Good Morning! Beautiful sky and another “holiday” for me. I am so grateful for this extra long weekend. Well my plan to have the whole upstairs done by now has not come to fruition. Oh well, I did put a great dent into it. The office was a whole day all by itself and I just realized that I did not wash the blinds in here. So I will do that this morning and then I will need to reorganize the bulletin board and do the guest bedroom. At the moment it is filled with books, not completely but there are a lot. On the bed and on a table that was previously in the office closet. I, in essence downsized my books by one whole bookcase, I almost said book shelf which is not the case. The last couple of days, I am aching from anywhere that I have muscles and even my butt is not without some aching. Using muscles that I have not used in a long time. Climbing up and down the ladder and stretching to wash the walls, well that would do it. But I am so glad it is done. I also found a new home for the area rug that had been in my bedroom and that is in the office. It fits perfectly and no longer will the office chairs slide out from underneath me. There are still projects to do but I put a large dent in the spring clean up. Even the basement which I had not planned to do has been almost completed thanks to the change in plan on Good Friday. I just made a change to the few older books that I had on the top of one bookcase and laid them flat instead of upright so that I could set two of Amanda’s childhood books on top. One of her books is a Golden Book with her name “Amanda’s First Day of School” and the other “Nursery Rhymes” which I gave to her in 1981 (she was born 1980). I loved looking at the titles of books. There are school readers from my day and many decades before that and I have kept quite a few, half of a book case of my daughter’s books. Hard to give away someone’s history. Each book brings back memories. I can see her at that age and it makes me smile. Books have always been so important to both my daughter and I. When she was growing up she had hundreds of books. In school when the students could order books from the book club, I always made sure she could order as many as she wanted. I remember ordering from Scholastic when I was child. It was a huge deal and I wished that I had those books today. Somehow this post changed course from spring cleaning to books and reading. Well both are important. Oh and last night not long before bed, I chopped off my hair. Yes, I pulled out Alvin’s electric clippers and went to town. I actually cut the back quite short. Never have I been able to do it this way and I am happy for it. The sides are still long in comparison and I have found after showering and drying my hair the odd long piece so had to snip them off. I also for supper last night made a pot of Chili using my Tupperware Pressure Cooker. It definitely is easy. Just throw in the ingredients and put on the lid in the correct manner and pop into the microwave for just minutes. Very easy except I still struggle with removing the lid which I will manage in time.
There was also a couple of loads of laundry done yesterday as well. A full day. Lots of stairs and steps up and down.
I wished that I was able to show you all some photos of the changes that I have made in my office. Looks pretty great. Definitely some major changes. Still couple of things to do but most of it is done. I guess the spring cleaning will pour over to another weekend and likely another one after that, but that is okay. Keeps me busy and from sitting on the sofa watching television.
My friends Pauline & Al are back from Hawaii where their eldest daughter was married. I can only imagine going to Hawaii. My grandparents visited there decades ago and I still have the pearl shell broach that they brought back from their trip. I was about 10 when they went on the trip so it is about 55 years old. One of the tiny pearls came loose but I managed to keep it. When you consider all of the moves that I made over my lifetime between three Canadian Provinces and from a young age, I managed to hang onto it it is staggering. I treasured that broach and still do. It is one thing that wherever I go, it will go with me. Over the years, I have considered wearing it but am afraid that the pearls may come loose or I may lose it. Other than a couple of cards that I gave to my grandparents and my grandma kept and my Baby Book (record of birth, baby gifts, birthdays etc, the broach is the only item from my early years. Somehow I got sidetracked once again, I meant to say that Pauline replied to my Happy Easter text and we set up a walk for today. So I should get going and get the coffee brewing followed by washing the office blinds and some other items. Another friend is going to come over and pick out some books. I will likely put the books on the Community Board and see if someone would like them. They are all in perfect condition.
I hope that you have a wonderful Monday whether you are at home or at work or at school. Happy Monday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and forgiveness.
