third day in a row. Which is good for me. The noise from the highway is so loud, usually it is a hum but today it seems more loud. Not sure why. The sky is that beautiful hue when we transition from night to morning just as the sun is rising. Oh, how I remember when the sun was coming up at what seemed like 4:00 a.m., wasn’t that only last week, lol. There is a breeze this morning which is nice. I have a fan blowing from the hallway by the office door and the window is open with the breeze coming in on my right. Surrounded by coolness, love it. We are in for another hot day, then a bit cooler tomorrow and then warming up again for the weekend. At least summer seems to be holding on for awhile longer. I have said before how much I love the autumn/fall weather and just feel of it all. We can have very comfortable temperatures during that time. Here’s hoping that fall lasts until Christmas. I would love that so much.

Well another day of closing all the windows and the blinds. Mr. Alvin does not really seem to like that as he likes to look out of the window. Poor guy.

There is not too much new in our daily lives and not anything that anyone would be interested in reading about that is for sure. We are carrying on and the main plan is to keep cool during this blast of heat. We are grateful to have cooler temperatures overnight so that one can leave the windows open which nicely cools down the house. Then turn on the fans which makes a huge difference. I am grateful to have the fans. I am grateful that today is August 31, 2022. I am grateful that both Alvin and I are in good health. I am grateful to be alive.

I was watering my flowers last night and noticing how much they have changed in even the last week or so. I think they are tired of the extreme heat. The geraniums are doing pretty good and I want to transplant and winter them in the house again. Actually they started in the house. I love them but there are so many. Note to self, find out methods of wintering that do not require them being transplanted and in my kitchen. I have so many plants and am running out of space. Last year the plants were so huge that they blocked out a lot of light coming in through the kitchen window or at least at the level I am at when I am working at the kitchen table. I will check.

Do you notice when it is hot that you find it difficult to concentrate and have energy? Feel sleepy? I noticed that I really have to focus on whatever I am doing. I have been tired with this heat and not a lot of energy. Most days I have to force myself to get up and do things.

Time to head downstairs and go for our walk. Perhaps we will see Jaime and Sadie. Oh, how I love that Sadie, pup. She is so sweet.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

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

Yes, I will be needing that coffee this morning. LOL.

Happy Day, okay. Everything will work out. I have faith.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. Alvin seems to be almost back to normal. This morning I started to reintroduce his regular food to the bland diet of chicken and rice. He doesn’t really want to drink much water so I just add water to his food. He drinks the water and then eats his food. I suppose now that I have started something but he has to drink! What a guy! Still keeping an eye on him. This morning I did not add water to his food as it was a mix of his food, pumpkin and the bland diet. But I will give him a snack later this morning and will give him water. Hopefully when we go for a walk – he will drink more than he did yesterday. I was reading if they do not get exercise, then they do not always want to drink much or can be any number of things. So I took him for a walk after work yesterday. We walked to our friend Pauline’s house and home. He only drank a small amount of water whereas he usually drinks almost the full container which is almost two cups. I did the test on his gums and they seem to be okay, so not dehydrated. We are going for a walk shortly. I had planned to get up earlier so that I wouldn’t have to rush but when we were up at 4:30 for a pee, then up at 5:30 so that he could eat and have his meds, get up at 6:00 was difficult. So here we are. Up at 6:40 and it is now just a couple of minutes after 7:00. We will have to leave soon so that we are back in time for me to get signed on for work. There is lots of time but I have a thing about being on time.

There is a cool breeze this morning so will be nice to get out for a walk. Perhaps the breeze and morning air will clear the cobwebs from my brain and get me where I need to be.

I am very grateful that Alvin is feeling better. Always a difficult thing to go through for him and me. He is getting older which I sometimes forget and he may not bounce back just as quickly as he once did but that is okay.

