A December Journey

  On December 1st Buddy , hubby and I flew over to UK to meet up with our daughter. I had not been well all summer long so I was a bit worried but my old body decided to allow me this pleasure. we stayed at her tiny cosy home. On December 8th she sent hubby and I on a three day visit to Vienna, a dream come true for us. Buddy stayed with her.
  EasyJet got us there by 11 am and our Best Western Tigra hotel room was ready for us upon arrival. Once our bags were in our room we set off to the town hall Christmas Market right around the corner. We sipped Glühwein and downed a wiener on a bun followed by yummy apple strudel with whipped cream. Next we headed to the Palais  Auersperg for a  Mozart and Schubert concert that was fun. It incorporated some ballet and arias to add to the amusement. 
Not being far from the Market we bought a few goodies and walked back to our room to retire.
  The next day started with the most elaborate buffet breakfast included in our room price that we'd ever experienced!! Everything was fresh and the variety was out of this world. 
  The hotel being in the heart of old city we saw their fabulous old churches and even sat in on a Mass just for the love of it. We took a horse carriage tour on the cobble stone roads and also a cab tour of the city. Walking around the parliament buildings gave me the shivers of pure joy. One of my ancestors was an architect who was involved in it's creation way back in the early 1800's.
  The late afternoon was spent at the Opera House for an early performance of Tosca. We were lucky to get box seats right up front. Hubby was so thrilled. The performance ended at 7 giving us time for a lovely dinner of Schnitzels and little noodles along with a local wine.
   The following morning after another super breakfast we headed on foot to see more of the inner city area, the streets full of shops and more Christmas Markets. All was so delightful and our flight back to UK came too soon that evening.
   On Dec 11th it was time to fly with Buddy to Hannover Germany to see my 94 year old auntie at her residence where we had a small apartment of our own.
Hubby and  Buddy had not visited Germany in many years so we did some touring by cab of the many places of interest . There too were many Christmas markets and we stopped to take in some sights. tea time and supper were spent at the cafe with auntie.
   On Dec 14 we drove to Celle, a very old city with buildings from the 1500's. Buddy and hubby loved it. 
   On Dec 15 we headed back to UK to prepare for our trip home on the 16th. It was a smooth flight but we missed our relatives.
   We have rushed to get ready for today with the tree up and turkey bought. Tonight we shall celebrate the eve as usual.

There are many pics but my laptop was not willing to let me post them. I need to solve that issue but today there's no time.

We wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

PS The link to my other blog under the header will take you to a time in December when our travels led us to Saudi in 2010. It's An Unusual Christmas in 8 parts.

UPS AND DOWNS

    It was a July that brought unusual emotional and physical lows(downs) this summer because my heart was constantly going into a race mode as if my body swung into in a fight mode. Three trips to the ER yielded little except that doctors wished to revisit the past cancer issue thus a colonoscopy and an endoscopy will happen on Tuesday. A cardio work up was also done and the conclusion confirmed that there is an arterial blockage from the aorta to the abdominal area. I have had discomfort around my belly button for a while now and a previous ultrasound gave the same outcome but the docs were not dealing with it except to try to get me on pills for a slight BP elevation and to lower the heart rate due to the episodes of racing. I rejected both. From my past experience with pills I have had a tendency to react to most medicines and it usually causes my heart to race. And since my normal pulse is already 55 to 60 when it isn't racing I figure slowing it down is not really right for me. Docs can make us sicker these days for they do not individualize treatment.They hardly listen when one talks to them and are fast to write a prescription without knowing what's in a pill. I told the cardiologist I react to yellow and red dyes. The pill he prescribed had both. Thanks to the internet I can now protect myself. On a revisit to him I mentioned it and he said these days docs have no time to keep up with stuff like that. So now you have to hope that your pharmacist might help if you don't do it yourself. That is a down side to today's heath care and trust in one's caregivers.
   My BP has never been dangerously high. It was easily lowered to normal with some herbal old remedies people have used for years. It's staying in the normal range. That's an up for me. 
    To deal with the plugged artery thing I have started daily small amounts of pomegranate juice and daily small amounts of D.E. Both claim to help with lowering of cholestrol which appears to be my issue. I find that odd since I eat only tiny amounts of meat less than five times weekly. I love veggies and salads and use very little bread or sweets unless special occasions arise and every July they do.
    The ups of July were our celebrations. July 1st was Canada Day.

Then came my birthday. It was a fun time and we ate some cake.

And that was followed by Buddy's grand day which I spoiled a bit by ending up in the ER just around dinner time. Other friends a family were there to make the rest of his day lots of fun.

His favourite gift was the the night vision goggles and it's easy to see why.

Now we are half way through August and let's hope the downs go away.

CRAFTING

I joined a craft activity at a Senior's centre in June.

I met six awesome ladies who have welcomed me into the group

I was allowed to choose wool and supplies.