Alvin was surely with me this whole weekend as I kept his Urn close by – he always liked to be wherever I was so I do that now when I am at home, keep him close. He is always in my thoughts, always and forever. I so miss the little guy. Everything in the house reminds me of him.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this Monday morning? I am doing well. Had a pretty fair sleep. Up early as it is go to the office day. Oh, how I miss working from home 98% of the time. So much easier and so much more productive. I find the office one massive distraction although I do enjoy seeing my coworkers. Anyway!
Countdown to Christmas: today is December 12th so that leaves 12 sleeps till Christmas Eve.
Do you remember when you were a child and dreamt of seeing Santa and all of the presents under the tree? I will admit most Christmas it was a major disappointment but I still kept dreaming. Even through the disappointment I knew that I was luckier than so many other children. My comparison was the Children’s Orphanage that was in a small town in our area. I think that it was the thought of those children and the possibility of being one of them that kept me focused on the positive and kept me dreaming. Anyone that thinks children do not realize or know what is going on, think again, as you are sadly mistaken. We know.
Yesterday I got the shovelling done, finished up the laundry, put away the clothes that were air drying, washed my SHARK vacuum (as you are supposed to wash it out after each use), tidied up, went through my office desk drawer and sorted through and organized the papers and a few odds and ends. Pretty much a quiet, quiet day. I do miss my Alvin. This week and then one more week till Christmas. It will be a homecoming like no other. Cannot wait. He has slept through the night for three or four days now. Wow, that would be nice to continue but I get up sometimes so it would be okay.
So it is Monday! Yup it is Monday………what can I say? I would not say that it was my favourite day of the week and I would not say it was my least favourite. It is the beginning of the work week for me. I know that this is not the case for everyone!
Okay to explain this photo. On our way home from work on Friday, we happen to see waiting at the lights beside us, a cat in the passenger seat of the vehicle next to us. Have you ever seen a cat not in it’s carrier? I have not. The cat was looking out of the window and at times was meowing. I think this was the start to a great weekend. Just a guy and his cat!!
I had almost forgot about this until I was looking through some photos that I uploaded/downloaded yesterday. A good memory.
I am going to wear my new scarf to work today. So excited. It is so warm and comfy. I may even wear it while I am working because sometimes our office is cool. Thank you G.
Time to head back downstairs, whoops that was a slip. I have not been downstairs since I went to bed. Funny how your mind works. Oh Mr. Alvin! The Momma misses her boy and cannot wait until Christmas.
Have a great Monday!
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Well it is dark out and not even that early as is just after 7:00 a.m. I guess we are into the beginning of that time of year when we get up in the dark and leave work in the dark. Thankfully we are not at the later part of that statement just yet. The shortest day is in December, 2022 – so a bit of time away. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous – actually the whole weekend was wonderful. This week is going to be nice except for Wednesday is supposed to be 11+ celsius which is cool compared to 20’s as of late. I am so grateful for this beautiful fall weather. Enjoying the leaves raining down and seeing the kiddos crunching on them as they walk across the lawns. I am one of those kiddos. Love to walk on the leaves. When I rake the leaves, I am going to spread some of them on my back flower bed. One of my friends gave me that idea so that they insulate and protect the plants. Great idea. Might be fun removing them in the spring but will worry about that later.
I suppose this coming up weekend being Thanksgiving might be a good time to put away the patio furniture. Clean out the remaining flower pots. I have three and they are on the front porch. The impatiens might be done by then but not sure about the pot. Time will tell. I am glad that I decided to bring a good bunch of my plants into the house. Some are wintering in the basement and others are on the main floor and upstairs. All three floors have plants. Nothing like having green and flowers blooming in the deepest part of winter. When it is storming outside and there are flowers blooming – makes me feel happy. Flowers will do that.
Well tomorrow afternoon is Alvin’s regular vet appointment so I took the afternoon off. Wednesday through Friday it is off to the office. Found out yesterday on FB that one of our coworkers has COVID. ARGH. I have decided that whenever I am away from my desk that I will wear a mask and not get within close proximity to anyone. Better to be safe. Reminds me that I must go and get that fourth shot. I will phone and see if I can get in on the weekend. Maybe Saturday.
