January Musings

 

Well, here we are already at the last day of January.  The month kind of flew by even with the weird weather.  I decided to continue my blogs with more of a once a month kind of thing (unless things get busy for some reason) now that the family history and photos have been shared and saved.  Being retired means that the day to day stuff is pretty quiet.

 I am enjoying many cozy mystery series from my favourite authors.  They are favourite because they are those that I would read the series more than once because they are just so fun with interesting characters that you come to love.  

I enjoy the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle, the Tea Shoppe Mysteries by Laura Childs and her Scrapbooking Mysteries too.  I enjoy the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda James and the Quilting Mysteries by Mary Marks.  The Rachel Prince series is a great read too, but the bargain of 10 books for .99 cents was what caught me first and I was happy to find I really enjoyed them too.  Still waiting on the next Miss Fortune series book to come out, I think it is number 26 by Jana Deleon.  

I saw an ad on Facebook and I normally ignore those but this one was really special and so I ordered it for hubby.  

I ordered it for our 35th wedding anniversary and it came the day before.  I was so excited to see it that I just couldn't wait one more day and gave it to him the day before.  

Don't tell his brothers because I think he is thinking of giving one to each of them for their birthdays.  https://makezbrightgifts.com/ 

Putting in the link if it is something that you might be interested in.  I was very impressed that they made the mug and got it from California to our home in Canada in just a week and a half.  Good service, but they are a bit nuts when it comes to promo emails that can come several times a day if you let them.  

Still dealing with estate stuff, especially probate because you have to wait on everyone else.  Couple other things could be handled quickly but the rest has to sit and wait.  I really can't wait to file the final taxes and close those accounts.  Another fun thing was that they had sent a carbon tax refund to the estate account and then a few weeks later I got a notice to give it back for reasons they say are listed on the back of the notice.  Since it was addressed to the Estate of... I assume it is because she is dead.  So went in a paid that back.  

Tigger is still very interested in watching the birds on the TV and will watch for hours.  

https://www.youtube.com/@RedSquirrelStudios 

Bet dogs would like the squirrels that show up too - LOL

I think we have seen the sun only two days here and it has been very foggy and cloudy with only a few days of snow that melt shortly after it arrives and lots of rain.  More like March weather instead of January but it is what it is.  

And so that was our quiet January.  Hope you had a peaceful one too.

Monday Musings - Quiet and Peaceful

 

Wow, amazing how quiet days just slip by and I realized that I hadn't posted any blog in awhile.  The picture here is what I did with the beautiful Christmas card that hubby gave me.  We normally don't do Christmas cards to each other anymore as, well, we said most things they say and we let it go.  Hubby said he knew we weren't but this one just stood out to him and when he read it, he knew it was everything he wanted to say.  After I read it, I just knew that I couldn't just put it in a drawer after the holidays were over.  So, I got a little frame at the dollar store took off the ribbon and For my wife off the front.  I typed up the words from inside the card and printed it on a Christmas style paper.  I cut out his signature and my name he wrote to add to the finished piece and tucked it all into the frame with a mat around it.  I think it turned out rather well.  

I wrote last week about Tigger watching bird videos that are made for cats to watch and now she has gotten way smart about the whole thing.  This morning I held up the remote and she looked at it and turned around and sat down in front of the TV as I turned it on, then waited while I put on her bird video.  

Last night I was listening to Spotify on the TV and Tigger came out of the other room and sat down looking at the TV and then at me.  She sat there and looked at the TV and then at me until I got the message, I had expected her to get tired of waiting for me to change from the music and go and eat something but she didn't move until it was just the way she wanted.  We have never had a cat like this one ever.  

 I even tried it in the bedroom and there she jumped to the dresser so she could check behind the TV and made sure no bird or chipmunk had gotten behind there when they leave the screen.  Once she was sure she came back onto the bed and watched them.  

