Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning. Today is September 11, 2022.

To all those who lost a family member or friend at the World Trade Centre this date in 2001, you have my deepest sympathies. To all the first responders and others involved in the rescue operations, you have my deepest respect. To all those who were lost as a result of this terrible tragedy, I send my deepest sympathies to their family and friends. Time has passed but you have not been forgotten.

On this Sunday morning there is a bit of a breeze as I watch the trees gently swaying back and forth. The sun is shining. Yesterday the sky was filled with smoke from the fires in British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta. So hard to breathe.

Yesterday I did some yard work, laundry, baked some unbaked chocolate macaroons and other odds and ends before heading out for a walk with Mr. Alvin about 2:00 p.m. We had been invited to stop by for a visit and catch up with our friend Pauline. We had a great visit and I filled her in on all of our news including Alvin’s latest health concerns and the return to work order. She had lots of good news which nicely offset my news. Of course, not everything out of my mouth was “not good.” I am over the moon happy about the results from Mr. Alvin’s ultrasound from last Tuesday. We headed home just before 4:00 p.m.

When we arrived home Mr. Alvin was ready for supper so shortly thereafter he ate. I had supper early as last night was paint night. My painting the second from the left first row. The other piece of artwork was a piece of paper towel that I had been wiping my excess paint onto, it turned out to be a work of art. I might even frame it.

This morning Mr. Alvin wanted outside once again. There I saw Bogart straddling the fence. Alvin looking at him and Bogart looking at Alvin. Oh our boys.

I had a great time painting last night. For some reason I was not feeling very artistic but I loved the company. Signe and her Mom sure know how to host a party. It was wonderful to be out and about.

Lots of food and drink and great company.

Well time to head downstairs and have some coffee and get this day going. I have brought up the laundry and put away and made our bed and got dressed, lol, so that is something.

We are having some friends over for a visit and to chat about Alvin.

Happy Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning ALL! Thank goodness today is Saturday, I love the weekends. I get to putz around my home, perhaps see some friends and family and go for walks with Alvin. I am making a list of all the things that I need to do before you know what arrives, I cannot even bear to utter the words, so I will leave it up to your imagination. If you live in Western Canada or Canada, you will know exactly to which I am referring. Now I do very much love certain elements of that time. Fall arrives officially on September 22, 2022 which is not long off. I have plants to winterize in the house, the big tree out front to trim, the back flower bed to get ready, finish the front (which will be about a five minute job), clean the outside windows that I can reach and show be getting especially the gutter of the porch cleaned as it is full of crap. Anyway that does not include putting away the furniture from deck (which does not take long) and cleaning out the remaining flower pots. So lots of outside things to do. There is one item on my list that I must find someone to give me a hand and that is trimming the tree. The branches are too high for me and even with a ladder holding that long pole trimmer, I can imagine that would be way too much for me. The pole has a bit of weight to it and with the sharp blade tool on the end and having to pull the long string to work the blade, nope not for me. I do trim the lower branches every year by myself. Perhaps later today I will try and do some.

Inside the house the blinds need to be cleaned again, they sure seem to be getting dusty more quickly. I would love at some point to remove and replace them. They have been good to me and done what they needed to do but some of them are discoloured from the sunlight which happens over more than a decade. Another item on my list. Oh that dreaded list! Do you have a list? Oh, I am sorry, I neglected to ask how you were doing this day. How are you? Very well, I hope.

Perhaps with a long list of things to do, it will give me the energy and drive to actually do more than a bit of cleaning and laundry. With the heat over the last few weeks, Alvin’s health issues and the work stuff, I am exhausted. Not burned out, I don’t think. I just need to lay down for about three days and sleep, lol. Okay, perhaps a slight exaggeration!

The temperatures are going to be just perfect this weekend. 25-26 degrees celsius. Cooling off in the evening. My kids and grandpups are camping for one last time. I hope that they were warm and comfy last night and tonight and tomorrow night.

