Brush n Easel

This being a new year, I gave some thought as to what my first blog should be. It's no secret that the ink has been slow to flow for me for a little time now.

I decided that I really would like to honor Elizabeth and share some of her artwork with you. I love the canvases that she has painted, even though she prefers a low profile. So, what better way to start the year off.



This one was commissioned and called "Undaunted", it is acrylic on a 24x30 canvas board. The clipper ship is named 'Restless'.



"Vanishing Breed" is a 9x12 acrylic on canvas board.

C'ya

No Cause for Alarm

Have you ever had some of those days when you feel like the ball, in a pinball machine? For some time now things around here have been too calm and uneventful. That is until recently.

Last week we were around the stores (four of them) looking at 5x8 area rugs. Of course we couldn’t agree on a pattern or price, so came home empty handed a number of times.

I should tell you that lately when we go into the store, the carpet area in particular, we appear to get funny looks from the staff, or else it’s my imagination. Anyway that’s how it feels, as the hairs on the back of my neck start to tingle.

I forgot to mention that in her eagerness to examine every rolled up carpet in the store, Elizabeth has a wrestling match, eventually managing to pin every carpet with a fall in the aisle! Believe me, everything falls down and it looks like a bomb hit the place. After a half baked attempt to correct the situation, we sneak furtively away and leave things for the store assistants to sort out. You get the picture.

The other day we had a great day, at least we thought so. We had settled the carpet fiasco a day or so prior, so didn’t have to worry about that anymore. So out we went again and ventured into the uncharted waters of a huge new mall complex. Hiking boots and a good quality leather back pack were the intended shopping victims for the day.

We do seem to get ourselves into some situations at times, well the wife does, and she belongs to me so we’re it!

We didn’t get the boots that day but the back pack was a real beauty!
Or was until one of the zippers went a few days later. I will spare you the wails of anguish accompanied with the pain. Talk about panic stations!

First we tried to fix the zipper but quickly realized that we were out of luck there. Next thought was obviously lets get a return, or better, an exchange. That’s when Elizabeth paled somewhat as she told me she had that very morning dumped the cash register receipt into the garbage! Mission impossible now was to recover the receipt, so you know what that entailed.

Fortunately for us they have quite a sophisticated garbage set up here, so at least we wouldn’t have to go through mountains of crap.

As it was there was the wife up to her armpits sifting through the bags looking for our bag of litter. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever see her doing that.
Believe me the relationship between Elizabeth and her new leather bag is a torrid affair, so nothing was going to stop her from getting that receipt back!

I could see she had been successful when she came back with a triumphant smile on her face, albeit a little mussed up.

The following step was pretty dull after all the excitement and panic. A trip to the store, a few nice words with the assistant and out came the wife smirking all over her face and brandishing her new bag.

On the way home we called in at the carpet store. They had some smaller rugs on sale to match the carpet we bought earlier, so we picked one up. ~

At our apartment we are lucky, not only do we have the elevator, but they have a shopping cart to help carry the loot the upstairs.

The elevator is not overlarge, so when we get the cart in there plus me with my walker it gets somewhat congested. Today we were going upstairs in the elevator when Elizabeth decides she wants to turn the cart around ready to get off at our floor, that’s when the fun began, again!

In turning she somehow caught the emergency button with the buggy, which dials for help, thus setting the alarms in motion! Elizabeth’s first words were “Wow! The shopping cart is the exact same height as the alarm button!”

To our horror there didn’t seem to any way to shut this thing off! ~ Yeah, you got it. We hightailed it out of there as if the place was on fire, thankfully nobody answered the call this time. Never a dull moment where we are I can tell you!


C’ya

Zap Bang Wallop

Crack! Boom!

“That’s it!” Elizabeth exclaimed and heads for the closet. “What are you doing?” I ask. “Putting on my sandals. I hate thunderstorms.” I look at her feet, “And the sandals will protect you?” “Yes, the rubber soles could save my life. You should put yours on.” Well no, a doubtful expression on my face.

I realize Elizabeth has had more than her fair share of close climate encounters and once lived in a place that was hit several times by lightning. I feel we are pretty safe here though.
She’s eyeing the maple tree outside. I know the bathroom and kitchen are off limits for now. Sigh.

“You know that’s a myth, about the rubber soles?”

“Yes, my sandals will not prevent me from being hit by lightning. But, years ago a neighbor of mine was struck. The lightning came through the kitchen sink faucet from the lake and he had his hand on the counter. It shot up his arm, down his whole body to his running shoe. Huge scar.
The hospital said the rubber sole shoe saved him. Probably sleeps in them now. So, myth or not, these sandals give me comfort and I’m not taking any chances. You shouldn’t either. Damn! I hate thunderstorms.”

(At least she is in an awareness state of mind because of her belief I thought.)

***

Elizabeth was beginning to remind me of my Mom. When I was young we used to have a small add on to the kitchen in the old house. Often we would put our bikes in there, especially if it was storming. When the thunder and lightning came, my mother would run out and put towels over the handle bars. I’m convinced she thought she was hiding the metal from nature and the storm.

I watch my wife as she changes the placemats on the dining room table. “Are those the non-conductive mats, Honey?” Big smiles right across my face!

Uh oh, Makes a beeline for the door!

C’ya

Deja Vu

Elizabeth encountered an incident earlier this week, this moved her sufficiently to want to write something about it. This is her story.