With gratitude in my heart, I leave you for today. Wishing you a wonderful day. I hope that you are able to get out for a walk and that your life has more positivity than the opposite. Why even say the word! or type it in this case.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: 19 sleeps till 65. It is getting close. I wonder if I will feel differently? My geraniums have so many buds and I am happy that they are blooming.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this beautiful sunny clear blue sky Saturday morning? I am okay, we are okay. Someone who shall remain nameless, was up pretty much every hour or so last night. He could not seem to sleep. He is sure yawning now. Anyway, that is okay we are up and getting this day going. I have changed the bedding on our bed and gathered the laundry, did some banking and am now writing this post. Followed by putting the laundry downstairs and gathering up the items to give Mr. Alvin a haircut and bath. Before his haircut I will make coffee and have breakfast. Maybe this will be done actually in a morning for a change. That would be nice to have the boy all done before lunchtime. One can hope.

Yesterday at our lunch break walk we found our friend Pauline out working in her backyard. So we had to stop by and say hello. We had a lovely visit. I asked her about my geraniums and she said they were likely in “shock” and I totally had thought that but she also said to cut them down to about three inches so that all their energy can go towards rooting the plants and they should come back. I sure hope so as I had them over for three years and they were so beautiful but definitely did need to be repotted and restarted. Fingers crossed. I also told her about the day where we had taken refuge in her backyard and she told me, anytime you need to, go ahead. I knew she would be okay with that. Most times they would be home but for the odd time that they are not, we have permission. They have such a gorgeous backyard. Anyway after work, I cut down the geraniums and also pulled the decorator grass as I read it is an annual plant. Grass an annual. Surprised. Anyway, fingers crossed it all works out. Pauline has some plants for me. YAY.

After work my daughter stopped by for a visit. She arrived just as I had been out cutting the backyard grass which has been growing so fast with all of this moisture. Also I thought that I was being so careful watching as I thought Alvin had one poop prior to the grass cutting that I had not picked up as yet, guess who found it! Yup, the Momma. I stepped right in the middle of it. So not only did I have to clean my shoe, which thankfully was a flip flop but I also had to clean it up from the grass. Oh, no further explanation necessary it was not a pretty sight. Anyway, I got the sandal and the grass cleaned as I said hello to my daughter and instructed her to help herself to a cup of coffee while I finished. Once I was done we had coffee on the deck. It was so nice. Actually very warm. We had a great visit. We also were looking in the garage and talking about the upcoming garage sale. Amanda noticed a bee struggling on the cement and immediately got a dustpan so that it would hopefully crawl up onto and we could put it in the backyard. The bee crawled slowly onto the dustpan and my daughter placed in close to the water dish that I had on the deck. Still alive, later I moved it onto a pansy. Hopefully it is still alive. We found a dead one in the garage, too. Likely got trapped in there and did not have any water. Very sad. Another reason why I leave some water with rocks in it so that they can stop for a drink of water. They drink water to stay hydrated as we do. I guess likely most creatures do.

Catching up. Then she was on her way.

After that I saw our friend Signe who had gone to Superstore and that is a whole other story. She was there to pick up some things and her daughter remembered that I needed pumpkin for Mr. Alvin. Signe had told me that on Tuesday when she was there for work – they had lots of it – well they ran out yesterday. Someone needed pumpkin. Anyway she picked me up some eggs which I needed. When she dropped them off at the house, she spotted a different sort of bee on the front step. Apparently it is a “carpenter bee” or wood bee as she called it. Yes, not just carpenter ants to eat the wood there are bees, too. Who knew? I sure did not. Something else to watch out for. Where is there is one, there are likely more. I guess the front porch step is ripe for the picking so to speak as it is all wood. ARGH. Live and learn, each day. We had a nice visit in between the bees.

Later after supper and into the evening just as it was storming our friend Gillian popped by to give me a lotto ticket that she had picked up. The lotto max jackpot was $70 million for last night. I am excited to check my ticket and see how much I won. We had a great visit and I felt badly that she had to walk home in the storm which thankfully had started to subside a bit but the time she left. Another great visit.

I am so grateful for all the wonderful friends in my life. They are the best. Oh, my daughter is included in the “wonderful friends.”

