Happy Valentine’s Day! Wishing Love & Joy to everyone today. Valentine’s Day is a holiday that is typically marketed towards couples. This year however, I am thinking of the singles in our society who have been particularly affected by the isolation that has been a part of this lingering pandemic. For anyone who is alone today and feeling a bit stranded, I am thinking of you and sending hearts and huggs and smiles your way.
Have a great day! If you cannot be with the ones you love, think of them often and do something special for yourself to brighten your day. Thinking of you. AnneMarie 🌞
When I retired, I started to walk – a lot. I started walking in an effort to improve my health, but I found other benefits. One of the best of these benefits was that I found it particularly calming. As I walked my favourite path in Patricia Park, I thought of it as my path to peace. After months and miles of walking, I was at a place where I felt that wherever I was, peace was my path.
I have found the path of peace quite easy and pleasant and have managed to generally stay my course.
I have drifted over to and even straddled the paths of love, happiness, hope and faith. That was nice.
I have occasionally zigged left, when I should have zagged right and have found myself on the paths of fear, resentment, anger, or the like. They were unpleasant, so I returned to my path of peace.
I have been drawn to a sparkly path, alit with party lights, and decorated with balloons and streamers. I soon realized that this festive path was a meandering pity party filled with blame games and that it would take me nowhere. I returned to the path of peace.
I have stumbled on the horrific paths of hate and righteousness. I did not last long on those paths. They were too exhausting!
I have learned that life is filled with paths, some hard, some easy, some better, some worse. You have to pick your paths carefully and you have stay alert – because as simple as it is to get sidetracked, getting back on track is seldom as easy as it seemed it would be.
My path of peace 🕊️That’s an ugly one 😳That one could lead to something sketchy 🥴Dead end ☃️Confidentially walking the straight and narrow 🙂
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!
Back in July of 2020, there were difficult situations in my life. My fractured family, my failing health, issues with our house, concerns of a global pandemic, living in a province where I strongly disagree with the politics and the attitudes of much of the population … All things that really matter deeply to me. In response, I put together this blog post – filled with butterfly photos and reminding myself that regardless of how difficult life can be, there is always hope and peace and beauty to appreciate and to carry one through the difficulties, disappointments, and the disasters in our lives.
My mother used to say. “Cheer up, things could be worse! So I cheered up and sure as hell, things got worse.“
That pretty much sums things up, with a couple of notable exceptions. Our weather is considerably worse this February than it was in July back then. AND… our country has gone to hell in a hand basket thanks to those who have decided that their rights are more important than anyone else’s right to live in a peaceful, functional, law abiding country … and the politicians who relate to and support their lawlessness … and the politicians who do not step up and deal with this nonsense.
One thing has not changed – my belief that hope and peace and beauty will carry me through. Sometimes we do not get to control situations that affect us. Sometimes we can only control how we react.
So…. Here is me reacting with hope and peace and beauty. 🌿🕊️🌹
Hope 😊Beauty 🤗Peace 😌
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day. 💞
I am very happy to be in a marriage with my husband Dan. He is a good man. He is a responsible, hard working, intelligent, hilariously funny, caring man. But he has his less attractive qualities. First and foremost, he is annoyingly right way too often when we disagree. This is particularly true of his gut feelings about people and his opinion of the latest gizmos and gadgets. That obviously means that, in these disagreements, I am typically the one who is WRONG. 🥴
Back in May of 2020, I finally had reason to celebrate an infrequent case of righteousness. Today it is time to update my post on ‘lightweight expanding garden hoses‘ and set the record straight.
For some time, I had seen advertisements and displays calling me to invest in one of those handi-dandy lightweight hoses with the awesome functional nozzle. Finally, I had the chance to grab an economical model off a shelf in a discount store and manage to skid through the checkout with it before Dan could disuade me.
I brought it home and it was amazing! I loved my new hose. No more struggling with heavy, unyielding, rubber hoses. No more trying to operate lousy spray attachments. And my favourite… no more fighting and losing to our miserable automatic hose retractor. (Supposedly automatic 🤦).
For a good two weeks, I loved my new garden hose. I even dedicated a blog post to it – and happened to mention that I had indeed been right for once.
Then it happened. My wonderful hose sprung a little pinhole leak – and another – and another, until it resembled one of those sprinkler hoses.
This was at a time when my health was feeble at best. Dan, being the good man that he is, decided we should increase the odds for success and went out to buy me a much better quality, much pricier lightweight expanding garden hose. It lasted quite some time before Dan decided to use it to top up the pool one day. He was keeping an eye on it, when he noticed it was expanding in one concentrated area – much like a water balloon. He ran to shut off the water, but he did not run fast enough. The balloon burst. 🙄
At this time, I should have taken a cue from Genie…
Dan was able to shorten the hose, re-attach the spray nozzle and things went well for a few more weeks. Then the sprinkles started, became leaks, became larger leaks, until it lost all control of itself and caused a flood situation on the sidewalk and into our basement.
So.. that is that. Update on the lightweight expandable gardenhoseand my premature celebration… I was WRONG. 😧
Watering our front acre of lawn may not be particularly doable with a watering can, so obviously it is back to heavy, unco-operative rubber hoses. At least my health is considerably better now, so it will be more of an inconvenience than an all out crisis.