Tonight I am actually going out. Signe invited me and Gillian over for a paint night. She has the canvases and the picture that we are going to mimic. They are always fun. At first, I thought with Alvin and stuff, that I would stay at home with him but I realize that all I do is stay home with him except for the odd 45 minute trip to the grocery store and now the days going to work. Work does not count. That is not for fun. So I am going out. YAY, me. Signe’s folks are visiting from Eastern Canada. I love to see them, her Mom is so much fun. I know her the best from previous interactions. So I know that I will have a good time. Surrounded by friends is a good thing. If you have been just staying home – time to get out for a bit. Have some laughs and special time with family and friends. Yes. Alvin will be okay for a couple of hours or so.

Tomorrow I am having some neighbours over for a visit. That would be Cookie’s family. With the return to work on the near horizon, I am looking at all the possibilities for Mr. Alvin. It does take a village and I am accumulating one. Not much time so I am working on it.

Also I need to get busy and contact the bank regarding the mortgage renewal. Honestly, it would be so wonderful to own the house outright. Just me, myself and I. That is a huge dream of mine.

Well the coffee has perked and I need to get dressed and get this day going although it has been going for awhile. Whoops, time to pay bills as well. Better not forget that. I love to have my bills always paid on time. Also helps to look at it as though you are helping to pay someone else’s salary and not just give money to the owners or shareholders or whatever.

Have a wonderful day. Stay warm and safe. I hope that the fires are going out near Jasper and all around us. I feel for the wildlife that have been lost and injured and those left behind. Humans have a much better chance of getting out of a wildfire. They do not.

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

Fall / Autumn and the new fall t.v. lineup is right around the corner. My fav shows will be back.

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have someone to share all of this with in addition to Mr. Alvin. He is not too great at trimming trees or paying the bills. But he sure is darn cute.

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? I thought that I may have a hangover this morning? Yes, I know. Last night was a paint night at one of my friend’s homes. Her parents are visiting from Newfoundland. I had one drink and it was likely a bit strong than I would have made had I been pouring but anyway ….. we had a great time. I am downloading/uploading photos from my phone and I guess I have not done this in awhile as there are just shy of 900 photos in the process of downloading/uploading (I always get that mixed up) to my computer. Unfortunately I cannot share at this point. Also again I am writing this post from my computer. YAY, it is Saturday. So happy to have another weekend.

Alvin was a trooper staying at home by himself for 2.5 hours last night. First time for that length of time since before June. I do not get out much. Obviously between COVID 19 and Alvin’s two surgeries and other health issues, home is where I am 99.9% of the time. I am okay with that honestly but it is so wonderful to actually be able to get out without him. I compare it to be a parent and going out without the children. We all need some ME time without having to watch/look after someone. Anyway, I had a great time. We painted a truck in the woods with a pumpkin in the box. I am not artist by any means but it was so much fun. Perhaps if I did it more often I would get better. Also, I find I am better when it is more on the abstract side of things.

Well this is going to be ultra short as I really need some coffee this morning. It was funny we slept on the sofa again last night as I did not want to carry Alvin upstairs. He is still getting up every two hours or so no matter where we sleep. ARGH. He has to pee so what can you do. I get up to pee but not that often. Cannot blame him at all but it is hard on this poor getting older gal. We had been up several times when it was 4:54 a.m. when he wanted to have breakfast. So up we went and I gave him his breakfast. He has been going out on his own a few times although most times I tag along. Funny thing, I was so wide awake that I watered my plants/flowers in the kitchen and cleaned them out (removing any dead leaves etc) and a couple of little things before laying back down on the sofa. Likely it was a sign to just stay up but something inside just does not like to be up that early for the day. Then I want to sleep at suppertime. Anyway it was cool getting a few things done that I will not have to do later.

