The Next Chapter

Good Morning! What a sky this morning! The sky is grey with smoke. No clear blue sky in sight. There appears to be no breeze this morning as my neighbour’s trees to the south are still. In fact, I would say that the world, my world, my neighbourhood is still. I can only hear the hum of traffic coming a few miles away from the highway that circles the City of Edmonton called the Anthony Henday. Today is Saturday. I do feel much better than yesterday. The extraction sites have totally clotted which is great. I feel like I have continual bad breathe but I guess that is part for the course. I have been using a syringe to squirt some salt water over the extraction site so hopefully that aids in the healing process. With smoky skies one sure does not wish to spend much time outside. I have laundry to do so that will give me something to do inside the house and some cleaning. Today is only day two so I cannot get too carried away.

Yesterday after work Amanda came over to drop off an umbrella for the patio. Unfortunately do not need it at the moment. Likely good anyway as I am not supposed to overdo things for a couple of days. Lifting laundry up and downstairs is likely enough. I want to do everything that I am supposed to do to ensure that the extraction sites heal properly and with no issues. We also took a quick trip to Save-On Foods to pick up a few items as I have to eat soft foods for a good 7 days. So eggs, mashed potatoes, creamy soup, applesauce and yogurt and jello are in my menu plan. I can see me growing tired of these things quickly or maybe not. I normally do not eat a lot of soup or potatoes or eggs or applesauce or jello. LOL. Oh well things are going well. I am so grateful to my daughter for helping me. I also picked up the tickets for the office pool and for me. We had won some free plays and $2.00 from our tickets and I wanted to get the tickets for last night’s draw and for today. I would love to win the lottery and retire. Sounds good, right? Time will tell.

I sure hope that Alberta gets some rain, some serious moisture so extinguish the fires permanently. My thoughts go out to all those affected by the fires. Amanda was mentioning to me that they were thinking of fostering a dog affected by the fires. There are firefighters that go to homes to look after pets because their people were not able to take them with them. Why is this even happening? Why can’t they take their beloved pets? I understand if people are going to a shelter but a lot of people are going to family and friends. I know there are likely valid reasons but to leave them behind. I don’t think to rely on firefighters to go back is a good way to go. What if they forget? What if the fire comes? There must be a way to help with the pets. What is happening to the cattle, horses and goats and other farm animals? Are they just left behind to fend for themselves? Because humans start the majority of fires – animals suffer because we are so stupid, arrogant and careless! My heart hurts for them all. I wish that I could swoop down and pick them all up and place them in green pastures with food and water safe from any harm. I hope that someone will help. Animals are important!

Well I guess I should go and start the laundry. I have a few things to do today. I also bought a beautiful lavender plant at the store yesterday and a pot of yellow begonias. I put them outside and then brought them into the house for overnight. They would not get much sunshine anyway with the smoke so they will be okay in the house for now. This may not be a great year for plants.

I hope that you and your family are safe and doing well. Have a wonderful Saturday.

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

I am missing coffee but apparently coffee, the caffeine can hinder the healing process. I would love to have a cup of coffee right now. But I want to follow the rules so that I do not have any issues with the extraction sites. The things you learn. I do not remember all of this from the last time that I had teeth extracted but that was many decades ago and that would have been wisdom teeth.

Always, Carol & Alvin, my Forever Angel

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! YAY, today is Friday, June 24, 2022. Yup, it is Friday and I am oh, so very grateful. How are you this morning? Is the sun shining where you are or is it raining or overcast? Well I am happy to say that sometime before we were first up at 3:45 this morning the rain had stopped. It started to fall just after I was finished work and we were just stepping outside to go for a walk. Yes, we were stopped right in our tracks. We turned around and went back into the house without even leaving the shelter of the porch. I am so grateful and happy that we had a walk in at my lunch break and even had a visit with our friend Pauline. I love our visits. It was cool at noon. I had a short-sleeved top, a cardigan and a jacket on and I was still cold, perhaps having flip flops and bare feet did not help. That must have looked cute. Layers on top with pants that were ankle length and then flip flops. Oh well. On our walk to and from Pauline’s house, we made made stops – especially on the return trip. For some, reason, Alvin seems to know when I do not have the time to just walk slow and “smell the roses” and then he stops every few seconds which adds so much time onto our walks. Now if we are walking after work, there is no time constraints but on my 45 minute break there are ….. especially when it takes a couple of minutes to get ready before we leave the house. Anyway, speaking of roses – the rose bushes at the entrance to our park are in full massive bloom. They are absolutely loving the rain. Pink, pink, lovely pink – a sea of pink – with the petals falling off in the wind the rose bushes are comfy on a bed of pink. The fragrance is out of this world. I wished that we could replicate that scent. I could have laid down on the petals and just sniffed all the day long. That is truly one of my happy places. I am thankful to Mr. Alvin for causing me to slow down and take an extra couple of minutes on our walk. We managed to get home with 3 minutes to spare.

As I look out of my upstairs “office” window the sky is mainly filled with rain clouds but there appears to be a hint of sunshine to the south east and the trees are swaying in the wind. Dancing away. Today is supposed to be rainy until later this afternoon. Looks like a nice weekend ahead. Thank goodness. When I am finished work and a quick supper, out to the garage to move a few things around before the girls come at 6:00 to set up their items for the garage sale. Due to other prior engagements there will only be two of us running the “show,” the garage sale which is absolutely fine. I hope that everything sells and that we make some money. That would be nice. I am going to take a little notebook with me to record when Sonja’s items sell and for how much otherwise I will have no way of knowing a number to give her. Signe is looking after Gillian’s items. There is not a huge amount of things so we have this. I have done far larger sales by myself. I hope that Mr. Alvin will stay in the house for the most part. I am looking forward to a visit with the girls tonight as they set up for the garage sale and I put the finishing touches on my stuff. Even though sometimes I complain, I do love garage sales.

Well it would appear that it is time to head back downstairs and turn on the work computer. I am so grateful to be working from home and for it to be Friday. It was a long week. Somehow extra hours seemed to show up.

I hope that you have a great Friday.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities and don’t forget coffee.

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: yes, there are only 46 days until the 65th birthday of mine. Again, one of my poor Lavender plants was over saturated by the rain, alas I forgot to pull it back out of the rain. I have since moved it to the shelter of the house by the back door. Next time, I will remember, I promise, dear Lavender plant.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. Today is the last day of the work week for me and I took tomorrow as a vacation day. The plan is to get ready for the garage sale which is next weekend. Finish cleaning/tidying the garage and then start taking the items out of the house. I don’t think that I have too many things but some. This morning the sun is shining. The sky is somewhat clear. It is relatively calm. Great to see the sun shining.

The all day staff “meeting” was okay. They had STARBUCKS coffee at the hotel which was great. It was nice to see our team in person and some other coworkers. I was surprised to see so many new faces. Whenever I could I tried to see their name tags to see if I recognized their names. Anyway, it was okay and I am glad to be back to “normal.” I had a good visit with Michelle who is on my team, she drove us to and from the meeting.

Alvin did okay yesterday. Gillian advised that he would not eat anything (which is okay) and that he drank water and went outside. So two out of three is good. Especially the water and going pee. Happy about that. He is starting to get better about the process of eating his food. I just have to have patience and try not to let him become more anxious about life. We had a nice walk although short after I got home from the meeting. We even had a few minutes after we were done for the day to do a bit of shopping as we were on our way out of the mall. I had not been to Bath & Body Works in years, I think. So I happen to hit the semi-annual sale and picked up three foaming hand soaps and a couple of body creams. We wore our masks in the store making it a bit difficult to smell things. I thought that one of the creams I got seemed to be a nice scent and put some on my feet last night and had a bit on my hands. Well it did not agree with my body chemistry, kind of kept me awake. Note to self, always go away from people remove the mask and smell. Oh well, hopefully I can find someone who likes it. I do like the scent – it just does not like me.

Well time to head downstairs. Looking forward to that first cup of coffee.

I am sad to report that with all of this rain, I noticed that one of my lavender plant pots is totally saturated and there was a bit of water laying on top of the soil. I hope that the sun shines and there is a breeze to dry out the excess moisture. Guess I should have moved the pots. I do every other year but was lazy this time round.

Have a great Thursday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: only 54 days until my 65th Birthday. Maybe I should not be keeping tracking, lol. The hotel also had great little cinnamon buns, I had one at coffee break but did not eat the breakfast as it was too early for me.

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 2nd day of September, 2018.

The sun is shining brightly this morning with no sign of rain clouds.

Yesterday even before I wrote up my TO DO LIST, I decided that I was going to trim the tree out front.

I grabbed the tree trimmer apparatus from the garage and before you know it there was a pile of branches on the ground surrounding the tree.

At one point I could not hold the tree trimmer securely and cut the branch, thankfully it was about the time my neighbours arrived home.

I was standing there trying to figure out how to get that upper branch that was hanging over the eavestrough when we started a conversation.

The young man helped me trim the branch as he was taller and that was what was needed.

Although later I found out that there may have been a telescope on it to reach higher (oh well).

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the process which would have been a good idea.

Especially when you are writing a blog and post the stories.

I will leave it to your imagination.

Further with this story.

I also realized with my light coloured jacket on that as the berries hit my jacket or whenever I picked up a branch I have little purple dots all over my jacket.

Oh well, another note to self moment.

They loaned me their trimmer so that I could cut the branches into smaller pieces to pack into garbage bags.

