The New Chapter

Good Morning. Monday morning and the official first day of SPRING. Oh, how I long for dry ice free sidewalks and streets. A reminder of life.

Today is also the birthday of Alvin’s Best Friend Teddy. He reminds me of Alvin. They were truly best friends and on our last walk, Alvin wanted to go to see his friend. Wishing our Teddy a very Happy 10th Birthday.

Teddy, Alvin’s Best Friend

BFs together

BF Teddy

BF Teddy

The boys

Alvin & his BF Teddy

Yesterday I wrote this poem about saying goodbye. This post is reflective of how I am feeling both joy and overwhelming sadness.

Saying Goodbye!

No one knows what is coming

There is no way to prepare for that moment

We all know in our hearts that life does not last forever

But we are never prepared !

When that day comes

The blueness and emptiness we feel in our hearts

Weighs down our spirit

The loss is unbearable

The guilt weighs heavily on us.

Nothing will ever be the same again,

More change, how much can a heart take!

The pieces smashing down upon the floor.

Breaking everywhere.

Photos and videos remind us of what was

What will never be again

Life goes on, it must.

We cry at night and weep behind closed doors.

But the memories bring us up

Hard as it is,

Tears will fall, they will dry.

But the memories will remain.

Stories of who they were,

The start and the end and every moment in between.

How they touched our hearts

How they brought so much to our life

How we will remember.

How they reached our soul, in epic proportion.

How they brought so much joy.

The laughter and the tears.

How each memory will be carried in our hearts and minds forever,

For an eternity ……. they will live on ……..

Written by CYLewis on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

My heart is broken with the loss of my beloved Alvin.

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Remember to tell your village, your family, your friends that you love them, that you care and always do whatever you can to be present in their lives. We never know when things will change.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin (My Forever Angel)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! The sun is rising and it is Saturday. I am so happy that it is the weekend and that we survived another week. I think that for most of us that is a huge deal. I am grateful for the weekend and that I am able to be at home, in my safe and happy place. Surrounded by the warmth of souls that have come and gone and by memories. Oh, the memories do truly help keep you warm at night and give you the energy to get going in the morning. Happy Saturday.

Last night our friends Iris and pups Teddy and Kobi came for a visit. At first the pups just ran up the steps and into the house with every bit of energy in them and back and forth once inside from back door to front door. Then they stopped and started to sniff about and we both knew they were wondering where their old friend Alvin had gone. Teddy and Alvin have been best friends for many years. They used to have sleepovers and Teddy was here for special occasions and just for visits with no reason other than to see his buddy. Iris could not even mention Alvin’s name before they got into the car because he would get so excited. Iris is energy sensitive and reminded me that she could feel Alvin all around and where else would he be but in his house with me. She always makes me feel good and she gave me wonderful comforting words of encouragement and support and love. They are family to us. In between the tears we even managed to have some laughter. Where are the tears without laughter. Both are so important to us all. I love watching Teddy and Kobi as they ran about. They went outside at one point shortly after arriving and were sniffing around as I am sure they could smell their friend. Kobi loves to watch the neighbourhood out of our front window and she stood on her hind legs and took in our world. Teddy played with a toy of Alvin’s. Joy returned to my house for a few minutes. I am so grateful that they were in the city and stopped by. Iris and the pups had walked over as she did not have her car in the city only her husband’s truck. I decided that it would be nice to walk them home. So we chatted and walked. I ended up staying at their house chatting until almost 10:00 p.m. and then quickly walked home. Home safe and sound. Our neighbourhood is good but you never know. Even coyotes could be out. We looked at pictures from their farm. They have two new cats and I saw videos of the pups and the new cats. The new cats were used to dogs so it was cute to see them interacting. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I cannot wait until the next time. Thank you Iris, Teddy and Kobi for the visit. We missed you guys.

