dog walking – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Year Two – Week Six

March 27, 2023March 27, 2023 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, March 2023

Spring has sprung (so they say), my broken arm is healed, and I am off to the races! Finally! This week I am going full on Goggins to get back to where I left off mid-January.

Since I received the good news on Thursday, I have been stepping up my workout plan. Nothing heroic yet, but steps in the right direction. Speaking of steps, I was out walking on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – over 24,000 steps (Nine Miles). That is about 24,000 more steps that I have taken outside since November when I came down with my brutal winter flu, which lasted until I ventured out and broke my arm. 24,000 steps is pretty impressive. 😏

I also, started the week out well nutritionally wise. I have our menu penciled in for the entire week – one nutritious meal after the other (at least supper wise).

Monday – Taco Salad
Tuesday – Stir Fry with rice
Wednesday – Chicken Alfredo, steamed broccoli, and Side Salad
Thursday – Chef Salad
Friday – Home made Pizza with Caesar Salad
Saturday – Barbecued pork ribs, baked potatoes, and Ramen/shredded cabbage salad

All home made! All include fresh vegetables! All delicious and nutritious! 🌞

This morning, I kicked off the day with a full two armed Zumba routine and a series of physiotherapy exercises to improve my range of motion for my left shoulder. This afternoon, I am heading outside with Molly for some sunshine and fresh (very fresh as in feels like -22C) air. And.. tonight I am getting strength training back in my schedule. That is my plan for this week – plus, with warmer temperatures expected Wednesday and my walking partner available Wednesday thru Sunday – there is a fair amount of Molly walking on the calendar for later in the week.

The rest of my days are filled with brushing Molly, cleaning house , laundry, dishes, and the like – all which is easier with two functional arms.

That is my plan for this week. I am focused, locked in, healed, and ready to go!

Take care and have a great week! 🌞💞

Soggy Sunday

August 28, 2022August 28, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022

It has been on again, off again, rain for the past couple of days. Today it is definitely ON AGAIN.

Fortunately, it held off until Molly and I had a nice long walk earlier this morning.

After which, I exchanged a few messages with Genie and recieved a few new photos.

**Her fiance Alec got his newest (and first ever) tattoo, he went all** ***out.*** **Pretty sizeable for a first tattoo experience!** 😳

Then she shared photos of some pretty interesting sidewalk art.

And she is eating. It’s good that she is getting the calories she needs, but now I want ice cream. 🍧😧

**And my favourite for the week! Grandpa’s little ladybug is still playing with ladybugs.** **She was very excited that it landed on her cheek and then flew into her hand.**

Genie loved ladybugs so much when she was a tot, that when she was nine years old, Dan got a tattoo of a ladybug on his shoulder. He wanted her to know that no matter how big she got, he would always have ***a shoulder ready*** **for her if she ever needed i**t. Genie always said that as soon as she was old enough, she would get one on her shoulder for Grandpa. Due to the pandemic, there was no getting her tattoo on her sixteenth birthday so she was pretty excited when the parlours reopened a few months later and she could come over to show Grandpa that they finally had matching ladybugs. 🐞🐞

Other than that, work has been going well. She was pleased that she had the opportunity to help a few hearing impaired clients with her limited sign language skills and is anxious to work on building on that. She is off to London, Ontario on Labour Day. AND…Three more Sunday check-ins before she is home! I can’t believe how this time for her has flown by.

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞🌧️

Genie’s Travels Through Ontario

August 20, 2022August 20, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022

It is another beautiful summer day here in Saskatchewan. Molly and I went for our morning walk and it was pretty decent. We didn’t go far but Molly (and I) got in some prime socializing so it was definitely a win. We met a young man with a two year old pup, an older man, and two women we see regularly on our route. Molly played nicely with the pup for a few minutes and she was very good with all of the people. She didn’t jump up on anyone 🌟 she was very polite and affectionate when people petted her 🌟 AND she sat quietly beside me while I would chat with them🌟.

