5C's Que Pasa

Interesting mist on the lake yesterday morning.

At this time of year I feel like I am the official doorman ( doorperson 😉 ) for the girls.  It is too cold 90% of the time to leave the patio screen door open so they can use the doggie door.  My job is to be aware of which of the two doors they are sitting at in order to go out.  If it is urgent Caeli will whine.  Carmeh however just walks back and forth between the two doors until I notice that she needs to go out.  Usually Carmeh goes out first then 20 to 30 minutes later Caeli  will want out.  Needless to say being a hound Carmeh wants out to check on where Caeli has been.  In and out, in and out.  Oh to be on the Isla where they go in and out at will.  So much easier.

The sun is rising behind the camera, yet another reflective trick of light by Mother Nature.

Just now appreciated that all the lights in our home are on dimmers.  So nice to be able to control the ambiance in each area.

At the moment we are on a regime of photo shop, invoice, try to get the list ready for the trip south,  a photo shoot, more photo shop, not quite enough invoicing and repeat.  Sadly it gets dark earlier at this time of year.

The view is ever changing.

Went for a massage today.  The Edmonton chiropractor recommended I get one a week after his treatment.  It was lovely.  She really worked on being certain that my muscles were balanced front to back and side to side.  I was also told that she thought my body was in the best shape she has seen it in 10 years and that included my skin being very healthy.  Lots of water you know.

Not certain that I want to share this with you but I don’t hold anything back so here goes 😐   Yesterday I went for my first physical in over 20 years including all those female things.  If you remember,  just a bit ago we finally found a new family doctor and she insisted on the works.  I passed the actual physical with flying colors however my blood work ( done a few weeks earlier ) should an issue.  I have just the tiniest tiniest increase in my cholesterol.  Most likely cause is stress.  Needless to say that should be rectified next year.  Why did I wait so long for a physical?  Good question.  My best answer is that with my medical background I knew my body and with the hips surgeries over the last few years I hardly had any blood left.

One of our trees is working real hard to turn red.

Thanks for all the name suggestions for the new male doxie in our home.  Colin had been so busy that we haven’t had a moment to discuss it.  I have 2 or 3 favs thanks to all of your input.  I will let you know our decision soon.  You can’t rush something as important as this 😆

Gifts from a neighbor.

I came home yesterday after my physical and some grocery shopping to the wafting odor of roses in my house.  Someone was getting their rose garden ready for the winter and knew how much I loved roses.  Oh how I miss my rose garden.  So I cut down the offerings and created a few fragrant bouquets.

That’s it for tonight.  Que tengas un buen dia,  have a good day tomorrow.

…meet ________ .  He doesn’t have a name yet.  Would you like to name him?  Of course it does have to start with a C.  Send me your suggestions and ideas 💡

Colin brought this little guy home for Carmeh.  Well at least we think it is a guy 😳

Carmeh very very carefully approached and we think that she did think it was real, if not odd. Of course the first sniff was the rear.

Slowly she checked out the new guy.

He really does look real  Actually he drives me nuts as when I pass him ( somehow he seems to move about ) I jump as think it is a real dog.

Nose to nose. The true test.

Reality sets in and Carmeh starts to bark.  But she does not make eye contact.

Caeli had no idea what is going on and really doesn’t care as long as she is fed on a regular basis.

Names anyone??

Finally I can say we are leaving a month today with a planned arrival on the Isla of November 15th.  The past few weeks have been hectic and we have a good 10 -14 days before things settle down to just a normal busy pace.

At least we are ahead of last winter when we only arrived on Dec. 9th. Our site was just waiting for us.

One of the very many things I miss are the gorgeous sunsets. This one was taken Dec. 12th and was exquisite. There were a series of photos on that blog post.

It breaks my heart but we have had to delay our departure for the second time.  Let’s hope that this is the last time.  We are now only leaving on November 4th but still plan to arrive on the Isla November 15th.  That means that we get four more days here at home to get things done and then have to make a quick trip with not much time off to get to our island home.  As I started to write this yet another full day job request has come in 😐   Colin however looks at it this way 😆

Before I went to Edmonton I gave Carmeh a new toy.  It has a squeaker in each knob.

Look at that tail wag. Happy dog = happy mom.

Before I left the geese were having a party 24/7.  Today it is dull and cool and we have not seen nor heard any fowl on the lake.

Sadly we miss this festival every year as it is our busy time. When we lived in Vancouver we used to attend. One day, one day…..

I came home to this email. Guess Elections Canada is having trouble getting its’ act together.  We only have over 1000 people who live here.  In the over ten years we have lived here the only door to door campaigning was by the Liberals the night before I left for Edmonton.

Caeli is a true contortion artist.

I have no idea why she wedged herself into the corner of the sofa.  She is laying on her back with her back legs pushed hard up against the back of the sofa.  That red and white thing on the top of her her is the tiny Santa hat which is one of her two toys, the other being a garden sprinkler head.