Today is laundry day and some cleaning. Then back to moving photos from the old computer to the hard drive. Too bad there was not a more efficient, more faster way of doing this but alas there appears not to be. Just a footnote to everyone out there – make sure that you store your photos and edit them. Through out the bad shots, the duplicates etc. Always.

Amanda is stopping by in the early afternoon after a dental appointment and before she goes to spend some time with her bestie. Both my “kids” were/are so blessed to have good people in their lives. Alvin had a village, he had our neighbourhood. Iris reminded me that it was Alvin who brought us all together. It truly was. He was the best guy ever and my longest male relationship. I am forever grateful for the relationships that he helped me make and keep for well over a decade. Oh, how I miss him. I am excited to see my girl. Always good to see her. She is the best.

Have an awesome Saturday. Take some time to be with family and friends and for yourself. Remember better to live in the moment today than to get hung up on the future or the days ahead. For there is only today as we are not promised tomorrow. Enjoy this day!

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

Always, Carol & Alvin (my forever Angel).

A New YEAR 2023

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Well we are doing okay here in Edmonton at this house. I had four hours straight sleep last night and it has made all the difference in the world. Alvin well he is getting better, I think. I have to keep that outlook on the positive side. Somedays, like yesterday, I admit, not so easy. I appreciate all the love and support that I have in this world. We all know that sometimes you just need to vent. When you live by yourself, that venting or speaking aloud manifests with talking to oneself or perhaps writing on paper or on a blog if you happen to have one. Anyway that you can put your thoughts out to the Universe is a good thing. Keeping them all inside is definitely not a great idea. I suppose that I never thought in a million years that at age 65, I would be in the situation. I always dreamed of having my own house and from a young age thought it would be filled with the perfect partner and children and grandchildren. Likely a pup or two or maybe a cat. Like most people thinking by age 65, I would be retired and living that dream. Well things do not always work out that way. I made some unusual choices later and perhaps even earlier in my life and I suppose they brought me to this place. Am I bitter and sorry, hell no. Am I perhaps a bit nervous about how to start this next chapter, absolutely. But you have to be brave and pick yourself up and figure it out. No one can help you make your choices. Of course, people can pose ideas and perhaps offer advice but at the end of the day it is up to you and should be up to you.

It is snowing outside this morning. My Alvin, my buddy. I sure hope that he gets well soon. I would jump in a snowbank to have him back the way he was before all of this …… really.

It is almost time to head downstairs so that we can go outside before I leave for work. Yes, today is a go to the office day. Not sure why but the higher ups insist upon it.

Have an awesome Wednesday.

For some reason near the end of the day, I figured that baking some chocolate chip cookies was a good thing and would be a happy distraction from my world. I guess I would say it worked. I took a few over for Sonja & Steve and have a container to take to work and have some for treats at home.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee. Cause a world without coffee is not tasty.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Grateful to have good health, a beautiful home, income to live our lives, a ride to work and wonderful and supportive family and friends.

Last Half 2022 – December

I thought this morning that we would go back in time, to this day which happened to also be a Friday, December 23 but it is the year 2011.

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Good Friday Morning …… Happy December 23rd, 2011.

Well this is it ….. only one more day till Christmas Eve, and then the big day.

I want to wish to each and everyone the most glorious Christmas.

May your days be filled with perfect health, great joy, much love and laughter, wealth and abundance.

This is my last blog until after Christmas.

My wish is that Santa brings you that special item but most of all I wish that your Christmas is filled with overflowing and abundant  “LOVE.”

That is the most important thing of all ….. to love yourself, to give love and be loved….

Merry Christmas my friends.

Special Hello:  to you ALL …. Merry Christmas….

Always, Carol and Alvin, too…….

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My thoughts and wishes are the same as these, many years ago, that your Christmas is filled with love.

Another brisk morning but it is warming up.

Countdown to Christmas: ONE sleep till Christmas EVE and Alvin comes home with Aspen, Milo, Amanda and Steven. I am over the moon excited. We will once again all be under the same roof.

I will be posting tomorrow on Christmas EVE.