Time to hit the trail. Have an awesome day. Almost looks like it is raining and if that is the case, I won’t be doing any outside work right now. It is overcast. I see laundry in my future.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! Thank goodness it is the weekend. The sunrise is beautiful as I see pale oranges and pinks lining the southern skyline as I type these post. Alvin is impatiently waiting for me downstairs. We slept on the sofa last night as a trial run to see if he would sleep any differently and a resounding NO. So much for that idea. I guess we will sleep upstairs tonight. I will let him do a few steps which will mean less carrying for me. Last night after work we went over and visited with our friend Pauline. Again the walk there was perfection. Alvin sniffing at each and every blade of grass along the way with hopes of finding “something to eat likely.” I just wanted to get to my friend’s house to once again sit and enjoy her company and her beautiful yard. This time I took my phone with me so that I could take photos of her yard and flowers which are still even though it is almost the end of September are looking gorgeous. Everything takes on a different look in the fall and still with beauty. The colours may have dulled a bit and there may be dead leaves and such but they are still so amazing. Looks like it remains windy. Last night the wind was cold, I was going to say cool but it was cold. We sat on her patio after work and had to make sure that we were sitting in the sunshine otherwise it was downright cold. I am not complaining as the long range forecast shows some pretty good temperatures for the next couple weeks or so. Sure hope that it is around the 15+ temperature at Thanksgiving. Alvin and I are going to spend a few days with the kids. I cannot wait.

Oh, almost forgot, I borrowed my neighbour’s car and went to SAVE-ON-FOODS for groceries. An outing on my own. How glorious! The store was not too busy but enough people. I left home at 6:15 and was home by 6:53 and it was the best 45 minutes. I have been aching to have time on my own and not because I do not treasure my time with Alvin. I would not trade his time with me for anything but we all need time to be on our own where we are not responsible for anyone or anything. That is what it felt like to be in the grocery store. It was funny while I was away, Pauline dropped off some apples from her daughter’s apple tree. I called her when I got home and found a big bag of apples on my front porch to thank her of course. She said it was the strangest thing. She rang the doorbell twice and then knocked and Alvin not a peep. Now she had forgotten that I might be going to the grocery store and did not know that he was alone in the house. But he did not bark which is odd because he would have seen her truck and caught her scent. He remained quiet. Perhaps he was in a deep sleep. I am looking forward to make a couple of apple crisps with those yummy apples.

Well this is a weekend to get the flower pots and the flower beds cleaned up. The longer it is left and with always the chance of a frost, the more difficult it is to pull out the plants. The annuals that is. So I will do as much as possible this weekend. Who wants to pull out flowers and put away the patio/deck furniture when the weather is so beautiful? For sure, not me but to wait ……

I am having the furnace and vents cleaned next Wednesday so I need to make sure that everything is ready for them. Lots to do this weekend. My son-in-law’s birthday is on Sunday. I have an invitation for a paint night with my two younger girlfriends who live nearby and I am going to take them up on the invitation. I need to get out and Alvin is now healed enough that he will be okay for a couple of hours.

I hope that you have a wonderful Friday. The boy is barking.

Time to plug in the coffee and get ready to start work.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning World.

Welcome to Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The SUN is SHINING brightly.

I can imagine the birds singing as I sit here clacking away on the keyboard.

My trusty companion Alvin is laying on his blue blanket on the floor beside my chair.

The sky is the purest of the palest of blues that I have seen in a while.

YAY, I love Sundays.

The coffee is perking away and I am energized by the aroma as it wafts throughout the house.

Life is good.

 

Last night I was invited to attend a “paint night” with my young friends.

We had a hoot.

The painting is not actually painting in what we traditionally know it to be ….

but rather with this little plastic stick of sorts you pick up a bead that has a round head and flat bottom and lay it onto the picture.

It reminds me of paint by numbers but the picture is sticky and you attach beads.

The pictures are pre numbered of course and they are small beads.

All of our paintings were different views of the sunrise and sunset.

Morning, daytime and evening.

I cannot wait to finish mine.

Definitely longer than a one evening project.

