A New YEAR 2023

Happy New Year. Well it was an interesting end to the year for me, how was it for you? Did you go out and celebrate with friend(s) or family or both? Did you stay at home? Order in food or cook something special? Watch a movie and New Year’s Eve program? Well on December 31st, I received a phone call late in the morning from one of my friends asking me if I wanted to go for a walk. My friend Lucy. She is a neighbour of another friend Pauline. When she asked I thought she meant in the neighbour and with Alvin but she had other ideas. We finally got it sorted out and what she was really asking was if I wanted to walk near the River Valley. There is an access point less than a 10 minute drive from my house. I had never been there and had no idea what to expect. But I figured, I should get out and let her know that I would take Alvin out first and then I could be ready for 2:00 p.m., if that was okay with her. A plan was set. I went over in my head a list of items that I should wear for my 1-2 hour walk. Winter boots of course, winter coat, scarf, lighter gloves and pair of mitts and a hat. I normally do not wear a hat but this time, I figured that I would wear one and it worked out well. In hindsight, the only item that I could have used was my ice picks for my boots. The trail was not icy but it might have given me a bit more traction climbing up the slopes/hills. Back to the beginning. Lucy picked me up just before 2:00 p.m. and I said goodbye to Mr. Alvin. He had been outside for a pee and had water so he was good for a few hours. I also put up a baby gate to upstairs. The thought of him slipping when I was not at home, was not one that I wanted. We chatted during the course of the drive. Then we were there. Two cars were parked at the entrance so we pulled in behind. Next thing I know we were walking downhill taking in the most exquisite sites of nature. The trees were covered in frost and as the sun was shining but not too brightly they appeared to be almost grey. Such a beautiful sight. We both stopped to take some photos. We did a couple of selfies along the way. There was a bridge along the way over the river, the North Saskatchewan River, I believe. The trees were so thick and with the water being frozen over; it was not easy to see the “actual water” but we could see the bottom. We were walking up and down and down and up and then came the greatest incline and I could feel the breath being sucked out of me. Definitely not in great shape. I can walk on a flat surface for a long time but when you add an incline, man, I could feel it. But I did it and was very proud. Once we came out on the other side, Lucy asked if I would like to keep walking and take in the neighbourhood which was filled with huge brand new homes and some even being in the midst of construction, so we continued. Some of the sidewalks were shovelled and others were not. We both were in awe of Mother Nature. Decorative grasses were heavy with frost and looking more beautiful than during the summertime. The branches of trees were heavy with the frost and in some places, the frost was so heavy on the small branches that the slightest of breezes was making it snow. The air was warm for this time of year. I believe it was about minus 9 celsius which is perfect for walking. When we came to the end – we turned around and went back. There is something about going home that makes it much easier than going. The incline did not seem so high. We stopped along the way out taking photos and admiring Mother Nature’s achievements. I am so grateful to Lucy for calling. She had wanted to take one last walk at the River Valley for 2022. Then I was home. We said our goodbyes and she was on her way. Lucy will be at work and already working for a hour and a bit. Alvin was happy to have me back home.

I let Alvin outside for a pee and then we snuggled for a bit before time to think about supper. I think it was about 3:45 when I arrived home. Suppertime arrived and I feed Mr. Alvin and then prepared my supper. After deciding on roasted vegetables, I prepared them and popped them into the oven. During the time supper was cooking, I decided to see if I would be able to transfer the information/data from my old computer to this one. Well I was able to do so but was sad to find out that my new computer does not have enough memory to hold my 45,000 + photos. They are on the cloud and on another online data storage facility but I no longer have access to them at my fingertips. I will have to figure something out. Clearly I need to go through them and weed out the poor shots and the duplicates. I know that for a time some of the photos were duplicated when uploaded/downloaded whichever it is called. Anyway, I was able to set up the new computer all by myself. In between, I went downstairs and checked on dinner.

I am having company for coffee at 10:00 a.m. and it is almost 9:00 so I need to sign off as the shower is calling me.

The sky is painted pretty oranges and pinks this morning. Oh, we did not stay up until midnight last night. I was too tired. I watched Guardians of the Galaxy before heading to bed about 9:30 and sent off a few texts to family and friends wishing them a Happy New Year. Of course, after I was tucked away in bed, I remembered a few more that I forgot but I just could not drag my body up to send another text. Today I will send messages with wishes for a Happy New Year. Also, if someone calls you out of the blue and wants to do something that is a bit out of your wheelhouse, say “yes.”

I did try to see if I was able to “air drop” my photos from yesterday’s adventure onto this new computer but Miss Siri was not too helpful. I will try again later.

Happy New Year. All the Best for 2023. This year is going to be the best one yet.

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

Happy New Year with Love Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022 – December

Good Morning All! How are you this Wednesday morning? I am grateful to be working from home today. We had a small amount of snow last night, actually I think before I went to bed. So the once cleared sidewalk now has a light sheet not even a blanket covering.

Last night right after I arrived home from work, I set my backpack and work things inside the house, locked the house and then carried on for a walk. It was so nice last night that I thought it would be a great idea to get out for some fresh air and exercise. On the way home, I stopped by the mailbox and picked up the mail. Inside were some Christmas cards from family and friends. I was doing an internal happy dance as I love to receive Christmas cards in the mail. I love to receive them period but most especially in the mail. Once inside the house, I took off my boots, set down the mail and carried on to the garage where I brought in the garbage bin as yesterday was trash pickup. Back in the house, I had a few things to do before supper so got them out of the way. Then supper (leftovers from Saturday’s Christmas party) went into the oven to warm. Once supper was done, I sat down on the sofa and munched away at my delicious supper. Missing my boy thought, it is way too quiet in the house and I have no one to snuggle with and not having him to go to bed with or to wake up to, seems very odd. My daughter sends pictures and videos often and he is definitely thriving in his new temporary surroundings. I think he is loving having two friends (Aspen and Milo) with him all the time and of course, his sister and brother-in-law. No stairs. New toys. Someone home all of the time. Good setup. One more week from Saturday and he will be back home. It was a good idea as I believe that we both needed a break but I will be SO EXCITED to have him home.

After supper, I did the dishes and turned on the dishwasher to wash the load that had been accumulating over the past couple of days. Then I just relaxed and watched some t.v. Quiet evening.

Countdown to Christmas: 10 days until Christmas Eve (and Alvin comes home with Aspen and Milo while the kids go to St. Albert for Steven’s family’s Christmas.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. have a wonderful Wednesday ……..

Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning ALL! What a first few days of FALL we are having here in Edmonton on our street. I hope that you are doing great on this bright sunny Saturday morning. Yesterday at the office, I was there. I caught a ride with one of my coworkers and we have a plan to carpool for our future rides to the office. After work my daughter picked me up, we stopped at the store and then home. Mr. Alvin was well looked after as my neighbor Sonja had popped in several times during the day ensuring he was fed, watered and went outside. She even gave him supper so that I could go to the store on my way home from work. I am beyond grateful to her for always helping us. She takes such good care of Mr. Alvin. Oh, and a pleasant surprise from my daughter when she announced that she may sleepover and she did! So great waking up with that human in the house.

When we arrived home from the store and as we were bringing the groceries and things in from the car one of our friends Ali and her pup Bailey were walking by on the opposite side of the street. Bailey spotted us and immediately started to squeal. I motioned for them to come over and as we brought things into the house – we had a visit. We love our Bailey and she gives some of the best kisses. Another gal was walking her dogs Eddy and Bruno who are labs and big but friendly. Bailey got excited again. She has just got to know them and loves the boys. Then they were all gone and we started to put things away.

We decided to pick up something from the store for supper, something already cooked from the deli. So supper was sushi and potato wedges and for dessert, Saskatoon ice-cream. A very unlikely combination I will admit but good all the same. That is what happens when you pick up food from the grocery stores.