Remember Bob

He shook my hand firmly, holding it tight. Then he wouldn’t let go. This was my first impression that something was wrong. His blue eyes stared at me intently and I got a little uncomfortable. He was a good foot taller and perhaps a 100 pounds more. What did he want? I panicked a little. Let go of my hand, I pleaded mentally. Which finally, he did.

“Nice to meet you Bob,” I stammered. Quickly I grabbed the door handle to my new home and disappeared into the apartment. “Eric! ERIC!!” I had been here less than 24 hours and already something seemed wrong.

Bob is our neighbor. He lives alone. Eric has known him for a little time and proceeded to tell me that Bob has Alzheimers. This is more noticeable when you study him a little. With time, we have become accustomed to his routine; Price is Right from 11 to noon, then he’s promptly out the door for his daily walk through town. Bob cuts a very striking figure, quite tall with a shock of the whitest hair. When he walks his hands are clasped behind his back, and an ever increasing stoop. He waves and smiles at strangers. Bob is a harmless creature as he putters along, inquisitively looking in through store windows.

Once in a while, he pops into the local hotel for a beer. Sometimes, we would see him doing what Eric has termed his chicken dance on the street. He is a happy go lucky guy, a real character. I wish I could dance with such abandon. On two occasions that I know of, Bob returned home with a black eye and a couple of cuts to his face. Who would do such a thing to this innocent man?

Bob has a family, but you would hardly know it. They give him a dutiful gift on his birthday, also at Christmas. It ends there. Even so, he doesn’t seem lonely. He has his daily walks and the people on the street.

3 years ago I was filling out Christmas cards and had some left over. I filled one out for Bob and put it under his door. He told the whole building that he got a card. He was so happy. Our neighbors let us know. He never said a word to us. This has become a tradition now. When we move, Bob will always get a Christmas card.

**

I was in one of the local confectionaries yesterday getting a couple of lottery tickets. The cashier suddenly stiffened and said, “Oh, that guy always gives me the creeps.” I looked at her quizzically and she motioned to the window. Bob was looking in, and then he left.

“Oh no, no, no”, I said. “That’s Bob. He has Alzheimer’s. He’s harmless.”

She stared at me. Relieved, she said, “Thank you so much for telling me. Now it makes sense. Thank you.”

I remembered the first time I shook hands with Bob, now this cashier getting upset. It occurred to me, how many others?
Just how many Bobs are out there suffering Alzheimer’s, giving people the wrong impression? Even more, how many of us recognize it for what it is?

C'ya

Chocolate Treasure

My first clue should have been when I saw her eating powdered chocolate off a teaspoon. The wife likes to start her day with a hot chocolate, her morning routine also includes a taste or more, while she waits for the kettle to boil. Myself, my world doesn’t start to turn until I have my cup of tea and I would never suck on the teabag whilst I was waiting!

Strange trends people have in order to get their day going.

Thinking of chocolate, isn’t it funny how peoples tastes change over the years. I can distinctly remember loving milk chocolate most of my life. The one exception of course being my love of “Black Magic” chocolates. Then as I got older my tastes leaned even more to darker chocolate, eventually I made the switch complete, now milk chocolate was too sweet and sickly for my taste buds. Even later I started to get selective as to what kind of dark chocolate I preferred. The best in my mind is “Belgian dark chocolate” beyond any doubt. There is something about the taste of Belgian chocolate, that really makes one slow right down and savior every small morsel. I used to buy bars of imported Belgian a dozen at a time, whenever the store had them in. One day for some inexplicable reason the store stopped selling them. To say I was upset about that is putting it mildly. Shortly afterwards, Black Magic disappeared from the store shelves, my misery was complete!

In my younger days after finishing school, I applied for a job as a candy maker. During the interview, the boss asked me the strangest thing I thought. He said ”Let me see your hands,” that’s when he told me I had candy makers hands. I was young and impressionable, so was pleased with what he said even if I didn’t understand the reasoning. I stayed a candy maker for five years. In that time I got to learn from some of the best in the business. John Grensevic (sp) was my first tutor. He used to formulate the varying flavors of candies, recognizing that there was a difference in tastes from European and those of North America, which still exists today.

**
Elizabeth sat down, I could see she was munching something.
“I hope you don’t mind, I had a piece of chocolate.”
“From the fridge?” I asked, for I kept more than one brand in there.
“Yes” said she, a smile lighting her face, a mischievous look in her eye.
“Not the Belgian chocolate I hope,”
“Uh oh” she uttered.
I went to the fridge to check the damage. I tried to explain that I wasn’t a chocolate hog, except I could no longer get any more of that Belgian kind anymore.
Nowadays I eat Aero bars, dark chocolate of course and the wife is a confirmed chocoholic, so much for my stash!


There is just one piece of “Holy Grail” left to me that she is not keen on, and that doesn’t last an hour when I have one.
My all time favorite is imported from England. Fry’s Cream is dark chocolate with a mint fondant filling, simply scrumptious.

So I know it is Easter, and the hunt is on! But never mind giving me an egg, I will enjoy my Fry’s Cream and Aero bars!

Elizabeth just came home from the grocery store. Her purchases included six containers of Nestle triple chocolate Sundae!

I rest my case…. Happy Easter everyone!

Footnote: All chocolate tastes better after being in the fridge a short time ~ trust me.

