Small but mighty, Primrose (Prim) joined our family eight years ago today. It was obvious from the start that this little one had a mind of her own and she was happy to give you a piece of it.
Happy Birthday, Prim. We love you to the moon and back.
Today, be a Prim. Share giggles and excitement and fun wherever you go. And – Be safe out there!💖
Ten years ago our family was blessed with a happy little sweetheart that we have come to know and love as Maddy.
Today for Maddy’s birthday let’s all be a Maddy – Share kindness, share hope, share happiness, share a smile today😊.
Granddaughter Genie stopped by for a short surprise visit yesterday with her younger siblings. It is a bad time to socialize but we did our best to keep physically distanced. Nobody was happy about the no huggs and kisses policy but they all complied.
Genie has been working a lot at Superstore these last few weeks. They are making things better for store clerks – shorter hours to allow for extra cleaning and stocking, limited customers at one time, special shopping hours for seniors and for store staff, sneeze guards to protect cashiers and wage bonuses for all staff. So grateful to their powers that be that they realize how important their staff is to them and to us all!
It was great to see Rory, Maddy and Prim. With Mom and Genie working lots of hours, Rory is stepping up to cover a lot of the house cleaning. Maddy is growing up fast. She is helping out with cooking and baking. Prim is doing her part to keep things lively and helping where she can – no doubt keeping the dogs, cat and turtle on their toes.
A few things of note:
1) They are all great kids and it’s amazing how they pull together to help out.👍
2) We miss them all – thank goodness for technology that keeps families in contact while we are kept apart.📲
3) It is really hard to keep physically distanced in our little house. Going forward – no visits until it is warm enough to visit outside. Fortunately, we have a huge yard and warm weather is coming. 🌲
4) I am now pretty much out of gummy bears, toffee and Pepsi. 😂
5) Rory was as happy as the girls😊. I just caught him at a serious moment. (Probably when Genie and I made fun of him for referencing ‘Fifty Shades of Blue’). Apparently he hasn’t seen the movie. If it is a sequel to ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ that is no doubt a good thing.
I have had three spaniels in my life. My first was Laddie, who was a pure black Cocker Spaniel. Laddie was my father’s pup back when I was a young child.
The second spaniel in my life was a dark brown and white Springer Spaniel named Sprocket. My brother in law gifted Sprocket to my children when they were young. Sprocket was hardly the sharpest tool in the shed. He was also as big as a horse and intent on running every chance he got. Fun times.
Both Laddie and Sprocket were beautiful dogs. They had medium length, curly hair that required little grooming. I thought that was typical of spaniels, until we got Kat. Kat is a King Charles Cavalier.
The current pandemic has created health and economic crisis around the globe. There are heart wrenching stories and pictures that fill our news feed daily. There are true heroes and heroines who have stepped up. There are pathetic excuses of humanity who have shown the selfish, evil side of humanity.
And then, there are the little things in life that we have come to take for granted. The services that we typically have available. I knew going in that there were a lot of things I would miss. I didn’t realize that dog grooming would be right up there.
I can’t wait to see how long it takes before Dan and I start missing our hairdresser. I can just see me back in a pony tail and Dan in a man bun.😂. Or not…
May you and yours be safe and strong throughout this difficult time. 💖
I was out and about for a bit this morning. Went face to face with a bank machine. Went to buy bread but promised my husband I would not go to a big supermarket. I tried our Petrocan convenience store. They do not sell bread.🤷. The Dollar Store looked quiet so I went there. They do not sell bread 🤷. I should have gone to Cobb’s Bakery but that would have meant a fairly lengthy drive so I came home and had salmon salad with potato chips and Cheezies.
Our snow is pretty much gone but our scenery is still pretty drab so decided to share more photos of spring days gone by.
Share love, share beauty, share kindness. Keep safe out there💝
I love spring. Spring is the my favourite season of the year. Spring brings an end to winter in Saskatchewan and announces the arrival of summer in Saskatchewan. Spring is always the best!
This year, warm spring weather and the beauty that comes with it will be more important than ever. With social distancing and isolation to stop the spread of this horrible virus, people need to get out into the sunshine and fresh air to keep healthy, physically and mentally. We still need to keep a safe distance from others but that will be so much easier out of doors – especially in places like Saskatchewan where we have an abundance of wide open spaces.
My heart goes out to those who live in large crowded cities and are confined to small apartments. I can’t even imagine. For those who cannot get out to enjoy the coming of spring, I thought I would share a few photos from spring seasons gone by. In the days to come, I hope to get out to take some new photos of spring 2020. I will share the best ones I can get.
For many people around the globe, this year is unimaginably challenging. It will most likely get a lot worse before it gets better, especially in places like North America where the virus is just arriving. I believe that at times like this it is more important than ever to do what we can to share kindness, hope, faith and beauty with others. 🥀
Technology has made major strides in my lifetime. I do not claim that it is all for the betterment of society but some of it is definitely good. In these days of ‘social distancing’ it is proving to be truly great in some ways.
One of my favourite aspects of technology, as a parent and grandparent, is the ability to receive photos and video clips at the press of a button – even when we are separated from family by geographical distance or ‘social distancing’ meant to keep, us and them, safe.
When I was a young child, my earliest photos were black and white – on films that were sent away for expensive processing. By the time I was in elementary school, my photos were in color, taken by instamatic cameras and still sent away for processing. By high school we had Polaroids that printed out instantly – the quality left much to be desired and the film was expensive, but they were quick.
When my children were preschoolers, I had my first experience with digital photos. They were done at a booth in a mall and printed on a dot matrix printer. They were black and white, relatively economical, and instantaneous. I framed them and they hung on my livingroom wall for twenty some years. I have them packed away in a box at the bottom of my closet amidst my other treasured memorabilia from their younger days.
It is so nice to have the ability to quickly, easily and economically share photos and videos with family and friends. At this point in time – it is priceless💝
For those of us who are not on the front lines of this global crisis, the hysteria is calming down and we are starting to go about life as it is.
My husband and I were both working today. Things were quiet at my office. For various reasons, we were at half staff. The phone was relatively quiet. Our only walk in traffic was a couple of delivery drivers. It was kind of nice to slow down and focus on one task at a time.
I took time to do some extra cleaning. I wiped off every surface, doorknob, phone, copier, mouse, keypad, etc with bleach cleanser. I scrubbed down the washroom. The place smells clean if nothing else.
I spent time with my boss while he agonized over whether we should close down and send everyone home or plug along. As long as the construction industry keeps going and product is still available we will probably keep going. Our clients expect us to – but it is hard. A lot of our work is out of town so we are separating families for days at a time. My boss’s son had his first son last week. My son has a four year old son. They need their paycheques but, at this time, their families need them. I am glad it is not my decision to make.
I stopped at a home centre on my way home to pick up some solar yard lights. I think I was the only customer. Hopefully the grocery stores are calming down. I will probably have to pick up a few things on the weekend and I am trying hard to avoid crowds.
I came home, relaxed for a bit, and fed Kat before Dan got home from work. We barbecued pork chops, cooked some noodles and asparagus and had a nice supper. Now we are watching Survivor.
So that is about it. We keep going with faith, hope, trust, and gratitude. Our hearts go out to all who are sick, for those who have lost their lives, for their families, for all who are caring for them, for all who are juggling family and finances, for all of those who are stepping up to serve others, and for all who are forced to make difficult decisions right now.
Hoping for a speedy end to this situation. Hoping that this will ultimately make us all better, kinder, stronger. 🕊️
People are going to have to get creative when it comes to celebrating holidays this year. My effort for St. Patrick’s Day so far has been to send some stickers and temporary tattoos over to four year old grandson, Dominic. Apparently, they now have shiny green and gold stickers everywhere and the cats are hiding from the little tattoo artist.
On a side note, Happy Birthday Dad! You would be a young 111 years old today. As pure French as you were, you always made the leprechauns proud!
Things are shutting down in a big way today. All city buildings are closed – at least to the public, including city hall. Most entertainment – theatres, casinos, playground type places are closed or closing. Bars and restaurants are closing – for lack of business if nothing else. International flights are allowed only at specific airports – none of which are in Saskatchewan. Canadian borders are open to Canadians and Americans only.
All public schools in Saskatchewan are closing this week until further notice. I am behind anything the authorities are doing to slow this virus down – including closing schools. But, the government has announced that every child passing their classes at this point will be passed into the next grade and all grade twelve students will graduate. So what were the schools planning on teaching these kids for the next three and a half months? Will this not leave a knowledge gap when they go onto the next grade or move onto college or university? Hmmm….
Grocery stores, pharmacies and the like are to remain open. The construction industry is still plugging along. Any ‘events’, training classes, etc. are being cancelled. Contractor are issuing their own policy for managing work sites while the coronavirus is a part of our reality. So far our suppliers seem to be processing orders and freight companies are rolling.
Dan was laid off for three weeks last week due to a data breach at Evraz. It was dealt with sooner than expected so he was called back this week. That is kind of scary. There are a lot of people who work at his plant, people coming and going from offices in the USA and a lot of workers who travel at every opportunity. Not the healthiest place to be right now.
The streets are getting pretty quiet out there. It is, no doubt, good that people are taking this ‘social distancing’ seriously. It is good that government and business is taking this situation seriously. But it is unsettling. It is getting surreal.
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 