Staying Home

Yes, I am under voluntary isolation, due to my daughter's insistence because of my age and vulnerability, and it wouldn't be very good to bring the virus home to the captain.
So I am delighted that I don't have to go grocery shopping for a while. (See the smirky giggle behind the hand).
Life has taken on a whole new stance. No visitors for the Captain on a Sunday morning, no church, no choir, no uke group.  Beyond that, life is about the same.
This is certainly a time of testing, and patient waiting. Covid 19 is taking its toll all over the world. Still, there are some who do not take it seriously, which is a sad commentary on the compassion or lack there of of those who will not listen to health directives.

I am at the end of 6 weeks isolation, and at the end of an absolutely horrible week for our province. 22 people lost their lives at the hand of a gunman, and crushed the soul of several small communities. I think we are all still reeling from this unspeakable evil. My heart aches for all the families who have lost loved ones so suddenly.

Our pastor is doing a church service on facebook, which is nice. I'm also using zoom for a Bible Study. You make the best of a poor situation.

I started this post probable 5 weeks ago, and though I have thought of working on it, since I have so much time, but I guess I have to be "in the mood" to actually sit down and type.

I initially intended to show the pictures I took when I had an opportunity to go the Ironwood Farm. It was the first time in ages that I was able to go. I have to plan around meal times for the Captain. Now I can't even remember when we went. Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the lambs.

And of course here's Aslan

I have also been doing lots of needle felting. I will have to put the pictures on my laptop then move them here. 

It is a beautiful, warm day today. I went outside to enjoy the sun, and 

to rake up all the branches that fell after the wind blew over the top

of a tree. What a mess. At least it didn't hit anything but the ground.

That's it for now. Take care all and stay safe.

Blessings to all

Snow, snow, snow...

...and the 3rd Sunday in a row that I haven't been to church, and I've only had 1 choir practice, and no uke group. Our storms have come on Thursdays and Sundays, choir and church days. I should be thankful, and I am, that I don't live in Newfoundland which has had a huge blizzard, with a state of emergency, that will probably last a few more days. The snow drifts are so high that people can't get out their doors. I'm lucky that I have a daughter who loves to shovel, to do our driveway. She cleared the drive with the tractor just once so far. She'd rather shovel, and is very particular, especially with her own driveway.

Monday: I do believe that there are no storms forecast for the coming week. It will be cold, but at least  there won't be snow. I may even have choir practice, and get to church. I had a little practice session with my uke this morning. I hadn't picked it up since before Christmas.

.........and there went January. I had hoped to get a post done in January, but that was a lost cause. I did manage to get to church and uke group last Sunday. Hopefully, February will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

The first Sunday of February found a storm skirting our area for a change, and doing a good job of dumping snow on Cape Breton. Since then, the days have been clear. But, there's always a storm around the corner....

I am not doing a great job of getting things done around here, or getting out to spend 'me time'. I have done a bit of needle felting, but what I really want to do is get out my acrylics and paint on canvas. So far, I haven't started, but I feel the urge building up in me.

The weather has blessed us with snow, freezing rain and rain, through last night into today and this evening. As a result,  no choir practice. I'm glad we practice songs ahead so we are semi prepared on Sunday .

I think I will end this here. Aslan sends his regards.

December

Well here I am at the end of the year, almost. What a year it has been. Some ups and lots of downs along the way.  Today, the middle of December finds me not ready for Christmas, no decorations up, not all gifts brought, and wondering if it's worth getting all the stuff out of the attic, or putting a tree up, and facing the antics of Aslan.

I am dragging myself around, with little energy and a great dislike of our weather, which runs the gamut of rain, freezing rain, snow flurries, snow, and back to rain, which is what it's doing today. I'm convinced that my poor old body and head are affected by the changes in the weather.

I decided I really had to go out today, and get a few things for Christmas gifts for family. Well, I was so glad to get home. I only managed 3 hours, getting in and out of the car 6 times. I am done....done in...that's all I can do. I hate this fibro. It is always worse when it's cold, or I'm stressed, or both.

And now it is 4 days before Christmas. The tree is up such as it is. Aslan has made a nuisance of himself..as usual. Gifts are bought and a bit of decorating done. In the midst of this preparation, I had to move furniture in the Captain's room so he had enough space to use the walker. Well, you can't move furniture and not vacuum so a good part of yesterday was spent getting that done.

Managed a bit of felting, mostly snow people.

Well, it is now the 27th and it has taken me this long to get this done. My progress is slow, to say the least. Perhaps the new year will bring with it energy, initiative, and perseverance.

My Christmas card this year.

Wishing you all the 

peace and joy this 

season has to offer.

Merry Christmas

and 

Happy New Year

Zipppp....the summer went fast

Here it is, the last day of September. I haven't written since June and wonder if I should bother any more. My days are the same, one after the other, with not much different, so that through the summer, I had a hard time keeping the days straight. I didn't go anywhere, or do anything special, except a birthday meal out with my girls.
The real excitement here on my mountain was getting hit with a hurricane on the first weekend of September. We were without power for 50+ hours. We don't have a generator, so we have lost everything in the big freezer, and the fridge freezer.
It was quite a job, but managed to get all the stuff out of the freezer, separate each item in order to recycle, and get the food into the green bin. I did it the night before garbage pickup. to keep from getting a visit from a wild animal. Fun and games. Not really, but it's done and the big freezer is thawed out. Leaving door ajar for a few days, then I'll give it a good once over with soda and vinegar. Such a waste though, such a waste.
I've begun Choir practices again, and started to prepare and choose music for the Fall. The community Ukulele group has started as well, and I'm glad of that. I need the time to just enjoy, without being in charge.
The mornings are crisp now for the most part. Leaves are changing colour, and falling. My poor flowering crab tree is not going to last much longer. The leaves start falling in August, some branches are dead and most are covered with moss. I can't even remember if it had many blossoms this year.
........It is now 5 days into October so I will post this today, otherwise it will be November before it gets posted.

Hope you all have a great fall.

I don't know when I'll get back to this. 

June is here....

So the whole month of May has passed, most days overcast, rainy, or drizzly with one or two days of sun thrown in haphazardly. Dreary, my friend dreary. The bloom on the magnolia was welcomed, though it took a while to become full bloom, and the leaves are just filling out now on the trees.
Today was sunny and warm, and guess what is coming tomorrow......rain. We get one day of sun at a time it seems.

I have missed posting for two months now. It seems to beckon me and then something gets in the way and I put it off. I almost did that today, and I may have to leave the rest of this until tomorrow. Nothing much happened in April, so you didn't miss anything. Same old, same old. One day runs into the next, and before you can turn around and count to ten, the month has whizzed by, leaving me in the dust, or the mud, considering the rain that has fallen.

In May I was able to spend one afternoon at Ironwood Farm, and saw the little lambs. It was a chilly day, but it was great to get to Heather's and I really enjoyed it. We went out to lunch at the Flying Apron, and had great food as usual. Dawn and Lindsay went too. Those little lambs are so cute.

This one had unusual black markings

Our eldest granddaughter Rae graduated from University on the 17th. Four years of study, one trip to the Gambia, and lots of hard work got her to this place in her life. I must say, I was extremely proud of her. I was able to watch the proceedings on line and I had a few tears watching. It was a special day.  She will continue living in Halifax, working at a few things. Job hunting is on the agenda during the summer after her present work ends in July. She has become a "city girl."  Lindsay will be graduating from high school in June. Where or where have the years gone?

I have been enjoying the uke group. It's a time for just pushing everything aside, and just playing. Great fun. My fingers don't work as well as I would like, but I push on, faking a few chords along the way. It doesn't matter, because there are others who carry the song along.

I shall end this here, so I can post it. I see the sun is trying to break through the clouds, but it isn't working too well.

Until next time here's a picture of Aslan...the book/knee loving kitty.

Mid March

Oh dear, I had a partial blog written, and just erased it all, since I had started it in February.  So far, 2019 has not been great for the communities up around here.  We have had 3 deaths of seniors, and an accidental death of an eight year old boy.  It does seem as though sorrow walks among us.

Mid March and there is snow still on the ground, though it is gradually disappearing. With rain expected tonight, it will probably be gone by morning. The bare ground is a mess when the temp gets above zero. My driveway is a series of ruts and puddles.

I  make home made cards for friends, birthday, sympathy, etc. A friend has kept hers and was going through them. She showed them to me, and there was one that I couldn't believe it had painted. I am using it as a header.

(A week later)...... Here are a few more cards that I did.......

Don't know how to turn this one

or this one

The first day of Spring has come and gone and brought with it lots of rain so that most of the snow has gone. Hopefully now the days will begin to warm. Orchard pruning has begun, and I know that lots of folks are planning their gardens. It is the end of March break here and my #2 granddaughter will be coming home tomorrow, from a school trip to France and Italy. We never had trips like that when I was in school. My big trip was by train from Windsor, Ontario to Stratford, Ontario to see a play. It was a day trip. Of course the kids have to spend a lot of time fundraising as a group. I saved all my recyclables for her. 

I guess I can't finish this off until I put a picture of dear Aslan..........

I was trying to read......

This is all for now.  It only took me a couple of weeks to finish this up.

Hope everyone is ready for some nice weather.

Have a good one.

My Goodness.......

It is cold, very cold! The weather is driving me nuts. First there is snow, then it changes to rain, then the temperature rises, and water pours into the basement, then the next day it is freezing cold again....
I am procrastinating because I have to go and get the mail, which means cleaning off the car, because it snowed again, and the wind is blowing, and it is -11C. I don't want to go out. Brrrrrrrrrrr. And, guess what? We are going to get.......more rain tomorrow or Thursday. Can't wait to see where the water will go this time.

Church was cancelled on Sunday because of the miserable weather, and I miss that time of worship. The weather was really messy. I was supposed to play at the local Manor, at their Church service,but of course that was cancelled as well. The roads were treacherous.

My driveway is an ice rink, because of the freezing temperature following the rain. It wouldn't be so bad if the snow would come, and stay, because the temperature stayed cold, instead of this up and down thing that is going on. At least then I could get used to it. Oh well, it is what it is.

I decided to join a local ukulele group that has just started up, and meets at the community hall, Sunday afternoons. We had one meeting, and then the 2nd one was cancelled (of course). I'm not sure if I am to play at the Manor next Sunday, but if not, I hope to get to the uke group. They are at the same time. I was surprised how many people came to the first meeting. Probably twenty, made up of beginners, who wanted to learn, and various other stages of ability. I figured it would be a time for "me" which I am having trouble accomplishing.  Getting out 2 times a week is not working that well. Usually if the weather is decent, I get out to get groceries, or other errands that I have to make. Me time is hard to get to. I haven't done very well at it.

I managed to steel myself, and ventured out to clean off the car and get the mail. It was bitter with the wind blowing. It looks nice out, with a bit of blue sky and if I didn't know better I would think it was pleasant out.  But, I know better.

Aslan, doing one of his 'let's drop right in the middle of mom's work'.

I don't know who is going to dry me bonkers first.

The Captain or Aslan?

Or perhaps it will be the weather,

or cabin fever,

or the water in the basement.

It won't take much.