C’ya

Eros

February 14th is St Valentines Day, it is also my birthday, I still only get one card to cover! ~

So what are the chances? I live in a rural area, pop approx 20,000.
So what are the chances of finding someone else with the same birthday? Ok. So what are the chances that both of them live in the same small town? More? Ok.
What are the chances they not only have the same birthday and live in the same small town, but they are both exactly the same age! Hah, hah!

Now you still with me? Given all that, what are the chances they both live in the same apartment building! Getaway you say! Now the final piece, what are the chances that they not only live in the same building (only 12 apartments) in the same little town and are both the same age, it turns out they live right next door to each other!! Lets see you top that one!
Happy birthday Bob!
~ ~ ~



So what are you doing for your sweetie on this special day? A nice card, flowers, chocolates? How about dinner and a show? How do you tell her how much you love her? ~ Do you even remember to tell her anything? I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes Bud!

For my honey, I decided to put together a few words that try to express my love for her and what she means to me.

My Love for you

I feel for you, like I were a part of you.
I feel for you, ~ as the beat of your heart,
I feel as ~ the eyes in your head,
Your very precious thoughts ~
And the way you shake your hair.
I feel as part of you, ~ when pouting your mouth -
That smile that would melt any heart.
These are but some of the things I feel.
As being a part of you my love,
And how much I love you.
On this special Valentine’s Day ~ ©
C’ya

A Hairy 24

Monday we went out to the mall, mostly for me to exercise walking. Of course going anywhere, where there are stores can be fatal when we go out. I’m not a compulsive shopper, but the wife does believe in having back-ups. (cough, cough)

Like lots of people who live in these cold and in winter dry wastelands north of the border, (heating season) we do (especially because of my COPD) have a number of toy’s to compensate for all these climatic changes.

In winter it can get pretty dry here without the use of a humidifier. Ours just needs a new filter this time around.

Monday the day started off in a real hairy fashion. First the missus & I had a lively discussion about the filter as opposed to buying another machine that goes without filters. ~ That’s when the toaster decided to go on strike and refused to toast, oh boy! ~ Elizabeth’s eyes just lit up like a beacon! ~ Ours is a nice cream color, (she says antiquated old white! ~ Bah humbug! ) the wife now would like a black one. Another item to the list, all this and I hadn’t even left my chair yet to find out why it conked out. (I was thinking about the kettle incident!)

We arrived at the mall to walk ~ ahem ~ Elizabeth was off like a shot looking for the aisle with humidifiers, after finally catching up to her, we looked over what was available, we’re not impressed. ~ We were still discussing the filter, when we turned into the toaster aisle. There was a couple already there examining the toasters, and as we approached you could hear them voicing opinions on stainless steel verses black. She it seems, is leaning towards the black one.
That’s when we see…… the nice looking black toaster that the guy was holding in his hands. ~ He spotted us watching him, I guess we had made it pretty obvious, and with a smile he said’ you want this one don’t you?” I chuckled, this guy was a smart cookie alright.

He & his wife had not decided yet what they wanted, so I tried pointing out another store to him, where they had some great stuff, but he wasn’t falling for that either, or putting the toaster down! ~ When we came back a little later they and the toaster were gone.

We did find the aisle that held the filters & even got so far as finding what we needed, but the wife was adamant, she wanted a new filter-less machine.

So more stubborn resistance on my part, and sulks that would bring a fountain to tears on the part of the wife. That was the end of that store and so off we went to another favorite place to shop. Forgotten now it seems was the primary reason for coming out, re: walking exercise! Oh well, walking around a store can be deemed a workout in more ways than one. ~

When we got home with the new machine………… Well it was said that it wouldn’t hurt none to have a backup just in case……We never did get the toaster that the guy was holding, oh well there is always another day.


A number of times during this summer we have experienced a few minor problems with the fridge….. Uh Oh!………. Yesterday in line with all the other hairy goings on, the fridge decided it wanted to be a freezer,…. by freezing the eggs……… At this point it might be understandable then, that there were definite grounds for the gnashing of teeth! ….. C’est la vie……

This morning, after sleeping on an otherwise crazy day Monday, we rose bright eyed & bushy tailed. Elizabeth, all nice and cheery starts to prepare the breakfast. Going to the fridge…….. Surprise! ~
The fridge is once more a fridge again, not being able to compete with the freezer, and the eggs were just fine. Lo and behold, forgetting that the toaster was broken she flipped bread in and pressed the lever down, … The toaster, deciding that it wasn’t going to be replaced, considered it too had better work again, which it did! ~ The wife still in a shocked state served breakfast and forgot my eggs! Then on hearing my yelp! realized she had given me the wrong plate. Still the toaster worked! So today was going to be a fine day after all.

Later Elizabeth sat there deep in thought, then suddenly broke into excited chatter. She had started off by saying that she felt a little guilty over the humidifier, after all we had one that is still ok………. I said don’t be silly, we can always use a back-up…… Yikes! ………Did I say that? She burst out laughing at me. She then went on to point out that with all the savings, offers, adjustments and not having to buy a replacement filter, the new machine wasn’t that expensive anyway!.. Boy! Talk about cost justification.

I said to Elizabeth, ‘be careful what you say around me, you might end up in my blog !’ ~ More chuckles! ~

As you can tell by now, we tease the hell out of each other and have a lot of fun doing it.

A Hairy 24 will do that to you.

