energized

The poodles had a hair cut yesterday and now are buzzing around like energizer bunnies. Bella had been panting a lot - too much fur was making her hot. Spike must have been hot too - today he galloped at top speed to get my socks, energized by the cold morning. He feels the cold more than Bella, maybe because he's little. He sleeps under a blanket at night and curled into a ball against a fluffy pillow during the day. Neither of them seem unhappy to be nearly naked.

I can see the Norway Spruce's along the road thrashing their branches. The wind gusts and howls through their limbs. We are cosyish in the house - I say 'ish' because the house still hasn't warmed up from its overnight low.

Pat came for supper on Saturday night and we were joined later by Shane and Inga. It was a lovely evening full of interesting conversations. Kirsten called while they were all there and laughed that it seems that whenever she calls we have company. I guess we might! One of my strategies for keeping mentally well is lots of company - it always perks me up.

Yesterday we were at a party for a neighbor's birthday and retirement. When we got there the house was full of people we didn't know. Oh boy... This is not a situation that I thrive in... but I girded myself and walked up to a group of ladies having a conversation and butted right in.  It wasn't my best moment, but I did it and didn't stand by the door looking lost - I survived the afternoon. It was a relief to get home after 2 hours of small talk - that's exhausting for me - I was barely in our door when I collapsed onto the sofa (after changing into comfy jammy/lounge pants of course).

We were out and about this afternoon: visiting Dad and Graham, shwarma, shopping. One of our stops brought us into a rather good liquour store so we took a lookie loo to see what was on sale. A sauvignon blanc from Hawkes Bay, NZ caught me eye - I'd been there! We always drink red wine so this was a bit outside our norm - well, chilled and with a bit of extra-old cheddar and it might be my new favorite. I love the slatey floral bouquet and the burst of flavour is well... fantastic! Yay New Zealand!