Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning ALL! I hope that you are doing great on this official FIRST day of FALL/AUTUMN! This is my favourite season of all – beautiful colours – warm but not too hot temperatures – sweater weather – fall cleanup – that fresh smell in the air – taking in the harvest of crops and gardens. There is a breeze on this first day of fall, the sun is slowly rising in the sky.

The sights of “autumns gone by”

Our first trip to my daughter and son-in-law’s new home at Lac Ste. Anne – Alberta Beach, Thanksgiving 2021. Home grown green peppers. Wreath on front door which I changed up a bit this year and did not update the photos. One of our many adventures to the park north of where we live, it was a beautiful fall day. Old photos of our tree in the fall – love the colour. I love this colourful candle holder and the way the sun shines on it.

Lac Ste. Anne – Alberta Beach

Thanksgiving 2021

Alberta Beach

Fall Day

Pepper Harvest 2021

Fall Wreath

Adventure with Alvin

Park north of us

Alvin

Fall gone by

Our tree

Reminds me of Autumn

To get us in the mood for the first day of Fall.

I go to the office tomorrow and am thinking of all the walks that I have had at lunch time and right after work with Mr. Alvin over the last 2.5 years. I am sad that we have to go back to sitting in a dreary office where I cannot see the sun shining or the weather changing. Back to early bedtime and up earlier to fit in a commute to the office. Not really sure how this is supposed to be good for anyone. This is 2022 and we have changed our way of life due to a pandemic. So why are we trying to recreate a time before the pandemic? There is no going back, we can only move forward. I will miss those extra hours each day that I had with Mr. Alvin and in my home. We go back to work three days each week starting in October. Back to close quarters and surrounded by germs. YAY. What a life?

Well sorry for the dip in happiness moment. It is the truth and so we must state it.

I hope that you have a great day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Second Half of the NEW YEAR – last quarter.

Good Morning All. Welcome to a SNOW COVERED ground here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and it is still coming down. When we were up at 5:00 a.m. – there was no snow. Now we have a couple of inches or so. I love the look of the ground with a pure white cover. It does present itself with work – shovelling. I have already shovelled part of the deck and the grass area where Mr. Alvin does his business because wouldn’t you know it I was lazy at 5:00 and did not go out with him. I saw him poop by the fence and memorized in my mind where he went so that I could pick it up later. Not thinking that in less than a couple of hours it was snowing and would be covered. Luckily when I was out shovelling he pooped again and I got it right away and the other must not have been much as it did not show up in the shovelling. Sorry for the grossing out but I find it humorous. If we cannot laugh at “poop” then what can we laugh at. Besides the world could use some laughter right about now. Poop story over.

Looks like I will have lots of shovelling in my future. Also the pups Teddy and Kobie are supposed to be coming over for the day. I just texted their Mom to see if they are still travelling to the farm. I am not sure how much snow we are supposed to get today. So we shall wait and see if the pups will be joining us today or not.

I figured if the pups come for the day that I would work on and hopefully finish all of the Christmas cards that need to be mailed. I made my mailing list of cards and will check to ensure that I did not miss anyone. I have a couple of parcels to finish for posting. Might as well do that today. I like to stay on the main floor when there are three pups in the house. Also I have the Christmas tree up and with three pups most especially the little one who likes to run and investigate, I like to watch. I am also on the hunt for some potting soil as I have a couple of plants that were given to me recently that require transplanting. Another little job. There is always lots to do. Oh and laundry. Will there ever be a time when we don’t have to do laundry? Guess not. At least it is easy peasy these days. I remember in the OLDER DAYS having to do laundry for seven people using the wringer washing machine and then having to hang everything on the clothesline. We did later get a propane dryer which was nothing like the dryers of today. Besides the clothes always smelled so good even in the winter. Ironing. We used to iron even the bedsheets. So I am not going to seriously complain about doing laundry. Point just made that there seems to be always lots of laundry to wash and when you consider that I am the only two legged in the household, makes me wonder. Now that being said Alvin has some laundry but not as much. Reminding me that his harness needs to be washed. Today would be a good day.

What is going on in your life? Do you have a busy Saturday planned or not planned? Oh NO, i just looked out of the office window and it is snowing heavily. YIKES. Time to build up those arm muscles. Gotta love that. Sorry back to you. If you live in the United States, I can only imagine how you are feeling. Up and down. I hope for good results.

Well from poop to election results.

Time to go and put on some coffee. I so enjoy coffee on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Now my Christmas Tree and decorations does not look so out of place. I will have to change my wreath on the front door. Time to go from FALL to WINTER.

I wish you a wonderful Saturday. With wishes of good cheer, time to relax, perhaps a chat with a friend or family member who lives far away, laughter, and above all, I wish you good health. That is the cornerstone of our life. Without it, there is no good life.

I/We continue to live our lives with kindness and respect and compassion for all life.

As Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hello, How are you?  Good Morning.

Well we did have a rain shower last night.

I missed the big event, thankfully.

Although my little buddy was awake ultra early ….. @ 2:30 a.m. ….. outside and then back to the sofa.

He was restless.

But he is good now and can rest during the day.

Me on the other hand can only hope that I can retain my “awakeness” and some sense of memory and all of that ….

Can you tell that my sleep was choppy?

Yup.

I can.

Kind of hard to formulate complete intelligent sentences when you are sleep deprived.

Oh well, it is Friday and I will manage.

Reminds me of when my daughter was a small child.

I guess this has come full circle.

 

Well I, we are excited as tomorrow the GRAND PUPS “Miss Aspen” and “Baby Milo” are coming to spend the day with us.

I also have a coffee party with the young ones in the morning for a couple of hours which I may cut short by a bit so that I can be with the pups.

Time is precious after all.

 

So these are my grand pups.

Miss Aspen in the top photo and Baby Milo in the bottom photo.

 

I placed my FALL or AUTUMN wreath on the door a few days ago.

I guess we are close to that time.

This photo is from a long time ago when the wreath was fairly new.

The wreath has a more weathered look now and I have it placed differently on the door.

Perhaps I shall take another photo.

 

Okay, I guess that I am babbling.

Am catching a ride with my neighbour as my carpool took the day off.

Just enough time now to have Alvin go outside for an extra bathroom break and grab my lunch.

I am catching the bus home so will be later and Alvin … well better to take an extra one.

 

I hope that you are having an awesome morning thus far.

Have a great Friday.

 

Remember to influence life with kindness and respect.

 

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 3rd day of May, 2018.

Well here we are ….. entering into the month of May.

Last night was beautiful even though it felt quite cool in the morning.

The wind was BLOWING so hard last night that at one point earlier in the evening, I took down my “spring/summer” wreath from the door.

Thankfully it is calm this morning.

We did receive a few drops of rain last night in the evening.

Not really enough to even settle the dust.

Who knows what summer will be like.

Will it be hot and dry?

Will it be hot, raining and muggy?

Will it be cold and wet?

Will it be cold and dry?

Will it arrive?

I am sure one way or the other that it will arrive.

Time will only tell.

Even the weather forecasters do not seem to know for sure.

I think that weather would be one of the most difficult things to forecast.

 

Well Alvin is continuing to lay on his blue blanket beside me in the office.

I love when he is close to me.

He heard some birds this morning outside in the back yard.

They sounded like swallows, something small but loud.

Anyway he barked three times and that was it ….. went out and brought him into the house.

Cannot stand the chance of someone calling to complain and after all it was about 5:50 a.m. – not sure I would like to listen to a door barking at that hour either.

Anyway he did his thing for a brief while and I think it was important for him.

Good for him and good for me.

Funny though when we have been walking by our ponds every night and the geese are there …. he does not even acknowledge them.

They don’t mind him either.

It is definitely a funny thing …..

 

I have been trying to find out what the temperature is but I am dressed in capris, top and a mid length cardigan.

I will be wearing that no matter what.

I checked weather for Edmonton and got so many hits and then none of them are easy to access.

