Happy New Year.

We hope it will continue to bring many more memorable moments. 

We are just glad to be able to manage our little family and hope all of you are finding the positives that come along. God Bless. 

Nostalgia

 This is the 2025 holiday weekend. After years of being able to post colorful pics and share fun stuff it no longer has that feeling of joy and anticipation of happy comments. All has changed. One is due to the age group of my followers ,some who moved on or passed. The other is our new world order.

I no longer feel safe to travel to family scattered in our neighboring country.

Buddy , hubby and I were to see his sister now but no way do we accept any searches on our devises which have our payment options and other personal stuff entered for safe keeping.

We are elderly and Buddy is handicapped so we are too vulnerable.

My first visit to the south came in 1955 when my Dad drove across the border at Niagara. We all had to get visas. On location with our  Refugee passports but it was very quick, so fast that my brothers was stamped into my passport and h mine into his. I still have that document. The crossing was no issue. Nor were those that followed even up to April 2024 to cross for a wedding. Never could I imagine that is now gone.

Who knew this holiday would blurr my very weak eyes with emotional tears?

End of 2024

 As this year ends I reflect on all the events that rocked many people globally. The respect for one another in my opinion has shifted and is globally becoming unruly.

How sad that as humans we are not able to get on with a more global caring nature. Why must power and greed be such an unkind force?

As the new year approaches I wonder if my old age has me  in a place where my own ancestors were when all the change made them utter words like mine? 

Do we just keep repeating history and fail too learn peaceful ways for all?

At our home all seems well and we wish you a safe and happy new year.

Changes

 Time has gone by and the world has really changed since I began posting. My own world has put me through a lot but I am grateful for all that I was able to experience. Here’s hoping you are well as I enjoy trying to keep up. Buddy says hi and is now on Snapchat.  LOL.

I’m back

 I have not posted in a long time as on Nov. 15,2022 .a routine gall bladder op went very wrong. I spent months in the hospital as well as home with an open belly wound and in June 2023 had a final 4.5 hour op to close things up but needed to remain on a vac machine till Aug. 2023. September the wound closed completely and I got better over time. 

Today I am pain free and able to do my usual activities once again. Only my eyesight is even weaker than before. But readers out there I am still with you when I can. Hubby and Buddy also are doing fine. Sadly I cannot post photos since I use I devices and google seems to restrict my wishes to post my pics easily as it once did.Thanks for your years of support here.

Time

As I review this blog I see a year has almost past.Time sure goes fast as we age. Buddy continues to be more than we could ever have imagined. He is approaching 50 and has shown a deeper thoughtful side more now. He has a true comprehension  of the world events and climate change and how the pandemic has affected our way of life the past two years. In April we are going to attempt resuming  travel by taking him to his favourite warm place in the Caribbean. Let us hope by then a short trip will be safe enough.Time will tell.

 

INTERNATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME DAY

 Buddy has an extra 21st  chromosome giving him 47 and thus the syndrome. One in 700 births has now got that triple and it gives individuals a variety of unique features. Buddy is lucky as his were not too debilitating. His main concern was heart issues so he has had two open heart ops. Most of his body features are normal. He is tall,average weight for his height and has reasonable cognitive skills that make speech, reading and writing possible but math requires a calculator. He is now a wonderful adult in his late 40’s. 

Today one is to wear odd socks to symbolize uniqueness and we are.sorry I cannot share photos from my device due to Google’s changes as I am posting from my iPad.

Down syndrome folks are 10 X more vulnerable to death by COVID-19 and variants. I pray all get their shots to make our world safer. Recall we got rid of smallpox when it had a vaccine and it was in my lifetime. Let’s get rid of Covid too. Buddy and I thank you for sharing and caring and send you happy spring wishes. Stay safe.

Holiday Wishes

Today I am attempting to post our Christmas and seasonal blog. It is a challenge using my old laptop but iPad is not great since Google changed all again.

We used to have a daughter dance in the Nutcracker. We also went to the Canadian Ballet when Karen Kain was a top ballerina. It is via video this year as Covid has changed all even Christmas events and shopping online.
 

This is the only photo I could post.  P(Font change and would not let me fix it ugh)

Here's wishing you all a happy winter as it arrives tomorrow/

Follow that by a Merry Christmas and let us hope for a happy 2021. 

The year 2020 was truly a challenge as the globe tried hard to save lives due to  Covid19. Sadly the world had many other challenging events happen. Internet became a must have in many new ways. ,yet it did not make me happier as it remains visually tough.

MERRY CHRISTMAS  HAPPY HOLIDAYS  HAPPY NEW YEAR

Buddy send his love too.

