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.
April showers bring rainbows Genie and Rory enjoying some spring sunshine and fresh airDan’s first gnomeCasey checking out the pondTweethearts❤️Gazebos and the kid’s first poolKid’s first ‘monster pool’A spring smile from Prim
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.
Mark ThenAnd NowDaniel ThenAnd NowJennifer ThenAnd Now Videos at the touch of a button
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.
We had a short visit with my son, his wife and their two little boys this weekend. Lucas is four going on five. Cason is sixteen months.
It is amazing how much these little ones can change in such a short time. At Christmas, Lucas wasn’t too excited about having a little brother. Now he is totally into being a big brother and having a playmate in training. Cason was still pretty much an infant at Christmas. Now he is running around like a little drunken sailor and drooling like a St. Bernard. Cute but you really don’t go looking for his kisses these days. 😂
Our company was not here long, but we were able to take them out for lunch before they had to leave. Despite the long wait for our meals, both of the boys were very well behaved. A woman at the next table came over to compliment Danny & Amanda on their beautiful well behaved children. It is always so nice when people take the time to pass on such encouragement to young parents.
There are two presumptive cases of coronavirus in Saskatchewan, Canada. At this point, it would be logical to follow expert advice – avoid crowds, avoid travel, wash your hand often, stay home if you are sick, plus anything else that will slow down the transmission of this virus to help manage the strain on our health system.
What is not logical is the mass hoarding and panic that has erupted in Saskatchewan. Our stores are suddenly slammed with shoppers, pushing cart loads of everything from toilet paper to baby formula to canned goods. Shelves are empty, and I am sure it is virtually impossible for store personnel to restock during the day, with the crowds being as rediculous as they are.
I am not overly worried about contracting coronavirus or how I will be affected by it, if I do contract it. I will cross that bridge if I come to it.
What I am worried about are these fools who are cramming stores and panic buying, and hoarding product that others may actually NEED. This behaviour triggers more panic and it has already gotten way out of hand. Not only are these people putting a major strain on the supply chain, but they are creating disasters waiting to happen and putting a major strain on all who staff our stores.
Two of those store staff people are my daughter and granddaughter. They are concientious and diligent. They are working extra long, extra busy shifts, pushing themselves to cash out as many customers as possible. I know, they are being run down and exposed to coronavirus plus every other seasonal cold or flu that is out there right now. I am worried about them, I am worried about what they will bring home to the rest of their family. I feel for them and for anyone working in our stores right now. It is totally unnecessary risk that they are being exposed to. They are not machines, they are people – my people.
GenevieveJennifer
I don’t know what has triggered this panic/hoarding nonsense or what kind of people indulge in it. It is senseless, it is greed, it is pure stupidity. Someone is going to get hurt or worse. I hope it won’t be my girls.
The boss had to head out of town so I had the dubious pleasure of another site walk thru. Took a company truck just to add to the challenge. I don’t mind driving it but have to admit I am less than graceful trying to get in and out. It’s not even a 4×4 so I don’t know why it it such a stretch to get into it.
Got a goodly amount of exercise and fresh air walking around our football stadium. ‘Go Riders!’.
Made it through the walk, made a few contacts, handed out some info on our product for this project. Other than being attacked by a clingy entrance mat on the way in, it was all good.
Stopped for coffee and donuts on my way back to the office. Another mission successfully completed.
I do not try a lot of Facebook hacks. Some of them are questionable, some of them are useless, and some of them just require more effort than I am willing to invest.
There are some hacks that sound like the perfect answer to one of life’s problems. Those, I try.
A few weeks ago, our bathroom sink was not draining particularly well. I remembered seeing a post on Facebook about pouring baking soda into the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar. It worked like magic. Our bathroom sink drained like a darn!
Today, our kitchen sink was draining rather sluggishly. I dumped in the the baking soda, poured in the vinegar, and it plugged solid. No idea if I used too much baking soda, not enough vinegar, or if the two reacted with grease in the pipes – but it plugged solid.
I did what any intelligent woman would do if her husband was in the next room. I snuck to the bathroom, grabbed the toilet plunger, filled the kitchen sink with super hot water and plunged the heck out of it. That worked. The sink drained. I scrubbed it down with bleach cleanser and it is good as new.
I can’t say as much for the toilet plunger. In my enthusiasm , I tore a big hole in the rubber plungy part. I rinsed it off and snuck it back into the bathroom. Now I have to wait until Dan goes to use it, knowing I am going to have to convince him that he must have wrecked it the last time he used it – because I would never plunge a toilet.
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 