March

The season comes when, from her three-month's trance,
The Earth awakens: already her deep heart
Begins to stir, and send its life abroad.
–Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–72)

Here we are in the last days of March.  My daffodils are very similar to the above picture.  This morning there were snow flurries.  It seems that March is leaving like a lion.

Last Sunday, Himself and I gathered the dog and cat and a change of clothes and headed to daughter's 2 1/2 hours away.  She is our pet-sitter when we go away and we were planning to travel to Hamilton on Tuesday to see Shen Yun that evening.  We booked a night at Days Inn.  It was about 18 minutes from the venue.  I was pleased that Himself was willing to walk with me.  It was cold.   It had been quite 'springy' on the weekend but not so much on Tuesday.  I was glad I had my winter jacket.  We both enjoyed the show.

Wednesday morning we checked out and headed back to daughter's.  It was an uneventful drive (the best kind) and we arrived at her house before she left for her afternoon shift.  We decided that I would stay and travel home with her when she came for her friend's birthday.  Himself loaded the cat and dog and headed home.  He plays darts on Wednesday night and he didn't want to miss.  I, on the other hand, enjoy a break in my routine.

When I stayed, we were unsure whether Daughter and I would be coming home on Friday or Saturday.  Often Daughter is not scheduled to work on Friday but she doesn't usually find out until Wednesday or Thursday.  She was happy to find out that she was off on Friday.

We had a leisurely morning.  We watched a movie on Netflix and then we walked her two black labs at the fairground which is a couple blocks from her house. 

The cold weather is really hanging on.  She made us poached eggs and then we loaded her car for the drive home.  

We drove through heavy rain, light showers, and sunshine before it started to rain again.  It think it is Spring.

 

Family Day

Today is Family Day in Ontario.  I understand it is President's Day in the United States.

Family Day is not a national statutory holiday, it is only observed in New Brunswick, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in British Columbia. Other provinces have holidays in February on the same day but these holidays aren't called Family Day. In PEI Islander Day is celebrated on the 3rd Monday in February and in Manitoba the 3rd Monday in February is the Louis Riel Day holiday. In Nova Scotia this day is called Heritage Day.

Right now the sun is shining (approx. 12:30 p.m.)  I hear that we might get more rain tonight.  After the rain we got last week, many fields and other places were flooded.  Fortunately, we are okay.

This morning we had breakfast at a diner that is usually closed on Mondays.  I think they are trying to make up for some of the business they have lost over the past few months.  Since many of the places close on Mondays and because they have many faithful customers, they were busy.  They have all their tables back and ready.  (During the shutdowns, they had some tables shut off so that they were separated and to help keep their numbers down to the permitted level.)  It is a husband and wife team who run the place.  Today their 3 teens were helping.  I expect they will have to re-learn their routines after working with reduced numbers for so long.  They said they are open because it is Family Day and they consider many of us family.

The sun is shining the the sidewalks are mostly bare, I think I will sign off and go for a walk.  Tomorrow it might be too wet if the predictions are correct.

The picture is from one of my recent walks.

February

 

Poor robin redbreast,

Look where he comes;

Let him in to feel your fire,

And toss him of your crumbs.

- Christina G. Rossetti (1830-94)

It is hard to believe how quickly time is passing by.  It is over a month since I posted a blog.  This morning, I finished reading a book (Love, Lists & Fancy Ships).  

In the story, the main character was blogging about a list of 30 things she wanted to do before her 30th birthday.  It was light reading but it reminded me that I also have a blog.

 

 So, what has been happening? - on January 18, Himself finally had his upper teeth removed and a denture put into his mouth.  I dropped him off at the hospital that morning and then spent time with my daughter-in-law while I waited for the call letting him know I could pick him up.  Mostly things have been going well once the bleeding stopped.   We are still eating soft foods and probably will be for a few more weeks.  He has been back to the denturist for adjustments but for now it is just waiting for healing while we learn how to handle this change.

From January 3 - February 13 I took part in a 6-week Step Bet:  https://waybetter.com/stepbet.  It got me walking on days when it would have been easier to stay home.  I thought I would be able to use the treadmill when the weather was bad but the treadmill quit so I had to make sure to walk no matter what.  Unfortunately,  the bet was finished, I have been using bad weather as an excuse to not go out for a walk.  Once the weather starts to improve, it is my intention to walk more again as I really enjoy that quiet time.

My weight hasn't been moving.   I go up and down the same one or two pounds.  My husband tells me to stop being concerned about weight but I have spent my whole life trying to lose weight.  It is hard to just stop thinking about the numbers.  I would really like to get out of the obese classification on the BMI charts.

Ontario is starting to open up again.  On March 1, we won't have to show our vaccination certificate to eat in a restaurant.  Let's hope everyone continues to stay well.