an ecstasy

 Yesterday Carm braved senior time at Costco - he said it wasn’t too bad but I suspect he only says that to keep me calm. I haven’t been in for over a month and have no plans to enter the zoo until after Christmas. I suppose Carm will make a few more trips though. At least if it’s just him he can zoom through at supersonic speed.

For most of the day, dressed in gloomy grey, the sky hung low above us. I took my lead and unearthed a t-shirt the same colour - did it cheer me up? Not really but I didn’t actually need cheering up per se although the feeling of blah was never far from the surface. I started watching the Macy’s day parade (recorded on Thursday) but drifted away part way through. I couldn’t seem to settle my attention on anything.

It was wing night last night, roasted potatoes and cut up cucumber filled the rest of our plates. And on the table before us (coffee table for Friday nights!) was an icy bottle of bubbles. A celebration of sorts. Celebrating what? Thirty six weeks of saying ‘it’s friday again’! Any excuse right 🤣 

After supper we watched ‘Call of the Wild’. Carm said he’d read as he knew the story… ha ha… not for long it seems ;-)  It was a good movie with a few tearjerky scenes. I read the book decades ago when I was a young teenager and frankly all but the basic plot was lost on me. I hope I can do it justice now.

Today clouds raced across the sky letting the sun peek through at times. It was warm too - I think it got up to 4C. Funny how that feels almost balmy now!

“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.

This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad in a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight.”

~Jack London, The Call of the Wild

racks

 We headed cross-country to a rural Walmart to pick up a new wine rack. The roads were wet and the air was heavy with moisture but since it was above zero we were A-ok. The pickup was great, we didn’t even have to enter the store. A few other quick stops and we were on our way home.

Just when I think my facebook group has coughed up the last new recipe a new one pops up on my feed. The latest harvest was for ‘garlic knot buns’... I figured this afternoon would be a perfect time since we were having soup for supper (that delicious buffalo chicken chili has been tickling my memory since I first made it!). The knots whipped up easily and before an hour was up they were in the oven. They were barely cool to the touch when we had our first taste - yum. Garlicky, buttery, fluffy, soft, pillows of carbs.

We are still eating at the table most nights - with music playing, the table nicely set and candles flickering it’s a nice break from news. I even dress up a bit most nights - nothing astounding but a change from my scrummy t-shirt. I’ve been going through my days in a deliberate way, or maybe mindful would be a better description. It’s going well. We’ve done just over one month since we put the camper away - that’s ⅙ of the way through winter!

The politicians are going on and on about celebrating Christmas in our households… our plans were to spend the time with family but we are leaning towards staying home. Who knows, things might improve between now and then (it is a month away after all), in which case we’ll continue with our original plans. Otherwise, I’ll do what I can to make the time seem more special - we’ll have Norwegian Christmas Eve, drive around the village to see the lights, open stockings in the morning, have Christmas morning wife saver for breakfast. I’ll make a turkey for supper. We’ll zoom with family.

What are your plans?

“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.'

No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”

~Dalai Lama XIV

a stay in my pjs sort of day

 With snow in the forecast for today, last night I declared that today would be a stay in my pajama day watching movies with the fire on, bad movies on the TV sort of day, with sugary cereal and tons of coffee and tea. I started with ‘Francis’ (the talking mule) starring Donald O'connor (a fav but sadly no dancing) and then the sappiest Hallmark Christmas movie you could imagine. So many Christmas lights and it seems that they decorated the tree a hundred times. Carm chose snowblowing the laneway over Hallmark.

There were many, many commercials for more Christmas movies, each seemingly more insipid than the last. How could so many movies have been made? Shameful confession… I recorded the next movie to play - another holiday love story filmed in Almonte! I’ll watch it on the next pajama day ;-)

It was a wonderful day! There’s something special about a planned ‘day off’.

I did eventually get dressed as I wanted a few things at Shoppers - I figured shopping in pjs was best left to those in their teens… but I was tempted!

“Love is the absence of judgment.”

~Dalai Lama XIV

no swear sewing

 I woke up in a rage… whatever was happening in my dreams had riled me up until I was close to having somnolent outbursts. Not the best way to wake up, but I could see some blue sky through the little half-moon window. I got up and flung open the curtains. The snow was bright white against the winter blue sky. Glorious. My rage evaporated.

