A New YEAR 2023

Good Morning ALL! Well it has been quite the weekend so far. We, me and Alvin had a good sleep last night even with couple of times up. The wind is blowing so hard that it feels like the snow will be swept up from the rooftops and the ground and be a snow storm. Yesterday ended up being quite different than the way that I had planned it to be. I walked over to have my eyeglasses adjusted. Perhaps I should start at the beginning. Maddie, my friend’s daughter who was going to stay with Alvin while I attended the New Year Eve’s Dinner at my friend Lucy’s house – well I asked her if she could come and stay with Alvin while I went to have my glasses adjusted. Things went well so I stopped at the Shoppers Drugstore to pick up a couple of items (deodorant as do not wish to be smelly). Then back home. Alvin and Maddie did well and it was then, that I asked if she would be available to stay with Alvin while I went out for supper. She said yes. I had earlier advised her that I had changed my mind because of Alvin and work, if I am being honest. The week from HELL, I will say. I texted everyone to tell them of my changes to the plan. For sure I wanted the Hostess to know that now she would have four people including herself for supper. As it turns out she had not seen my text saying that I was not going to attend, lol. I guess she was busy with all of the calls/texts coming in from family and friends back home in China.

After Madeline (Maddie) left, I did a couple of quick things and then grabbed Alvin’s harness and some poop bags and with only a sweater (instead of coat), we were on our way for a walk. Alvin did not need a jacket and I was so warm from my walk that I wore a warm sweater. He stopped and sniffed along the way. We both enjoyed the warm air and sunshine. Divine. We went as far as just into the park which is the longest we have walked together in a long time. Then back home. We had some quiet time before I got Alvin his supper and then changed for the dinner party celebrating Chinese New Year’s Eve. Next thing I knew it Maddie was there, Alvin was happy to see her. When she arrived earlier his tail was wagging so much and the same this time. Then I was off with my gifts for Lucy to acknowledge her tradition and the New Year. It was starting to get a bit icy by this time as the sun was going down. So I walked semi slowly and carefully. When I got to Lucy’s house, our friends who live two doors down were also just leaving so we walked over together. We had a great evening. Lucy had her house decorated with red decorations for which I forgot to ask if they said “Happy New Year” or something else. All the food items for supper had a meaning. “Blessings,” “Abundance” and so forth. The dishes were so yummy. There was a noodle dish with mushrooms and beef, fish dish, shrimp, a type of meat ball with carrots, great soup and so much more. We laugh until we cried (almost). We had the best time. Ate way too much but the food was amazing. We took a selfie of the three of us without Pauline’s husband. He took a photo of us gals together earlier. In hindsight I do not think I took one of him. I was home by 8:17 p.m., I think. Pauline drove me home as it was dark and the sidewalks were icy in places. Very grateful for the ride. At home Maddie and Alvin were hanging out. She had been studying and Alvin was “watching” a Disney movie.

Photo by Adi Perets on Pexels.com

Photo by mahe haroutinian on Pexels.com

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Happy New YEAR

Photo by Angela Roma on Pexels.com

Photo by Angela Roma on Pexels.com

Wishing you a Happy New Year and a great Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

My gifts to Lucy were tea and chocolate.

2021

Good Morning All! How are you doing this Friday morning? We are well. Third day in a row that we were up and stayed up at 6:30 a.m. – no turning on the snooze button.

FRIDAY THOUGHTS

Up we are,

Listening to the hum,

of cars in the distance.

As I write these words.

Looking around,

this room,

I see hints of my life,

Photos, cards, books, plants, art and stuff.

All things that one would collect over time.

Alvin moans, then whines,

afraid to cross the floor.

Words of encouragement to help him,

cross to the hallway.

Silly boy …. but that’s okay.

Life has always been interesting,

full of surprises and not,

Mostly just the regular everyday.

Living each day as best that I can,

What else is my lot?

I fill my days with work,

happy to be employed,

working from home these days,

So happy about that.

Writing each day makes me happy.

Perhaps one day I will get my ducks,

in a row,

maybe they will fly and soar,

I will get to those heights.

As I put together my words, the writings into a book.

That is my dream.

What is yours?

Does everyone dream of something better?

Of a passion?

Of a different life?

I guess so, we are human,

of that I am certain.

Well as the minutes pass away,

it comes closer to the time,

to start work for the last day this week.

Then my work at home begins,

you know laundry and cleaning.

In between we shall enjoy our walks,

me and Alvin,

our time together.

We do not know how long it will be,

so enjoying each moment, each minute,

each day is important.

Have a wonderful Friday.