Our granddaughter Genie, who has been working Guest Services with North American Midway this summer, drove from Saskatoon to Toronto this week. She alternated driving with her friend Chelsea and they were joined by a couple of other young girls who work with them. They are now at the CNE exhibition which opened yesterday.

Being the sweetheart that she is, Genie has been sending me some photos to share. These ones are all from their drive through Ontario.

***Google translated as “report driving with affable faculties made on 911”***. I think I lost something in the translation – It should probably mean “Call 911 to report drunk driving”. 🙄

***Flying saucer over roadside lake. 😂***

**Watch for snowmobiles crossing – and charming horse drawn buggies!**

They were fortunate enough to have a good trip, miss any bad weather, and experience a whole lot of gorgeous scenery. Genie sent me a short video that she shot as well but for some reason I cannot save it to my phone in order to share it. It showed some beautiful sights, and from the soundtrack, it would be safe to say the girls were having a good time singing along with the radio and enjoying the views. All in all a pretty amazing experience for Genie and her co-workers!

The girls came by way of Regina to take the TransCanada. 2900 km (1800miles) from Monday afternoon to Wednesday evening. I would love to make the trip one day but I am pretty sure one overnight stop would not do it for me.

Genie is in Toronto until moving on to the exhibition in London, Ontario beginning September 9th, then flying home on the 20th. I am sure I will have more photos to share before she is done her wandering ways.

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗

It’s SUNDAY!

July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

It is another beautiful Sunday morning in southern Saskatchewan. 🌞

Molly and I went for our early morning walk. We crossed paths with Bike Lady and her two dogs. She stopped to have a short chat before going on her way. Following her, we met up with another woman walking Myles from Mexico. Molly and Myles checked each other out while Donna (?) And I chatted. In the overall scheme of things, Molly did fairly well until we came to the tail end of our walk. Obviously, she had been saving up all of her bad behaviour because she was pretty darned obnoxious on the homestretch. It didn’t help that we had to pass at least a dozen yard dogs and they were all having a go at setting her off.

Other news for the day? Dan and I are celebrating our twenty-third anniversary today. It seems incredible that it has already been twenty-three years and amazing that so much could have happened in only twenty-three years.

***With Dan’s Dad (d. 2003) and my Mom (d. 2013)***.

And… I had my Sunday morning chat with granddaughter Genie. TBH we had today’s chat yesterday. She was so excited about her boyfriend Alec going up to Edmonton today to drive home with her tomorrow, that she got her days mixed up. It is so funny… It seems like yesterday that she was a sweet little tot bursting with love, joy, and excitement. Yet here she is, all grown up (and despite all she has been through) – sweet as ever and still bursting with love, joy, and excitement. 💞🤗

She sent me an assortment of photos to share today. I hope you enjoy!

***Checking out special Midway visitors…***

***Spiderman on the double decker merry-go-round!***

***Genie’s animal friends for the week seemed to be the slippery, slithery, reptile sort.***

***She must have been reminded of Bubbles – the turtle she grew up with. 💞***

***And finally she shared a couple of her sister Maddy’s latest adorable creations.*** 💕🤗

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞

Regent Park

July 15, 2022July 15, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

Our newly renovated neighbourhood park is almost complete and finally (mostly) opened to the public.

The entire area of land across the street from us and down to the railroad tracks (about four blocks away) was all greenspace when I moved in here twenty three years ago. The amenities included baseball diamonds, a couple of small playgrounds, a par three golf course, an indoor ice rink, and an outdoor pool. There was also an overflow channel, trees galore, and an abundance of wildlife – birds, rabbits, gophers, butterflies, and when the mosquitoes got bad enough there would be a shimmering field of huge dragonflies.

Over the years townhouses and a seniors residence were built, basketball courts were erected, and the wildlife was pretty much all driven away. (The mosquitoes stayed. 🙄)

Now the Par 3 has been bulldozed along with many trees. A new accessible playground, off-leash dog parks, and a toboggan hill have been added – along with much artwork and a winding path tieing it all together.

Personally, I preferred the natural state and wildlife but we live in a city. We are relatively fortunate to have access to the amount of greenspace we have in this area.

