BOW'S HOUSE & SHOPPING WITH SUZIE

On Friday, my brother, Bird, and I went to visit Bow & Yoshiko. Their new house is situated on a residential street in old Longueil, surrounded with mature, beautiful trees. It’s a cozy little two-story place, with plenty of plants and flowers in the back yard, well fenced for privacy, and a swimming pool. A couple of Bow’s friends were there helping him to set things up. It was a nice afternoon with plenty of good natured teasing and laughing; reminiscent of days when my children were all still at home in our big, white house; where there always seemed to be a few friends around to keep things lively. I could tell my son was right in his element. He was grinning from ear to ear! Yoshiko was exhausted, with plenty of unpacking and installing to do yet. My daughter had already been there the day before and, whirlwind that she is, had the kitchen all set up before she left. Once that is done, the rest of the boxes can be emptied slowly, whenever Yo feels inclined, so she relaxed with us, enjoying the day and showing off her new home. We shared pizza and Mexican pie for supper, sitting outside, then Bird and I made our way back up north. After I let him off at his place, I came back to the bush and passed a quiet evening with the doggies. Saturday was already scheduled to spend time with Suzie, and I wanted an early night.

Suzie and I usually go shopping at least one day during our time together, whether we are here or in Detroit. It’s not one of my favourite pastimes, unless we’re in a furniture store, or a place like Stokes. There is, however, a Dollar Plus store in St-Jérôme where we make a regular stop. It’s huge, and things cost more than a dollar, but it has many interesting art objects, cards, household articles, etc. I picked up some wooden jigsaw puzzles to keep Bali amused when he comes to visit M’mère, and a drinking glass with a cover; those made especially for wobbling youngsters. Happily, the grandchildren are coming around to the house more often now, so I need to stock up on things like that again.

In less than two hours we had seen all we wanted to – there was NOTHING in the way of decent clothes anywhere we went – so we decided to have something to eat. We went to Nickels, sat out on the terrace, and I filled my face with giant shrimp Papillion…YUM! Mind you, I smelled like garlic for the rest of the day, but I had nobody to impress, so didn’t really give a damn!

We stopped back at the house to let the doggies go outside and run around some, and I showed Suzie the pictures my daughter had put on Facebook; she had caught our last tequila binge on camera, the little bugger, and we look terrible, but we’re able to laugh at ourselves, and did a lot of that, LOL! I drove her home and we sat and chatted for a good while, and I finally made it back to the bush around 3 AM. It was a lovely warm night, and I sat out on the gallery with the delighted doggies for a little while before going to bed. All in all, a great day, although I didn’t get around to any of the multitude of tasks waiting to be done. What the heck, it was one of my last days off, so I refuse to feel guilty! The work isn’t going anywhere, that’s for sure!

I’m planning to wash my truck this afternoon – it’s long overdue – and whatever else my foot will allow me to do. After all the walking yesterday, it’s swollen and a little painful. I don’t mind lazing. It’ll be back to the office tomorrow morning, and we need to apply all our efforts to keep things going after one of our bigger clients closed down last week, and another on the verge of going the same route shortly. Rock ‘N Roll!

Hope y’all are having a good weekend – loving this summer weather! Sending you a SMILE!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

A SURPRISE VISIT

I love mornings! As a child, I would be out of bed early, certain that a new event would take place that day। Something always did, even if it was limited to discovering a new trail through the bush, learning a new word, opening a book I had never read before, finding a new silhouette in the tree tops and giving it a name (I was an avid �Anne of Green Gables� fan, thus bestowed names on everything on the farm)। Granted, if it was a bad day my outlook was somewhat jaded by bedtime, but the next morning the excitement would start all over again. Fortunately, for the most part, I�ve been able to keep that feeling in spite of the more serious trials and tribulations of adulthood (is that a word?).One never knows how the day will unfold.



Thursday morning was no exception. I was driving to work and listening to the messages that had been left on my cellular phone. There was one from my sister, Judy, who spends her time between her houses in Alberta and New Brunswick, telling me that she would be stopping by that evening on her drive to Ontario. Kool!!

When Judy finally arrived late Thursday evening, it was even kooler! With her were her daughter (I had last seen this girl when she was about 10 years old), her daughter�s new baby, and another 11 year old niece (her mom is my youngest sis) whom I had never met. What a great evening we spent together! I had picked up my brother, Bird, so that he could join us in the mini family reunion. We sat and did catching up, some strolling down memory lane, and a lot of laughing � until 4 AM!! They were up and on their way to Ontario by noon the next day, leaving me with total awe for the baby, Finn, who entered this world only 3 months ago, but is unbelievably alert � and as lovable as they come. I can say the same for both my nieces � and I hope they enjoyed the visit as much as my brother and I did.

Needless to say, I did not go into the city on Friday. After driving Bird home, then touching base by telephone with my office, I lazily strolled through the bush with the doggies, revelling in the lingering warmth of the time spent with such nice people, taking in the sunshine and the sounds of a summer day in the country, admiring the lush green of our many trees and grass, counting the daisies and brown-eyed Susans, picking wild raspberries. It was wonderful! Later in the evening I caught up on my Blogit authors, explored new writers on Blogspot, and sent a joyful �welcome back� to my friend, Kilroy, who has returned from his cruise to Alaska. I ended the day by submersing myself in an excellent book written by Louise Bagshawe (another new author for me) while eating a huge piece of blueberry cheesecake. It was sinfully delicious, worth knowing that I would have to starve myself all the next day to re-adjust my calorie intake, LOL!

I wake up this Saturday morning to gorgeous sunshine! There�s a slight disappointment in not being able to attend the live AC/DC show tonight in Montreal, but it will pass. Everything happens for a reason, so if I don�t get to see my favourite group rock the city, it is because there is something else reserved for me this day. What can it be??
Whatever it is, I�ll be waiting, and smiling in anticipation.

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.