Time and Tide

Hello again from Barbados! It's hard to believe that we are way past the half way mark of our stay in this beautiful island. We have been reflecting on how quickly time passes. Then we thought about the tide....as the saying goes, "time and tide wait for no man". No matter what we do, we cannot stop the passing of time. Enjoy each day at it comes.

We are having a wonderful time and not doing much. Russell has been walking the beach more than I have. Good for him. Going back to the gym will be a tad challenging for me but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I'm enjoying the rest.

The weather has been perfect, sunny and quite hot but always breezy. With the full moon tonight, the high tide will be higher than normal so a "no swimming" sign was posted on the beach this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to swim in the ocean anyway.

It is low season now in Barbados so it is much quieter compared to when we normally go in February. We don't mind that. What we did notice though is that at this time of year, the sun sets further West so we are not being treated to the beautiful sunsets that we normally would see earlier in the year. We are actually thinking of going to the West coast in a couple of days to perhaps capture a true sunset. We'll see.

I finished volume one of the Natchez Burning trilogy and started volume two. Just as spellbinding as the first one. I don't remember the last time that I read such good books. As for Russell, during one of his walks on the beach, he spotted someone reading a book that caught his attention.....needless to say, he had to buy it. He finds it quite captivating....of course, he would!  I include a photo of the book in case anyone is interested.

So, our time in Barbados is coming to an end soon. We fly back to Toronto on Friday. Saturday, we will be attending Shannon's wedding in Cambridge. Until then, we will make the most of each day here. Have a great week!

The sunset view from the Khus Khus bar at the Southern
Palms. The sunset is obscured by buildings now due to
the Spring equinox.

Our space for the day. Each morning I prep the loungers
for Russell and myself....plenty of space and chairs to
choose from.

What better way to spend time, feet up on the pink wall of the
Southern Palms eating lunch, having a wine and reading a book...
this is a candid shot, we do not know who took it,
only that it appeared in the Southern Palms FaceBook feed. 

An interesting read, thought provoking!

Our little paradise

Happy Sunday from Barbados!

Here we are, in our little paradise that we call Barbados. We got here Friday afternoon on schedule. The room that we requested was ready, as always. We are returning guests so any special room request is usually granted.....I won't mention our room number in the blog. It's our secret...but it's our favorite room, with the perfect ocean and beach view. A beautiful fresh fruit basket was waiting for us. Yum, breakfast for a few mornings for sure.

We've been getting up early, as we do at home...actually a tad earlier. Nothing beats having a cup of coffee on the balcony, watching the waves and the world go by. So peaceful. On our first morning, we captured a rainbow in the sky. Beautiful.

The weather has been perfect, wouldn't expect anything less. Today, we had a couple of brief periods of liquid sunshine but the sun came back out with a vengeance.  It's all good. We are in a groove already. It doesn't take long when you go to a place that we call "home away from home".  We already have some colour, a little glow that makes us feel good.

Our pooches are doing well and we keep in touch through Darlah's blog. They are in a good place too.

That's my blog today. Time to get ready for Happy Hour! Have a great week everyone!

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow over Barbados, from our balcony!

Our home away from home for the next
14 days....beautiful Barbados...gem of the
Caribbean Sea.

My beach essentials...all things pink while we stay at the
Pink Pearl....Southern Palms.

The calm before the storm

Happy Sunday everyone! Here we are on this gloomy April day, waiting for freezing rain and rain due to start late tonight. Somehow, we escaped the first storm that we were supposed to get yesterday. It's been cloudy and windy but no precipitation. I've been reading about the freezing rain that Ontario is currently getting. Not good. Let's hope that this is the end of it until next Winter.

Russell and I are almost ready for our Barbados trip. This morning, we sorted out what we want to bring. We're in good shape. There is no need to worry about the weather in Barbados, it's always sunny and warm. When it rains, it doesn't last. Even if it does, who cares. We are both looking forward to this getaway. We need it. Every now and then, I think back about the past six months, my parents and those difficult moments that we all went through. The more time passes, the less vivid some of those moments are but they cannot be forgotten. Time away will help the healing process.

We both have one more trip to the gym this week before we switch our workouts to those wonderful, leisurely walks on the beach. I can almost feel the sand on my freshly painted toes now.

Cooper & Spicy are doing wonderful, as always. We've been taking them out for walks but not as often as we normally would. Another sign that Russell and I need to recharge our battery....some days, we just don't feel like going for a walk. Plain and simple. Our pooches do not complain. They go along with whatever we want to do. They love spending time in the front room, looking out the window and being nosy parkers.  Such sweethearts.