After supper we got ready to go for a walk. Other neighbours were out walking and had just picked up their mail so we chatted with them as we walked. We did not even get to their house and Mr. Alvin stopped and turned around heading for home. I tried to change his mind but he wanted to go home. We were not home very long and it started to rain. There had been some clouds in the sky but nothing in the forecast. Perhaps he could tell something was coming. Oh, our weather forecaster Mr. Alvin.

For the evening we decided to watch a movie and watched “LIGHTYEAR” and oh my goodness, if you have not seen it, you must. It had a bit of everything, good storyline, great characters, love story, heroes, sad, happy, incredibly funny and more. Highly recommend it.

Well time to get the coffee on as we both are coffee drinkers.

Amanda is going to stay and help me with a few tasks before heading out. She is planning to go to COSTCO, yup, COSTCO on a Saturday. She needs gas so she will decide when she gets there whether it is worth going into the store, too.

I hope that you have a great day. I am over the moon happy ……

So great to have my girl here. Mr. Alvin opened the door to her room this morning at 3:00 a.m., I guess just checking to make sure she was still here. He loves her so much. They love each other.

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

Always, Carol, Alvin and Amanda.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! I hope this find you doing great. Not sure what our weather is doing. Appears to be a mixture of sunshine, clouds, rain and wind for the weekend. All is well with our company. Alvin woke up a bit earlier than what he has been the past few days but I would expect it is due to the change in our household. They are getting along quite well. The odd growl here and there mostly from Georgie. He is about the same height as Alvin but about half the size. He can easily sit upon my lap and he is doing so right now. In fact, when we were sitting on the sofa last night he was right up there. I am so grateful that Alvin does not get jealous when other pups sit on my lap. I found that Georgie loves Alvin’s wet food and by the way, not one dog that I have come across does not like it. Likely because it costs $5 per can. Just like the humans, always going for the most expensive. Anyway, all is good. As long as everyone is happy, I am happy. After having breakfast at 6:00, we laid back down on the sofa till 8:00 which was nice. Cute story, just after they arrived later yesterday afternoon, I was getting instructions from Georgie’s Mom when we noticed he was in the kitchen, he lifted his leg and peed right smack on the end of the IKEA shelving unit that is laying on it’s side (which is my flower stand etc). I just smiled and said “it is okay” as I grabbed some paper towels and the puppy cleaner solution. What is a little pee anyway, that was the last time in the house, thank goodness. He was just marking his place. I ended up putting his food / water dishes stand on a little mat covering the area with hopes he won’t do it again. So far so good. He has market his place on two of my flower pots on the deck so of course, I cleaned them as well. What a guy! He is well behaved and listens pretty good and loves me right beside me, just like Mr. Alvin. We went for a walk after an early supper and it was still pretty warm so we only go just inside the park when the boys turned around for home. Even with a drink or two of water (I always carry water for pups) they were hot. Home we went. Georgie took the lead just as we approached our house and walked right up the sidewalk, he found it all by himself. I better get them downstairs in case someone has to pee or poo. We will have to get out for a walk before it starts to rain this afternoon.

Enjoy your Saturday.

My plans are to do laundry, clean the garage, take the pups to the park for a walk and hopefully get to the grocery store. The girls are coming for coffee tomorrow morning and unless I get very creative I am not sure what I can make unless it is eggs and biscuits. I don’t have any fruit. Cannot even bake banana muffins.

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

Always, Carol, Alvin and Georgie.

P.S. I shall post photos in tomorrow’s post. The garage is getting close to be ready for the sale on weekend of the 25th of June. Today is 59 days till my 65th Birthday.

2021

Good Morning All! How are you doing today? We are doing quite well. Makes such a difference when you receive a good night sleep. We were in bed by 10:30 and first up at 4:30 am and then up to stay at 7:22 am. Quickly got dressed for the day and out for a walk. With this heat we are only doing one walk instead of three but walking in the heat is not an option. Alvin does do a bit of walking in our backyard so that will have to do for now. Fortunately got us all the temperatures are going to dramatically drop after today. Thank goodness.

Last night we were out for a pee before bed and it started to rain. Not more than a very light rain but it felt so refreshing. We stayed out for a few minutes just enjoying. After a day of smoke filled sky and air it was a welcome reprieve.

Our cable/internet provider is installing some updated “equipment “ if you will. I don’t remember what the name is but supposed to be lightning fast and that remains to be seen.

we are having a quiet weekend mainly due to the heat. Just doing the essentials like tidying up and laundry. Bit of dusting and vacuuming, nothing too much as too hot.

I am quite certain that I won’t have television or phone or internet while this is going on so want to get things done quickly. I like how they give you a two hour window for the first appointment of the day. I hope that the appointment does not take the four hours they advised in an email. Every bit of communication has been slightly different with this morning saying need access to phone room and that you need to stay with the person and wear a mask. I have no problem the mask. I’m not sure if they mean the electrical panel, if so I’ll be carrying Alvin downstairs. Time will tell.

I had better go and have some toast before the person arrives.

Sky was clearing earlier but back to overcast. Smoke back again.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

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

Always Carol&Alvin

2021

Good Morning All! I hope this finds you well. We have had incredible highs and lows over the past 24 hours or so. Yesterday in the early afternoon our friend Pauline came over and with her urging we went on our first walk outside of the yard in weeks. I could not believe how excited he was and once harness went on he was ready to go. He loved the walk and likely went faster than should have. I too, enjoyed getting out of the house. Once back home, Pauline watched Alvin so I could have a shower. After she left we spent some time watching a Netflix series called “The Cook of Castamar,” which was recommended by Pauline. Later on we spent some time on the deck relaxing. Another hot night so I covered him with a wet towel and all seemed well until about 2 am and basically we have been up since that time. After several times in the middle of the night going outside and him not wanting to be on the sofa, I put him on one of his beds on the floor. I grabbed a bit of sleep here and there. But he did not go to sleep for more than a few minutes.

I don’t remember the time he had breakfast, I think about 5 am and then meds at 6 am. In and out, up and do. Made coffee at 9 am because that is what you fo when you are tired. At one of the early morning or middle of night trips to the backyard, I misstepped going down steps to grass but managed to make the correction do we did not fall, thank goodness.

At 10 am, with the temperature about 20 degrees Celsius we headed out for another walk. Again Alvin was super excited to get out. We saw a friend who was just heading out to take her dogs to an off leash park ….. she was backing out of the garage …. We stopped and then she saw us and rolled down the passenger window and we had a visit on the driveway. Crystal mentioned that her Daisy (passed) had the same surgery and she remembered how much she loved to walk and run despite the surgery and the importance of doing the range of motion exercises. Well time to go and get things done and perhaps give him a pain med.

I hope you have a great day.

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

Always Carol&Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this fine May 12, 2021 Wednesday morning? Alvin and I are doing okay. He has yeast infections in both ears. Came on quickly considering we had been to the vet not even two weeks ago. Might have had something to do with walking in the wind and perhaps getting dirt and perhaps I did not get them dried enough when he went outside to go to the bathroom when it was raining. The vet who he has seen before is not his regular vet but I feel she brings a new light to the table. She helps out at the clinic to give my vet a break for a week or so each month now. It is easy to burn out when you work with no breaks. I cannot imagine that being a vet would be an easy job either. Also Alvin is taking probiotics for seven days with hopes that it gets his tummy and stuff back in regular order. I that Teddy’s Mom gives them probiotics, perhaps Alvin should take them on a regular basis. Mr. is sitting in the hallway calling to me, so perhaps he needs to go out or just wants my attention. I just called him to lay on his little bed in the office and he came and now he is gone again. Definitely he is not quite back to normal. Hopefully soon.

The sun is shining brightly in a clear blue sky this morning and there appears to be just a slight breeze as I can see the trees to the south of us moving ever so slightly. I believe we are going to have a +18 degree celsius day today. Perfect for walking.

We had the walk to and from the vet in the morning and after work we went for our regular walk. The trees are budding and in some cases the leaves are already out. I love this time of year. Everything so fresh and new. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel fresh and new? I think so.

Well sorry for this being so short. The boss is calling me. If you could hear him you would want to finish this as soon as you possibly could.

I wish you all a wonderful Wednesday. Go out and enjoy the day and remember to take some time just for you. 15 minutes or 30 if you can. Walk, sing, dance …… read a book. Time is precious and we have to remember to take some for ourselves. Recharge those batteries. I am thinking. Need to do that.

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

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning and Welcome to January 1st, 2020.

I was thinking that I have to come up with a new “title” for my morning posts and all I can think of at this time is “It is a NEW YEAR.”

Can be subject to change.

Alvin and I stayed up until after midnight.

Some of our neighbours (not real close by) were setting off fireworks which for second time gave Mr. Alvin a start.

Actually just before bed, I opened the back door to let him out to the backyard and there was a loud bang which startled both of us.

I was kind of happy that I had slept a bit longer yesterday as I normally do not stay awake / up until after midnight.

Actually we even on most weekends are in bed no later than 10:00 p.m.

Last night we both brought in the New YEAR, 2020.

I wanted to be awake for that first second of the New YEAR.

It was great to hear Bryan Adams sing.

These are the photos that I took on December 31st, 2019.

One of our neighbours and friends stopped by to give Mr. Alvin a Christmas gift.

Is he not the luckiest boy/dog on the planet?

He opened it like a pro.

My photos that I put together for our NEW YEAR WISHES on social media (ok, just facebook).

Fireworks in Edmonton at the Legislative Buildings …. I snapped the photos from the comfort of my home (via television).

Today is the first day of our New YEAR, a new decade.

Perhaps a time for new beginnings.

 

Happy New YEAR Everyone.

Me and Alvin are just going to hang out together on this beautiful day.

We were already outside and it is beautiful so a great day for a walk.

Perhaps a longer walk if Mr. Alvin is up for one.

Back to work tomorrow so will get my clothes together and make a lunch.

 

Wishing you all the most glorious New Year.

The best of all things for 2020.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

P.S. now when to take down the Christmas decorations, I cannot decide (but not today) and time to start planning Mr.Alvin’s 11th birthday party.

Also this is going to be a pancake breakfast kind of first day of the New Year.

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Good Tuesday Morning,

As we wind down the month of November, 2019.

Again, I say, time is passing way too quickly.

I try to live the most that I can in any one day but that does not seem to stop the hands of time.

 

Alvin and I went for a walk after work.

We started to make the bend at the entrance of the park and he stopped.

He looked both ways and turned toward home.

So that was it …. I tried but he wanted to go back home.

Thankfully we had a nice long walk on Sunday.

I think that perhaps he does not like to walk in the dark.

At the beginning of our walk just past the poop station it is quite dark.

It can definitely be off setting for sure.

There are houses that line the outside lines of the park and perhaps they did not wish to put too many street lights out there or it would be distracting and annoying for the

homeowners.

But then there is the public who walk in the park with and without their beloved dogs.

It is truly pretty dark.

There are street lamps but not enough to light the area.

If someone or something was in the bush/trees near the water you would not see them.

I have resorted to carrying a flashlight.

The main reason was to find Alvin’s poo …. as I always pick it up.

Unlike so many others.

Seems like in the winter people don’t care.

What is up with that anyway?

Anyway, the flashlight does help us feel more secure.

In the end we turned around and headed for home.

It was a bit of a walk and being a Monday I was not heartbroken to take a short walk.

We did have some fresh air and that was a good thing.

 

So guess what I did last night?

I had just finished supper and had made some tea when I decided to “quickly” go upstairs and check my email.

While doing what I had gone to the computer to do ….. I saw my most recent TELUS bill.

When I opened it to see the amount and to write it down, I almost fainted.

It was over $170.00.

My usual bill is somewhere around $130.00.

I know that I had not rented more than one movie.

So I checked the statement.

Low and below I found out why.

They had charged me for the PVR rental to the tune of $39.00 (and change).

So I called TELUS and the wait was up to one hour.

Really, is that anyway to do business.

Have you ever waited in line at the grocery store or bank for one hour?

The only exception is the hospital or Doctor’s office and I get that …. whole different ball of wax.

But your internet/phone/cable provider.

Really.

Really.

Really.

I was mad.

I do not get mad often but I was mad.

So as I was on the computer I checked out the online assistant.

Well after they said “put in simple terms” and still did not understand, I connected to CHAT.

There were 3 people ahead of me so I figured the chances of me getting served in the next little while were good.

Finally after what felt like forever, I was connected.

She identified herself and then asked for me to verify who I was and asked what the issue was.

So I explained.

After several minutes she ended up checking my bill ( as I suggested in the first place ).

Came back on and said that she would credit my account for the rental amount and ensured me that it would never happen again.

Anyway, my bill is back to normal.

After one hour on the phone/computer I went back to my cold cup of tea.

Not exactly the way that I had planned to spend most of my time for the evening.

I could also see that Alvin was annoyed with the whole being in the office bit.

Anyway I was happy to have my bill corrected and it only cost me “one hour of my time.”

So how much is my time worth?

I guess $39.35.

 

Well time to go back downstairs.

Grateful it is a new day.

Alvin is as well.

Tonight will definitely be working on those Christmas cards because that did not happen last night.

Happy Day.

 

Have an awesome Tuesday.

Remember with Kindness and Respect we will live our lives.

I will admit that last night I was not feeling very kind.

To say that I was not wholly respectful would not be a true statement.

But anyway !

 

Always, Carol & Me Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning All,

Well no bright sun shine this morning.

More cloud cover than sun.

But no moisture so that is a good thing.

What a Saturday we had …

Started off by the house phone ringing while I was upstairs writing my blog post …

Then checked mobile phone to find out that my neighbour was wondering if Humphrey could spend the day with us from 9-6 p.m.

Of course, yes.

We had a busy day.

Doing laundry, cleaning and changing things about in the kitchen.

Moving a plant upstairs as the kitchen just seemed dark with all three plants in the window and all of the Christmas decorations.

We were in and outside.

In the afternoon we were surprised by Teddy, his Mom and little sister dropping by.

She had sent a message via messenger but I was so busy I did not see it.

She was needing a break from the house with the new puppy, Teddy’s new sister and was wondering if they could stop in.

So both Humphrey and Alvin got to meet baby Kobi.

Oh my goodness is Kobi ever cute.

I made sure to snap some photos.

We had some tea and then Kobi had to go to the bathroom as determined by her Mom.

I did not know the sign.

We ended up drinking our tea on the deck in our jackets.

It was so warm and nice outside, most enjoyable.

When it was time to leave, Teddy’s Mom asked if we could walk Teddy home on our walk.

Of course, I said.

A little while later I harnessed the boys up except for Humphrey and went for a walk.

It was icy in spots but the temperature was warm.

When we got to Teddy’s house we rang the doorbell and met his Mom at the garage.

Reason being is that “Kobi’s Condo” is the front entranceway.

It is a good space with no carpet for her to hang out.

They have it all set up.

Teddy’s Aunt was celebrating her 65th birthday so his parents were going out for supper a bit later.

His Mom asked if it would be okay for Teddy to come home with us and in the next moment he was going to spend the night.

The baby would be okay in her condo.

Teddy is downstairs at this moment barking at something going by and now Alvin.

I guess I will check again.

I checked a few minutes ago and there was nothing.

Anyway.

Well our weekend was full of pleasant surprises.

All sorts of company.

Would you like to see the new addition to the family?

She is our family, too.

You may have notice the little pink harness and a diaper.

Kobi’s Mom fixed up this diaper so that she doesn’t have an accident when she is outside of her Condo.

So cute.

I hope that you enjoy the photos.

She is just so sweet.

So little.

We including me had to be careful not to step on her.

Alvin did run her over accidentally once.

It has been awhile since we have had a puppy in the house.

I guess since Milo.

Well I should get going.

If I want to have the coffee drank before lunch time.

The backyard looks so bare without flowers and furniture.

Happy Sunday.

I wish you the best day.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin