Last Half 2022 – November

Good Morning ALL! Welcome to WINTER. We are down over ankle deep in snow. Alvin and I were up to stay at 5:15 this morning. After he had his breakfast, I donned my WINTER BOOTS and coat grabbed the keys to unlock the garage and outside we went with first stop to get the snow shovels out of the garage. There is nothing like shovelling snow first thing in the morning. Poor Alvin wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to go down into the grass to do his business but the snow. Actually we were outside at 3:30 and he peed in the snow which was covering the deck by several inches. He kept wanting to go down onto the grass area but did not. I moved some of the snow out of the way so that he was able to jump off the deck and go poop. Oh my Alvin. Honestly, it looks like we are well into December already with the amount of snow that has fallen. The snow is still falling and I think the weather forecast was for continued snow all day today. Oh yay. More shovelling. Anyway, I got the first round done for now. I will be able to find my way safely down the steps and to the car when it is time to go to work. That first drive to work in the snow is always fun. The snow is wet and when I removed it from the sidewalk, it was wet and “crusty” underneath, so may be icy later on.

Last night after work, we went for a walk and it was quite nice out but it was short lived. We managed to get a few houses away from ours when Mr. Alvin stopped and sniffed and then headed for home. There was no coaxing him. We just got inside the door and it started to rain/snow. I wonder if he could smell or sense that it was coming and wanted to get inside? Perhaps. Although he will walk around the grassy area in the rain or in the snow for several minutes before wanting to go into the house. That is my Alvin. I never quite know what to expect from him.

I am kind of wishing that I would have made some coffee to have before leaving for work but too late now. It was a busy first hour after getting up as I managed to feed and look after Alvin, shovel the deck and grassy area of the backyard, the front sidewalk including Sonja’s and have a shower. Feeling accomplished. Good way to start the day.

I hope that you have a safe and wonderful day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: at least it is warm out.

Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing great. Best news – we turned out the lights at just after 10:30 p.m. last night and Alvin did not wake up until 5:46 a.m., feeling on top of the world. We were up and did our early morning thing including feeding Mr. Alvin and going outside. So great to actually get more than 3-5 hours in a row. We had about 7 hours of continuous sleep. So happy.

So today is Sunday. We had a great Saturday. I did laundry, we went for a walk and I took photos with my new phone. My daughter and her husband upgraded their phones and she gave me her old one which is the equivalent of an iPhone 10. The new phone sure did the upload of photos quickly. Amanda did the transfer from my old phone to the new one yesterday morning before she left for home. So I have a new phone. Costs a bit more but that is okay. Everything has gone up – I do not expect things to be less expensive or perhaps I should give that more thought, lol. I also moved the “spring/summer” ornaments to the basement (store until next year) and brought up my fall/Thanksgiving/Halloween ornaments. More Halloween than anything but it looks good and my opinion is really the only one that matters. Not like there are others in the household that care, do you care Mr. Alvin? He says “nope.”

Playing with my new phone. Photos from our walk yesterday. On the way home we stopped, well Alvin stopped when he noticed that Humphrey looking out of the front door. They are so cute. Nose to nose and I did not react quickly enough to take photos. Next best thing, Humphrey came over for a visit.

Alvin

Humphrey

Front yard

My attempt at a selfie

Oh, the colours of fall

Fav shot

Love the background

We had a great walk. The weather has been glorious. If I could have held Mr. Alvin in my arms and taken a photo of us, I would have. Perhaps I should have placed him on one of the benches or sat down beside him. Next time.

Well time to head downstairs as I have been working on these photos for some time now and I need a cup of coffee. Alvin is patiently waiting or me outside the office.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Tomorrow is officially Thanksgiving Day but for most of Canada the whole weekend is celebrated. Family time and lots of food. Which reminds me I have not had pumpkin pie. Oh, how I wished that I had some pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

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.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Happy Friday. I trust you are well. The sky was totally overcast with a light rain when we were outside about 15 minutes ago. Now the horizon beginning to clear so perhaps we may have sunshine at some point. Yesterday was gorgeous bordering on too warm for us. In fact, Alvin was warm and woke up so we went downstairs and outside for another pee about 12:30 or was it 11:30 and then settled down on the sofa with the windows open and the fan on. We slept until 6:00. This afternoon my friend Pauline’s grand pup Georgie is coming to spend the weekend with us as his family is going to Jasper for the weekend. Pauline’s grand- daughter works there. I am excited for Mr. Alvin to have company for the weekend, it will be good for him. We know Georgie quite well and the pups get along which is great.

Yesterday we enjoyed a walk at lunchtime. I had the afternoon off as Mr. Alvin had his 5 week vet appointment. We bumped into Cookie and her Dad out for a walk. We walked together to the park and then they had to go back home as her Dad had to leave for work. Nice to catch up. Alvin had a good appointment. Nice to have his nails trimmed, his anal glands expressed, his ears healing and paws checked.

Quite breezy out there this morning.

