Musings on a Small Life

Those of you who have stuck with me for years probably can guess what this post will be about: picking (subconsciously) one of the coldest days of the season to feel like taking my little pocket p&s camera down to the water.  That day was Monday (Feb 19th), our Family Day holiday. (It's called various things, province by province, like "Heritage Day" in Nova Scotia. But here in Ontario, it's "Family Day.")   So I took myself off to Trailhead Place and Lake Ontario Park and thoroughly enjoyed traipsing through the snow, meeting a few people out with their dogs, and just reveling in the glorious sunshine and invigorating air. After our snowstorm of Sunday, it was fabulous to be out!   And while I was warm, bundled as I was in thermal layers, I think I'll wait for Spring to do this again. 😁   Pics are in chronological order. There were SO many geese, as well as a few ducks. Often the water is frozen (at least along the shore if not further out) at this...

It's Sunday morning just before 11 AM as I start to type this and whoo boy, do we have winter! What a contrast from a week ago, when last Saturday was plus 11C and I was cleaning windows, it was so glorious out. We've been having snow and snow squalls since late yesterday and are still in the middle of it, 80 km wind gusts. The big plow came through in the middle of the night, then again around 9 AM. He'll have to come back when this all dies down. However, while we have no progress on Spring's arrival right now, I have made progress on the kitchen.  I took Friday afternoon off work to go to the showroom again, was there for almost two hours. I finally settled on the configuration of the lower cabinets, with lots of help from the planner and the other staff person who was there (office admin/manager, I assume). There's very little space to work with, but in the end, he'll be able to give me a 21" lower drawer unit (the current one is 11"), as well as a...

Happy Friday!     Late Wednesday I received the final kitchen estimate (from the third company), which turned out to be the highest of the three and didn't include everything I will want/need. So I've decided to move move forward with the second company and have called them to get the ball rolling.   Budget does come into play for me, and while I know it will be more than the quote (as it doesn't include everything I want either), there should still be enough leeway to keep it all under my top amount. (Fingers crossed on that, I know how renos go.) The first and third companies were high to begin with and would have pushed me over by a significant amount, especially with any "hiccups" or changes.   I had already been out to the second company's showroom a few weeks ago and had narrowed down countertop and flooring choices, etc. I'll have to go out again and take more time (it was overwhelming!), then see some samples in my space before finalizing choices...

I'm actually posting a few funnies today; woohoo! It's likely because we had two consecutive days of sunshine and clear, blue skies this week, for the first time in months . (Don't we all feel so much better in sunshine than in endless grey gloom?) I'm still waiting for the last kitchen reno estimate to come through, then it will be decision time. So there's nothing to report on yet in that regard! I begrudge the cost, but the work needs to be done, given the state of the kitchen. I wish I could pick up the phone and talk with Mom about it...I know she'd be pleased for me, and it is (was) her money funding it, after all. I hope some part of her Energy/Spirit knows.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by! (And apologies if any are repeats. LOL.)       This is especially fitting, considering our work situation right now.        

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've bothered to post; there's not a lot to write about right now--not that I'm willing to put out in a public forum anyway! As you can see from the two snapshots above, we've had a good wallop of winter weather. First with snow and bitter temps, windchills in the minus 20s Celsius (I know, I know, it's been colder in other more westerly provinces!). Then with rain and freezing rain and more rain. So it's been messy, grey, gloomy, dreary, and dismal, and I'm feeling the effects of almost zero sunshine since what, October? Early November? On the plus side, we're on the right side of the winter Solstice and the daylight is increasing. Thank goodness! I have not been idle, though. I'm now booked for a trip west in early April to visit my dad. His wife will be away at that time, on vacation overseas with her sister. Apparently she had suggested (to Dad) that I come out and keep him company. So I will go for a ...

When it looks like this out, and when it's a difficult day otherwise, you need something to add a bit of cheer to the day! That's my neighbours' second car; they're using my driveway while waiting for a second parking spot to open up. I snapped this on the way to the bus around 11 AM today. The main roads were fine, it was just our complex (which doesn't get plowed as often as it should) and the sidwalks (most were impassable). So when I was in the grocery store, I picked up these, below, to add a bit of brightness to another grey day. I don't think they'll last long, given that they got a blast of cold weather while waiting for a taxi home, but even so, they'll at least brighten the weekend. I hope you find something to brighten your own day.

A smile to end your week, courtesy of my Pinterest feed. Have a wonderful day!