It is a NEW YEAR.

Welcome to a bright and sun filled Tuesday morning.

Today is my late shift so I do not start until 11:00 a.m. and work till 7:00 p.m.

It is confusing for Mr. Alvin.

We slept in a bit later than usual, actually I would already been working for awhile.

Not much wind this morning.

Once I have my shower and coffee, I think we may head out for a walk before I start work at 11:00 a.m.

Likely a good way to start the day.

Exercise does not hurt.

 

How are you on this day?

Are you happy or anxious?

Are you sad or just okay?

There are a million of emotions and feelings running rampant through each of us at this time.

I will say for the most part I am reasonably happy.

Happy that I still have a job.

Happy that I have no commute to work.

Happy, and actually OVER the moon that I am able to spend 24/7 with me Alvin.

The boy turned 11 in January so all his time on this earth is precious.

We are “seniors.”

I do not think for the most part that either of us actually feel that way but it is a fact.

Now if we are seniors in our 60’s what happens to us in our 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and beyond.

Really old, super elderly.

At the end of the day as long as we are in good health what does age matter.

 

Mr. Alvin is whining …. not sure why.

That is always a problem when you have no voice …. no words.

So I have to take a logical guess.

Right now it may have something to do with his chew treat.

But I will keep an eagle eye on him.

Our Vet has reduced hours and no weekends.

I need to check his dew claw once again as it was beginning to get long.

If it gets too long and grows into his paw – not a good thing for sure.

With all of our walks, his nails are keeping shorter so that is good.

He has not done the butt crawl so his anal glands should be okay.

There are signs for everything, almost everything.

Dogs are creatures of habit and love routine.

Much like humans.

Most humans anyway.

No worries friends of Mr. Alvin – I will always keep any eye on him and ensure that he always has proper care.

 

Well time to hit the shower.

I was also thinking of booking some summer vacation.

We have no idea how long we will be working from home.

We have been given the date of June 30th but that could change.

Personally, I am okay with working from home for part of the summer.

Nice to have longer hours at home.

More time to spend outside.

Now if the weather will comply we would have perfection.

Time will tell.

 

So Happy Tuesday everyone.

Wishing you sunshine and rainbows.

Joy and good health.

Take care.

 

With kindness and respect,

I/We remain,

As always, Carol & Alvin

 

P.S. my friend and his grandson came and looked at the fence yesterday at noon. He will give me a quote and can do the work on a weekend.

Happy dance.  Will be great to have the fence fixed.  He will also cut down the remaining posts from the pergola and change those two boards from the

top of the fence between me and my other neighbour.  Life is good.

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

It is Sunday ….

Overcast and raining.

My nephew leaves later this afternoon and my sister arrived about 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

We have been enjoying our time together.

This is what my nephew and I did yesterday around noon.

Bright sunny day ….

The pergola came down.

At the end near the back door it was beginning to split and I was afraid it would come crashing down.

It was very poorly constructed as we found out once we decided to take it down.

The deck looks bigger and is so open.

There are the four corner posts remaining and I will remove them once I have a proper saw but for now they are solid.

 

We had pizza for supper …. nice and easy.

 

Well today is our family get together and belated birthday celebration for me.

So time to get cooking.

I am making potato salad and chicken (deep fried, chicken breast) and some vegetables and that cake.

That beautiful carrot cake.

 

Also I am going on a road trip with my sister and daughter leaving tomorrow morning.

My sister and I will take Alvin to my daughter’s where we will change vehicles.

Alvin will stay with my son-in-law while we are away.

So excited for our second annual girls road trip.

 

While I am away …. I will not be writing this blog.

So will have lots of stories and photos to share upon my return.

Have a great next few days.

 

 

 

Travelling along life’s path with kindness and respect, that is how I roll.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

What a beautiful morning today.

Bright blue sky with the odd fluffy grey white clouds dotting the sky.

Okay there are some bigger grey clouds but I believe that they are going to dissipate shortly.

The grass is this amazing green.

Everything is picture perfect.

The plants in my front flower garden are growing so fast.

 

Alvin enjoyed Humphrey’s company last night.

Some photos to share, of course.

The boys were outside in the backyard.

Alvin had come into the house but of course when I went out to see what Humphrey was doing in the back flower garden; he had to come along.

Except for work; Alvin is not far away from me.

Humphrey was sitting on the retaining wall for the back garden.

Which I may add is starting to look amazing.

Perhaps I have a green thumb after all.

Who knew?

Both Humphrey and Alvin appeared to be in detective mode.

Humphrey was starring and checking things out.

It took a while for me to figure out what he was so intent about ….

If you look ever so close you will see a little black bug.

He would go to catch it and the bug would run for cover.

Most of the time Humphrey just watched the little black bug go back and forth between the slabs of rock.

I could watch these boys forever.

Alvin was checking out something in the grass.

I thought that his black and white coat looked so handsome against the green grass.

Of course, I just had to snap a photo of the deck.

My flowers in the pots are beginning to take off as well.

Humphrey will be joining us this evening as well.

Always, look forward to have Alvin’s friends to visit.

 

I have a slight dilemma ….

The pergola over my deck was not built very well.

It was already here when I moved in ….

They did not use treated wood so the wood is beginning to burn black.

I am thinking of having it removed in the fall before winter.

It will likely last for a few years ( I checked with a friend ).

With or without?

That is the question.

I would appreciate your thoughts and comments.

 

Well almost time to head out for the day.

I guess my positive thinking did not remove those darker grey clouds.

Oh well, rain is a good thing.

Things were pretty dry around here.

 

Time to go as I have to put together a birthday gift for tomorrow.

It is the birthday of my walking buddy tomorrow.

Just in case she is able to go tonight – I want to have a little something for her.

 

I wish you sunshine and rainbows.

Be kind to your fellow humans, to every living creature and to the environment.

If we all work together ….. life will be grand for all.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 22nd day of October, 2018.

Well here we are back and Monday once again.

I guess that is a good thing compared to the alternative.

What a beautiful afternoon we had yesterday.  SO wArM.

I had an interesting and not quite as planned yesterday afternoon.

My friend came over to help/assist me in replacing two of the upper boards on my fence.

Upon further inspection (meaning when he went to pull off the boards) …. he found that some of the vertical boards were rotten.

Part of this comes from the way that the fence was built.

They left a opening at the top where all of the moisture could sit and eventually rot the wood.

SO yay.

Decided that as I did not have the boards to replace them right away that it would be a spring project.

My friend secured the boards that had loosened, the ones that we were going to replace with screws.

So Project #1 for next spring.

Then we set to work, well actually he set to work on making a trap door on the deck to access the dryer vent.

He loosened the board closest to the house so that he could find the exact location of the vent.

Voile located it.

Next step was to saw a couple of boards and ended up making a trap door.

So nifty.

The handle is off to the side behind one of the posts that hold up the pergola.

The handle is made with a screw.

When our friend first turned on the saw …. Alvin started to go to him as he thought he was in danger.

I quickly snagged Mr. Alvin as that would not have been a good scene.

I ended up with a cool trap door.

My friend’s wife ended up coming over and we chatted throughout the door making process.

Also found a few screws on the deck and tightened them.

We chatted about the other side of the fence which is leaning in to my side due in part to the stone/dirt garden wall on the other side and because they did not properly anchor the posts.

Project #2.

Project #3 will be replacing most of the deck closet to the house.

Project #4 will be clear staining the deck (suggested by my friend).

Inside of a couple of hours, I have my spring all lined up with projects.

Will have to work hard at petting sitting, selling Steeped Tea and NORWEX to pay for all of these projects.

But they will have to be done.

No doubt about it.

I am so grateful to have such good, no great friends.

 

After that outside, my friend looked at one of my kitchen chairs as one of the legs has loosened.

He will fix it later.

Then up to the bathroom to fix the drain assembly.

He had an extra assembly in the van (imagine that) but it needed one little part that was not included.

So that will be another day.

 

After they left for home, we left for a walk.

Whew what an afternoon.

Some projects finished but most outlined for the fall.

YIKES.

 

Well it is almost time to leave for work.

It was not easy getting up this morning.

Too much dreaming.

 

Have an awesome day.

So grateful for good friends.

Are you?

 

Special Hello to: my little brother who is setting off on new projects…..happy blogging.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ……

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 16th day of July, 2015.

IT IS RAINING …. oh, glorious rain …… the forecast is for two days of rain ….

I love hearing the pitter patter of the drops as they reach the windows.

The grass is already coming back to a nice hue of green as it was starting to turn yellow in the places.

The sky is overcast and that is okay.

We certainly can do without seeing sunlight for a couple of days.

So refreshing …. I am looking forward to my walk in the rain to the bus.

Somehow it is almost time to leave ….

Where does the time go?

I am energized and ready for the day.

I hope that wherever you are that you are having a glorious day.

Rain or not ….. have a happy happy Thursday.

I am sorry for no blog yesterday but I was home “feeling under the weather.”

Feeling great today …… YAY.

So if it is raining in your neighbourhood ….. grab your umbrella and go for a walk.

Nothing like splashing around in the rain.

Better get going here ….

Have a great day.

One more thing ….. I should mention …. there is one person in this household who is not a fan of the rain.

Guess who?

That would be Mr. Alvin.

He hesitated and waited and waited before he finally walked around the edge of the deck under the pergola before going down the steps to the grass.

He is so cute …..

That’s me Alvin.

Special Hello today to: my sister ….. see you soon.

Always, Carol and Alvin