It is a NEW YEAR.

Yay, Saturday morning.

Alvin and I were up at 4:05, then again at 6:00 and then a few minutes ago.

I was tired.

Perhaps it is in part the extreme cold temperatures that causes that sleepy feeling.

Who does not want to curl up under a cozy blanket and just sleep.

Oh well, we are up now and have a full day ahead of us.

That lazy feeling removed my desire to take down the Christmas tree last night.

So today and tomorrow.

Down comes everything.

The temperature is way too cold to go outside unless it is a necessity.

No walking for sure.

 

Last night after watching a segment on one of the shows that I record about LIVING CLEAN; I decided to do this.

I went on social media and challenged family and friends to reduce their household and life usage of plastic.

Every day I will post a tip, something that I have learned to be more GREEN or to LIVE MORE CLEAN.

I also enlisted them to post anything ideas that they had as well.

Within a few minutes several friends had posted a tip to share.

 

Perhaps in 2020 we all need to be LIVING CLEAN AND BE GREEN.

We just have so much stuff that we do not use or need.

So many items are purchased out of convenience or just plain desire.

Even me with my love of Christmas.

I like the tree and all of the decorations.

But is it necessary, no.

Absolutely NOT.

 

Over the years I have mostly ditched the plastic grocery bags and use recycled bags and boxes.

I seldom purchase plastic storage bags and mainly use glass and “tupperware” containers for storage.

But I am still using some plastics.

So many things that we use on a daily basis come in plastic containers.

Shampoo, conditioner, dish soap, laundry soap, cleaners and the lost goes on and on.

Attempting to purchase less grocery items that come in plastic wrap.

I must confess that I have purchased the net bags for my produce, and have not used them.

I WILL be using them for ALL future produce shopping.

 

This year I am going to use up what I have and go as green as possible.

Making my own household cleaners, finding items to replace personal hygiene products that are not harmful to me or to the environment.

Away with the chemicals.

It is not easy and good things seldom are … but I am going to do the best that I can.

I care deeply about the environment.

I care about what we are doing to marine life and wildlife.

It has to end.

Not necessary.

Cut out the conveniences and companies need to step back from the greed that envelopes them and make changes.

 

Okay, time to get this day going.

Please post any ideas that you have for my quest.

Let’s do this together.

Together we can change the world.

Together we can save the world.

 

Have an awesome Saturday.

Remember this is the moment to make changes that will give future generations a chance to live on this beautiful planet.

I believe that is not too late.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

The rain has been coming down in varying strengths since yesterday morning.

The umbrellas on the patio tables are drenched and drooping where they stand.

The grass is a brilliant kelly green.

I am certain that all the bunnies and other wildlife are taking protection in the bushes.

Good for the forest fires – if they are getting this rain up north.

Even poor Mr. Alvin did not want to go out in the rain.

I had to grab an umbrella and go out with him but I know that he is not finished.

So will be making another trip out with my big family sized umbrella.

The sky is that shade of grey that looks like the rain has set in for a long time.

I hope that it stops so that my boy can finish his morning ritual / business.

Kind of sounds like it may have slowed down.

I will have to keep this post short.

I am sorry about that.

Only so much time in the morning or at least this morning.

 

Question?

When it is raining in the morning do you just want to stay under the blankets and sleep?

I do, Alvin does.

 

Question?

Sometimes, I wish that Alvin could talk.

I wonder what he would say?

I wonder all of the time what he is thinking.

 

Food for thought.

 

Well Living … one day at a time …..

Today in the rain.

I have a dental appointment this afternoon so I see walking in the rain a few times in my future.

Thankfully I have an umbrella but am wishing that I had rubber boots.

 

Happy Thursday

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 27th day of February, 2019.

TO BE minus 3 – 4 today.

Welcome to SPRING.

For one DAY only.

This would be my one day only …..

A GIRL CAN DREAM, CAN’T SHE?

How about on this dreamy Wednesday we take a few minutes and close our eyes and dream of spring.

Dream of brown bunnies sitting on the grass in your front yard.

Dream of tulips blooming in your flower beds.

Dream of buds on the trees.

Dream of all of wildlife babies being born and the cuteness in abundance.

Dream of walks with only a light jacket and shoes on.

Dream of NO SNOW.

Dream of plus temperatures.

JUST DREAM.

 

Happy Wednesday Everyone.

Did you close your eyes yet?

Have a wonderful day.

 

Special Hello to: my friends near and far.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 18th day of February, 2019.

The sun is up.

Shining brightly on this Family Day.

This is a Statutory Holiday here so our office is closed today.

I am grateful to have another day at home with Mr. Alvin.

 

We were up at 4:00 a.m. as he had to go outside.

Thankfully we were in bed about 10:30 p.m.

I caught the first 30 minutes of the Elvis Presley Celebration.

Thankfully I had the mindset to record to watch at a later time.

 

The weather channel is forecasting warmer temperatures over the coming days.

YAHOO, walking will be in our future.

We did manage to take a short walk to the park yesterday afternoon.

It was cold but so much better than the past over two week period.

 

I have decided to take one hour every weekend to go through my on-line photos and delete the ones that are out of focus or duplicates.

When you have 30,000 photos on your computer – it is time to do something.

I also have about 10,000 hard copies of photos in boxes that need to be sorted.

A HUGE JOB.

 

Well I am thinking that today is a good day to make some pancakes.

My daughter might be coming over for a visit.

I love making pancakes for her.

 

So another day in paradise.

We are so blessed, me and Mr. Alvin.

 

My thoughts do go to all of the bunnies, birds and other wildlife that are desperately foraging for food.

We have quite a bit of snow.

 

Happy Family Day.

I  hope that you enjoy your time with your family.

Family may be described as any being that you “love.”

May be two-legged or four or winged or …..

Family are the ones that are ….

They may be of same blood, related or not ….

Family are the ones that you want to spend time with ….

Whether you spend the day playing board games or baking together…

Whether you talk on the phone or go to see a movie.

Just spend time together.

Just be.

Happy Family Day.

 

Special Hello to: all of my Family, related and those who are not, we love you and have a Happy Family Day.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 17th day of February, 2019.

This month seems to be passing by in light speed.

Already we are half way through and was it not the 1st day just last week.

WOW, crazy.

 

As I look out of my office window the sky is a grey-white colour just a tone darker than the snow that is covering the ground and rooftops.

No snow overnight so that is good.

When I shovelled yesterday it was difficult to find a place, a spot to put the snow.

The deck and grassy area in my back yard have SNOWBANKS.

At the front, I am shovelling above my shoulders, which is not easy.

 

Last night Teddy and his Aunt J arrived about 3:30 p.m. for a visit before having supper with us.

Aunt J brought all of the fixings for a pretty much traditional Mexican taco meal right down to the limes.

It was fantastic.

I realized how much I love refried beans, so good.

Mexicans eat a lot of beans and they are so healthy for us.

We had a great visit and during our conversation I suddenly realized about the wildlife and their struggle for food this winter.

How can they find food when there is so much food.

Some folks are leaving out food for the wildlife.

Thankfully there are some berries on the trees for the birds.

But the pickings are slim.

We do not often think of the wildlife and their struggles between nature and man.

Without wildlife – I doubt we would continue to exist.

We would forever damage the balance, the natural order.

 

The evening was great.

The boys, Alvin and Teddy had fun.

Mostly just collapsing in each other’s company.

Isn’t that what friends do?

They are good just to be around each other, no fancy conversation or entertainment.

They did have chew treats and there are toys.

 

About 8:00 p.m. or so they left for home.

We had such a great afternoon/evening.

Great conversation and food.

I showed off some of the Steeped Tea as she loves tea and had heard all about it from her sister, Teddy’s Mom.

I was happy to give her some different teas to try.

 

The rest of the evening was quiet.

I finished off the few dishes that did not fit or belong in the dishwasher.

We just watched a bit of television before retiring to bed about 10:00 p.m.

 

Saturday was a great day.

I almost forgot that while I was out shovelling,  one of my neighbours happened to be on her way to her car when she saw me.

She came over and we had a brief chat before coming into the house so she could say hi to Alvin.

Which by the way is doing incredibly well.

 

My sister called but I will share this story next Saturday as it pertains to her birthday.

 

Today will be quiet.

Perhaps a bit of laundry and if warm enough we will end out this afternoon for a walk.

Maybe should check the temp this morning before it snows.

Hoping it does not snow.

 

What a weekend.

Fantastic pizza on Friday night.

Great Mexican food and company on Saturday.

We are only at the half way point.

What will Sunday have in store for us.

No plans but you never know.

 

Special Hello to: all our friends and family.  We love and appreciate you.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 15th day of July, 2017.

Another hot one on the way…..it is late morning and already you can feel the heat and humidity.

I wished that I would have stayed up at 7:00 during one of the times that Alvin had my out of bed / sofa.

But alas I did not so we went on a walk at just before 10:00 a.m. – we were only a short way into the park when Alvin decided he was ready to go home.

The breeze was cool to me but not to Mr. Alvin.

I always carry water with us but it was not enough.

I listen to the boss so we went home.

At home I watered all of my outdoor plants and flowers and moved the flower pots into the shade.  Most of them anyway.

Supposed to be 31 degrees celsius today and then much cooler tomorrow.

We really could use some more rain.

 

I wish for rain for our neighbouring province to the west, British Columbia.

I cannot get them out of my head ….. the farmers … the animals ….. domestic and wild …… the ranchers …. trees …. the people.

Please pray for rain ……

Thinking of you my neighbours …….

 

Well today is going to be low key.

As with no functioning air conditioning movement in the house makes you hot.

I have a fan thankfully and the furnace fan is helping.

I only am concerned about me Alvin but for now he is okay.

If need be we will sit on the sofa by the fan drinking coffee and eating BON BONS …… likely not the sweets but could be coffee.

Lots of water nearby for both of us.

 

Last night I held a Mary Kay party at my house.

My dear friend “G” came over and we played with makeup all evening long.

It was great.

I felt so pretty after it all …… even got my eyebrows looking good!

I shared with the Consultant and my Friend a pitcher of Steeped Tea’s Winter Sangria with ginger ale.

So yummy…. the only thing missing was some ice.

Note to self:  make some ice cubes….

 

Have an awesome day.

Keep cool and hydrated.

Stay in the shade.

Keep your pets in the shade and hydrated as well.

Remember they have fur coats on and even though you might love the heat – they do not.

 

Special Hello to: my sister ….. very soon …..

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 13th day of July, 2017.

Rained some yesterday ….. but a beautiful day overall.

The house is cool to start this morning which will be great for Mr. Alvin.

Warming up again.

The smoke from the fires in British Columbia is slowly seeping into our city.

When you can see, smell and taste the smoke one can only imagine the density and severity of those fires for the residents of the affected areas.

To all the people and the animals whether domestic or wild you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Please rain.

*************************

On a more personal note:

Sometimes someone will make a remark that makes you think and take notice.

I will admit that somedays, okay perhaps a bit more often as of late,  I feel frustrated with/at “work.

My job can be stressful for sure.

I think that a great many people are under stress these days and I am not alone, for sure.

So as, with most people there is that frustration whether it is because the workload is daunting and never ending.

Or office politics.

Whatever it may be ….. it does have an effect on us all.

 

But at the end of the day it is the work that keeps one employed.

I have never turned away from work and most of my jobs over the years have carried a substantial workload and that is okay with me.

Sometimes it is just a combination of things.

So time to perhaps change things up a bit …..

This morning when I walk through the door at my employment; I will be me once again.

Back to the kinder, gentler, less stressed, less frustrated and more sympathetic ME.

Take things in stride and have patience.

Do not sweat the small stuff.

Remembering that it is okay not to be SUPER WOMAN each and everyday.

 

Outside of work I am that kind, gentle, easygoing, happy person.

I, as with everyone on the planet has bad days even at home but on a whole I am a good, happy, hard working gal.

Just somehow it changes when I go to work and not everyday for sure but somedays.

 

Special Hello to:  All those folks who work outside the home …..

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 10th day of July, 2017.

We had a hot Sunday here in Edmonton.

Wow, second day in a row that Alvin has not woke up before me.

Either is the heat or the fan.

We had an early start yesterday and accomplished so much before 8:30 a.m.

Even though we had a walk earlier in the morning – we went again about 11:00 a.m. with our friends.

It was very humid.

Our house was hot except for by the fan so we just had a relaxing afternoon and even had a NAP.

Yes, we did.

Thankfully it is going to be cooler for the next couple of days.

So happy for that.

Thoughts and prayers with the people of British Columbia where fires are raging out of control and the province has issued a State of Emergency.

In this situations it is all of the wildlife and poor animals that are not able to get away from the fires that I worry about the most.

 

Special Hello to: my family and friends in B.C.  – keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.  Be safe.  I am praying for rain.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 6th day of May, 2016.

 

Stories just keep coming from the northern Alberta City of McMurray.

Stories of HEROISM.

Stories of BRAVERY.

 

Each person that I speak to either has loved ones or knows of folks that lived in Fort McMurray.

 

Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

Help wherever you can.

Call the Red Cross ….

The Government will match donations made to the Red Cross for Fort McMurray.

 

My heart is with the little animals …. the wildlife.

I cannot get them out of my head.

 

Special Hello to: all the life in our North ….. I hope that you are safe and secure.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 5th day of May, 2016.

It is overcast here in Edmonton this morning.

The air is cool and there is a breeze.

Such a difference from the past couple of days.

I am actually cold this morning.

I only hope that it has cooled off up north where the wildfires are burning out of control.

They need a break.

RAIN and no lightning would be great.

Sounds like everyone was evacuated safely and that is great news.

My heart goes out to all of the animals in the forest surrounding Fort McMurray, Alberta.

I hope that all of the dogs and cats were rescued from the City.

We are so grateful to all those brave men and women whose job is to go into the inferno to fight the fires.

Whether paid or volunteers we thank you.

I hope they are all safe.

To all of the individuals out there who came together to offer up a place to sleep or to gather necessities for the evacuees, we thank you.

 

Well here it is time to leave for work once again.

The time always passes quickly in the morning.

I am also grateful this morning to a young man, a friend of my kids who is helping to get my computer back in full operation mode.

Thank you.

 

So on this Thursday be safe.

Special Hello to: all the residents of Fort McMurray, Alberta and surrounding areas, we are grateful that you are safe and secure.

Always, Carol and Alvin