Cato and Bailey meet Pat

It's been bone chilling cold the last few days but thankfully the mercury rose to -12C this afternoon which felt almost balmy after the -27C wind chill of the last few days. We were all happy to rebreak our snowshoe trails before the clouds socked in again… I believe we are in for a snowstorm tomorrow which will mean we have to redo the trails again but I'm good with that!

Carm and his friend golfing buddy, Andy, met up at a new local indoor golf range and then came back here for a slice of last summer's zucchini bread. I'm excited to go with Carm so that I can work on hitting the ball! Maybe I'll even take some lessons and play a few 9 hole rounds with Carm over the summer. 

I've never been a person who enjoys physical effort… until… the last few years! I've gotten to a point where I enjoy the effort. A lifetime of pushing myself through depression is paying off in spades these days as I can put in the same effort now, while I'm feeling strong, and get results. I've got lots of practice challenging myself when I'm having mood issues (which are also surprisingly physical) so I just keep the pressure up. Which is good practice for the next time I'm low 😀  Some people might think I'm crazy (they aren't wrong!), but it's what keeps me putting one foot in front of the other when times are hard.

Last night Pat came for supper - the first time since Cato and Bailey arrived, so that's the theme for today's story for Ruth.

Chapter 20 Cato and Bailey Meet Pat

Cato and Bailey had just started eating supper when the dogs made a ruckus. It seemed that someone was coming to the house. They could tell that Adia and Lupa were really excited, and when the visitor came into the house Grace got excited too.

Grace told them that Pat was here! They were curious and wondered if she would think they were beautiful. When Pat finally came to say hello to them, she seemed familiar so they thought that they remembered her from a long time ago. Of course Pat remembered them! Pat talked quietly to them which and told them how beautiful their pretty wings are. Cato and Bailey really liked that. They thought that Pat was a nice friend for Laura and Carm to have.

Grace told Cato and Bailey that Pat comes to take care of her and the dogs when Laura and Carm go away. She told them that Pat makes good food too and that they all liked it when she stayed, even though they missed Laura and Carm.

https://youtu.be/fiMJk7trF00?si=nN2T_sAn_qUAzqbu  (Summer Side of Life Gorden Lightfoot)

After the people ate their supper they all sat down in front of the TV. Cato likes it when the TV is on so she was excited. Sometimes it is just the boring news but tonight Carm played something called Star Trek which Cato thought was very interesting. She liked how the people all looked different and sometimes didn't even look like humans at all. Bailey wondered if there were ever parrots on the TV. His question was answered when the humans started watching the next TV show - there was a cockatoo! All the parrots thought that was very interesting and that perhaps someday they could be on TV too.

The shoe struggle is real… I walked in the new grey ones again, and again, by 50 minutes, a blister was forming… I had to go back to the old worn pair to finish my walk. I guess we'll have to check out some shoe stores in the city, but gosh, if it takes 50 minutes to tell that a blister is forming, how the heck will I try them out 😞 

I've started adding a few 'skips' into my morning basement routine - I haven't gotten totally tangled up in the rope… yet! It's hard to remember that when I was a kid I could skip for ages. Now I can't even skip for a minute without nearly passing out. The visual is bad, but think of an ungainly elephant jumping up and down 😱  I want to add more impact exercises to increase bone density - I'm not certain that skipping is enough force, but it's at least a start.

Awesome!

"a visit with Carm's friend"

"warm enough to get outside for a bit"

"doing 30 skips without falling face first onto the floor"