Really, really cold today after the snow squalls that we had.  No real amount of snow is on the ground, maybe an inch or so.  It is -13C or 9F here this morning.  Most of our windows are frozen shut.  You know I really am not that fond of being told what the wind chill is.  When we were young they just said what the temperature was and left it at that, being told that it feels colder really is telling me what I already know.  Bundle up it is cold.  Then again, when we were F before C we thought that +9F was pretty good out there, cold but doable, now hearing that it is -13C makes it seem colder in some way.  As a kid we were out playing the snow at -5F/-20C and thinking nothing of it.  Now kids are kept inside.  

 Hubby made supper last night, it was an old staple of his.  Mac and tomato juice.  Yes, now we use the curly kind of mac noodle and a bit more ground beef, small green onions but tomato juice is a must.  Still a favourite of our girls. 

I like ground pepper on mine.  Guess what is for lunch today!  I actually had never had it before hubby made it for me and I was sure that I wouldn't like it but it has truly become a favourite in our home.

So, all in all a pretty quiet winter week with fun cozy mysteries to read and a cat watching TV. 

Happy Monday!

  

 

Saturday Musings - Quick Week

 

For Tigger the saddest day of the year is New Year's Day.  That is the day that I put on the Rose Bowl Parade and hubby and I take down the Christmas decorations.  Tigger tries to block the way, sit close by with a sad look and eventually look into the box like she is saying good-bye.  

I have found two great links for both the Macy's Parade and the Rose Bowl Parade.  The Rose Bowl one after the live feed with no commercials actually cleans it up cuts some extras and the parade is completely on YouTube with no commercials.  You get to see all the floats and all the bands not missing one because they break for sponsors all the time.  The Macy's one is great as it is just a person who does walking videos who has this great spot along the parade route and just stays right there and gets it all.  

I know it is way past both parades but if you would like to check it out here are the two links - 

KTLA5

https://www.youtube.com/live/P-yGuuBi47E?si=OSCT0x_f8IiP6sDz

And Walking Alice (who if you check out her collections has some pretty great walks including Christmas light displays)

https://youtu.be/o_qdtECZGG0?si=zZnKdmMePpc4KLKv

I finished off the Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike.  Lots of great stuff that I would never have known if it hadn't been for this great podcast.  As well, I have started my 4th go round of the Bible in a Year.  I listen to it on Spotify but it can be had on YouTube and other podcast sites as well as Ascension Press has their own app that cover both the Catechism and the Bible.  

Here is a link to the YouTube channel if you are interested in checking it out. 

https://youtu.be/qvROgfajuMY?si=yIb9cMk0po0ZM7wN 

I actually have just fallen in love with the bible and will keep doing the Bible in a Year for as long as I can because I get so much each and every time I have gone through the year.  

So last year I did both and this year I am going to stick with the Bible and probably listen to Fr. Mike's Homilies as well because it is a really great resource.

This week had a bit of shopping and errands to do.  I got a funny combo of letters from the government regarding Mom's passing.  The first was the letter to say that I had been awarded the death benefits and they would come soon as well they said they were sorry for our loss.  The next envelope had Mom's name too but it was to tell me that Mom qualified for Dental services this year.  Complete proof that one department does not have access to all records beyond their department.  It will all clear up when I get her last set of taxes done a little later in the year, good thing there are not elections going on or I would probably get told where she could go and vote - LOL.  

In the evening I put on a music video on the YouTube channel and listen to my studies and this one time the video had lots of birds on it.  As I looked up I saw that Tigger was pretty interested in watching them too.  

 She will sit in front of the TV or on a chair facing it and just watch the birds.  Funny thing is that I did a search and found bird videos just for cats that run for 8 hours.  So now when I am using my headphones I put the birds on for Tigger before we all go to bed.  

Got to video chat with both my sister and my DD the I, one on Thursday and one on Friday.  I know DD the II is swamped with her three boys and hubby so we just send quick texts to keep in touch.  I figure once all boys are in school she and I will be able to sit down for a chat - LOL.  

So, that is the week that flew by which kinda shows how the year may just fly too but I could never start the year without some kind of funny.