Anyway, better get hopping here if I am going to get that haircut done before noon. Okay, even if it is slightly later than noon, still okay.

Lots to do.

So grateful for a sunny day.

Happy Saturday everyone.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. windows open and there is a delectable cool breeze coming into the house, so nice. Better get the downstairs windows open. YAY.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? The sun is shining this morning so we are off to a great start. Today is Wednesday. Another great thing about having a long weekend. Short work week. The sky is a glorious powder blue. I could see my breath outside earlier this morning which is not great for the plants. My geraniums are not doing great. I should have taken them in and out for a few days. But who knows, maybe they will make a come back. I hope so. I have had those plants for over two years now. They have brought me great joy with their beautiful green leaves and pretty pink flowers. Fingers crossed. Most of the other plants look to be doing okay. I hope that we are in for some nice low 20’s celsius temperatures from now on. Perfection.

Mr. Alvin. He always seems to have it the worse at night. I think he is tired now, too. He can doze on his bed but I have to work. Which is sooner than later. I slept in. The SNOOZE BUTTON is way too easy. Not a good thing either. But anyway, I am grateful that we are both breathing and are here for another day on this beautiful planet. We did get out for a walk yesterday. The whole route. I was a bit apprehensive because of his recent issue with his front paws. I cleaned them immediately upon our return home. I cannot see anything “pink or red” so hopefully all is well. If he licks his paws or is out of sorts today, I will call the vet right away. We should get a “family discount.”

Not much new in this house. I am happy it is Wednesday and that I have ground coffee beans to make myself a wonderful cup of perked coffee. The best coffee ever.

I hope that you have a wonderful day. Perhaps you planted your garden and flowers on the weekend or maybe you are waiting until the beginning of June. Our growing season is so short here in Western Canada that as soon as we can – we plant.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning All! What a glorious morning. We have been up for a couple of hours already but just walk and visiting. While out for our walk we bumped into friends haven’t chatted with since before Alvin’s surgery. Her pup is 16 and honestly seems more energetic than years ago. The air is cool and the sun is shining brightly. The temperature for today in Edmonton is to be 25 degrees Celsius. So nice. My to do list is long but I have three days to do things so just taking my time. We are looking after Humphrey, Bogart and Cynder for the weekend. We were invited to a neighbour’s for a visit today at 230 pm. So, in the meantime laundry and bring in things from garage that my daughter gave me. I also want to find a good company to clean the furnace, vents and dryer vents.

Yesterday after work, I went out for one hour all by myself. I went to the grocery store and to Bone&Biscuit and pick up a new harness, poop bags and couple small peanut butter cookies for Alvin. I am grateful to my neighbour for lending me her car. I felt as though I had gone on a big trip, met new people and just had fun. Yup, I did say that I went to the store. But seriously it has been forever since I have gone anywhere, much less any place without the boy. I cannot leave him for long but one hour was a nice break. It is the small things that are so important!

Last night after I put the groceries away I put away my workstation as I do every Friday night and then rearranged my flowers placing the pots of geraniums back by the kitchen window.

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Of course, I gave Alvin his supper as soon as I got the groceries into the house.

I think Al is pooped as he is laying down on the sofa beside me while I write this post. I can smell the coffee as it has finished perking and I need some coffee this morning. I’m hungry as well. So nice to have fresh produce in the house. The last time I bought groceries was July 23rd – yup, the day of Alvin’s surgery. I like to use everything up. Then one does not waste and let’s face it – that is why we have spices to change up something plain and make special. The same pasta can be made hundreds of ways and so on.

Okay, gotta go. Have a great day.

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

Love Carol&Alvin

2021

Good Morning All! Well it is Friday and the long weekend. Excited or what! When the sky cleared last night and the sun came out – it was amazing. The trees basking in the sunlight all nice and green. People out walking and some with their dogs. Even though we walked before I started work and at my lunch break, as the evening progressed I was thinking we should have gone again. Oh well. It was a quiet Thursday. Good to have before a busy long weekend.