I opted to make up my own crochet pattern and got to work.

How glad I am that I finally joined something to take part in.

BEES

   I managed to get up close enough to a pretty blossom in a botanical garden and take some snaps. I was very excited when I could enlarge them and see the bee working away undisturbed by me.

It is so sad tat the bees around the world are struggling to survive.

We have created a hostile environment for them and are failing to really take note that if they die off so will much the life as we know it including our own species because the food change will be terribly altered.

Nature created such a delicate balance of all that's needed for every species to be there to help each other to carry on but we have messed with it.

CHEERS

  On the third of May my younger daughter who had decided I needed a bit of cheering up arrived from UK and did a role reversal. She mothered me by cooking my dinners daily, driving me to eye appointment at the hospital and getting me out to join a Senior's group. I was even joined up for an activity of a fitness nature at the local community centre that she picked for Buddy and me. It was a very cheerful 10 days and it definitely helped to reduce the stress I was feeling about my failing vision. It was the most wonderful Mothers' Day this May too. She brought me so many moments to smile and I loved her smiles.

The weather was warm so we were even able to spend time at friends for a lovely BBQ.

Right after she left I felt a bit lost but luckily this is a month of birthdays in the family and my home became the chosen one for celebrations.

Hubby, older daughter and Buddy are happy to pose for my camera.

My sister is one of the two birthday gals.

Birthdays are always a time for cheers.

Buddy had us cheering. On his right is the other birthday gal.

Hip hip hooray

CHEERS

SELFIES

He hears and sees a lot about using a phone for selfies so while sitting at the beach on April 23 he got the idea that he wanted to take a selfie but he wanted palm tres around himself. It would not work the way he wanted from his lounger so he made a move. in fact he made several.

After some adjusting and repositioning he finally got the pose he was looking for and smiled as he clicked.

And when I saw this final photo on his phone I was impressed. Do you see how well he positioned himself in the forest of different trees to get just the palm he wanted?

Buddy makes me smile and I admire his determination and desire for precision.

PS  We've been twice to Cuba this year to help his skin. The seawater and sunshine seem to help a bit. The April trip was more beneficial than the February one because the sea was calm enough to be in every day.

COLD SNOWY EASTER

After the harsh winter this year it would have been a nicer Easter time had we had a bit of warmth. Instead we created our own family cheer.
It started with a trip to a store where we were surprised by the LINDT bunny and Smart car on Good Friday.

We went indoors and found the Lindt staff had a spinning wheel for a chance to win a bunny so of course we all took turns. I managed to hit a sweet spot and got four minis. Even our Mr. took a turn.

From there we headed to the bigger choco bunnies that were for sale and selected three, one for Buddy, his sister and her partener.

Saturday we went to the dollar store for some reusable Easter stuff and at the grocery store we bought white eggs. In the evening we boiled some eggs and used food colour with a bit of vinegar to make them very beautiful according to Buddy who gave me a "Wow"once we were done.

Then came the finalé as we placed things on our table for Sunday morning.

Easter Sunday we had a lazy morning, took our baths and got ready for the visit of our daughter. It was agreed that all "kids" would have to hunt for a few treats both indoors and out.

Buddy was delighted with his little basket and he loved the addition of the outdoor hunt even those it was cool. Outdoor eggs were plastic stuffed with a bill of eithe $5,$10,$20 and each person was limited to finding a quota of two. Buddy got the bonus seventh egg of chocolate.

Our after noon was spent watching EXODUS and stepping into the kitchen now and then to prepare the dinner. We were blessef with a potato leek soup created by daughter, brown rice, asparagus and brussels sprouts done by me and breaded chicken breast prepared on the stove top by hubby. Around noon I had baked a plain low sugar,low fat cake to serve with strawberries and pineapple bits served with low fat whipped cream. All was delicious.

It was a cosy time together and for that I am thankful.

I do feel bad that I spend less time posting and commenting as days role by. Sadly at this time both Buddy and I are having flare ups with our health issues. I suspect stress is a huge factor. I shall post more about that on my other blog post soon.

But we do think of you for sure!!!

We hope you are well and had a nice time too.

GREENS

   It has been a very cold winter with February being one of the coldest on record. Hubby had his 75th birthday around the middle of the month and we stayed around for a family dinner but the very next day we headed south to find warm sun and some greenery.

Santa Lucia Camaguey was the perfect spot.

And Buddy is very happy that March 17 is for celebrating things green and that spring is just days away.

Valentines

     Happy Valentine's Day to all of you !!!!
We have been remiss in our blog following and have been cocooning in front of our new large screen TV for several weeks now. We seem to be in a bit of a slump emotionally and find the shows very entertaining but as the weather improves I'm sure we'll get back on track. We miss all of you too so we shall work harder at being prompt and more caring about what you are up to.