Author: annemariedemyen

Wife, mother, grandmother dogmother - lover of nature, peace and tranquility. RETIRED. Life is good!

Road Trip In Saskatchewan

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

My husband and I do not travel very far or very often, but now and then we just decide to get away for a day or two.

I am not a fan of the trip itself, but we enjoy a specific little hospitality chain that has nice hotels in Saskatchewan and Alberta.   If you ever get the chance to check them out, D3H Homesuites are clean, economical, the staff are welcoming, the complementary breakfast is good, they have a pool and hot tub and a small workout room.

We always get the jacuzzi suite with a king bed bedroom, jacuzzi, fireplace, sitting area with nice desk area and bar fridge.

Sometimes all it takes is a day or two, without a care in the world to come home recharged, ready for anything – even a Saskatchewan winter.

My Winter Green Spaces

by annemariedemyen, posted in nature
Little Bit of Summer

We are seven months away from green grass, budding flowers, sprouting vegetables and leafing trees. Although our house is small, I have my areas of greenery to brighten our spirits through the long Saskatchewan winter.

Kitchen Window

Now that I am almost recovered from my outbreak of shingles, I will be returning to work tomorrow. I must make time one evening to work on my kitchen ivy. It is getting a little out of control and becoming a problem when I work at the sink.

Lucky Bamboo

I dusted my bamboo last night. Somehow there is always dusting to be done, even when we are six feet deep in snow. 🤷

Cactus Blossom
Blooming Ivy
Miracle Plant In Bloom

Occasionally, we wake up to random blossoms to brighten our day.

National Cook For Your Pets Day

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized
Kat

Today is a holiday that I can relate to. Today is National Cook For Your Pets Day. Our dog, Kat, gets homemade food everyday but for her it is always something to celebrate!

Kat gets dry kibble but we supplement it with a small dish of homemade ‘soft’ food in the morning. We started this when our previous dog, Casey, was getting up in age and was no longer able to manage enough dry food to keep her at a healthy weight. We wanted to provide her with the best nutrition possible so we studied the subject and started her on a special home cooked diet.  Of course, she had to share with Kat and once she was gone we kept up the practice. 

Casey

We follow the same basic recipe every time – meat, vegetables, and a little filler cooked together with saltless broth and one package of clear gelatin.    (The gelatin is good for her joints.) For meat we generally use a portion from a package we are using for our meal – hamburger, stewing meat, steak, chicken, turkey, or pork loin.  Occasionally we will buy her a small package of lamb or chicken livers.    Kat, like Casey did, loves vegetables and must sample each as we are chopping them.   Her favourites are carrots, asparagus and kohlrabi.  For filler we use a bit of rice, barley or orzo. Then we stew it together with the broth and gelatin, a spoonful of powdered eggshell, seasoned with homegrown herbs like parsley or lemon balm and a bit of pepper. We make a sizeable batch and freeze it in portions that will last her about for days.

Kat, ‘Taste Testing’

Halloween

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized
Dominic at my office

I can’t claim to be the biggest fan of holidays and to be honest Halloween is probably my second least favourite of all. I do however enjoy seeing kids get out and about, as family, just having a good time. Naturally, it is even more fun when it is my family, out with their kids.

Genie taking first place in ‘homemade costume’ grade 9

Being in Saskatchewan, there’s always a question of how co-operable the weather will. This year it will be about 0C and snow. Not great, especially for anyone pushing a baby carriage or wheelchair, but we have had worse.

Maddy & Prim

Here is wishing kids everywhere a safe, happy, warm Halloween. 🎃

Shingles Vaccine

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized
Feels A Lot Worse Than It Looks

I, like most parents, made sure my little ones were protected by the vaccines available for them. I have gotten flu and pneumonia vaccines to protect myself. But shingles vaccine, pfft. This weekend I got an education.

Shingles is hell – I would think it would be hell anywhere but I have it across my face and through one eye – which has been found to lead to dementia (Yay). Elderly people with shingles are subject to stroke or heart attack. If I am fortunate, I will just have a rash comparable to having acid poured over my face, stabbing pains in my head (think icepick) and constant nausea for a week or so.

Shingles will not cause shingles but it can cause chicken pox in anyone who has not been vaccinated – because they are too young or were from the pre-chickenpox vaccination days – like my husband and adult chicken pox is terrible.

Bottom line, if you are fifty or over, have had chicken pox, have not gotten the shingles vaccine – get it now. Protect yourself and your loved ones. 💞

On the Road Again

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

Tomorrow we head north to visit my son and celebrate his son’s birthday. I am pretty much packed and ready to go. I just have to get Kat’s bag packed and get a few hours of sleep. That will be the tricky part, getting to sleep with so much on my mind.

