HAPPY EASTER

Even though it's dreary cold out there and I am still isolating as we all should be.  

I decided to scatter some of my Easter decorations around  to cheer the place up a bit. 

I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter weekend.  

IF THIS IS SPRING, I GIVE UP

Well after plus 10 temperatures last week I thought I had this winter beat.  And I certainly would be better prepared for next winter.  But guess what we all woke up to this morning?  There must be at least 8 to 12 inches of snow in my yard.  

I could hardly get out onto the back step.  The sweep of the back door was like a snowplow building up a huge drift as it swung open.  I knew I was going to face a problem in the morning as it was still snowing the last time I let Sea-Enna out last night. So, first things first, clear off the back steps and the wooden approach.  Well, guess what?  The outdoor broom and snow shovel for that job are in the garage.  So, I trudge to the garage.  Guess what? The padlock is frozen.  I had to cradle it in my bare hands for quite a while meanwhile twisting the key from time to time until it finally thawed.  

 

  Once the steps etc. were done, it was time to trudge back out to the garage and get the Snow Thrower I purchased for just this situation.  

Guess what?  My son put the Snow Thrower away for the summer.  It was up on top of the workmate, workbench.  So, I wrestled it down from that perch and got it outside.  

Once I got it out side and all hooked up to the power source.  Guess what?  

The damed thing wouldn't start.  I swear, if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.  

So, what to do?  Well I guess it has to be the good old shovel. 

Well, that didn't last too long.  Guess what?  I gave up and here I am with a drink in my hand, on my computer bitching and bellyaching to you about the @#$%^ snow and my @#$% bad luck.  

I have decided I am going to hibernate until all the damned snow is gone and the real spring is here, that's what the government says we should do anyway. 

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

This is my first blog since just after New Years'.  They were getting to be few and far between so I finally gave up.  Until now I just haven't felt up to it.  But with the encouragement of a number of friends, family and other readers I am going to give it another try as I think it might be a little therapeutic.  

It will no longer contain adventures and travels large and small that Dan and I enjoyed in our retirement, which is what this blog was originally started for.  But will instead be about the day to day survival of Sea-Enna and I as we make
our way through this new life we find ourselves in. 
.   

Dan passed on June 24th, 2019.  I am finally starting to come out of what I have come to call my grief fog.  At first, I guess my mind just did not want to accept it.  So anything that brought up the reality of his death, I'd refuse to think about it and busy myself with something, anything, even as mundane as Solitaire and Facebook on my iPhone, so I couldn't think about it, as my mind was too busy.  My kids even asked, "how come you're getting so addicted to Solitaire?"  

But, in the last 8 months, I have slowly let myself accept it a little.  It has been a hard learning curve with many, many awakenings and lessons of, how much I relied on him and for so many things.  So many things that after 61 years I just took for granted.  Like most of us did back in the day, I went from my parent's home into my shared life with Dan.  Each of these awakenings, these lessons make me all too aware of how much I was loved and looked after. And each of these lessons makes me also very aware that I am now alone in this life as I have never been before. 

I still have times when I can completely forget that he's gone, like at night when I sleep and dream.  In my dreams, he is still with me and of course, I then have to deal with his death all over again each morning as I awaken.  

I'm sure even that will get a little easier over time.  

FEEDING THE SQUIRRELS???

 Earlier this fall I was complaining about the cheeky little squirrel stealing from my bird feeder. Come to find out he had good reason. So today I took my daily handful of peanuts and threw them out by the back door as usual.  Since I have been feeding him/them the nuts have been gone within the hour. 

 

Today for some reason, I went from the back door over to near my kitchen window to do something and low and behold who do I see helping themselves to the peanuts?

A bunch of Blue Jays were swooping in one after another grabbing peanuts. 

By the time I got my camera almost all the peanuts were gone.  

I used to feed peanuts to the Jays in the winter, when we had our house on Henderson Highway.  And they would wedge the peanuts into the smaller limbs of the trees to split them open and in some cases leave them there as a stash for later.  I'm surprised the squirrels didn't find them and steal them back.  

But they didn't.  Come spring our "Oak" trees would be loaded with "Peanuts" instead of "Acorns".  

CHRISTMAS IS FAST APPROACHING

I've got my Christmas Tree up. (such as it is) It's the one I had for our trailer in Texas, but it will do for this year as nothing is going to be happening around my place this year.  


On Christmas Eve, I will be heading into Winnipeg dropping Sea-Enna off at my daughter's for a visit while I head to a friend's annual Christmas Eve party.  


Then I will go back to Tracy  Elizabeth's to pick up Sea-Enna and head to my son Jim's for a Christmas Eve sleep-over.  

Jim is hosting our family Christmas Dinner this year.  I am contributing English Plum Pudding and a Jellied Salad.  Both things that I know my children would omit from mom's traditions if I let them.  LOL.  It will be nice to be staying over till Boxing day, so that way I can have a few libations on the day and not have to drive anywhere. 



Right now I am busy packing because in February I am going to Arizona for a couple of weeks.  Tracy Elizabeth and I are going to visit my Daughter Wendy while she is down there this winter.  So why am I packing now?  Well, the Airline we are traveling on does not allow you to take a bag on board.  

Not even a decent size carry-on.  Because of the cheap cost of the flight, they want to charge you for every bag that goes on the plane.  The only thing allowed to be carried onboard is a bag the size of a big purse, that will fit under the seat in front of you.   So, we are packing our bags now, so my daughter Wendy can take them with her when they leave with their trailer before New Years'.  This saves each of us $50.00 per bag, both ways and we certainly will not be needing these summer clothes, bathing suits, shorts, and flip-flops around here in the next few months.   

This will certainly help to break up the long cold Manitoba winter.  It will also keep our minds a little bit occupied and off of our grief and my daughter's pending illness.  So we are both very much looking forward to it. 

I will try to remember to take lots of pictures over Christmas and I will include them in my blog in the new year.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 

  To all my readers.  

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG

This Blog Started back on December 17th, 2010, which was our second year of travel through the Southern States in our little 24.5 ft Springdale trailer.  This was a way to keep our friends and relatives informed as to where we were and what we were up to.  It has since grown from there to be a weekly blog, whether traveling or not.   It follows us through hauling our trailer from home down south to Texas, East to the Florida Keys, out  West to San Diego and the West coast.  

Also living on board and traveling with our 46 ft trawler throughout the summer.   Then the decision to sell our condo and buy the beach house before it's time to sell the boat.  "We wouldn't want to miss out on our summers at the lake."  Then the Renos to the Beach House etc.  
 

Then the big change, that my life companion and mate Dan, passed suddenly on June 24th of 2019, leaving me adrift and having difficulty making decisions right down to if I should even continue this blog.  My posts have been very spotty since his passing so it is obvious that a decision has not been made about that either.  If I do continue it, it will be a very different blog about Sea-Enna and I and how we are proceeding.  No more traveling and probably a lot more musings about surviving widowhood.  

  

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