Yesterday I baked 2.5 dozen Apple Cinnamon muffins with some pumpkin and a loaf. Not sure why but I decided to double the recipe (NEVER DOUBLE A MUFFIN RECIPE) and then the consistency was out of whack so I added some pumpkin puree. They turned out great but would have been easier and less messy had I stuck to the recipe and made one batch at a time. I also chopped about 20 cups of apples for the freezer and have about 100 to go. Seriously might be close to that. I have two super big bowls full of apples to get chopped up. So everyday after work – I plan to chop some apples and then finish on the weekend. Will be so nice to have them in the winter time for some muffins or an apple crisp or even a pie. Mmmmm good.
I decided not to give Mr. Alvin a bath but did manage to trim his paws, just a little bit.
Well time to head back downstairs and put on the coffee. I really need coffee this morning. Last night we went for a walk after supper just before 7:00 and met up with Cookie and her Dad so we walked together. Went further than we have been for awhile. Nice to have company and someone to chat with other than Alvin. He usually never replies, lol.
I hope that you have a great Monday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities and COFFEE.
Always, Carol & Alvin
PS: my friend Gillian popped by in the early afternoon to drop off the coffee and freezer bags that she picked up from Costco for me. Coffee has now increased from $11.99 to $18.99. Time to cut back on the coffee, methinks. We had a nice visit and she liked the freshly baked muffins. I gave her some of the chopped apples for a crisp or muffins. People will be revisiting their monthly budgets.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. I suppose if I am totally honest, I could have done with a few hours more sleep but it is what it is. Bedtime was in good time last night but I could not settle down. My mind raced as though it were in a huge competition for a large prize. I could not shut it down. A few hours of tossing and turning and Alvin was awake and needing to go downstairs. I managed to coax him to stay in bed but it did not last long. Next thing I know we are downstairs and the clock said 1:30. Yup, 1:30 in the morning but even anywhere remotely close to 3:00 or 4:00. So sweater on, poop bags in pocket and with the flashlight on my phone turned on, we were outside. The air was cool and crisp and lovely. Alvin went pee. Afterwards he walked the length of the fence doing some hard core sniffing and occasionally he would stop and start to paw the grass. I am not sure what he thought that he was finding but there was nothing there. Humphrey and Bogart were inside the house and very likely fast asleep but not me and Alvin. I followed him back and forth as he sniffed at the base of the fence and pawed at the grass. He did not actually dig it up. Thankfully. This carried on for what seemed like forever before I snapped him up and placed him onto the deck. I walked toward the back door as he stood there looking off the deck to near the fence. Something was enticing him. Finally he came into the house. I did not look at the clock but headed to the sofa where we both laid down. Of course, he did not settle down and neither did I. Next thing I know Alvin is up, I could see that the sun was shining through the partially open blind. I picked up my phone to check the time and noticed it was 5:53 (alarm set for 6:00), I got up and went to the kitchen where I gave him one of his glucosamine chews. Next I took his food and pumpkin out of the fridge along with the coffee can setting them on the counter. I grabbed the measuring cup and his dish out of the dishwasher as I walked by to the pantry where I scooped up some of his dry food. Back to the counter where the wet food and pumpkin waited. Next I added the pumpkin and wet food to the dry food in his dish and mixed it together. Then I set his bowl on the floor beside him and then set about to prepare my coffee. First filling the pot with cold water and then adding the coffee. I turned around to see him sitting on the yoga mat and he had not touched his food at all. He was sitting very straight and not uttering a sound. So I picked up his dish and carried it with me to the sofa where I placed it on the floor beside me and he followed. He took a slight bit of coaxing before he ate his food. Then I put on my sweater and my flip flops as I opened the back door and stepped out into the “actual morning” air. So refreshing. Still not quite awake, I followed Alvin as he went across the deck to jump down onto the grass. I took a slight detour and the steps down onto the deck. He did his business and started to sniff again but I took matters into my own hands and turned him toward the deck. I lifted him up onto the deck and then back into the house. In the house I noticed that the time said 6:13, so I decided to reset the alarm to 6:30 and headed upstairs. I quickly made the bed and then laid down where Alvin joined me. We snuggled and I just laid there. In my head, I was saying some affirmations with the hopes that I would feel more rested when the alarm went back off. I will say that I did somewhat. Now it is 7:00 a.m. and I am ready to take Mr. Alvin for a nice walk before starting work.