Dan is working tonight. It is his forth twelve hour shift in a row and he works hard. He will be home early enough to get a few hours sleep before we leave, but not enough for me to make him drive to Lloyd, so I will be behind the wheel.

I do not love travelling and I definitely do not love driving. I am cursed behind the wheel. I have driven through more than my share of construction, fog, blizzards, icy roads, gale force winds and a herd of pigs. Not friendly pigs either – a mean, nasty, gang of pigs. I have lost more than my share of windshield wipers – oddly true. I have slid down a muddy country road sideways in pitch dark, pouring rain. That was not fun. None of it was fun, so I am not totally excited at the prospect of tomorrow’s adventure.

Dan usually does his share of driving and mine when we travel. I have been thinking lately that I should make more of an effort to polish up on my highway driving skills. One never knows if it is a skill I may need in the future. This is probably as good a time as any, to start making the extra effort.

I had better go try to get some sleep. Apparently it is hunting season in Saskatchewan. If anyone out on the open road tomorrow will be dodging bullets and startled wild life, we know it will be me. 🦌🐇🦆

Wet Kat

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

Tonight was the night to trim Kat’s feet, the hair around her face, and give her a bath. She was not even that dirty, but somehow setting her in a tub of warm clean water and lathering her up with doggy shampoo releases the worst wet dog smell ever.

I’m sure there must be some scientific reason for why dogs smell so bad when they get wet but I cannot imagine what it would be. Whatever the reason, I am pretty sure Cavaliers, or Kat anyway, is worse than your average wet dog. 🤦

🇨🇦 Post Election 🇨🇦

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

Our election is over, and the results are in. These are my opinions, everyone has a right to agree or disagree. I speak only for myself.

First off, we came away with the best possible outcome. The Liberals will lead the country with a minority government, and the Conservatives, Bloc, NDP and Green parties have the power to work with them to bring positive changes for all Canadians.

We came away with the best Prime Minister possible. In the past four years, Justin Trudeau has made some rookie mistakes. That being said, he is a good man and a good leader, a good example for our youth. He treats his Mother with genuine respect and affection. He and his wife are respectful of each other and openly affectionate of each other and their children. When Mr. Trudeau speaks of his late Father, he remembers and admires him for the right reasons – for the way he raised his family and for the way he instilled in his sons a respect for themselves and others. Despite meeting with disrepect and ingratitude from regions of Canada, Mr. Trudeau works hard to serve all Canadians and is our best chance of ever having one united country.

Now for the post election disappointments:

1) Mr. Sheer, leader of the Conservatives couldn’t wait to start throwing dirt and dissention this morning, swearing he will ultimately take down Justin Trudeau at the next election.

2) Our Premier in Saskatchewan started the day by announcing that, with the support of Saskatchewan voters, he was going to Ottawa to demand an end to the carbon tax, more pipelines for Saskatchewan to pump our oil to market, and revised equalization payments favoring Saskatchewan. I for one did not vote for him to run the country and I for one have no idea why he thinks with less than 3 percent of the population of Canada, we should assume to rule the entire country with zero respect for other Canadians.

3) Mr. Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, started the day by announcing that he would work for the good of Quebec and only Quebec. Again, no. We are all Canadians, one country. Our federal politicians should be working for the good of all Canadians.

4) Ralph Goodale has served the people of Canada for twenty-six years as a Liberal MLA from Saskatchewan. His seat was lost last night. He has served us well and deserves a respectful end to his career. Instead public forums, were filled with spiteful, ignorant comments. Just disgusting, in my mind.

That’s my take on the election. I hope we can find a way to work together going forward, to rebuild a strong country with respect and compromise for ourselves, our families and our fellow Canadians. I hope our politicians will get it together and lead the way. 🇨🇦

🇨🇦Election Canada 2019🇨🇦

by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

Well, we did our part☺️. Now we just have to wait for the results of our federal election.

Sadly, there were people who did not get to cast their votes. Every election there are more and more issues with Elections Canada. The worst was the polling stations that were closed due to lack of staffing. That is inconceivable. I am so sorry for my fellow Canadians who did not get to exercise their right to vote.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, I hope people on all sides will be gracious with the results. I hope our politicians will be civil and work together for the good of all Canadians. For all of our sakes, I hope the nastiness of the past six weeks is in the past and we can get back to being Canada. 🇨🇦