C’ya

In Your Dreams

Most mornings when the wife and I get up, we sit and enjoy a nice warm cup of tea/chocolate together. Invariably the wife while drinking her hot chocolate will say, ‘I had a funny dream last night.'
I have never known anybody have such wild dream experiences as Elizabeth sometimes gets, this morning was no exception.

As most of my regular readers know, I have COPD and am on oxygen 24/7.

Generally I never pay much attention to dreams as a rule for they are just that, a dream. They would appear to have no rhyme or reason to them, let alone any real time consequences. So after the initial announcement, I usually just dismiss them with a grunt or some comical remark like, “Well it had to be the lobster you ate before going to bed!” Or some such thing.

Elizabeth started to relate her dream to me, with me just being half attentive. I believe that the first thing that got my attention was she said that in the dream both she and I were on oxygen.

Apparently in this dream, we were sitting out in the grounds of a hospital or some such rehabilitation facility, the both of us with our length of hose firmly attached to the nose. (That alone is a scary thought!)

We were just keeping each other company and shooting the breeze, when this other lady came walking by. Somehow it seems by some kind of a kind of a mix up, this woman got herself all tangled up with the oxygen hose that Elizabeth had on. Obviously the more she struggled the more entangled she became.

The wife meanwhile was having a great big hairy over this performance and promptly started to let the world know all about this clumsy clod! (Another person funnily enough was also in Elizabeth’s dream and that was my PT from rehab! )
Meanwhile back in la, la land. The tangle woman was by now getting quite upset with her predicament. In her frustration she reached into her purse and pulling out a pair of scissors promptly performed an "Edward Scissorhands" routine, deftly snipping the wife’s oxygen hose!

So there sat the wife, holding the cut ends of the hose up in the air for all to see, crying out! Look what she did to my oxygen Waaaaaaaaaa!!

That’s my honey. ~ Thank goodness we wake up from these things is all I can say!

C’ya

Drop In

Yesterday we had another day out, this time the wife and I drove to this huge shopping mall, almost an hours drive from here, where she had hoped she would find some sports sandals that she had been hunting for. For some reason it has been difficult to locate any, maybe it‘s the season end.

The weather was comfortable other than being a little humid and sticky, talk about busy and the crazy traffic. Now I can remember why we moved out into the more rural area to live.

On the way back to more civilized surroundings away from the rat race, we dropped in at a smaller mall closer to home where we had some lunch in the lunch-court. They have the usual vendors there, catering to whatever tweaks your fancy. A place that is very popular is ‘Frisco Fries‘, for the folks line up to get food, I am fast getting addicted. I have had some good fries in my time, but I tell you, these just have to be the best! We rounded out the trip then with a little shopping.


At least when we arrived home we were greeted by the happy bunch seen here that we have grown to love so much. Talk about a brunch drop in! It’s just so nice to see them all together so nice and friendly. Yes, we have a very nice bird community here & life is good.

C’ya

A Day Lost

It is late at night here in our neck of the woods. The day has been a long and tiring one, for today we had business to take care of. The wife had to have one of those nuclear stress tests done, so that was a five hour job plus all the traveling time.

Never did get any work done on the computer changeover, all that will resume tomorrow and over the weekend. In my movement of files though I did come across a little poem I wrote a short while ago so I thought I would share that with you.

Solitary man

As restless as a tempestuous storm -
Filled to overflowing, with a torment
That was born of dreams unfilled.

Fighting against the ravages of time -
As now life’s juices slowly ebb,
Ever receding, to the desert floor.

And with the passing of the night -
The beast that was in him,
Died within his breast.

Eric Valentine Dec 17/06 ©

C’ya

Art ~ Rich Gems

All work depicted here is protected by copyrite ©

I look at all the places I visit on the internet, and am in awe at the rich gems that people share with one another. I am speaking of course about different blogs. Like most people who are swept up in the magical world of the net, daily it seems, I jump onto the flying carpet and start my search for a grail.. This morning I visited two blog sites, in order to get my day under way.

It was the content of those two sites though, that really gave me a boost to start this post. I went first to a new found friend, he is a wonderful painter, a real artist. His was the site that really opened my eyes, with a display of his work and a very nice success story, his first exhibition and sales of his creations, such wonderful work, of “Plein Air Painting.”



I am lucky to have a successful artist right here of my own, with Elizabeth who is a pretty good painter herself. Of course styles do differ and that’s what makes art what it is. The wife has painted a number of canvases, most of which she did in acrylics. Acrylics are different to work with because they dry so much faster than oils. Her Tiger is on a 14x18 canvas board.

In thinking more of the riches of the net, ‘Gems’ do come in different fashion.

I speak now of the world of literature. It has really amazed me as I go from site to site, just how many really good writers there are out there. At least two of those is where I visited this morning, during my rounds. That is what prompted me to come up with my opening sentence .
It brought to my mind that old saying of “What if.” I was thinking of course, in terms of the era before television and possibly even radio, let alone the computer age. I wondered if, years ago there was the same talent pool opportunity that is around us today and accessible just because of the internet?

If the answer is yes then oh my! What a crying shame and such a waste. In thinking of all the well known poets and writers of a bygone age. One wonders, or at least I do, how did they get their rise to prominence?
More is the pity for those that didn’t make it, but I am sure appreciative of the ones that did.
Where would we be today without the likes of William Shakespeare, Byron, Keats and Shelley to name a few. God forbid that Charles Dickens would not have come along. Such wonderful stories there and what about my “Christmas Carol?” played so brilliantly by Alistair Sim (can’t you tell he’s my favorite)

The little girl in 'Contemplation' is on a 10x12 canvas.