Work, everything revolves around it ….. money ……. time …….
I hope that you have a great day.
Happy Monday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compasion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Always, Carol & Alvin
PS: Only 22 sleeps till I turn 65. Yesterday was a good day. Mostly relaxing and I am most thankful for that.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Alvin and I are doing great. I had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday. My daughter picked me up in the late morning so that we could arrive at Creekside Nursery & Garden when it opened. Wow, did it ever get busy fast. Initially we both thought that we would just look and pick up maybe the odd flower as it is too early to plant. Well that did not last long. By the time we got to the check-out our cart was filled to the brim, no room left for even the smallest container. I also picked up a cream coloured ceramic flower pot, three bags of potting soil, gardening gloves, fertilizer, and some plants which included tomatoes, greek oregano ( I did not know there was such a thing), begonias, violas, pansies and impatiens and lavender.
The photos are all from home except for the first two and the stock photo.
Photo by George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com on Pexels.com
My kitchen looks amazing. I will keep the plants inside until it is warmer to plant them. What a gorgeous workspace. My happy place. I apologize for the slightly blurry photos as they looked clear when I snapped them.
I hope that your Mother’s Day was awesome.
Well it is almost time to head downstairs. Get this Monday started.
Alvin and I had a quiet Mother’s Day evening which suited me fine.
The sun is shining this morning, there is a breeze, buds on the trees and even small small leaves on some of the trees.
Feels like almost summer now that I have my flowers.
Happy Days ahead.
Have a fantastic day.
Happy Monday.
I am so grateful for such a great Mother’s Day with my daughter, grateful for all the beautiful plants I was able to purchase, grateful to be alive, grateful for my darling Alvin and my son-in-law and my grandpups. Thank you for this great life.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are okay. Up early as per usual with a twist. Not long after we were first up at 4 a.m. and resting on the sofa, I heard this noise. It took me a moment to realize that Alvin was standing on the sofa and in the beginning stages of heaving. So I quick jumped up and turned on the kitchen light and lifted him gently off of the sofa and placed him on the kitchen floor away from mats, rugs and blankets. In less than a minute he had thrown up. I grabbed some kleenex as I do not have paper towels in the house and wiped it up. I noticed that his glucosamine chew was intact so I guess he did not chew it. I am going to have to watch him from now now. He needs to chew it. Then he threw up again. I cleaned the floor. He is now groaning and I do not know if he is not feeling good or if he wants a drink of water as he is fixed on his water dish and yes, that is what he wanted. Just back from being beside him as he likes me to be petting him while he drinks. I am his safety blanket. Anyway, after the early morning incident we were back to the sofa to lay down until he wanted breakfast. He tried to get up before 5:00 but I coaxed him to lay back down as I thought likely not good to eat just a few minutes after you threw up. I know that I could not. Anyway, he successfully had breakfast and did his business and we had a bit more sleep before I needed to get up and get going. What a Monday morning!
I guess today is VALENTINE’s DAY. Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all.
It is starting to get light outside. I don’t see the colourful sunrise but I hope that it is not far behind the lightness.
Not much new from our corner of the world.
We got a few extra steps in yesterday by doing that loop out front.
Oh, I am extra that I googled and found a “chocolate pudding” recipe that does not require cream, milk or eggs and that I can use evaporated milk for the “milk” part. YAY, me. It sounds good. Going to try making homemade chocolate pudding for my Valentine’s Day treat. Alvin is not so much into getting me flowers or chocolate. That’s okay, I get it.
Okay that coffee is going to be extra great this morning.
I hope that you have an awesome Monday and again, Happy Valentine’s Day. Happy Hearts Day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus and possibilities.
Good Morning ALL. How are you today? I hope very well. Alvin and I are doing great. We had a decent sleep with an early up and then back to sofa (nothing different than norm). I cannot believe that I missed the first day of SPRING on Saturday. I knew it was about this time but totally missed mindfully celebrating the spring equinox. Happy Spring everyone!! I have been watching for the bunnies but have not seen any lately which is odd for this area. We usually have them on our front lawn all of the time especially since my neighbour feeds them. But strangely enough even with good I have not seen any rabbits for I would say about one month or so. I always gage the arrival of spring by the turning of their fur from white to brown. I hope that they are okay. Never know, I guess. We walked on the weekend. I almost put Alvin’s sweater on yesterday and realized that it had warmed up somewhat from earlier in the morning.
Have you had a morning or I guess anytime during the course of a day where you just looked at something in your home and decided to change it up, around or clean? Unplanned! Yesterday I had been in my upstairs office and at this point I do not even remember what I was doing but I happen to look at my bulletin board which takes up near the whole wall behind my computer. There are two massive bulletin boards that my daughter made for me a few years back. Anyway, it just seemed “messy” ….. just with no plan ….. unorganized. So I set out to spruce it up if you will. At one point I could not reach the top so had to run downstairs and grab a stool. I love my massive bulletin board filled with cards of thanks and of birthdays and from Mother’s Days, photos of family and friends, my monthly birthday calendar, and odds and ends. I decided to hang up my birthday calendar as it was on a bulletin board on a wall that is partially hidden so sometimes I forget to look at it. I have missed birthdays. So now it is right in front of me. No more missed Birthdays. There are notes from Bath & BodyWorks days when I had the highest sales per hours in the entire company (and that was worldwide). Can you imagine that? It definitely is something that I am proud to have achieved without realizing at the time. I have an email from the Arts & Culture Reporter of the Wall Street Journal from end of 2013 when she had left a comment on my blog. How cool is that? Also I hung up our “family photos” of me and Alvin that my daughter takes every fall. It is a reminder of our journey and my hair cuts, argh. Thankfully more the journey and surprisingly Alvin has not changed much over the years. I can tell when he did not have a hair cut before the photo shoot, me too for that matter. There are reminders of the young boy turned man that I sponsored from Malawi many years ago. It is a good wall and I love looking at every item and remembering.
Well back to work today as it is once again Monday morning. This will be the third week that I have been training with a coworker as she returns to work after being away for some time. The training is going well and remains lots to go through and over. Alvin has an appointment on Wednesday, his regular one, thank goodness. Nail trim etc. Also on Wednesday one of my neighbours and friends is hosting a Mary Kay Mask party. Should be fun.
Time to get the coffee plugged in …… turn on the tunes ….. place Alvin’s bed in the kitchen and get this week going.
I wish you a great Monday.
As we continue to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.
Good Morning ALL. How are you today? I/We are doing great. Getting used to the time change and actually getting a bit more sleep than the past few weeks. Happy for that.
Alvin and I enjoyed a wonderful walk yesterday afternoon. All throughout the day we saw many of our friends, neighbours and others out walking with family, with their doggies and some on their own. We all need fresh air, to connect with nature, to have some exercise and to refresh our mind/body/souls. I am so grateful that we are now able to get back to our daily walks. This week is supposed to be quite nice. YAY.
We watched most of the GRAMMYS last night. I noticed that most of the nominees appeared to be young. I won’t even ask the question as I know the answer. Surprisingly, I knew some of the younger artists. I really liked a new group called “BLACK PUMAS” …… they were really good. I would buy their music for sure. Also I really enjoy BILLIE EILISH. Music is always good to listen to and learn about …..
I do not have a lot to say this morning as Mr. Alvin stares at me from the doorway. Likely I should just call it a post and say that I will be back tomorrow. Sometimes the mind is silent. Is that even possible?
Hoping for sunshine today for our walk or at least not rain although moisture would be good to clean the dirt. I also noticed lots of trash laying about which is a reminder for me to go and pick it up.
Wishing you a wonderful Monday.
I can hear some geese honking in the distance. Spring is here!
Living with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.
