The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Woke up with a headache but have to shake it off as I have things that need to be done today at work. The sky is starting to rise as the sun positions to rise. Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day. On my lunch break I walked over to the mall and cashed in my winning lottery tickets. I won $2 and a free play. Better than the opposite. I also picked up the winning $62 million lotto 649 for last night’s draw. The walk was so nice. By the time I got back to the office, I was warm with my sweater underneath my jacket. My coworker & carpool had an appointment in the afternoon and left work early so I caught the bus home. Nice walk. The ice and snow on the walkway near to my house thankfully had dried up. YAY. Spring, truly is here. The snow has mostly melted from my back yard and the front. Another week or so and I will be able to rake. Definitely waiting until the ground has thawed completely. I may not rake the leaves up as I heard it is good to leave them on for awhile. Perhaps wait until grass starts to turn green.

When I arrived home, my neighbour (other half of duplex) came out. Jess said that she had something for me, I asked if I could quickly run and grab the mail. My parcels were here from TSC (The Shopping Channel) – the quilt and sheets for my bed had arrived. YAY. When I got back to the house, Jess handed me a bag and told me that she wanted to give me something special as a memory of Alvin. I will have to put the photo here as it is a whirly that has a photo of Alvin on it ….. for outside …… it is made of tin and is so beautiful. I will post a photo later. So grateful to everyone near and far for their love and support. There isn’t a day that goes by where I do not shed a tear for Alvin, I miss him so much. He was the best guy and friend and companion.

I made the executive decision to call a repairman to “fix” my stove. The company I called charge a $99 diagnostic / come out charge so I figured why not? If I can fix the stove – better than something to go to the eco station or wherever old appliances go. The appointment is for 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Fingers crossed that it is an inexpensive repair and that I have my stove back again. Time down will be three weeks on Sunday. ARGH.

I am sorry for this to be short but hard to think with a headache. So I shall sign off.

Have an awesome Thursday! Yup, only one more day now till the weekend. Whoops, sorry – do not need to be rushing the days. Sometimes, I do, sometimes I need to ….

The rabbits are almost completely brown now.

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)

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Both Alvin and I are well. The clear blue morning sky has overtaken the beautiful hues the sunrise. The trees are standing still. Tomorrow is the first day of spring, I believe. Oh, how I long for dry sidewalks and green grass. Then Alvin and I will be able to head out for walks at lunchtime and after work. Soon we will have flowers and perhaps even some pots with an arrangement of herbs and vegetables. It will depend on when I can get out and pick these items up. Some things I can likely start from seed although in pots, I am not sure how that will work. Likely time to start doing some research so that in a few weeks when it is time, I am prepared and know what to do. Or at least consult with the experts and find out the best approach. I do love that about the internet, about Google Search.

As I look out of the office window I see deep ruts about six or so inches deep in the back lane. Driving in the back lane is not fun. I did chip away some of the ice that was on my driveway. At least the high banks of snow that lined our driveways in the back have almost all melted. Now out front is quite another story. Some of my neighbours including me were outside after work last night trying to get rid of some of the ice. With the snow still melting from our backyards and front lawns and with the windrows lining the public sidewalks and with us facing north, it has made our work darn near impossible. We all worry about getting ticketed for our sidewalks not been clear but it is not an easy task. We all agreed that this has been the worst year that we could remember. What can you do? When we head out for a walk yesterday right after work, we walked on the path that I had made on the windrow and then onto the street. We had no choice. Too difficult to walk on the sidewalk and I need my hips intact as does Mr. Alvin. We walked carefully on the street with me watching for cars. On the north side of the street that faces south and is mostly dry we walked. We actually were able to walk and make a couple of loops and then on our way home, we bumped into Carter and his Mom out for a walk. So we ended up walking together and actually walking on the street just north of us and around and back again a few times. So actually felt like we had a walk. It was nice to catch with our friends.

Last night after supper and dishes we just watched some of the shows that I recorded. A nice quiet evening. I appreciate quiet evenings.

So today there is laundry and cleaning and in the afternoon when the sun’s rays has softened the ice, I will attempt to break down more of the snow out front so that the ice will melt and possibly I may be able to uncover the storm drain. I found the entrance point last night and chip away some of the ice and snow. Most of the snow has melted from the deck so we are losing Alvin’s temporary bathroom. There is so much snow and ice on the little patch of grass that I am not sure if can clear it or not. The forecast is for more snow tomorrow. For anyone reading and thinking that I am using the deck as a bathroom for Alvin and how gross is that know this: I clean up the poop and throw it in the garbage can. We only do this while there is several inches of snow and ice on the deck and only when we are not able to access the grassy area. We have also been sitting on the steps to the grassy area at my lunch break enjoying the sunshine. For at least the last two days anyway.

Well it is time to get this day going. Mr. Alvin is barking and no sure why. He does a lot of that as he gets older. Oh, yesterday he really wanted to play with one of his toys. It was so cute and so much fun. Perhaps we all get more childlike as we age even dogs. I appreciate that.

Have a great Saturday. I think at some point, I am going to bake some chocolate chip raisin cookies.

Happy Saturday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. Remember this each day is full of possibilities. If yesterday was crappy – today is not. Today can be whatever you want it to be. I am dreaming of possibilities.

The NEW Year 2022

Good Morning ALL! Well a bit later start to the day than planned but you know what it is the weekend and I can make my own schedule. When there is no significant other and no children who require most of your time – you can almost do what you would like, I say almost, because I have Mr. Alvin to consider. He does always come first but after that, my time is my own. So as long as I get up with him at 4:00 ish so that he can go outside and pee, then get up when he wants to eat which is anywhere from 5:00 – 6:30 a.m. – I am set. So this morning I was dreaming so I coaxed him to stay on the sofa a bit longer. It was so wonderful just laying there once I was awake – not having to go anywhere or do anything specific. Now it is getting onto mid morning or so. I already have picked up his little brown packages from the remaining snow banks on the deck, put on the coffee, changed the bedding, gathered the laundry and got dressed. Now for this post. I do not have a funny story nor do I have words of wisdom this morning. Just words. Hopefully something might make you smile or give you that final boost for the day.

Last night just as I turned off the computer at 4:00 p.m. (yes I stopped working on time), I heard a small knock upon the door and realized that my daughter had already arrived. I was hoping to be downstairs when she arrived but I was not. She is my pride and joy and it was great to see her. I did have a few less than stellar moments during her visit when I was kind of “venting” about goodness knows what. I have never claimed to be perfect that is for sure. We did have some light moments. We talked about so many things during her visit. I love when she visits. She is such an amazing, loving, kind hearted, good soul. I aim to be like her. Perhaps our roles are reversed. Then she was leaving for home.

We had a quiet evening. Oh, she left me some leftovers from a lunch which were spectacular. It was a vegan ginger beef in a sauce with green peppers and carrots. So good. I made some quinoa and green peas to go along with it. Best supper. I could have eaten a barrel full of that vegan ginger beef. I would like to know what they used in their “vegan ginger beef.” Anyway, it was so good. I got the name of the restaurant from my daughter but it is on my phone which is downstairs. Tonight I will have two prep made meals that my neighbour gave me. They smell amazing. Cannot wait. So excited – no cooking this weekend. Always nice to have food that was made by someone else. Wonderful change. I miss when the kids were living here. We took turns cooking.

Well time to head back downstairs and have that first cup of coffee and put in the first load of laundry. Once the temperature warms up I plan to dig out the back grass area so that Mr. Alvin can once again go down there. The snow on the deck is melting fast. Too bad the ice on the sidewalk and the ice and snow chunks would not move faster. With any luck perhaps the temperatures will remain warm during the day and we will soon be snow and ice free. I long to go for walks with Mr. Alvin where we are not worried about staying upright.

I hope that you have an awesome day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

It is a NEW YEAR.

Well here we are the first Thursday of March, 2020.

Almost one week into this month.

Today is my Dad’s sister’s Birthday.

Happy Birthday Aunt.

I hope that you have a wonderful day.

March is almost as busy a month for birthdays as February.

 

Well we brought Mr. Humphrey over for the evening.

My nephew stopped in and spent the night on his way back to work up north.

He brought me a DAIRY QUEEN treat – box of buster bars.

My favourite.

We had a nice visit before an early bedtime.

It was nice to see him and to catch up with all of the family news.

There is always a surprise or two.

He was up and away by 5:30 a.m.

 

Another nice morning although I can hear the wind gusting from time to time.

Gusting as it rattles the outside vents and the chimney.

Alvin and I did not make it out for a walk last night.

Our sidewalk/street out front is a big mess.

Kudos to our neighbour in the other half of our duplex who was out during the day chipping away at the ice.

Working to make the water drain from the street to the storm drain and from the sidewalk.

She did a great job.

Only thing is someone drove over the canal from the street causing it to collapse and then the water could no longer make it to the drain.

