I found myself  having an even harder time with August's calendar.  The loss of  my lovely dog Zach had shredded my heart.  He was our eleventh dog loss in our 41 years of marriage.  Over 41 years doesn't sound too bad but that averages out to a dog every 3.7 years.  My heart never has time to heal. That's the price we pay of loving our pets.   Leo keeps me going.  He knows Zach is gone and mopes but still wants to play. Dogs move forward and we should follow their lead on this matter. 

 

 This month was beyond hard.  Between the noise of the workers repairing the kitchen and Zach's last days,  I found myself struggling to find joy.  But each moment with Zach was cherished.  Alex, Paul and I sat in the park with him before we took him on his final journey to the vet.  He was never a kissy kind of dog but before we got into the car,  he gave me three kisses.  I know he was saying goodbye.  

 What a month June turned out to be.  Paul was sick,  we got bad news about Zach, Baxter had to get an IV boost at the vet, I flooded my old claw foot tub and took the ceiling out in the kitchen below, I found lily beetles all over my lilies and the mosquitoes were terrible!  On a good note,  I had a long talk with my friend Joyce in Ontario,  my granddaughter turned six years old, and Paul and I spent much time at the river.  There's good,  there's bad,  that's life.

Irises in bloom

My Irises are opening up. They are gorgeous as usual.  My mother used to call them flags. This is a photo and a pastel drawing from my garden.

 May,  I found a pigeon dead in the lower property.  I think a Merlin got it. You mattered.  The wind took out one of my trees. Paul had his biopsy and things look good.  It's just a four year precaution.  We got to watch a Kingfisher diving for his dinner.  It was quite a show.   Zach is having tummy troubles.  Perhaps his meds?

Roses for a Sore Tooth

 

 I was able to get in to see the dentist right away.  I was on a cancellation list so it was less than 36 hours between breaking my tooth and having it repaired.  Paul brought me roses as a 'feel better gesture'.  

April was a lovely month.  I saw a robin,  we enjoyed Easter supper with Alex and Greg,  I got some new house plants at a discount, Paul's biopsy was postponed,  as was Alex's surgery, my phone survived a swim in the toilet, Paul and I celebrated our 41st anniversary.  

My three favourite words are Colour, Possibility, and Cosy.  

Salmon on Asparagus with Lemon Caper Sauce

 Paul made our keto super tonight.   What an awesome husband.  This was as good as it looks.  The recipe came from Headbangers Kitchen

Friday/Sat 26/27

 

Hot Coffee and a Good Read

 I am sitting at the front window looking across the frozen river.  The snowmobiles haven't been on it yet but they soon will.  A deeper freeze is on its way.  I am reading a book called Spinster by Kate Bolick.  Funny how after forty-one years of marriage this coming April 12th,  that I would be drawn to a book of that title.  It's not really about being a spinster as much as it's about being at home in and with yourself.  I love my husband dearly but I also love my own company.  

My mug of coffee by the way reads 

"Make today so awesome that yesterday gets  jealous".

I borrowed this book from the public library but I think I will have to buy a copy.  I am better off owning books because I talk to them and have conversations with the author.  I underline things,  I write notes in the margins,  draw little pictures.  I add so many ribbons, pieces of paper and scraps of yarn to mark special passages that the book ends up thicker than when I bought it.  When I borrow a book from the library, or from a friend  I like to put a handmade bookmark somewhere in the pages for the next reader to enjoy.  These are some collaged bookmarks I made out of bits and pieces of other projects.                               

I don't sign the bookmarks.  I like the next reader to wonder who I am.  It's up to them whether they want to keep the bookmark of leave it within the pages for the next reader to find.