The Next Chapter

Good Morning. What a gorgeous morning it is! I have been over to feed, change water, clean letterbox and just visit Humphrey & Bogart, I have moved plants outside, done some cleaning, gathered and started laundry, and now writing this post. I think that the following photos put into words my life at the present time, filled with friends whether two or four or three-legged and the beauty of nature and FLOWERS. So this post will be photos today. I appreciate all the lives in my life. I hope that you are having a great day. The air is a tad cool which is lovely against the slightly hazy sky. I do not smell smoke but alas it is out there somewhere. I pray that all lives are saved from the fires.

Jax, a 17 year old Lab

Jax

Jax & Bruno

Eddie & Bruno & Jeanette

Oh, Bruno

Bruno & Eddie

The Boys

Bruno

Son & Father

Eddie & Bruno

Bruno

Eddie, Sadie & her Dad

Bogart

Humphrey

Bogart

Those Eyes

Checking things out

Brothers just watching life

Some Houseplants outside

Getting some fresh air

Houseplants outside

What can I say! My life is full. I have wonderful family, many amazing friends, so many pups and cats, a beautiful space to call my own and the sun is shining. Coffee has brewed awaiting me to go and have a cup of that delectable gold. I am so happy. Alvin is with me always, he follows me wherever I go inside the house or out. My forever Angel and friend.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone. I am walking with Jeanette and the boys later. Checking in on the boys every so many hours. Doing some housework and laundry. I need to wash those dusty blinds on the main floor so that will get done this weekend. I am just enjoying life. No major housework to do so might as well just be outside as much as I can. Might be hot this afternoon.

I have two friend birthdays coming up. Gillian’s on May 31st and Pauline’s on June 13th. So much to celebrate. June and July and August are filled with birthdays.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin, My Forever Angel

Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Alvin and I are great. There was no frost last night so the ground feels softer this morning and not wet or slippery. I am working from home today and took a day off tomorrow so life is great. There is nothing like being able to work from home. This morning we were up at 2:00 and outside and then up at 5:30 when Alvin had breakfast which is his new time when I work at the office. My head told me to stay up but I just wanted so badly to lay back down under the comfy blanket on the sofa. My heart won out. When the alarm went off at 6:45, I kept clicking the SNOOZE button, my old friend for a couple of times so then the time is 7:03 a.m. and I do not like to rush. Things were going good until we went outside which was pretty much right away. Outside Mr. Alvin was sniffing like crazy. He could definitely smell some creature under the deck. It was difficult to convince him to come in the house but finally I succeeded. Then I raced upstairs brushed my teeth, washed my face and threw on my eyebrows. Located some pants, underwear, a top, sweater and socks and threw them on. The jewelry is minimal a couple of rings and then into the office to do this post and to send some money to my carpool gal. Whew. I did manage to prepare the coffee so that I can just plug the pot in when we go back downstairs. Why, oh, why did I not stay up at 5:30 a.m. I think that for Alvin’s sake and for my own, that we are going to need to stay up at that time and make it our time. Otherwise it will be hard on the boy especially. He needs routine and I don’t want to feed him at so many different times. Not good for his constitution.

It feels so wonderful to be working from home. I LOVE IT. Does anyone hear me? I love working from home. Just wanted to throw that out to the UNIVERSE. It is so wonderful. Good for me and for Alvin. Yes, it is.

Just one quick story before we head back downstairs. On our after work walk, we met up with this woman and her beautiful “husky” dog a few minutes after leaving the house. When she saw us coming down the sidewalk she pulled him/her closer to her and walked off the sidewalk onto the street. I said thank you and Alvin appeared to “want to say hello.” We ended up chatting for several minutes and I found out that her pup’s name is ASPEN. Same as my grandpup. She is 11 years old. We share pooping stories, stories of what to do in the winter time with a senior dog. Such a great conversation. Her pup did not act like 11 and in fact, she said that Aspen acts more like 3 or 4 years of age. That is so wonderful. After a bit we said our goodbyes after more formal introductions. Aspen is I believe an Alaskan Husky. So beautiful. Love her eyes. Blue, I think. Then we walked to the park. Alvin tried to come home a few times but I convinced him to stay on track and keep on our walk. A few minutes later we were turned around and on our way home when we saw some old friends. We stopped to chat. The fellow I do not remember his name and the pup is Caulder. A big dog but so friendly and he was focused on the walk for sure. I found out that our friend had gone home to Newfoundland where he was able to work remotely for five months and be with family, how wonderful is that. He remains working from home. This duo is so wonderful and I had missed our chats over the last year or so. Good to know that they are okay and doing great.

