Last Half 2022 – August

Good Morning ALL! What a wonderful morning! We were up at 4:30 to go outside and then back to the sofa until 6:30, I cannot believe that Mr. Alvin slept until 6:30. Then we were up at he had his breakfast and then outside for a few minutes before returning inside. The sky was slightly overcast at that point and the air was cool and refreshing. I could have laid on the deck and just been so comfortable. Once inside the house we “hit” the sofa for some more zzz’s because it is Saturday and I was still tired. Next thing I know it was 8:30 so up we got. The sky still overcast with rain in the forecast for this afternoon, I thought that I would just get dressed and we would head out for a walk. So upstairs, I went to get dressed and afterward happened to look out the window and the pavement was dark, say “what?” Well shortly after that it really started to rain and now it is pouring as the rain bounces off the roof of the garage. We desperately needed some moisture but I worry and wonder about the farmers and their crops. Now the sky is that foreboding gray which makes it appear that the rain is here to stay. So much for getting out for a walk this morning or perhaps it will just stop as quickly as it started. I am concerned about Mr. Alvin as he did not poop since last night and it is not fun going out in pouring rain. I guess we will figure it out as usual, grab that trusty umbrella and hope for the best. It is windy outside. I certainly do not wish to be Alberta’s version of Mary Poppins, lol. Now that would be a sight. Feels like the time for a cup of hot coffee and relaxing. Will be nice to be able to do some cleaning and things with the temperature decreasing in the house. I think that someone is squeaking so likely has to go downstairs so this will be quick.

Last night only one of my friends was able to attend the potluck as the other had fallen ill. I hope that she is feeling better today. We, two had a good time. Way too much food but lots of leftovers so no cooking this weekend or even Monday so that makes me happy. Next week is forecasted to be hot again. So not really looking forward to that. One more thing about the potluck, I should have been clear that I was bringing supper items and not just dessert and beverage. For next time, lol.

Okay, sorry we have to go.

I wish you sunshine and rainbows. Beautiful walks with a friend or your pup.

Happy Day.

I can hear thunder in the distance.

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

Life is what you make it.

Today is wonderful and I am so happy for the rain. It is still raining.

I guess I should check the main floor windows especially the kitchen one as it opens out.

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: We are what we want to be. If you slip off that place, then pick yourself back up and try again to be where and what you want to be. We are responsible for what we put out into the universe.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

2021

Good Morning All! How are you this Saturday morning? We are doing well. My first time in weeks using the computer to write this post and it feels a bit strange. Mr. Alvin is patiently waiting downstairs for my return. I have been upstairs for a bit as I had a shower, put on makeup (yes, I did), got dressed, made the bed (yup) and a few other little things (okay brushing teeth). I am so happy that we had our first sleep upstairs in five weeks. It did not go quite as I had planned or hoped. There was a glimmer of hope that he would be so happy to be in the bed again that he would not react to the harness and leash although he has been wearing it the previous couple of nights on the sofa. I had washed his harness and dried in the dryer. Usually I let it air dry and I think that perhaps it may have shrunk a bit. Anyway, it just looked uncomfortable. So I put him in the main bathroom while I ran back downstairs to get the one dog collar that I have and put that on him. Now he has only ever wore a collar a couple of times since he came to live with me so he was freaked out by the whole thing. Perhaps it was more that we were upstairs, I don’t know and will never really know. We will see what happens tonight. He/We slept until just before 5:00 a.m. which was good considering we went to bed at 10:00 p.m. I gave him his breakfast and we went outside in the cool morning air. Once done I thought we would have a bit more sleep on the sofa. This time I was going to try and just keep my arm over him but he kept jumping up. I honestly think that those metal gate things are giving him anxiety. So I got his bed out of the kitchen and put in the living room. I laid back down on the sofa and although it took him a couple of minutes he did lay down on the bed. So that will be our future routine when we get up in the morning. If we keep doing it he will get used to it and not get so freaked out. When we got up the second time it was 7:22 a.m. and just now a huge ROAR of THUNDER. The once clear skies are overcast and perhaps we are going to have some rain. That would be nice. Although I did plan to take him for a walk in the next few minutes and almost my friends are having my birthday party here at 10:00 a.m. It was supposed to be at Gillian’s house but with Alvin, I cannot leave him for that long or at least not yet. It is one thing being upstairs. Back to getting up…. I gave him a pain pill and anti-anxiety pill and some food. He has actually been quite good since I came upstairs. Only a few barks.

Perhaps he will finally get used to the new routine. I have to start getting ready upstairs and it would be great to do this post on the computer. I am still figuring things out on the phone. The set up is a bit different. I was not able to change the category and it has been saving as miscellaneous and things like that.