And I can almost always open jars with my handi-dandy jar openers – without dumping the contents of the jar down my shirt. So, I was RIGHTaboutthese gadgets. 😊
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞
It is beautiful, warm, and sunny in Saskatchewan. 🌞 Despite the sunny skies, it is hard not to be dragged down by all of the disturbing news in our province, country, and around the globe lately – but not today! Today I am going to update a post on one of my favourite subjects and then Kat and I are heading out to clear off more of the patio.
The herd has continued to grow slowly but surely over the past couple of years.
Super elephant isn’t really a ‘new’ addition. He just moved home to his place in the herd, from the spot he had on a shelf over my desk at work. He retired with me. 🤗
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!
My update today will no doubt be one of favourites to do as it the subject is such a joy to me. On March of 2020, I put together a collection of my favourite spring photos to celebrate the kickoff of my favourite season.
This post was written on the last day that I was gainfully employed. Much has changed in the past two years, much has changed for the better, and one of the best changes has been the amount of time that I now have to enjoy and appreciate SPRING.
For my update to this post, I add photos of some of the special springtime moments that I have had the privilege of enjoying over the past couple of years.
Spring CleaningOut in the sunshine with KatApril showers bring May flowers 🌸Grandpa’s Bleeding HeartA new bath for our feathered friends 🐦Spring seedlings 🌿Walking the paths in Patricia Park 🚶
All heartwarming memories of warm spring days. I am so fortunate that events conspired to move up my retirement plans. I love all of the opportunities that retirement has brought – but I particularly appreciate these days with yet another spring on the horizon. 🌞
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!
Today I chose a lengthy post entitled ‘Freedom’ to update. The first thing I wanted to address was the reasoning behind the title. I have no idea! I was going through a difficult time in virtually every area of my life. I was exhausted. I honestly can not imagine what I was thinking. While ‘Freedom’ would make for a worthy subject for a blog, it makes little sense as a title for this blog which was totally about ‘Peace’.
Update on my journey to peace – I spent the first five decades of my life struggling with stress and anxiety. In my fifties, I started make some winning progress in my ongoing battle, but struggled on. Finally in 2020, I changed my focus from ‘fighting stress and anxiety’ to ’embracing peace’. This change has made all of the difference. 🕊️🕊️🕊️
Since my original plan was to focus on the subject of ‘Freedom‘ I thought I should at least touch on this topic in my update. In a few words from the masters that I think are worth consideration….
“Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.”. – Edith Hamilton
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If in out heart we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, possessions – we cannot be free. ” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. ” – Peter Marshall
“For to befree is not to merely cast off ones chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Nelson Mandel
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!
The post that I chose to update today was short and to the point. My husband and I were battling a severe flu with the less than enthusiastic support of our little dog, Kat.
This innocuous post from early 2020 marked the early days of the Covid pandemic. While it was before the advent of Covid testing and treatment, I have no doubt that it was Covid and not the typical, or even atypical winter flu that we experienced.
Update on the winter flu of 2020
Personally, the ‘flu’ of 2020 continues to affect my health and physical well-being.
Nationally and globally, it has had detrimental effects on the lives of countless.
It has highlighted the heroic efforts of countless – from healthcare workers who continue to fight losing battles, to retail workers who have kept basic necessities on shelves and in our home throughout, to truckers and couriers who have operated under difficult, dehumanizing conditions, especially when hotels, motels, and restaurants were shuttered, to teachers who have struggled to educate and protect their students, to politicians who have worked to juggle healthcare, the economy, education, and social well being – with the support of few and the contempt of many. It has brought out all of the heroic among us who worked to serve others, while struggling themselves and caring for their own loved ones.
Saddest of all (in my mind), it has brought out the worst among us – those who have used this crisis to take advantage of others – the hoarders who have been the cause of most shortages, the greedy who have capitalized on shortages and the needs of others, the heartless who have written off the suffering and deaths of others as inconsequential, and finally those who continue to fight for their ‘rights’ regardless of the rights and needs of which they are depriving others.
There is no way for any of us to know how or when this will all end. Seeing the direction many have taken in Canada during the past few days, I cannot see it ending peacefully and with a genuine attitude of co-operation or consideration, without which I do not see an end. 🤷
Covid began so innocently for all of us. I wonder how this time will be remembered and judged going forward. I wonder how current and future generations will be changed – for better or worse.
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great rest of the day. 💞
While going through my archives looking for today’s post to update, I came across this one highlighting our trip to Ontario some years ago. Every photo in this post still holds the happiest of memories for me. 😊
Along with the beautiful Ontario scenery and sites, I will always carry the fondest memories of the people that we met during our visit. From the time we stepped off of the airplane at the Pearson International Airport, to our visit to Construction Specialties Inc., to our time spent at restaurants, hotels, shops, and tourist attractions, the people of Ontario were exceptionally friendly, considerate and helpful. They made our visit truly special.💞
I have only one update for this post – Dan’s sister has moved back to Ontario and I cannot wait until we can go to visit her and this beautiful province! 😊
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞
