AND TODAY...

I wasn’t wrong about it being a busy week, or maybe it just seemed that way because I was alone at the office. Not that there was a multitude of calls, but anyone doing accounting will tell you that interruptions often cause you to go right back to the beginning once you return to those columns of numbers. It takes a few minutes to find your concentration – then the phone rings again, LOL! In spite of being continuously occupied, at the end of most days I couldn’t put my finger on what, if anything, was actually completed.

My associate has not yet returned, so the future of the companies is still up in the air. He usually does land on his feet in his ventures, and seems confident that this time will be no exception. The numerous and unforeseen delays keep us all on tenterhooks. It is supposed to be resolved by the end of next week, but the deadline has been changed so often now that I’m resigned to just waiting it out – and whatever happens will happen. In the meantime, evenings have been used to gather information we’ll need to acquire and open our home-away-from-homes for seniors. Later this morning I’ll be meeting the real estate agent and a civil engineer at one of the houses we are considering as a purchase. It’s a beautiful, huge, old residence, ideally situated but, because of its age, the basics (plumbing, wiring, well and septic tank, etc.) need to be thoroughly inspected before making an offer.

A little note about the young real estate agent. When he first showed us the place, we discovered that there are two elderly men who are still living there. Because the owner’s husband passed away last year, and she herself had a stroke shortly after, the other six seniors had been relocated elsewhere. We were discussing how we could set things up; where to put the elevated gardens (to avoid a lot of bending); the common room, the parking space for visitors, and so on. The agent stood listening, then asked me how much we were planning to charge each resident. When I told him the rate we were thinking of, he looked genuinely worried. With questioning, I learned that the two men still there were paying slightly less. The agent feared that we would make them move away from what has been their home for the past couple of years. His empathy was surprising; these men are strangers to him. Warming to him immediately, we both assured him that things could be worked out; no-one would be forced to move. Needless to say, his attitude won our respect. It was one of those unexpected bright spots in our day.

And another bright spot for this day – later this afternoon I’ll be babysitting two of my grandsons. The youngest will be going to the family supper with the parents, because mommy is breast-feeding (Nope! Granny can’t do much there!), but I’ll get to play with Nalou and Bali for a few hours. I imagine I’ll have a lot to talk about tomorrow!

I’m going out to watch the sunrise now. The doggies are standing in the window giving me the ‘What’s taking you so long?’ look.

Hoping you have a good weekend, full of interesting moments and many SMILES!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

INTERNET & STINKY DAYS

Hey, hey – this is so cool! I’m a whisper, just a whisper, from high speed internet now that my computer dude made his visit and installed the antenna! I can list what is good about it:
- Did I say it is just a whisper’s difference from high speed internet?
- I gleefully got to tell the other greedy provider to stick it (that will cost me though; cancellation fee);
- I can work on the office server from home so no commuting necessary on weekends (just a larger briefcase);
- Monthly rate is approximately $80 less!!!! Per month!!!! LOL!

I could add that I left the poor dude alone at home because I needed to get to the city for work. I was kind, and closed the door leading to the rest of the house where the doggies were on guard duty. All he had to do was make his exit from the home office straight outside, without wondering if he would be eyed as a burglar or not. I even called him later to make sure he was out safe and sound. All was well, he told me, then added that he would pass by with his invoice next week. Maybe I should have left that door open….. (Kidding!)

Other than that, the day stunk! So much so that I had to do the extra miles to stop and cuddle my grandsons on the way home. It’s a given that fifteen minutes with them is all it takes – my mood was considerably altered. I’ll complete the procedure now by sinking into the Jacuzzi and letting it do some more magic. If Morpheus shows up on cue, today will soon enough become yesterday, and we all know tomorrow is another day.

