2013 Is Coming

Here we are with Christmas behind us once again.... until next year. And with Christmas over, we are about to cross from 2012 to 2013 with nothing but the barest moment between them.  One second it is this year and the next second it is that. Such a smooth transition that you can't not even feel it.... not even if you try. The slip of a second.... like the blink of an eye.  Yes, the year is so close to over and the new year will begin.  Having come from a time in the 1900s this 2013 seems most strange.  Most odd that we would be here and I only barely past the middle of the years I likely will spend here.  Yet, here I sit reminiscing and 'waxing poetic' while friends are out having a good time celebrating the last Saturday night of 2012.  I hope all have a good time wherever they are and wherever they may live... I just hope that by morning none of them need the services of a top San Diego law firm, not to mention of a hospital or morgue.  I wish people all over the globe Peace, Love, Perfect Health, Prosperity and all in all, Joy.

Santa Toy Run 2012

 Here are a bunch of photos from the Toy Run. Unfortunately, a lot of my photos were out of focus today... hmmmm, not sure what is up with that. There are also photos I am not sharing online as some people don't want their photos put on the internet and many of my photos do show people's faces.

Leaving the Kal Lake Lookout at noon sharp.

 We rode into Vernon from the Kal Lake Lookout, following the highway/32 Street through the city to 48 Avenue which we followed to 27 Street and rode along it through Vernon again, then taking Hwy 6 to Lumby:

 Oh Hwy 6, at Aberdeen Road, everyone pulled over at the end of the 4 lane highway so that all riders could catch up.  Going through the city, cars get mixed in with us and we get separated by stop lights and such. The idea here was to regroup and ride the rest of the way to Lumby all together rather than straggled out.

In retrospect, I could have taken some at the park in Lumby where we all gather to give our gifts, try to win door prizes and 50-50 draws, hang out visiting in the beer gardens, etc..., but I did not think of it until now, so oh well... next year. Hope you enjoy what is here anyway.

I am grateful that I can ride my trike on these toy runs and that I can give to make Christmas so much happier for children who otherwise may not get Christmas gifts.

Food Bank Today..... Vegan Potluck This Evening

All my days lately seem to be very busy and tiring as well as wonderful. Today I had a medical appointment then went to the Food Bank to do another 2 1/2 volunteer hours. This month so far I have put in 11 1/2 hours there. With 818 Christmas Hampers going out this year, we have a lot of extra work to do putting those hampers together. Today my job was working on part of those Christmas Hampers. Ginger was putting 2 bags together so Iris and I could 'double bag' the veggies, so we would take a double bag and fill it with a 3# bag of onions + a 3# bag of carrots + a 5# bag of russet potatoes, tie the bags and stack them. In the 2 1/2 hours I was there, we did about 150 bags of which I know I did more than 50% as I was working at it by myself before Iris came in to help. It's a good thing I had a chiropractor appointment after that today as my back was not being kind to me at that point. As always, though, I enjoyed being at the Food Bank, doing what I can to help out.

After the Chiropractor all I wanted to do was come home and lay down, I felt so tired. However, my day was not yet over. I went to the Bulk Barn to pick up "a few things" and ended up picking up a LOT more than planned. YIKES!!! It came to $63!!!! Dang, groceries sure have gotten expensive lately!! I came home, used the washroom, packed up some Bean Soup I had made and off I went to my monthly Vegan Potluck and Video evening. GREAT food, WONDERFUL people, INFORMATIVE video on heart/artery health. I am so glad I went... and so GRATEFUL for being involved in this.

Food Bank

I put in many volunteer hours each month at the local Food Bank, run by the Salvation Army. I really enjoy going there to help out with all the work needing to be done and I so enjoy the people I get to work with there. December is always a very busy month around the Food Banks with all the Christmas Food Drives happening as well as donations coming in from schools, stores and so many other people walking in to bring donations. My TOPS club also donates a bunch of food at this time of year. Donations are needed at the Food Banks all year long and December is when most of the donations are made. When donations come in it means a lot of work sorting through all that mix of various kinds of food items, filling the shelves and boxing the rest to be stored for refiling the shelves as needed through the coming year. All the standing and bending is a real killer for my low back, but I persevere and get lots done. I am grateful for the opportunity to help where help is so needed.

Another Full Thursday

Today I didn't make it to my every Thursday TOPS meeting. I had answered a post on Freecycle for 150 feet of baseboard being given away and the fellow needed me to go pick it up in Coldstream between 10am and noon on Thursday which is when my TOPS group meets in Armstrong. Once it was on my truck I had to bring it home and unload it. Some of the pieces are so long that I had to open the sliding back window of my truck and put the boards through, resting one end on the dash and the other end still sticking out so far I had to hang a red flag on my 'over length' load. The boards are anywhere from 2 feet long to 15 feet long. Once it was all unloaded I packed up a bunch of baking ingredients for making cookies and headed out for the rest of my day.

I drove to Armstrong for the usual Christmas gift exchange and mini party with 3 of my friends from the TOPS group... Pat, DJ and Pauline. I got there around 2pm and left at 4:30pm off and running to Mom's in Enderby... some days I put a lot of kilometers onto my truck. At Mom's I visited with her as well as made 2 kinds of cookies for giving as gifts to some of my friends this Christmas. Exhausted and in a lot of pain from my back, I left there around 11pm and made the 25 minute drive home again. I thought about stopping to gas up the truck at 2 1/2 cents per liter (1o cents per gallon) cheaper then here, but felt I just couldn't face it, needed to come home and end my day.

Food Bank

Oh my aching back..... That is what I've been saying all day today and part of yesterday. You see, I did my volunteer hours at the Food Bank yesterday and I over did it a bunch. I was helping put together food hampers for people in need as well as sorting and putting away some of the food that has come in recently. At this time of year, there is a lot of food donated and it all has to be sorted through and put away on the shelves as well as boxed and stored to feed people throughout the coming year when there are not so many donations. I knew I was on my feet too long, bending down too much, and still I kept doing it as there was just so much to be done. We sure could use more help at this time of year. I really love being involved in this. I don't love the pain, and yet it's almost worth it in this case.

Happy New Year

The time is tick-tick-ticking away.... slowly heading towards midnight. The year

is coming to an end along with this day.

The clock on my computer says it is 11:11pm, a special time to be sure, and it tells me just how close we are getting to that moment in time when this year will end and the new year will begin, filled with hope and promise for a better, happier, healthier, slimmer, trimmer, more love filled and joy filled year of greater prosperity. Yes, we all pin our hopes on the new year, wanting it to be better than the old one. There is a way to insure that it is better... change the way we think and we change our experiences in life.

One sure way of changing our lives and making them better, happier, richer, etc. is to practice gratitude.

Just take a moment here and there to count your blessings.


For everything, great and small, give thanks.


I have so very much to be grateful for and I take time each day to thank God for the many many things I have to be thankful for. Some are as simple as:

- I am grateful for my eyes as they allow me to see the beauty that surrounds me.
- I am grateful for my ears, for with them I get to hear music, laughter, birds singing, and all other things that I can enjoy &/or learn from.
- I am grateful for my feet and for my legs as they make it possible for me to stand and to walk, to drive my truck and my trike.
- I am grateful for my hands and my wrists and my arms. They make it possible for me to care for myself and others, to pick up my food and feed myself, to pet my animals and to take care of them all.

Having been in a crash this year, I am even more thankful now than I was before for my hands & wrists. Having had the left wrist shattered and the right one sprained I have come to really appreciate just how much we depend on the use of our hands for great and small things every day. Just for a day try not using your hands, or even think of each little thing you use your hands for and notice just how wonderful a creation they really are.... be grateful for them. Slowly I am getting the use of my left hand back, but it is still unknown if I will ever get full use of it back. I am so grateful that I can again type with it.

I also think of the 'outside' things for which I am grateful, such as though not limited to:

- I am grateful for my home. It is cold outside tonight and I am blessed to have a home to live in and a fire going in the stove to keep my home warm and comfortable for me and my animals.
- I am grateful for each and every one of my animals: Mewsic (cat); Grace Hawk (rabbit); Sheri, Daisy, Smudge & Charlie (chinchillas); DW (Indian Ringneck Parrot/Parakeet; Friday & Miracle (Pacific Parrotlets); Angel, Stud Muffin, Tiki & Billy Bob (Cockatiels). They give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and to come home again each time I leave.
- I am grateful for my computers... for oh so many reasons.
- I am grateful for the food I eat as it nourishes my body.
- I am grateful for the clothes I wear.

And I can go on and on and on... but I won`t just now.

I had many sad times in 2010, and I also had many happy times, many things to be grateful for. I know that I am truly blessed in many ways. I look forward to the coming year, knowing that it too is filled with many things I will be grateful for. It is filled with much excitement, joy, love, prosperity, abundance, friendship and.... more.

As the last second of 2010 and the first second of 2011 approach, I wish you all much to be grateful for. I wish you all the very best of everything in this wonderful year and beyond.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to seeing you again throughout the coming year.

Christmas

Hello my friends. Sorry I've been absent so long, life has been hectic this Holiday Season as well as I've not had a lot to say. While driving my truck down the road I 'write' a post to you in my head, then when I get home to my computer I have totally forgotten what I wanted to say and I don't even want to write. This is very upsetting for a writer as I'm sure you can imagine. Also, I've been feeling very tired so not into the computer stuff too much.

Enough of that.... lets move on to happier stuff!!!

Was Santa good to you this year?? Sure was to me. I got some great gifts. Oh, maybe I could have asked for a nordictrack incline trainer to get some exercise, but I knew no one would get it for me anyway, not even Mr. Claus himself. In fact, I didn't actually ask for anything from anyone.

Between the Toastmasters Christmas Party & gift exchange, the TOPS Christmas party with gift exchange, the gal friends gift exchange with Pat, DJ, Pauline & I and the family, as well as Tuggy I was very blessed & prospered. I was going to show you what I gave everyone this year and can't seem to find them on this computer. I guess they're on the other one and on my flash drive, so will show you another time. What I will show you is on of the gifts I got.

This beautiful piece of art was done by Tuggy. I took a photo that I'd taken when on the memorial ride with him, on the back of his Harley trike, and a poem I had written 10 days before Christmas, then with Photoshop I put them together and got it printed out 8x10, then matted it. I know he was very happy with it and the friend of his that was along when I gave it to him was very impressed. I am very happy with this:




Mewsic didn't want to move so I could take a photo of this, so I took some of her while I was at it, lol. I went to hang the picture and the thing where the wire goes through bent so won't hold the picture up. It came to me in the frame so I don't want to change it, so will have to think of some other way to safely display it.

Photo Hunters

This week at Photo Hunters, the theme is Hope!

I think that children are our hope for the future, so I will share with you photos I took Christmas day at Mom's house. I have no children of my own (except the kind that always wear fur coats or feathers), but my siblings all have children and most of them grandchildren too, so lots of hope in our family.

My older brother Terry has 2 children, his daughter has 2 boys and his son has 1 girl, go Grandpa T has 3 grand children.

Siobhan seems to be happy with what she's just found in that wrapping. I hope it's what she was hoping for.

Grandpa T looks on as his grand boys discover their new toys.

Gee, the packaging sure is over kill on some of these things. Clay needs Grandpa T to help with freeing his new remote control car from the package.

Oh... this is pretty cool.

Gotta take a closer look.

T! I think it's time to give the car back to Clay now.

HEY T!!! Give the kid his toy!!!

Oh hey, that does look pretty nice. Hey, Clay, pass that over to Auntie Alice to have a closer look at it, and the remote control thingy too. There's a good boy! (No... I didn't take his toy, but sure wouldn't mind playing with that. Better yet, a 'real' one just like it.)

Okay... so maybe there's not much hope for the future of our family.




As a BONUS, here is a shot of my mom "Nan" with her youngest great grand child, Robby. Not sure what he's showing her, but she's playing along pretty good, don't you think? Mom is 85, and yes, that is her natural hair color. Robby is, ummm, errrrr, shhheeeesh.... well, much younger anyway.

Happy Hunting

Happy New Year

PhotoHunt

New Years Eve 2008

For New Years Eve, I was invited out to a friend's home. Andree was having some friends in to celebrate. I had told her, yes, I'd love to come, then yesterday I told her I wouldn't make it after all due to Cherry Chinchilla's health problems. She said I could bring Cherry along too. Part of me wanted to do that and part of me didn't due to the extra stress it could cause Cherry, so I told Andree I didn't think that would be a good idea.

As the hours passed, I decided I really wanted to be with friends for the evening. I have spent way too many hours/days/nights alone and have so often thought how much I'd like to have friends to spend time with again, and here I was refusing to spend time with friends. So, I packed up Cherry Chinchilla, and her food, meds, syringes, a towel, all I would need to nurse her for the evening, and off I went.

It was truly a wonderful evening. We all had a lot of fun, and to hear us laughing and joking around like we were, you would have thought we were drinking 'real' champagne, tho we were drinking what Andree calls 'cheap champagne'. It's sparkling fruit juice and is very nice, yet non-alcoholic. Not that any of us are against drinking in moderation, but it just was really nice to have everyone keeping sober, so safe for the drive home at the end of the evening.

Food, food, more food, card game, tea, pop, 'cheap champagne', all sorts of things to keep us happy and enjoying the evening.

Andree, her boyfriend Al, his mother Lorraine who went home early, Rev. Dale, Hannah, Bev, and myself were all there. She has a very nice little house, older yet very well kept. I really like the old style architecture of some of these old homes, and the light fixtures, hardware and such.

It was somewhere around 1am when we all started to head off to our respective homes. Though I'm sure they were out if full force, I didn't see one police car the whole way home.

Catching Up... a bit

The last several days I just have not felt like touching my computer. I KNOW!!! That is just too weird!! Just couldn't bring myself to read all my emails never mind answer any of them or come here to post to my blog. Oh well, I'm here now. Still don't feel much like doing this, but a quick something to keep in touch with my blog friends. Yup... you!

Cherry Chinchilla started to eat and drink on Christmas eve day, so I was happy about that. I thought she was getting better. However, she hasn't kept up with it, or maybe is still eating & drinking, but not enough to keep her health up. She started to poop, but they are way too tiny, not nearly normal. Today I took her back to the vet... again, and vet weighed & examined her. Cherry has lost weight and is having a challenge breathing (ya, I knew that, so tell me what I didn't know), she might have a bit of pneumonia. Basically, vet doesn't seem to know what the problem is. I am now back to feeding her with a syringe 6x a day, as well as antibiotics 2x and a motility drug 2 or 3x depending on how it's working for her. Hoping that will get her appetite up so she wants to eat, and get her gut working so she poops properly, without over doing it and giving the runs. They would like to keep her there for a few days, but that means more $$$ and I can give her the food and meds as well as they can. She was given subcutaneous fluids today (under the skin) to help with hydration, too.

Christmas went very well. Great time spent with family members. I stayed up baking Christmas Eve, until about 5am Christmas morning (good thing Santa takes my gifts to Mom's place each year). Got up about 10am and sliced the 2 kinds of cranberry nut loaf, broke up the cracker toffee... wrapped some of each for each of a few people. Kept a wee bit for me but most went as gifts. Went to Mom's just after noon. Brother Terry, his wife Alana, his daughter Becky with Dennis & their 2 boys Clay & Robby... Terry's son Josh & his daughter Siobhan were all there. Opened gifts. I baked Cranberry Bread Pudding to take to dinner. We all went up to Alana's mother's place, about 1/2 hour drive, for dinner. About 30 people there, so was pretty interesting and enjoyable evening.

Got back to Mom's & I loaded up my stuff, left there about 11pm and drove home, about 1/2 hour drive, lol. It was a very nice day.

Since then haven't done a whole lot of stuff, been pretty laid back.

Hope you all had a great Christmas... if you celebrate that holiday... or just a great week in general.

Christmas Mewsic

Here is a shot of my desk top. I just put this photo up, figured it was time to take the goslings that I shot this spring off and put an updated photo on.

This is Christmas Mewsic, lol. I did a "photo shoot" with her yesterday, and had planned to get several prints made to give to people, but with everything else I had to do I forgot about this until I got home this evening... way too late.

Mewsic & I wish you a very Mewwy Christmas!!!

Christmas Songs #24a & 24b

I'm sure you've all heard of BOGO (Buy One, Get One... free or half price or...), well this post is a LOGO. What is a LOGO? Listen to One, Get One more to listen to. And of course, you could always just call it a 2fer... (a 2 for one).

Ray Stevens - The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ray Stevens - Home For The Holidays

Christmas Song #23

Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder

Heads Or Tails

Heads Or Tails... a Tuesday meme.

THIS week's theme/prompt is:
TAILS - "This Time Of Year"
Tell what you do or don't like about this time of year.

NEXT week's theme/prompt is:
HEADS - "Watch"
Make a post in any form using "Watch" as your theme/prompt.

What I like about this time of year is how so many people seem to want to reach out and help other people who are in need. this is the time of the year when people give to the Food Banks in our area, when they give to families that are living in poverty so they too can have a good Christmas. Time and money is donated as well as food, putting on dinners for people to attend so they will have a turkey dinner. Everywhere you look, people are giving.

Another thing I like is the love that is in the air.

Also, the Christmas Candle Lighting Service that is put on each Christmas at the Okanagan Centre for Spiritual Living, my Spiritual Centre. On this one Sunday each year, the service is held in the evening rather than the usual morning service. It is a most beautiful service which includes the Story of Christmas, and the lighting of candles with explanations of what each one represents. First, Rev. Dale tells about the God Candle, then he lights it... and each candle is lit from the God Candle. The God Candle, by the way, is white. This year, I lit the Gold candle which represents Love. Red is for Power. Silver for Life. Okay, I don't remember each of the colors just now, but I do remember the 7 aspects of God which are represented by these candles: Peace, Power, Life, Light, Love, Beauty & Joy. There is also much beautiful, special music throughout the evening, and prayers etc. Last night, as we were about to have a prayer/meditation, I whispered into Hannah's ear (she was sitting beside me, is Rev. Dale's wife and our pianist) "I love you, Hannah". She whispered that she loves me too. Then she reached out her hand and we held hands through the prayer. I felt such a full feeling within my heart, the feeling I get whenever I know I am in true connection with God, and I felt so much love and joy that I had tears in my eyes.

For many years I hated Christmas and found it very depressing. I am so very grateful that those years have passed away and I can again love this time of year, I can again see and feel the Magic of Christmas.

Christmas Song #22 & Manic Monday

Today, the Manic Monday word is tree. I have chosen a video from YouTube. On December 1 I committed to posting a Christmas Song every day until Christmas, and tonight I am combining that commitment with the Manic Monday meme. This is a very nice video as well as a great piece of music. So far I've managed to keep the songs to "off the beaten trail" type songs, in other words, they are not Christmas Carols, and mostly songs you don't hear too often. I chose this video for its trees.

Christmas Canon - Holdman Studios Glass Tree - Song by TSO

Everyone is encouraged to leave a message, and anyone with a Manic Monday post is invited to leave their link on Mr. Linky.



I wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Song #21

Run Run Rudolph - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Christmas Song #20

Bob Walkenhorst - Christmas in Nashville

Christmas Song #19

"My Christmas List" - Lonestar

Christmas Song #18

Dolly Parton - Hard Candy Christmas