Low cloud and cool today.  When we went for our walk this morning I wondered how I was going to last till early November 🙁   Very very cool and open toe sandals don’t help.  The moment we got back home, the rain showers commenced and moved on to full rain.  At least last night we had  a treat thanks to Mother Nature.

I call this a reflection sunset. The sun actually sets to the right of the photo and this is but a lovely reflection.

Once I left the girls from my Grade 12 class I meandered back to the hotel where I relaxed and started to work on the first post about my whirlwind trip to Edmonton.  By the way you will never see any guys at our high school mini reunions mainly because we went to an all girls school 😎

The lovely hotel I stayed at had a wine and cheese event each afternoon from 5:30 – 6:30 PM.  Silly me I got caught up in writing my blog and didn’t get there until 6PM.  It was way more than I expected.  First of all there was only one other follow there and just at the end a couple arrived.  There was a young waiter pouring the wine, either a Cabernet Merlot or a very very fine Sauvignon Blanc.  They were from Australia and it has slipped my mind as to the actual label and vineyard.

I was astounded to see 7 different cheeses of which 2 were new to me. Complete with grapes, dried cranberries and a good selection of crackers it really was very special.  After the first glass of vino I no longer was concerned about the cost of the hotel 🙂

Got back to the room to catch a peak at the view as the sun was setting behind us. But I was rushing.

I was off to meet Casa Maria, my RMT from the Isla. Her name is Mary and she lives in Edmonton half the year.

Once again I was the only one drinking.  It was supposed to be a quick dinner but we managed to chat away over three hours.  We had a grand time.  Even better I get to see her on November 23rd for a 90 minute massage and every week thereafter.  I melt at the thought.

This was one of those unique bistros I had mentioned earlier, Cafe Mosaics.  Mary had a very tasty curry dish with tofu and veggies with a curry that each bite explored a new flavor.  I went with a portobello mushroom pasta served on black bean noodles accompagnied with avocado on toast and a special sauce that I can’t remember.  Needless to say I did not finish my dinner.

I have never seen a bill presented with such a choice for a tip. Sadly they only took cash or debit. Strange I thought.

Mary kindly walked me back to my hotel before she walked a block back to her car. Together we discovered this magnificent piece of artwork on the ceiling of the hotel.   I had noticed it during the day but at night it was simply brilliant.

The morning found me at the complimentary continental breakfast which turned out to be a full breakfast. Juices, two blends of coffee ( and a variety of teas ), bacon, sausage, eggs, hot toast ( 3 choices of bread ), croissants, danish and two types of fresh baked and warm out of the oven muffins.  A lovely tray of fresh fruit, yogurts, four choices of dry cereal and real porridge complete with brown sugar.  Most impressive.

I did not sleep well that night.  First off there was no clock although they did offer a wake up call but I am used to seeing the time on my digital clock throughout the night.  When I shut the lights to go to sleep I realized that I had to leave the hall light on or I would not find the bathroom in the dark.  I guess I should make a note to bring a night light or a small flashlite with me.  The bed was perfect as was the duvet, yes a real duvet and two types of pillows to choose from. I did miss my buckwheat hull pillow, but for a night it was fine.  A first class hotel and well worth the price.

On my way to my 9 AM chiro treatment I noticed these, at least 4 of them per block. What a unique idea to keep people from littering with their cigarette butts.

While waiting for the shuttle to return me to the airport I noticed this bike by the front desk. The green sign explains that the hotel has a variety of bikes available for their guests to use at no charge.  Now that is a first class act.

Once checked in at the airport I had an epiphany 😛  After spending all this money to travel for a chiropractic appointment why was I carrying a heavy purse on one shoulder and my even weightier tote bag on the other shoulder 😯  When I saw the luggage store just past the check in counter and before security I made my move.

Spontaneous executive female decision. Buy the carry on bag on wheels. I just popped my tote in there and carried on. Good thing as the gate was at the farthest end possible and also I landed at the gate the furthest away here in Kelowna. It was meant to be. My back was saved.

Once I got through an extremely thorough complete body search in public including the waist of my pants being pulled away from my body and a hand run all around…..I walked to my water refill station.  I knew about this filtered water station in the departures area.  I had kept my empty bottle to refill rather than donate $2.50 to someone’s profit.  There is only one and it is not advertised but I had been told about it a few years ago. Nice.

So I became a statistic.  I wonder how long it took to reach this number.  I did see one other person use the machine.

Pet therapy at the airport.  It certainly made this little girl’s day and her Dad ( on the right ).  What a great way to wear off some kid energy and give the dog a walk.  The kid is holding the leash but the lady in blue has her hand on the dog’s collar.  Each time the girl looked at the dog, it wagged it’s tail.  Therapy for the participants and for the observers.