It has been a rather long winter

I have gotten out of the habit of writing in my personl blog everyday.  Not much to say on these long winter days when it is too cold to go out or no reason to go somewhere.

Spring has officially arrived in Canada several days ago, but the weather is still cold enough to wear a winter, coat, hat and scarf plus, of course, boots.

Today I am home because of the flu with all its wonderful manifestations!  I sure hope it is only the 24 hour bug and will disappear soon.  My energy level is really down, nor do I feel hungry.

I have been talking on the phone with friends though which helps to pass the time nicely.  I don't know what I would do without a phone.

On an interesting note, I have been busy working on our family tree and putting pictures with each person on it, when possible.  It is a fascinating study and I have found a branch (through my son with the same name as him) of the family who live in Calgary, Alta.  We are now in contact.

It has taken a considerable amount of time but is fascinating to me.  It is going back to 1820.

Some of the older pictures are so interesting to see and the similarities are very interesting in how the children were named.

It is something to keep my mind occupied and active as well which is a good thing.

Still downsizing and don't seem to be getting anywhere fast! Mostly papers left and basically I need to go through them piece by piece.

I guess I will take a small handfull when I sit and watch t.v. and either file them or shred them.

Some sad news.  My friend Anne passed away two days ago in Toronto.  She was 100 years old but bedridden for about two years.  Her daughter emailed me to let me know.  The funeral is this weekend.  I have been trying to Bernie, Norma's husband, to let him know. Norma has demensia so it might be better for her not to know.

Well, on that note, take care.

It has been awhile since I wrote on my blog

It remains cold here in Canada although we did have a mild spell for a few days which has put several areas under a flood warning.  Several are near here in Hamilton.

I don't have much to say as I haven't been going anywhere much.  Yesterday I went out with a bunch of friends for lunch which was very enjoyable.  We were 7 people in all and then Grace's husband came for coffee as he was there to pick her up.

We had a lovely time and we celebrated our friend Jeff's birthday.  I am most fortunate as Jeff picks me up at my back door and brings me home, again to my back door.

Yesterday was a bit of a busy day for me, as it was my club's annual meeting.  I left in time to get there by 4 p.m.  but I could not get into the wheelchair accessible entrance so had to walk around and buzz the front door. One of the staff answered that bell and I told her I needed to use the side entrance so she went over there.  Miss missed about half of the meeting due to not being able to get in.

I hate being late!  I stayed afterwards and visited with Henry, the musician and then went into the lounge to listen to him play.  My usual group arrived a little later than usual but most of them turned up.  It was nice to see everybody. 

I have not gone regularly as I cannot hear people talking when the musicians play and I hate to ask people to speak up.

Another friend had given me some sleep tea and I took my first tea from it.  It helped a little bit but I had to get up three times during the night so in some ways it was not good.  I find essential oils are helping me sleep better than anything I have tried.

I seem to be catching a chill right now so hopefully it will pass and I will have more energy to do things around here.

Thanks for dropping by.

A summary of some of the wonderful events in Decembe 2017

I am writing this on January 1st, 2018.  We had some excitement in our building this afternoon. the firebells went off, the firemen came in, a man was taken out on a stretcher and the fire people were here for a very long time. The fire was on the 4th floor and I heard it was a frying pan which caught fire.  I could smell the smoke up here on the 9th floor even.  I have a friend on the 4th floor and she was told to keep her door tightly closed and not come out.  I called to make sure she was okay and she was, fortunately.  She is about ten years older than I am.

Let's get back to December's news.  The club event was very nice, but there was only four of us gals. Jeff was sick, Mohamed had a bridge game, Andre is out of town, and Ruby and Joanne were sick.  We had a lovely time though in spite of their being less people.

Part of our group for our Christmas luncheon.

Many of us are missing due to the flu.



The next event was also at the club - a lovely buffet  and I invited my son to come along.  We had a nice time and he was able to help me afterwards with some paper work for the government and he sent it all in via email so hopefully I will get an answer soon.  That was about two weeks ago.

Our lovely Christmas tree at the club

Christmas in the lounge at the club

                                           In the lounge where Henry Strong plays each Wednesday.

Here is a picture of my son Ken at the club.

The little train that runs at Gore Park in downtown Hamilton, Ontario

The Manger scene at Gore Park

The mail box to mail things for Santa Claus

Daniela at our Christmas tree in the building

Part of the lobby decorated for Christmas

Add caption

Daniela

the manger scene at Gore Park

Me in the dining room at the club



If these wonderful events were not enough, my friend Linda treated me to two tickets to the Hamilton Philamonic Orchestra and I invited one friend but he was sick so I invited my friend Dani and we had a lovely time.  The music was wonderful and very festive.

Decemnber has always been a special month to me as my daughter was born in the middle of December.  I remember trudging up the hill to get to the Royal Victoria Hospital so that she could be born.  It was a life changing experience, especially three days later when my body ran into difficulties with hemoraging.  It was then that I walked on the lighted path and had the near death experience which was the best thing that ever happened to me.  It made me a better person, more understanding and more compassionate.  It coloured the rest of my life and I am most greatful to have had this experience.