Good Morning All. Thankfully the snow has stopped. We did have a little bit yesterday. This morning it is cold. Temperature is minus 14 degrees celsius not including the windchill. As I gaze out of the office window the air almost has the appearance of FOG as the sun begins to rise in the east. Looks like a painting but it is Mother Nature doing her thing. She has a great imagination. I like to think so.
So Monday morning, here we go. It is almost 7:30 as I type this post. Alvin just stretched and sighed / groaned by the office entranceway. He has absolutely no patience these days. I guess I can relate. As I get older my patience level is not great. Although it depends on the situation for sure.
I worked on my Christmas cards on Saturday and yesterday and they are almost finished. I want to get them in the mail as soon as possible. This year the mail may be more unpredictable than past years. No idea. I have the parcel and one card for overseas all ready to be mailed. They will go shortly.
The big storm that we had on Saturday has now gone to our neighbours to the east and my sister reports that not a lot of snow but lots of freezing rain and snow pellets. I think that is worse than lots of snow. Icy sidewalks, streets and roads are dangerous. Keep safe out there everyone. If you can stay home – it is a good idea to do so.
Alvin definitely has to go downstairs so I had better cut this short.
Food for thought. Our thoughts do become things. What have you brought to fruition as of late? Sounds like a lot of food is on my mind but not really.
Happy Monday.
Stay safe and keep in good health.
We will continue to show the world love, respect and kindness.
Good Morning All. As we are winding down and fast approaching November with then one month until 2021 …. what are your thoughts? What a year this has been! There have been so many changes and for some people those changes have not been great. For others of us those changes have turned out to be blessings in disguise. I am so grateful that I have a job and that I am working from home. I have said this before and I will say it again, I am ever grateful to my employer. I have found out that I do thoroughly enjoy those rare occasions when I go outside of my house other than our walks. I don’t mind going to the office once every month or so. I don’t mind going to the grocery store once in awhile. Lately as statements come in from my benefit provider, it is giving me cause to get my poop in a group and make some medical appointments ….. like eye checkup and dentist. The dentist and staff were wearing masks even before COVID19 hit the Western World. I would think that they are taking even more precautions like limiting the no of patients at one time. Lots to think about. Do you find that you procrastinate some things and even more during these uncertain times? You are not alone, you are not alone. So much to consider and to think about ……
Well it is five sleeps until Halloween and six sleeps until my Christmas Tree goes up and the house transforms into “Christmas.” I have contacted all the folks in the neighbourhood that I know with children and they all were happy with my idea to drop off bags of treats for their children. I am working on decorating the treat bags for the kids. Then Sunday the TREE goes up. I am so excited. My daughter as agreed to come over and I have a backup to help me erect the tree just in case. Always good to have a plan B. I thought that I would before bed on Friday night, I would take down all of the fall/Halloween decorations and other ornaments and put them in the basement. Maybe even bring up the rubbermaid containers of Christmas decorations and be ready to decorate. I could do some of the decorating before the tree goes up. Those are my thoughts for now – time will tell.
Yesterday my girl friends were over for coffee in the morning. We always have a great time. One of the girls brought over muffins and the other gave me my own little Halloween treat bag. They spoil me. Love these girls, they are the best. I am so blessed to have great friends, truly.
Alvin and I went for a walk in the afternoon before I watched the LIVE Open House for my friend Amber’s Fifth Avenue Jewelry Collection. I enjoy seeing all of the new jewelry. GUESS WHAT? Mr. Alvin hardly fussed at all in his new sweater and in fact, we did the whole walk without any unnecessary stopping. It was great.
I also watch “THEN CAME YOU” twice yesterday. Really loving that movie.
I am so excited that our weather is going to be all plus temperatures for the next two weeks with multiple days in the high single digits and even going into the double digits. The bunnies will be able to forage for food easier and longer.
Well time to go and put on the coffee. I hit the snooze and then the time on the microwave a couple of times this morning. ARGH. Oh well, there is time to make coffee and get ready to start work before my 8:00 a.m. start time.
Have an awesome Monday. If we all live our lives with kindness and respect for ALL, what a wonderful world this would be and can be.
My New Life @ 51 