The whole thing is though, there is such a multitude of talented people out there and we the denizens of the net, certainly reap the benefit. I applaud you all as I devour all you produce. Thank you.

C’ya

Whispers In The Willows

The air is full of old cliché’s nowadays. ‘The older you get the worse one gets?’ I don’t think so! ‘The best things in life are free’ we can go along with that, but then our needs are few, in order that we be happy.
‘Life is what you make it’. I can’t argue with that one.

The whole point to this preamble is, yesterday we had a great day, and all we did was go out to our ‘special’ park again and sojourn with mother nature for about three hours. Of course now on these excursions, we take along a packed lunch making it into a picnic. On these occasions the camera is a must, for there is no telling just what we will bump into each time we visit. ~ Today certainly was no exception.

Every time we go the park I seem to say the same things over and over. “I feel that I should sit and do an article about this place,” for each time we go I am moved by an urge to write.

Could it to be because of the peaceful tranquility that just seems to flow over you and envelope you in its embrace.
Or perhaps it just may have been the ghost of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Author of “Anne of Green Gables”, who used to live in this area for a while. Adjacent to the park, there now stands a beautiful memorial garden in honor of her. ~ Whatever the reason, the urge to write is always there!


Today the sun was shining brilliantly, occasionally peeking out from behind convenient white puffy clouds, that sailed along like ships in the night.
The temperature was very comfortable, with a light breeze, just sufficient to make the tree tops sway, in rhythm to the whispering sounds of the rippling stream. Happily, three American goldfinches flirted with the glistening waters, swooping and dancing then swooping yet again.
Further along closer to the wetland the bullfrogs could be heard honking their deep throated call. The vibrant chirping and singing of a cardinal rang out from a nearby tree. Overhead could be seen a gliding hawk, scouting the area for a morsel for lunch no doubt.

We sat for a while and had lunch ourselves, all the time surrounded by the sounds of nature, such music to the ears. ~ In the distance the sounds of happy children & their parents, as more visitors arrived at the park.

We wandered over to the wetland area to a chorus of calls of the bullfrogs once again. Standing on the wooden patio platform, one can lean on the rail and get a good view of the whole wetland terrain. Before long a couple of frogs came near, I thought they would pick up a hapless moth that had come amiss on the pond water, but no. Instead one sizeable frog came ashore. At first it seemed to sun himself but I guess he had his eye on a good sized bug that was flying around, more meat on that one I thought as I spotted them. However it was not meant to be as the bug went on his way the frog meanwhile, still sat there.

Elizabeth ever vigilant, decided to try and get close without scaring him away, and yes! She got a very good picture of our friend.

During our visit we explored some more, to see what else was different today that maybe we could photo and spirit away to go with the other souvenirs from previous visits.

We had been by the bridge a little earlier and heard the sound of a bird not very familiar to us. Then we spotted him landing on the branch of a nearby tree. The wife went to work right away with the camera. She was successful in getting a couple of shots and more when he decided to alight on the rail of the bridge, this was our lucky day! We are still not quite sure what kind of bird it is, it does look a little like a larger Robin except he has spots on his breast and his head is a somewhat different shape than a Robin, we have got to look that one up. So far the possibility is maybe a juvenile robin, but the spots are misleading.


We moved on eventually, making our way over the bridge ready for our departure, walking up the steep sides of the hill. Stopping for a moment that I may catch my breath, I noticed a very weathered tree, that at that level I thought, would make a good photograph.

At the top of this garden of magnificence there stands a grand looking house. The occupant of the house certainly provides such pleasure with their choice of music regardless of whether they are aware of the fact. They play the haunting strains of classical music from the Masters, which seems to simply float on the air as we wander around the park. Truly, Whispers in the Willows. A whole different World.

C’ya

Living Out Of Boxes

It all started a number of years ago. It had been a cold wet and windy week. I had been hoping for a break in the weather for I had to go and get Elizabeth from up north and bring her down here. It just so happens that it had only been a week since I moved into this new apartment and so my stuff was still scattered all over the place, talk about chaos. Sure most all the furniture was in place and you could make it into the kitchen for a byte to eat, but oh my! ~ THE BOXES!

Believe me folks when I say there were boxes wall to wall I mean it!. I know I have been a bit of a packrat over the years, but I never realized just how much stuff was there until I had to pack for the move. Aside from all the drawers being loaded with stuff, I seemed to have acquired this overspill of things and no place to put them ~ yet! ~ When I surveyed the scene I had visions of all the sales I couldn’t pass by!

I set off with the rental truck to pick up my honey and spirit her and all her things away into my sin bin. I had rented this larger truck because although I had a pick up truck, I doubted it would carry all the gals belongings.

Before leaving for the trip, I had moved my boxes to one side so as to make a pathway for us to walk. I was so excited at what we were about to do, so the time passed pretty quick. It didn’t take too long to get loaded up but by now it was spotting rain, so we had to get a tarp over the load, securing it with those elastic cables that they sell these days. Even so I was a bit flabbergasted at the number of “more boxes” plus other surplus items. More visions of elasticized walls came to mind and a shudder went through me, where are we going to put all this stuff!.

The day couldn't have turned out worse really, for when we started out it was supposed to be a nice sunny day. Well guess again! During the trip back here it literally poured buckets. Consequently all of Elizabeth's stuff was saturated. Try carrying wet soggy boxes and see how you manage! Grrrrrrr

Believe me, you know you’ve got oodles of containers around when you actually have to literally climb over boxes just to get to your computer desk! ~ No Fun! ~ At this stage, even just try finding anything!

A healthy period of time has passed since those days. Even now I am amazed how we handled things and where we put everything. We had gone I believe from something like a hundred boxes, down to what I am looking at right now, ~ four!

The reason I am going through these last couple of items, is yes you guessed it I misplaced something and am in the process of turning the house upside down, but to no avail.

It is surprising just how one deals with such situations like we had in the beginning. Then you end up with a full storage room, small as it is and life is wonderful! Going through a couple of boxes yesterday was what prompted me to make the remark to the missus, “Blimey! we live out of boxes” followed by “I think I could write about that ~ as we both broke up laughing!”

C’ya

Wild n Whacky

Pet Sitting

A few short whiles ago my wife and a neighbor had a chat. This itself is nothing abnormal,. It was the content of that chat that caught my attention, for I know that even after the deed is done, that topic may not be over!

The neighbor is a good friend of ours and she has a ‘Lovebird’ ah ha! Yes you’ve got it already I see! ~ I wonder who is going to win that one when it arrives. ~ But I digress.

Brenda, our friend has had to go into the hospital for a procedure on her knee. The missus of course volunteered to look after Zsa Zsa, (an alias) no not that one! Gee I should get so lucky! Grrrrr. Ahem!

The wife then has really been in her element this last week. So much so, I feel like I’ve been given the bird! If you can pardon the pun.

Day one, Elizabeth went upstairs to check on our charge and get acquainted. When she came back she said, “I never knew lovebirds were so vicious “ to which my response was ‘they’re not but they can seem to be’.

“But she lunged at me when I put my hand close to & in the cage” The wife tries to demonstrate to me, using her hands, the birds clawing & lunging actions with its head and beak.

‘Well think about it, wouldn’t you whack anybody with a tire iron, if they tried coming into our home?’

“But she’s just a bird!”

‘Exactly’ I smile and try not to smirk, ‘they do like to play.’

I might add at this point that the missus worries even if the sun goes behind a cloud, in case it never comes back! So now when Elizabeth and Zsa Zsa have their little fencing game, I get a blow by blow description of all the ensuing activities that take place, on a daily basis.

Three days in a row now I have inherited a new very pretty feather. If this keeps up, soon I will have more feathers here that the bird has!
Today the missus tried to clean the perches, oh what a to-do that was, I think that’s where the last feather came from!


I remember the wife telling me once that when she lived up north, she used to pet sit different friends pets, amongst the other things she did. There’s been cats n dogs, and a snapping turtle used to visit quite often. She even has a turtle skull sitting on her desk. (no! not him)

Then there was the time she used to look after Barney the pet pig! Barney was great when he was small and a baby. Then he grew, and kept on growing to eventually be about 250lbs of bacon on the hoof!.

Barney was a playful pot-belly pig. A neighbor had bought it for his wife when she was sick with cancer. She loved pigs. ~ The husband though really detested them, as a consequence him and Barney didn’t get along too well at all.

Sometimes Elizabeth would get a call for help. Apparently Barney would be acting up, and here was the neighbor threatening that soon Barney would be ‘Pork Chops!’ my wife of course would hurry over there and settle the pig down. Baiting him with his favorite banana chips and green seedless grapes. ~ Barney was soon once more a happy pig, back where he was supposed to be and the guy, ~ persuaded to put away the frying pan!

~ While the missus was relating all this to me over a cup of tea, I smiled at a thought image I was having. ~

I could just picture Barney charging the neighbor and chasing him down the street with the lovebird, wings spread wide, screeching away perched between the ears of the rampant pig! ~ Olay!! ~

C’ya

COPD What a Day

This last couple of weeks, the weather here has been pretty warm and quite humid. That, for anyone with COPD can be bad news as far as breathing is concerned. So at times like this, there are moments when you get the feeling that you are on the fast track to hell. Times even when you think the word ‘Win’ has departed your vocabulary.

With the hit and miss way my sleep pattern is through this COPD, there are times when I find it difficult to differentiate between night and day. I go to bed and rarely manage to sleep much longer than an hour and twenty minutes, then I am awake once again. COPD does that to me

Today is rehab drop in day, it's only once a week right now; that is until the extra day we've applied for kicks in ~ When? That is the question, I thought things would have been in place long ago. ~ Next time I will know better than go after something around budget time! ~

It seems like chasing a myth, in a maelstrom of moonbeams and misty dreams.

I woke as usual around 5 am and after that it was just restlessness. After laying there for an indeterminable amount of time I crawl out of the pit and make some tea. Today I hit the kitchen around 7.30 am but that was alright, for I needed to be out of bed early in order to get myself ready.

My morning started out okay, as I went through my usual routine taking my medication's. On a day like today the wife usually gets up soon after me and then we really get things moving along. Not today! ~ I guess we got our wires crossed and things were thrown out of kilter.

That's when things went sour for me, I had gone through the routine of secretion clearance with very little effect. Also I was struggling so much trying to get my SOB under control. Try as I may I couldn't get things together again, that’s when my enthusiasm drained out of my toes along with my breathing. Soon I ended up not really wanting to go to rehab, for all I really wanted was just to be able to breathe. ~~ I don’t usually panic, for that gets you nowhere. ~

Some days though things just don’t seem to want to move and believe me, then it’s very easy to panic a little, because you can’t get any air into your lungs.