Time to fly. Have a wonderful Thursday.

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

ALLways, Carol & Alvin

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Happy CANADA Day to all Canadians. We are not a perfect country but I know that I am for one, always trying to be a better person, a better human being, a better Canadian. Happy Birthday Canada. We will get there and I believe sooner than later. As long as we have today we can always help to make/build our tomorrows better than our yesterdays. If we continue to learn, that is what matters most. We, being Alvin and I are going to spend the day doing “stuff.” We will be going to our friend Pauline’s house to check on the flowers and plants and perhaps do some watering. Again, there is rain in the forecast but how can we know if it will actually happen OR if there will be a significant amount to give moisture to the foliage. After all, that is one of my happiest places so I will go everyday and give the plants a drink, if need be. We love to hang out in the garden and just be. I promise to take some photos today.

I must say that my plants are beginning to grow now that we have had some sunshine the past few days. There is some concern about one of my lavender plants but I believe it may be turning the corner now. The sun is shining again this morning. Alvin bless his heart, slept from lights out at 10:30 until 5:00 this morning. I was so happy. After he had his glucosamine chew, his breakfast and went outside to do his business, we laid down on the sofa until 7:00 a.m. and we have been up ever since. I changed the bedding on our bed, changed out towels and spent some time looking over Instagram pictures. You see last night we were vegging at home. I had received an invitation to go and join my friends to sit around the fire pit but I graciously declined as yesterday my eyes were “burning” off and on throughout the day, making it difficult to see the computer at times. It happened in the house and not even outside. I chalked it up to allergies but to what? Nothing new in the house. Anyway okay now. I was watching a bit of television and snuggling with Mr. Alvin when I decided to look on Instagram and at that very moment a photo of my long-time friend Diana’s granddaughter popped up, she was all dressed up for her graduation and will be going into High School in the fall. The photo was posted on Diana’s daughter page. I must have been following her and not realized it. So one thing led to another and next thing I know I was texting with both of them. I cannot tell you how happy I was to reconnect with my friends. It has been forever since we chatted and I know it was not in person or even by video but it was close enough. I spent a good amount of time looking at my friend’s Insta page this morning. Sometimes technology is a wonderful thing. Most times. What a great way to start the second half of 2022 reconnecting with friends. Catching up is always good.

Well today will be watering flowers and hanging out for a bit in our friend’s most beautiful garden and taking photos. Mr. Alvin requires a haircut and bath. There be laundry to do matey! Also some cleaning as always. But we will relax in between.

Time to go and get out of my pj’s, get washed and dressed, make some coffee, enjoy said coffee (maybe even outside on the deck for a change, I just realized that I have not done that yet this summer), have breakfast and then go for walk. I want to go before it gets warmer as Mr. Alvin does not do well in temperatures over about 22 degrees. Yesterday was too warm for him. I hadn’t realized how much humidity there was when we went for our walk at noon.

Happy Canada Day to All Canadians.

Have a wonderful day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: we are now at 39 days until my 65th Birthday.

It is a NEW YEAR.

Well we are now on day three of this brand new decade.

Second day and last day of work for this week.

Doing a seated “happy dance.”

Also nice when one has a short work week.

 

Last night after work Alvin and I went for our walk.

We did not get very far as the wind continued to gust stronger and stronger.

Alvin appeared to be missing the wind but I was having problems.

Felt at times as though I was going to be Dorothy and lifting off.

So our walk was short lived.

