2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you today? I, we are really good. Bed later as someone was watching a Christmas movie and then I read for a bit before lights out around 11:30 p.m. Mr. Alvin woke up about 1:00 but I coaxed him back to bed and we slept until 4:00 and then we were downstairs and outside. It was cool but the sky was amazing. The glitter of the stars as they surrounded the moon in the night sky. If I could have laid down on the deck, I could have watched the stars for hours. Then back into the house and we slept until 7:00 a.m. (can you believe that Mr. Alvin did not fuss about his breakfast before then?). I gave the boy his breakfast and decided that we should just stay up and not lay back down. Plus when we went outside I noticed that Humphrey & Bogart’s parents were up. So up we stayed. I have gathered the laundry, changed our bedding, got dressed and am doing this post now. Feels like I have accomplished so much and it is not even 8:00 a.m. One can always have a nap in the afternoon if needed. I am going to try and get up earlier on the weekends. Usually we have been getting up between 8-830. I guess it depends if you are a morning person or a night person, right! Some people I know get up at 6:00 a.m. every single day no matter what time they go to bed. I used to get up between 4:30-5:00 a.m. when I was working at the office and now it is 6:45 a.m. What a difference no commute makes? I am sure grateful that I am able to work from the comfort of my home. Alvin is grateful as well. What are your mornings like? Do you get up at 6:00 and go for a walk, exercise, have coffee and breakfast, write a post, clean the house, do laundry or perhaps all. I have quite a few things that I would like to accomplish this weekend with the big items being laundry and Christmas Cards. This time I would like to write up the cards that I hand deliver. If I get them ready this weekend, I will have them ready to deliver once I get the cookies baked next weekend. I usually give some homemade cookies / baking to some of my friends and neighbours. People that I can physically walk and deliver to but I also have some delivered. I love this time of year.

Yesterday, we went for a full walk at my lunch break. It was SO NICE outside. The air felt warm. There were a few icy patches but nothing serious and we both stayed upright the whole walk. I had to coax Mr. Alvin to stay on the public sidewalk when we approached his best friend Teddy’s house as he always turns at their driveway and pulls me up the steps to the house. Sometimes I cannot hold him back as he is still pretty strong. I guess he is hopeful that his friend is at home. I know he misses him a lot. We don’t seem them too much these days as they are back and forth to the farm. What a true friend. Teddy’s Mom said that they could have another sleepover soon. I know that Alvin will love having his friend over for the night. We all need friends no matter who you are!

I had a craving for some popcorn, the good stuff, the Kirkland brand from Costco so I reached out to my girl friends. My friend lives two minutes away so I walked over to pick up the popcorn. We had a chat in her entranceway catching up as time seems to zing by. It felt like forever since I had seen my Newfoundland Friend (she was born in Newfoundland, Canada). I was so grateful when she handed me four packages of popcorn, the good stuff. So happy. We were talking about Christmas, shopping and the state of affairs in our grocery stores. I have not been for weeks so I had no idea that there were bare shelves in our grocery stores. Our Save-On-Foods stores have their main office in British Columbia and a lot of the produce comes from B.C. and with the recent flooding and drought this past summer, the farmers are suffering with crop failure and loss so it then is passed on to the consumer. Not by choice, but that is how it works. So they are starting to bring in more produce from the U.S. I can only imagine how the pricing is going to increase even more than it has already. Anway, I was saying about getting low on produce and before you knew it, my friend was saying that she had two red peppers that she could not eat before they spoiled, could I use some potatoes as they were begin to sprout and that she was going to bake some banana bread and would bring me some later.

I was so grateful to my friend for the popcorn, some fresh banana bread and some other food items. My “stores” were getting low and with payday next Thursday, we had some time to wait before restocking the produce. I was out of fresh fruit, only had carrots left but we were not starving. There are sometimes when you want to clear out the pantry (thank goodness I had things in the pantry and freezer) and make sure that you use those items but it is always the fresh produce that goes first and those are the foods that I love the most. Let’s face it there is just so much you can do with chickpeas, lol. So I am grateful to my friend for hooking us up with some fresh produce, thank you. I felt like I had won the lottery. Please understand that we all run into times when might need a bit of help from someone and that is okay. I will be there when she needs me. That is what friends do.

Okay it is now after 8:00 a.m. and I hear the laundry calling me to take it to the basement and start it washing. I really would love a cup of coffee this morning. The sun is coming up. It is a good day.

Sometimes when you are in a moment of feeling low, someone comes along and brings sunshine to your cloudy sky. So grateful. The sky is clear and I feel wonderful.