Travel Restrictions Near and Far

Here we were at Peggy’s Cove and Halifax by the waterfront.

Covid has curbed how we use our retirement travels and family visits in a very big way.in Early September 2017  daughters and I were in Hannover as our aunt was passing away. She made it to 96 and was not sad to move on.

We miss the freedom to travel freely. Photos above ; our Halifax trip from 2017 when we attended a conference on the east coast of Nova Scotia. It was lovely warm late September weather and we enjoyed marine museums, pubs and coastal trips. We flew there and back. Next we had a trip to Vancouver in November that same year. It was also a conference. We got to enjoy some sites on the west coast  though it was rainy the whole time. We loved some pre Christmas shopping at small boutique shops and a city tour. So that year we managed to see Canada’s east and west coast.
We flew several times to Germany and UK to be with family during 2018 and 2019. We had a family trip booked for March 2020 but that was not to be. Oh how we miss these travels as our days are limited as we age more rapidly now. Buddy misses all this too.
We happy to be healthy most days and not in any financial stress like so many but we worked so hard for the retirement years it is really a blow to be so restricted.

Sadly this year travel between provinces is only for essentials and of course conferences are all postponed.All the activities that kept us moving like concerts , plays and operas are all not on.
We wonder if in our time it will be possible to safely travel even within our borders again. Some travel is resuming this fall but already COVID cases are up again. It is unsettling.
In our Ontario province there are travel restrictions and many lovely places have social distancing a must if they have reopened. Sadly many places deemed a possible threat are closed and fenced off.

We have a lake we love to visit and as we drive along, our usual places to enjoy are fenced up and police are looking for violators. We saw one young couple on a motor cycle stopped for driving in a cottage area for which they had no invitation nor residence papers..
I carry our papers with me as we own a property in the lake district and this Labour day weekend we are in the area. We are making an effort to enjoy a new way to keep finding purpose and joy by staying between our two houses, one our well appointed regular house , the other one year new property With very basics like air beds and lawn chairs around a small table where we enjoy home made meals and music from our iPhones as we have Wi-Fi and our iPads.We will eventually make this property our last residence. Covid makes down sizing and moving hard so we are just going forward slowly.
I am typing this from my lawn chair by the fireplace as the eve air is now cool. Enya  songs are playing at Buddy’s request. How we cope I guess varies for all of us but sadly all of us are in this together.

I have very poor vision now but still miss blogging so I will once in a while post and try to read your creative posts too.Stay well.

Find Me

   My post ChezKleinsteMotte is not appearing in the feeds but can be reached by going to my profile in the area of years and months I posted. If you have any clue how I can fix this feed issue please let me know. Thanks.

CATS

Chillie Pepper came to live at our house full time almost two years ago. My daughter left her with us as she moved into a small country town for work. She can be very affectionate and drools when petted. She also likes to lo lick my skin if I am not careful. I do not want to be mean but I find her wet stuff scary since she has had her share of parasites. No we do know one cat parasite will transfer to humans and may be located at a brain level where it cab stay forever. Why? Maybe to ensure the human becomes part of the cat world?
I also have Ellie who was left behind over 8 years ago by my daughter who married moved to UK. Ellie is now 14 and is a rescue pet who just comes around for a feed, a brushing or a little petting. She is not into licks.  
 I think I am not a true cat lover  because I do not really enjoy cleaning their litter every other day. That is the what I dislike very much and I feel bad about it.
Are you fond of cats?
Have you seen the movie or the live production? 
Buddy loves both cats and we did manage to see the live show once but years ago. 
He is keen to join me to shop for food and litter and sometimes cat grass. He will feed them but litter is left for me to clean.
  OH OUR CATS are my dilemma.

A Visit

   Please Visit my other blog to get an update.
I shall posts photos here again soon.Been in a bit of a rough patch.

HARBOUR TOUR

   During the nice days of summer we try to get out in our local area. One of our recent trips was go to downtown and theta the lake we opted for an island boat tout that lasts about an hour. It felt good to be out on the water.
   Moving along side the island shores we were struck by how high (3') the water level was. It has caused some serious damage and will continue to be an issue as rains are relentless and powerful. It is sad to see trees and BBQs bobbing in the water that once was parkland. Luckily many docks  along the coast are floating type so those with boats were able to moor them. After the tour we walked along the Queen's Quay boardwalk and again saw how high the water level is. Scary!!
Hope you like our photos.

I love the way the CN Tower appears to be part of a condo. Illusions can be fun. Of course the photo of me above was taken by Buddy who always takes pride in caring and sharing. Hope your August is a good one.