That's it for my blog today. We are waiting for my brother, he's coming over for dinner and a sleepover. It will be nice to see him. The only photos that I have are of Coop & the Spice girl. There is not much to photograph in the outdoors, everything is so grey and bleak looking. Hopefully when we return, the grass will be a little greener and perhaps our daffodils will be sprouting. Have a great week everyone. My next blog, and a photo or two,  will be from Barbados!

How do you spell dog pile...Cooper and Spicy love to
sit on Russell's lap. 

Spicy and Cooper...two of the nosiest parkers in
Beaconsfield...nothing escapes their attention.

Wannabe counter surfers....Copper and Spicy can not
resist the aroma of freshly cooked ground veal...used as a
sprinkle on their kibble.

Really, we are not begging for a treat BUT, please
give us one!

Spring hasn't sprung yet

Happy Sunday to all! We are about to start the second week of April and it sure doesn't feel like it. Although our snow is gone, it is downright cool out there. Our deck is free of snow, just waiting for the weather to turn warm so we can sit outside. I suppose it won't be long now.....one can only hope.

All is good with us. We are getting ready to go to Barbados in less than two weeks. The bed in our guest room is covered with clothes, bathing suits, shoes, sunscreen, all laid out for us to decide what to bring and not to bring. As soon as we return from Barbados, literally the next day, we have a wedding to go to so we need to pack for this as well. Thank goodness all I need to pack for our two pooches' vacation at Camp Talemaker is their toothbrush. It truly will be good to get away for a while. We need it badly.

Russell is still seeing an osteopath for his knee. He is noticing a bit of a difference but it's a long process. As I'm writing my blog, he is soaking in a eucalyptus and epsom salt bath. It is helping with the joint pain and it gives our bathroom such a wonderful aroma. Oh, and Russell, the king of vacuuming, got himself a new vacuum...a Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute. Pretty powerful and it helps pick up the twigs and leaves that our two doggies bring in the house, especially at this time of year.

Cooper & Spicy are doing well. Coop & I have two more Fun Obedience training classes, then we will be done until September. We will miss the last few classes because of our trip. I hope to get a group photo of all the little students before we're done. Spicy is doing well also. She has recovered extremely well from her hernia surgery. Her incision is barely noticeable.

One week ago today, Spicy lost her canine grandmother, Risa. She was 16 years young and the matriarch at Talemaker. We were very sad to hear this news. Risa had a wonderful and long life, and remained young at heart and very playful, even in her "old" age.   We can only hope that our two will live that long. I include a photo of Risa and Spicy, courtesy of Darlah. On a brighter note, Spicy will be a grandmother again in June. One of her daughters, Cinnamon, will be having pups for the first time. No doubt those pups will be beautiful, just like grandma Spicy.

That's my blog for this week. I leave you with just a few snap shots of Cooper & Spicy taken yesterday as we were lounging in the front room. I think, like us, they are starting to have cabin fever. They sure will enjoy their upcoming vacation. Have a great week everyone!

Spicy and Cooper know where the treats are and they
also know just what to do to get some..."Sit".

Cooper was mucking it up on his chair
...nice hair dude!

Spicy is her regal self on her favorite chair.

How do you spell couch potatoes....ask Spicy and
Cooper, they know. Cuddling time for those two.

Spicy and her grandmother Risa....the matriarch of the
Talemaker canine family....she will be sadly missed.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Sunday to all! I hope you're all having a wonderful day, no matter what you do. I especially hope that the Easter Bunny was good to you....ours came for a visit this morning on the back deck. Russell was quick to get a photo....

We had my brother, sister and our two nephews over for brunch today. It was a nice get together. Our thoughts were never far away from my parents, and from Russell's parents. I put together a nice spread of good food, including a bowl of Goldfish crackers....couldn't resist those, today.  Our two pooches were gracious hosts as always. They are having a nap now, tired from all the love they gave and the attention they received.

This past week was good. I managed to go to the gym four times and it felt good. I think I'm back into the swing of things. Cooper's dietary indiscretion is resolved, thanks to my friend Angela's recommendation to use ProGut Plus, an all natural product that supports the GI function by restoring balance with probiotics and all that good stuff. It is now a staple in our house.

Spicy and I haven't started our volunteering work yet as I have to get a police check done, which takes about ten weeks. We hope to get going sometime late May.

Our backyard is now mostly grass, with some snow here and there. I can tell you that both Cooper and Spicy are trying their best to walk on snow only. It's the same every year....they get used to snow for months and when it goes away, they don't want to walk on wet grass. It's hilarious to watch. As for us, we are happy to see the grass but it means messy paws. We can't win!

That's it for my blog today. I wish you all a great week!

Happy Easter...brunch with our little Family!

Cooper and Spicy want to wish everyone
Happy Easter!

Cooper and Spicy alerted us to this backyard visitor...
Peter rabbit made an Easter appearance on this very special
day...April 1st!