**Sign at park entrance. I** **didn’t read it when I was there, so I didn’t walk the outline of the buffalo.** **Just as well**, **since there seemed to be a basketball tournament going on at the time.**

**I love the path. It is perfect for walking Molly early in the morning. I hope it is kept cleared in the winter so we have a safe place to walk when the streets and sidewalks are icy and** ***treacherous***.

**B is for ‘boulder’. I don’t think there is a single bench in the park but** **people could sit on the** ***boulders.***

**I have no idea…** ***But I do think they have this area all seeded for grass as they were watering it this morning.***

**Hundreds of healthy trees were taken down but a few dead ones were left behind**.

**Baby buffalo (?) in front of the dog runs (which are not yet open and which do not seem to have water fountains although there are water lines running everywhere).**

**Accessible playground with splash pad and accessible washrooms. I don’t know if I saw any other trash cans but there were at least three right in this area.** 👍

**Washrooms, which were needed to service this playground, the basketball courts right next to it**, **and the park area.**

**A dead tree with spindles stuck in it.** **I hope they add some signs to explain the artwork in this park. I am sure there is an interesting story behind it and it would be really helpful for those of us who are pretty much art illiterate.**

There is a lot of open space and more to see in this park but walking Molly AND taking photos is a bit of a struggle. I will take more photos when I get the chance. There are some really amazing boulders and some nice plants that I look forward to sharing.

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Day 17 – Out and About

June 17, 2021June 17, 2021 by annemariedemyen, posted in Accentuate the Positive - June 2021

It is already Day 17 of my ‘Accent the Positive’ June challenge. For today’s dose of positivity I decided to take you for a walk around our neighbourhood. 🙂

Kat and I have not been walking this year, but it was a beautiful evening yesterday and Dan was working the night shift so I decided it was the perfect time for us to get out for some fresh air and exercise. Since Kat has to stop every few feet to check things out, I had the chance to snap a few photos

Kat was so excited when she saw my sneakers and her leash! Yawn… 😂

We walked past the ball diamonds. There were a few kids out there tossing a ball around.

Kat was so excited to see the path into Patricia Park but I decided to save that for another day.

We walked past the arena. Hockey season is over for this year so it was pretty quiet. Fun fact… I lived on this street with my kids for a couple of years. I almost collided head-on with my son in front of this arena. Good times!

Regent Park Pool – my daughter lived at this pool one summer!

Going past the basketball courts. I can’t believe there were only a few guys playing on one of the courts. Very odd…..

What used to be the Regent Park Par 3. They are demolishing it to build an offleash dog park and a tobogganing hill. Are offleash dog parks a thing everywhere? I can’t imagine letting Kat run loose with the dogs around here. 😳

I love Bobcats! **Someday** I will have my own Bobcat. 😏

Looking at the sky…. Waiting for Kat…. Nice clouds…… They look like they are in a hurry to get somewhere – unlike Kat.

The city removed at least a hundred trees from the golf course and left this one. It is a rather cool but bizarre choice, in my mind.

Home was just around the corner. I hope you enjoyed our little walk. Seventeen days down and only thirteen to go. June is just flying by!

Have a nice day! I hope you get out for a bit of sunshine and fresh air. See you tomorrow. 💞

Still Walking🌬️

October 18, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in nature

Kat and I went for our regular walk this morning. We did 5km in 66 minutes. That included three stops to pick up Kat poo, one stop to visit with a guy who was cutting through the park with his Giant Tiger purchases, one stop to chat with Gaylene and Absinthe (her black lab), and about half a km for Kat to search for berries and/or squirrels along the path. It was minus 8 celcius, snow flurries, and a brutal northwest wind.

Granted, I was wearing several layers of heavy fall clothing, including two pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves, but I was still pretty proud of myself and my little dog. I don’t know how we will make out through the winter, but we do not have any heavy snowfalls forecast for this month so we aren’t ready to give up our walk yet.

Have a great weekend and KEEP WARM🌞