Have a great day. Do me a favour, keep an eye on your neighbours and friends, sometimes people do not like to ask for help and sometimes, just sometimes, someone needs your help!

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. I do love chickpeas and eat them weekly.

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Saturday. We are happy that today is Saturday and the weekend. We had a good sleep last night and in less than two hours we are going to have company for coffee/tea on the deck. I am so excited to spend precious wonderful time with two of my dear friends. Today is supposed to be 18+ celsius so hopefully by the time they arrive the temperature is warm enough to sit on the deck. It should be as it was a few weeks back on a sunny winter/early spring day we say outside on the deck in the morning sipping on our coffee and even had to take off our coats. The sun is not shining but appears to be slightly overcast. There was no mention of rain in the forecast. The sun will be shining by 10:00 a.m. – yes it will. Positive thinking. Thoughts become things.

Yesterday as you know my daughter was picking me up to take me to the office for the day. While it was great to see the handful of folks that were working on the floor – in the area where I was stationed; I truly missed the comfort of my home. My beautiful plants that line my workspace. I missed Mr. Alvin. I missed our walk at lunchtime. Our workspaces are small with barely enough room to turn around so having my space at home is wonderful. I am grateful that I am able to work remotely from home and am wishing with my whole heart that I am able to continue this. Alvin was more than excited to see me and although our neighbour had come over and spent time with him, took him out for a pee and gave him some treats – he still had to spend time alone. He is 12 years old now, a senior. Well I am so relieved that I had someone able to come in and look after him for a bit. I do have the absolute best neighbours. My daughter brought me home with a quick stop at the grocery store. Thankfully we were home by 4:30 p.m. First thing I did was to let Mr. Alvin outside after his quick hello and mad dash to the back door. We had a visit with my daughter before she left for home. As I had already fed the boy after my daughter left for home, we got ready to head out for a walk. OH my gosh, it was so lovely. The sun was shining down on our neighborhood so gloriously. I had changed into some capri type sweats, tank top and light sweater pushing up the sleeves and some light shoes with no socks, harness on Alvin (after spending a few moments trying to catch up to him as he ran back and forth under the table before he finally ran to the back door, where I was able to put on the harness) and then we were on our way. Yes, I had some poop bags in my pocket, along with the house keys and I put on my sunglass clips. We decided to walk around the ponds by our house. Life is beginning to stir around the ponds. I noticed a few days ago that two geese are strutting around the grassy area by the ponds (park area). Likely Mr. and Mrs. and perhaps they have already laid their eggs. I cannot wait for the goslings to be born. Soon there will be buds and leaves on the trees. The grass is beginning to turn green in spots. We walked by our friend Pauline’s house but she was not outside. I love our visits in her backyard or over the fence when we are out for walks. We continued on our way until we were coming up on Alvin’s BF’s house; at the neighbours they were having some roof work done (fixing and replacing shingles) and there was a huge truck parked partway in the street and covering the sidewalk so we had to cross the street before Teddy’s house. Alvin kept pulling like mad as if to say “why are we going away from his house.” When it was safe to cross, he pulled with such great force, he almost pulled me over. He pulled like mad to go to Teddy’s house so we went and as it was late, I thought we would catch them in the middle of supper. I was fully prepared and when Teddy’s Mom answered the door, the first words out of my mouth were “I am sorry, Alvin just had to come in.” We both giggled as Iris said “I had just called you to see if you guys were up for a walk.” I then said Alvin must have extra good intuition. So we went for a walk. Three pups and two humans. Alvin and I made up for missing our lunchtime walk. It was nice to catch up with her. Once back home, I made my supper and by this time it was after 6:00 p.m. so needless to say it was late when I had supper. But by just after 9:00 p.m., I was ready for bed. Pooped, one may say! What a busy day.

Well the time is passing and the girls will be here in just over one hour and I need to hit the shower. I found after being in the office and surrounded by paper (as I was doing a massive mail out), I just felt grungy. Fresh hair will feel good.

The other night when I was cleaning out one of my pantries, I found a box of bulbs that Teddy’s Mom gave me in the winter time or maybe it was last fall. Anyway they should have been planted by now so will plant them and hopefully they will grow and bloom, even if it is late.

Wishing you a great Saturday.