So grateful for second day working from home this week. We are finished work at noon and that is great. I have laundry to do, Mincemeat tarts to bake, bit of cleaning to do and then it will be Christmas.

YAY.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL! Here we are at Saturday, October 22, 2022. Our weather has been great and we are very grateful. Last night we were up a few times. It was about 10:00 p.m. when we crawled into bed and I read for a few minutes before turning out the lights. I heard Alvin moving about just after 1:00 a.m., he wanted to go downstairs, so down we went and then outside. The early morning air was cool but not cold. Back into the house and to the sofa to finish out our Friday night sleep. Mr. Alvin was up once again at 4:15 a.m., once again I donned my sweater and puffy vest over my pj’s, slid my sock covered feet into my outdoor shoes and requested Siri to turn on the flashlight as we headed outside. I was surprised to see wet snow coming down. The snow rain mix melted as it touched upon the ground. We both were a bit wet before we were back into the warm dry house. He pooped and peed each time. Thank goodness we have a comfy sofa as we were back there again. I felt too early to feed him breakfast at 4:15 a.m. I guess it was about 6:45 a.m. when we were up once again, this time, breakfast time. Back outside. Same result. So happy it had stopped with the wet snow. There was no trace that we had had snow. For all those people lucky enough to remain sleeping – you would have no idea, it even happened. Truthfully it did, lol. After the third time outside in less than 8 hours, I decided it was too early for me to thrust my tired body up for the day so once again we found ourselves snuggling under our “red” blanket. I think the red blanket was a purchase from Bath & Body Works many years ago when I first was employed at the store at West Edmonton Mall. I miss that store. The smells, the customers, the staff …..

Okay, so now it is the weekend. I have to finish the laundry. Washed clothing yesterday. Towels and bedding on the list today. Clean the bathroom and floors. Have a shower. Go for a walk. The sky is overcast and I hope for some “dry time” for us to head outdoors. We had a great walk yesterday. While walking, a woman was behind us and Alvin of course, stopped and wanted to wait until we were close to each other. She smiled and said that he was a cute dog in her strong Scottish accent. Oh, how I love that accent. We ended up walking together. Chatted about many things. Her dog, her grandchildren, my return to work, how Alvin was making out with that change and so much more. We were past Pauline’s house when we came to the crook in the path, she turned left and we turned right. I had been thinking that Teddy and Kobi were at the house with Auntie Janine as their parents were off to the mountains for a wedding. A few minutes later, we found ourselves, walking up their driveway and up the front steps with me ringing the doorbell. Kobi was first to the door, well actually she was up on the stool and looking out of the window. I could see her excitement to see us. I called out to Janine that it was us. A couple of minutes later the door opened. Teddy and Kobi gave us a lovely greeting and then we were in the house. I was grateful to Janine for the visit after we just “dropped in” but I had no idea really that we were going there. But we did. Janine is Iris’s sister. We met several years ago and have become friends. She lives in a small town in Saskatchewan about four hours away from Edmonton. It was nice to have a visit with her and the pups. Then we were on our way and back to get some work done. I had been afraid that I left the coffee perk plugged in but breathed a sigh of relief to see it was unplugged when we arrived home.

I am still trying to figure out what we should do about Alvin’s ears. The idea of surgery actually frightens me due to his age and because it is his ears. The vet even said that she has not performed this particular surgery in quite some time and will need to refresh herself with the procedure. Not very reassuring but I guess that happens. I do not know what to do. Yesterday I was doing some research in the hopes it may help me make a decision and I found that pumpkin actually contributes to yeast infections. So perhaps his having pumpkin daily to help with his pooping, is actually causing more yeast infections. I do not know. Perhaps the vet did not even know this. I had been giving it twice a day with his food. His Doctor said a tablespoon daily so I broke it up into twice with his breakfast and supper.

