A Surprisingly Nice Lunch Out Today!

My Thursday coffee/lunch buddy and I decided yesterday that today would be a good day to go for lunch as it has been awhile since we did that.  We picked out a restaurant that my friend really enjoys and about 11pm yesterday I went online to take a pre-visit gander at their menu.  To my surprise I discovered that as of earlier this week the restaurant is permanently closed, as is its "sister" restaurant next door.  The article I read talked about the exorbitant rent hike the owners of the building had suddenly imposed upon them, so that is the end of their tenure here.  I am guessing the owner has another offer from another type of business who wants that space, so bye bye to the restaurants. Rats!!  My friend liked that place so much.

So I had to do some fast checking for another restaurant in the area that has a sufficiently extensive menu that my friend could find something she can eat.  I decided we would go to The Cottage.  It has been at least eight years since I went there with my husband and paid a ridiculous amount of money for a very average dinner.  However, I think time has been good to that place! hahaha  The lunch menu prices are no higher than anywhere else I enjoy eating, the menu has a number of good choices to suit almost anyone's dietary needs and wow, the server was amazing! She was so professional, looked after every table in the main dining room all by herself so efficiently, while remaining friendly, not making anyone feel rushed. She had even written down the daily soups and specials on a piece of paper that she brought to the tables because she knows darned well after years of serving experience that half the people at each table are not going to remember anything from the list if she just stands tableside and spouts the specials off orally.  Smart woman!!  There were three specials and three daily soups, so it was very nice to have a written copy to look at.

My friend and I ordered the chicken corn chowder and it was not only delicious and filling with lots of chicken, it was piping hot...the way soup needs to be and so rarely is any more in restaurants.  My caesar salad was fresh, with croutons that did not threaten to break my teeth and the dressing was a proper caesar dressing....what is with the green goddess and other oily dressings being served these days around here with caesar salads?  Kind of crazy to me, but whatever, I am not in charge of those restaurants.  My friend ordered the club house sandwich and it was gigantic. She wanted it on brown toast and that is what she got....actual whole wheat toast, not multigrain or whatever else is being called "brown bread" when it isn't just whole wheat.  The lighting was very good for a restaurant with dark brown decor and the lighter carpet was easy to see for our somewhat elderly eyes!  There was a good mixture of age groups represented among the other diners, so we didn't feel like we had ended up in a place that specifically caters to seniors....although we are guessing by the age of the actual restaurant that many of their customers are indeed seniors who have been loyal for a couple or three decades. All in all it was a much nicer experience than I was expecting and we will definitely return there for lunch in the near future.

I came home to a phone call from my son. He is concerned about me needing pain killers for my hip because he has watched me tough out so many painful health conditions/surgical recoveries without needing meds for the pain.  What a nice fellow to be worried about his mom.  We had a lovely chat and he sent us a photo of the new modular entertainment console that just arrived at his home.  His partner fell in love with the blue colour and it complements the blue in the turkish carpets in their living room.  I love it!!!  

If you like 60's style modular furniture NYC seems to be a good place to get it!

 

The weather is still so great here and it appears we will not get our usual Halloween evening storm this year...thus far at least, hahaha.  I am so grateful as it means I can still stumble across the back grass to my car with not too much danger of falling down. Once the ice comes I will need not only my cane but my husband's strong arm to hang onto so I can stay upright just trying to get to my car. Thank you God for the lack of snow, BUT there are many reasons why we do need the snow here and soon, so.....since it's not all about me....if I can just get to the town where Cee's funeral is being held on Saturday, without driving in a storm, I will be a happy woman.

Off to the doctor tomorrow morning to begin the pain killer saga....sigh....I have tried to tough it out but realize it is silly to continue doing so. I also learned recently that when I do get to the next step of this process along the road to eventual surgery, the big medical assessment at the joint clinic, if I am not at a point of requiring constant pain medication I will not be considered to be in serious enough condition to even meet with the surgeon yet.  Oooh, spending my bit of inheritance on private surgery in another province is SO tempting and I am kind of glad the threat of winter coming soon will prevent me from getting ahead of myself and falling for that temptation before I would really need to....not to say that that time will never come....wimp, wimp, wimp......sigh...I hate feeling weak and helpless....control freak....sigh again...haha

Some Stress Removed And This Afternoon It Is Time To Make Stew!!!

After a painful but productive morning it is time for my husband and I to make the first batch of freezable winter stew.  I am about to head for the kitchen and remove excess fat from the stewing beef, my husband has already peeled and diced potatoes, onions, carrots and turnip. When I finish with the meat it will be time to put all the ingredients together and roast them for hours in the oven. My husband is currently at the grocery store to purchase fresh dill for the celery soup we are making tomorrow. The onset of winter seems more “appetizing”, (See what I did there? Teehee), with a freezer already filled with yummy comfort foods! 

Today is a very painful day, so I hobbled into my office, called the doctor and I have an appointment in a couple of days’ time to discuss and get a prescription for painkillers. I arranged a lunch date for tomorrow with a dear friend, at a restaurant where I can get a close by parking spot and ground floor access. I was able to reach my now former financial advisor and stay on the line while he finally made the electronic transfer required to move my monies to my new financial institution. That was a difficult experience, but worth it. I am finished now, after 18 months of moving things around. What a blessing to be done with it and be involved with an institution with policies and procedures I understand. 

Pain relief is on the way, a few other stressful situations have been dealt with today and now I am off to make stew. Yippee!!!!

Making Changes, Running About Madly....Life Goes On!

The week has hardly begun and so many little things are already happening that we weren't expecting.  I am already tired out and it is only Tuesday!!

The biggest change for me in the past few days has been a rather abrupt change in pain levels with this blasted degenerating hip!!  By Sunday evening I could hardly believe how much pain I was in every time stepped down, lifted my foot up, turned sideways, walked straight, sat down, stood up, got into bed, rolled over in bed, got out of bed.  By the time I had been in bed for an hour I was crying with frustration. Thankfully I did get to sleep and slept fairly well, but the next morning was pretty bad again.  I managed to hop and stagger about all morning and then in the afternoon I decided I had to complete the ironing from the previous week, so I got all set up, wimping and whining the whole time....until I stepped backward out of my slip on shoes and the most horrible shot of pain I have had yet hit my hip for a split second.  Well, it would appear that whatever I did when I stepped backward released a pinched nerve because ever since then a great deal of the pain has disappeared. I still have to be careful not to zig when I should zag, but the level of pain is far, far lower than it was on the weekend.  Oh, how grateful I am.  It has also lit a fire under me to get another appointment with my GP for a pain meds prescription.  I can't manage long term if I return to the painful state I was in until I released that nerve.  Having had sciatica in years past I know my way around nerve pain fairly well and that is definitely what I was experiencing.  If that hip and nerve shift again I need to be better prepared with meds.  Oh goody, I get to be a pain meds addict like everyone else here who is waiting for replacement surgery.....imagine my excitement. hahaha

Another change happened today when we got a phone call from the pharmacy where we were supposed to be going tomorrow to receive our COVID boosters. Their supply of the brand of vaccine we can safely take has been delayed, so the pharmacist has rebooked us for next Monday afternoon.  I see my bone specialist in the late morning and then we head off across the city HOPEFULLY to get our vaccinations.  To be honest we are both kind of relieved it won't be happening tomorrow. My husband got a great deal on beef cubes and thin sliced beef loin at the grocery store yesterday so he is going to make stir fry beef and bell peppers tonight for dinner and then we will make beef stew tomorrow. What fun!!

This morning we realized we had used the last of our RO water, so we grabbed the water jugs and took them to the water store to get refills.  Although, we didn't rush. We didn't even leave the house until after 11am!  Then we decided that rather than return to our neighbourhood grocery for a few small items we would head over to a more interesting neighbourhood grocery in a different neighbourhood that we discovered recently.  There is also a kitchen specialty shop near there and I found AT LONG LAST, after a nearly two year search, some proper placemats for the dining room table!!!  They were horrendously expensive as they are leather, but they are exactly what I have been looking for and couldn't for the life of me find them anywhere else here.  We went out for a bit of lunch after that, certainly not on the programme for today, but it was a lot of fun and we were able to order from the lunch special menu, so lunch cost not much more than half of the usual amount we expect to spend these days.

My walking partner was here yesterday morning for a wonderful visit as we discussed each of our recent trips south of the border and she encouraged me to take a very brief walk with her. We just made it as far as around the nearest couple of buildings in our complex, but it got me outside and encouraged me to keep trying. Had it not been for the brutally cold wind we could perhaps have gone slightly farther, but even that little walk being able to happen without me falling down from pain was wonderful! God bless her for asking me if I wanted to give walking a try.  It encouraged me to do the bit of walking I did today around various stores and parking lots. YAY WALKING PARTNER!!

And then of course today I get an email from my newest financial advisor saying that despite my taking all the right steps with her company and with my current bank to get a couple of things moved over to her investment house, none of the monies would be released until I called the originating bank...AGAIN!! I already called them just before they received the transfer papers to ensure the monies would all go, but of course they didn't go.  After some waiting and wrangling about with the fellow I talked to at the original bank, one of the two items was released in transit for the new investment company, but he seemed unable to figure out what was happening to the other monies. That has never happened before. Usually the one inconvenient and completely unnecessary phone call completes the transactions, but this time I am now awaiting a call from my assigned financial advisor at the original bank to get the second transaction completed.  Who knows if he will actually call me back today? Or tomorrow? Or if, as has often happened in the past, I will end up having to start trying to contact him myself again tomorrow and hoping he is reachable before the end of this week.  Thanking the Lord this is the last time I should have to go through this nonsense as pretty much everything I have had at this original bank will have been moved to the new financial institution.  The incompetence and unreasonable attitudes at the original bank are why I am leaving.  Bah humbug, right? hahaha

I was honoured that Nan invited me to be part of the choir that will sing at Cee's funeral on the weekend and I planned to do it, but this morning reality invaded my thoughts and I understand it will be too difficult to get to her town for the practise the night before, plus the funeral the next morning where I will be trying to balance my cane and the pain and a hymnal while processing in and I won't have the option if I need it to stay seated when the choir is singing.  I am bitterly disappointed not to be able to honour both Cee and Nan in this small way, but if I was to have a pain attack in the midst of the choir loft or during the processionals, the funeral would suddenly and obviously become all about me and how inappropriate is that???!!  So, I will suck it up and sit with the other mourners in the sanctuary....hopefully in time to get myself one of the comfy well padded chairs instead of a hard pew.

So grateful that even though the strong winds are cold today, the sun is shining, there is plenty of blue and cloudless sky and the forecast remains pretty much moisture free for a few more days at least.

Lots to be thankful for in spite of a few glitches that always seem to happen in life to us all.

 

 

Stepping Out For A Nice Change of Pace For Church Today

This morning we made a decision to return to the church service at the church that was my husband's last parish before he fully retired.  It has been about a  year since we were last there, although in between visits we have seen the congregation members at a couple of funerals.  I am so glad we went.  We have been seeking a change of pace at least for one Sunday, just to feel more refreshed and less stodgy, which often happens to us if we tie in with one congregation week after week, year after year, with few visits elsewhere.

I am so grateful we went today.  The church is about 40 minutes outside of the city and today was a lovely fall day for a short drive.  So little wind, nice +4C temperature....still sandal weather, yay.....we enjoyed it very much.  

The congregation was so excited to see us and the current priest there asked my husband to do the Gospel reading.  How lovely for him.  Passing of the Peace took so long that the priest eventually had to call us back to order to continue with the liturgy, hahaha.  There are several new families that have begun attending recently, so that is giving the small congregation some much needed encouragement.  The entire congregation streamed down to the little old basement kitchen to have coffee and cookies afterward.  

The service itself spoke to me in inspiring ways.  The homily spoke to directly to my heart, encouraging me to continue looking about me each day to see how God is moving in big and little ways and to get excited againa about what I see and experience in him.  A few posts back I mentioned that I miss the old fashioned testimonies that people used to give to encourage each other in our faith and that have fallen out of favour in recent years. Well, this morning right in the middle of the homily one of the young moms in the congregation jumped in to share a most wonderful story of how God moved in her life with her family and how only God could have orchestrated the number of "coincidences" required to keep the situation she was describing from turning into a disaster instead of the wonderful outcome that actually happened.  My heart was thrilled to hear her story. Just what I have been needing!!  This was definitely just the right Sunday to have been there.  Thank you Lord!!  Although I know better of course, it felt like the entire service, right down to the songs, had been tailor made just for me.  Thank you again Lord.

Now I am going to go online and watch this morning's service from our usual church.  I love that the services are recorded so that if I do miss one it is available for viewing later.  

The sun is shining, the breeze is up but not unbearable, the temperature is approaching the mid teens,  I managed a one block round trip walk to the postbox and back after lunch with only minimal pain and gasping when the thigh muscles spasm'd. Quite a change to go in less than a week from being able to do 14 blocks to only 1, but that is what happens with degenerating joints, so I am not really that surprised. So it is a good day and I am very, very grateful for all that has transpired thus far.

Now I will go and complete the ironing project I began yesterday but got stopped half way through when a friend phoned to ask me to come over for a visit....people first, chores second whenever possible. That's my motto.

No Extra Expenses Today At The Eye Clinic After All! YAY!

It is only 8:15pm, but we are so tired we are all ready for bed and my husband is just shutting out his reading lamp so he can sleep. As soon as I complete this post I too will be ready for a long, deep sleep.  We are exhausted!

All the appointments we had this week meant arising to the less than dulcet tones of the clock alarm most mornings.  My post-retirement husband is NOT a morning person any more, not by a long shot and even without the added stresses of medical appointments and a super long walk home from the car dealership yesterday morning in the cold, he struggles with early morning rising. Tomorrow morning he has to be up by 6:30am to go to the church and assist in preparing the monthly mens' breakfast, as well as give a devotional, so he is determined to get enough sleep by going to bed this early.  He needs ten hours to feel decent the next day.

I had my annual eye check up today and lo and behold my eyes have not changed sufficiently to warrant new lenses...yay....ergo I also do not need new frames, so both eyes and wallet are in good shape! hohoho!!!!  I am pleased, so very pleased that my eyes show no signs of diabetic damage and the progession of both cataracts and macular degeneration symtoms is almost non-existent.  Hallelujah and thank you Lord!!  

There is always a tad of underlying stress involved in preparing for any medical appointment, but I added a bit of "bad hip" stress after that appointment by deciding to take the bus home when it was over.  Due to downtown road repair the bus routes moved around this past spring, summer and early autumn to accommodate the road closures.  When I came out of the office I realized I wasn't sure if the bus routes have now been restored to their usual former streets or not.  I saw cars now travelling on the main street that was closed all summer, but that didn't automatically mean the buses were back on that street. I wasn't sure what to do, so since it was about a three block walk to both the old and new route stops, I opted to walk to a different street a little closer to home that I knew had not been included in the summer route changes.  Oh my.....I hadn't realized that I would feel stress about being alone walking with my cane on a downtown street with a hip that could zap me with pain at any second.  It wasn't because I didn't feel safe due to the incredible number of folk in the area that suffer from mental illnesses and addictions, it was because I was afraid if my hip let me down and I landed on the sidewalk no one would be able to help me.  As soon as I thought of that my thigh muscles seized up with tension and I could hardly walk through the pain to get the last block to the bus stop.  Sigh....how very stupid...I could easily call 911 if I got into trouble, I have a local taxi service phone number on my phone list if I was to get into a little less trouble but still needed help to get home, but I was too stressed to realize it at the time.  It kind of shocked me that I felt so afraid and helpless....how ridiculous!  This is not the kind of fear that generally plagues me!  BUT today it did and I breathed a sigh of relief when I made it to the bus stop unscathed and still standing upright.  I stood there for about ten minutes until the bus came, there was a seat open for me to sit on inside AND due to a change over in payment methods inside the bus that take place on Monday, the change box was sealed off for the weekend.  I asked the bus driver if I was to just give my money to her and her reply was, "No, my dear. Go and buy yourself a cup of coffee!"  I don't know whose grin was wider, hers or mine. How very lovely. Thank you Regina transit driver.  Today I was not that unhappy that I don't have the transit service app and QR code on my phone to scan. I don't have it because the last time I rode the bus was in 2019!!  Anyway, it was a nice treat after being so afraid of falling as I walked along. With the new traffic and pedestrian light at the corner closest to our home I was able to get off across the street from our place instead of riding the bus all the way around that end of the route loop so I could get dropped off at the stop right in front of our door instead of risking my life at what used to be the most dangerous crossing in the area...saved me a good 20 minutes or more.  What a great morning....apart from the ridiculous fear of falling.

When I got home I asked my husband if we could go to the early polling station and register our votes in the provincial election.  The station is only two blocks from our house and I was determined to redeem myself by walking there and back.  Sure enough, with my husband by my side the discomfort in my hip and thigh was minimal and actual pain was non-existent because I was relaxed.  Aiiii yiiiiii....I gotta learn to relax ALL THE TIME!!!

I will tell a funny story on myself:  as we approached the polling station we noticed that a large busload of seniors from a nearby long term care home had just arrived and the passengers were disembarking with their canes and walkers and wheel chairs.  I turned to my husband and said, "Oh dear, we are going to be slowed down by a bunch of seniors!"  He looked at me rather oddly. Then the picture of myself flashed into my mind:  a silver haired, wrinkly faced 70 year old woman, walking at snail's pace with a cane she was hanging onto for dear life....who was concerned that it would take too long to vote because of being slowed down by a bunch of seniors! hahahahahahaha  Ooooh, it takes the mindset a much longer time to adjust to old age than it takes the body.  hahahahaha Sigh....I was so embarrassed by what I thought and said, but my husband thought it was hilarious, so we were laughing heartily as we entered the polling station.  

So, it is now after 8:30pm and I need sleep. God bless everyone and do have a wonderful weekend!!

One More Appointment This Week....YAY, The End Is In Sight!

 I am most grateful that my final medical appointment for awhile...at least I hope so...happens tomorrow morning when I go to the optometrist for my annual checkup.  This week of appointments has completely exhausted me, partly due to the addtion of more extreme pain in the degenerating hip and partly due to having to arise so early so  many mornings in a row to go out.  

I am toying with the idea of getting new frames for my lenses tomorrow.  No, I don't really need them as I have only had these frames for two years, but I feel like I need a boost to my Joy Level.  A few of my friends at church have purchased some very wildly coloured, larger frames and it is most tempting to follow suit.  However, I suppose financial prudence will prevail and I will carry on with these perfectly fine frames for another year or two.  We shall see what tomorrow brings.  If I need a change in lenses then I will consider new frames more seriously....maybe....perhaps....the car cost us quite a bit of money today to have the winter tires put on and some minor mechanical adjustments...so.....whatever....

Yesterday we received a short email from friends in Alberta who are presently touring NYC and decided to stop in to see our son and his partner.  They lunched together and apparently had a marvellous time. It has been quite a few years since they last met with our son, so he was ecstatic that they would take time to visit him.  Thank you dear, dear friends.  You made his day AND you met his wonderful partner who looks very joyful in the photos you attached. May the rest of your travels go well.  

We have been trying for the past couple of days to get to the advanced polling station for our provincial/civic elections, but too many appointments made it impossible.  My husband is worn out for a number of reasons and nothing tires me out like chronic pain, so I am guessing if we had tried harder we could have already cast our votes, BUT we will try again for either right after my eye appointment but before my husband's afternoon meeting, or else on Saturday sometime, but I think it will be far more crowded at the voting venue on a weekend.  I really don't want to wait until the actual election day as we will be standing in long lines and I am not sure I can stand up that long right now.  

I am excited that next week is going to begin with a good visit with my walking partner.  She left for California just after I arrived home from NY, so we haven't had a chance yet to swap travel yarns.  She and her husband go to interesting places in the USA quite often and I love to hear about them.  I think that being an "arm chair traveller" is my gift!!  

Our bit of snowfall and rain and VERY COLD weather and wind lasted exactly one day and it has slowly been warming up ever since.  So grateful because the lack of snow and slightly warmer air have made going to all this week's appointments very easy to do.  Once Halloween arrives it is, as a rule, the beginning of the actual winter season. If we don't get snow that night while the kids are going door to door collecting sweet treats, we will have it by the following day....at least that is what usually happens.  It would not break my heart if it didn't happen this year...nope, not one little bit!!  hohoho!!!

The Passing Of Cee….

 Late last evening Cee was finally able to release his hold on this life and stop fighting the constant battle with his body’s severe illnesses. He was ready to go and Nan was as ready as it is possible for a person losing her soulmate to be. Cee suffered so much over the past few years and was grateful for your many prayers that helped him to cope. Nan will need your continued prayers as she faces the coming weeks of dealing with her loss and then as she adjusts to a new reality without her lovingly supportive husband. Thank you all for your interest in and caring prayers for these dear friends. Sigh….it is so difficult to lose people even when I know they are ready to move on.

Cee, you were a genuinely good man: a supportive, caring husband and father, a boon to your church and spiritual community and a concerned citizen for your city. You will be terribly missed by all. My husband and I still have the precious wooden holding crosses you made for us that give us so much comfort during difficult times, a spiritual legacy for so many of your friends and family. 

Thank you Cee for being your honest, caring, often hilarious self. We are going to miss you after having the privilege of praying for you these past few years. We promise you we will help support Nancy. 

Cee, may you rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen…..

No Jab Today....The Pfizer's Gone Away

 We arrived at the pharmacy in plenty of time for our Covid boosters today but although we signed up for Pfizer, all that was left was Modera.  We have not had Moderna vaccinations before, but our son and my husband's sister both had two of them in the past and experienced rather bad reactions for a couple of days afterward with dangerously high fevers and hallucinations, nausea and red arms. Just in case the reaction runs in the family, my husband decided we will wait until the Pfizer vaccine is available.  Neither our son nor my husband's sister had bad reactions to their next Pfizer vaccinations, fortunately.  The pharmacist we talked to rescheduled us to the very day the next batch of Pfizer is to arrive next week to ensure we will be able to receive it. Very decent of her!  Personally I am just as glad to have to wait a few more days since it has been less than a week since we had our influenza annual vaccinations.  I think our immune systems have been through enough for now.  So, for those of you wanting to know how our reactions are to the latest Covid boosters, we will let you know next week.  Thanks so much for asking!

First Flakes Of Snow...RIGHT NOW!!! YIPPEE!!!!

 As much as I dread winter each year, the first flakes of snow that come down are met with a lifting of my spirits for some odd reason....perhaps it is just the lifting of the barometric pressure, but whatever the reason, I love rushing outside to stand in those tiny flakes.  Thus far this morning there aren't enough to accummulate on the ground yet and the air temperature is still above zero, but wow....FIRST SNOW!!!!!  YIPPEE!  How utterly contrary my mind is to be so upset that winter is coming and at the same time to be so thrilled to see the first snowflakes.  Humans.....how wierd and wonderful we are.

Just got off the phone with the office manager at the surgeon's office and it went REALLY WELL!!!!!  She was wonderful to talk to, gave me all kinds of information I didn't have previously....including the fact that the degeneration is happening in BOTH HIPS and that likely both of them will be replaced within months of each other. That was kind of a shocker, but when she further explained the condition I have it made sense to me.  She immediately put me on the consultation cancellation list so that in the event that one of those rare patient cancellations actually happens, I may get in sooner to see the surgeon than expected.  This is a different office manager than the last time I called and the conversation went far better. Thank you Lord!!  I was kind of worried about it.  I am feeling happier having made the call.

And NOW....OUTSIDE on the deck to catch few more of those first flakes of the winter snow season!!

Admitting The Problem Is Already Helping Find The Solution! YAY!

 I am glad I confessed my unhappiness with living here in my post last evening.  Getting my feelings out in the open made me realize how often I experience feelings of unhappiness here and I am bound and determined to figure out why!  If I can get to some of the root causes and deal with them I will be far more content.  It is embarrassing to admit how unhappy I have been for the past year here.  It is also a bit difficult to understand the depth of my unhappiness because we do have a decent church family and several incredibly good friends who care for us and allow us to care for them.

When we went to Vancouver earlier this year I cried all the way home on the plane.  Coming home from NYC a couple of weeks ago had me on the verge of tears for the entire trip back, although I was able to contain them this time.  Why? Why? Why is my emotional response to returning here so earth shattering nowadays?  It is kind of ridiculous.  This is where we live. This is now where the majority of our friends are.  Church is going just fine.  Despite our decrepit lodgings they are adequate and we are within walking distance or short drives and bus trips from anywhere we want or need to go.  Winter is everywhere in this country to some degree or another, so I can't really blame the weather for being anywhere near a root cause of unhappiness. It isn't avoidable so.....

I suspect that the return of chronic pain, the ever growing realization of growing age related limitations, seeing our peers ill and dying, the loss of all immediate extended family other than our son in such a short time, the realization that it won't be many more years before it isn't going to matter much any more what city we live in because we will be confined to a long term care or other seniors' facility due to loss of mobility etc., are all creeping up on me over the past year. I am NOT reacting to life with grace, gratitude, joy or peace of mind the way I should!  

That is what I am praying for: the return of those abilities in greater portion.  I have experienced all of them in varying degrees in my Christian walk, but lately they have disappeared too much of the time.  I want to feel better, to be of better service to friends and church congregation, to be more interested in the lives of my neighbours who I don't know very well yet, to care more and hide out licking my wounds less.  I want to be more free and agile to do more at church again. However, I need to be more accepting of life the way it is right now...at this very moment....rather than looking backward and feeling melacholy over losses, or too far forward and anticipating worse case scenarios that may not happen.

Thanks for praying for me friends and family.  I have been in the doldrums far too much of this past year.  I want to change. I want to feel more loving toward others, be more gracious in my thoughts and actions, to allow Jesus to continue his work of transforming me despite this past year's glitches.  It will all work out.  I need to be patient and more intentional about how I deal with the world.

New Yorkers Get A Bad Rap!

 I've come to the conclusion that New Yorkers get a bad rap for their attitude. For decades before visiting there I heard terrible stories about how rude the population of that city is and how dreadfully inconsiderate they are, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum.  By the time I finally got to NYC myself I was so freaked out as to be frightened of every store clerk, taxi driver and restaurant worker.  Ridiculous!!!   I suppose what many visitors to the city define as "rude" is simply that New Yorkers haven't a lot of time to waste on idle chit chat and other peoples' dithery decisions.  When you get into a NYC cab, Uber or Lyft car the driver is busy figuring out where the best route is on their dashboard computer mapping, connecting with their company dispatchers through their headphones or concentrating on the rush hour traffic.  They are not being rude, they are simply not available for distracting chit chat with their passengers.  The expectation that deli or take out cafe customers will stand back out of the way and decide on their order prior to stepping up to the order desk is not unreasonable.  With lines of potential customers sometimes long enough as to be right back through the entry door and into the street, what is actually  wasting time is a customer still lingering over decisions about what to order and holding everyone else up.  Talk about rude, right?  Bank tellers have to deal with long lines of customers at various times of the day.  Know what your transaction is going to consist of before you get to the teller so you are not guilty of wasting time for other people.  In other words, let's be careful who we are calling rude.

I much prefer the brisk no nonsense attitude of the general public and service folk in NYC who have a reason for being that way, to the taciturn, mumbling, culturally and socially ignorant folk right here where I live and to be blatantly  honest, have no reason to be that way except that either their parents and grandparents were the same way and never taught them any common manners or they simply refuse to make use of them.  In NYC I felt like I was far more respected, treated far more like I was able to think for myself and far more kindly and helpfully than what I often experience in public settings right here at home.  

Case in point was this morning at the clinic where I had my medical appointment.  The clinic has walk in hours on the weekdays, so Monday mornings are an absolute sea of people filling the clinic after not having such easy access for non-emergency medical issues over the previous weekend.  The waiting room chairs are invariably full within a few minutes of opening and there isn't a great deal of room to stand.  My hip has been worse today than it has ever been, so my cane and I kind of staggered in and up to the reception window, checked in and then looked for a seat to sit in.  No chairs were available.  So I walked up past the front row of chairs and leaned with my cane against the wall.  Until our week in NYC I would not have noticed the fact that not one person asked me if I would like to sit down. No one would give up their seat for an older woman in obvious pain and using a cane to hobble around.  That is par for the course here and it lets me know how much I have bought into the local culture that it took another trip out of the country to remind me of how rude people are HERE.  Admittedly many of the people there of varying ages were feeling miserable themselves, that is why they were at the clinic, but there were a number of women in their early 20's and 30's, talking together, not sitting because they were too ill to stand.  There were moms with a very ill child, but whose preteens had also come along because there was no school today. None of the moms requested that any of their healthy and very capable children should give up their seat for someone else, not even a very elderly woman with a walker who looked about helplessly for a seat while the people around her refused to make eye contact because they knew darned well they should give up their seats to her.  Various men who were obviously not too ill to stand looked me in the eye, then crossed their arms in defiance to let me know THEY were not about to give up their seats for me or the other disabled woman.  The crazy upshot is that two of those men turned out to not even be patients! They were waiting for their wives to come out of appointments and as soon as those women appeared their husbands leapt to their feet and away they went outside.  Fortunately both myself and Walker Woman were able to snag those seats to complete our wait to get into the exam rooms.  I am so used now to being ignored in such situations, ignored by store clerks who are busy talking to their friends on their mobile phones even though they know that I and others are waiting to be rung through their cash registers because we are standing right at the counters, told off by various restaurant servers because I dared to ask if they could bring my bill at their convenience after waiting forever to see them even inside the eating areas once I have been served, given the death stare of defiance should I accidentally radiate out to a bank teller or grocery store clerk that I don't actually want to continue standing in line while they pass the time of day with the customer ahead of me, that it was kind of a shock once again that I personally found the service folk in NYC to be incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and mannerly.  You just have to be sure of what you yourself are doing, wanting and where you are going before you engage, as much as possible.  Prairie folk also are who they are and are entitled to their own culture, but I am finding it more difficult as the years go by to have to live in the midst of it.  We have two different ways of living, my provincial compatriots and I and each trip away makes me more and more unable to feel excited about living here.  

I am suffering from Culture Clash in a big way, so might as well confess it...sigh.... I have been praying for the past couple of years that God would see fit to move us out of the prairies, despite the many wonderful people we have met here and are dear friends, but it hasn't happened, so I once again need grace to get with the prairie culture programme and stop complaining about a culture I don't understand and don't care to participate in.  Thanks for praying I can get back to not noticing the cultural differences like I have so often stopped noticing over the past few years of living here.  I need to become oblivious again in order to cope. 

Doctors Round One!!

 My first medical appointment of the week went well this morning and I am grateful for that. I do not have a broken rib, thankfully. What I do have is an equally painful and slow healing bruised, pulled ligament. Apparently I can look forward to many more painful weeks of healing, but just knowing the problem and possible lengthy healing timeline gives me the needed patience to continue being gentle with myself for the foreseeable future. 

A months’ long skin issue has turned out to be another aggravating issue in terms of it healing completely, but I have been treating it properly so once again I need patience, good observation skills to note any unusual changes and continued use of my medicated cream. 

My GP also wants me to contact the surgeon’s office once again to confirm my continued presence on the waiting list, along with the request to remain on the cancellation list for a consult. Won’t the surgeon’s office manager be thrilled to hear from me again!!!! Yikes….no, she will not…..I would have been tempted to ask my GP to make the call for me, wimp, wimp, but Mondays at the clinic are a zoo of walk in patients and the busyness is intense enough for the beleaguered staff, so I will do it myself. Later….this afternoon….much later this afternoon….maybe like an hour before the end of office hours? Advocating for oneself here at a time when our medical system is crumbling and stressed has become difficult. Tempers in medical offices are short so patients like me are often treated to the results of those frayed tempers. I have developed a much thicker skin in recent years.

So, one appointment done today, one phone call to go. Two appointments for vaccinations tomorrow and hopefully those will signal the end of medical issues this week so we can get on with fulfilling other types of appointments also booked for later in the week.

My husband finally got the kind of weather today that he has been waiting for…a bit warm, fairly calm air and lots of bbq sites open in the nearby park so he can burn all the old photos he put onto disks over the past year. He took a picnic lunch with him and a book to read in between burnings, a huge jug of water in case any ash escapes from under the grate on the burning pit, a lawn chair so he can sit close….yup, he is prepared. Hopefully he can complete the project. The boxes have been sitting for months at the bottom of the basement stairs, irritating him. A friend who had offered him the use of his large burning barrel out at a farm had to withdraw the offer recently…again….so, to the park burners it is. 

As for me, I am doing laundry quite happily for the rest of the day.

The Happy Camper And His Canoe

 A couple of photos of my husband beaming happily from his canoe and a view of the surrounding country side at Buffalo Pound Lake:

This: the man who rarely smiles is smiling here!

Putting the new canoe paddle to work.

Prairie grasses and hills in the Qu'Appelle Valley area.

No wonder I had to pull prairie grass out from the bottom of the chassis when he got home!

So Much Grief Among Our Friends....This Poem Is Timely.....

For Katrina’s Sun-Dial

 
IN HER GARDEN OF YADDO
          Hours fly,
          Flowers die
          New days,
          New ways,
          Pass by.
          Love stays.

---

          Time is
Too Slow for those who Wait,
Too Swift for those who Fear,
Too Long for those who Grieve,
Too Short for those who Rejoice;
    But for those who Love,
          Time is not.

By Henry Van Dyke

Fabulous New Representation For The Family Artist

The gallery is very pleased to announce our representation of Eli Bornowsky For enquiries please contact gallery@catrionajeffries.com View artworks here Eli Bornowsky, Penrose_EXP (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) + Square Number Klee.gh, 2024, egg tempera, gesso on wood, aluminum, 43 x 32 in. (110 x 80 cm) Eli Bornowsky’s (b. 1980, Alberta; lives/works New York) paintings and works on paper make use of mathematics and computer programs to generate unique optical rhythms. Often characterized by dense, non-repeating patterns of tessellated shapes, his work’s algorithmic origins are grounded within a luminous, painterly abstraction. By combining chance operations and colour theory with inexhaustible aperiodic sequences, he produces complex surfaces that vibrate with unsettled energy. Compositions are cropped from a potentially infinite plane of coloured tiles and meditatively rendered in the iconographic medium of egg tempera, adding a tactile and historic dimension to the computational designs. In foregrounding a set of rigid and overlapping rules, Bornowsky questions the freedom of artistic expression to emphasize the free looking of the viewer. Through his work, Bornowsky bridges the gap between the scientific and spiritual, balancing mathematical precision with contemplative devotion.   Bornowsky holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, and an MFA from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. His solo exhibitions include Kings Leap (New York, 2024, 2021); Canton-Sardine (Vancouver, 2020); Burnaby Art Gallery (2014), and Western Front (Vancouver, 2010); with group exhibitions at Kayokoyuki (Tokyo, 2021); White Columns (New York, 2021); Vancouver Art Gallery (2016, 2009); Richmond Art Gallery (2015); Burnaby Art Gallery (2013); and Ottawa Art Gallery (2014). His writing has been published in Fillip, C Magazine, and Pyramid Power, and in numerous exhibition catalogues. 950 East Cordova Street    Vancouver BC    V6A 1M6 Canada    +1 604 736 1554     gallery@catrionajeffries.com    www.catrionajeffries.com

Prayers For Dear Cee and Nan.....

 Lots of changes, dear prayer warriors, for Cee since I posted a few days ago.  He suddenly deteriorated yesterday and by evening was in a very bad way particularly with his breathing.  Although it took hours to reach doctors and home care and palliative nurses to help get him better stabilized and breathing more clearly, he is doing a bit better.  However, there are many changes to his care beginning immediately.  Home care is now coming in several times a day to turn him as he can't leave his bed any more, palliative care is also coming in every day and Nan was able to hire a full time night nurse to relieve her so she can get some sleep while knowing Cee is being properly taken care over overnight.  From very little need of extra help at home, Nan is suddenly needing a great deal of help.  Family have stepped in to do out of the house errands and Nan's home care group from the church is bringing her meals regularly as of today.  Huge changes and these tell you how much things have suddenly changed for Cee.

Thank you for the many prayers you have prayed for these two over the past several years.  We know life will continue to be difficult for them for awhile yet, but please continue to pray for Nan as well as Cee as she is facing this most difficult transition with good grace, but Cee's condition is hitting her hard.

Blessings and again, thanks all of you.

Taking Care Of Our Health In A Timely Manner!

 It has been a productive day of taking care of ourselves!  YAY!!  We have our appointment made for next week to get the winter tires put onto the car, we went to the pharmacy and received our annual influenza injections, we stopped at the car wash to remove all the dirt and squashed insects from last weekend's camping trip, we ate lunch at Birminghams, (well eating is part of good health care, right?  teehee....), I arranged an appointment early next week to see my doctor 'bout a couple o' things and just now I booked our Covid vaccinations, also for next week. Next week is going to be busy!!  I know I will also be going for x-rays or getting a referral for an ultrasound, so that will be perhaps one more appointment to squeeze into next week.  However, the more appointments we can complete before the snow flies the easier the whole process is.  

I am enjoying the sunshine and bit of breeze today. The sky is deep blue and cloudless, the remaining tree leaves on the tallest trees across the street are lovely yellow with the occasional bright red set of leaves on the shorterJapanese maples peeping out below.

My resolution for this weekend is to refuse to think about my doctor and lab appointments next week so I don't lose sleep over the next few days and to just deal with the results as I need to, if there is something upsetting to deal with.  Praying I can obey my own resolution, but since I am feeling so upbeat these days...at least moreso than usual at this time of year....I am trusting for success in not worrying.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Hope there is no snow in your forecast or in your actual weather experience.

It Hath Begun....Provincial Election Irritations

 The phone began ringing just after 9am today.  It was the first of the automated "who are you voting for" election calls, (none of your dad blamed business), and since it was followed almost immediately by a scam call I finished up my breakfast in disgusted silence.  

Next on the list was mail delivery: 8 campaign flyers from the various parties and not one piece of mail that interests us.  Sigh...straight into recycling. What a waste of paper and jet printer ink. Hopefully it has been proven to be worth the time, effort and cost in order to peak voter interest in the election process.  I do my own research on candidates, their platforms and their particular political parties.  Some are liars at worst, or completely out of touch with people like us...at best they are happily idealistic and while their possible solutions to our poverty, housing, health care and education issues may be viable, they are all rather coy about where the money to implement these wonderful changes is going to come from....as if we tax payers don't already know.....sigh....

I admit that I actually do admire anyone who enters the political arena. Whether their motives are pure or tainted in actuality, it takes courage and fortitude to survive in that world.  You have to have thick skin, determination and the ability to talk your way into and out of many difficult conversations with each other across parties, the media and the general public.  None of these are traits or abilities I have, so I admire those who do.

The indifference regarding our right to vote that too many Canadian voters have sunk into in recent elections really bothers me.  It DOES matter that we vote and it does matter who we vote for. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong, but we need to educate ourselves about our candidates as much as we can.  We need to exercise our right to vote.  In Canada our democratic freedoms are slowly being eroded by the arrogance of some of our leaders who assume they alone can decide what is best for "we the people".  Please, if you are living in a democratic country and have been given the right, vote, vote, vote every chance you get.

Thus endeth my time on the election and voter's rights soap box.

For now......

So Nice To Be Back Out In The World Around Us!!

 Thus far our determination to get out and get going and stop moping around at home has been strong, so it has been a good week for us both.  

My husband and his friend had an absolutely wonderful time bopping around Buffalo Pound Lake in the canoe and tramping through the grasslands and trees in the  surrounding area.  The overnight camping fee was a "whopping" sixteen dollars!!!  How much more inexpensive can a camp site get, right?   That plus one tank of gasoline was the sum total of their out of pocket expenses. They enjoyed getting the tent up and the groceries and cooking organized, the lake had so many interesting places to explore, even along the shoreline, and the surrounding countryside was filled with long abandoned farm buildings to explore.  My husband decided it was worth all the packing up and organizing even for a very short time away.

I went to see "Come From Away" with a friend while my husband was gone.  I admit I had rather low expectations as I hadn't had any reviews from other friends who have seen it and wow.....it really was a wonderful production.  Quality actors, wonderful live music, an excellent script, the stripped down sets and costumes, the actors constantly having to switch between Newfoundland, American and European accents as they played more than one character each....these all appealed to me.  The singing and dancing were so well done.  What a treat to get out to a play of such quality right here at home.  My friend had booked the perfect seats for her and I, as it happened.  We were in the very top row of the third balcony, no one behind us to kick our seats or talk in our ears during the performance and it seemed we had extra space between us and the tier below so we had a perfect view of the stage. Being on the very end of the row got us out to the elevator as soon as the standing ovation started, got us down to the parking lot to the car in record time where we were the third car out of the lot and back onto the street. My friend and I are very much alike in regard to wanting to be super early to snag the best parking, willing to amuse ourselves chit chatting during the one hour wait for the play to start and wanting to get out immediately the play ends to avoid the crowds fighting to get out of the parking lots.  It was a perfect evening of entertainment and my friend is very entertaining all on her own anyway.  She has the best sense of humour!

Prior to the performance we had to sit outside the third balcony on a comfy bench while we waited for the balcony area of the theatre to open.  We noticed that none of the overhead lights were on above us in our foyer seating area and wondered why we had to sit there in the dark. The ushers were there by each of the entry doors and they were all calling the lighting department to find out what was going on.  That was hilarious in its own right, but even funnier was when one of the lighting department head honchos arrived and confessed that only that morning had the department re-programmed the ceiling lights to come on and go off at certain times....apparently they had made a mistake.  The huge circular lights above us had not a spark of light about them.  She took off hell bent for election to the lighting panel and computer room and there we sat wondering how she would get the lights going.  Well.....she didn't.  Soon she barrelled back out of the control room and flew off seeking assistance from other members of the department.  My friend and I chuckled to ourselves seeing how frustrated she was.  After awhile two more official looking sorts appeared, talking on the phone to someone with more authority than themselves apparently, and they were freaking out about the lack of light in our foyer.  One had a clip board and was writing instructions on it from whoever she was talking to.  "NO, the lights are not on!"  NO, NONE of them are on on this floor...NONE, NONE.......NONE I SAID!!!!"  Teehee....her distress was kind of amusing  I admit. Since we didn't mind at all sitting there in the dark, actually finding it quite restful, we found it funny watching the stress the lighting people were experiencing...not the kindest attitude I suppose, but not having lights there as not hurting anyone so....  The two of them disappeared and eventually yet another lighting crew member appeared and flipped switches on the spotlights attached to the railing in front of us. These lights were pointing down to the second balcony foyer below us and he seemed quite excited when they came on, although there was still no light on our floor.  The clip board lady appeared just as he turned those on and proudly announced that, YES, there was now light. Well, she lambasted the poor fellow by letting him know in no uncertain terms that these were not the lights she meant, that they did NOT light up the third balcony foyer and that "our" large overhead lights were STILL NOT ON!!!  Then came the funniest thing of all. Right after these two wandered off, still bickering with each other, yet another fellow ran past us on his way to the main lighting panels....carrying ONE lightbulb!!!  hahahaha  Obviously this one 60 to 100 watt bulb was not going to solve anything, but it looked so comical as he ran past holding it.  Despite our convulsive laughter, about ten seconds after he entered the lighting room cradling his one lightbulb, "our" overhead lights actually came on!! hahahaha  See how much fun you can have by showing up an hour before the theatre doors open and watching the people around you while you wait? teehee.  

Yesterday we both slept in and then it was a day of errands. We had so many little chores to catch up on!  We went to banks and pharmacies and gasline stations and we got the canoe unloaded and stored for winter and and.....  Finally we arrived at the oil changing business we had a soon to expire coupon for, but I think so did half the city.  We were in a long long lineup awaiting our turn.  Just before 3 pm an attendant came out to let us know we had only another 20-30 minutes to wait and about that time I also realized it had been nearly 6 full hours since I had eaten my late breakfast. No wonder I was starting to feel lightheaded and somewhat peckish.  As it happened the oil changing business is located right beside our favourite Mexican restaurant, Agave, so my husband sent me in there to order my favourite barbacoa enchiladas with yellow rice topped with a bruschetta type mixture, a scoop of refried beans and a spicy tomatillo sauce. Oh my goodness, it tasted like heaven. I was SO hungry!!!  I overate a bit as a result, but experienced no dire consequences for my actions, fortunately.  I was completely finished eating my meal and onto my second Pepsi refill when my husband finally arrived to  he ordered his meal as well.  For us both it was kind of "Lupper"!  (We each had a small snack later in the evening and called it good.)  When we arrived home at last my husband then totally cleaned out and vaccumed the inside of the car while I dealt with the fallout here from not reporting the presence of a mouse in our suite to the management in what they consider to be a reasonable time. Point taken....I understand....but our severely anxiety ridden neighbour overheard a conversation between my husband and I about the mouse and freaked out, called in to report us and demand traps for her own suite. She didn't mean to get us in trouble, but we are going to have to more careful what we talk about when we are outside where others can hear us. Sigh.....not the happiest way to end the day, but it is all taken care of now....I think....

This morning my husband got busy putting all the camp gear away, getting the camp clothes ready to be washed and completing his camp gear tidy up while I took a friend out for coffee.  This afteroon we had a meeting with some friends and we are looking at the Book of James together...rather infrequently, but it was nice to see each other after many weeks of not meeting together, to catch up on all of our recent travels and end of summer events. Yup, it has been awhile.....four of the members are actually in Greece and Turkey right now and have been sending photos of interesting sites! So enjoy seeing them.

Tomorrow we have to make doctor appointments for next week and also make an appointment to have the winter tires changed on our vehicle.  It could be a couple of weeks before we can get into the car dealership and Alberta is slated to pick up a bit of its first seasonal snow early next week, SO winter is coming here in full force before too much longer. If we can make it until Halloween night without snow we are almost certainly guaranteed our first snow, or serious freezing rain event, or both together, by that evening or the following day.  I am glad our travelling friends will be home from their California trip before the weather turns wintery  here.  I am grateful for the long autumn we have had this year.  It is past the middle of October and we have had only one overnight in the serious minus zone thus far. So very grateful am I!!!  

I want to get out and walk a bit tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as those days still have forecasts conducive to walking out of doors.  Here's hoping!!!  

I have had a few reports from Cee and Nan over this past few days and for one night in particular we wondered if Cee's earthly life was coming to an end. Things have not been well for the past week or so, BUT while Nan tells me he is not at the end of this journey of life yet, he has made progress rather rapidly in that direction, so she is asking if you prayer warriors could say a few more prayers for them as they cope with this situation worsening once again.  One answer to prayer is the addition of daily palliative care at home from well trained palliative nurses.  It takes some of the stress off of Nan as things for Cee seem to change almost daily.  Thank you for caring so much about these dear friends and askng me regularly what is happening with their situation.  Bless you all.

I admit I am a bit tired. The constant aching of my degenerating hip was quite irritating this week, eased mostly by walking more often for longer periods of time.  The pain in my ribs where I twisted the wrong way one evening about a month ago is not getting better, although it is no worse, but it obviously is not the pulled muscle I was hoping it was.  Sigh....NOW what? I don't want to think about the more dire possibilities....'cause I already have and come to the conclusion of que sera, sera!!  Thank you for your prayers for me as well. I will let you know what the doctor says at my appointment next week.

I think church is the only committment we have this weekend, but it is nice to have some hours free for either rest or for some spontaneous events to crop up.

Pre-Prandial "Appetizer" This Morning....Eek!!

I am using the font "darker grotesque" for this post because it so aptly describes my initial daytime feelings and experience!!  Blecch, pooey!!

When I woke up this morning I had a feeling I was going to find a mouse in one of the traps my husband set yesterday before he left for his camping trip, so I spent an extra half hour in bed staring at the ceiling before I could force myself to get up and look at the traps.  Nothing in the first four traps, but sure enough, when I opened up the cupboard where the mouse had previously left most of its "evidence" there it was dead in the trap.  Sigh....such a perfect little specimen of mousiehood.  I hate killing them, but what else can I do?  Catch and release doesn't work around here as there are so many mice and with the city bylaw prohibiting cat owners from letting their cats outside unleashed and unattended, the number of mice in our complex is growing annually.  Another reason I WANT OUT OF HERE!!!!  Sigh....

Anyway I had to gird up my emotions of sadness and disgust to get the thing and its trap out of the cupboard and into the garbage....the disposable latex gloves I thought were in a pack under the kitchen sink were not and I couldn't locate them in the basement. Ugh....so, I ended up using an old toothbrush to pull the mouse and trap by the tail to get  close enough to the edge of the bottom shelf that I could get a grip on the trap without touching the mouse. I did find an old scrubber sponge thingy that I could grip the trap with, so that my bare hands touched nothing related to it or the dead mouse. Into the garbage with the whole works, toothbrush and sponge thingy included, followed by a scrubbing of my hands that, if they could talk, would likely have had them begging for mercy. I was gagging so badly I had to wait another fifteen minutes before I could force myself to eat breakfast.  UCK  UCK UCK!!!  Anyway, mission accomplished and I will leave the rest of the traps set on the off chance there are two of them in here, although there isn't much evidence at this point to support that idea.  My husband and I have had a good lesson in making sure we close both back doors immediately every time we step out or in off the porch, even if we are toting heavy bags of groceries or water jugs in from the car. Around here an open door is an open invitation to mice and other creatures seeking a warmer winter abode.

Please understand that I grew up in a city, nowhere near any open farmers' fields or other open land, cats were allowed more freedom to roam and thus likely took care of any mice who dared venture into our pristine middle class neighbourhood and I never saw a live mouse until I was 23 years old. Dealing with mice is not my forte and in other places my husband and I have lived where indoor mice were a common occurrence my husband was with me to deal with them.  Today was my first time picking up a dead mouse and trap on my own.  Oh Lord....

Once I was able to force myself to eat breakfast and get a grip and try to get the image of that dead mouse out of my head, I got a move on and got the upstairs vaccuming accomplished.  It was wonderful to get the dusting and bathroom cleaning done yesterday in between lunch out and an evening visit with friends.  

I am taking a break for a few minutes before I tackle the larger and more difficult vaccuming area downstairs and wash the kitchen floor with bleach due to the mouse.  Unfortunately I can't get down low enough to empty the bottom cupboard shelf where the mouse was dwelling to clean up the mess and disinfect it and its contents.....mostly glass jars and bottles, fortunately....and I won't be able to pull the drawer out from under the oven to clean what I expect to find under there. Stupid degenerating hip.....so my poor husband will be stuck doing those things as soon as he gets home.  Hopefully there are no more mice in here.  When I took the vaccum out of the bathroom storage cupboard upstairs this morning there was a tiny bit of evidence that wee mousie had also been in there at some point.....oh good grief! So I have been scanning everywhere else up here as I have been vaccuming, but that seems to be the only place it left a poopy trail.  Oh my....where else has it been???  Aaaargh....

Tonight, as far as I know, I am going to see the musical production of "Come From Away" with a friend. Thankfully it is in the evening so I have plenty of time to finish vaccuming, showering and walking over to the store for some milk for my husband to drink when he arrives home. I do hope he is having a wonderful time at the lake with his canoeing buddy.

 

An Ugly Reminder of The Impending Ugly Winter That Is Going To Be Ugly!!

This morning we woke up to a thick grey mist outside.  It wasw -3C degrees out there. There was frost on the car windshield, thick frost that looked almost like snow on the roof of the neighbouring building, and the painted railings going down along the porch stairwell were covered in thin ice.  

YUCKKO!!!!!  

Winter IS coming as usual.

YUKKO!!!!!

We are not amused....however winter is the reality here, we can't stop it from happening, so we have to stand tall and carry on as per usual. Such is life.  We'll adjust as per usual.  I personally will continue to complain about its arrival as per usual!  

At least now that we have had a harder frost we should see the end of the presence of wasps everywhere we go. There, you see....THANKFULNESS on Thanksgiving weekend. I AM capable of that after all despite the weather.

By the time I left for church the sun had come around the end of our building and melted the frost off the windshield and the hand railings down the steps were dry. Only the grass was still quite wet, no issue.  It only meant I couldn't make this my last Sunday for being able to wear sandals to church.  

Being warmly welcomed by church friends this morning made up for the fright I had earlier about the onset of winter.  By the time church ended the sun was shining and although the temperature was only +9C there was no wind at all, so it has turned into a lovely afternoon.  We may hit +11C today.  I am not quite as envious of currently California bound friends as I was when I first woke up this morning.  

Now we are waiting until it is time to join our friends at the restaurant for our Thanksving meal extravaganza.  Soon I will be participating in a favourite activity....eating out! hahaha So, happy Thanksgiving to me!!  For food I am most grateful!!

A Lovely Thanksgiving Invitation!

 Since we are not having Thanksgiving here at our house this year for various reasons I won't bore you with, (NOT bore you? How very unlike me, teehee!), we were delighted when our phone rang a few moments ago with an invitation from friends to accompany them to Earl's for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow after church. Wow....that is incredible!  What a blessing to have the visit, plus a wonderful meal together.  Such sweeties. It turns out their kids and grandkids are all away this weekend celebrating the holidays with the "other grandparents" and our friends don't want to be alone on the holiday.  Thank you Lord for so many good friends who are so kind to us.  We are excited for these friends that their family members are planning a family dinner next weekend to celebrate together to make up for being away this holiday. Kind people with lovely families...what a joy to have the privilege of knowing them....and of knowing all our friends here and far away.  We feel undeserving but so grateful for them all.