The rest of the day was good with no returns to my initial mood. I think the cbd is working for me - I did some sewing with no swear words! It might be a first 🤣 

We all ventured outside a few times, never very far from the house, always making sure to get out of the shadows (so long) into the sunshine. Sometimes I deeked out with just a flannel shirt and down vest. Tonight the wind was light. Stars sparkled in the dark velvet sky as we readjusted the coloured Christmas lights in the big spruce. It seems we’ve had to do some fixing after every weather event. They might be perfectly positioned now.

Potential bad news about the vaccine… it seems that Canada is pretty far down the list of countries to receive them… I guess you could look on the bright side though… there will be thousands of people getting them before us so they’ll be more robustly tested?

Have you seen the video going around of Trudeau speaking of the ‘great reset’? People are going crazy thinking it’s some nefarious message instead one of taking advantage of the slowdown to improve so many things. The conspiracy theories are out there in spades… they walk among us :-(

Photo challenge: can you see what is out of place in this photo of a work cubicle hallway?

“Happiness is the experience of loving life. Being happy is being in love with that momentary experience. And love is looking at someone or even something and seeing the absolute best in him/her or it. Love is happiness with what you see. So love and happiness really are the same thing…just expressed differently.”

~Robert McPhillips

answer: it’s a little apricot poodle foot sticking out under the wall!

snowballs and rainwater

 The snow did end up blanketing the earth, although not as deeply as was forecast. No need to get the snowblower out yet! In the olden days, when Bella, Kabira, and Spike were young, they’d race around in the fresh snow, joyous in their naivety of the shovel and slick roads. Their joy would rub off on us and I might drop to the ground to make snow angels. Not so today, I’ll make sure to get out there next storm (I’m sometimes loath to lay on my back in the snow - who knows where the last dog poop went!)

and how it looked yesterday at the same time

It was long overdue but finally Spike had a full haircut. Today I did an experiment with a slightly higher dose of CBD and no trazodone. Carm still had to hold him but he didn’t seem to struggle as much and even relaxed a few times. He wasn’t in a panic like he has been in the past. 

dose:  cbd oil has 15mg/ml… he needed 0.5mg so I gave him 0.3ml (plus a bit for good luck)

previous brand of CBD 10 mg/ml

“A safe rule of thumb is 0.2mg of CBD per pound. So, if your dog weighs 25 pounds, you’ll give him 5mg of CBD.” So if the oil has 10 mg/ml he would need 0.5 ml.  

I had supper all planned out - white bean and garlic stew - but while browsing FB I read a recipe for Buffalo chicken chili… change of plans! Both used white beans but one had heaps of Franks redhot sauce… oh yeah baby!

Today marks 1 year since we were in Madeira so of course we celebrated by cracking open the precious bottle of ‘rainwater’ that we carried home. 

“Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.”

~Norm Papernick

don't call me Shirley

 Snow is bearing down on us...eta tomorrow afternoon. That will be it…  no more pretending… winter will be here. 

I didn’t have much planned for today which perhaps was part of my problem, as it was, I teetered on the edge of despair on and off throughout the day. I could have taken the easy way out and wrapped myself in a blanket on the sofa with some sort of mindless TV, but instead I trotted out every ‘in case of’ action that I could summon. It worked, mostly, and although it was a bit forced, I even felt cheerful at times. 

I even got supper on the table (corned beef, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut, baby carrots) with Carm’s help on the potatoes - he’s the official potato peeler in our house. He never shirks that task as he loves potatoes and it’s not often that we have them - just mention ‘Greek potatoes’ and he’s at the sink in a flash :-)

For a few laughs after supper we watched Airplane. It’s full of stupid lines, but gosh, so funny.

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

~Joseph Addison

back in time

 I felt a little ripped off today… the weather forecast called for 14C with a bright sun; we did make it to 14 but the cloudy sky and brisk wind gave a windchill that made it slightly uncomfortable to be outside. I had visions of inviting people over for a bonus laneway visit but instead we did a few things outside and then took a hot bath. 

Yesterday Carm went to Costco early but that wasn’t the end of driving for him. Once he was home we analyzed the wine store’s sale flyer… Peppoli, one of the wines we had in Rome the first time we were there with Jo Ellen and Don, was on sale. So back into the car we went, Carm expertly at the wheel, for the drive to the closest store that had some. 

After our treasure was carefully loaded into the trunk I gave a quick call to Jo Ellen to see if they’d be around for a quick visit. They were and we did! I had to get a blanket out of the car but overall it wasn’t too cold. We’ve put another 2 blankets into the car for more visits this winter.

When we got back I was saddened to see that Spike had both a pee and a poop accident. He’s had a few accidents over the last 2 months, but this was the first poop one. I don’t think he’s made a mess in the house since he was a little pup. My heart breaks for him. 

I spent a bit of time visiting the past today which is a common pastime for me - I came across this one! I remember that summer well. It was one of our first or second summers in Limoges.

“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.”

~Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

a quarter of a million

 It was a typical November day - cloudy, sunny, cloudy, cold. I wore my pink puffer coat to take Adia for her pedicure and even so I was glad they let me inside to wait our turn. 

It was an unremarkable day… for me… not so much for the almost 2000 people in the US who died today… nor for their families… 

I’ve been trying to think of something unique and fun to do for our Advent calendar. I thought of 23 different kinds of beer, but the idea of drinking ½ a beer every single day isn’t 100% appealing. Chocolate seems so lame. A bottle of wine is too big. I want something that we’d look forward to and would make December seem like a celebration. Any ideas?

Last night I woke up at 11:30 feeling weird. My lips were tingling as were my limbs and I felt nauseous - I immediately knew that I’d forgotten to take my meds. I am freaked out that I felt such obvious symptoms when it was only 3 hours since I usually take them. I’ve come to know that I’ll have these effects in the morning after, but gosh! three hours!

The US has hit a quarter of a MILLION people dead. Yes, 250,000 people have lost their lives to covid. In Canada we’ve lost just over 11,000. That’s a lot of grieving families.

“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?”

~Hunter S. Thompson

we are almost there - only 165 days to go

 The clouds parted briefly so we got in the car and drove to the city for a few groceries. I’ve got to take every opportunity to get out of the house! I don’t go into stores that often, usually Carm goes in on his own to reduce our risk, but I wanted to do a shop at FreshCo and walking the aisles is a good way to see if we need anything. Well, it was a sh^% show - narrow, one cart width aisles, people standing all over the place, carts left blocking our passage… it didn’t feel good. Bulk Barn on the other hand had all sorts of precautions in place and very few people. 

All that to get the last few ingredients for Pho, a Vietnamese soup, that is one of our favorite restaurant lunches. We haven’t been to the little hole in the wall place since before the pandemic so I figured I’d just have to figure it out myself (with a bit of help from the internet of course). I wouldn’t say the result was as good, but it was passable. I’ll make it again for sure.

It is supposed to go down to minus 10 tonight! 

my motorcycle, a Suzuki gn400 :-) with Olaf on the back. He would have almost been 7 years old and came with me for a 1+ hour trip! I was almost 21.

It’s only 165 days till May 1st. Does that make you feel that soon winter will be over or do the number of days make it seem like the end will never come and that I’ll have to make supper one hundred and sixty five times - that’s a lot of menu planning! I wonder how many new recipes I’ll make? I’ve already made 53 new things since Covid restrictions started!

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

~Frederick Keonig

counting every day

 I was surprised when I opened the door this morning and didn’t step out onto the yellow brick road - the wind had shaken the house all night, threatening to loose it from its roots and send it flying. In the yard, Christmas lights lay on the ground, stripped from the tree.

It’s 8:45pm and the dogs are going crazy playing in the house :-(  We’ve got the volume ratcheted up so we can hear Anderson Cooper give his monologue but even so, at times the shenanigans drown out the loud TV. Let’s get another dog said no one!

We took a little trip to Dollarama this afternoon - Carm waited in the car patiently while I browsed up and down the aisles - a little bit of retail therapy. I got a few odds and ends, treasures that I had on my shopping list, but nothing earth shattering. It felt good to get out of the house. Dollarama was my saviour all those years ago when I was manic and wanting to go on a spending spree. Oh, and Ikea. We have lots of things around the house that came from there, many still in use all these years later.

After that we stopped at the grocery store for a few more packages of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The freezer is nicely provisioned for the winter and the inventory updated and annotated. I’m still a geek.

One day at a time… I put 2 new countdown/up counters on my phone - 1: the number of days since we brought the trailer home and 2: the number of days until May 1, an abratory date that marks the end of winter. I don’t know if it will help or hurt. My urge to automate is overpowering at times, 🤣 giving me a feeling that if I can count it, I can control it, or fix it, or make it go away...

Finally the dogs have settled down. Spike’s gone to bed (I hope he was able to get onto the bed), and Adia is asleep on the futon beside me. I need to make a resolution to get them outside more so they burn off some of this energy.

I found this photo of Kirsten and I from 1984 or 1985. It isn’t obvious in the photo but it was the year that I had pink hair from a dust up with red food colouring. 

Photo of Olaf and I in 1977.

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.”

~Earl Nightingale

traditions

 Eorye’s shadow hung over us today. The gloom was thick and even with lights on the house was dim. I forced myself through the day, even managing to tidy my closet and do a few loads of laundry. Not earth shattering but I felt satisfied that I didn’t go back to bed and pull the covers over my head!

Adia’s energy wasn’t impacted by the grey skies… she played an especially energetic ‘deek the lion’ with Carm in the field.

We had chicken shawarma plates for supper, a favorite takeout meal replicated at home. The chicken marinated since yesterday morning, the rice cooked quickly in the instant pot and the Greek salad was whipped up right before dinner. So good!

Do you ever watch Fareed Zakaria? His monologue today was about the actions of Trump and the uprising of his supporters and what the long term effects of this might be on America. Some of Trump's speeches were almost verbatim of ones given by Hitler in 1918. He’s ripping their country apart.

Our Sunday night visit with Olaf and Stephanie is almost becoming a tradition, a lovely tradition!

“There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human—in not having to be just happy or just sad—in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time.”

~C. JoyBell C.

you light up my life

 After a bit of discussion we dragged out the big Christmas lights and got them on the tree. The tree has doubled in size since we first bejeweled it in 2011 with the lights wound nearly to the top. Now, the tree is just skirted in coloured lights.

It brings me joy.

I can see them from my spot on the sofa :-)

The sun made an appearance around noon which helped to make the cool day feel a bit better. We didn’t need gloves but if the wind had been blowing that might have been different. As it was, it was nice enough to cause us to linger outside, doing odd winter-readying tasks.

Last month I made a pact with myself that I’d dress up for dinner and we’d eat at the table most nights - it’s part of my covid depression shield. I think I’ve managed at least 50% of the time which I would consider a big success. Tonight we had salisbury steak meatballs & mushrooms with roasted brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes - I wore a dress and heeled shoes - Carm changed his shirt - the tv channel was changed from CNN to the 70s music station - all in great fun!

“There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human—in not having to be just happy or just sad—in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time.”

~C. JoyBell C.

driving on the shoulder

 This afternoon I made myself sit down with my tablet on my lap to write a blog post… each word was yanked out of my brain, not painful, more like a big chunk of hair is being pulled by the bully that sat behind you in school. I’ve been a bit off my game these last few days, not in a really bad way, but I’m driving on the shoulder. 

We’ve been keeping active though. Carm’s played golf a few days while second summer was with us. By Wednesday the clouds had socked in, occasionally weeping at the departing sunshine. In the morning we watched the Remembrance Day ceremony at the war memorial from the comfort of our living room. There weren’t many people in the crowds as we were asked to stay home. The bugle brought tears to my eyes.

Then in the afternoon we had lunch at Trudie & Leo’s. She had their garage set up with two tables on opposite sides and the large door open for air flow. It felt reasonably safe, but I suppose we are only truly safe if we lock ourselves behind the gate which seems like too much to ask.

Yesterday Carm changed the tires on the car - I stood around handing tools and picking up lug nuts - not terribly useful but I guess it does move the job along. Then we did a bit of shopping in the village - no browsing, just in, find the things, pay, and out the door. Some things that we wanted for our freezer were on sale so we stocked up a little bit. I may go back for another package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs which were just $5 lb - chicken shawarma baby!

This morning I collected a little jar of Spike’s pee so after stopping at a few other places we dropped that off at the vet and picked up 3 months of their tick/flea meds. Big excitement :-(

I’ve gotten myself sidetracked by thinking about Christmas and what we are going to do. I’d love to spend it with Kirsten, but with the restrictions it’s possible we’ll be spending it at home. In some ways it might be easier to make the decision to cancel and move forward with that expectation, but then again it’s not what I want! I feel that if I remove thoughts of being with people from my head I’ll be able to get through the winter in a monotonous, but doable, routine. 

Cooking is going to keep me sane. I’ve already planned out our meals for the next week and a half but I’m sure the plan will evolve but maybe that’s ½ the fun. At some point the scale is going to collapse under my weight and I’ll have to do something, but until then 🐷.

The cbd oil came this afternoon so I’ll pick up the experiment.

“We can’t control the world. We can only (barely) control our own reactions to it. Happiness is largely a choice, not a right or entitlement.”

~David C. Hill

lingering and breaking records

 Summer lingered for another day. Carm celebrated by chasing a small white ball around a grassy field, while I dorked around outside and in the trailer. I think I’ve ‘touched’ every drawer and cupboard now. The slides are back in, ready for a return to more seasonal weather and I know that it’s ordered and clean. Just 6 months to go…

The election fiasco in the US is dominating the airways. We’ll be glad when it's all over.

I ran out of cbd oil and coincidentally had almost paralyzing anxiety, sending me running for my emergency meds. No big deal, but they are a sedative so I was a bit like a zombie for the rest of the afternoon. Looking back at my records I often have troubles this time of year so it will be interesting to continue with the cbd experiment once a new bottle arrives.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

~Denis Waitley

a glimpse back to summer

 Carm was out on the links again today, blessed with a warm sun that has escaped from its winter jail. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” He chortled in his joy.

I, in contrast to staid golfer code of conduct, cavorted to tunes flying out of my speaker. 

I puttered around the camper, pulling out more unused items - I have a towering pile at the bottom of the basement stairs now! Drawers are more orderly and linens are no longer crushed. It feels good and I feel that when the cool weather returns I’ll cast my eye into the house. 

      a ‘shabby chic’ version of the yellow brick road

The farmers have been busy in their fields harvesting soybeans and corn. Big tractors pulling rumbling wagons full of the crop cause traffic jams on our quiet country roads. The story about the grasshopper and the ant come to mind - I suppose that even though I’m not harvesting from the fields but instead gleaning from grocery shelves, I could be considered an ant.

News about early promise for a covid vaccine. It is still months away with more testing to be done, but we are hopeful. Ironically, and probably to Trump’s chagrin, the US federal government did not fund the vaccine's research and development. 

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”

~Dale Carnegie

a decade of chatter

 Ten years ago today I struggled to write my first blog post. Oh the painful memory of how hard writing was for the first year. Each word was a struggle, but look at me now! Words tumble from my brain to the keyboard almost faster than I can think of them. Don’t get me wrong, I do still spend a lot of time crafting each post but it comes easier. Ten years!! And 2,122 posts. What a blabber mouth 😁 

My blog has become a close friend that sits in a chair by the fire sipping wine while I tell my tall tales. In my mind you have all become melded into one affable companion.

As if to celebrate the anniversary, summer has made an unusual appearance and the mercury hovers at 20C. A blessing! We took the opportunity these last few days to get more pre-winter tasks done. Not a chore when it’s so warm!

This afternoon Kari came for a laneway visit - we hadn’t seen her since before the pandemic started so it was a real treat to catch up, especially in the sun 😍 And now, after a evening spent with Olaf and Stephanie, I’m content and ready for bed. We’ll get thru this covid thing!

Oh no! Just saw on the news that Alex Trebek died. Not a surprise I guess, but there are some people that you want to be immortal.

a year ago today we were in Rome

 It was one year ago today that we landed in Rome so I thought we should have a small anniversary celebration. I used the tablecloth that we got in Italy a few years ago, putting out my nice stuff to set the scene. I’d saved a recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara since that was our first meal in Rome - a trifecta of fat - but gosh oh so good. Carm opened a 2010 bottle of chianti to pair with the meal. We weren't exactly transported back to the table under the awning but it did trigger lots of memories for us to share.

The carbonara rivaled what we had in Italy even though it was made in the Instant Pot. Or at least that’s what we told ourselves. It will be saved for special occasions I think though as it has every sort of fat you could imagine!

The weather has been fantastic the last 2 days with temps in the teens (Celsius). Carm’s been out on the links, thrilled with the bonus rounds. On Thursday we had Trudie & Leo over for a laneway visit, and today it was Pat’s turn. We have tons of stuff to do on the weekend but hopefully the weather will hold up so that we can get Jo Ellen and Don over as well. Gotta make hay while the sun shines!

Carm took advantage of the warm weather to hoist himself onto the villetta’s roof to do a bit of caulking. I hung around, phone at the ready, in case he fell off. I did a bit of work inside the camper, taking the chance that the dastardly asian beetles don’t fall into my freshly waxed floor to be preserved forever. I’ll do another coat tomorrow. The hardwood floors are lovely, but they are starting to show some wear…

To the dog’s great delight, Carm picked up a big box of chicken hearts on his way home from golf today - hurrah! There will still be bedtime snacks!

Still waiting for the results of the US election… it’s a nail biter.

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”

~Carl Jung

counting

 There was snow on the ground last night after I posted my blog. Yuck. But the forecast is for a string of warm days starting on Thursday so by the end of tomorrow it should all be gone - Carm’s got a bunch of golf already booked.

by the end of the day today much of the snow had melted.

I had a good day today and even got a much overdue task done. With Carm’s help to heft all the ancient beans to the composter, I cleared out the floor level of the pantry, tossing, sorting and re-packaging as I went. Tomorrow I’ll do another shelf, but I have to take things slowly to spread out the joy 🤣 

Then I read about the new approach to covid in Ontario and our city. We’d learn to live with it - fine. It basically means: keep doing what you are doing, only do it better. Wear a mask, wash hands, keep 6’ distance. Easy easy easy. And then the kicker. Keep close contacts to those in your house and one or two others. Not one or two other houses, no, one or two other people. I was really hoping that they would go back to the 10 person social circle but I guess that’s out the window indefinitely.

My spirits dropped. I am so over this and am tired of faking that everything is fine. Oh, I’ll get past it by the end of the evening and I’ll carry on tomorrow.

Which brings us to now. It’s the evening of November 3 - the Trump/Biden presidential election. We are watching the numbers come in and at this point I think I’ll go to bed and watch cat videos. It’s too stressful! I’m losing faith in humanity.

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.”

~Buddha

yippie ki yay

 I just got back inside after walking the dogs in the field… the sun lured me out and deceived me into thinking that a flannel shirt and down vest would be enough. Not. I could have used a down coat and mittens and perhaps a hat. I’ve gotta get into a winter mindset - maybe I’ll go and dig up some coats.

But I have a week to get those coats out as the forecast is for temps above 10C Wed, Thu, Fri, and into the weekend! Bonus days! Time to un-winterize the trailer and go camping! Not really, but I will get the slides out so I can wash and double wax the floors. Maybe I’ll go through the cupboards again for another round of purging. I’ll play at camping.

We’ve had a fun few days of socializing - mostly online. Saturday after we were back from a dog meat run, Jo Ellen and Don came by for an in-person laneway visit. It was cool but sunny and the good company made up for any chill in the air. I’ve dug out some blankets for future visits.

Saturday night we visited with Olaf and Stephanie for a few hours. We had such a good time that we dialed in again on Sunday night. Kirsten and Shawn joined us for part of that visit. I keep all this sort of detail in my mood log because it is so important for my psyche, so just for laughs did a count of Olaf visits - 22 times since the pandemic began! This is awesome as I’m sure we haven’t connected this many times in all the years he’s been an adult (well, surely more but not with such frequency). A silver lining in the pandemic.

Carm dressed up as 5 year old Olaf for Halloween.

The same could be said for Kirsten for face-to-face visits. It’s lovely having them nearby.

Amazon has been busy delivering stuff to our door. This weekend I got 75 teabags from Davids Tea called ‘Chock O Nuts’ (or some such thing). Kirsten gave me a regular size box for my birthday and I love it so much. The smell and taste transport me to the International Cafe on the ships where we’d go for a mid-morning coffee and maybe a pastry. I have a tea in the afternoon and then throw the used tea bag into my drinking vessel to extract a bit more flavour. It’s just enough to make the water more interesting. I’m trying to drink a lot more water and this definitely helps.

I don’t know what to say about Spike. He’s mostly fine but sometimes gets so worked up that he growls and bites. I can grab his collar and mostly stop him from making contact, but it’s very upsetting. Usually if I leave him alone for a few minutes he will calm down again. I’m not sure if this is part of his dementia, if he’s defensive because of arthritis, or he’s just becoming cantankerous. My heart breaks.

I thought he’d be one of the ones that lives to 18 but that seems less likely all the time. He’ll be 13 in February. I don’t know how I’ll cope in the end.

Oh gosh! I’ve got to find a more upbeat topic to end with! We brought the geraniums in from the front deck a week ago and already they have more blossoms. I wish I had held out for a colour that I loved but the salmony pink will still brighten that corner of the room.

I’ve been moving through my days in a deliberately cheerful way and so far so good. 

“Happiness consists more in conveniences of pleasure that occur everyday than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.”

~Benjamin Franklin