Now onto other things.  I was supposed to go to visit Andrew and Rahel in Woodstock but I had a really bad bout of vertigo and slammed into my metal front door with my shoulders.  Fortunately, I was able to stop myself from falling by hanging on to the door knob.  It was a very frightening experience as I had no control of my body at all.

Once I coiuld feel well enough to stop clinging to the door knob, I sat for half a hour and did nothing.  I felt week for the rest of the day.

In the meantime, I have had some minor vertigo episodes since then but I am finding that putting a little peppermint oil under my nose and breathing it is, seems to help.

Due to this episode, I could not go plus the little girl was sick with pneumonia and the hospital told her parents to keep her away from anybody who was elderly or very young.

We will have to make it another time.  On Christmas Eve, Mohamed and I went to the early service where there were 350 people in attendance.  At the 7 p.m. service, there were only 30.  Families come from all over to be with their elderly parents and that is why there were so many in the church.  It was a wonderful event. By the time we got out, the snow was really coming down and Mohamed called for a taxi for which I was glad.  I had only brought my cane as we went by taxi as well. 

To round off the wonderful month of December Ken had invited me for Christmas dinner and that was very enjoyable as well.  On the Wednesday, Joanne, one of our group, invited us for lunch and we had such a good time there. Stayed until four p.m.  Asma was supposed to come on the 28th but she was sick so we postponed it.

As you can see, it was a rather busy December but all nice except for the vertigo problem.


Thanks for dropping by and I hope you all will have a very nice New Year.

Houthi militias rule in favor of executing Baha’i detainee

Houthi militias rule in favor of executing Baha’i detainee: Houthi militia in Yemen have sentenced detainee Hammed bin Haidara to death on the backdrop of his

Tuesday the 12th of December

I went to the mall to get a few things at Harts today.  While I was in the mall heading towards the CityCenter, I saw  a man about 35 asking many people for a quarter and not one person helped him. He must have asked at least 10 people.

As I progressed into the City Center, I found out from looking down on the bottom floor that Solomon, the head of security, was escorting this fellow out of the mall.

This man was not harrassing anybody, asking very politely and even when people refused him, he wished them a Merry Christmas but not in a sarcastic tone of voice.

He was not drunk nor disorderly.  People are becoming more and more selfish.  Most people can spare a quarter surely?

Even if they couldn't, would it hurt to be polite to this fellow instead of just ignoring him like he was invisible?

As you can see, I am somewhat upset with the selfish behaviour of some people.

He got ahead of me and I could not catch up with him.  I had enough money with me to buy him a coffee which I intended to do.  It is a very cold day today.  Anybody can be down on their luck, and nobody knows what their future holds.  Could it be one day that they too may need a little help?

Would they like it if they were treated as an invisible person?

I think not!

On that note, I shall sign off for today. Have a good day. Looking forward for our annual luncheon at the Club with our group of friends.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stop Cluttering With Clutterless Recovery Groups

Stop Cluttering With Clutterless Recovery Groups

December seems to be getting very busy.

My friend Jeff's concert was at 11 o'clock on the 3rd of December and Mohamed and I went to hear him and the other singers.  It was very nice.

On the 5th of December, it was our Lutheran Women's regular meeting but with a Christmas theme.  I  was requested to read a poem.  Every member was asked to bring a pair of socks for MacSoc which is a programme run out of St. John's for people in need as well as with physical and mental disabilities.  It has been running for many,many years. Student Nurses are part of the programme as well which is a good experience for them.

On the 8th of December it was our Bibles and Bagels potluck which was held in Hanna's building.  It was just lovely.  Unfortunately I forgot my carmen so there are no pictures at all.

It was a potluck and there was a wide variety of main courses dishes as well as some very yummy desserts.  German baking is wonderful!

Pastor Dani picked me up and also brought me home, which I appreciated. I was going to try and book DARTS but happily for me, she invited me to go with her.

We are such a lovely group and I have known most of them for 14 years ever since I arrived here from Toronto.  I was so fortunate to find them.

I had a little health problem in the late morning and was not sure if I could make it, but I took some meds from the pharmacy and it seemed to work.  Jennifer picked both Jennifer T and I up and drove us out to Stoney Creek which is at least half an hour from downtown.  It is lovely out there but too far if you take the buses.

It was again a potluck  which is always nice.  There was a fair turnout but not everybody was able to come.  I did remember my camera, thanks to my friend Jennifer, who reminded me, so I will post a couple of group pictures here.

As I said, it was not the whole group who was able to come but a fair number of people came out and enjoyed  food, fellowship and the reading of Christmas poetry.

AsI have not been able to write any creative things for the last almost two years I did not bring anything to read.

Some people read from other people's work.

We stayed until about 5 p.m. and then  we made our way home  - thanks to Jennifer F.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope that you will all have a pleasant day and if it is night time when you read this, a good night's sleep!