It is hard to believe Rory is fifteen, going into grade ten, and looking to start drivers training –
And, he is SO big. 👀
Happy Birthday, Rory! We love you so much! We wish you all the best going forward. Grandma & Grandpa D. 🐒🐒🐒🙈🙉🙊🐒🐒🐒
It has been a bit since I posted photos of my elephants. These are just a few of my random favourites. That is not quite accurate. Every one of my elephants is my favourite.
These are just a very few of the elephants I have. I have everything from a huge stuffed elephant to outdoor elephants to micro mini elephants. I saved one very special elephant for grandson Rory’s birthday post tomorrow. 😉
Take care and have a great day. 🐘🐘
It had to be done. I went out this morning and got rid of my Covid hair. My hairdresser did her best but I still have a fringe of colored hair that makes me look more grey than white. Next time!
A friend of mine recently had her hair cut short and dyed pink. I thought it looked super cute so I considered perking things up with blue dye once my hair goes pure white. Then I thought back to the days of blue haired old ladies who reaked of cheap perfume and decided against that move.
Speaking of older women… When I was a kid my grandmother used to wear a blue paisley dress every Sunday. She would sit down and totally disappear into the pattern on her couch. Just one of those odd memories that stays with you for life.
I returned home to find Dan trimming his ‘Tree of Enchantment’. It looks much neater but it is still too short to actually look like a tree, in my mind.
We have gale force winds again today so I will have to take a break from painting planters. Darn!
Have a great day and remember to keep safe. This virus isn’t over yet.
When I created my blog, I was focussed on my impending retirement. WordPress had other plans for my blog. “Instead of Retirement 101…”, My blog website became “Seclusion101….”. As strange as that seemed to me, it was actually a perfect fit for me. According to Wikipedia “Seclusion is the act of isolating from society”.
I admire people who can walk into any situation and make it better. Some people enter a room and radiate happiness. Others can be caught in the midst of drama, conflict or fear and radiate peace and calm. I am not one of those people.
I am a sponge for the emotions of those around me. By the standard of current terminology, I am an empath. I get close to anyone who is experiencing extreme emotion and I absorb it by default. I do not even have to be physically close to people I have close ties to – like my husband, sons and daughter. I feel off if there is something seriously wrong with them or the situation they are in.
There are occasions, when this ’empath’ way of being is helpful. I can generally feel when people need comfort or support. I can also generally feel when people are in a state where it is best to just back away and give them space. For the most part, being in the midst of extreme emotion just beats me up – regardless of the type of emotion.
I hate parades. I always have. When the planes fly over or the band strikes up and the crowd unites in excitement and anticipation, I am overwhelmed by the urge to burst into tears. Funerals crush me – even when the deceased was not someone I was personnely close to. The collective grief of family and friends suffocates me. Angry outbursts are the worst. Even if people screaming at each other are across the street, I feel terrified. I know these situation are over reactions, but that is how I am.
I would love to live on an acreage surrounded by nature. In the city, I make do. Regardless of where I have lived, I have always had my special place where I could ‘isolate from society’. Back in the days when I was alone with my teenagers, my ‘place’ was a corner of the kitchen cupboards. I could open a window, sit on the cupboard with my feet in the sink and enjoy a cup of tea and a cigarette. Nobody came near me when I was in my corner – until Dan came into my life. He was allowed in my corner. (He wasn’t allowed to put his feet in my sink.)
Now it is relatively easy to seclude myself. I have indoor and outdoor places that are perfect for isolating. Life has never been better – in retirement and seclusion.
Have a pleasant and peaceful day🌞
Dan is back on shift today. Kat and I bounced to life at 5:30 a. m. Granted, one of us had more life than the other at that ungodly hour. I fed Kat, had my morning infusion of coffee and spent some time reading the news and checking out Facebook. Neither brightened my day.
I had a hearty brunch at 9:00. That perked me up. I went outside and started painting planters. I am down two with thirty six to go!
I stopped for a bit of a break and my brat of a granddaughter snuck in and scared the life out of me.
The grocery stores are finally settling down here. I am so glad that Genie is finally getting a few days off. She needs it and she so deserves it!
Have a nice day🌞
It seems like the flowers are taking their time this year. I have lots of plants with buds but not a lot of blossoms happening yet.
I hope everyone has a few flowers to brighten their day – today and every day.
Dan was home this weekend so we got more than a few things accomplished.
Hope you all enjoyed a good weekend!
My father was a good man. He was kind and peaceful. His life was never easy but he dealt with it – whatever it was.
Dad was born premature, weighing one and a half pounds. His father bundled him up, put him in the sleigh and hauled him off to town to be baptized. On the way to town, the sleigh hit a rut and overturned. Dad was thrown into a snow bank. He survived (obviously). If I know my Dad, he was laughing when they found him.
When my Dad was old enough, he was sent to a convent where his classes were taught in French. When he was in grade two, his mother suffered a serious stroke. My Dad went to work for a storekeeper, spending his days sitting in the basement of a store removing eyes from potatoes. His father needed help feeding his family and paying medical and care bills for his mother. As always, Dad did what he could do to help.
As a teenager, Dad went to the city to work with his brother, Herman. A few months later he returned home with Herman’s body. Herman had died a victim of tuberculosis. Dad was by his side, holding his hand when he passed away – then he brought him home to be buried in a grave marked by a concrete gravestone that he designed and made for him.
After Herman’s death, Dad stayed home to help the family. He became a licenced bartender and a true craftsman at applying stucco. Although his formal education had been so short, Dad never allowed that to limit his options. After my parents married, Dad went to work at an Airforce training base during World War Two. (At five foot nothing and color blind to boot, the army wasn’t looking to send him into battle). After the war, my parents moved up north, where Dad supported our growing family with his stuccoing skills. When they moved to southern Manitoba, he entered the auto body trade. When I was three, we moved back to Saskatchewan. My parents purchased an autobody shop which they ran until they retired.
After retirement, my parents enjoyed a few easier years. They would visit my siblings and I on a regular basis. At my home, Dad could always find yard work to keep him happy and occupied. When we moved to a home with a large, neglected yard, Dad was in his glory for years!
In 1989, when Dad was eighty years old, just months after celebrating his fiftieth anniversary with Mom, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer of the sinuses. He passed away four years later, on December 17th, 1993. Losing a loved one is always difficult, watching my Dad waste away for four years from this insideous disease was heart wrenching beyond belief. It was also incredibly inspiring and such an honor to witness the strength, grace and dignity that he displayed throughout his final years.
Rest in peace, Dad. Happy Father’s Day!
Fyi Father’s Day is on June 21st. At least one of my sons keeps track. Same son who informed me I was 59 when I was pretty sure I was 48🙄
Yesterday was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood. Today – not so much. It is cold, windy and looking to rain later. We could use the rain. The cold and wind we could definitely do without.
Southern Saskatchewan has a tendency to be windy, but I do not remember winds like this. It goes on for days (and nights!) at a time. I left our bedroom window open last night and felt like I was going to get blown out of bed this morning. I went out and set our hanging planters on the ground again. The plants in them just take too much of a beating when the wind is gusting in the 70k range.
It might be a good day to give Kat a bath. She is filthy and she does not look like she is too motivated to go for a walk any time soon.
Have a great day! I hope wherever you are, your weather is being kind to you today.
It is an absolutely perfect day out today – warm, dry and no wind. I am trying to get lots of yard work done because it is supposed to be rainy and windy all weekend.
Try would be the operative word. It is so nice out that I have been distracted by neighbours who are also outside trying to get their yard work done. I had a nice long chat with Faye next door and then Kim and her son Kingston, who live next door to Faye.
Time to head out and try again. I want to finish cleaning out the cedars before I take Kat to visit the ducks at the storm channel across the street.
I love retirement!
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 