I thought that I was going to succumb to pneumonia before Thursday night ended. But alas! I was even more miserable with the same flu-like symptoms the next day. My friend and landlady had her hubby drop off a bottle of ginger ale and subsequently she dropped off some Fowlers; aka Dr Fowlers, on Friday and the makings of Lemon Balm Tea on Saturday. By Saturday night; after being looked after through all the symptoms of this illness by my in house friend and the other lady above, I was actually feeling better.
Well the point of all this is I ended up being able to keep my brunch date on Sunday with my family. My second oldest sister, niece, and sister by marriage that live here in my area and I were brunching with my third oldest sister on her yearly trip from her home in Australia. I had not seen
her in person for over 20 years. She looked remarkably young and much the same as I remember her. We do keep in touch but nothing is better than being face-to-face.
All of us went to a restaurant I had not heard of before. It is part of a chain in Canada called Cora's. They only serve breakfast. The establishment serves a lot 
of luscious, fresh, fruit along with the usual bacon and eggs. They open at six in the morning and close at four in the afternoon. Their menu is gargantuan. Everything was absolutely delicious. We all had a lovely time together. I just wish that my visiting sister and I had been able to have more time to ourselves; but time constraints and a busy schedule made that impossible. Perhaps next year will be different now that I live in the same area as everyone else. At any rate, it was lovely to see her.The occasion also gave my dog, Dylan a chance to shine. Unfortunately, I had to go back to my niece's place for a second time. Suffice to say, I had to walk with him over to 'hear the Boxer and the Dandie Dinton bark' after I had already been dropped off after brunch. I'd left my purse in my sister-in-law's car like an addle-brained old aunt. She drove 6 to 10 miles just to return me my handbag. Even though she has a cat, she seemed quite taken with Dylan; when she met him
on her second trip. I was extremely surprised when she drove Dylan and I to the park across from my home in her nearly new Hyundai. My visiting sister stayed home to pack for her plane trip this morning. By the end of the day, I was still full and definitely ready for bed.Unfortunately for the week of September 12th to the 18th the flu came back with a vengeance on Tuesday! So now I have been sick up to this past Saturday. (Sept. 17th) and just feeling better again. Maybe this time I can truly declare - 'This too shall pass!' - with conviction.
Note: Every animal pictured in this article is owned by one of my siblings, my niece, or myself. The Labrador-German Shepherd mix lives in Australia, the Dandie Dinmont Terrier lives with my niece and sister along with her Boxer in this area, as does my sister-in-law and her Bengal Cat, and of course Dylan, my precious Pomeranian.
*By the way the stats ran dogs 4 and cats 1; but I wouldn't worry for the cat folks....Bengals are extremely powerful.