Remembering to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience. It is easy to “fall off the truck” so to speak as we are human but what makes us better is that we get right back up and do better. When you have a moment like I do, like we all do. Own it, say it and just get back to living with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

Future flowers – once plant bulbs

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  Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

2021

Good Morning ALL. I hope that this post finds you well and enjoying your Saturday whether you are doing things around the house, in the yard, at your job or maybe even at school. Saturdays are my day to get laundry and housework done. With only having Alvin (my dog) and myself in our home – there really isn’t too much to do. I have always made a point of putting things away after I have used them. Quite often I go through drawers and cupboards and the pantry to see what is what. The pantry is so important to go through on a regular basis. I would say once a month or two. Then you know exactly what you have and do not over buy/purchase. My pantry is like actually a cupboard that was once a piece of office furniture from prior to the renovations at my place of employment. It had shelves and has doors and fit perfectly in the back cubby area by the back door. I also keep small appliances, supplies of garbage bags as we have for kitchen, recycling and black heavy duty ones. I buy them at COSTCO as I have found that to be the most economical for me. I keep my canned goods, a small wooden crate of sorts for onions and sweet potatoes and miscellaneous food/dry goods. I like things in order within the pantry and that is likely why I clean it on a regular basis which is likely due for a clean/rearrange now. Also I decide if between what is in the pantry and freezer of the fridge what can be used for meals and then I stop buying groceries other than fresh produce for as long as I can. Might as well use up what you have before you have so much on hand that you lose track of best before / expiry dates. That has happened to me in the past and I do not like to be frivolous with that kind of thing. Also I vacuum and wash the floors on Saturday. Clean the kitchen and the bathrooms. Sundays are for less labor intensive chores. This Sunday, tomorrow I am going to video chat with my one of my girl friends from the neighbourhood. Our other pal’s husband is coming home from working in another province so she wants to spend time with him. We totally understand. Looks like Mr. Alvin is starting to lose his patience with his Momma. Also tomorrow is continue to work on Income Tax. We were issued our T4’s from our employer so I now have everything to complete my taxes.

The bright sunny blue morning sky with wisps of white clouds awaits us this day. The temperatures are rising so walking can happen once again for me and Alvin. We went for a walk at my lunch break yesterday but only went half way as it was snowing and raining. Always fun. I don’t like Alvin to get his ears wet as he can end up with an infection which he has had in the past. Looks like there is a breeze out there. The snow will be melting.

Well time to go and start the laundry and put on some coffee. I always look forward to coffee on the weekends.

We wish you a wonderful Saturday.

Continuing to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience. Both Alvin and I are working on patience.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Good Morning, Sunday it would be.

The air is bit cool but not too bad for September 13, 2020.

We had some rain earlier and it looks like there is more to follow.

The trees are swaying in the wind.

Alvin and I are putting the finishing touches on preparations for friends who are coming for coffee at 10:00 this morning.

My girl friends and I have been having coffee on weekends for years.

In the first months of the pandemic we stopped meeting but have resumed once again.

We are always cautious of keeping each other safe.

I washed the kitchen floor and still have to put out some goodies and make the coffee.

Last night after supper I baked a banana loaf.

Smelled so yummy in the house last night.

 

Yesterday was a clean out of the pantries kind of day.

I emptied the big one and reorganized things in the built in pantry.

I am lucky to have to of them to fill.

The second one is a cabinet that I purchased from our office back a few years ago when we were renovating the building.

Who knew that less than two months after returning to the newly renovated office space, our building that we own, COVID19 would hit and we would be working from home.

Some folks have been working at the office during the pandemic but they keep them spaced, everyone has to wear masks and clean after they are done in their workspace for the day.

Clean, clean and clean.

Back to the pantries.

Of course, one would think that I would have some empty cupboard space but no I do not.

I have not gone out and purchased a bunch of things either.

But perhaps I am better organized.

I do not know.

Anyway always nice to redo, reorganize things.

I feel light.

After purchasing a package of light bulbs from COSTCO on Friday, I decided to change those bulbs.

I have three big fixtures that take multiple bulbs.

When I opened the one in the family room in the basement, I realized after putting the bulbs into the fixture and turned the switch on that I had purchased non-dimmable ones

and alas that fixture is one of two in the house that are dimmable.

I was not pleased with myself.

So I took them out.

Put the one that had not burned out back in …..

I also realized that the bulbs were smaller and were 40 watt.

The tag on the fixture said maximum of 60 watt for certain kind of bulb.

NOT happy camper.

Then I climbed up the ladder and took down the fixture at the bottom of the stairs.

Put in the bulbs and voile, brightness.

Hauling the ladder up to the landing to the basement, I went to change those bulbs.

I was not able to get the fixture completely down and as it hung precariously, I grabbed my cell and called for some help.

Of course, no one was able to come over.

Back up onto the ladder and finally after several anxious minutes I was able to get it down.