Well folks I don’t have much more to say which is strange, I suppose. So this will be short. I hope that life is treating you well and that you have an awesome Friday.

I am grateful for my life, for Alvin, for Georgie coming for the weekend, for warmed up pizza, for nice walks, for fresh air, for clean water ……..

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. have to get working on prepping for the garage sale. Whoops almost forgot “60” days until my 65th Birthday……

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning,

Another beautiful double digit day on the way.

Yesterday was gorgeous at  +15 degrees celsius.

Bright sunshine – just perfect.

 

After work once Alvin was done outside and with supper; we went for a walk.

I took my equipment with me and by that I mean a large black garbage bag and disposable gloves.

A couple of days ago or three now there was a bag of garbage strewn over a small area just inside our park; close to the trees by the water.

For two days we walked by and it was there each time.

This time I was not going to be one of the ones to go by and either think “who would do that” or just totally ignore the trash.

Not me, cannot do that.

It meant taking and using a big garbage bag and a pair of disposable gloves but my neighbourhood is important to me.

Not only did we clean that up but I filled to the brim two of Alvin’s poopy bags with small trash.

I will never understand how people can walk by and not pick it up.

Anyway, happy to report that once again the park is clean.

I noticed a few pieces of trash alongside the sidewalk closer to my house but I had run out of bags by the time I got home.

Does that not figure?

Anyway another job for this evening’s walk.

I am going to start carrying a plastic grocery bag (if I have any as I use recycled bags).

Life in the fast lane.

We thoroughly enjoyed our walk.

I was so proud of my little rockstar as he stayed out of the garbage as I was picking it up.

You see I was holding him on his leash with one hand and picking up and holding the garbage bag with the other.

I managed.

After I raked all of the leaves on the weekend and cleaned the inbetween part with the stones; everyone else’s leaves had blown all over the yard.

So last night for the third time the front lawn was raked.

Humphrey was over (had picked him up after our walk) and the boys watched me through the living room window.

I also submitted some NORWEX orders.

It was a busy night but felt good to get some chores done.

The one thing that I didn’t do was the exercises …

I have been doing some stretching exercises for the past couple of days.

Makes a difference.

Will be doing them tonight.

 

Oh, we met Rosie’s Dad last night.

In the early morning I met Rosie and her Mom while waiting for my ride to arrive.

I must say that Rosie is a lucky pup.

They both think the world of her, too.

Another successful RESCUE story.

I hope to hear many more.

 

Oh, our Humphrey boy.

He is just so cute.

Well time to fly here.

I hope that you all have an awesome day.

 

 

Remember to fill your life with kindness and respect.

One small act of kindness can change someone’s life.

I guarantee it will change yours as well.

 

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

Well today is Thursday, no rain overnight.

Yesterday was perfection.

We so enjoyed our walk with Teddy and his Aunt J.

Couple days into our regular routine and Alvin woke up early.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday he slept until the alarm went off.

This morning we beat the alarm by waking up at 4:00 a.m.

I guess you could add me to waking up early as well.

Yikes, a little bug just flew past my nose.

ARGH.

Will have to be on the hunt for that bug.

At least it was not a fly.

I do not like flies.

 

How about some more holiday photos?

More photos of the HOODOOS @ Drumheller, Alberta.

If you ever have the chance to visit this area, please do so.

It is incredible.

We did not climb to the top but there were other visitors that did make the journey.

Also at Drumheller is the Dinosaur Museum …. the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

We did not go there on this visit but we have visited before and it is so spectacular.

Worth the time.

We investigated little nooks and crannies.

Imagining life a long, long time ago.

There was some vegetation here and there.

The colouring of the formations was different at every angle.

Well time to fly here.

I hope that you enjoy some of the photos from our girls trip 2019.

 

It is always fashionable to be kind and respectful.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 13th day of February, 2019.

Well another COLD morning out there.

You can smell the COLD, that sharpness that burns the nose when you breathe in.

A reminder to us all to ensure that our babies, our children, our pets and ourselves are dressed appropriately for this weather.

 

So on this day …. how about some photos….

They always make me feel better …..

We are in a cold snap that is breaking 20 + years records…..

So here we go….

Jewellery made by me for a wedding a few years ago.

 

Gotta love the colours the reflection made.

Alvin loves flowers.

Finding a place to showcase this piece…

Summer of 2009, my first summer here in Edmonton

Love blue skies.

Deck complete, what a beautiful sight. Now for the flowers…. FUN. 2010

Cookies, anyone?

More cards …..

This is what happens when you make things!!

More Easter Crafts

Soaking up the sun ….

Christmas Sugar Cookies, anyone ….

Biscotti, how I love thee.

Coffee, KONO coffee from Hawaii.

So good.

I hope that you enjoyed a break from the everyday ….

Flowers, puppies, nature, cookies, books and bling ….

Doesn’t get better than that.

 

Happy Wednesday Everyone.

Stay warm….

 

Special Hello to: my friends and family all over the world.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 4th day of February, 2019.

Another cold, snowy day has arrived.

First really COLD week all winter long so we really cannot complain.

Make sure that you bundle up in many layers when you go outside today and all this week.

I am grateful that both Alvin and I have a nice warm home.

We are truly blessed.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day with the exception of some “battery” issues.

Who knew that all 3 volt batteries are not created equal.

So when my friend was out and picked me up a 3 volt battery; I was surprised when it did not fit.

Not the low battery / failure signal keeps on wailing.

With some luck perhaps it will not disturb me Alvin while he is home today.

My daughter ordered me some batteries from Amazon and I hope they arrive today.

 

I am again grateful for the ride to work this morning.

Grateful that I have a warm coat and boots for the wait and walk from the bus after work.

Always seems colder and perhaps it is in the morning.

 

I am rereading the book “THE MAGIC” by Rhonda Byrne.

All about gratitude.

Counting your blessings …. being thankful ….. certainly does make your life brighter and easier.

Negative, which as of late I have fallen into, can drag you down.

Negativity takes away the brightness and makes things harder.

Every time that we criticize we cancel out the blessings that were on the way.

Negativity takes away the Positivity.

Take some time every single day maybe even all day to be grateful.

Say aloud or write on your computer or on paper – all of the things that you are grateful for ….

 

I am grateful for my house as it shelters me and Alvin from the elements.

I am grateful for me Alvin as he is a great companion and makes me smile.

I am grateful to be employed as it enables me to have this house, food on the table, to pay bills and to live my life.

I am grateful to have rides to work this week as it is bitterly cold outside.

I am grateful to my friend who is giving me and Alvin a ride to and from his surgery on Thursday.

I am grateful to be alive….

 

Well time to start gathering up things and start putting on the layers.

I hope that you are safe, warm and happy on this Monday and always.

We are so blessed …. a good thing to remember.

 

Special Hello to: my sister, keeping warm here and hope you are there, too.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 7th day of September, 2018.

Still wanting to type August instead of September.

WOW, a week into September.

Dark outside is the new norm for this time of year.

So grateful that today is Friday.

Even though it has been an extra short work week it feels as though it has been longer than the norm.

The forecast for today is 26 degrees celsius.

The past couple of days have been very nice.

So grateful to have this nice weather.

 

This morning Mr. Alvin asked me to massage his neck and shoulders and then when I stopped, he asked again and again.

I guess his muscles and joints must be sore.

You can tell he loves it and I must have it a habit to do every night and morning for a few minutes.

Perhaps I can show him how to paw-massage my neck and shoulders.

A girl can dream.

 

We have been going for one hour walks with our friend this week.

Sure have noticed in the sleeping …. both of us sleep quite soundly.

We changed up our route last night and went into a different neighbourhood.

They have some wooded trails and some have quite narrow barely kept paths.

It felt like we were in the countryside.

Alvin was walking a bit ahead (on his leash, of course), then me and then our friend as she has her cane.

I kept looking down and just as I was about to take a step, I saw a dead mouse and screamed.

My friend stopped and Alvin turned around …..

It just startled me.

Thankfully I did not step on the poor little one and we carried on but it take give me a start.

The walk was refreshing and I love chatting with my friend.

Feels like meditation.

So soothing and relaxing.

She is good company.

Alvin loves her …..

Earlier in the day when she was out walking she was this close to a baby woodpecker on a tree.

Can you imagine?

I would love to see a woodpecker and most especially a baby one.

She said it was so cute with its’ little red feathers on top.

 

Well here we go almost time to leave for the bus.

Thankfully the carpool is back on Monday.

I hope that you all have an awesome Friday.

 

Special Hello to: my sister …..

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 19th day of July, 2018.

What a gorgeous morning.

Alvin and I went for a walk at 5:15 this morning.

The birds serenaded us as we walk around our ponds – park area.

The fountain was silent as they turn it off at night.

So no water falling.

Robins hopping along looking for breakfast.

We did receive a shower in the early morning hours which helped to cool the HOT MUGGY air and give the plants, trees and flowers some extra moisture.

Our house is WARM.

I have the windows open, the electric fan and the furnace fan ALL going but it remains warm.

Not as cool in here this morning as it was yesterday morning.

Accumulated heat?

Luckily it is not to be as hot today.

The sky is that beautiful pale blue with a few morning clouds floating around.

The sun is shining brightly already high in the sky.

I captured a couple of photos of cool cloud formations last night.

Those stiff WHITE ones, the ones that look as though they mean business.

Something coming.

You know the ones.

 

Well it is almost time to go to work.

I need to go and make sure that I can have the house as cool for Mr. Alvin as possible.

Leaving the bathroom door open on the main floor as it is always cooler in there.

Always good idea at this time of year as it is on the inside wall – in event of a storm.

 

I hope that you are enjoying your July …..

I can hear the crows cawing, cawing ….

Have an awesome Thursday.

 

Special Hello to: my sister … not long now.