It is a NEW YEAR.

Okay MARCH 1st, 2020.

The sun is shining and I can only assume that somewhere the birds are singing.

So happy to see the sunshine this morning.

Yesterday was a gloomy gray snowy day.

I did manage to clear some of the ice pond that had taken “temporary” residence out front of our home.

Today is doing some odd chores around the house.

I have to get the basement in order or at least start.

We will try to go for a walk today and did not manage to get out yesterday.

With the snow covering the ice in many spots – just way too dangerous for us “older type” folks.

My friend who came to do the jewelry party last night is just recovering from a bad fall at work on the ice.

She fractured her elbow in two places, injured but did not break her shoulder, and had a concussion.

That was at the end of January and she is just back to the jewelry business and her job as a nurse.

She has a family so it was hard to do things with her injuries.

I should clarify that she was not at her job as a nurse or selling jewelry.

She has a teenager and a smaller child.

The teenager helped with the little one.

Her husband just started a new job so lots going on with her.

I was a bit disappointed that no one was able to come to the party but we had a great time, visiting and looking at jewelry.

I do love jewelry for sure.

I purchased some bangles and earrings.

So excited to wear them.

 

As I look out of the office window the snow on the garage roof is glistening, sparkling in the sunlight.

So beautiful …. just like a billion diamonds or crystals.

 

Well my friends.

Off to get dressed and have COFFEE and breakfast.

WE were up past 11:00 p.m. last night which is very late for me and Alvin.

Up at 4:30 briefly and then up at 7:00 to stay up.

Already finished a letter and birthday card to my Aunt.

My Dad’s only sister.

I started them yesterday but want to mail today so it stands a chance to make it to her by her birthday.

It will be close.

 

I hope that you have a splendid Sunday.

Filled with relaxation time, lots of laughter, good food and good company.

Happy Days ahead.

Be Kind and Respectful to yourself and to all others.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 6th day of January, 2018.

Happy Birthday to a dear dear friend “L.”

Wishing her a very Happy Birthday.

The sun is out and it is raining.

Yes, it is raining.

January 6th and raining.

WOW.

Slept in a bit later than I had planned but oh well.

I will get everything done ….. just a later start.

Most of my work is in the house anyway …. so the time I start does not matter.

Must go and get that coffee on for my neighbour.

I make the coffee and we share the costs, great deal.

 

Last night I received another Christmas Card.

This one was friends who were spending time in the U.S.A.

Christmas Cards are one of my favourite parts of the Christmas season.

I love writing them up for friends, family, neighbours and co-workers.

I love to hand deliver and to mail them.

I always send photos to as many folks as I can.

A short note in each and some years,  I write a separate letter on pretty holiday decorated paper.

It is a huge part of my preparing for Christmas.

I love receiving them from all over the world.

They come from Sweden, the U.S.A. and all parts of Canada.

It is alike to writing letters which is an art form that has all but passed.

Christmas cards are not as popular as they once were now with the arrival of e-cards and email.

But it is a tradition for me that I keep close to my heart and will continue for as long as I am able.

I do believe that folks love opening the mail box to find cards.

I do believe that folks love receiving a card with a gift.

I do believe that finding a card on your desk at work makes you smile.

Christmas Cards ….. they are for me.

 

Well time to get this show on the road.

Wishing you all a great Saturday.

Special Hello to: my friend “L” who is having a birthday today.  Wishing that I was there.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 15th day of February, 2016.

Today is “Family Day” in Canada.

Our province Alberta observes this holiday so I have the day off from work.

On the weather front ….. quite mild for this time of year.

Although can we still say that …..

With all of the changes to the environment I am not certain we can keep comparing from years ago.

Anyway weather has been nice.

Our neighbourhood is a big ice patch with a few clear dry spots from where some of us have worked on chipping and scooping away the ice.

Unfortunately or fortunately for me ….. it works both ways ….. the storm drain is right in front of my house …. so it is lower.

All of the snow and ice melts to the low spot in front of my house…..

I do work at keeping a line to the drain but people park in front and it can go from clear to six inches overnight making it difficult for me.

Oh well …. spring is on the way and soon the ice and snow will be gone, melted for another season.

I hope that you all had an awesome Valentine’s Day ….

I had a great one …… starting with that awesome package Friday night.

Yesterday an old friend, yes a man …. called to wish me a Happy Valentine’s Day which was very thoughtful.

Alvin and I enjoyed a walk.

I had a coffee in the morning with one of my girl friends.

Finished my route canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Fund.

Finished the 12 loads of laundry that I had started the day before ….. I had forgotten that I had so many towels.

Made a big supper with a big salad and huge pasta dish.

There will be leftovers for a week ….. just the way I like it ….. laughing out loud.

Nice to have enough for several days for sure.

To end the weekend my daughter is coming for coffee this morning.

Perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

So I had better get this show on the road.

Time to drain that pond from in front of the house once again….. yesterday afternoon I spent some time with my ice chipper (long handle with a blade of sorts)…. we have become great friends.

Makes me feel strong and mighty wielding that wood and iron/metal.

I broke up the ice and carried both the water and ice to the drain as my neighbour’s truck was over the drain so I could not make a small canal to get the water over there.

Life in the hood.

Happy Family Day whether you are here or there …..

Enjoy your time with your family whether two-legged or four.

I will have both of my babies here today and possibly my grand-puppies …..

Have a great day ….

Special Hello to: my friend “V” …. I just reread your lovely letter ….. wow your daughter and son-in-law are busy busy.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 13th day of February, 2016.

One day before Valentine’s Day.

I am going to start this blog by sharing a great little story from yesterday.

Sometimes you have a day that is well not exactly what you had in mind ….. less than perfect.

Perhaps part of it …. began with me going to empty a glass of water into the sink but instead literally tossed it the opposite direction and onto the countertop.

The countertop that help my electric percolator and electric mix stand, and other stuff ……

But as the water travelled in slow motion through the air …. I realized what I had done. 

I never moved so fast ….. where was my brain at that moment …

During the day I struggled to accomplish what I had planned because I had several unexpected interruptions.

Now I did get several things done but not everything ….. oh well …. before I knew it I was on the bus heading home.

As I unlocked the door my friend “S” was just driving by and stopped for a moment to see how things were and to see if I would be making coffee later and I said “of course, I can.”

She had to carry on as someone drove up behind her ….

When I entered the house  Mr. Alvin was happy as ever to see me, and to go outside to relieve himself …. oh what the hay to go “pee” ….. much better word.

I decided to go straight outside and clean up after him ….. and also finished my conversation with the neighbour who had by now parked her car and was going into her house.

The plan was to feed Alvin, have supper and then make us a cup of coffee.

Originally I had planned to finish up canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Fund but it was snowing and blowing pretty hard making it hard to keep paper dry etc.

So another change in plans.

Oh well.

After I had given Mr. Alvin his supper …. I decided to go upstairs and onto the computer to send a FB message to a friend and to my surprise I had a message from another friend.

It read “GO CHECK YOUR MAILBOX.”

I blinked a few thousand times in utter excitement because when this friend says go check your mailbox …. you just know it is going to be GOOD … no I mean,  GREAT.

So I literally RAN down the stairs …. grabbed my boots and coat from the closet, a bag to put the mail in …. grabbed keys …. locked the house on my way out and carefully WALKED fast to the mailbox.

When I opened the mailbox door I saw the RED tag of the key for one of the PARCEL boxes and lots of flyers.

HEAVEN ….. I knew that I had a parcel ….

I threw the flyers and odd piece of mail into the bag…..

Holding my breath I opened the mailbox with the parcel inside ….

There was a huge box with my NAME and ADDRESS printed on it …..

The return address ….. yes it was from my friend “V” in Regina …..

I quickly closed the door and put the key into the letter slot and was on my way home.

I yelped with excitement and decided to stop and see my neighbour “S” ….. she was the one that I had seen just as I was arriving home.

She came to the door …. I was so excited …… quickly explaining that  there would be some good treats inside for sure.

I told her of the chocolate covered biscotti that this friend had sent me a couple of years ago AND said that we would have a treat with our coffee later.

Then she told me “thank you and to be careful walking down the sidewalk and home.”

I abided by her and in a couple of minutes was safely back home.

Parcel in my hot little hands.

OMG …. I do love receiving packages …..

Alvin was not sure what happened to his Momma.

So I grabbed the letter opener and some scissors and ran upstairs as my computer was on and my camera was upstairs as well.

I placed the parcel on my desk …..

THE PARCEL

THIS IS WHAT GREETED ME WHEN I OPENED THE BOX

THERE WERE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BUNS …. CINNAMON ….. CHEESE AND PLAIN AND THIS HUGE WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A COOKIE BUT TURNED OUT TO BE THE BEST BROWNIE EVER MADE.

The Brownie was/is heart-shaped and decorated with perfection.

I was totally overwhelmed ……

How extraordinarily kind, wonderful and thoughtful is my friend “V”.

My day went from being kind of a disappointment in some ways to being so WONDERFUL …. it felt like winning the lottery.

I had this overwhelming feeling that I was so extra special.

Alvin as I mentioned was not certain was had happened but he knew it all smelled great.

The next thing I did after snapping photos was to post my surprise to Facebook, thanking my friend.

Not only did she send all of the sweet treats but she wrote me a special letter, gave me a Valentine’s card, she put in some napkins with pink hearts and forgot to mention …. she had filled the card full of tiny red hearts that flew all over my desk and the floor when I opened the card.

I know that I am babbling and not using proper punctuation and all of that ….. but this is straight from the heart.

This gal knows that she is very blessed to be surrounded by the most wonderful people on the planet.

I do not take any of them for granted.

This morning I want to thank each and every one of my friends for choosing me to be a part of your life.

I know that without your love and support I would just be Carol.

This morning I want to send a special thank you to my friend “V” back in Regina ….

************

You are so kind and thoughtful.

You lightened my dreary day.

You made me scream with delight.

You made me feel special.

You filled my tummy with the most exquisite treat.

You are talented beyond words.

You are the best …..

Thank you.

*************

So now I had better get this day going …. I have massive amounts of towels and bedding to launder as now my dryer is fixed thanks to other friends.

On this Saturday morning I am feeling so blessed to be surrounded by good, honest and caring people.

My friend and my family are the most incredible beings and I am so grateful to have them all in my life.

Thank you

 

Special Hello to:  “V” in Regina …… there are no words ……

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

P.S. ….. “V” …. my neighbour loved the brownie, too.

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 9th day of March, 2015.

WOW, seems like I was right in the middle of a dream when I heard this loud buzzing near my head.

In less than a nanosecond I realized it was the alarm and alas the dream was then over.

I do not remember much about it other than it was a good one.

Perhaps I will be able to pick up where I left off tonight when I close my eyes and approach dreamland.

I dreamt that I received a letter stating that my mortgage was paid in full.

Nice dream, right?

That is a good positive thought.

Nice to visualize “no more mortgage.”

Well almost time to go to work …

Somehow the morning got away on me.

I hope that you have a great Monday.

Keep happy thoughts floating around your mind …..

We shall keep on this positive trail together.

Sometimes it may not be so easy but we can do it.

Take Care.

Thanks for reading.

Special Hello to: family and friends, today.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

P.S.  … Alvin asked to get up on my lap this morning (in his own way) … I love to cuddle with me Alvin …..

Thought for the day……

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 5th day of November, 2014.

I am back after being sick for the past couple of days.

So great to be feeling better.

I had a surprise phone call from my sister last night letting me know that she is coming for a visit this weekend.

Crazy …… now that is such a great surprise.

We have been having such wonderful weather here in Edmonton.

I hope that it will stay for a few more weeks.

Perfect weather for someone to travel.

How are you all doing this morning?

Can you believe that only two more days and we are finished one whole week in November?

I did put my tree up on the weekend and we did get the front of the house decorated which was great.

Next Christmas cards and a bit of baking.

I have to sit down and draw up my Christmas card list and then set to work on drafting my Christmas letter.

This has been an eventful year chalked full of news.

Do you send out cards for the holidays?

I always enjoy receiving a card and letter.

Most especially the letter …..

It always makes me feel wonderful and warm inside….

I am always grateful that someone took the time to write up a letter and pick up a stamp and mail it.

Now that all takes time and how great for us that people do this.

I wished that people sent more letters.

How about this holiday season ….. even if you have never sent a card and letter ….. that you do it.

You will make someone so happy.

Give it a whirl ……. you never know ….. you might like it and keep up the tradition.

Thank you.

Special Hello to: my sister …..

Always, Carol and Alvin