I only did about a 1/4 and then stopped to just concentrate on visiting with my friends.

But so much fun.

We chattered away catching up on our our news and the world’s.

All three of us brought some goodies to share.

There was the taco dip and chips, veggie and fruit tray and dip, “energy bites,” goldfish and breton crackers, and this crazy yummy chocolate pudding with whipped cream and graham cracker

crumb dessert.

We had coffee and wine.

I am so grateful to have these gals as my friends.

We support and love each other.

They have young families so I am kind of like the Grandma or an older Aunt.

I have seen their children grow over the last almost ten years.

They were really just babies when I moved here and met them.

The laughter that emanates from the room when we are together is crazy.

I love these ladies.

 

Well time to head back downstairs and have some of that glorious coffee.

Just relax for a bit before changing and getting on with the day.

I have towels in the dryer to bring up and put away.

I would like to go through and put in order my papers for taxes (yup, I did not put things in good order like I was going to at the start of the year).

Go for a walk later if the temperature is okay.

 

Yesterday morning we hopped quickly over to the vet to pick up some food for Mr. Alvin.

He has enough for maybe a week but sometimes hard to gage and I did not want to run out part way through the week.

Mmm, what else.

Get ready for work.

I know that I had a couple of other things on my list ….. wipe out the oven.

 

I hope that you had an awesome Saturday night with family and or friends.

Perhaps you spent the evening watching your favourite movies cuddling with your puppy dog.

Maybe you played cards or a board game with your kids.

Whatever it was …..

 

Have an awesome Sunday.

Life is good.

Be kind and respectful to one another.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Hello My Beautiful Sister ……

 

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 29th day of June, 2018.

It is overcast at the moment with clear skies to the south (we are facing south at this time).

Feels okay outside as I was out earlier in my p.j.’s and there is no breeze.

We had a shower overnight.

Never heard a thing.

I took a vacation day to have an extra long weekend.

Yesterday we had a request to look after Master Teddy for today and tomorrow.

So he will be joining us soon.

I have changed my plans somewhat but I am flexible.

One can go through photos on the computer just as easily on Sunday as today.

One can delete emails just as easily on Sunday as today.

It all works out.

 

Well last night was our Ladies Paint NIGHT.

It was a blast.

The artist instructor was very nice.

She tried to be funny and all the ladies were not quite sure what to do.

So we laughed where appropriate and carried on.

She had done something like 242 classes.

Crazy hey.

We sat at tables at the Tony Romas Restaurant in St. Albert.

It did feel at bit awkward as I felt low in proximity to the canvas.

But that is no excuse for my “starfish.”

I tried to follow her instructions for the most part and found myself going my own way.

She claimed as my paint tray was messy that was a sign of an “artist.”

Not quite sure about that but we GIRLS did have so much fun.

We laughed and almost cried.

The girls, my friends did a great job.

We are going to find another one to do.

I thought perhaps a landscape with trees.

Practice.

I have always like abstract and that has been my thing.

But here is a few shots of my “work of art.”

My starfish’s name is “Fred” after Freddy Flintstone.

 

 

 

Well should sign off for now as Master Teddy will be along shortly.

I wish you all a wonderful Friday.

I know that I am going to enjoy this day.

 

Special Hello to:  my sister …..

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 28th day of June, 2018.

A beautiful morning with blue sky and sunshine.

There is a breeze which is keeping the temperature cool.

Perfection.

 

My last work day for the week going into an extra long weekend for me.

So excited.

Tonight I am going with two of my girl friends to a PAINT NIGHT.

Can hardly wait to try out my “painting skills.”

Or rather I should say to see if I have any “painting skills.”

It is one thing doing something abstract.

Time will tell.

I will take a photo and share my work with you.

It is a reminder for me to pick up some paint and get this room, my office painted.

I want to rearrange and redo things in here.

 

We are coming into the CANADA DAY weekend.

People will be travelling to OTTAWA this weekend to be in the nation’s capital for the festivities.