Uh-huh. Even I had to SMILE at that lame attempt to be funny. Sweet dreams, folks!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

THE WEEKEND

The Weather Network did it again – two nice bright days for the weekend they predicted. I guess one out of two ain’t bad. Saturday was splendid sunshine, not too warm – beautiful. Sunday was rain, sometimes drumming down, sometimes falling gently – also beautiful. I enjoy sitting out on the gallery watching a storm. I know one is supposed to stay inside, away from windows, etc., but how can you feel the real essence of the weather from inside? The roof ledge kept us dry; I say us because Grump-puppy and the beautiful Louka (her owner told me to get the name right!) were there beside me, each choosing a spot as close to me as possible without actually climbing on my knee. When it started to pour, Bud elected to hide in the garage instead of climbing all the stairs.

My brother, the Bird, and Fran showed up with ribs, already prepared for the BBQ, and a bottle of wine for supper Saturday night. I had made lemon tarts, so we were all set for the complete meal. Bird spent some of his time trying to repair my microwave oven. The plastic part of the door catch broke when I was using it that afternoon. I’ll have to invest in a new one – there is no way to fix it correctly, and it would cost just as much to send it away to a shop.

On Sunday I needed a ‘baby-fix’, so I called, then went to visit my son with his three sons, LOL. Nalou was his quiet, cuddly self; and Bali, ever the live-wire. The energy of that lad is astounding. The baby, Tao, has changed so much in such a short time, as babies tend to do. I took my fill of tickling, and hugs, and kisses before leaving. The glow stayed with me the rest of the day.

My daughter and granddaughter stopped at the house for a short time last evening. Shan left with some of the Salade d’Amour I had prepared during the afternoon. There is a little too much garlic in it; so much that taking some for lunch at the office today might not be a good idea. I’m not sure that the clients would be as tolerant as the doggies are when it comes to garlicky breath.

There was no news from my associate during the weekend. No news is good news? I’m not so sure. Whatever the results, good or bad, we’ll somehow handle it. In the meantime, there’s a list of things to be done for our new project – the residences. One of the houses we visited is quite old and, even if it is ideally situated and extremely beautiful (if you’re into older buildings), I’ve contacted an inspector to go over it. I’m not sure the wiring and plumbing is up to par, and any renovation expense of that type will have to be deducted from the purchase amount. Due to vacation and lay-offs, I’ll be alone at the office this week, so it’s going to be a juggling act to keep things on schedule. I have a feeling the doggies will be spending many hours alone for the next few days.

It’s time to get a move on. Enjoy your day, live it with a SMILE!
Everyday may not be good, but there’s something good in every day- Author unknown

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

COMPUTERS & BUSES

My computer dude didn’t show up this morning as planned. I waited around, tried to reach his cell phone but, when he didn’t answer, and knowing how dependable mobiles are in this area (NOT!), thought maybe the call didn’t get through. Finally I had to head for work. I was going to leave the door open for him, then worried about his reception by the dogs with me being absent, so left a note taped on the entrance instead. He did call me a couple of hours later at the office. He had forgotten to warn me the night before that he wouldn’t be able to do the installation today. It will be done Tuesday instead, which actually suits me fine. This month’s high fee has just been debited to my bank account, so I’ll get at least some mileage out of it. Another good spin-off about his not showing up? Because I was up so early (3:30 AM), I decided to finish cleaning my home office while waiting on his arrival. It’s all done now except for tidying the bookshelves. Poor guy would have wondered if he was in the wrong house, LOL!

It will be an early night. Helen is leaving tomorrow morning to visit her daughter in NB; she’ll be taking the bus from Central Station in Montreal…and it leaves at 6 AM. The travel info warns passengers to arrive an hour before departure because, if the coach is full, they’ll have to take the next one…at 10:20 PM!! I go to the city every morning anyway so, to avoid that her elderly husband need get up in the middle of the night, I’ll drop her off at the terminal. We’ll be leaving about 4 AM; I’m usually wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at that time anyway. I’m very happy about her seeing her daughter right now. She has lost approximately 40 pounds in the last month and she’s not dieting – not good – and I know once she gets there she will be lovingly forced to see a doctor. She won’t listen to me.

All day I’ve had a craving for a Salade d’Amour; Salad of Love in English. Anyone tasted it? (Besides Kilroy – he was there the first time I ate it). It is made of spinach and bean sprouts and cashews and lots of other good stuff, with soya vinaigrette to die for. I need to get dog food on the way home tomorrow night, and will pick up the ingredients at the same time. If I have no visitors to share it, I’ll probably be still eating the left-overs most of next week. That should cure my craving, LOL!

It’s that time. My Jacuzzi is ready now, so off I go in search of Morpheus. Sweet dreams, people! I’ll check back in tomorrow.

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

INTERNET CHANGE

My, there are some beautiful houses in this area. Unfortunately, for what we want to do, each place we visited would require added construction which, in turn, increases the cost involved. Because one from our trio is on vacation next week, we have delayed visiting the next two residences on the list until her return.

The lack of sleep the night before caught up to me on the drive home. I found myself nodding off while on the auto route, so I called my daughter and told her to chat to me for a bit. It’s difficult, and dangerous, to pull over there, especially with so much roadwork going on. When I finally got on the 50, where there is more room, I did stop the truck and got out to walk around for a few minutes. It had become a necessity. That worked – and I made it home safely. I put the doggies outside, changed into PJ’s then went to get some air on the gallery….and fell to sleep on my swing. I woke to a face-wash from wet tongues of three hungry canines looking for supper, LOL! Needless to say, feeding the dogs is about all I accomplished before the Jacuzzi and bed beckoned. I vaguely heard the numerous resident hounds barking now and then throughout the night – something was wandering around in the bush outside – but still enjoyed my snooze until 3:30 AM. The lady is feeling much better now!

My computer dude is to come here early this morning and change my internet system. The monthly cost of my Hughes.net satellite is very high, but was valid because I could log onto my office computer from home, saving time and gas money. For some reason, probably because Hughes sold more air-time in this area, I can no longer reach the office. When we called the provider, I was told that such a service was not guaranteed; in other words, too bad, so sad. My technician was able to find a buyer for my system, and will install another (from Rogers, I think) that answers my needs. At the same time, the new antenna will also enable cellular phones and the alarm system to function up here in the mountains. I will have to pay a cancellation fee to Hughes (of course!) but will save money in the long run, because the monthly fee of the new installation is at least $100 lower. What is even more important is that it WILL provide what I am paying for!!

Seeing that there was not much done in this house last night, I’ll sign off now and attempt to catch up on the duties. Hope you all have a good day, and that at least one thing will happen to bring on your SMILE. I’m already wearing mine!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

A NEW VENTURE

It’s 3:15 AM, and here I am blogging. Not a personal choice – I’d rather be sleeping, which is what I did from 10 PM to just after midnight then – boing! Eyes wide open, brain in gear, and Morpheus out of sight. I’ve decided to stop fighting my insomnia. The effort only leads to frustration. When I find I’m getting too tired to function, I resort to Pure Rest, a natural product, but not one that I want to take every night. It’s for emergency only. I have come to realize that I NEVER was able to sleep what is considered ‘normal’ hours, even as a child, so there has to be a reason for it. It doesn’t appear that it will change anytime soon either, so I’ll go with the flow. Fortunately, most of the time I can get away with it. There is no punch clock at the office. A lot of the work I do can be done at any hour of the day. Yep, I’m one of the lucky ones, and I appreciate it!

One of my colleagues, also a very good friend, spent the last two nights as a guest at my home. We, together with a retired nurse, have been visiting huge houses in my mountain area. It’s with a new venture in mind; that of creating a few (4 minimum), small, exclusive, rest homes for the elderly. We want ‘home away from home’ services; nothing that resembles the institutional atmosphere of affordable places. Not everyone has the means to stay in the now popular ‘Club-Med’ complexes. Our initial research tells us that there is a lack of residences available for those between near destitute and affluent; catering to the middle-class would be a good description. Probably because of our ages (all 50+), we have empathy for those who need to leave their home because they are no longer physically able to keep it up, but are not able to live alone or with family for one reason or another, yet still want to have some control in their lives. If they desire a cup of tea in the middle of the night, they want to be able to get up and make one without a hassle. It’s a project in the works, and has got my adrenaline going. It is also a tentative bid for security when my own time for help arrives, LOL!

