Musings on a Small Life

  Everyone can guess my one word for 2024: Renovations . I'm glad I survived them, glad they're behind me! My holidays are rapidly winding down, as they always do. I had a lovely lead up to Christmas Day and an unexpectedly enjoyable 25th too. After that, well, I picked up a "bug", guessing the latest COVID variant as transmission rates are very high in our area now, and it's been a yo-yo of feeling crummy versus feeling a bit less crummy. (So far limited to head congestion and some coughing.) Still, I have plans to meet up with a family friend on January 2nd (masked!), unless things take a real down turn. We can (I hope) at least go for a walk in the fresh air and catch up. (I'm probably not contagious by this point anyway.) So to end the year, I'll leave you with a few pics from walks between Dec 21 - 25, plus one fur baby from the bus. Merganser All the geese are hanging around Trailhead Place. Lucky snapshot of the muskrat! Copper, 11 years old and a v...

Whatever the day looks like for you, I hope it's happy and peaceful! Merry Christmas! Comments are off. 

I don't know why there isn't actually a holiday scent called "Frantic", it certainly would be appropriate.  I was out early yesterday morning (Saturday) and again today, and had been expecting bedlam yesterday morning. I found it busy, but not insane. Today, at the same time (I had an Amazon return to drop off at Staples), it was much busier, the scent of "frantic" pervasive, at least in certain stores. I wasn't long out in our west end, where the big box stores and the indoor mall are. I hope none of you is feeling "frantic" (I'm certainly not!) and that you have a calm, relaxing holiday. It's not about the "stuff" anyway, it's about the food. And wine. Let's not forget the wine.  😁  I'll leave you with a couple of pics of the gingerbread house being raffled off at my favourite downtown café. I didn't even realize it was a North Pole outhouse until I got home downloaded the snapshots. I thought it was Santa...

[See my previous post for Christmas/holiday wishes!]   Snapped on Saturday, downtown. The city has a number of holiday events taking place, including Santa down at Market Square behind City Hall, wagon rides, etc.   Katie is on the left, Carl on the right. They're Clydesdale crosses (I asked). The line up for a ride was long. I told the fellow giving the rides that I hoped Katie and Carl were getting extra treats that night, for all their hard work. It's been forty years since I've had horses in my life and even so, being up close with them, especially working horses still has the power to bring me to tears, for the life my heart wanted. It was wonderful to see them and give them a few pats. 😊

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season, whatever and however they celebrate. May 2025 bring good health, safety, love, and Light to All. (Scanned snail mail card that, due to our ongoing postal strike, I'm unable to mail this year.) For those who celebrate Hanukkah, the image below is from Freepik.com . Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and just Happy Holidays in general! 

 (Our "winter" so far. Comments are off.) 

I met this fellow, name of McBain, in HomeSense this morning. He's a three-year old lab mix. He was a VERY good boy, didn't approach me until his human gave him permission. (For which he got a treat, perhaps because I said for being so good he deserved one. 😁) It's always such a joy for me to get a bit of fur therapy when I'm out and about, and our HomeSense certainly seems to be a great spot for it! I hope none of you has to negotiate the holiday shopping crowds, but if you do, pack your patience...and maybe a treat for yourself !

"There's no people like snow [show] people..." (a take-off of Irving Berlin's, "There no business like show business") Kiki over at Brian's Home ~ Forever has a snow family to show you today, and I couldn't resist adding to the theme, as I was passing by this house on my way home before work this morning (coffee run).     As long as I've lived in this area, they've been putting out their snow family.   I've posted pics over the years, but I'd swear this family (families?) breed during the year. They seem to increase in numbers annually!   They line the front of the house and the westerly side.   I know it's kind of cheesy, but I love it and it always puts a smile on my face. I hope it does yours too! 

At our local mall, a new display after so many years of the same old, same old. (It's a bit blurry, I didn't think to use the panorama mode until after the fact.) It was packed on Saturday with parents and their little ones waiting for their turn on Santa's lap, so I popped up early yesterday morning, long before the mall actually opened. I expected it to be quiet, but the food court was already filled with families (8:30 AM, mall opens at 11 AM on Sundays). Fortunately, there was no one around upstairs except the dedicated mall walkers! Also cute: Someone has made a gnome out of cedar boughs. I don't even like gnomes, to be honest, but I loved this. I admit I'm not feeling it this year, I'm not even into the schmaltzy Hallmark Christmas movies as I usually am. I am into having two weeks off work, though! LOL. I'm counting down the working days!