It was when I was putting the bulbs in that I saw the small writing on the bulb that said DO NOT place these bulbs in enclosed fixtures.

They worded it differently but the long and short of it …. if the fixture was not open you can not use them.

I was so mad at myself.

So I left the fixture off the one at the top of the landing as I have to fix it ….. the stem came out …. not sure what to call it.

Anyway it needs some fixing before could put it back up.

Then I hauled the ladder back downstairs and took down the light fixture.

When I turn on the lights they are bright, bright and oh so bright.

Decided for now that I will leave the fixtures down and as I only have the lights on for moments at a time …. they will be safe.

I want to replace all these fixtures.

In fact, I really do not like any of the fixtures in this house including one of kinds that I purchased after our almost fire in November of 2010.

Anyway, I am babbling now.

As it won’t be cheap to replace them all …. I have to do only a few at a time.

Basement not priority.

I want simple.

Not sure why they have to make fixtures that require a degree in electrical engineering to get down.

AND

Whose bright idea was it anyway to make five million different kinds of light bulbs.

Anyway, I need to go and finish getting ready for my company.

If you have any great ideas that would help me out in my quest to have simple light fixtures.

Ones that you can just unscrew the bulb without having to spend hours taking down the fixtures, I would be ever so grateful.

I was thinking pot lights would be nice and simple but …..

 

I hope that you all have an awesome Sunday.

Be safe.

Be kind and respect of yourself and all others.

 

To our neighbours to the south that are battling the fires ….. you are in our thoughts.

I read that some of the larger animals that are able to escape the fires are coming up north.

Instructions were to keep your pets indoors and leave some water outside for the animals.

Again all the loss of life both human but mainly insects and animal life.

The numbers will be too large to accurately count.

I cannot fathom the destruction ……

 

 

With love, kindness and respect,

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Well here we are at Sunday morning.

What an odd weekend for us.

The last 24 hours seem like a blur to me.

 

Mr. Alvin did not have a great day yesterday.

In the morning he did not want to jump down onto the grass or go down the steps to the grass.

We were on the deck when my neighbour came home from grabbing a coffee.

I told her about Alvin and that I thought maybe he had injured his leg/paw.

Before I could ask.

My neighbour and our friend happens to be a Reiki Master.

She said that he was very anxious due in part to me feeling some anxiety and something that happened to him.

That makes sense as the past few days especially Thursday had me feeling pretty anxious and I am quite certain that upset him.

I do believe that his paw was hurt at the vet, not intentionally

 

He started to shake and pant at one point, so I called my neighbour.

Thankfully she was at home.

She said he definitely was feeling a lot of anxiety.

All you can do is let him get it out.

My friend also felt his paw had been hurt, his front one.

 

We all went back to her house as she thought the kitten might have got out in the backyard.

All of us went into the backyard where Alvin went down her steps onto the grass but did let out a yelp when he got down the last step.

He did his business which I was glad about and I cleaned up, of course.

We visited for a bit.

I helped her with a little job.

 

My neighbour thought that perhaps going on a walk would help calm him down.

I put his harness on him and we got as far as the lawn.

He walked around a bit and then just stood there.

So we sat on my neighbours retaining wall for her front garden and chatted through the window before heading back into our house.

 

We just had a quiet day with me doing some laundry and rearranging in the kitchen while he laid on the sofa.

Sometimes whining when I disappeared for too long.

I baked a coffee cake for this morning.

Been a long time since I baked a coffee cake and I had to try a piece for dessert (turned out pretty good).

Fed him supper.

I ate supper and then we had a quiet evening watching a movie.

He eventually was visibly calm, no longer panting or shaking.

 

We slept on the sofa last night as I thought it would be easier for him.

We went to bed just after 9:00 p.m. and I woke up first at 5:45 a.m….

I went to the bathroom and laid back down.

He showed no interest in getting up but was awake.

I set the timer on the microwave for just after 7:00 but I was so awake I was up just before 7:00 a.m.

I gave my boy his glucosamine chew while he was on the sofa.

When he first got up he stood on the arm of the sofa and then onto the sofa.

No attempt to jump off.

I gingerly picked him up and he made a slight sound of discomfort.

Already I had got his food out of the pantry and put in his bowl.

He made no attempt so I gave him a piece and he dropped it on the floor.

So I put the bowl on the counter and coaxed him to go outside.

Outside he sniffed the flowers and eventually I was able to get him down to the grass.

I did lift him down the steps.

He did his business and I lifted him back onto the deck after picking up the bundle he left behind.

Alvin walked on his own to the house, not limping or showing any signs of pain or discomfort.

In the house, I ended up hand feeding him and he easily ate all of his food.

Then I gathered things up to go back upstairs.

Took me a couple of minutes to convince him to go upstairs but he slowly went up the steps.

Even took a jump on the last two, which surprised me.

Now he is laying on his bed in my office while I type/key this post.

 

I am so grateful that today is a better day than yesterday.

He was panting and shaking for awhile …. that was anxiety.

I guess we all have some of that these days.

Animals are so intuitive and he feels whatever I feel and sometimes we forget.

So I am going to make a point of trying to remain zen especially now that I am working from home.

I can no longer leave my anxieties and issues at the office, home is the new office.

So I have some things to work out.

I know that.

Dealing with people is not always easy but I am going to work on being more “zen” and that is the best word to describe the end result.

I am a pretty positive person by nature but I also wear my feelings on my sleeve so to speak.

I do take things personally ….. with my work and I have to learn that it is not personal.

It is the job.

Sometimes it is not always easy to separate.

Lessons to learn for sure.

I have also decided that while my extra time spend doing work might help me out in some respects it is not helping Alvin out.

At the end of the day it is not helping me out and I understand that now.

My job is not to work 7 days each week.

My job is Monday through Friday.

I have defined work hours and if I work a few minutes after 4:00 to finish something that is okay but to spend hours on Saturday and Sunday or Friday night working.

Nope can do.

I need my down time, I get that now.

I work hard and I don’t think anyone can ever dispute that so I am going to work when I am supposed to work.

Alvin needs me to be present and with him.

Not having him laying in the hallway or on his bed in the office while I work on the weekends.

I guess this was another learning weekend.

 

We were supposed to meet Bailey, the new pup a few doors down yesterday afternoon.

Alvin was in no shape to be meeting with a puppy so we cancelled for now.

Today the girls are coming for coffee this morning and then my daughter might pop in for a visit around noon.

Teddy, Alvin’s BF is supposed to come for a sleepover but I might cancel that as well.

Likely better if he gets rest.

I will assess the situation tomorrow and see if we need another trip to the vet.

Also will have my neighbour check him out as well.

Does not hurt to do so.

 

Well time to head to the shower.

I need that water pounding down on me – well it does not really pound but you know what I mean.

We did get some rain overnight and there are still many clouds in the sky.

Might have to move my flower pots again.

 

I hope that you are having an awesome Sunday thus far.

Living with kindness and respect.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Thursday Morning!

Another beautiful bright sunshiny day.

I am becoming more infatuated with clouds.

Noticing them more and more.

On our way home from our walk after work the clouds were so beautiful.

There was a shelf of them hanging down and above only blue sky.

I am not sure what the technical term is but they just sat there.

Just like a floating shelf.

Almost like they could hold an object or hide an object.

Beautiful and perfect.

This morning they are wispy and appear to be touching the blueness of the sky.

Clouds ….. mmmm

 

We had a great day with the pups.

Kobi did amazing.

She pretty much stayed upstairs with me and Alvin while I was working.

Teddy laid downstairs on Alvin’s bed in the living room.

She is so full of energy.

Kobi did her best to be close to Alvin.

He was not thrilled when she nudged him to play.

Sounded like a grumpy old man.

Reminded me of someone I know.

Not really grumpy but does not like to let on that he is not.

I did snap some photos and will post them another time.

Later on in the early evening – Humphrey from next door, joined us.

Truly was a day filled with friends.

 

This is an odd morning for our household.

Mr. Alvin has his annual teeth cleaning.

No food after 10:00 p.m.

No water after Midnight.

So I made sure to give him a little biscuit at 9:00 p.m.

I tried valiantly to coax him to drink some water at bedtime but to no avail.

He has been good this morning.

When we first got up and went downstairs, I asked him if he wanted to go outside and no.

He stopped by the pantry where his food is kept.

I explained that “this morning you go to see Jenn and Dr. K to get your teeth cleaned”

I only wished that he understood.

But when I said “still night time” and laid down on the sofa, he jumped up and laid down right beside me.

I tried to lay down as long as possible so that it would be easier for him.

We “slept” until almost 7:30 p.m.

Now I have things to do.

Part of which is this post and then a shower before we leave for his appointment.

His appointment is at 9:30 a.m. which is when they open.

Dr. K will arrive between 10:00-10:15 and then between 10:30-11:00 they will give him the anesthetic which takes about 20-30 minutes to take.

Then comes the teeth cleaning.

Jenn said he would be ready to come home about 2:30 p.m.

Knowing Mr. Alvin it will be much earlier.

But time will tell.

I will pick him up whenever he is ready to come home.

He also needs more food, his glucosamine chews, perhaps some wet food as a treat, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and a new toothbrush.

It is a big day.

 

Well time to go and hit the shower.

I hope that you have a wonderful Thursday.

 

Living with kindness and respect for all.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning Everyone!

The sky is a patchwork quilt of deep blue and light blue clouds.

It is windy and cool.

Not a great morning to start the repairs on my fence but it is nonetheless the start day.

It has been delayed due to personal matters on the repairman’s side and then time delay this morning as I have a 9:00 a.m. morning.

The start time was to have been 9:00 a.m. but I didn’t think that would work out if I am in a meeting as I have to open the garage door etc.

Anyway with much luck from Mother Nature the work will begin today and hopefully end early tomorrow.

Not a huge job but big enough for sure.

 

Good news on the Alvin front.

Finally the closest to a normal poop that my boy has had since May 13th, 2020.

I will be so glad to get back to our new norm.

That seems to be an ever changing thing these days.

 

I am hopefully that we will get news on the return date to work.

Deep well not that deep in my heart, I am hoping that we will stay home until the end of August, 2020.

There are many people with children and with the schools closed and daycares closed, who looks after the children.

Not everyone has a parent or family members that is able to do this.

Hopefully we then have some more nice weather.

 

Every morning or most mornings Alvin stands by the fence that separates us from Humphrey and his Mom.

He loves his friend, Humphrey the cat.

They usually have a little visit by the fence everyday.

I guess we can all learn a lesson from animals.

Traditionally cats and dogs do not really get along but look at these guys.

They love being together.

Both are excited to see each other.

I can always tell when it has been a few days.

If we have a rainy spell and no one is really outside ….. man, are they happy to see each other.

When Humphrey visits, they both line up at the pantry door wanting a treat.

Everyone that comes to visit knows where the treats are located.

Man and Beast alike.

Too strong of words.

Okay, my daughter, grandpups, Alvin, Humphrey and Teddy to name a few.

That sounds much better.

 

Hey, if you have not heard of “PLUTO LIVING” – please go and check out YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Pluto is the cutest little dog and with help from Mom, well they are the best team to come out of Canada or anywhere in decades.

Great at giving us the news, telling funny stories, giving advice, poetry and so much more.

But most of all bringing us great joy through laughter in these uncertain and sometimes scary times.

Please seek them out you will not be sorry.

Take the time, please.

 

Well it is now time to get to work.

I have such a long, long, long commute.

I think it might be two regular steps, no maybe less from my personal computer and space to my work computer and space.

ARGH, so tough, I know.

No complaints, really.

Alvin is resting comfortably on his little bed that I made with some fluffy towels and two nice blue warm blankets.

Oh, I see the sun shining now that is a great sign.

Still pretty windy and hopefully that does not bring in any storms or hamper the work for today.

 

I wish you a day filled with love and laughter.

I wish you an easy Wednesday.

Perhaps time for a walk.

Enjoy.

 

I will continue to live my life with kindness and respect.

As I am human sometimes I have moments where I may be less than perfect.

But I will always try by best to be a good soul with a warm heart living with kindness and respect to myself and most of all to others.

 

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

I need a haircut as my hair looks nothing like this photo.

I do like this photo of me and I am not a huge fan of photos of me.

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 9th day of December, 2018.

The sun is now shining and the sky is clear.

What a Saturday I had …..

Master Teddy slept over on Friday night so I had both of the pups here yesterday.

We were up a few times during the night as I mentioned yesterday.

So the baking and laundry got off to a late start but a good start.

I somewhere along the line decided to change up the cookie menu and make the following:

Raisin Nut cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Coconut cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

After the first two cookies were baked I took a break and we went for a walk.

It was so nice out.

Me and the pups went for the full 1/2 walk and it was great.

Once back to the house after checking and doing more laundry, it was back to the cookie baking.

The time past and then it was time for the boys to eat.

I opened the pantry door which is on the interior wall in the kitchen to fetch the food.

Note: that I had been in and out of the pantry all day long.

The pups did not act any differently than usual BUT when I moved the plastic container which housed Al’s food I saw something move and I freaked screaming so loud that I

almost gave myself an anxiety attack.

The pups stopped in their tracks.

I grabbed the rubbermaid container that is currently housed the excess baking supplies and placed it in front of the pantry door.

Knowing full well that it did not completely block the opening at the bottom of the door.

I need weather stripping.

I grabbed the phone and started calling neighbours and by the fifth one I finally reached someone at home.

It was my friends that helped with the dryer, installing the trap door by the dryer vent on the deck and so on.

My friend “N” came over shortly thereafter.

I wasn’t even sure it was still in the pantry but when he opened the door …. yes it was still there.

It moved.

I screamed.

He tried in vain to catch it with his gloves ( it was very small ) but it ran under the basement door and the chase was on.

I kept the dogs away.

My friend followed it down the stairs and watched it run to the bottom and into the family room.

He asked where the light was and I yelled down where it was …

I got up the courage to go down the stairs not quite to the bottom but I could see over the stairway partial wall what was going on.

I said to close the door to the furnace room as the carpet is so thick he would not be able to run under the door.

There were a few boxes stacked in the corner by the trunk and he gingerly removed each one looking for the little creature.

ARGH.

He said we should try and catch it in the vacuum.

I took the vacuum down and plugged it in removing all of the extensions so it was down to the handle portion.

We did not see it for awhile and then it came out and ran along the wall.

I screamed.

The chase continued.

After several minutes of chasing the mouse from one side of the room to the other.

Under the television stand and around and back, my friend caught the mouse in his big thick gloves.

I ran FAST up the stairs to unlock the back door and back to the living room to keep the dogs away and to be at a safe distant.

My friend, the male friend who is older than me – did not quite get how absolutely terrifying this was for me.

So he went to show me what he had in his gloves – I screamed and he went to the back door and threw it onto the snow bank.

Which in hind sight was likely not the best plan as I watched from the bay window in the kitchen, at a safe distance …. it running down the snowbank toward the house.

I felt coldness fall over my whole body.

My friend had shut the door and was checking the weather stripping to ensure it could not get in that way and determined it likely came in when I had the door open for the dogs.

He determined that it ran under the deck at the house by the garbage can and just told me to leave the door closed and perhaps take the pups out the front if they had to go.

Not really that easy.

Anyway for a moment I calmed down.

By this time, I lost my desire to continue with the baking and felt sick and drained.

I cleaned up the kitchen.

Made sure that the boys had supper.

Made a bit of supper for myself when Teddy’s Mom and Dad arrived to pick him up.

I told her quickly and she said that she could stay with me if I wanted and I gratefully said no, that is okay.

After Teddy left …. I ate supper….. we just left all of the lights on as I heard they do not like bright lights.

I settled down later to watch a movie when the phone rang and it was my friend who was on her way home from Calgary.

He had arrived home and saw that I had called … I had not left a message.

I retold the story and she had some ideas.

After a lengthy conversation I told her that I had been watching a movie (rented one) and it was getting late by then so had to go.

Thanking her for her call.

What a night.

WHEW.

I must get this show on the road as I am once again baking and have a long list of things to do.

 

I know what it is like to be so terrified of something that it stops you literally in your tracks.

So scared that it is hard to think straight.

 

I know in my brain that it is silly to be scared of something so small when I am so big.

Perhaps it is because they are so fast.

Perhaps it is because they can carry disease.

Perhaps it is just because I had two, no actually three bad experiences when I was a child.

Scarred for life.

 

Special Hello to: all those folks who have fear for something …. I know your pain.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 10th day of June, 2017.

The sky is overcast and it is windy.

Inside the house is cool ….. no it is cold.

But no furnace is being turned on at this time.

I decided to make a choice to be more upbeat and positive at work.

Making it deliberate.

Sometimes in my job it is not the easiest thing to do but even my co-workers noticed a difference.

We can always make that choice – does not matter what is going on in your life.

Make the choice to be kind, love, receptive and abundant and then all things are possible.

If you send out this most perfect blend of energy it will come back to you.

After all you receive what you give.

Needless to say I had the best day at work.

I did not take things personally.

I realize that not everyone sees things with principles.

It is a gentle reminder that no matter how badly people act you must find a way to treat them in the manner to which you would like to be treated.

I have found that when you have that good energy it is most difficult for people to keep up the negative and poor behaviour.

Win – win for everyone.

 

Alvin and I are super excited as my daughter, his sister and our beloved Miss Aspen are coming for a visit.

Aspen has a Doctor Appointment.

My daughter is taking me to COSTCO.

I cannot believe that I am actually excited about going to COSTCO on a Saturday and a rainy one at that.

The fridge is pretty bare and the pantry.

We have made due and used mostly everything up and it is time to refill the fridge and pantry.

I made up a recipe to use a can of pumpkin that I had in the pantry making the most delectable “Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins.”

They were perfect for lunch with some vegetables.

It will be nice to be restocked, for sure.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE:

A few days ago I had an idea to write my thoughts about turning “60.”

It came to me a little while later to do a Countdown: 60 Days to 60.

It doesn’t really seem real to me to be turning sixty.

Kind of crazy actually.

I will add a Category to this blog: Countdown: 60 Days to 60.

So starting tomorrow Sunday, June 11, 2017 being the 60th day and ending on Wednesday, August 9th, 2017 being my Birthday; I will write.

There will be daily remarks, observations, feelings, thoughts, and perhaps pearls of wisdoms.

This will be fun.

 

Well gotta run and get ready for our company.

Have a wonderful day.

Special Hello to: my family and friends who without I would be just a female human being.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 7th day of May, 2016.

The sun is shining and the sky is blue.

You can smell smoke in the air which keeps us in constant thought of our neighbours to the north.

This is my story.

 

THE CAKE

This past Thursday night as Alvin and I were out on our nightly walk we happened to see our friend “P” outside in her backyard.

Alvin loves her and begged to come into the yard.

We immediately began to chat about the fires burning up north in Fort McMurray.

She told me that she had family living up there and how they had been evacuated and how her niece rescued neighbours beloved pets and others along the way.

My heart soared as she told me their story.

My friend also said that they are on their way to stay with them while things get sorted out.

As she was speaking my mind raced to “what can I do” mode.

I knew that the foodstuffs and extra bits of things in my pantry were at an all time low so I did not readily volunteer to cook something.

With no money until payday to start refilling the shelves.

There had to be something else.

Now I am not saying that I do not have anything to eat …. I am okay.

But to make something worthy of these folks it had to be special and that,I could not do at this time.

So I did volunteer my spare bedroom and my air mattress but my friend said they should be okay (they have a HUGE house).

On our way out of the yard we chatted about her flowers which by the way are amazing.

She is English, and truly has an English garden, no matter the time of year, so beautiful.

P offered me a fern as she has many ….. I accepted but we decided to dig it out on the weekend.

She gave me some bulbs last fall and I am proud to say that they are growing.

On our way home I was thinking that I did have a cake mix, yes a store bought one in my cupboard.

Usually I make from scratch but always good to have one on hand.

I knew that I had plenty of eggs and just enough vegetable oil and of course, lots of water.

So I knew that I could bake a cake and take it over on the weekend.

The only fly in my ointment was the “icing.”

I had only a small amount of icing sugar (clearly not enough to cover a 9×13 cake).

No vanilla, lots of butter, no canned milk and some condensed milk.

What to do?

I needed to borrow some type of milk.

So I went to one of my neighbours and borrowed a can of coconut milk.

That was all she had.

It would work I thought …. would not be quite the same, but okay.

So I baked the cake which turned out proper.

Then I went to work on the icing …..

Earlier I had taken the butter out of the fridge so it could soften before I made the icing.

I placed the icing sugar into my mixer bowl, followed by some cocoa, and butter which was not clearly soft enough but in my need to get this done, I went ahead.

I added some condensed milk and some of the coconut milk.

Started to blend.

The butter was not mixing so I turn off the mixer and went about some other business.

Returning a while later …. mixed some more.

Still not perfect.

Returned a while later.

This went on for over three hours …… that butter just did not want to break down.

Finally I mixed and squashed the butter by hand.

The consistency is not the same as usual as there was not enough icing sugar, no vanilla and no canned milk.

But it tastes good …. so just after 11:30 last night I put the icing on the cake.

It spread well as it was not thick.

I covered it with some sprinkles of coconut as I thought with the coconut milk it might add to it.

Also threw on some of our Steeped Tea raspberry sugar …..

The point of this story is not really about the cake but to my need to immediately help out.

I have learned that it is better to wait for some time than to rush in and not be prepared.

The cake is baked and I had my neighbour check out the icing and she said thumbs up.

So I am relieved.

Later today I will take over the cake for the heroes visiting our city.

It is not much but it is from my heart and that is what truly counts.

I have heard of so many stories of how people have given so much when they have little themselves.

It is “our way” ….. to reach out and help those in need.

We have an office up north that my place of employment is affiliated with that was destroyed in the fires.

Some of the employees at that office have lost their homes as well.

I volunteered to go up if they need a hand knowing that Alvin can easily go and stay with my daughter and son-in-law.

We continue to hear stories of bravery and heroism and they will continue for a long time to come.

We all want to help.

No matter what you give as long as you give it from your heart – it is enough.

Time to go and give Mr. Alvin a much needed hair cut.

I am thinking that I could foster a doggie if needed.

Special Hello to: all those people from Fort McMurray you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Always, Carol and Alvin