That’s when Elizabeth arrived on the scene! “Have you been drinking any water?” Trust my honey to always have an answer. I have to drink lots of water for it helps to loosen up any obstruction. Once again I went through my stuff this time following her advice. Wouldn’t you know it, very shortly after it worked, so now I have to go or else we will be late!

So after all of my fussing, this was just another bad news event for me. I really do need the exercise because of my breathing, in order that I stay as healthy as is possible for me.

~ Just a day in the life. ~

Now I have to get my butt out of here!

C’ya

She has me in stitches!

For some little time now the wife has been going a bit crazy on the sewing machine. That is, she has been making all kinds of sleep wear! Trouble is there are only two of us in this family, so just how much can one wear in a week or two!

Just before last Christmas a limited number of these sewing machines came on sale. A fantastic deal to be had at 70% off. That is if you were quick off the mark and got in line in time! Elizabeth has never had a sewing machine of her own before and she’s always wanted to do more sewing and make some clothes.

That’s what made getting this deal so important to me, I wanted to please her with this surprise. (even though she was with me to help get it! )
Her goal is to make some dresses and other assorted attire.

You should have seen what we went through to get this hot item! We spent an hour in line, with me and my oxygen bottle fending off all would be jostling line jumpers, for they weren’t getting past me and my quest for the prize!!

Because it had been a while since she used a machine, she started with a pair of PJ pants, just so she could get used to sewing again and they turned out great! We have since been informed by the younger generation, they are not PJ’s but “Sleep Pants!” This then was followed by more sleep pants and more and more!!

She even made several sets for her Mom! Then dare I say, she ventured into doing Top‘s! Those too turned out very good, and so now she is really on a roll.

More recently she has taken to doing some alterations to a few of her things, you know shirts and tops, that kind of stuff.
In looking over what material she could use for an alteration on a particular shirt, she came up with a pair of never worn silken panty sleepwear. This she used to fill an idea for around the neckline!

Of course when I saw that I made a typical male remark, as I teased her about having her panties up around her neck!. Now she’s going kill me for sure!!

Plus my trade in value just went down!!

C’ya

Another Hex-change!

Talk about boiled over! Can you believe that ‘Sherlock Holmes arch enemy Professor James Moriarty' has struck again!? Remember the new kettle? Yes! It did it again! The lid came up and would not go down or stay down, I wonder if it sounding so loud when it was on had anything to do with that! So harness the horses! One more time we headed out for the store and can you believe, once again another assumed name! Yeah you got it Moriarty. “Hand‘s up!! This is an up stick!! No exchanges this time if you please! Just give us the money.”

Next stop was at a different store this time. My woman shrouded in mystery emerged after much hunting for half an hour, triumphantly brandishing yet another new shiny kettle! Headed towards me almost skipping, a bright smile all over her face. ~ (This is the new kettle)

Meantime outside the store, I’m waiting in the truck. Suddenly I realize that I am out of oxygen! Both Elizabeth and I had forgotten that I was near close to empty, and Lo and behold! she was in the store! Well never say die!
I start to struggle with the spare tank which is jammed behind the passenger seat of the truck. Then I have a wrestling match, trying to get the empty one out of the retaining bag. By the time Elizabeth got back I had just about finished the exchange and myself in the process! She let out a gasp when she saw me, realizing that she too had forgot.
Of course I teased her a bit about helping me get a foot into the box! “No” she said, “you already had both feet in the box, I just hauled you out in the nick of time!“ Then we both cracked up! Jeeze! Can I ever win one!?

Wouldn’t you know! When we got home and finally got to try the new stainless steel kettle, the first boil was nice and quiet. The wife grinning all over her face just had to put the hex on it. “Isn’t that so nice and quiet? Of course the next pot we boiled the kettle sounded as loud as a freight train!

Ah well, at least for now it still works.

C'ya

Vampire Day!

Today had us up bright and early, or at least I was. I figured I had to do my usual routine, and if I got back in bed I’d be there forever We had to be out of here early today, wife’s orders! Today is Vampire day; for today we both had to go and get some blood-work done. Normally I would amble into the lab around noon-time. Today however; we have to be early because the wife had to fast for her tests. Mine are just the normal stuff, nip in, needle in, out and skip out!

Elizabeth’s idea was, if we get there just after they open the doors, no one will be there and we will be in and out. Well that sounds good and I can understand her being anxious, because she had to fast and she is already getting hungry! Bottom line is, we get there and we are # 7 & 8 in line, I rest my case!

Did I mention that my wife is really quite squeamish when it comes to needles? Well I tell her; this is my lab that we are at not her old one. Lab people here are on the local dart team and really know how to hit the mark!

Surprisingly the line moved along very quickly and soon, “#7 You’re next!” I moved along not wishing the wife to suffer too soon. Imagine my surprise when I came out, only to find her gone! Apparently more then one technician was working and #8 had already gone in, ~ The wife!

I never heard any hair raising screams so I figured she was either in there or else she had left the scene. Surprise, Surprise! Out came Elizabeth all smiles, telling me I was right, they did do a good number for her. Big sigh of relief on my part! I have been known to bend the truth a little before, especially if it means easing her fears. Vampires 2 Good Guys 2 ~ What a good start to the day. ~

C’ya

Lazy Weekend

After being under the weather for so long, it makes a nice change to just sit back and take it easy for a day or two. Yesterday we decided to go out to the stores for a short while. For a change it was the wife’s leg that was in question and not me. Things went well for her and she went around with a smile on her face because of it.

Last weekend the superintendent here, recharged the water softener unit for the building with salt. Of course we were unaware of this; that is until I went to rinse my mouth out after doing my medications. Talk about gag! I felt like I had swallowed an ocean, sadly it remained like that all week. I was talking with the super on Friday and mentioned it to him. It surprised me to hear that nobody else had told him of this fiasco, which prompted him to say “ I suspected the unit was going and now that confirms it!” I grimaced “It is seventeen years old you know!”

Yesterday while we were shopping we picked up 3x 24 bottles of spring water. We were running low and because of the salt-water incident I am now using bottled water to rinse my mouth besides, it was on sale at a good price.

This morning we were just sat there having a lazy time of it, me on the computer drinking my tea and Elizabeth over doing stuff after getting out of the shower. Suddenly ‘The patented squeal” “Look, Look, look at the feeder! I wondered what the hell I was supposed to be looking at! I got out of my seat and took a peek. Well I’ll be! ~ I couldn’t believe it and we both said “what the heck is that!?” What we saw was a bird that neither of us had seen around here before, and the wife not ever.
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A remarkable thing was though; earlier today we thought we had heard a different bird singing. But then it sort of changed to a different sound almost like that of a running shoe squeaking on a hardwood floor, then back to the singing. We couldn’t see anything so we just dismissed the incident at that time.

Because this is not the first time that we have had to scramble to identify a bird, we have links to bird places for that purpose. We both attacked our task and got to it. The end result was that the bird turns out to be a “Rose Breasted Grosbeak” a member of the Cardinal family of birds. Now the Cardinals we have had before, in fact we seem to have two sets of them resident year round now. After checking out the new addition, our area seems to be the breeding ground for the RBG. The only thing that puzzles me is, why have we not seen them here before now? However; we will take what we have and be thankful for that. We consider ourselves very lucky to have the abundant numbers of bird species that we have here most year round. Which kind of makes this a little bit of paradise on a nice lazy weekend.

C’ya

Oh! Calamity! What Have Ye Done Now!

Well that does it!!. I’m going to change my May Day to Calamity Day!

Yes it has been a little like that today! I guess things have been a bit of a carry over with this stinking cold. Turns out it was a Sinus infection flu combo which now after 14 days has traveled to my chest. More antibiotics! Last night I was up all night because of too many trips to the bathroom. I’m thinking now that my doctor hates me! I have pills for this and puffers for that and liquids for the languished, the list goes on.
If it wasn’t so pathetic it could be laughable, my wife laughs all the time.

Between the two of us we have had a nightmare of a couple of weeks. This weekend we actually thought we were making some ground. That was until all hell broke loose here tonight! Elizabeth likes to do her workouts in the evening using bar bells, ankle weights and therabands.
Because we have been ill she had got behind and was trying to make up for lost time. I don’t know what I was doing when I first heard her yell!
Anyway there she was wailing away and holding her leg! “It hurts! My leg hurts! I don’t know what I did but I can’t move!” Well you can imagine how swift I could move because of my COPD and not being able to breathe!
Talk about the odd couple! We have them beat hands down!

I turned in my office chair and wheeled myself over to where she was still wobbling! She looked at me with that pained injured animal look on her face, you know; that look you sometimes see with a poor pooch who had its tail mashed under a Mack truck! I get her sat down, protesting every inch of the way down into a chair. I checked the leg out and saw nothing unusual. ‘You have to try and slowly ease some movement into the leg’ I tell her. “I can’t move” says she letting out another squeal! Meanwhile I am giving her a lecture on overdoing it with the exercises so soon after being sick. I rhymed on about maybe she twisted something and the sciatic nerve is acting up! Time passes and somehow she settles down and starts to feel a bit easier. Meantime I am gasping after the unexpected exertion, and trying to get my breath back, so I take off to the bathroom and just sit there.

You have to laugh sometimes for it is so easy to forget that at all times, I have this fifty foot line hanging from my face delivering oxygen. Wherever I go it goes with me, sometimes I feel like a rejected ant eater!
So! I am sat on the throne resting and Elizabeth is sitting on her office chair. You know the kind, the ones with wheels on it, this way at least the wife could be a little mobile.

Suddenly, knock. Knock. We both look up at the same time! Oh my God! I can’t move, I cannot breathe. Elizabeth is there in her night-dress! Guess who is going to answer the door! “Just a minute” the wife yells out, I never saw that chair move so fast in my life! She reaches into the bedroom and grabs my housecoat! “Coming!” She makes it to the door and then, “Oh my goodness Eric’s in the bathroom, please come in Janet” the wife pushes the bathroom door closed as she wheels by, knocking some oxygen bottle’s over that were sat by the wall.

Janet sits on the futon Elizabeth maneuver’s her chair and I make an entrance from the hallway. I think Janet arriving brought a brief semblance of sanity to the house.

At least Janet must think we are not too crazy around here, for she still visits! After Janet left bedlam returns once more, as in turning I ran over Elizabeth’s foot with my chair wheels! I think I acquired a new name? Yelp!!

But my goodness what will tomorrow bring! ~ ! ~ We have to go out, guess who is doing the driving! ~


C’ya