Gotta love the NET.

 

Oh well, I will soon know.

Thank goodness I will step outside and wait only a few minutes before climbing into a nice warm car.

Oh, I love these days.

Carpooling, it is the life.

Definitely makes this part of the day more pleasant.

Although now I am missing out on four walks everyday.

So am working on a weight routine to do each day in addition to the walk with Alvin.

Have to do something ….. it was a long long long, yes long winter.

There be a tire there ….. argh.

Anyway …. that is what happens when you eat and do not exercise much.

That was this winter.

Even Mr. Alvin has expanded his mid section.

 

Well time to go and put the finishing touches on ….

Have a wonderful Thursday.

 

Special Hello to:  my sister …. HELLO, there.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 25th day of May, 2017.

It is a BREEZY one here in Edmonton with clear blue skies.

The sun is SHINING.

Makes me happy.

 

Yesterday it rained all day and was so WINDY.

I was soaked through and through by the time I arrived home to find my summer door wreath laying face down on the porch.

Thankfully it did not blow away but it was soaked through and through.

Have you ever seen silk/artificial flowers WET?

Not me.

But this morning they are dry again …..

Also when I arrived home I found that the electricity was out.

Not certain how long it had been out and I could tell that Alvin was a bit “freaked.”

So outside he went quickly to do his thing.

I gave him his supper while I ran upstairs to get out of my wet clothes and into something WARM.

When I got back downstairs, Mr. Alvin had not eaten as yet.

STRANGE (he loves to eat).

I ended up hand feeding him his supper.

But at that point I had nothing to do ….. because it was raining and overcast it was actually quite dark in the house.

So we just cuddled on the sofa debating what to do.

I decided to get things ready for today just in case the power did not come on before it was totally dark in the house.

So had clothes ready and stuff.

Also not knowing how long it would take the power to come on I decided that I would only open the fridge twice.

Once to grab my leftover quinoa dish that I had made on the weekend and decided it was better to have something cold than nothing at all.

The second time I opened the fridge was to grab the Black Cherry Greek Yogurt (which by the way I am in love with).

I do not remember the brand but it was so good.

It was thankfully on sale as it is the most expensive one in the store (of course).

Poor Alvin ….. I caved and gave him a treat of a bit of yogurt off my finger.

Just a little.

We just sat and looked out the window.

We were lucky the only things damaged in the wind were some of my flowers from the front flower bed and the wreath which has fully recovered.

Finally I lit a candle ( had one left from my Bath & Body Works Days ).

It gave off a warm glow or at least felt like it.

Just as we were getting settled I heard a noise …. the power was finally on.

It was just over 1.5 hours.

Which seemed like an eternity but a good one.

It was refreshing to just sit there with only Alvin and my thoughts for company.

No sounds other than the wind blowing outside and our breathing inside.

Well time to get this show on the road.

I was grateful when the power came on so that I could have a cup of hot tea.

I did drink some hot water from the kitchen tap but it was not really the same.

 

Happy Thursday.

Be safe.

Be kind.

Have fun.

 

Special Hello to: all those lovers of life …. rock on.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 7th day of July, 2014.

It is a pure “light” blue sunny sky here from my home in Edmonton, Alberta.

There is a nice breeze keeping the early morning hours – cool.

All of this week the forecast is in the high 20’s – celsius that is.

Yesterday morning when my daughter came to pick me up for work (so lucky she drove me to and from the store yesterday).

She found just comfortably attached to my front door wreath another one of the biggest dragonflies I have ever seen.

I did not notice them to be so big years ago but the last two or three they are huge.

We snapped some photos for you to see.

 

Are not dragonflies the coolest insect on the planet.

They are my favourite.

Every time that I see one I feel so blessed and lucky.

It is like they draw positive energy into my body.

Just make me feel so good.

It seems that for the past three years one of them has always landed on the front wreath just waiting for me to come and snap a photo.

So on this gorgeous Monday I hope that you are feeling great as well.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Special Hello to: everyone who loves dragonflies.

Always, Carol and Alvin