We have been enjoying lots of good walks and with having the extra long walk and lovely fresh air on Wednesday, I thought be would be okay.

I even started to do some exercises in the evening.

One has to start somewhere.

 

I also brought into the house the shelves for the cupboard.

Not sure why I left them with the cupboard/cabinet in the garage for so long.

Anyway now I have the shelves in the basement – I just have to find a couple of strong men/women to help me take it into the basement.

The plan is for that to happen this weekend.

After that, I have lots of work to do.

In a couple of weeks the Christmas decorations will come down and I will put my bead supplies etc. into the cabinet.

Fix up the room in the basement once again.

I am leaving the Christmas decorations in place in honour of my long-time Ukrainian friend who passed early last year.

He was proud of his heritage and I was proud of him.

Last year I lost two long-time friends, both happened to be male.

They leave a hole in my heart but memories to last a lifetime.

 

I feel that I am already making changes for this new decade which is great.

Spreading my wings …. careful not to fly too high but high enough.

 

Well almost time to head downstairs.

Pick up the poop outside from the backyard.

See if Alvin has to go one more time.

Excited to have the weekend close at hand.

 

Life in this new decade is great.

I hope that you are fulfilling your dreams.

Continue to dream big.

They will happen.

One day at a time.

It is easy to get caught up in things and lose oneself.

But if we take a deep breathe and some time out each day.

Those dreams will reach fruition.

 

Happy Friday.

Yes, Alvin, I hear you.

Poor guy.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Love this photo – looks like Alvin is hugging me.

I guess in essence he is as he is holding on.

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 3rd day of June, 2017.

It was bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze this morning and now the sky seems to be filled with scattered clouds.

So we shall see.

Yesterday was a rainy day until about supper time.

Alvin and I managed to get a walk in after supper and the evening remained beautiful.

Mr. Alvin is about to have a haircut and bath as soon as I am done here.

My first job is to give him a haircut, bath and clean his ears and double check to ensure he has no TICKS.

I have been checking after each walk but have to make doubly sure.

The front lawn, back lawn and by the garage are filled with those beautiful little yellow flowers er, weeds, we call “dandelions.”

So I have to figure out some way of getting rid of them that does not call for poisons that are bad for animals, the environment and wallet.

There is no way to dig them out.

They just got crazy after this last round of rain.

So lots to to do.

I will keep busy this weekend.

 

Hopefully tomorrow Alvin and I can walk over the one of the parks north of us and check out the baby geese.

I see them every morning on the bus ride to work.

I would like to get some photos of them.

WISH me luck.

But that is for tomorrow.

I would like to go first thing tomorrow morning if it is sunny …..

 

Well time to get this show on the road.

Food for thought:  Stay within your budget and keep old friends close.

 

Happy Saturday Everyone.

Special Hello to: my family and friends ……

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 21st day of November, 2016.

Wow, the weekend is over?

Those hours zipped by for sure.

It was an eventful, fun and good news kind of weekend.

This is a story that I shared on Facebook on the weekend and I thought that perhaps I would share it with all of you.