Oh well, a few more days/weeks of warm weather and it will be mostly melted.

There is snow and cold temperatures on the way for the weekend so that will put an end to the melting for now.

Time.

All we need is time.

 

Well another work day ahead.

How is your job going?

Perhaps you go to school?

Or maybe you are retired and just enjoying life.

Whether you work for someone or for yourself.

Whether you go to school or not.

These are all things we do to fill our days and to earn a living.

This living helps us to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and clothes on our backs.

Simply put.

These earnings also help us to have cable and internet for connections and entertainment.

Help to pay for vacations.

Car loans.

Basically everything we consume whether internally or externally.

Yikes one of the cards that I have displayed (hanging) from my bulletin board just fell off.

I had only moments just barely touched it so that I could read the words that my daughter had written.

 

Dear Mom

We’re so grateful to have you in our

lives and are so proud of all you’ve 

accomplished.  This year brings lots 

of change but we’ll get through it 

together.  Love you so much!

 

This was from Mother’s Day 2014.

 

Everyday of my life, I am grateful for my kids.

My daughter and my son (her husband).

For my grand pups, Aspen and Milo.

For me Alvin.

For my family near and far.

For my life.

 

We should always take the time to be grateful.

Fill your life with gratitude and your life will be filled with gratitude.

 

Well almost time to head on downstairs.

Hard to believe that my nephew has been gone for almost one hour already.

Time marches on.

 

Have a wonderful day.

Kindness and Respect, always.

For yourself and for others.

 

Happy Thursday.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 9th day of April, 2019.

Here we go zipping along in the month of April.

Our weather is very much spring-like.

The birds are beginning to return.

I can imagine it will not be too long before baby birds are chirping in their nests.

The bunnies are still partially white.

Alvin and I had a great long walk last night with our friend P who just returned from Victoria.

They were in Victoria to look after their son’s property.

Bad tenants and all.

The sidewalks by our lakes are almost dry.

So Alvin did not get too wet.

To breathe in that spring air is the best.

We absolutely enjoyed the sunshine as the rays touched our faces.

There was a breeze so it helped with drying out the excess water.

The ice on the lakes has almost melted.

By the end of this week with double digit temperatures the excess and ice should be all but a memory.

Now the ice and snow on our front lawn might take a bit longer.

There is a bit remaining.

 

Well we elected to hit the sofa for some extra time this morning.

Not sure why.

Oh, yes we were up a bit later and then I read for a few minutes.

So hard to go to bed as it stays lighter longer.

 

My friend P was telling me about the voles who are small rodents who have made several tunnels just under the surface of their lawn.

Did you know that they continue to have young ones all year long?

Poor Mommas.

Anyway they have taken over their lawn and one of their neighbours.

They will be difficult to evict.

 

Well it is almost time for me to sign off here.

I hope that you are enjoying spring.

Perhaps just returning from a trip ….

Or a snowbird?

Happy Spring …..

Welcome Home.

Have an awesome Tuesday.

 

Special Hello to: my sister ….. we have to chat…..miss you.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 19th day of March, 2019.

Well here we are and it is Tuesday morning.

Back to work for this gal.

 

Humphrey came to spend the evening with us as he will tonight and tomorrow night.

His Momma has year end and that is a busy time for her.

We don’t mind and Humphrey loves to spend time with me and Alvin.

The boys go outside onto the deck and hang out.

There are a couple of spots that Humphrey loves to lay down and relax.

Most especially if the sun is shining.

 

It was so great being at home.

Making your own schedule.

Having an unexpected nap in the middle of the afternoon and waking up with a start to realize that it was 4:30 p.m.

Time to get out for a walk.

Which we did.

Walking on the opposite side of the street as too icy on our side.

I did chip away at the ice and unblocked the storm drain after some lovely person filled it with chunks of ice and snow.

We had a great day.

I even cooked up a big pot of chilli.

 

Once the snow and ice is gone from our back yard I must find a place for my Rooster weather vane.

I bought this as a birthday present to myself last summer when my daughter and I took a nice road trip.

It is extremely sharp so I must find a safe spot for it.

Somewhere that it can easily be removed and put into the garage for winter, I think.

Maybe not.

Depends where it goes?

 

Flowers picked up from a local nursery a few years back.

Didn’t they look pretty.

This is what I have to look forward to again this year.

Shopping with my daughter to pick up flowers to plant.

I am going to add some herbs and more tomatoes.

I have just the perfect pots for herbs and tomatoes.

Spring is close by.

 

Well almost time to finish getting ready for work.