I noticed that the geraniums that I plunked in with the remaining greenery from my birthday bouquets were a mix of pretty live blossoms and some that were wilted. Now normally we would pluck off the dead blooms and toss them but there was something beautiful and unique about the mix of living and dead. Perhaps this sounds a bit off the deep end and I don’t blame you one bit if you are giggling or even laughing aloud. You will see in the photos what I mean.

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  Unique Beauty

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  Geraniums in background from outside

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The delicate balance between life and death is there in all things. The different shades of pink gorgeous. I definitely am infatuated with flowers snd plants. They bring me joy so why not?

Well time to go. Remember not to give up on something that has seen better days. Applies to all things!!

Have an awesome Friday.

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

Love

2021

Good Morning All! How are you doing today? Are you busy and doing well? Are you working, going to school or retired? What fills your days and nights? I know some people’s days are reversed. We are just back from a walk. The sky is grey with dome dark blue rain clouds. There is rain in the forecast. Time will tell. The air is cool and for a moment when Al was stopped to sniff some grass, I was certain that I saw my breath. It did not freeze last night. Late yesterday afternoon I brought my three pots of geraniums into the house. They are temporarily taking real estate on my kitchen counter.

Last night after work my daughter stopped by on her way home after work. I should clarify that first stop here and then to their rental house and then to their new home in the country. She was picking up some things for the estate sale that they are having and dropping them off snd picking up a load to take to the new house. She had a quick supper with us before heading out. I helped load the stuff from here. She is pooped snd will be glad to have this done. They have done the whole move themselves with no help.

We or rather again I am running late as the boy had a restless night. He may have another ear infection do will have to take him to the vet today if I can get him today. Rather if they can see him today. Coffee is ready and I am less than ten min yo start work time.

I hope you have a great day.

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

Love Carol&Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Tuesday morning? We are well. Both Alvin and I had a good sleep. The sun was shining brightly and now I see that the clouds are rolling in and the wind is still blowing. I was going to run out to the garage and put out my three geranium plants which I had placed in the garage yesterday due to the wind and rain. They do not like to have too much water. So far the other plants that remained outside seem to be doing well. I wished that the sun would shine. I have a chill in my bones just from the sound of the wind and the rain. Perhaps I should have turned the heat on but I have elected to wear warm clothing instead. I might just leave the geraniums in the garage for a bit but will keenly watch the weather. Fingers crossed for some sunshine. We are grateful for the moisture as it was very dry here despite the heavy rain and snow of last week.

I/We had a great long weekend. I forgot to wish my friend Mr. B a Happy Birthday for yesterday along with Queen Victoria. Not sure how I forgot them but I did. It was a weekend filled with outside visits with friends and checking off items off that never ending TO DO LIST. I finally have all my daughter’s things from childhood washed, dried and photographed and carefully packed away. There are some dollies that I have to figure out how to store with care. But the clothing, handmade dolls and blankets are all done. I only had a couple of mishaps and my daughter has already forgiven me. She is a gracious girl that one. I won’t share what item had the mishap but it was a big one. Momma was feeling pretty badly.

Have you gone through your house room by room and done the following:

1. Either pulled the item(s) or made a list of the item(s) that you no longer need or want?
2. Have you made a list of what to do with those item(s)?
3. Have you made a list of what repairs need to be done?
4. Have you started to figure out your finances for said repairs?
5. Have you started to call and make appointments/estimates for said repairs?

I have started doing the above. Sometimes things can get away on you. We quite often have the easy response “oh, it can wait until tomorrow” and then tomorrow never comes for one reason or the other. I have a few things that require attention. It can be scary of course. Sometimes being scared to make arrangements for the financing can be scary. Or perhaps just having to find someone to come and do the repair can be nerve racking. Unfortunately this is all part of being a homeowner. Yes, it is true. I find that being on my own – adds a level to the whole adventure. A level that I never thought about much ….. but I am learning ….. learned so much over the past decade or so since I bought this my first house/home.

Food for thought.