Just to share my morning with you all and perhaps bring a smile to your face. One of the first things that I do on a Saturday morning is to make coffee in my percolator. I love the way it tastes. Some time ago the little glass piece where the coffee races to the top as it goes through the percolating process BROKE. I was devastated thinking that I would have to go out and buy a new pot. But I was able to “fix it” and life carried on until this morning. Drum roll. I put the coffee on as usual and ran upstairs to get dressed and grab the laundry to start. While I was upstairs I called my neighbour to let her know that coffee would be ready shortly and to come grab a mug, (we do this every weekend). After I hung up I went downstairs to find a dark liquid on the counter and running into the sink and onto the floor and all over the back splash on the cupboard and on and on and on. I did not freak out (which is a good thing). But I did hope beyond hope that there was coffee left but alas it was not fully perked and was only warm and most of it escaped. So I picked up the toaster that had been there earlier so that the moisture would not destroy it. Grabbing the towels that had been folded up on the counter and without thinking started to wipe up the coffee. Argh, they were my Christmas ones that are white with Christmas scenes on them. Oh well now they will be mocha with Christmas scenes on them. I took everything off the counter and quickly cleaned and wiped while all the time watching for my neighbour. I managed to remake the pot before she arrive and we patiently waited while the second pot perked. I WATCHED the pot to ensure that it didn’t BLOW the “glass part” again. We finally had coffee which was good. I pulled out the stove as the coffee had run down there, too. Ended up vacuuming the dust bunnies that always seem to collect there, and washing behind the stove as well. I had pulled out the pot and pan draw underneath and found COFFEE in there so took out all of the 1,000 pieces of tupperware and other containers and cleaned the drawer. Okay this is beginning to look like a book. Ended up moving out the fridge because if you are going to move one appliance then you might as well do them all. Right. I borrowed my neighbour’s steam floor mop and cleaned the floor. The main floor was clean. But was it really. Over the course of several hours I had pulled out the utensil drawer only about five times. It seemed for some reason not to slide as easily as usual. Finally I realized that that drawer had about 1/8 inch of coffee in the bottom which covered every single little gadget in the drawer.
Okay finally got 500 little things all washed up. ALL FOR THE LOVE OF COFFEE……. What a morning but on the upside my kitchen is CLEAN, CLEAN from top to bottom and every place in between…. Happy Saturday.

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

So after all of that one of my old friends who happens to live hundreds of miles away in Ontario is having a lid sent to me.  He knows

someone in the “coffee business.”

How blessed am I?

Saturday was busy.

Yesterday was the Christmas Event.

It was crazy fun.

 

Stella & Dot had some beautiful jewellery and other fashion items like purses and this huge weekend tote, very nice.

Scentsy would not like to smell amazing scents, very nice.

Steeped Tea was a hit and I did quite well sales wise and was able to introduce people to our product.

Very proud am I to be Canadian as Steeped Tea is a Canadian Business.

That was my Sunday.

Weekend over.

Good news on the Elton front (my grand-puppy not so much a puppy any longer but he has his days for sure) ….. after a couple of days on some new

medicine he is feeling a bit better.  We wish him pain free days and to have many many more days with his family.

Time to go to work again, seems like I just left on Friday and it is already Monday.

Have an awesome Monday everyone.

Special Hello to: Elton, we love you.

Always, Carol and Alvin

P.S. I was able to restore the towels to their before mocha colour …. white.  Whew.

Thought for the day …..

Good Afternoon and Welcome to Sunday the 13th day of March, 2016.

Well would you not be surprised that the time changed in the middle of the night and guess who realized it at 8:08 but it was really 9:08 a.m.??

ME.

I should have remembered to change the clocks last night before bed but alas I did not.

Oh well … no harm done.

I did have a coffee date with friends and was only a few minutes late.

Changing clocks twice a year sometimes is a pain but it works out in the end.

This time we change our clocks ahead so we lose one hour …. but we have light longer which is nice.

This morning it was raining snow …. you know that mix …..

March is one of those months that the weather is most unpredictable.

One of my friends said that the forecast is for 9 degrees today ….. the sun finally came out so you never know.

We had a great visit …. always nice to connect with the ladies.

Catch up.

 

Now I just received a phone call from my friend who lives in Regina and has been in Edmonton for the past week.

Her new grandson is in the Children’s Hospital here ….. so she is here to help with the older grandson.

She asked me out for supper ….. we were meant to go last Sunday but long story short …. she got lost coming to my hospital so it was late.

 

The tea party was a success yesterday with a few things left to finish and then I can submit the party.

My daughter’s birthday party was great ….. the make it yourself “TACO SALAD” turned out so good and the CHOCOLATE from SCRATCH cake was super good. (Nice and Moist).

I love seeing my family ….. my daughter, son-in-law and grand-puppies, Elton and Miss Penny.

Our poor Penny has her good days and bad ….. I miss her exuberance.

But she is 11 and Elton is 13 …..

Our babies ….

 

I have to get in touch with my sister as we were to SKYPE tonight ……

 

Life is busy but good …..

We treasure our time with family and friends ….

Always remember no matter what is going on with your life ….. treasure those moments ….. those times when you are with family ….. when you see old friends.

That exact moment is that exact moment and will not be repeated.

Take it for that special moment that it is ……

 

Well I had better get this show on the road as I have a few chores to do with one being to go for a walk with Alvin.

 

I hope that you are having an awesome weekend.

 

Special Hello to:  all of our family and friends ….. thank you.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 24th day of March, 2015.

I can now share my “life changing” news with all of you.

I firstly had to ensure that most of the staff knew before the rest of my world.

Last Friday before my shift at the store, at my home away from home, Bath & Body Works – I gave my two weeks notice.

It was definitely one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever had to make.

I had been feeling as of late, as if my life was getting away on me.

I missed more walks with Alvin than I took him on.

I rarely got to see my girl friends.

In the near eight months that my daughter has been living here – we made jewellery once.

I had no time for video chats with my sister, friends and family.

I went from the office to the store …. scheduling always changing.

I missed just having a weekend at home.

I missed doing stuff around the house.

The little things.

Seems like a lot of  I’s …… but truly sometimes you have to be selfish, and look after yourself.

You are responsible for you.

I am not responsible for you and you not for me.

Decisions.

So I decided to resign from the store.

In the near four years that I have been employed by Bath & Body Works – Canada; I have always enjoyed the work.

The staff are always changing and always amazing … treating me like family, and I, them.

I have met some of the best people that I know and have made friendships that will last my lifetime.

I loved meeting all the new people every shift, and then seeing repeat customers from time to time.

I love smelling the new fragrances and being in the mall.

It was the best second … well actually first job one could ever ask for to be sure.

After all, it was Bath & Body Works that hired me four years ago when I was job hunting.

They took a chance of hiring someone who had a ton of experience but not in a related field, and most especially not in retail.

Of course, all of my life I have been giving great customer service translated you do not have to work in retail to be a customer service “agent.”

I am forever grateful.

Who knows perhaps someday I will return. ….. maybe for next Christmas.

I will always have fond memories of my time there.

Great job – great people.

New Chapter about to begin.

I look forward to the next weeks and months.

With a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

Sometimes the song is a bit sad but mostly it is a HAPPY one.

Special Hello to: my family and friends who have always been a great support system for me.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday, the 29th and third last day of July, 2013.

WOW, almost August.

I hope that you had a great weekend.

Yesterday while at Bath & Body Works I bumped into one of my friends and colleagues from SGI in Regina.

It was so great to see Maureen …. she looks wonderful and it was so wonderful to catch up.

I always love seeing everyone from back home in Saskatchewan.

Isn’t it always great when someone you haven’t seen for awhile makes an appearance in your life.

It warms your heart and brings back memories.

I wished that I would see more people more often from back home.

I think that is a good wish.

Well the temperature has cooled down and it the skies are partially overcast this Monday morning.

So not quite sure what the day will bring.

Almost time to be off to work ….. at the office.

So remember to take a deep breath and take some “me” time no matter who your day is going.

Always good to just have a few moments/minutes of downtime.

Close your eyes and just breath.

Try to quiet your mind.

Have a wonderful day.

Here we go with another line in my story.  I am writing this story one line at a time and I have no preconceived story or plot lines … just want to see where it goes.

I hope that you enjoy and that I make it enjoyable.

Special Hello to: all those folks travelling and seeing folks they haven’t seen in some time.

 

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

I haven’t figured out the logistics of doing this so bear with me.  But here we go…..

 

FIRST LINE …..July 25, 2013

As we walk along the water’s edge the coolness leaves my skin with goose bumps and prickles, as if there is someone behind me.

July 26, 2013

Alvin pulls on his leash and brings me back, the fragrance of freshly cut grass fills my nostrils; my heart beat quickens, and I am unable to shake the feeling.

July 28, 2013

The sky is overcast with a hint of sunrise peeking through and the leaves of the trees rustle in the breeze, and I think how did I get here? 

July 29, 2013

What does that mean, and what is making me think these thoughts?