I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

May your kindness shine through to the world and its back to you.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Special Hello to: all those folks longing for spring to arrive, it is almost here.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 15th day of March, 2019.

Last night was so beautiful but not great for walking.

I went out into the back yard – actually on the deck to pick up poop from this morning.

Yup, I know, another poop story.

But this is cute.

Alvin climbed up onto the snowbank that takes up half of the deck to do his business.

Me, in my slip on shoes, decided to go up and pick up the poop.

Everything was going well ….. Alvin turned around and was waiting for me.

I picked up the poop and went to turn to come down …. when due to my weight …. went into the snow and my shoe came off.

Ended up with a shoe full of snow.

Yup, I was walking in the snowbank with one sock and one shoe on.

I delicately balanced a couple of bags of poop and grabbed my shoe that was buried in the snow.

Not impressed but I kept my cool and just laughed it off.

Because really what else are you going to do.

So that was my Alvin story.

Note to self:  wear boots when in a snow bank.

 

We received a phone call from Alvin’s best friend’s Mom last night.

She invited us over for supper and a visit.

We had already had supper when she called and we were not going to walk because of the ice and water.

So Teddy and his Momma came for a visit.

I love the way the boys greet each other with so much energy and joy.

You can feel that energy in the room.

AS soon as Alvin sees their car pull up ….. he starts to wag his tail and bark his HELLO..

Then he runs to the door.

Usually I peek out to see when they are coming up the walk and then I open the door.

Teddy running down the walk and Alvin running from the house.

Just like in the movies.

So cute.

They say hi and into the house.

Run about …. grabbing a chew treat along the way …..

Just makes you feel like a million dollars.

They bring us great joy.

Whether separate or together….

We had such a great visit.

I shared with her one of Steeped Tea’s newest blends, a Rooibos tea called LUSH LEMON.

Oh, it was so nice.

I have been enjoying it for the past few nights.

We laughed and almost cried a few times sharing more of our life’s stories.

I love getting to know people …. we all have such wonderful stories ….. if only someone would listen.

I love to listen and so does my friend …..

Hard to believe it will be four years on July 20th that we met.

Yup, it was July 20th, 2015.

WOW.

We talked about how memorable Mr. Alvin is and that everyone remembers his name and him.

At the end of this month it will be ten years since I moved to Edmonton and into my very first house.

My first house on my own …

It has been and is so very wonderful.

I am a lucky girl.

 

So today is Friday.

The start of the weekend after we put in the day unless you are lucky to be at the end of your shift or perhaps you took today off.

I am excited for the weekend.

Tomorrow Alvin has his first pedicure and regular appointment since his surgery.

We were at the Vet to have his stitches removed a few weeks back.

You cannot see that he had surgery at all.

I also have to hit the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the FRUIT PIZZA which was requested as my daughter’s “birthday cake.”

We will have to decorate and they are coming on St. Patrick’s Day so I wonder how much green, I have ….. mmmmmm.

Green streamers?

I know that I have lime green ones, yes, somewhere.

Tidy up the house.

YAY, family coming on Sunday.

We are having PIZZA for supper and FRUIT PIZZA for dessert.

It will be a pizza party.

 

Well here we go again …. time to leave for work.

Be careful out there as there is lots of ice, most especially in the residential areas.

Have an awesome Friday.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day early.

 

Special Hello to: all of you ….. you make my life, awesome.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 11th day of October, 2018.

Appears to have rained/snowed a bit overnight.

The deck tells the story.

The streets and sidewalks may be a bit slippery so everyone be careful.

If you happen to live elsewhere then no worries.

I hope that wherever you live that you are safe and comfortable.

 

Last night after work Alvin and I went for a nice walk.

I had planned to do a 20-30 minute workout (recorded some different yoga/pilates/stretching shows).

On our way home I happen to glance at the mailbox and remembered that my friend “V” was shipping a parcel to us today.

So we careful made our way across the street and voile we had this HUGE parcel in the parcel mailbox for which they place a key in my mailbox.

It was tricky carrying the box in one hand/arm and Alvin in the other.

He kept wanting to cross the street and I wanted to ensure it was safe.

Finally we got across the street and safely home.

Alvin always goes crazy when we receive a parcel from our friend.

He barked and barked and barked even with a time out (in the bathroom).

Finally got into the box and pulled out his parcel which had the cutest note.

Part of which told him to not to eat it all at once (not her words).

We are so lucky.

I took a short video of him opening his parcel.

He was still pulling away at the tissue paper once his treat bag was unwrapped.

What a character.

Needless to say he loved the treats (only had two).

He still had not had his supper at that time.

I received a deep dish apple pie, carrot cake, two kinds of homemade buns, pumpkin muffins with seeds and multiple little treats.

 

Afterward we called our friend to say thank you.

We are so lucky.

 

Quickly here as it is almost time to leave and I must share a funny story.

So after we got the treats put away and wrapping dealt with it was on to my exercises.

I pulled out my yoga mats, yoga bricks and yoga strap (just in case).

I ended up going with a stretching program as I know I need some of that.

Moved some of the furniture out of my way.

Alvin started to bark.

He moved to the sofa and picked up one of his chew treats.

Oh how I wished that I had a video of his reaction.

For the first 10 minutes he fussed and stewed and stewed and fussed while I was exercising.

Perhaps it was something about the yoga mat or the chair or that he was not included.

Tonight will try some yoga and see if the dog can do downward dog …. just kidding.

He will get used to it eventually.

It was so funny seeing his reaction and kind of hard to explain.

You almost had to be here.

I guess he did not know what to think.

 

Well have to go.

Time to grab my lunch, don the coat and stuff (decided on boots or just shoes)?

Have an awesome Thursday.

 

Special Hello to: my friend who spoils us rotten and we love it.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 7th day of April, 2018.

The house is quiet once again except for the furnace running to heat the house during our coldest spring in thirty years.

The snow does seem to be slowly disappearing but not due to hot sunny days, that is for sure.

Most likely due in part to the wind.

The winds have been brutally cold.

Yesterday it was almost minus 20 degrees celsius with the windchill when I left work.

Thankfully I am a smart adult and was wearing my winter coat.

So many young and older folks were wearing spring jackets.

Likely just getting tired of wearing their winter ones.

I am starting to lose my patience with Mother Nature.

It is time for warmer weather, please.

 

Well onto something else, whining is not something that I like to do for long periods of time.

My daughter is bringing Mr. Alvin home this morning.

I promised my daughter a “pancake breakfast” when she arrives.

After writing my blog, I will slip into the shower before starting to cook the pancakes.

My dear old electric fry pan of over thirty years is starting to show signs of its’ age.

Part of the element is not heating up so of course, things do not cook evenly.

This morning I will use a smaller pan on top of the snow.

Hopefully that works better.

I am sad that my dear old electric fry pan is not working properly.

These days electric appliances and anything for that matter do not last any length of time.

I figure that I got at least six lifetimes from her than the ones made in recent times.

Unfortunately when appliances and such stop working over shorter periods of time not only do they cost to keep replacing BUT we are destroying our environment.

Just last night on the weather channel they were speaking about finding small microscopic bits of plastic in our drinking water.

They are already finding all sorts of plastic and garbage in all sorts of marine, bird and animal life.

They said within thirty years there will be more plastic in the oceans than marine life.

Is that not a scary thought.

That should drive people to smarten up.

I sure hope so.

 

Well that is food for thought.

We need to realize that we DO NOT NEED every gadget and gismo.

Less of this and that.

More about healthy relationships.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful Saturday.

Special Hello to: my sister who makes me laugh and my brother who is working on our family history.  Thank you guys.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 3rd day of April, 2018.

Happy April.

Where has the time gone?

It evaporates.

What a great long weekend for me and Alvin.

We had time alone to relax and play.

We had time with family and friends.

The perfect weekend.

So nice to have a four day weekend.

Now back to our regular routine.

 

Today I am starting to carpool with a friend that I met on the bus.

It will be nice to ride in a car instead of the bus for a change.

This month will be a combination month as she has some vacation booked.

But will be a welcome change.

 

Alvin and I had a great walk yesterday.

We changed up our route missing most of the remaining ice and snow.

 

Alvin was laying on his blanket in the office but has moved to the hallway.

Oh, my boy.

He is so cute.

 

Quick story.

Last night I was treating myself to some Easter chocolate.

It was chocolate on a stick.

I sat on the sofa happily licking away on the chocolate.

Alvin moved up beside me, and gave me that wide-eyed puppy look, that had it been anything but chocolate, I likely would have caved in, and gave him some.

But we all know that chocolate is NOT good for dogs.

Finally after looking him in the eyes a few times and saying “No, Alvin.” – he gave up.

 

Well this is nice I still have almost 1/2 hour before my ride arrives.

I will go and snuggle with the boy for a bit before donning the coat and boots.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Special Hello to: my sister …..

Always, Carol & Alvin