Do something that you love?

Something that you love with your whole heart?

Take that chance,

take it now.

We will continue to live each day,

with kindness, respect, compassion

and of course patience,

always working on patience.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Written this day Friday, March 19, 2021

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Good Morning All,

Well I had an interesting day yesterday to say the least.

Who would have thought that not having cable would affect your WiFi connection for work.

Well it does and it did.

So it was a long day working remotely with one of our IT staff.

Even had to take the laptop upstairs and plug it into the MODEM/Internet Connection to see if could access.

Of course, that worked (which was a good thing).

So I learned some valuable information yesterday.

TELUS Optik is Internet.

The TELUS repair person came about 12:30 which was 1/2 hour early.

Thank goodness for that.

He also found that I had a cord attached from the External Hard Drive off my Computer to the Modem that should have not been there.

So now the green light on my External Hard Drive is not flashing yellow.

Good thing.

It was after 2 p.m. when I actually was able to start work.

When I checked phone messages for work I had 32 and then received more after that.

Wouldn’t you know that I then had issues with the phone app that we are using.

So had to change password and that worked.

It was an incredibly long and frustrating day.

Of course, Alvin was needy because I was anxious.

So this will be short as I desperately need coffee and would like to start work early.

With hopes that sometime in the not too distant future I can actually get caught up or at least relatively close.

Oh what a life.

I am most grateful to our IT guy and the guy from TELUS.

They were patient and I learned so much.

Hopefully I can remember.

Alvin is whining.

I hope that this is my productive, quiet on the phones kind of Tuesday and the rest of the week.

Fingers crossed for me ….. send me some good vibes.

I will try to remain calm, cool and collected.

 

I know that good things are coming to me and to you.

I know that my life is very blessed despite the odd blip on the screen.

I am grateful.

And I can watch television once again.

 

Wishing you all a great Tuesday.

May you be surrounded by love and support.

Kindness and respect.

 

Living with kindness and respect.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hi,  well this has been one of the longest and at that the same time shortest weeks of my life.

Each day wrapped in what felt like a time capsule.

Moment to moment filled with hope.

Hope for a good healthy “poop.”

Really, I have never or not recently hoped for someone to have a good healthy poop.

Yes, I do remember wanting needing to have a good one for myself…. LOL.

Each day, every time that we go outside, I say to Alvin “please have a good poop.”

This whole week has been wrapped up and around “poop.”

Not really funny or humorous but at the same time how can you not smile.

So much of our lives … okay all of our lives revolve around having a good daily healthy poop.

We write about it …. doctors journal about it and test it ….. we think about it daily.

It is necessary for a good healthy life.

Yes, it does.

I cannot believe that we, I have been home with Alvin for a whole week filled with eager anticipation around a bowel movement.

But alas I have.

Still no “good poop” today so we have another appointment with the Vet for bloodwork.

Argh, I was ever so hopeful that it would have happened and we would not have come to this point.

I cannot believe that he has not had a good poop yet.

He jumps onto the sofa, sniffs when we are outside, happily eats his chicken & rice meals, drinks water and pees.

You would not know upon looking at him that there is anything wrong with him.

In all of the nine years that we have been together he has never had diarrhea for this length of time.

We started the medications on Tuesday late afternoon and I had high hopes that yes, he would have had a good “BM” by now.

Perhaps he can feel my frustration and anxiety.

I feel badly that I have left my coworkers with extra work to do for a whole week only one week after returning from vacation.

I feel guilty that I cannot magically make Alvin better.

I feel guilty that despite my days at home that I have not really done anything …

Well I have looked after my boy.

We have walked, I have cooked for him and put salve on his bum.

I am available to jump on a moment’s notice to go outside …..

Well our appointment is for 3:30 p.m. so as I am a glass half full kind of gal …. I am hoping for a miracle …..

Time will tell.

 

Alvin has remained patient …. more than me during this whole ordeal.

Considering it is his insides that are not functioning properly.

Considering that his life has been turned upside down for the past week.

Missing his friends …..

But that is me Alvin ….. always surprising me.

 

Quick little story to share before I sign off.

Yesterday morning while we were outside with hopes for some bottom end action, the good kind.

Something flew above us and landed on the railing on the deck.

I ducked while squinting in the bright sunshine to see what it was …. I was pretty certain it was not a bird.

In seconds I realized that it was a bat.

I have been carrying my phone with me to take “poop photos” here and there.

Okay I know, crazy poop lady.

That will be a handle that I will not soon lose that is for sure …..

While the bat was busy on the railing ….. I called out to my neighbour ….

Quickly made sure that Alvin was out of the way (into the house).

I managed to capture some video.

I did not see the face of the bat clearly due to the bright sunlight but definitely could see the wings when it landed and was about to fly away.

Never been that close to a bat.

It was small and we thought it was a baby or young bat for sure.

My neighbour thought perhaps it was injured but we could not tell for certain.

It was definitely trying to get out of the sunlight.

I had the umbrella open on the deck and it flew underneath.

At one point it actually was hanging upside down.

After opening the kitchen window …. the baby got active once again and flew away.

We figured that it was in my neighbour’s tree.

Later on I sent the videos to my kids and they replied with a phone number for Animal Control – with the Bat link.

So I decided to call just to ask some questions and was happy that I had called.

The guy on the phone just happened to be the “bat guy” …. yes, he was.

He said that the adult bats have already left for caves and other spots but the juveniles are still about trying to get their bearings.

Some may fly into an object and then be confused or could be sick or horror among horrors be rabid.

He said under no circumstances to get near to it and to keep my dog away as well.

He also said to watch when taking my dog to the backyard for a brown patch on the grass as it might be the bat.

ARGH.

Anyway, I have been examining the grass and the deck every time we go outside, just in case.

No baby bat.

I do hope that it survived and found its’ way to a safe place.

Also I learned if you happen to get near the bat and see that it is agitated or making clicking noises …. signs that it may be rabid so GET AWAY and call him.

So even at home waiting for poop to happen we have had visitors.

 

Well time to get back downstairs once again.

Time to sweep the floor and do a couple of things before we leave for the Vet.

Time for one more small meal for Mr. Alvin.

He has been eating four small meals each day.

Also he just passed some gas.

Not great.

Oh, my poor boy.

This has been the week for sure.

 

Showing kindness and respect to all creatures is important.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 22nd day of February, 2019.

Yay, it is the weekend.

Weather has definitely been warmer the past few days.

Alvin and I have been enjoying our walks after work.

Last night we picked up Teddy and Aunt J and they joined us for the remainder of our regular route.

Feeling a lot less cob webbed having that lovely fresh air being absorbed through our skin, nose and mouth.

 

Tomorrow is my sister’s 60th Birthday.

I cannot believe we are both in our sixties.

Where has the time gone?

Once upon a time we were little girls.

Our mother made our dresses and everyone thought we were twins.

For the longest time even though we are eighteen months apart – we were practically the same size.

In fact, we had friends and neighbours that the oldest two children were boys, 18 months apart and almost the exact size.

When we were all lined up for a photo we could have passed for quadruplets.

We grew up on a farm.

Surrounded by cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and horses.

There were always animals around.

Oh, we had at least one dog and many cats.

My sister and I loved animals from the beginning with the exception of her fear of birds.

Likely due to the chickens chasing her when she was young.

We worked hard as children on the farm.

Always house to clean and chores to do.

When there was time to play we usually used our surroundings in our games.

Both my sister and I loved school and our grades reflected that love.

Even when we did not live close by we were always in touch with each other.

Long distance.

Over the years we have remained close.

Now our babies have grown and there are grand babies.

She lives in Saskatchewan and I live in Alberta.

We may not chat every day or even every week but we REMAIN ALWAYS CLOSE in our minds and hearts.

Happy early Birthday my wonderful, beautiful sister.

Will chat tomorrow.

 

Well almost time to finish getting ready, last day of work for the week.

Then time to work at home.

 

Special Hello to: my sister, love you my darling.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 27th day of November, 2017.

Well we have a bit of snow ….. the sticky stuff …… now covering the ice.

At least this should make our walking a bit more safe.

Alvin needs to go for a walk tonight.

We will do it.

 

Update on the clothes dryer saga.

This is the third week without one.

I have been air drying my clothes, which works fine.

Thankfully I have a closet full of towels and bedding so that is okay.

I will have a ton of towels and bedding to wash and dry once the dryer is working again.

I helped my friend with the dryer.

Found out that it was not of the fuses as he had thought.

So we ended up taking the drum out of the dryer and VOILE it was the heating element.

We could tell as you could see that the coil had broke apart in one spot.

Apparently that is what should happen.

My friend is going to find me a heating element.

Luckily this is something he will be able to fix.

I guess if we can take it apart we can put it back together.

Learning lots.

Not that I want to do it by myself next time but I know what to check and what to watch out for ……

Interesting.

 

I mailed all of my Christmas cards that were to be mailed yesterday but ONE …. it was the ONE that has to go out of the country.

The Post Office did not open until noon and I could not hang around that long so will have to get that done sometime this week.

Also got groceries …. I was surprised to see how busy both stores were ……. drugstore and grocery store.

Done for another week.

 

Well almost time to get my things on and head out for the bus.

Debating on which coat to wear and am grateful that I am able to have that debate.

 

Take care if you are in the middle of winter where you live …… drive carefully ….. whether walking or driving or riding a bike …. take your time…… those extra two seconds could save your life and they

will not get you to your destination noticeably sooner.

Happy Monday.

 

Special Hello: to friends …. we are grateful to have you.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 3rd day of April, 2017.

Yay, guess what?

Mr. Alvin did not wake up until 4:45 a.m. which is 15 minutes before the alarm goes off.

WOW.

First time in I would say months leading to year(s).

Happy Momma this morning.

Happy at least until I turned on the outside light to let Mr. Alvin outside only to see “white fluffy stuff” floating gently to the earth.

Argh ….. really …… the snowbank from my front lawn had almost disappeared.

I am guessing that it will not hang around but nevertheless really ….. could it just rain.

Oh well …..

We had a great weekend.

Did you know that you could freeze pancakes?

I did not know until my neighbour told me.

Last weekend when I made pancakes …. way too many, of course.

I layered the leftovers ones between sheets of parchment paper and then into a zip lock bag placing a paper towel around the ends.

Into the microwave and they were almost like freshly made.

Good thing to know ….. now I will not have to eat them for several days so that they do not go to waste.

Happy Momma.

 

Last night I did the SKYPE visit with my sister who is planning a trip to South America with her long-time friend.

Actually not planning they leave at the end of this week.

How exciting.

 

I feel happy this morning.

Do I know that it is Monday?

Yes, I do.

Does it matter?

No, it does not.

Happy Monday Everyone.

 

One thing …. I put all of my winter jackets into the closet in the basement so that they can be cleaned in the fall for the next one.

Washed up my winter scarves and mitts and hats and into a rubbermaid container to keep clean.

One pair of boots remain in the front hall closet – just in case.

You never know.

I hear that down east they are having a wicked amount of the white stuff.

Not good.

 

Well here it is time to leave for the bus once again.

Mondays seem to come just as quickly as Fridays do.

Time just goes ….. in record time…..

 

Have a great Monday.

Special Hello to: my family and friends back in Regina.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 26th day of February, 2017.

Another bright sunny morning here in Edmonton.

So far our weekend has been great.

Yesterday morning we started our TO DO LIST with Alvin’s routine visit to the Vet’s Office in our neighbourhood.

One of the part-time helpers was there to help Dr. Karen.

We had not seen her in a long while and it was great to catch up.

She was so happy to see Alvin ….. she calls him “baby Alvin” …. her pet name for him.

We had a good visit and had Alvin’s appointment completed before heading out.

When we got back home I took a coffee break before heading out once again to do my errands.

All on foot …. good exercise.

First stop was the Optometrist to adjust one of my new pairs of glasses.

Once done I crossed the street to go to Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up a bus pass for March.

It crossed my mind as I was approaching the store “Wonder when there next Gala is?” and “Guess what”?

It was then …..

So I purchased a ticket as $5.00 of the $15.00 goes to help Women and the remaining $10.00 is deducted from your purchase so win/win.

Also they have free gifts, goodies to eat and drink and the possibility to win baskets of all sorts of items.

In the past my daughter and I have won on several occasions and that was nice.

I have not heard as yet so perhaps not but that is okay.

I also saw two staff that I have got to know over the years so it was nice to catch up with them.

After winning 1,000. free optimum points and having a visit, some treats and making my purchases including the bus pass, I was on my way.

Next stop the grocery store.

Just had a few items to pick up as long gone are the days when I can carry twenty bags of groceries home (I am not kidding).

When I got home …. Mr. Alvin was happy to see me and me, him.

He had to go outside …. me, too (not outside, though) ….. perhaps too much information.

Here is where you are smiling and perhaps even snickering a bit.

After I had a bit of a break and safely stored away all of the purchases, I grabbed my canvassing materials, of course coat, boots etc. and was on my way.

It was disappointing as I did not receive any donations this year except for my daughter and I will make one.

Some people on my first round said that they would make a donation on-line so that would be nice.

After home I started the laundry and some cleaning.

One item that I had wanted to do for a couple of weeks was to call my internet, cable and telephone provider to change up my cable packages/check about unlimited data plan.

First of all I spoke to a young woman and after being on hold in between her checking she transferred me to another person.