There will be music and fireworks and more.

I have never been to Ottawa and have only watched it from the comfort of my living room.

 

I am excited to be at home with Alvin.

The plan is to clean up my email, save photos outside of my hard drive and purge.

Somehow I find it hard to delete anything.

So I do not require ten shots of the same person.

I do not need a photo that is not in focus.

Time to get serious and get things done.

The other night I had a call from a charity organization who will be in the neighbourhood next weekend needing clothing and household goods.

Another reason to go through things.

Lots to do with gardening in between and walks with Alvin.

 

Have you ever been asleep and woke up speaking?

This morning we were up at 4:30 a.m. and because I have this bit of a scratchy throat I decided that we would not walk this morning.

After Alvin had his breakfast and had been outside, we hit the sofa for some extra zzz’s.

Just as the timer when off I woke up and was talking.

The only things that I remember was my Mom and sister were there.

I think we may have been shopping.

Anyway we were going to sit down at a table and my sister had been telling me she wanted to sit “there.”

Wherever there was, I am not sure.

I was telling her “sure, go ahead.”

So there must have been some history ….. but I do not remember ever having a thing about sitting in a certain spot.

Anyway I woke up and the dream fell away.

I was happy that both my Mom and my sister were there.

I do not remember having a dream with them for many years.

It is also funny at how quickly one can fall asleep and start to dream.

This is the timeline.

We laid down on the sofa at 4:40 a.m. and I set the timer for 5:20.

I woke up at one point and looked at my watch and it was 5:00, so sometime in twenty minutes I fell asleep and started to dream.

WOW.

 

Well almost time to hit the road.

I hope that you have a wonderful Thursday.

 

Special Hello to: my sister, I was dreaming of you.  We may have been shopping???

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 25th day of June, 2018.

There is a delightful breeze blowing through the open window in the office as I key/type these words.

The house is/was pretty warm this morning.

We enjoyed our walk at 5:00 a.m. with the COOL breeze blowing on us as we walked along.

There were a few mosquitos but the breeze kept them blowing by us.

This is the last day of this heat wave according to the long range forecast.

A few days in the low 20’s would be refreshing and welcome at this point.

I love summer but the heat is hard on most of us and animals.

The birds were singing their songs this morning as we walked through the neighbourhood park.

We have three ponds in the park so it attracts all sorts of birds.

I enjoy listening to them as we walked along.

We, well actually I saw a couple of rabbits out playing in the grass as we were on our walk.

Alvin was busy sniffing in the grass and did not see them in the distance.

I love watching him happily walking about sniffing away.

He is so cute.

Grateful that we got his hair trimmed and bath on the weekend.

Certainly helps him with the heat.

 

Yesterday morning I enjoyed coffee with my girls.

We laughed and told what was new with us.

The girls always have work stories.

I guess we all do.

They asked me if I like the movie “HALLOWEEN” and I said “not really, why?”

Apparently there is a new one coming out and they are going.

Nope not my thing.

The 50 Shades were not really my thing but I went to the last one with them as I wanted to spend time with my friends.

That is what you do.

Big difference between the 50 Shades movie and HALLOWEEN.

For me, anyway.

So after some discussion we found something that all three of us wanted to do.

Da da …..

PAINTING.

We are going to a paint night this Thursday evening.

I am so excited.

Our picture is of a sandy beach with the word “DREAM” in the forefront in the sand.

Will be so much fun.

I had booked this Friday off as a vacation day so then I do not feel quite so bad leaving Alvin home in the evening.

We will be walking in the morning for sure on Thursday.

 

Well almost time to go.

Gather things up.

Close windows.

Wish the breeze would be cool all day long.

 

My friend “P” is having hip surgery today.

So our thoughts are with her.

I know that she will do great.

 

Have an awesome Monday.

Be kind to yourself and to others.

I hope that you are safe and cool today.

 

Special Hello:  all of my friends ….

Always, Carol & Alvin