Fighting the Battle!

Just got back from worship service. I know I don't usually talk about my faith on my blog but today I am going to touch on a few things I think and believe. The Pastor's talk was all about which battles to choose and who chooses them. She pointed out that our battles belong to the Lord and all of them needed God's strategy. (Joshua - chapters 5 and 6 )

Well my discovery for today is this: Most of my battles are the kind that I have to let go of now. I cannot keep digging them up and dusting them off. That is like saying to the God of my understanding; "Father, you didn't do a good enough job in fighting for me in the first place!" Every day in every way it is becoming more and more clear that there is a God and I am not Him. I must recognize that He did do a great job from the start. He could not have helped it. He is omnipotent and therefore perfect in everything He does. All that I can or should do is follow His guidance and all the good results in my life; are ultimately to His glory.


Life is not boring. It is up to us to be enthusiastic and make the most of the day! The God of my understanding wants me to be Joyful and in the moment!

Okay having said that, with His help, I have resolved to be less timid when I want to do something, curious enough to explore, a little more aware of all the talents that He has given me, and be Joyful in living life!

Thankful But In Pain.

First Canadian Thanksgiving I have had in a decade. Friday passed without a hitch, thank goodness. Saturday passed quite uneventfully until my niece and sister picked me up around 5:30 pm to go out for dinner and to the Observatory. We had a lovely dinner at Swiss Chalet. But it was quite exorbitant considering the food was the same as in the 90's and the noise factor was far too loud for comfort. We finally arrived at the Observatory around 8:30 pm. It took us another 10 minutes to get from where we parked to the Observatory entrance. When we got to the door the guide told us we had to go to another building to get tickets. While my niece went to get the tickets, my sister and I waited on the lawn for her.

When she returned she told us that it was not accessable to those who had disabilities. So my sister and I couldn't go but we encouraged my niece to go ahead. We waited about half and hour and she came back and said that it was going to be another hour till she would get in there to look through the telescope. She decided to go for a refund; which the girls in the other building gave her. Needless to say we were all glad to get back to the car. My niece had a hard time turning around on a undersized "2 lane dirt road". We finally made our way out of there.

The thing is this. When my niece went to the site for this Observatory which houses one of the largest telescopes; if not the largest, in North America she was sort of disappointed. The design of the site is very poor and the information limited. If some American concern was trying to tell people about the site, you can be sure that it would have fireworks on a video and they would be bragging about their telescope like crazy. Now, there is nothing wrong with that is there? So how come we Canadians are so overtly modest about the neat things we have in our country????

Okay, yesterday morning my housemate upstairs went to hospital from church as she was in pain with a digestive condition. I often watch the television upstairs but her dog wanted out so I put her on her outdoor leash. It came time to bring her in after night had fallen naturally. Yours truly took a header onto the cement steps after tripping on the dog's leash and a hose that had been left in the same vicinity. I think I strained my all ready arthritic legs and my left arm so that will take awhile to heal. However I scraped my face up a bit and that isn't comfortable either. What I dislike about it, is people notice and then ask me what happened. If I hadn't scraped up my face there wouldn't be any questions. However, one of the gentleman downstairs helped me out by giving me first aid which I though very gallant.

Today I went with my friend for breakfast and spent the rest of the day around home but away from the front steps. I used the side door as an extra safety measure.




Again, Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Three Thoughts

I have three thoughts to cover today aside from this one. I am missing my kitties; Morin and Teddybear. Now for my three cogitations, here goes!



I feel as though the time has come to just go ahead and forget what has gone before June of 2011. I won't forget the lovely memories I have made. However; I will strive to forget all the negative people, things, and the nightmare that was part of my experience at the end on Long Island. There is nothing to be gained in their remembrance. I am working everyday to make my space a positive environment for Dylan and myself. It is important to feel comfortable where we live. So I am trying to decorate it so it feels like our own home. I do need a dresser, a bookshelf and a display case or cabinet; so I am on the look out for somethings that will do the job.