It was the most slick garden tool ever.

So sharp and easy to use with its’ arm length handles.

They asked if they could borrow my (actually belongs to my kids) tree trimmer and I said “yes, of course.”

While trying to cut the first branch it BROKE.

I think it may have been as young man was holding the pole and his wife was pulling on the cord but on an angle.

Anyway after some discussion, I lost out and my neighbour (young woman) said that they would pay to replace it.

I told her it was expensive, she said it did not matter, they broke it.

She knew I sold tea and asked if I wanted to give them something, some tea would be nice.

I said DEAL.

She went in and checked on HOME DEPOT’s website and ordered the tree branch trimmer.

Very nice and so generous to offer and to do.

It was nice to actually have a conversation with them.

They are busy with their lives and we usually come and go at different times.

A little bit later they picked up the tree trimmer and brought it home.

They tried it out first and it works so slick and even comes with a saw attachment.

Worked out.

It took me some time to cut the branches down and then pack them into garbage bags as there were a great many branches.

I did not realize that I was stepping and squishing the dark berries into the ground and subsequently into the soles of my shoes.

I realized this when I went into the house to grab the garbage bags.

Thankfully no marks on my floor – just on my wooden front steps.

But the steps look decorative with berry stained shoe marks.

That is okay ….. add a little colour to the front steps.

NOTE to self: check feet and always take your shoes off before going into the house.

Usually I do but I guess I was so zoned and in the moment ….

Big job done and before I even wrote it down.

After the tree job was completed and I had, had a sit down coffee break, we went for a nice walk.

Turned out to be beautiful day.

The photos below of the sunflowers and my flowers are from this past Thursday evening AND the clouds were from yesterday morning.

I cannot believe how pretty they still are ….. will have to take a photo of my trimmed up tree, she looks great …..

 

The clouds looked extra cool but somehow the photo just does not capture that ….

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Change your inner voices from:

You cannot do to You can do

You cannot have to You can have

You cannot be to You can be.

 

Might be a good idea to change how you say things to your children and to others.

 

Well time to have a shower.

My daughter is coming over and we are going to IKEA.

She needs a book case and they have the best ones.

 

I hope that you have an awesome day.

You can do, have and be whatever you wish.

 

I can continue to grow and be a better person each and every day of my life.

I can continue to have a great home, family, and friends.

I can continue to do all that I need to do to be healthy and live a happy life.

 

Special Hello to: You, my friend.  Keep up the great work.  Have a happy day.

Always, Carol & Alvin.

 

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 14th day of May, 2018.

Another gorgeous warm (hot) day on the way.

Alvin and I had a wonderful weekend.

We accomplished most of our items on the TO DO LIST.

Okay, perhaps it was “I” accomplished most of the items on the TO DO LIST.

But Alvin gives me great support as he is with me every step of the way.

With the exception of the trash pick up yesterday morning.

I was pleasantly surprised to fill only 1/2 of a bag and my arm was grateful.

I would love to have him along but cannot seem to figure out how to hold a leash, a large garbage bag and one of those pickers.

Two many things, too much room for error or accidents.

Alvin stayed at home relaxing when I went to finish up my self-determined trash route.

It feels good to get it finished before the street sweepers arrive.

I do not like when bits of garbage get swept down the storm drain.

Anyway it is done and just will maintain.

 

Yesterday was Mother’s Day.

My daughter came over for a pancake breakfast.

We had a great visit as we always do.

She located her most recent iPod which is a step or three up from the one that I have.

As she said she had it when she purchased her first flip phone.

The new old iPod will give me access to the internet and FB to send messages if there is WiFi.

So that will be nice.

Almost like having a cell phone.

She took me to the grocery store while she went to the drugstore.

I picked up mainly fruits and veggies.

Lots of folks picking up bouquets of flowers in the store.

After all, it was Mother’s Day.

What Mother does not enjoy flowers.

Only the ones with floral allergies.

Snicker, snicker.

After my daughter dropped me off and visited for bit, she was gone back home once again.

Time always flies when she comes to see us.

The rest of the day was great ….. watched a couple of shows that I had recorded ….. made oatmeal for a few days ….. made lunch for work today.

Had supper.

My neighbour gave me a lavender plant.

Will be re potting it tonight.

It is beautiful.

We waited until a bit later to go for a walk.

Saw two of our friends and stopped for a short visit and of course, Alvin received a treat.

Perfect day …. some work and some play.

 

Well here we go again.

Time to put the finishing touches on before leaving for work.

Alvin looks so cute with his black and white fur laying on a baby blue blanket.

Gotta love that guy and of course, I do.

 

Have a wonderful day.

I hope that you can make all of our dreams come true.

I wish you great health and joy.

Happy Monday.

 

Special Hello to: all you puppy lovers out there …. thank you.

Always, Carol & Alvin