This old lady is heading E*A*S*T...

TO the far, far East. At least, that is the plan, s..t...i...l...l.   It will be the furthest east I have ever been in my life, on what may well turn out to be the BIGGEST adventure of my life (other than being a mom and grandmother!).

Well, as you know, the Coronavirus (aka Covid 19) is in the news daily, and although we are NOT traveling to China per se, we will be in the vicinity.  While I am NOT worried, I must admit the steady barrage of depressing news from China, kind of puts a damper on things. How many people have to worry about a possible world wide pandemic when traveling?  As usual, my timing is impeccable, don't you agree? J'entends déjà de mes cousines dire "This could only happen to you cousin!"

This trip has been in the works for almost a year.  When my former Toronto neighbour, and old friend, asked me if I wanted to join her on a trek to Asia, I jumped at the chance. Paying a single supplement to travel really limits your ability to be intrepid, so we are both very fortunate to be able to do this together.  Have other single girlfriends... WILL travel. :)

I shall call her the Princess Traveler, as that is what she calls herself.  She has been to Asia quite a few times, is Canadian, and of Chinese ethnicity.  We are NOT going with a tour group, but we did have help planning our itinerary.  If you surmised that she likes to travel well, by her traveling moniker "Princess Traveler", then you HAVE surmised correctly.  Suffice to say, we will NOT be slumming our way through Thailand, Bhutan (I didn't know where that country was either. I had to look it up on a map!) and Vietnam for four weeks, starting March 4th. It shall henceforth be referred to as my Asian Adventure!  More details on that subject will follow in my blogs.

For those of you who enjoy reading my travel blogs, and have told me that they travel with me from the comfort of their home...all I can say is HOP ON for the ride then!  I will try to blog as often as the availability of technology will allow.  I will also attempt to post a map of where we will be traveling.  I am not too savvy with technology though, so that may not happen. 

As I inquired about top-up medical insurance recently, the agent with whom I chatted, wished me a good vacation in Florida. Funny eh? She assumed that I was a snowbird.  No, not me! Not yet!!  Nor am I a 3G RETIREE - Golf, Gardening and Grandchildren.  I golf now and then, do NOT garden any more than I absolutely have to, and while I adore my one and only granddaughter, I am living my life right now, as I want to live it; that involves traveling the world as much as time, my health and my bank account will permit.  YOLO!!!! 

Our final destination in Bhutan, will be this monastery, in the Himalayas, called

TIGER'S NEST. Sharp eh?

  

LOVE...L'AMOUR... EL AMOR...

So now that the CRASS COMMERCIALISM of Valentine's Day is over once again, how was it for you?  Were you left feeling alone, unloved, neglected?  Unfortunately, I think that many do feel that way when February 14th rolls around.

I know couples who choose their own LOVE DAY, and celebrate their union that day.  I think that is a great idea! However, love 💗is NOT just about loving💕our partner, our children, our families, our friends and our pets, and showing that love even moreso on that day.  WHOM we love makes us happy, but doing the things we LOVE 💓 can make us happy as well.

Here is my 💖 list: too long I know, but you get the idea?  What's on your love list?

The town plow not leaving a mess at the bottom of my driveway.

A warmed up plate of good leftovers, after a busy work day.

Peace and quiet on a Sunday morning, with my Spanish list playing on my Spotify, while I savour a cup of java.

A quick eight kilometre bike ride around the basin, where you can glimpse water almost everywhere.

A phone call from an old friend, my son or my daughter, just to see how I am doing.

An invitation out to supper, or lunch or breakfast (not so much breakfast though, as I like to sleep in if I can!)

A visit from a friend for the weekend.

A really awesome book I can sink my teeth into on a cold, Friday night.

A big cup of hot chocolate and marshmellows after a hike (with the odd shot of Bailey's thrown in!)

HUGS, HUGS, AND MORE HUGS! 

Anyone smiling at me! 

Shared laughter!

A FaceTime chat with my daughter and granddaughter.

The small water view from my balcony.

A hike with Vimy through my Enchanted Forest, or Daly Point Nature Reserve, or The Mi'gMiq trail, in all seasons.

Travel outside my province, and my country.  

A card in a the mail, or even better, a handwritten letter.

The CBC - Listen, Gem, and Music plus Michael Enright on Sunday morning.

So cheers to those we love, and cheers to what we 💓💓💓 having, doing, giving and receiving. 

Rants are good for what ails you... S*O*M*E*T*I*M*E*S

I have been so busy ranting about this and that lately, that I haven't had time to blog. Whether it was about rising medical insurance rates, or the town plow filling my driveway, I seem to be on a complaining kick these days. Seeing as we are surrounded by nothing but negativity, it is easy to see how negativity begets MORE negativity. 

Recently, I started thinking about ALL the misadventures that I have had, that I haven't blogged about... and there have been some doozies.  I never blogged about my neighbour going ballistic and blaming me for her broken window pane, which I did NOT break.  Nor did I blog about a guy I dated, only to found out he had just gotten out of a rather nasty place!   Nor did I blog about the police calling me because the owner of the Husky who tried to kill Vimy a year ago, was upset with me.  I had told his neighbours, who are dog owners, that HIS dog was DANGEROUS. Monsieur did NOT like that. He has his NERVE, and all I can say about the police, is that it must have been a slow day at work that day? Nor did I blog about the time I lost my dental appliance, spent a week turning my house upside down, only to accept that it probably ended up hooked on an article of clothing in a bag of clothing I donated to the SPCA for a fundraiser.  That misadventure cost me $1200 big ones!!  I could go on and on... but I can't remember all the more upsetting misadventures. 

I did not blog about the New York City marketing firm that contacted me, wanting to use my review of Vimy's harness, as PR on their website, to help build their client's brand.  Vimy was wearing that PUG harness when the Husky viciously attacked him.  I am convinced that harness saved his life. Mind you, this is a positive outcome, albeit from a negative incident. Plus I received another wonderful PUG harness, FREE! 

It all goes to show that IF I don't think about the really negative misadventures that I have had, they fade away.  When I do think back, I realize that most of the details have faded as well, which is a good thing.  Plus, you LEARN from adversity.  However, when I remember positive misadventures, I can go back, reread my blogs, and smile every time. Smile... and the whole world smiles with you, right?  

There is BURIED treasure to be found....

in my Enchanted Forest.  I know, because I found ONE!  I went hiking with a friend, one late November day.  I introduce as many people as possible to this magical place, and she had never been.  We had had a bad wind and snowstorm earlier in the week. There at the end of the trail where the gazebo looks out on Peter's River, we came upon a huge fallen tree... TWO fallen trees actually.  The kind owner of this beautiful acreage that he shares with the general public, had put up an orange cone, by way of warning.

As we hiked on by we looked back, and both noticed a green, disk shaped object in the stump of the smaller tree that had also fallen, and lay almost perpendicular to the larger, fallen one. We both remarked upon it, and immediately leaned in to take a closer look.  My hiking companion mused as to whether it was a "geocache", as we opened the container.  Lo and behold, it was!!!

The old Kraft peanut butter jar held all kinds of goodies, i.e. pens, little toys, stickers, just various small objects.  There were even peanuts. Well, we weren't about to eat THEM!  There was also a piece of paper with the information on "geocaching" and the rules, so to speak. One of the rules is that if you take something, you replace it with something else. We decided to add what we had that wasn't perishable, which were Ricolo losanges that my friend had. We didn't take anything out. 

However, what was MOST interesting, and THE real find, was the list of people who had found this geocache.  Believe it or not, the last ones had added their names and date, in July of 2015...almost four and a half years ago!!  We added our names and date, but I have blued them out to protect my friend's privacy. 

I am NOT savvy enough to figure anything out about geocaching. I don't even know how a GPS works, and I can b*a*r*e*l*y navigate Google Maps.  However, this little adventure left me wondering where this jar had been hidden before the tree fell.  Had it been put in a hole in the base of the tree, covered by moss and dirt, and NOT been visible to the human eye, before the tree fell?

Just another one of those unanswered questions in my life.  Like who left those BBQ lighters in my mailbox last fall!  Unless of course, you are a geocacher, and can elucidate me? Do you know any geocachers in the Chaleur area? Share this blog with them. Maybe their name is on the sheet? There is a conundrum in a peanut butter jar, deep in the Enchanted Forest... 

By the way, my Fallopian Tubes Christmas lights are still twinkling merrily and making we smile every morning and evening! 

An accident waiting to happen?

It was January 1st, 2020.  New Year's Eve we were smacked with a blizzard, which dumped a good ten inches of snow on us.  Vimy and I were talking a stroll at dusk, down the busiest road in my neighbourhood, surrounded by a white winter wonderland.  

We walked past a car parked in the far lane.  I stopped right there.  Something wasn't right. I saw that there was no one in it.  It wasn't parked on the side of road, it was smack in the middle of the lane. There was no sign of life in the house directly in front of the vehicle. The driveway hadn't been plowed.  I couldn't see footprints anywhere, indicating someone had gone into that house. The car didn't have its flashers on, nor were there pilons around it, nor was the hood raised.  The absence of any or all of those signals, caused me concern right away. I can understand no flashers, as they don't work if your car has just died and not everyone has pilons in their trunk... but NOT to have raised the hood at least?   Two other things had stopped me in my tracks as well.   The car was white, and it was FACING oncoming traffic.  Who leaves a car parked like that?  Am I the only one who thinks this is very stupid and careless behaviour?

I was going to go look in the vehicle, fearing maybe someone was slumped down out of view?  However, there were cars going by all the time, in both directions.  Cars would slow down when they noticed there was a parked car facing them, in their lane, and they would swerve into the other lane to avoid it.  What would happen when it got dark in a half hour? Maybe they wouldn't see this car in a sea of white, until almost upon it, and then pull out, possibly hitting an oncoming car in the other lane?  I realize that maybe my imagination was a little too vivid, but I couldn't deny this feeling of dread that suddenly overcame me. All these thoughts were racing through my mind, as I stood there, trying to signal to oncoming traffic in both lanes, the presence of that car.  