Well now, my Bud is lying at my feet and his snores have convinced Morpheus to show himself again. I’ll grab the occasion and go back to bed. Sending you all a big SMILE and a wish for sweet dreams!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

THAT WORD "CAN'T"

My grandmother had a saying for everything, and one of her favourites (at least, one I heard often) was “Can’t is a sluggard too lazy to work”. Telling her “I can’t…” was, in her mind, an excuse, or an unwillingness to try. It never worked. Unless we could prove beyond a doubt that whatever we were trying to avoid doing was physically impossible, she would not accept the little word ‘can’t”. Laziness was on the top of her list of vices; right up there with telling lies or taking the Lord’s name in vain. Because of this, we (my brother and I) learned very young that many things we thought were impossible were indeed do-able. Even more important, we realized that one does not shirk a task, whether physical or emotional, because it is unpleasant. One bites the bullet and does one’s best to get it done. It is a lesson that has stood me in good stead more than once.

We had no running water on the farm, therefore there was no need for sewers. The dishes were done in a deep pan, and the water was then carried a little distance into the back field and thrown onto the ground. My brother had mentioned seeing a long, green garter snake in the same area, so I always looked for something else to do, usually with success, when it came time to throw out the dishwater. For some reason, even knowing they were harmless, those slithering reptiles petrified me…they still do.

It was inevitable that my turn to empty the pan would arrive. My whining “I can’t…there’s a snake out there” did me absolutely no good at all! In those days, it was unthinkable for a child to refuse heeding orders. You did what you were told. I picked up the pan and, paying more attention to where I was walking than to the water slopping over the edges, I began to goose-step my way out into the field. Sure enough, I met the snake. In fact, I nearly put my foot right on it. I screamed…and kept screaming. The pan became a missile; it and the water it contained went flying through the air. I imagine the dance I did strongly resembled the Russian Bear Dance, heels kicking high. It lasted for a few seconds before I gathered myself enough to high-tail it out of there back to the kitchen door!

Nobody looked around, or seemed to pay attention to my little drama. My grandmother had seen it all, and there was a suspicion of a smile still on her face when she turned and asked me where the dishpan was. I can remember staring at her, still blubbering from my fright, and realising with dread that, yes…I was going to have to go back out there and retrieve the dishpan. There would be no getting out of it. I waited a few minutes then, holding my breath, mumbling repeatedly my grandma’s assurance that the snake was more frightened of me than me of it, I carefully made my way back into the field. There was no sign of the culprit. I gingerly lifted the pan, then ran as fast as I could; the awful feeling that the snake was right behind me putting wings on my feet.

There was no open praise for my achievement. I did, however, overhear Grandma telling my Grandfather about the episode later that night. I detected a sliver of approval in her tone when she said “…scared as she was, she went out there and brought back the pan!”

Grandpa chuckled. His pride was evident. “That’s our girl!” he answered. I went to bed floating on a cloud. I could do it!

But only if I had to. I still used every excuse in the book to avoid that area of the field. Suddenly a barrel appeared just outside the door. It was to be used to dump the dishwater, my Grandma told us; no use making the field muddier than it was already. I hugged her a little tighter that night on my way to bed.

Events this past weekend renewed these memories. Sorry, but if anyone tells me “I can’t” without giving it his/her best shot, I am inclined to consider it a “cop-out”. There’s no empathy there. Blame it on my upbringing.

Thinking about the snake gives me chills; but thinking about my Grandma, and all her invaluable lessons, makes me SMILE, because she is the one who taught me that I CAN handle nearly anything you throw at me..

Luv from the Bush in Quebec