2021

Good Morning ALL! I hope that this post finds you well and enjoying your day thus far. Today is Monday, May 24, 2021. It is a statutory holiday for most provinces in Canada and a day off for some of us. I appreciate that I am one of the “us.” After the past couple of bright and sunny days, Mother Nature decided that it should be gloomy. It has been raining since we first got up at 4:40 a.m. and there is a wind. We do need the moisture and it is only rain, which is great, so no complaints. Thankfully I had three visits with friends outside over the weekend and a lovely chat with my neighbour on our front porches. All physically distanced. I am grateful for time with my friends. Also yesterday we stopped by our friend’s as her daughter had set up a stand selling her “Nail Collections” – fake nails. I am not sure what the proper name is but she paints them and decorates, then sells. She does such a great job for only being 12 years old. Alvin and I had planned a walk in the afternoon to visit with another friend who has a beautiful yard that backs onto a nearby park so we just went a bit earlier stopping by to support local business. We chatted as my friend was sitting out with her daughter. A man had stopped by earlier thinking it was a lemonade stand but when he found out it was not, he still supported her by purchasing a package of nail stickers. How sweet. Our other girl pal of our trio popped by as well. We had an awesome visit and supporting the M’s business. What a gorgeous day it was yesterday. We found our other friend outside working in her yard with your husband so we asked if she was okay to take a break and she was so into the backyard we went. My friend P was planting a flower bed as she had pulled out some older plants to start fresh. Her yard always looks amazing. Full of colour. As the days and months go by her yard will be stuff of magazine articles. So beautiful. Birds are always dropping by and bumble bees love her yard as well. They also have a couple of apple trees which is a big draw. After a nice visit, she surprised me with a couple of plants. One pepper and one I cannot remember the name but not a vegetable. When we got home I gave Mr. Alvin his supper and then I went out to put them into some soil. It was be nice to have some peppers. I will never turn down plants whether flowers or vegetables.

One of my young friends also gave me a box of Kirkland brand dryer sheets so when I was washing my daughter’s baby blankets and clothing from when she was little …. it quickly disguised that horrible chemical smell. They actually smell good. I washed each load two to three times with laundry soap and baking soda. The first couple of loads I had done last weekend so I think that I may pop them into the dry with a dryer sheet to lift that last bit of smell from them. I learned my lesson – never store clothing in black garbage bags as over time the chemical smell of the bag leeches onto the clothing or whatever is being stored. But with patience and time, I was able to make them smell good.

I am going to take some time after this post and delete duplicate photos, bad shots and the like from my computer hard drive. Also I pay a company to store my photos and they update often so why am I so reluctant to delete the photos? Why do we keep hundreds of photos on our phones after they have been uploaded to the computer or to a online storage? We used to print them and could physically touch them and now we can not. I mean we could print them but no one does that anymore or at least not many people. We keep them online and then if ever needed a copy of the digital file we then print them. I believe that with the simplicity of taking photos these days has caused us to go a little overboard when it comes to taking photos. I also found out late in the game with my iphone that the LIVE mode does not upload or at least I think that is the case as every time that I used to upload photos from phone to computer there were also a bunch that would not save. My daughter switched something so that the LIVE mode would be off but it comes on and I need to find out how to switch it off myself. I am constantly clicking on portrait so that I have a proper photo. Anyway that is my frustration. Not a huge deal but I likely have lost a bunch of photos that were all taken in LIVE mode and none in portrait. Lesson learned. Guess I should have read the operating manual. That would have been too easy. Oh well.

Time to get this day going. I am going to delete some photos before going to have coffee and breakfast.

Have an awesome day!

Remembering to live with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Wednesday Morning,

Alvin and I enjoyed another wonderful walk last night in the warm air.

So happy to see the sidewalks becoming more and more clear of ice and snow.

The moon has been glorious for the past few days.

Full, round and present.

I have seen some of the photos taken in New York City and the moon appeared to be sitting beside the city skyline of skyscrapers.

So beautiful.

The colour appeared different than it has here in Edmonton, a few thousand miles away.

2427 miles to be precise ( that is what google is for when we are not quite sure ).

My moon shots were not that great.

Perhaps if I played with the settings on my iPhone, I could have taken better shots but that is okay.

Not everyone is gifted with the eye for taking great, spectacular photos.

I am good at other things.

Like we all are ….

We all have our special gifts.

When you are having a moment and believe that you are not special, that just is not so.

Every single being on this planet, every spark of life, is special and holds a place within the biosphere we call Earth.

I know that it may be difficult some days to think in this way but we must.

No one person is any better than the next.

We all have our quirks, our desires, our ambitions, our creative energies, the way we comb our hair to the way we handle our days.

If we learn to stop, smell the roses, take the time to relax and just be.

Be well, be good within ourselves.

Perhaps maybe we may realize how special each creature is to our very existence.

I hope so anyway.

That is not to say that we all do not have those moments, oh believe, you me …. I have them.

We all do and that is part of what it is to be human.

We run the gamut of emotions.

 

Well it is almost time to head back downstairs to finish the “getting ready” process.

There be poop to pick up (as always), some last minute snuggles with my boy, lunch to grab out of the fridge.

The coat, the mitts, the scarf and the boots and remember to take my purse and phone.

 

I wish you the best of Wednesdays.

Happy Birthday to all those celebrating today.

May you be covered in eternal joy, good health and enjoy much laughter and abundance.

 

Days to be filled with kindness and respect.

Today will be …..

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 14th day of July, 2015.

The sky is a clear blue and the sun is shining brightly.

It is a glorious morning here in Edmonton.

I am feeling over the moon filled with gratitude.

I am grateful to live in a peaceful country.

I am grateful to have my own house.

I am grateful that I can make my own choices.

I am grateful to be surrounded by loving and most importantly “supportive” family and friends.

I am just plain brimming with gratitude on this Tuesday morning.

I hope that you are as fortunate as I.

We all too often forget about the important things like being able to walk down the street during the day with no fear of being bombed or attacked.

We forget that we are able to make our own choices …. so very important.

Just the simple day to day life things that we take for granted … clean water …. good food.

So when you are feeling low because you do not have the latest iPhone …… remember……

Well time for me to go to work ….. am running late.

Have a great day.

Special Hello to: people all over the world ……

Always, Carol and Alvin

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