Well I had better get going. I have a few things to do before the party starts. I guess there will be no walk. Don’t need to get rained on or to be struck by lightning. Good thing that Mr. Alvin is not scared of storms.

So this is our life. Living with a senior dog and being a senior, Yes, I will be 64 on Monday. That just seems not right. My mind is still in the 1970’s most days.

I hope that you are doing well. Thank you for continuing to read my posts, I so appreciate it.

Time to go back downstairs. I am going to make coffee early ….. need some.

Feels strange to have makeup on ….. I have not even been putting my “eyebrows” on lately.

I think it is raining. Good thing that I did not have the chance to water the flowers. HAIL. It seemed like hail as coming down so hard. The party may be delayed if the rain does not stop. ARGH.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning All! How are you today? We are okay and had a decent sleep so that is good. Today is my last day of work before Alvin’s surgery and vacation. Tomorrow is a personal day and after that the next two weeks are vacation time. Next day back to work is August 10,2021. Will be nice for the time off and hopefully Alvin’s recovery goes smoothly and quickly. I certainly won’t rush anything.

Last night as we were outside for one last “pee” before bed the sky had grown dark with rain clouds and there was thunder followed by lightning. We went to sleep by the sounds of the thunder roaring and the lightning flashing.

Earlier in the evening near the start of a Mary Kay Live summer event that I was attending on Facebook- Alvin wanted to go outside. I knew he wanted to sit on the love seat and just enjoy the warm air. The cushion for the sofa was in the garage so I retrieved it quickly before he could hop up the steps into the garage. We sat on the sofa him laying down sniffing the summer air and me watching some Mary Kay Directors explaining about some products they had bundled for different things one if you were camping sand so on. Two of them told about their starts in Mary Kay snd some of their best memories. I even won the first prize given for the night, a surprise – some product. Cannot wait. We just enjoyed the time outside. It was perfect outside on the deck last night.

Well I should go here as almost time for work. The time goes quickly. It was nice to see the sun shine last night and that happened in late afternoon. I forgot to say we sat on the deck in the first sunshine of almost a week.

Gratitude for the sun and the rain overnight.Have a great.

Tomorrow is the boy’s surgery.
I am excited to have it done and anxious.

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

Always Carol&Alvin

I

2021

Good Morning ALL! We hope that you are doing great on this Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Mid June. I am not sure if the weather has been playing havoc with Mr. Alvin but he did not sleep well last night and therefore Momma did not either. I am hoping that today will be quiet. The air is cool this morning which is refreshing from the hot muggy air of yesterday. The house is still hot but with the windows open it is cooling down. We slept with fans going all night. The lightning flashed and the thunder roared. At points in time when we were outside, I could see the stars. So there were clear times. Tis the season for summer rain storms. Yesterday near the end of my lunch break I hauled EVERY single one of my flowers pots into the garage. It took me a few minutes, actually over 10 minutes to put them in the safety of the garage. I always panic with respect to my flowers and plants when the forecast says “storm watch” with possible high winds and hail. So now I will have to bring them all out. It is windy and there are clouds but it has cooled down so they/we should be okay if they come out. I just think if I take all the time and money to plant them, I should look after them. Some of those pots are very heavy. The three larger black pots that were on the top deck closest to the garage door, I was able to slide them and then lift them over the door frame and into the garage. But the rest I had to lift so had to be careful. Perhaps getting some cool air will be good for us.

Yesterday it was too hot at noon for a walk so after work it had cooled down somewhat when there were clouds over head so we headed out for a walk. We did not get too far but did manage to get in a bit of a walk. Alvin drank his whole bottle of water on the walk which was about 1/2 of our regular one or close to it.

I am sorry but I am experiencing a bit of writer’s block due to being up and down all night. So I am going to sign off for today. We hope that you have a fantastic day. Hopefully you were able to sleep.

Continuing this journey called life with kindness, respect, compassion, passion, love and gratitude.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought I would add this ……. “hope”

• 

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Well another super HOT HOT Day in Edmonton.

I am not a heat person.

A tropical climate would not be for me.

I feel for animals in this heat …..

Of course, Alvin won’t stay in the bedroom with the fan blowing cold air.

He has to be with me in the hot office.

No fan and even with the window open there is no cool air.

So I guess this will be short and sweet.

I just cannot leave him in here for ten minutes or so while I do my blog.

He will not let me out of his sight.

 

One of my girl friends texted out of the blue to ask if she could come over.

She brought a nice “beverage” with her and I enjoyed it immensely.

We sat in the house and then on the deck.

 

I have some photos that I want to share but it is taking too long to download/upload them from phone to the computer.

They will be for another day.