Well time to head downstairs and put on the coffee. Perhaps rearrange those plants on the deck. Looks like the sun is coming back out. YAY. Perhaps Mother Nature heard my plea.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude. We should add laughter to this list. We all need to laugh everyday.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Well other than not falling asleep quickly we had a great night sleep. Alvin woke up at 4:00 and then we were up to stay at 6:22 a.m., now does not get more perfect than that. YAY Mr. Alvin and yay Momma. The wind was cold last night and I was worried for my flowers but looking at them earlier they appear to be okay. We do have some cold weather coming this week with even possible “snow” flurries, I sure hope that the sun shines and the only moisture we receive is rain. Some of the overnight temperatures are in the single minus number range and that means covering the plant pots that I cannot move. There are three that I struggled to get to the lower deck from the garage and there is no way that I can easily move them into the garage and out for the daytime. So covering is the only option. I finally was able to download my photos and I now have figured out why everytime I download photos from my phone to the computer ….. that I get a message stating a number of files did not download and that is because they were LIVE shots. Gotta love technology. So yesterday when after two years with this phone (should have asked my daughter) the light bulb came on and I made the realization. So I spent over an hour deleting live shots from my phone. Luckily I had some portrait mode ones that I could download. I reshot the flower photos last night. The jewelry party was a success, I have no idea the sales but there were more people attending and watching the replays than ever before and I am grateful for that.

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This is my back deck area. Lots of flowers and different than I usually plant. Of course, there are some of the usual. I did forget to pick up marigolds so will have to grab a couple of those at some point during the next couple of weeks. Marigolds help keep mosquitoes and wasps away.

I hope that you all have a wonderful day and that your weekend was great.

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

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you doing this morning? We went to bed later and I was doing a “no no” before turning out the lights, I was on Facebook responding to posts from my online Fifth Avenue Jewelry party. Then it was midnight. Next thing I new it Alvin was wanting to go downstairs and when I got downstairs it was 2:30 a.m., argh. So needless to say we have had some choppy sleep or rather I have had some choppy sleep, lol. Oh well. We, I am up now and ploughing through the TO DO LIST which consists of putting away clothes that are drying in the basement, doing a bit more laundry, cleaning bathrooms, washing main floor, vac upstairs, watering plants tonight, walking at some point, oh and I want to make pancakes for breakfast, going through photos on my phone as I was trying to upload/download my photos from phone to computer and it was taking way too long, and whatever else I can squeeze in, also the last Fifth Avenue Jewelry live at 3:00 p.m. Looks like I am going to be busy but that is okay. I am quite certain that the majority of the people on the planet are as busy or busier than I am. All good. Mow the back patch of grass, too. Luckily most of these jobs are quick to do.

Yesterday I power washed the deck, the house, the garage, moved out all of my patio/deck furniture, planting all my flowers in pots and in the front flower bed, did laundry, walked and odds and ends. I am finding that it is not as easy to lift heavy items as it was even last year. Guess that means I should be doing some strength training, lol. Perhaps bench pressing Mr. Alvin. Oh well. The flowers look amazing and I am glad that it is done. I love planting flowers and then admiring them for the summer. Of course, looking after them. Water them etc. I planted a more diverse amount of flowers and plants this year. I went with the approach when buying them of what looked pretty and the ones that I loved. Of course, I bought some old favs but a lot of new ones. I even planted a couple of dahlias, which are so beautiful, I got this cool looking grass and a lavender like plant. Outside went my geraniums and the calla lily. My deck looks beautiful and will just look even before as the time goes by. I can imagine how fresh it will look once I get the fence painted. That is a end of June, beginning of July project as it will likely take me a weekend.

I am disappointed that I cannot share the photos of my backyard/deck with the flowers and all. Hopefully soon.

Time to get this day going and have some coffee before I pass the time that I should be drinking caffeine. LOL.

Have a wonderful day. Take some time for you. We all deserve some quiet time. I keep telling Mr. Alvin that.

Continuing to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

P.S. love my new garden hose.