I watched a great movie on Netflix last night. It was called “The School of Good and Evil.” Figured should be watching some Halloween movies, not that it was particularly about Halloween but it fit into the genre. Tonight I am invited to Signe’s house along with Gillian to watch a Halloween movie. Signe’s daughter Madeline will come and stay with Alvin (she volunteered, how nice). It was not very long ago and she was actually scared of him. She had, had a bad encounter with another neighbour’s dog, well actually her Mom did but she witnessed it. Anyway, all is well now. I am happy about that.

Time to get the floor cleaned upstairs. I have moved plants around as my spider plants need some more sunlight, more than what they were getting in my bedroom. Changed the bedding and put out clean towels in each upstairs bathroom. I need to have a shower as well and want to do that after I clean the floor and then downstairs to have COFFEE and get some other items checked off that drat “TO DO LIST.” I have a parcel almost ready to go taking advantage of the “free mailing Tuesdays” in October.

I just heard Mr. Alvin groan so I better get this show on the road.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: please keep us in good health, please help our employers increase our time working from home and also please bring prices down. thank you.

Last Half 2022

Good Morning ALL! Thinking that I would change the category name this morning. Definitely no longer a new YEAR. I hope this finds you well. We had some excited already this morning. We went to bed close to 10 and were up at 4:15, so not too bad. Although I can always sleep given the opportunity. By the time that we were up and downstairs and what not, and went outside, it was closer to 4:45 so I gave Mr. Alvin his breakfast. Then after all was done including giving him the second last Tramadol (pain pill) as he was licking his paws and shaking his head. Not good signs. He seems to be okay now. Will have to watch him. I noticed another little piece of fur that must have been wedged in the bottom of his paws had broken free, likely when he was madly licking them. This would have been from his hair cut. I spent a lot of time looking over his paws and pulling out any pieces that had been trapped but it is hard to see, so I may have missed some. Another job which is difficult on your own with a dog that does not like his paws or ears touched. Just more fun in my day to day. Anyway, we went back to the sofa and he did settle down however he decided he would lay across the chaise part of the sofa so I had to move the pillow and lie down on the other part, which is small and I have to bend my legs but I was happy to do it, if it meant he would sleep. Trust me. You would, too. I was dozing off and on when he woke up, I checked my phone for the time and it as 7:48, definitely time to get up and going. I grabbed my sweater as he wanted to go outside and I was in my pj’s. Put on some footwear and grabbed some pooping bags just in case. Poor Alvin has had some diarrhea over the past couple of days but this morning it was almost back to normal. I had given him a bit of banana on Friday, I think. So NO MORE HUMAN FOOD except the pumpkin. Last night for his supper I did not give him pumpkin, now that I think about it. His poop this morning was almost back to what it should be. Maybe I need to cut that out and see? Anyway, time to get this day going.

By the way, I did try several times earlier to download/upload those photos. Something is definitely wrong with the technology as several blank videos showed up on my computer. Three miscellaneous photos. I give up. Thankfully my daughter said she will come by at some point and take a look. Unfortunately not just anyone can look as I have APPLE products and you need to know how they work as they are quite different from others. Anyway, they are having company this weekend so perhaps one night after work this week. I also thought that this was a short week but that was last week, lol.

One way or another I will get those photos to you. You must see her garden. I wished that I was tech savvy.

Yesterday after our very late start, it was raining so we had a quiet morning. I did finish the laundry and later in the afternoon we went for a walk. We were just a few doors away from home, when I thought I heard someone call out my name and sure enough I turned about and saw our friend Joanna out on her porch. So we walked back and stopped for a porch visit. We chatted for several minutes and then were on our way. We made it just inside the park and then he wanted to go home, so we did.

Last night was quiet. The sun came out which was lovely. The sun is out now.