By now a good ten minutes had gone by and I hadn't seen a soul outside. There was still no sign of the driver of the vehicle so I did what I thought any good citizen should do.  I pulled out my phone and called our local police.  I explained that I thought a very dangerous situation was developping, and was assured an officer would be dispatched.  Well, after a five minute wait, I had to keep walking. I couldn't stay there any longer.  I was a bundle of nerves by then, anxious and wanting to get away, yet worried there would be an accident.  

I walked around the block and when I returned, thankfully, there was a police car with its flashers on, parked in front of the broken down vehicle. Whew! What a relief!  I called out to the officer in the vehicle, who told me the owners were coming to boost their car.  Well thank goodness for THAT!! I wanted to ask him if he was going to give them a lecture about having left their car in such a position of possible peril to other drivers, but then I thought, "Whatever! You can't fix stupid!" (Not the officer, the owners of the vehicle!) 

On my walks with Vimy, I have had a bear gallop towards me, a woman drop to the ground and go into convulsions, a young man repeatedly stalk and harrass a young woman walking ahead of me. I am only mentionning some of what I have witnessed on this same street.  I didn't always have my cell phone with me. Now I am prepared! I was a Girl Guide after all. :)  I ALWAYS carry my cell phone with me now.  You never know when having it could save a l*i*f*e!!

Hey, how are YOU getting through winter?

I find that such a negative question. I don't like it AT ALL. Yet, that was the question put to CBC radio listeners out in the streets of one of our southern cities recently.  Saint John maybe?  However, the same question was put in a very different and definitely MORE positive way,and was asked of people out-and-about on the streets of another NB city. Moncton, I think.   That question?  "How do you ENJOY winter?" Now THAT question is worth answering!

What do I DO to enjoy our long winters? WELL, the list is endless.  

First of all, If I can get out, I go outdoors as often as I can, to walk, snowshoe, toboggan or even shovel... every single day, more than once!  If I didn't have Vimy, I would add skating and cross country skiing to my activities. However, trying a "fat bike" is on my bucket list.  I go to yoga on those blistery cold days, attending a "hot" class.  Let me tell you, you appreciate the coolness when you exit THAT class. 

Winter is a great time to volunteer more.  There is nothing like helping others who are less fortunate, to make you realize how truly blessed you are. 

Some winter time indulgences? Reading that good book you have been meaning to pick up; enjoying a great series on Netflix; listening to podcasts that challenge your mindset; starting a new creative project; doing a thousand piece puzzle by yourself; phoning an old friend or two whom you haven't spoken to in a long time; Marie Kondo "ing" a drawer, closet or room even; baking up a storm and freezing it all, or prepping dinners ahead of time, and freezing them as well; researching your next "warm" travel destination; getting more involved with an issue for which you have a great passion, be it "climate change" or "child poverty" or "whatever" floats your boat.

The possiblities are endless, and winter doesn't last forever. It may just seem like it does. 

Mind you, it's all easy for me to say.  I don't live in Newfoundland, (photo below) where they have had almost eighty centimetres of snow dumped on them.  Nor do I live in Alberta where it has been -50 C for more than a bit!

HEALTH IS WEALTH - LA SANTÉ C'EST LA RICHESSE!

Don't I know that?  Eighteen days, nine boxes of tissues, mountains of mucous, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of Advil Cold and Sinus, and daily Neddy Pots later, I still have not gotten rid of a very bad attack of acute sinusitis.

I DO know that but I don't appreciate my health until I no longer have it.  I am not a good sick person: I tend to be very cranky and impatient.  I don't know how people live with constant pain, chronic illnesses, surgery after surgery, or a life threatening diagnosis.  They are true heroes in my books, because so many do not complain but continue to laugh, smile, and go on with life.  

Me? Add a very bad blister on my heel from snowshoeing with no socks in my boots, to my sinusitis misery and you would think it were the end of the world as I know it.  Kill me or let me kill someone else, kind of thing, to put me out of my misery, thank you!

A visit to the hospital this week to visit someone and pick up someone, reminded me of who the OTHER heroes are when we are sick.  Those heroes are the doctors, nurses, support staff, technicians and all who work in a hospital setting, day in and day out, and keep smiling.  They do not get to see humanity at its best, yet they smile, and give YOU the best care possible. We are indeed blessed to have universal medicare in our wonderful country. 


I believe a person feels more vulnerable when they are sick.  I know I do, because I can't do everything I normally do.  When I am healthy, I just keep enjoying life to the max. However, when I am sick my mindset is different. This past week is the first time I thought it would be SO nice if someone were here to bring me that cup of tea, or tuck me in, since Vimy hasn't learned to do that yet. :)


There is something that does give me a lift though, every morning and every night.  My backyard neighbours still have their Christmas lights up on their tree, bless 'em.  These "Fallopian Tubes" have been my bright spot this January.  Do you have a January bright spot?