On to the second thought. I really enjoy the net but sometimes one can chat too much and the real world suffers. I do know some people that have absolutely ignored important messages I have sent them. I believe we have to keep the real world and the virtual world in perspective. It is very important to do this, just so one doesn't read too much into what people say on a chat, message system or phone. Beware also of scam artists trying to rip off your identity; whether they are people you think you may know or not. Report any bogus banks and financial institutions you get in your email as well. Having said that I have a lot of good honest old friends online and enjoy chatting with them often.




The last and third thought is about the winter 'garden' I propose to grow. I want to put up a shelf on my insulated basement window so I can grow some simple pots of Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Cherry Tomatoes and some sort of greens. I need salads and zing in my diet. I may even want to grow some chickweed. I am also looking for any articles on 'spelt'. One of my dearest relatives has told me that baking with 'spelt' and substituting it for bread would do a great deal of good for my health. If anyone has done this please leave a comment and website source with it.

Well that is all for this posting. See you again in October.


Note: The young baker was supplied with oven mitts so he would not burn his paws.

Brunch!

This past weekend brought all kinds of surprises!

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.

Pleasant Visit

I am lucky enough to have some lovely relatives left on this old earth. I spent a wonderful afternoon this past week with my niece and sister. Let me tell you, the latter lady makes a mean macaroni salad (hmmm...try to say that real fast a number of times in a row). We had amazing banana bread with coffee when I arrived and then had lunch around 1pm. They have a lovely garden and my niece maintains it very well. It was quite mild so we ate in the garden. As usual my sister and I reminisced together over incidents that happened long ago. Here I am, to the right, in their garden; with Dylan, my Pomeranian.

Midweek the three of us visited Richmond Hill Public Library. Now there is an impressive building. I went up the elevator to the upper floors and looked out the windows. No word of a lie - I could see downtown Toronto. I was shocked to see a little kiosk on the main floor just inside the turnstiles. They sold coffee, tea and pastries. I guess its all part of the libraries attempt at trying to win back customers from the internet coffee bars and the internet in general.

Don't get me wrong. I love my P.C. I love posting on my blogs, working on my writing projects, and maintaining all my websites. But; I hope the day never comes when we don't read books, research in the library, and appreciate the written word printed on actual pages. Here is something really important to remember. If you drop a Kindle, while in the tub it's 'kindling'; but if you drop in a paperback then it will usually dry out.

Note: Got driven to the Ontario Service building to deal with health insurance. I won't be able to use OHIP until the month of December! Oh well just keep me in your prayers so I won't have accidents or get sick until after January.
*My sister is coming to visit people here in North America...sure will be nice to have her visit me before she goes back to Australia! *

New Perspective

I, Dear Readers, have decided not to rail on anymore about my problems. I have made a decision to only write and try to think about what happens in my life that is positive for at least the next 2 or 3 months. So if there are not many posts in that time you will understand. I don't have anything to write about! Honestly though; I believe that should make my perspective sunnier. I know that I can't go into winter with this frame of mind or it just may turn into a very long, cold, depressing time.

So, in this happier frame of mind; I tell you that my friend in New York has said she has sent some more boxes of my possessions. My little dog Dylan continually is a source of fun and joy to me. I have a few new friends here along with the couple I have known for more years than any of us care to admit. I often have very intriguing and interesting conversations with these people and that is what I missed when I have been alone. I have enjoyed arranging my lovely buttercup yellow (yech) room quite nicely; although there is more to do to make it even more comfortable and homey. That is all good and positive!






I am going to a barbecue with my friend Ardelle on the weekend; which should be fun. We also intend to go to a backyard picnic after the Sunday service. I am enjoying church again every week and going to another kind of meeting semi-regularly. I am getting more work on the net daily. My spirit is getting lighter by the hour since I made my decision. Never know; I just may be dancing a jig soon.

Note: Got my 5th box from New York on Friday; but still waiting on the 4th. Glad to see the 6th box turn up Monday/today! Looking forward to the 7th box with all my cds and dvds that she said she would send. However I am still waiting on the 4th box.