Just after we got up to stay up. We went outside. I thought that perhaps he had to go pee so I had grabbed my sweater to cover, yes my pj’s and headed outside. He walked around the deck for a bit while I went and sat on the edge of the deck that goes down to the grass. I listened and watched this huge crow cawing away and then land on the neighbour’s chimney. He was huge. He sat there for a few minutes making some noise in response to another crow in the distance. After I turned my head to see what Alvin was doing – I noticed that he was looking up. Turning my head in the direction that he was looking, I noticed this big black and white cat perched on the roof of our neighbours garage. Alvin and the cat had a quite intense staring match going on. I got up to see if Alvin would come down and looked back to the garage and the cat was gone. We were both up on the deck and then Alvin made a beeline for the fence on the other side of the deck. Then it was that I saw the cat looking down from the top of the fence. Alvin started to bark and jumped up onto the upper part of our deck and I could not stop him so I quickly followed. He kept barking and the cat was swishing its’ tail back and forth, looking very scary and I was thinking it may jump so I quickly went into the garage and grabbed a broom. I gently placed the broom between Alvin and the cat and moved Alvin away. Finally with the aid of the broom I was able to coral him down the steps and onto the other deck and then into the house. Then I turned and the cat was gone. Alvin likes cats so I was surprised when he barked. Anyway that was our excitement for the morning.

Okay story time over and time to head downstairs and get some coffee brewed. It was so lovely on the deck earlier basking temporarily in the sunshine that I think I may go out again with coffee this time.

Have a great Sunday.

You never know in this house – there be cats – there be good poop or bad – technology issues – sun or rain ……..

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: now 37 days until my 65th Birthday. Thank goodness my birthday is in early August or the summer would be gone, lol.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Well we had pure sunshine with a clear blue sky until a short time ago and now the clouds are rolling in. Guess what? Alvin slept until 3:45 (1st wake up) and then until the alarm went off at 6:45. I cannot believe it. Only woke up once. He never sleeps that long without eating. He ate his food with me by his side because some days he likes me right there while he eats and all the time when he drinks. Not sure if his sight is beginning to go or he is just a needy guy. Anyway, does not matter, I am thankful that he is still with me after last year so I am happy to be at his side. Work was “yucky” for lack of a better word yesterday so I was kind of grumpy last night. Not mean or yelling – just feeling sad about the whole thing. Anyway, I do not like to speak about my work so I will leave it there.

I am so grateful to have good friends and neighbours in my life, in our lives.

Everyday we prepare more for the upcoming garage sale. Some more items were brought over yesterday and last night for set up on Friday night. I think we will have a nice amount of things but not too much. I am excited for Saturday and hopefully Mr. Alvin will stay quiet and remain in the house for the most part. Hard to do a garage sale with your pup wondering about (would be on leash, of course).

We had a walk at lunch time yesterday which was great stopping at our friend Pauline’s house. She may have been at home but we did not see her. It was nice just to see her yard and all of her beautiful flowers.

Well it is almost time to start work. I sure hope that today is a quiet day “at work.”

I hope that you are well. Thank you for reading my posts. I know that some days the content may be lacking but I write in the moment – whatever comes to my mind. There are times when I have lots to say and others that I do not.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: only 47 days until that number 65th birthday …..

The NEW Year 2022

Good Morning ALL! Welcome to a Rainy Thursday here in Edmonton,Alberta, Canada. The sky is filled with puffy dark gray rain clouds and it is windy. Wind is beginning to be typical of daily life here in Edmonton. At least it sure seems to be. When it is calm, we surely appreciate it.

How are you this morning? Alvin was up a few times during the night but that is okay, I am okay. He has an appointment with his Doctor this afternoon. Fingers crossed that the sky clears for us to walk over so that I do not have to bother a friend to drive us there. Thankfully Alvin’s Doctor is less than a 10 minute walk. Sometimes if he is sniffing a lot it can take 15 or so minutes, lol. I walked over after work yesterday and picked up some pain pills and his food and toothpaste for him. Now we are stocked and will not run out. We were not close to running out but I like to ensure that he has more than enough food just in case. Looking ahead, I suppose.

One more day and it is the long weekend. Three days off in a row, how lovely. I have decided that I am going to plant my flower pots as I do not wish my plants to become root bound. I heard that the weather is supposed to be better and warming up on the weekend. Most of the trees are at least partially full of buds and leaves. So pretty. So there is lots of green. I could cut the grass in the back but it looks so nice and green. But anyway no cuts for the next couple of days anyway as it has to dry out.

It is one month till the garage sale that I am hosting. Have to start getting the garage in order. I have some large items to post on the social media so that they do not take up room in the garage. Boxes to break down and some items that belong to my neighbour that I have to chat to her about. I am quite certain that this next month will fly by and I want to have the garage almost empty. I also have to secure a way to the ECO Station as I have lots of things or a fair amount to take there. Will be so nice to have the garage where it should be …. stuff wise. Isn’t it funny how we end up collecting stuff even in the garage.

Alvin and I enjoyed a wonderful walk at noon yesterday. It was a bit cool but most enjoyable. Just as we were on the homestretch there were a few drops of rain so we did not get wet. I have yet to see any goslings and have been keeping an eye out for them. The only ones I saw were going down the street with their parents a few days ago. They are so cute.

Well time to head downstairs. I am only working for the morning so have lots of things to get done. I hope that you have an awesome day. Keep warm and dry and stay safe.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. I am nervous to listen to the weather channel as they were forecasting snow for most of the country east of us and even including the city of Calgary which is just south of us.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you on this rainy Saturday morning? Perhaps the sun is beaming down upon you? Not at the moment here. It was raining when we were up earlier and we were up early. I decided to go to bed a bit early and read so when the lights went out it was likely about 10:00. Mr. Alvin was up at Midnight and I took him outside. We settled on the sofa and he was up on the hour after that starting about 2:00 a.m., very restless. Last night before bed, he seemed like his old self. Not quite as anxious and not whiny. Perhaps this cooler weather is playing havoc with his paws. I can imagine arthritis is not much fun. He seems to be okay this morning. I was wide awake at 6:00 so stayed up for a bit doing a few things and then decided to come back upstairs and just rest on the bed. We both fell asleep until a little while ago. Okay not such good sleep routine, our patterns are definitely bordering on the “off” side but it is what it is. If we don’t get 8 hours or close to it, we lay back down. Sometimes it is funny how a couple of solid hours of sleep can make or break the day. Anyway, all is well.

The trees are really coming out. Th leaves I mean, so green and beautiful. The grass with this added moisture is starting to turn green. Our poor grass/lawn out front has finally got some patches that are alive and not dead/dormant. Looks like the sun may shine after all. The clouds are breaking up and I see some clear patches.

Well you are likely wondering how we did yesterday with me going to the office. In addition to Gillian coming over at noon, our neighbour Sonja popped by about 3:00 p.m.. He ate, drank water and went outside at noon and did the same at 3:00 p.m. The girls did notice that he was a bit more anxious than usual. I can see that. Going into work is against our routine and as we get older, as dogs get older, routine plays a very important role. So I get that. He was having an off week. Hopefully he will continue to feel his old self. Oh my gosh, I pray for his old self. Anxiety and all. So the office. One of our group had hurt her knee and is unable to do much walking so we were down another body and our Manager was ill and did not attend the office. So no meeting. We did our mailouts as per schedule and then worked on mail etc. Our cubicles and desks are set up in squares with two desks and staff facing each other with dividers in between. The group that are the most vocal are all together, the gal that I came to work with faces one of them and then I am in another group where there is no one at present. My back faces them. So two of us found it very distracting. But I get that they wanted to catch up and some are more chatty than others of us. Not to say that I do not like to talk because that is so far from the truth. But at work, I like to do my job and not “visit.” With these low rise dividers and open air, it can get loud. We are not the only ones on this floor and it can get very loud and distracting at times. So I just tried to tune out the noise and get some work done. I did manage to get a few days worth of mail completed which was great. I still have more to do but getting closer to being current. Although where I am at is acceptable in our job. I am one of those old school bodies that just needs to have everything done and I do not like having things undone. Anyway, it was nice to see the team in person but other than that, I would have liked to have been at home at my kitchen table. I did notice that my chair did not feel comfortable and the lights were annoying. I am very grateful that for the most part I can continue to work from home. I am very grateful for that.

So today, I am thinking of working on the basement. I started going through things during the last two weekends and need to finish before the garage sale in June. It would appear that the forecast is not looking great for planting my flowers, tomatoes and oregano. So will keep inside for another week. My kitchen table looks amazing.

My girl friends are coming for coffee tomorrow morning. So I will pull the leaves out on each end and push the plants to the far end so we have room for our coffee. It will look like we are in a flower garden. How lovely! Today I want to bake something. I am thinking of a banana loaf with pumpkin? Not sure.

So a few things to do. Working on that book in my head. I do have lots of notes and stories already written down so really it would be just a matter of putting them together. So I am getting my mind wrapped about that. I think we need some good stories. We have stories about dogs and people but how many about an older woman and a dog. Not many. I have often joked that there should be a movie about Mr. Alvin as he is just so charming, sociable and magnetic. He has had that effect on people since I brought him home. Just something about him and his name always brings a smile to people’s faces. No one forgets his name. I am and will all remains Alvin’s Mum and I am good with that.

Okay, time for coffee and I definitely need that this morning.

Have an awesome day. Hug your family and pets if you have them. If you are on your own, look in the mirror and say “hello you awesome human being.” Be kind to yourself and to all living creatures.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. sometimes a mirror is a good friend …… look at your reflection ….. you are your own best friend. We need to treat ourselves like we are our own best friend. Start with you and see what a difference your other relationships will be. Love thyself and then you will love others.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Thursday morning? What a gorgeous morning. I was outside with Alvin just after 6:00 a.m. in my pj’s and jacket and as I waited for Alvin to do his “business,” I realized that I could see my breath. Well it may be a little longer before I can plant my flowers, oregano and tomato plants. I sure hope that it is sooner than later. I cannot wait to see dolops of colour on my deck and in the front of our house. I love summer for the flowers and winter for Christmas. I have a thing for colour, I love bright colours.

Yesterday at lunch time we went for a full walk. Alvin was sniffing and sniffing and sniffing the whole walk. He does love to sniff. I think actually that as he gets older he is loving it even more. I also do worry that he is starting to lose his sight or has the onset of dementia. But these are things that I am putting in my mind and I need to think positively about him. Sometimes googling things is not a great idea. He is eating well and drinking lots of water and pooping and peeing as he should. I am happy about those things. I worry about him.

As I look out of the office window the leaves are quickly becoming noticeable. Green is the main colour on our canvas. So many different hues of green between the grass and the leaves and plants. I love green. Makes me feel good, makes me feel alive, makes me feel renewed.

With everything going on in the world, sometimes it is hard to feel good about things. It is at these times that we must do everything in our power to change, to retain our positive, good, kind thoughts. Somedays I am afraid that we are losing the battle. But I am not going to give up. We must not give up. If there are enough good thoughts in the world we may be able to change the balance. It is a thought!

I was also thinking that I have been going to write a book or books about me and Alvin. I have started many times and have lots of notes and perhaps this would be a good time to get going on them. We need to keep filling our lives with good stories.

Well time to go and turn on the coffee and start work in a little bit. Tomorrow I have to go to the office. Part of me is kind of excited and the other parts are not. Our friend Gillian will come and check in on Mr. Alvin. He has been a bit more anxious and whiny as of late so I certainly don’t want him to be alone. I have been watching him to make sure that it is okay.

I hope that you have a great Thursday. Keep those positive thoughts and stories flowing. Please. I shall do my best as well. Affirmations are great to help us in this regard.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. Hello this morning to Cindy, Val and Gillian. You know I love you all! Thank you for reading these posts, this blog.