On hold again …. finally this young man came on and introduced himself as “Brandon.”

He said “repeating my name Ms. Louis” …… I politely corrected him and said Lewis and asked him where he was located.

He replied “Guatemala.”

So my Canadian internet, cable and telephone provider uses a Central American Country to serve as Customer Service, interesting.

I guess I had found that out the last time I called.

He was really nice and we had a couple of chuckles.

I asked what the weather was like there and he said “HOT.”

I told him about our minus 30 and snow weather of a short time ago and he almost lost his breathe.

There is no way he could even fathom what that meant as he said of course, they do not get snow, there.

He was very helpful and I even got an extra good deal and am so grateful to that very lovely young man from Guatemala.

I will say this, he was shocked that I knew where his country was …..

After the phone call …. continued with laundry and stuff.

After supper I started watching the Star Trek Voyager series from the first show (on Netflix) …. memories.

Also I was so lucky that it just started to snow as I finished up canvassing for the Heart & Stroke ….. pretty lucky.

There is some shovelling to do this day but not much.

Luckily it is light and not heavy/wet stuff.

Well today is cleaning and later watching the “OSCARS.”

My how time flies.

I hope that you all had a great weekend.

Looks like a clear sailing and a great week will follow.

Well time to get this show on the road.

Shovelling, laundry to finish and some cleaning.

Oh, time with Alvin and a walk.

Special Hello to: my daughter and her family.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 6th day of August, 2016.

The sun is shining.

The morning air still has a crispness to it with the coolness of the breeze.

I can hear magpies squawking away.

There is a hum of traffic from the highway that goes around our city.

This is Saturday morning in Edmonton.

My house is quiet except for the clicking sound from the keyboard as I type these words.

Alvin is curled up at the end of our bed waiting patiently for me to finish and get this day going.

 

Last night we watched part of the open ceremonies from Rio De Janeiro ….. very colourful and different.

I especially enjoyed how they incorporated a piece of the ceremony about the ENVIRONMENT.

The whole premise of the ceremonies was about us all, mankind.

Maybe with an audience of about three billion people it will open some eyes.

I love how they gave each of the 11,000 athletes a sapling to plant.

11,000 trees, how splendid.

We, I did not watch it all as it got too late for me but I recorded it to watch later.

Well done Rio.

 

Well two days before I am back to work for a couple of days and then off for the rest of the week.

Nice short work week – two days.

Wouldn’t that be nice for always.

 

I baked some bran muffins and infused them with hydrated fruit tea from my collection of Steeped Tea.

They turned out so yummy.

Who would think that you could add tea to muffins.

When they were baking it seemed glorious in the house.

Alvin really wanted some.

But did not think muffins would be a good thing for him.

He is such a foodie.

 

Well time to get going here.

Check the lotto tickets.

Do some laundry.

Change bedding …..

Make coffee for me and my neighbour “S” ……

 

Happy Saturday everyone.

Enjoy your weekend.

 

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

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

P.S.  Alvin is no longer on the bed, I guess he decided to be closer to me as he is lying outside the office door.  He truly is a Momma’s boy.  Gotta love that little guy.

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 25th day of July, 2016.

Last week of the month.

It has been a great month.

We had company from afar.

The weather was nice.

Appreciated the rain.

Lots of beautiful walks with Alvin.

Shared some cold tea beverages with some friends.

Read some great blogs.

Learned some things.

Did some purging.

Held a couple of garage sales.

Looking forward to the first two weeks in August as I am on vacation.

First time in five years that I have take two weeks back to back.

I am staying at home with Alvin although we may do a day trip.

We shall see.

Just looking forward to being home and doing odds and ends.

Here we are almost time to leave for the bus and work.

Those two day weekends just zip by but I do seem to remember that I had most of Friday off …..

Maybe it is the opposite way round more time off the faster it goes???

Well I am just babbling, clearly.

Please giggle here …… thank you.

The sun is clearing out the morning clouds.

There is a slight breeze.

Quick story ….. Alvin was on the deck this morning for a few minutes just before we come upstairs for me to get ready.

There must have been a magpie or crow circling above where I could not see as he was jumping up and barking.

After a couple of minutes I went out and lured him back into the house with the promise of a small treat.

It did not work right away but in the end his stomach always caves and he came with me.

I did hear a magpie squawk at the side of the house.

Funny guy.

You can always get him to do something if you feed him.

He likes to eat.

Not “unlike” his Momma….

Well I had better go.

Have an awesome Monday.

Special Hello to: my sister, I hope that you had a great weekend.

Always, Carol and Alvin