Man it is hot in this room.

I can feel my forehead starting to release droplets of “water.”

 

Alvin is panting like crazy.

 

Update he is feeling better despite the heat wave.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Two more days of work and then vacation.

 

So excited.

 

Looks like another storm tonight.

I watered my potted flowers and moved some of them into the shelter of the house.

 

Thank goodness for fans.

 

Have an awesome Thursday.

 

Take care.

Be healthy.

 

Living with kindness and respect.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Welcome to Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Wow, not many days left in July 2020.

The time just seems to zip by.

We had rain earlier and was raining when we were up at 4:30.

I did not hear any thunder but then again, I had the electric fan running most of the night.

Slept in our bed last night and we both were awake at 4:30, thankfully did not stay up.

Makes for an early night if up that early.

Although if it had not been raining the sun would have been coming up.

It is muggy in the office this morning even with the windows open.

Looks like more rain.

 

So how are we all doing at almost the end of 5 months since this COVID19 virus became so much on our radar.

Perhaps on some more so than others.

With every country on the planet affected by COVID19 which I believe is the majority at this point; every different leader and government has taken a different approach.

Some were fast to shut down out of country air travel.

Others were not.

There were countries that took very cautious approaches and with diligence they were able to lower the amount of cases and deaths.

While others just seemed to stand by and hope for the best.

No one knows at this point the real numbers because they are only as good as they are reported.

Also I read some place that countries were initially treating any deaths as COVID19 and not doing any autopsies.

That is scary but sort of understandable in a way.

Anyway, if we all listen to our government health officials we can make a difference.

In public wear a mask.

Wash your hands often.

Social Distancing.

Just be careful.

To be honest since I came home to work on March 19, 2020 – the most people at one time that I have been around other than me is 3.

So any numbers larger than that …. honestly kind of freak me out.

I know that this is because I have not been out to the grocery stores and in public.

So this is something that I will have to get used to and be prepared with.

Food for thought.

If we do not work together …. we fall apart.

 

Well time to head to work.

Alvin is doing much better, thankfully.

I think the second set of medication has made a huge difference.

Time will tell when that medication has all been taken.

 

I hope that you are safe and in good health.

Living with kindness and respect.

I/We, shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Whoa, what a storm we had last night.

It was like Mother Nature opened the mighty barrel and let it rain.

The rain was coming down so hard it bounced like a rubber ball off of the garage roof.

I was working on our after hours phone line last night in the middle of the storm.

Just minutes before I had popped out and put my flower pots into the garage.

So glad that I did.

There were a few however that I could not get into the garage but I sheltered them as much as I could.

Back to the storm.

I watched from my office window as the sky changed from a bright blue to overcast to utter doom.

For a bit I was nervous that perhaps there might be a tornado.

The wind was bending the trees almost in half.

Truly it was the night from you know what.

Thankfully it was relatively short lived and the sky was a clear blue by 9:30 p.m.

 

This morning the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

I have the window open and a nice cool breeze is tickling my neck as I key these words.

I can feel those tiny hairs standing up as they are now awake.

Grateful the storm is over.

I know that a great many folks had water in their basements.

I am grateful that my basement is dry.

 

I noticed one of my new plants that my friend Pauline gave me for my birthday have one new flower.

After I brought the flower pots out of the garage this morning, I quickly snapped a few photos.

Then I grabbed the cushions for the lower deck out of the garage and placed them accordingly.

What a gorgeous morning.

 

Well it is time for me to drink some coffee and get to work.

I hope that you have a Happy Friday.

Continuing to live my life with as much kindness and respect as possible,

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

P.S. Alvin has a vet appointment this morning. Mainly regular stuff but I think now his other ear has yeast infection and definitely his paws are bothering him.

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning and Welcome to a rainy Monday morning.

Last night we had quite the storm with lots of booming thunder and flashes of lightning.

Even startled both me and Alvin.

I have the office window open to bring in that fresh morning air.

There is a bird chirping close by.

Calling out to his/her mate, likely.

The trees are still for the moment.

The grass is gleaming with raindrops and is that most vibrant of shades, kelly green.

Alvin is laying on his little bed as I write this post.

We had a lovely Sunday.

I was able to finish my chores in the earlier hours of the morning.

 

We walked late morning and then we came home and I worked for three hours.

As much as I would like to think that this is helping my state of mine, is it really?

I am not quite sure.

I really don’t know.

Perhaps that entire day that I worked this weekend would have been better spent doing something of a personal nature.

I definitely am finding it difficult to find that life / work balance.

With being at home, work is at home.

They are intermixed and intertwined.

Am I alone in this?

I doubt it very much.

I think for those of us who have jobs where the workload has increased substantially in this pandemic, it is difficult.

So what do we do?

 

Well it is clearly something on my mind as I have made note of this for the second day in a row.

I guess to ponder, to give consideration of this situation is good.

No matter where we are, no matter who we are ….. we are all living very different lives than we were in February.

At the end of the day, I am most grateful that I am employed, that I am able to spend this extra time with Mr. Alvin.

No commuting has been great.

Life goes on.

 

Well it is almost time to get to work.

Have some coffee, already perked and in my to go mug.

Actually I am usually one of my tea travel mugs.

It works great and keeps my coffee hotter longer.

 

So nice to be able to have my window open and listen to the birds.

To the hum of life waking up in my neighbourhood.

I can hear cars and trucks on the highway not too far away.

 

Wishing you a great day.

Whether rainy or sunny ….. it is great to be alive.

We will get through this one way or the other.

Yes, I agree, things, life will be very much different.

But perhaps that is not such a bad thing.

Take care my friends.

Be well, stay safe.

If we all life our lives with kindness and respect, what a wonderful world this would be.

 

Living my life with kindness and respect for all.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Living … One day at a time

Hello,

There is nothing quite like being ripped out of a deep beautiful sleep than by the loud crack, crash of THUNDER and the room lit by LIGHTNING.

Well that is what happened to us in the middle of last night.

WOW.

Being both wide awake we decided to go downstairs and hit the sofa for the rest of the night.

Luckily it was quiet.

I love my sofa …. always get a good sleep …. no matter the length of time.

Looks like the sky is beginning to clear.

They are forecasting some rain showers for today.

Decision on what to wear for footwear as I am catching the bus for my last four days of work before my vacation.

I don’t want my new shoes to get wet …. argh.

The carpool is on vacation starting yesterday at noon.

Lucky girl.

So excited for mine to begin but at the same time I do not wish to rush it.

Teddy comes tonight for a couple of days.

So will be nice for Alvin to have company during the day tomorrow.

Our office closes at 3:00 p.m. so will be home earlier than normal which will be nice.

 

Last night after work my daughter and I hit COSTCO.

Man did we ever hit COSTCO to the tune of over $700 …. largest amount ever spent there between the two of us.

Not like we bought anything much out of the ordinary ….

Unless you call the one package of underwear that I picked up.

Love the JONES NEW YORK ones.

Okay, perhaps that was a bit too personal but what the heck.

Just between me and you, right.

Gotta have a sense of humour otherwise what does it matter.

My daughter also picked up some moisturizer.

It was one that only ever comes to COSTCO a couple of times a year.

Sold at one of those kiosks.

It was more than the underwear.

Anyway.

 

We even managed to get out for a walk before it rained which I will just say this:  the forecast was way off …. it did not rain at 7:00 or even 8:00 p.m.

Our walk was perfect.

We even saw our friends out for a bike ride …. of course, we stopped and chatted.

Also had time to mow the back lawn (which takes less time than it takes to take the mower out of the garage).

Cleaned up the front flower bed.

There was one flower that was getting a bit straggly.

 

I hope that I made you giggle just a tad on this wonderful Thursday morning.

Alas I must sign off as there are windows to close and have Mr. Alvin go outside one last time before I leave for work.

 

Happy Thursday.

 

With kindness and respect you WILL be joyful.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,  back to Monday.

What a glorious weekend.

From beginning to end.

Sunshine to Rainbows.

Walks to lazing around.

Chores and chores.

Last night we had some serious thunder.

But as much as we need some sunshine ….

The temperatures they are having east of us …. not so much.

This morning the sky is filled with low fluffy dark blue rain clouds.

It has been raining off and on all night and earlier this morning.

There is clear sky in the distance.

Sunshine today?

 

I love to look out my office window as I write this post.

Some mornings there is brilliant sunshine and others there are raindrops.

Sometimes there are birds singing their songs.

Sometimes it is quiet.

 

Friday night my daughter ordered a toaster off Amazon for me.

Sunday morning it arrived at my house.

How lovely is that?

Very.

I am excited to try out my new toaster next Saturday unless one night this week “toast and eggs.”

That might be an idea.

 

I will say that nothing is made as solid as it once was ….

 

 

 

My lilies in the front garden.

Well they be a blooming.

Such a rich shade of red.

I could take photos of flowers all day long.

That would be my calling …. a flower photographer…

Oh, I love flowers.

The simple glorious “ness” of NATURE.

Love it.

They make me OH SO HAPPY.

Reminder to ourselves to “keep doing what you love.”

Perhaps one day it will pay for your living expenses.

Now that would be lovely.

 

Respect Mother Nature and treat her with Kindness.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin