A-Tiskat A-Tasket a Blue & Yellow Basket

I woke up at 5am (the time we used to get up to go to work)… it was dark… I went back to sleep… retirement is good!

 

 

My myriad of pleasures today: dusting with homemade lemon dusters – they smell so good and do such a good job ; getting the house all spic & span (it was cleaning day today) ; watching Grace tear apart a whole red pepper – I picked up one at the market for .25 for her to have for fun, she may have ingested a bit, but mostly she just tore it apart – a parrot’s favourite activity, after eating that is ; waking up at 5am, savouring that I didn’t have to get up and go to work, then going back to sleep ; then… waking up on my own time – I don’t miss the alarm clock! ; listening to Grace chatter away – right now she’s saying “Oh Gracie bird, you are a very good girl – woof – oh my God – come on Bella – what a good girl – here – do you want some – woof – look out – hey girl – hey Kabira – okay Grace – what’s that Grace ”, and a bunch of other stuff that I can’t make out… I never tire of listening to her ; shopping at the local farmer’s stand – everything is fresh out of the field. Tonight for supper we will have pasta with tomatoes, red pepper, a hot pepper (this is an experiment), and of course some sautéed garlic. All except for the garlic is fresh from the farmer’s stand.

The quote below really speaks to me. I got it from BPHope, a magazine focusing on bi-polar disorder and how to live with it. I’ve been doing really, really well since retirement but l know there will still be times when darkness descends… and it is for these times that I pray hope doesn’t give up on me but does keep whispering in my ear.

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

-Author Unknown